Thursday — December 24th, 2009

       I had the worst time getting to sleep last night, so I ended up crashing on the couch. Mama and Daddy had decided to celebrate our family Christmas on Christmas eve, rather than Christmas day. We usually go to my Memaw’s house on Christmas morning and go to my Nanny’s in the afternoon. None of us came even close to complaining about this new tradition, as you can imagine.

        The next thing I knew, my sister was shaking me awake. I sleepily cracked one eye open with a yawn, looking up at the skylight above my head. Snow covered the glass, blocking out any sunlight that might have been seen. I sat up and looked out the window, the sun was barely shining.

       “Kenna, it’s too early! Give Mama and Daddy a few more minutes.”

        I’m not sure, maybe its all due to the fact that some of the excitement of opening gifts is lost as one gets older. I don’t really know. Mckenna and I finally got up, woke the kids and sent them scrambling into Mom and Dad’s room. They came out of their room, with those special Christmas morning smiles. It was the kind of smile that said they knew exactly what lay beneath the tree and they couldn’t wait for us to tear the paper and trash the living room. 

       Daddy opened his Bible and read the Christmas Story just like we always have. I cuddle Josh on the couch, and he kept looking up at me and back at the tree with the cutest little dimpled grin. The kids tore into their presents like there was no tomorrow. Kenna and I helped pass them out, as well as opening our own.

        Mama and I began making brunch after we had opened our presents and had cleaned up the living room. And for the rest of the day, we spent relaxing and enjoying one another. We watched Night at the Museum 2 which ended up being just as good as the first! The kids especially loved Darth Vader and Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street. I have to admit, it was quite entertaining. I’d definitely watch it again in the future.

This morning got off to a rough start, beginning with stepping out of a cozy warm house into the cold, stiff leather seats of my car. I had forgotten to heat the car up, and I have officially promised myself never to forget again.

Turns out, in order for me to listen to all the fun Christmas songs on the radio  during the first ten minutes out, the car has to be somewhat warm. So much for that brilliant idea. Lol

A light snow had begun to fall around three o’clock and by the time we got off work we had several inches on the ground. On the way home, roads were closing and the snow was beginning to thicken.

We spun around in the car at one point and one of those big muddy redneck trucks almost ran into us. None of us screamed, as typical in situations like these. It’s funny, we were seemingly all holding our breath and watching the world go by in slow motion.

Half the roads were getting closed down due to accidents and road conditions. Mama decided to take one of the back roads that connected to one of the main roads that lead us home. I flipped on some Christmas music on the radio, Bing Crosby’s warm cheerful voice filled the car with I’m dreaming of a White Christmas. I looked at Mama and laughed. What a coincidence!

I called Daddy to let him know we wouldn’t be home for awhile, he let us know he was praying for us. Three hours later, we were stuck on the main road, a long line of flashing lights from the cars in front of us. I groaned at the thought of being there all night.

Just as my frustration was beginning to mount, I noticed Mama unrolling her window. I dropped my phone in my lap. “Mama! It’s cold, what are you doing?”

The man in the car ahead of us was waving us down; apparently his phone had died and he wanted to know if we had one that he could borrow. Mama looked at me, I showed her that I only had one bar left on my battery. Leaning out her window, she handed my phone to this skinny young guy who was wearing a retro spiked hairdo, tight jeans, a half-buttoned plaid shirt (I suppose he was going for some sort of look. Who knows.) and a newsboy cap.

I tapped a tune out on the dashboard, wondering why in the world random songs get stuck in our heads until we want to scream. I sang along with the radio for a while, watching the snow swirl wildly outside my window, people walking past and trying to figure out what the holdup was.

“I’m hungry.” I turned around in my seat to look at my little sister who’s declaration would do nothing to lighten to mood or help our situation. “You’re what?”

She pulled out some Chinese Takeout, a bag of Doritos and Lindt chocoloate. Lest you begin to think my sister will make an awesome mother on account of being so prepared. Ah, don’t be so easily fooled. J

We had grabbed a few groceries while we were in town and apparently Mckenna remembered them just then. It was a random combination but I can now say that I’ve eaten White Rice with Dorito’s, and Lindt Chocolate in the middle of a Snowstorm — not that I’ve ever in my life had the desire to, mind you.

An hour later, I’d had enough Christmas music and my patience was severely waning. I grabbed a handful of tracts, unlocked my door and my sister and I stepped out into a white world. The great gust of snow engulfed us, I turned around to talk to my sister and got a mouthful of snow. I don’t remember so much snow falling out of the sky all at once!

I spit the snow out with a laugh, looped arms with my sister and proceeded to knock on the passenger window of the cars in front of us. A few people looked at us like we were crazy — okay, so maybe we were, if only a little bit — but I quickly pointed out that we had one thing in common.

It was snowing, we were stuck and had no idea when we’d get going again. Why not read something while they wait?

I don’t know, it made sense to me! And we ended up passing out about seventeen gospel tracts, made a few friends, had the opportunity to scrape an old man’s windshield while discovering he lived close to our church. That’s pretty good, right? If he reads the tract, see’s the info about our church, he just might come visit sometime.

We raced back to the car, empty-handed. Our fingers were like icicles and our clothes were wet-ish from the snow. The moment we climbed back inside the car, we turned the heat up and told Mama about all the people we’d met.

About two hours later, and to be honest I was frustrated by this point, traffic began moving ever so slowly. We came to the bottom of a steep hill, one I had never given any thought to under normal conditions. Seven cars were stuck going up the hill, a few more vehicles proceeded to follow suit, resulting in a comment from Mom about not using common sense.

Guys were getting out of their cars and pushing them up the hill. We finally made it up the hill and toward home. We slid in some places but we finally made it home after a nine hour drive home from town that would typically take about forty-five minutes.

We were so thankful to be safe, and home never did look so good!

Wednesday — December 16, 2009

       Well I have to admit, teaching is a lot of fun. I threw on a hoodie and grabbed my cup of hot apple cider as I made my way out the door at seven-thirty this morning. The kids had that oh-so-familiar sleepy look on their faces, the kind that makes you wonder if they are walking in their sleep. I’ve done that so many times through high-school and college. I can well sympathize with the little guys.

       The morning went off without a hitch. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at well Daniel, Joshua and Emma did. I sat down at the tiny little red table and waited for them to pull their chairs up. Grabbing the big teaching book, I flipped open to their character lesson of the day and began to read.

      About halfway through the story, Daniel leaned across the table and grabbed my hand. I stopped reading for a moment to see what on earth he was doing. He bent closer to see my hand, and then rubbed my finger with a grin before looking back up at me. “I like your fingernails.”

       I laughed. “Why do you like my fingernails, Daniel?”

      He told Joshua and Abigail to feel them, while I sat there grinning like an idiot and feeling quite out of the loop. “Feel them, Josh. They’re soft.”

     At this point, I had no choice but to laugh outright. Never before had I ever heard anyone say that! I had painted them last night and had thought nothing of it when I walked in to school this morning. I picked up the book and began reading the story once more, working hard not to smile at the first little episode of many that were sure to come my way. They finished working through their school books and when I handed them back after grading them, they’d correct their mistakes.

      They have a subject called Word Building that teaches them how to write their letters and join them together to form words. Some pages ask them to copy the words from a list at the top of the page, which is really quite simple. As I was flipping through their books to grade them, I noticed they had left off a few letters on several and half of them were unintelligible so I went to the older children’s classroom and borrowed a large orange eraser and erased the ones they would need to correct.

      This erasing/correcting process went on for almost an hour. I was trying to teach them the concept of the dotted orange line. I attempted to show them that the lowercase letters could not pass this dotted line with few exceptions, of course. Emma was struggling with the lowercase E on several words so I would keep erasing it until she made it neat enough to match the one above it. Finally, Emma looked at me and said, “Miss Brittany, nobody knows how to write an E like you do!”

         I couldn’t help but laugh when she said that. I wasn’t used to a five year old trying to reason with me. Was I really supposed to think that no one else in the whole world wrote an E like I did?

        When things got too difficult in her opinion, I would hear “Mrs. Morris never does that. Mrs. Morris says my E’s look good this way. Mrs. Morris says …” Finally, they began their tests. I moved them to their desks so they wouldn’t copy one another’s work and then went back and forth between the three as they needed help.

        Joshua was having none of this testing business after a morning of correcting his workbook. Joshua slumped over his desk, then dropped his pencil onto the desk in aggravation, accompanied by a little growl. “Stupid, dumb tests!”

      I knew this wasn’t typical of my five year old brother, so I went over and began talking to him. Daniel leaned over his desk with a look of deep concern shadowing his little boy features. “Josh, if you don’t do your school you ain’t gonna have a job. And then you ain’t gonna have no money!”

      Joshua’s head shot up off the desk, he looked quite irritated to say the least. “I’m gonna be a preacher or something like that, okay? That’s how I’m gonna get my money.”

      I bit my lip to keep from smiling. Joshua’s reasoning was entirely off, and his pure aggravation with the whole ordeal was quite funny. For close to a minute, Joshua sat there reasoning with Daniel as if he had no idea what he was talking about. Daniel stood up in his chair so he could see his friend over the top of the desk. “Preachers don’t make no money, they just smile.”

      At this, Josh’s eyes grew large and he looked at me for the briefest of moments. “They don’t? Wait … yes they do! My daddy’s a preacher!”

     By the time lunch rolled around, I had already dealt with several similar conversations and feared my face falling off from smiling so much. I put them all down for a nap after lunch and I eventually lost count of how many times I said, “Be quiet and go to sleep, please.”

       I did have a rather fun day though, and when I got home I crashed until supper time. I grabbed a quick bite of supper with my family before heading to church. Church was nice, and I even got to see my girls, Nalia and Peanut. Those girls have grown so much since I’ve been gone. They are cute as buttons and absolutely adorable!

      Whew! It’s been a crazy two days!

      Today, I babysat the boys. I got so much accomplished before the girls got home from school. I was able to get some laundry out of the way and then noticed the old Sarah’s Daughter’s cookbook lying on the kitchen counter. It had been awhile since I’d baked anything, so I flipped through the worn pages until I found what I was looking for.

     I measured out the flour, sugar and milk I needed for my Great Grandma’s Lemon pound cake recipe. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had the strange notion that all the Lemon extract Mama uses in it makes me sick, so I put a drop or two in just for grandma. I swapped the Lemon for Vanilla extract, wondering if it wasn’t a desecration to the sweet old lady with the skunk-striped grey hair and easy smile. I shook my head, wiping my floured hands on my sister’s sunflower apron. It was okay. Grandma wouldn’t mind. J

      I followed the recipe; checked it twice just to make sure. I fought the urge to experiment even the slightest, it wasn’t the day to go ruining Grandma’s recipe on account of a creative spark. I greased the old burgundy Bundt pan that had turned out so many perfect pound cakes over the years, crossing my fingers as I poured the cake batter in.

       I leveled the mix and slid it into the cool oven and set the timer. I adjusted the oven temperature to three hundred-twenty degrees and shut the oven door.

       Forty-five minutes later, I slid the dishtowel over so I could peek through the glass panel on the front of the oven. Little bubbles were beginning to form and the edges were pulling away from the sides as the cake baked. I looked at it for a minute longer, wondering if it was baking quick enough.

      The boys were just finishing up their lunch, so I left the cake to bake and put them down for a nap. Thankfully, they went down without too much of a fuss. J

      I checked on the laundry, grabbed a pad of paper and a pen from the kitchen drawer and jotted down one of those infamous To Do lists.

      By the time Daddy brought the girls home from school, the house had been cleaned, the kitchen had gotten a good scrubbing, everything had been dusted, the boys were napping, Grandma’s cake was cooling on the counter and between cleaning and baking the house smelled amazing.

      The sun was shining outside and the weather was nice, so we threw a few windows open and finished cleaning and organizing. The girls were such a big help!

      Daddy took Josh hunting after Lana dressed him up in warmth clothes, his camouflage coat and hat. Abigail and Samuel played the Wii while we started supper.

    We’re all relaxing for the rest of the evening. Mama just put on a pot of coffee, so I’m hoping that will keep me awake just long enough to check my facebook and do a little Christmas shopping online. The girls are doing homework, the boys are playing quietly upstairs and I’m ready to hit the hay. No such luck for awhile … too much to do. J

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Tuesday — December 16^th, 2009

       I ended up falling asleep on the couch last night and waking up around twelve-thirty. I got up and went to bed and slept like a rock until ten something this morning. Yes, I’m ashamed of myself. I have no idea how in the world I could have slept so long!

       I don’t remember sleeping that late in years. I believe the last time I did that was with my cousin Sarah years ago when we had a sleepover and didn’t go to sleep until six o’clock in the morning. But that is totally understandable if you’ve been up half the night. Still wondering about that though …

      Yeah, we had plenty nights like that. Ah, those were the good times! We’d stay up painting our fingernails funky colors, coloring pictures as we laid on our stomachs on the floor, eating a bunch of junk food, watching movies or smothering giggles beneath the covers.

     And speaking of covers … Sarah and I have never been consistent with the theme of our rooms. Hers started out with walls that we painted a butter yellow. Back then she had a thing for Tweety-Bird. A fading pink rug covered the worn wooden plank farmhouse floor. I can’t even remember which comforter she had way back then. We’ve changed our minds so many times! We glued glass pebbles to a long strand of colored yarn and nailed them to the top of her doorway for fun, organized her room, tacked some posters to the wall and added a few more finishing touches. You should’ve seen it, we were so proud.

       A pastel plaid comforter, patchwork pillow and polka dot sheets made my bed. The walls were simple — just cream colored, nothing wonderful — and a shag rug covered the floor. I had a sparkly blue lava lamp on my nightstand and pictures of Sarah and I taped to the side.

      Back then, everything looked perfect. To the twelve year old mind, anything Mommy let you do on your own was fantastic! Our mom’s let us decorate our rooms so many times, and we thought it was just the best thing in the world. I’m sure you can imagine all the fun we had.

     Now, our rooms are just the way we want them and we haven’t the slightest desire to change them any time in the near future.

    So this morning — after discovering how late it was — I threw myself together, washed the breakfast dishes and ran downstairs to tackle the laundry. I’ve never understood how in the world these enormous mounds of laundry just seemingly pile up overnight. As I folded clothes in my Mama’s room, I couldn’t help but think that in a few years I’ll be folding my own family’s laundry. I can’t grumble every time I have to fold all those clothes I wash. I don’t mind sorting, washing and drying it … but as for folding, I just despise it! Blah.

      To my surprise, it went well today. I was able to get a lot of the laundry out of the way for Mama and folding wasn’t bad at all. J

      Mama and kids got home from school around three o’clock and she and I took the boys to Wal-Mart. I got the chance to drive my car again, which is an experience in and of itself. I’m learning to drive a stick-shift for the first time in my life. I’ve only driven the car a handful of times and I’m starting to get the hang of it now. Switching gears is a breeze, no sweat at all.

     But actually getting things going is another matter … unfortunately.

     I no longer stall but it’s a tad on the bumpy side when I’m working first gear. Mama and I always laugh when it kind of chokes before everything smoothes out and we can hit the road. The way I look at it, it’s a happy car. It makes people either work to hide the smile that’s fighting to break loose or crack up entirely. Nobody gets mad, and the people in the car behind me don’t even get ticked off. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for that! J

      At the moment, it looks like I’ve been mud-bogging in my car because we had a big rainstorm and there’s mud all over the place. It cracks Mama up — the sight of my pretty white car with splashes of mud on one side. Haha.

     What can I say? Redneck people in cute Hondas living in the country and hitting all the back roads. Just kidding, of course.

     We picked up more ingredients so I can do some serious baking this week. I believe Stain-glass cookies, Gingerbread, and Christmas Wreaths are at the top of the list. I can’t wait to get started! I was going to bake some Gingerbread when we got home but by the time we got back I had to get supper together. Mama and I headed to church for the Ladies Bible study, filling my car with the wonderful sweet smell of fresh warm Blueberry muffins sitting in a basket on the back floor board. Kenna is an amazing cook, so I couldn’t wait to get to church and taste them. J

       Mama is doing a study through Elizabeth George’s book Loving God with all you Mind. I thought it went really well, and I enjoyed it. Everyone shared what they had learned over the past week and shared scripture and a few incidents where God had taught them a specific lesson.

      After the Bible study, Mama gave me a rundown of tomorrow’s schedule. I offered to take her kindergarten class tomorrow for her so she could stay home and catch up on some much needed rest. There’s only a few kids and that’s what I enjoy doing anyway, so I’m really looking forward to it!

        Most Sundays, Andrea tiptoes into my room and shakes me awake. Eleven minutes later, we’re freezing our way across campus to breakfast, teeth chattering and singing “Son, it’s cold!”. We shuffle across the parking lot and through the breezeway remarking how awful we must look with our semi-sleepy faces, bed-head hairdo’s and big sweatshirts and denim skirts thrown over our Pjs. We don’t really care, because most people don’t even bother coming to Sunday breakfast. Sane people are usually still snuggled beneath their warm blankets, dreaming all kinds of nice wonderful dreams … while Andrea and I are sleepily grabbing bowls of cereal and giggling when the milk ends up sloshing out of the bowl and onto the counter, or sneaking over to the microwave in all our high-and-mighty kitchen authoritativeness to warm our biscuits before digging through the jelly bowl to find the Mixed Berry. 

            After downing a cup of coffee and milk, fruit or a biscuit and our cereal, we head back to the dorm wondering why on earth we’re insane enough to wake up early and go to breakfast. Most times the conversation will sound something like, “Why do we always do this?”                                                                                                                                             

       Andrea sticks her cold hands into the big comfy pocket of her light pink hoodie and shakes her head with a soft laugh. “I don’t know, Brit. I think we’re crazy.”

        Now we’re both grinning, our breath making little white clouds in the icy air. “Yeah, but we’re awesome like that. Besides, we probably have twice as much fun as everybody who stays in bed.”

         We’ll both dig around in our pockets for our dorm keys, wondering aloud if we should just grab a box of pop tarts and crash in each other’s room for breakfast next week. By the time we’re back in the hallway of our dorm, we don’t think pop-tarts are such a hot idea. We prefer the crazy good times we have, trying to hide our identities behind our messy hair and thrown together outfits and chattering teeth.

          By the time twelve-thirty rolls around, Pastor has wrapped up another awesome sermon and me and my friends go grab a bite to eat. We’ll sit in one of the classrooms upstairs, eating lunch and surfing the web until two o’clock visitation.

         After evening service, we’ll all hop back in the car and head back to school for supper. I’ll throw on some comfy clothes and run down to the breezeway to check my box. I’ve never understood my reasoning behind checking it so many times. Everyone is at church almost the entire day on Sunday afternoon and yet, I still have the strangest inclination to check my box.

       You’d think we hadn’t seen each other in forever, if you were to come into the cafeteria on a Sunday night for supper. We grab our bagged sandwiches, cookies, apple and chips and find a table big enough to cram in all of our people. We’ll crack jokes, talk about our day and sometimes grumble about our homework for the next day. Usually, it’s Life of Christ or English that hovers above our heads until we fall into bed. But by the time Tuesday rolls around, it never seems to have been so bad. Grabbing anything left over from supper, we head back to our dorms in light-hearted groups, wishing Ben Linville goodnight as he watches us cross the street. Ben always has a smile on his face and usually cracks everybody up as they come up the sidewalk near the flagpole.

         Some of us girls like to stop and smell the roses that are quickly fading from the early morning frost, Ben laughs at us and shakes his head as if there’s no hope for us. To be honest, maybe there’s not much hope for us … but I’m pretty sure we’re loved just the way we are!

        The Lord allowed me to be able to come home a few days earlier than I’d originally planned so I spent this weekend washing everything I owned. Who knew I had so much stuff? I didn’t quite realize until I had washed four loads of laundry and dumped them all out in the middle of my bedroom floor to sort. I’ve hung most of them up in my closet, the rest are folded in neat little stacks on my bed and I’m eyeing my laundry basket full of shoes with slight trepidation. =/

         My retro-looking ironing board is perched against the wall behind my door, my picture frames are stacked alongside my two plastic containers of miscellaneous stuff, my printer and box of magazines are at opposite ends of my room. I’m not sure why, but everything got a bit scattered. I walked into my room this afternoon and knew I couldn’t take it any longer, so the moment I got back from church tonight I tossed a handful of green hangers on my bed and tackled my big pile of laundry.

           If you know me, you’re probably aware of the fact that I abhor folding laundry with a criminal’s passion. Knowing this, you’d be rather proud to learn that I had folded countless tee-shirts and various articles of clothing.

          Yeah, I’m just happy to have it done.

         The only problem? Well … It is now three in the morning and I’m dead exhausted. Something MUST be done with those boxes of odds and ends. Soon. Not now. If I put them away right now, I wouldn’t remember where I’d put everything in the morning! Lol So for now, I’m shutting off my music, plugging my cell-phone in to charge, turning down the vintage-y sheets and crawling into bed. I’m sleepy, but tomorrow is another day and I can’t wait to greet it …

         P.S. ~ I got to see Shannon’s baby for the first time tonight! I’ve been praying so long that the Lord would bless Rae and Shannon with a baby and He has! Noah Rae Morris was born the second week of September, and at three months old he is an absolute charmer. I’ve only seen a handful of pictures up until today, so the moment I could get back to the nursery to see him I did. He’s so adorable, even with the little scratch running down his nose from his little fingernails. He coos and grins in the sweetest little baby way, it melts my heart.

       Secondly, this morning it was raining like crazy so I was planning to get the van and pull it up so the kids wouldn’t get soaked coming out of church … before I had the chance, my little buddy Daniel came running across the sanctuary and threw his arms around me. He said, “Welcome home!”

       Daniel drew me the cutest little picture. It was a piece of Red construction paper, and he had drawn a boat, a tractor and some guns. He’s learning his letters now in school so he carefully signed his name on the back left corner and handed it to me with a big grin.

       This afternoon, I got to watch part of the Dallas Cowboys game … much to my immense delight! I checked the score when I got back from church tonight, only to find that we had lost at 17-20. But it’s totally okay, ’cause we have to give everybody else a feel-good day too! I mean, we can’t win ALL the time.

       Okay, my CD is starting to skip tracks because it’s been playing so long, the kitty is curled up on my bed looking much fatter than the last time I saw her and I’m tired. I think I will finally turn in for the night … er, morning!

                                                                   Sweet Dreams!

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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

6:04 PM

Well, I’ve almost finished up day two. The only thing left for me to do is get to bed and somehow get a decent night’s sleep. Last night I finished organizing a few things and then decided to go to bed around ten o’clock. Well, the bed was just as soft and welcoming as I had anticipated when making it up yesterday morning but sleep just wouldn’t come. I tried everything, even forcing myself to relax while I attempted to zone out for awhile. That, to my great surprise and delight, almost worked. And then, somewhere close to midnight, just as my eyes began to get heavy and yawning was turning into a long, drawn out process that I was finding rather enjoyable … the door banged open down the hall and a wild squeal pierced the air.

I bolted upright, wide eyed and fully alert now. My first thought? I hadn’t one, but many! So many crazy ideas came whizzing through my mind. I listened for a moment or two, until I was convinced that the girls from Buker dorm had arrived for the night.

Apparently, a fire alarm was faulty in theirs so they were staying in various places in our dorm for the night until the alarm was fixed. I settled back down and tried to get to sleep once more. About thirty minutes later I fell asleep watching the rising, falling glow of my clock as it changed colors.

I am convinced I woke up at least half a dozen times, I have turned into a light sleeper over the Summer much to my deep regret. I faded in and out of my dreams, listening to every tiny noise and glancing occasionally at the clock glowing at me in the corner. I had set my alarm for six, giving me plenty of time for my devotions and getting my day started before heading to breakfast at seven-thirty. Finally, I gave up the long battle for sleep. It wasn’t worth it anymore. I glanced at the clock as I slid from my bed. The neon numbers shouted at me. It was only five-thirty and knowing I’d probably be exhausted by the day’s end, I forced myself to lay there with my eyes closed for fifteen minutes more. I couldn’t take it one minute longer, I was wasting valuable time and just laying there wasn’t doing me any good anyways.

I felt my way down the darkened hall, with only the red glow of the Exit signs to guide me to the end. I took a shower and went back to my room where I got ready for the day and did my devotions. It was nearing seven so I tiptoed down the hall and found my friend, Danielle. She was up and moving about so we decided to walk to the kitchen together at seven-fifteen.

Seven-fifteen rolled around and letting the back kitchen door slam shut behind us announcing our arrival, we met Mr. Dallas. He was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning, which has to be one of the nicest things about going to breakfast here. We grabbed something to drink and waited for the rest of the kitchen workers to get there. Half of them were already in the back, cooking breakfast and washing up the pots and pans.

After breakfast, we spent almost three hours in another Staff meeting which wasn’t half bad. It was all about kitchen safety and touring the Kitchen and Cafeteria. It was probably the first time I’ve ever been paid to listen! J

Who would complain over that, right?

We all headed back to our dorms about ten-thirty to grab a quick nap before clocking back in at quarter to twelve. I ended up taking about a fifteen minute nap or so which was actually pretty nice! I had to tell myself I needed the sleep in order to get anywhere but I appreciated the little bit that I got.

We learned the Sandwich Bar for lunch. That was totally fun, although I came home smelling like a Panini Grill. J I had done the Sandwich Bar at Camp Barnabas so I knew how to do it, thankfully. It was a lot of fun.

We cleaned up, had another brief Staff meeting and then spent time back at the dorms until three. I met Danielle again and we got to the kitchen early. We all worked what little we could, Danielle and I helped Dan make a cake. We were measuring Sugar and Flour out of those big plastic bins and using Oil out of a gallon jug, which was kind of funny. And then we all stood around talking for awhile until the cake came out of the oven and the BBQ was finished.

We spent half the time goofing off, joking around and having a good time. It was getting crazy in the kitchen toward the end and it was rather toasty on top of that with all the steamers, ovens and the dish pit going all at once. One of the guys I work with walked around the kitchen all day singing Willie Wonka’s “Who can make the Sun shine … sprinkle it with dew?” at various points throughout the day until it got stuck in everyone’s head. J

Ben, as you can well imagine, adds to the fun of working in the kitchen. If you’re down and getting a bit tired, all you have to do is walk past him. You’ll probably hear him singing a fun, cheerful little tune if you can’t already hear him from the dist pit. The guys have taken to whistling whatever song he’s singing, and the girls just laugh and smile. Yes, we’re just singing it in our heads and occasionally whistling along but its really great!

Everyone has such good attitudes and we all have a good time, which makes work so much fun! I love it. Everyone’s getting to know each other and we’re all becoming one big Kitchen Family. Its great. J

So now I’m sitting at the coffee shop, without internet until Thursday at the earliest. I’ve decided to keep up with my blog in the meantime since I’ve nothing else to take up my evenings after work. Danielle is sitting beside me on the tan suede couch doing some Braille work for a course she’s taking elsewhere and Dan is sitting across from us in a big arm chair, probably surfing the web. He’s a returning student so he already has the pass codes he needs. I’m just waiting until they give me the Student handbook and I can sign the form I need agreeing to the terms to receive my pass codes. Yay! I really can’t wait but you’ve probably already figured that out.

I don’t know what I’ll spend the rest of my evening doing but I’m sure that when I get back to the dorm, I’ll throw the window open and listen to the cows, occasional siren from the fire station down the road and all the Night Creatures that fill the air with lovely little noises.

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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

4:45 PM

I have determined that I am destined to live with interesting Wednesdays for the rest of my life. J

Last night, I was texting Megan on the way home from work and she ended up coming over to the dorm to hang out with me for awhile. As you know, I had nothing left to do yesterday evening after spending time in the coffee shop and finishing up my blog. As Danielle and I were sitting on the couch side by side, I looked at her and she looked at me. Our little plan to amuse ourselves in the Coffee Shop was beginning to bore us to no end. We decided to take our laptops back to the dorm and go for a walk. Our boredom had reached that point that ANYTHING different would be better than what we’d been doing, so we headed across Campus.

Megan called and said she was on her way over and wanted to know if I’d be busy. I was thrilled to pieces to have her come over. Danielle ended up getting a call from her brother so Megs and I headed over to the Coffee Shop to see if anybody wanted to come hang out in the dorm and do a Facial. She sells Mary Kay and had to have thirty facials in within the next two weeks so this was the perfect opportunity for her. A few of the girls, who had no idea what a facial was mind you, agreed to come over and hang out with us. Megs and I ran back to the dorm, unloaded her car and set up everything in the LeForce living room. The two of us chatted while we waited and finally when all the girls showed up, we turned on some music and began our little Mary Kay party.

Megs was a little nervous, this being her second party ever. She did an amazing job, by the way! J

All the girls had fun and loved the products. A few girls who don’t wear makeup because they didn’t want to look painted actually liked it too. They were surprised at how natural they still looked, since Mary Kay only enhanced what they already had! I foresee them wearing makeup in the future, just between us.

Finally, the girls went back to their dorms and Megs and I packed up her stuff. It was quarter after ten, so Megs decided to stay for awhile. We curled up on the couches and talked about everything under the sun until about five to midnight. It was awesome! I love Megs to pieces, she’s really great.

I finished up some things in my dorm room and went to bed exhausted. It was a good kind of exhaustion, and I fell asleep instantly. I woke up once at five-thirty, surprised that I had actually slept so soundly. I didn’t have to be up until six, so I rolled over and went back to sleep.

A door must have slammed or something, because the next thing I knew I bolted upright in bed. I glanced at the clock. Seven twenty-six. I just about had a heart attack as I threw back my quilt and bolted out of bed.

“It cant be right. There is no way on Earth I overslept!” I told myself, as I quickly brushed my teeth at the sink. I turned around, stared hard at the clock for a moment and threw myself into speedy action. I pulled a skirt and a work shirt out my closet, tossed them over the ironing board and plugged in my iron.

Apparently when I had silenced my phone when I was with Megs last night, I had forgotten to turn the ringer back on … I know. Pretty dumb, right?!!

About ten minutes later, I grabbed my bag, cell phone and dorm key and slid into my tennis shoes. I met Danielle on my way over and she laughed. She said that since breakfast was at seven-thirty only a few people missed me. Thank goodness I wasn’t late for work!

I’m not a big fan of breakfast anyway, so I wasn’t terribly upset at missing breakfast. But I abhor the thought of being late to anything, so I was feeling the stress of everything right off the bat. I let the kitchen door slam behind me, I grabbed an apron and looped my ponytail through my work hat. Taking a quick breath, I headed into the cafeteria. Everyone was still sitting down enjoying their breakfast. I grabbed a glass of water and wasted some time with the girls from my dorm before we all had to clock in.

The first two hours of our morning were spent doing some hands-on work in the kitchen. James showed us how the meat slicer and the dishwasher worked until we could take them apart and put them together to his approval. Since I had already worked the kitchen for Camp Barnabas, I got a refresher course on the drink machines which for some reason is one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen.

Then, we had another two hour Staff Meeting. Sounds super boring but it has its interesting moments and random humor. Its all good, although at times all the information tends to be altogether overwhelming! James has assured Becky and I that no matter how bad all the training gets, we will learn it eventually. He reminded us that there are no dumb questions unless they are never asked. So if we ever have a problem or don’t quite know how something ought to be done, all we have to do is go ask someone. Pretty simple stuff, I know! J

Next, we began lunch prep. We did the Sandwich Bar again, with the addition of Broccoli and Cheddar soup. I worked the dish pit and cleanup. I forget what its official name is, but we have a big pot in the kitchen that stands on a large shelf. Its just one machine, actually…rather than a pot but I really can’t remember the name of it at the moment. Everything in this kitchen has a name, and most are French to my dismay. L

So anyway, I had cleaned the particular “pot” twice during Camp Barnabas this Summer so I vaguely remembered how to clean it. James came over and ran through the process with me and then left me on my own. I grabbed the hose hanging on a hook behind the “pot” and filled it almost three quarters full. I grabbed a Scrubbee (what every ordinary kitchen would call a Brill pad … of sorts) and gave the inside and outside a good scrubbing. Hints the name Scrubbee!

Michael and I were the only ones working kitchen at the time, since everyone else was either working in the dish pit, the sandwich bar or on their lunch break. So he held another pot beneath the big “pot” that I was working on, while I tilted it by its lever and dumped the water out. He then took his pot to the big stainless steel sink and emptied it. I refilled mine with water and some soap and set to cleaning it again.

By the time we had emptied out the second or third pot of water, and I had wiped the “pot” in its entirety it was shining. Michael moved on to cleaning the Steamer, and I helped out in the dish pit. Soon, the rest of us took our own lunch break and settled in for another short Staff meeting after cleaning up.

Mr. Dallas let us off around one-thirty to go back to the dorm and get some sleep. I ended up being off for the rest of the day since I wasn’t working dinner shift. I got a little nap in and then journaled for awhile. Kristen and Leigh, two of the girls who work maintenance here, came in and put my window screen back. They had spent the day washing windows and were just getting around to putting mine back together. They did an excellent job, because my windows are now squeaky clean! J

Mom called so I talked to her for a little while, then got ready for church. I skipped dinner because I just wasn’t hungry. My ride to church is out of town for the week so I called Megs and asked if I could go to church with her tonight. Once the rest of the students get here on Friday, I will have a ride to and from church but for tonight, going with Megs will be great!

So for the time being, I’m just sitting here at my desk all ready for church and watching the colors on my Bubble clock fade into various shades. For some crazy reason I really like this new clock of mine. Maybe it’s the every changing lighting or something, I don’t know.

All in all, minus getting super stressed over waking up and actually being LATE …. And having to fill out an I-9 form for the first time in my life and having my driver’s license with its incredibly horrid picture copied for my files today, it was a Good Day!

Praise the Lord, I’ve made it through yet another day. J

P.S. Okay, so its ten twenty-five and since I work breakfast shift tomorrow I’m heading to bed soon. Just wanted to let you guys know that tonight was twice as nice as I had anticipated. The plan is for me to attend Emmanuel Baptist Church in Kings Mountain but like I said earlier, my ride for tonight ended up being out of town. Megan came about six-eighteen and picked me up, we got to church and sat in the car for maybe five minutes to catch a breather and relax for a second.

She had just come from work and I’d had one of those interesting days where the chance to relax stress-free for all of even TWO minutes was terrific news!

Megs helps out with the youth program on Wednesday nights so I had the opportunity to work with kids. That’s one thing I love about church — just a wonderful ministry to work with kids. J

So for an hour and a half I heard kids saying “Miss Brittany, Miss Brittany” … it was fantastic. We did songs and games. We had the usual bumped head or injured knee, its pretty much all part of the territory. But everybody was fine and had a fun time.

All the workers collapsed all the chairs and set up for RU this Friday night after the kids loaded into the vans. Both of Meg’s brothers had to work tonight so we stopped by Chick-fil-a on the way back to the dorm since neither of us had to be back for awhile yet.

One of Megan’s friends who just came back from a Summer Mission’s Trip to Nicaragua called her to let her know she was back in the states so she dropped in to grab a bite to eat and chat. We sat there for almost an hour, and it was sooooo nice not to have to go back to the dorm with nothing to do.

Not that being at Chick-fil-a was an altogether horrid thing either. It was totally fantastical! J

So, I just got in and I’m heading to bed now so I won’t have a repeat of today. Wish me luck, everybody … I’m pulling the super terrific Breakfast Shift tomorrow.

And no, I’m not worried about a thing in case anyone’s wondering. hee hee

~ Goodnight

Monday, August 17, 2009

8:37 PM

This morning we threw a load of laundry in and headed over to the college. I had prepared myself for this all weekend, so I walked through the door with my head held high and ready for whatever lay ahead of me.

I got my key from Ms. Bradanick, the Dean of Women and made my way across the street to the Jeanne Leforce dorm. Daddy pulled the van up outside and we all made quick work of unloading all my stuff into a somewhat scattered pile in the middle of my room. Since I’m working and had to be here a week early, the lights were all off and the room was a bit stuffy.

None of this mattered much, because after I flipped the lights on I noticed a continuous theme throughout this new place I’d call Home. Pink. Everything from the curtains, and the walls to the carpet on the floor. It was all various shades of Pink. Hmmm, this would definitely take some getting used to. At home, my walls were green. My bedding was green. Everything in my room was accented with green. Knowing me as most of you do, you would already be well aware that green and blue are my two favorite colors and as far as a decorating scheme would go . . . Pink would most definitely fall far down the list.

I shrugged my shoulders, no matter. J

I tackled the bed with Mckenna and Elaina with great success. I was pleasantly surprised at the finished product. It was all layer upon layer of comfy-ness and I loved it. There were my wonderfully smooth vintage sage sheets in a paisley pattern, and then the cool softness of my down comforter and homey green and cream quilt to top it all off. My bear, never to be left behind or forgotten by any means, lay in the middle of my pillow. It wasn’t home, but it sure was a start.

Next, the girls began to help me unpack my storage containers. I was rather adamant about not bringing suitcases along because I could just see myself bringing a multitude of suitcases now. No thank you, my boxes suited this girl just fine!

Mom wanted to make a quick run to Wal-Mart to grab some more hangers and a small refrigerator so I ran over to the kitchen real quick to talk to my boss, Mr. Dallas. He was busy talking with the parents of another kitchen worker so I waited. One of my friends stopped by and I talked to him for a few minutes until my boss had a minute. Another one of my friends was talking to Mom and the girls in the Van when I came back out so we stayed a little while longer and talked.

The quick trip to Wal-Mart turned into an hour long deal, resulting in a whole bunch of good stuff to unload in my room. A key chain ended up getting thrown into the cart to keep track of my dorm key, which I will have to keep with me night and day. If I lose that thing . . . Well, I just won’t be losing it. J

By the time we got back, it was time for me to head to work. I dropped mom and the girls off at the dorm to finish unloading the van and went to work. I had no idea what type of work I’d be doing today since none of the other students were arriving until next Friday. Work was a breeze, it ended up being a staff meeting that lasted somewhere close to two hours. Okay, so that was all fine and dandy. It really was, because my boss covered a lot of good stuff and I got a chance to meet my co-workers. Or, the ones I didn’t already know from working here this past Summer.

I had fifteen minutes between the meeting and supper so I headed back to my dorm to say a final goodbye to Mom and the girls before they left to go pick up Dad who had a meeting with my Pastor this afternoon. They showed me where they’d put everything and I discovered that Kenna had bought me some cutesy little magnets for my refrigerator. I had remarked earlier that I wished I had thought to buy some magnets for the fridge to make it more homey and Kenna had gone out while I was at work just to buy me some! She’s so awesome, I love her to pieces!

They loaded my fridge full of Vitamin Water and Starbucks Frappachino’s to my surprise and delight. My new Bubble clock with its seemingly one-hundred and one flickering lights was plugged in beside my laptop on my desk in the corner and my room smelled of Caramel Cream and Bliss Febreeze. They had done everything within their power to make my new room feel like home and I was so very thankful. God has blessed me with a fantastic family and I love them!

For those of you who don’t already know . . . I adore Febreeze with a passion! J

By this time, it was getting close to Dinner so I hugged and kissed them goodbye, snapped a few pictures and walked them to the Van. I walked to the kitchen, never looking back as they left the parking lot. In my opinion, that is the ONLY way to do it. It was like I’d see them sometime soon, rather than months down the road.

I sat with Danielle, a girl who lives next door to me. She and I instantly clicked, maybe its because we both share the same name? I don’t know, but she’s a really nice girl. She comes from a family of five, I come from a family of six. We’re both the oldest of all the kids and love taking care of our siblings. Okay, so basically you’re just starting to see a few similarities of why we became friends so easily. Thank the Lord for the way He works things out, because I am also in the same dorm as some friends I worked with this past Summer for Camp Barnabas.

After supper, Danielle and I came back to my room and crashed for something close to an hour and a half. She sat on one bed and I sat on mine, and we just talked and laughed, getting to know one another a bit better. It was nice. About eight-something, she went to her room to finish unpacking and I decided to call Mom and Dad. Dad answered the phone and we laughed over his funny phone message where he had pretended to be sniffing and crying his way through the whole thing. Typical Daddy — always awesome and super fantastic!

I got off the phone, organized a few things and walked aimlessly around my room feeling somewhat lonely. There are some people staying in the guest rooms that are located on the back end of my dorm, the entrance to both rooms is just outside my window so I watched them come and go as they unloaded their suitcases and such. Noticing the latch on my window, I went over to it and spun it around. It unlocked with ease and I lifted the window closest to my desk.

A funny little bird was chirping noisily in the tree outside my window and the night critters were just beginning to fill the air with comforting sounds I’d hear back home.

So here I sit, in front of my computer at my tiny wooden desk in the corner of my room. Listening to the sounds of cows mooing, night creatures and that tiny bird. My little clock is sitting on the desk beside me, changing colors in a slow methodic fashion. Perhaps if I’m bored at some point I will count the different shades of blues, greens, pinks, orange, and purples.

For now though, I think I will grab a Vitamin Water from the fridge and listen to my cows. Call me crazy if you will, but I grew up listening to cows almost every day of my life. Now they are yet another link to home for me and I have claimed them (or at least the sound of them) for my own.

I look back on this day and sigh in relief. Day one down and who knows how many more to go but I have made it thus far and know God will grant me wisdom, grace and strength to continue. I’m excited about starting work tomorrow, I hear we have yet another staff meeting but we’ll also have eight to ten hour days until Tuesday when our regular schedules will take effect.

I have yet to set my alarm which will become a vital part of my new life, so I’d better take a break for now and go figure it out. You know how new clocks are . . . The same as watches. Only slightly more complicated, of course! J

  Wow, its Saturday already! And not only is it Saturday, its also August 15th.  I’m trying to figure out just where all my time has flown to. Just last week, my cousin remarked “I don’t know where time has gone, but I think I’d like to go there.”  My sentiments exactly!

   I’ve had a terrific Summer, which will officially end this Monday. Mom, Dad, the girls and I arrived in Shelby about two o’clock yesterday afternoon. We grabbed some lunch at Subway after an uneventful, and rather enjoyable trip. As we were sitting there eating, Mom looked over at me and smiled. “Welcome Home, Brit.”

  I smiled weakly, I wasn’t sure how this whole moving thing was going to turn out. I’m the type of person that would prefer not to discuss things and just silently ponder them in my head. My motto is Hacuna Mattadaso any outward show of worry or stress is entirely against my nature. Maybe its my human pride but I like to have everything planned out and not have a whole bunch of unknowns all pelter me at once; I like to at least LOOK  like I’ve got things under control, not freaking out like the next person.

Since we’re trading houses with some friends of ours who are in Virginia this week, we killed some time and went to the Cleveland Mall. The Shoe Lover in me was absolutely heartbroken to find that the mall held no Shoe Haven for me . . . I’m talking Payless, people. I went shopping with Nicky the other day and we found some really cute shoes. Why I didn’t get them right then and there I will never know, but now I have the delicioustask of knocking myself over the head because there was no Payless to be found and the half a dozen Shoe Dept. in Shelby just don’t have them! oh well, we shall cry over spilled milk later. hee hee

  So we did some shopping and then went to our friends house and crashed. They left us the WiFi code much to my delight and a stack of DVD’s to entertain ourselves. The girls pulled out Madagascar 2 and we laughed our way through the movie. We’re accustomed to watching the Penguins of Madagascar which is outrageously funny so we of course, loved it!

   About six-thirty, we all got up and got ready for Reformer’s Unamimous. Some of our friends run it and we had gone before when we had visited NC so we decided to go last night to help out. They ended up needing a pianist so I filled in and thankfully, everything went rather smoothly. After finishing up the opening songs for them, the girls and I headed over to where the kids and a few of our friends were watching a movie.

    After that, we ran to the store and then went to our friend’s house for a late snack and ended up staying until something to Two in the morning. But it was so much fun getting together and catching up even if we did stay late. If nothing else, they will be the one thing that make college life absolutely fantastic! They’re like family away from home.

  I ended up staying up until something to four this morning, uploading pictures to Facebook. After living with dial-up, I am totally taking advantage of the high speed here! So after everybody was up and going this morning, we went to grab some lunch and do some shopping in Gastonia. To my delight, I found a Payless, American Eagle and an Aeropostale in the mall. I didn’t end up finding those super cute shoes that I had picked up the other day but I was happy to find that some of my favorite stores were within in twenty-five minutes of the college. Not half bad when one is used to living in the Boonedocks and driving thirty minutes to the nearest mall.

   Shelby doesn’t have any Starbucks, unlike Charlottesville and its four or five. But it has an interesting variety of Coffee shops and cute Restaurants. This is my new home for the next four years and I’m finding it to my liking, in all honesty. It isn’t the teensy, tiny town of Scottsville where everybody knows everybody and all the stores are within walking distance. It isn’t Charlottesville with its liberalism, FIVE Starbucks all in close proximity to one another, and my family within close driving distance. But its Home away from Home and I’ll make the best of everything that is thrown my way, good or bad.

   My storage containers are stacked in the living room of the house we’re staying at and I’m half anticipating, half dreading moving in to the dorm this Monday. I can’t wait to put the sheets on my bed, and finish it all off with my down comforter and sage green and cream quilt. With my special teddy bear, all my things organized in the plastic drawers, dresser and closet it will feel like home. Well, almost but not quite. And that will be just dandy!

   Hey Everybody! I apologize for not posting in weeks. I’ve  probably had one of the absolute craziest Summers yet. Its been one thing right after the next and now I spend all my time working and getting ready to head to College. The plans have changed somewhat and I’ll be arriving in Shelby, NC on the 14th of August.  I’m so excited to be finally preparing for school. I don’t know that I will be able to resume blogging once I get there but I will do my best. For now, I’ve got a pile of College Stuff  lined up against the wall in my room and its steadily growing. Everything I’m not used to buying for a single person. All the boring things that MOM usually buys; things I never really think about. Laundry detergent, Shampoo, Laundry Hampers . . . the list goes on and on. I’ve lived eighteen years of my life using these kinds of things every single day and yet it suddenly hit me the other day that I’ll be the one buying them from now on. Um, that thought could be slightly exciting, right?

   Well, if you’re not entirely thrilled with the prospect of buying all the above necessities, how does funky *super cute* binders, new clothes, and everything you can convince Mom you absolutely NEED sound? No worries, my friends, I’m sharing the load too.

   I’m looking forward to spending my last weekend with Mom and Dad in Shelby. We’re going to stay at a Friend’s house while they’re gone so we have a few days to do any extra shopping and visit with old friends. Then I’ll go to work and start school the week after that.

 Until then, I wish you all the best remainder of your Summer!

I won’t be posting this weekend, as we have company in for the 4th of July and I’ll be keeping quite busy. I wish everyone a happy 4th of July weekend.

 Keep in mind, what this weekend is all about. Don’t get so caught up in all the cookouts, fireworks, parades, candy and all-out celebrations that you forget to thank God for the Freedom you enjoy. We are truly blessed to live in America!

  One day, we may lose our FREEDOM. We need to keep our Country, as well as our leaders, in prayer. Never take for granted everything that surrounds you. Your home. Your Family. Your Country. Your Freedom.

                                                                     Happy 4th, Everyone!