Ten on Tuesday

1. Well, I did end up getting to see Tevis last week! He came home for three and a half days before eventually leaving on Saturday afternoon. I spent a considerable amount of that time with him, since I knew that it would be awhile before I saw him again. (He doesn't get back from Colorado until the 11th...Yuck!) I really, really missed him (as if you couldn't tell), but I made the most of the time he was here. The one thing that I must say is that you don't know how happy I am that he actually did end up going to Texas, because it postponed his trip to Denver by a week. His dad actually lives near Aurora (I think) and he very possibly could have been in that theater on the night of that horrendous shooting, since he and his brother love superhero movies. I guess it goes to prove that everything happens the way it does for a reason. Conversely, it saddens me to think about what atrocities some people choose to inflict on innocent people. Some things, I'll never understand...

2. On a much lighter note, Saturday was the Carr family pool party! They couldn't have picked a better day to have a pool party, because the temperatures were upwards of 105-110 degrees. It felt great to take a dip in the pool and enjoy some delicious food. Not only were those things great, I also loved getting to hang out with Tonisha and her family! I am so grateful to have friends whose families treat you like one of their own!

3. After I got done at the pool party, I had nothing going on for the rest of the evening. I decided that I was going to go to a performance of "Fiddler on The Roof" that was going on at the Gaslight Theater. I really wanted to go because my cousin Evan and Owen & Evan (brothers, from my church) were in it, and I wanted to go watch them. Also, I have never seen this play before, although I have heard so much about it since it is a classic, of sorts. I have to say that it was well worth what I paid for my ticket...It was awesome!!! The casting was great, the vocals were delightful, and the famed bottle dance did not disappoint! (Cousin Evan and Owen were part of the bottle dancing crew, btw, so I was slightly biased!) If you are in the greater Enid area, I recommend finding time to go...there are four or five more performances, but Sunday is the last one. It will be well worth the ten dollars and three hours you will spend there! Bravo to all!!!

4. Speaking of next Sunday, it will be Andy's third birthday! He is very excited about it, and he has already picked out his birthday cake, which will be Thomas the Train, in strawberry. He is very much the big boy these days, although he still has a soft spot for snuggling. He is quite the kid, and he never fails to make us all laugh! I'm sure he is very excited about his party on Saturday.

5. Today, I was walking along the campus, on an errand to turn in my timecard. I was walking right in front of the library building when suddenly I heard a weird noise. I am very aware of my surroundings when walking around through there, but what I saw next left me in a panic. There was a large goose sitting right by the front door and it was flapping its wings like mad. Needless to say, I ran away shrieking, in my ornithophobic terror. When I came back a little while ago to enter the building for my afternoon tutoring, I forced myself to try to go back in that way, because I realize how silly it is to be afraid of birds. I cautiously stepped toward the door, where I found that the goose was long gone...Whew!

6. I am out of ideas for books to read. I am on the hold list for Mockingjay, but that isn't coming up quite as soon as I expected, even though I was number ten on the list and there are three copies to be had...Really? (I'm too much of a cheapskate to buy a hardcover, and it hasn't been released in paperback.) I have one more book around that I'll probably read, but after that, I've got nothing. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've love to hear them! :)

7. As an update on the employment front, I am enjoying my job. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: My boss is an awesome lady, and I love working for her! I've never been overrun in tutoring, but I have had enough people come in to keep me occupied. Also, I will be continuing on this path during this next year, so that should be great!

8. Looking a little bit to the future, I have received some correspondence from the new PLC sponsors regarding our upcoming retreat. It turns out that we will be retreating to the school's place on Kaw Lake with the PLC groups from the other campuses. I am excited, because I love retreats of any sort, especially icebreaker activities. I am also excited to meet the new people in our group. On the other hand, I'm not so excited for a couple of reasons. One, I am not exactly a big fan of the other PLC groups. You would think that they would be similar to us, but there's definitely a big difference between the groups...maybe location has something to do with that, I don't know. Also, you might remember that Kaw Lake was the place where my friend Tyler drowned a few months ago. I know that we won't be camping in the same part of the lake where he drowned, but I guess it's just the mental association I now have with the place. Maybe that seems childish, and maybe I'm overreacting, but right now, that's how I feel. Hopefully, we will have so much of a good time that I can overlook this fact and come to peace with the beautiful place.

9. Is anyone else getting overrun with squash and zucchini like my family has been? We have been coming up with "101 Ways to Use Zucchini"...not really, but it seems like it. Truth be told, production has slowed down in the past week or so, because I think our plants were infected by some sort of bug. Regardless, we have been supplementing most of our entrees with the veggies so that we can use it before they go to waste. I've noticed that with those crops, it is sometimes impossible to pawn it off on someone because either A) They, too, are overrun with them from their own garden, B) They have already been given some by another pawner, or C) They flat-out don't like them and, therefore want nothing to do with them. The group "C" people are missing out, because I think that they are delightful. Also, you can literally put them in anything, and you can't taste it! The other day, we shredded some up and made a zucchini cake, which Cody and Kyle absolutely LOVED! Cody told me that he didn't even realize there was zucchini in it, because it tasted so good. Also, he told me that he wanted the "squash cake" as his birthday cake! He might change his mind, but, even so, we have shredded and frozen some, just in case.
10. This Friday marks the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics!!! I have to keep reminding myself that it is then so that I don't miss it, because that is usually the best part of the whole thing, minus the swimming and gymnastics competitions, of course :) U-S-A!! U-S-A!!

Have a great week!!!