Good Friends, Good Times

Since this time last year when Laura Little decided to puddle-hop her way down to St. Kitts, I have not gotten the quality time with her I so cherished when she was in Baton Rouge.  These occasional Skype chats and phone calls from random New Jersey numbers just aren't the same as kicking back with a glass of wine (hoping the pretty labels tell what's inside...), and enjoying a good conversation with a good friend.

In September, my awesome friend drove three hours to go have dinner with me for an hour, and then drove back.  She is that amazing.  

Last night, I drove to Baton Rouge to meet up with her.  When I was watching the Biel children last semester, their dad gave me a gift certificate to his restaurant, The Bonefish Grill.  Dinner for two up to 45 dollars.  I finally got to use it.  Laura and I went to the fancy establishment, and she, because she is awesome, covered the difference after the 45 dollars.  We had the best time I can remember having in Louisiana in a long time.  Crab cakes, juicy filet mignon, strawberry shortcake, and two glasses of the best white wine I've ever had....  so worth the drive.  

The best part though, was the amazing girl bonding time that I've missed so much.  So many nights Laura would come to my rescue when I was having a "girl moment," and just needed someone to eat ice cream with, and to tell me to stop being silly. My heart and my mind have a hard time communicating.  My mind knows a lot of practical things that my heart tends to have a problem accepting.  There's a short in the connection.  Laura, even if only briefly, always finds a way to connect them for me.  For some reason, she never fails to make me feel better.  

I have missed this.  I miss the good company.  Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to, I cannot afford to fly down to St. Kitts each time I have Laura withdrawals.  This only perpetuates the problem.  I know we are bound to live in separate places for pretty much the rest of our lives, but I have to say, it makes driving to Baton Rouge for dinner with a friend ever so sweet.  

To my Laura, what would I do without you? 

Less than five

I've never in my life thought five weeks seemed like such a long time.

When first considering the sudden move, I felt as though six weeks was the shortest time period possible.  Now that I'm ready to go, the remaining four weeks and five days feel like an eternity.  

I can't wait to step off the plane and realize that it I will be stepping off as a New York resident, no longer a frequent visitor.  Chills run down my spine just thinking of it.  I am excited, to say the least.  It blows my mind to think that, after all these years, I'm going.  No turning back. 

I will miss my friends down here, but when I think of all the things I miss in New York, I can't wait to be with them.  My New York friends are really under my skin.  For those of you who read this, please note that you are tremendously missed and I can't wait to be with you all the time.  We're almost there.  

I cannot wait to be at Graffiti every Sunday.  For the past two years, I thought of that church each Sunday, and dreamed of the day I could join them for good.  Even more exciting, I cannot wait to see how God uses this summer to shape my life.  As much work as I plan to do for him, I know he always seems to outdo me in terms of returns...  that is why he is God and I am not.  

It is super difficult to focus right now, knowing what I will be doing shortly.  Chelsea is good at helping me feel like I can quit :)  I thank her for this.  Each time I call, I ask "Can I move today?"  She always responds with a yes. Chris, on the other hand, likes to remind me that I have to stick around to get the paycheck so that I can afford to move... and that my kiddos still need to learn whether they want to or not. I don't like being reminded that I have to be responsible.  I want to be working with the youth, and being with my friends.  Not to mention all of the prep work I still have to do between now and then...  Truth is though, that is exactly why I need to be reminded. 

These next five weeks need to fly by.  This one is pretty jam-packed: Hornets game, Dinner with Laura Little, Jazz Fest, etc.... not to mention all of the events at school this week.  Despite that, this feels like the longest Monday ever.  

Please continue to pray that I can focus on finishing out the year properly, and getting these kids through the material they must get through.  Also pray that the funding would be available for me to get through the summer.  I'm doing a great job at being financially responsible right now, but the summer is when it must pay off.  

Also, pray for guidance in what I do with my life.  I like teaching, but I'm not so sure it is what I am supposed to do forever.  I would really like to work in ministry full time, but until I know that's a calling for me, I can't afford to jump into it without the money.  I have lots of loans to take care of.  

Workin' hard for the money

Going back to work is very difficult when you know it's coming to an end, and your eye is on the prize.

My kids can tell I'm not focused, which makes it even worse.  They don't want to do anything, and frankly, neither do I.  With only four weeks left, we have a lot to cover, but they have reached the point where they feel like, with only four weeks left, we shouldn't cover anything. 

It's frustrating.  Very frustrating.  I've given up on discipline though.  At this point, detention only serves as a waste of my time.  Punishwork is never complete, and honestly, I don't really feel like failing 20 students simply because they refuse to participate.  I'm just gonna go in, present the work, if they do it, great, if not, that's their problem, and if they choose to learn, then we will learn.  It is that simple. 

I am going to do my best over the next four weekends to get the house clean and get my stuff packed and ready to go.  I have a lot of work to do around here to get ready to leave.  I need to organize and figure out what things are worth keeping, and among those things, which will move with me.  It's overwhelming, but I have to get it done.  When I stop and think about where they are going, my desire to get organized comes back, and I am more driven.  

Five weeks from today, at this very hour, I will be on a plane.  I'm gonna be a part of it. 

I'll Be Back...

I love how God works sometimes.

I've been needing a pick-me-up, and a reminder of why I'm moving to New York.  A trip up there was the perfect way to do this, and boy oh boy did it change my plans.

Drastically. 

I've been trying to work out the details of my big move in my head, and the closer it got, the scarier it got.  When I landed at JFK, I was exhausted from having stayed up all night, then I had to fight the MTA as always to get to Ruth's to drop off my things.  I tend to doubt my desire to move to the city every time I get on the trains for the first time...  

As the day went on though, my exhausted delirious self began to change my opinion.  I had some quality time with Ruth, which I haven't had in a long time, and we got to talk about the joys of teaching.  Then I went into the city to show up at church, only to find out that no one was at church for the day.  I called Chris to come hang out with me, and while I waited on him, I sat in Thomkins Square Park, and it all started to come back to me.  The flowers were preparing to bloom, something I've never witnessed.  My first exposure to this park was in the middle of winter when there was NO vegetation, much less beautiful flowers. 

I had dinner with Chelsea, but by that point I could barely function.  I slept 12 hours that night...  

THEN the week really got started.  We found out that all of the Graffiti summer missionaries fell through.  This broke my heart.  We jokingly discussed the idea of having me come up for the summer, but I didn't think anything of it. 

The next day, I was waiting on the subway by myself, and admiring the people (if ever you ask me what is a must-do in the city, I will tell you people watching).  Suddenly, the wheels started turning (thank's God, I love how he does this!).  What if I saved every dime for the next month, and funded myself as a summer missionary!  No, that's not possible, right?  

Not only that, but that's only SIX WEEKS away, and I don't know that I'm ready to leave yet.... right??  

These thoughts stuck with me throughout the day, and for some reason, I kept thinking maybe God was telling me something.  I prayed about it a lot over the next couple of days, and what do you know, I started to feel comfortable with it.  So comfortable in fact that I couldn't imagine going back home and NOT coming back in a matter of weeks.  

So after much prayer, and consideration, I am now OFFICIALLY moving at the end of May.  Scary, yes.  Awesome and exciting, yes too.  

My flights kept getting cancelled before I ever even left for the airport, and I got an extra day in the city as a result.  A full 28 hours actually, which meant I got to stay for two days of after-school.  It was sooo worth it.  I may have missed a little bit more work than I would have liked, but God works in the most beautiful ways, and it even provided the opportunity for me to run into one of my favorite families at the airport before I left.  

Please keep praying that I will have the discipline to save my money, and that the doors will continue to open.  Please also pray for wisdom and guidance as I take this next step.  

Airports See it All the Time

I am, once again, at Louis Armstrong at 5:30 am waiting to go visit my home-away-from-home.

Or, future home...  

That sounds better. 

I love airports.  Though I'm usually anxious to get on the plane and get some sleep (for these 6 am flights, I pull an all-nighter so as not to oversleep and miss the plane), I love watching the people.  Airports are especially interesting when you are going to JFK.  Such an airport is the gateway to the world.  I like to try and figure out the final destinations of the others on my flight.  Many times, they are not going to New York, rather, they are stopping in on their way somewhere exciting.  

Sometimes they are going home to a place they miss sweetly (something I will learn of soon).  Sometimes, they are going away to visit a dear friend (something I do all the time).  

I am getting ready to board, so I must keep this one short.  Farewell dear void. 

And so it is...

I'm pretty sure losing a student in the middle of LEAP testing is one of the crappiest things that could happen.

Last night I got a call that the rumor around Westwego was that one of our students, one of my beloved First Period kids, had collapsed at the mall and died.  This is the class I have the best relationship with.  I hoped it was just rumor, and when I got to school, the principal hadn't heard yet, so I assumed it was just that.  

Then, when I told the principal what had been said, she called the mother, and confirmed that he had, in fact, died last night.  I knew my first period would be distraught, and saw some of them walking around in a daze.  I was very upset, and had some counselors come to my room since I knew the first people in here would be his class.  We decided to cancel testing for the day, since none of these kids would be capable of taking a Reading Comprehension test today.  

It was hard to see some of my most "macho" kids watery eyed and unable to talk.  After sitting in silence for about half an hour, I finally put on a movie so we could try to break the tension.  They kids are now talking and trying to refocus.  I keep hearing them tell stories about "Buck," as they called him.  He currently as a 100% average in my class, and I've never once had a behavior problem with him.  As a matter of fact, if I had to rank the top five students who give me joy, I definitely would have put him on it.  He was truly a joy to teach.  I brag about him to other teachers all the time.  

It's been a rough day, and I don't quite know how it's going to affect our test scores, but for now, we're coping the best we can.  Please be in prayer for our school today. 

Running Running Running

I've been running like a beast, and I LOVE it.  I'm literally in the best shape of my life.  I beat my GOAL time from high school, that, in three years of intense high school cross country training, I never reached.  Not only did I beat it, I beat it by twenty seconds.  I'm feeling pretty good. I look better than ever (size 6 feels GREAT!!), and I feel healthy.  I finally feel like I wouldn't be looked at like a crazy person if I got certified as a trainer.

After years of talking about it, I finally registered to actually run the Crescent City Classic. I was supposed to be in New York, but after a change in plane ticket, I will be in town for that Saturday.  Needless to say, I'm pretty psyched about it!  I wish I had friends who ran so someone would go along with me in it, but I guess just getting it finished will be enough of an accomplishment.  I haven't run a road race in about three years, and I've never run a 10K (well, not racing at least, I've done PLENTY of them at practice). My goal is not extremely high.  I'm only looking to finish it in about an hour, but I am super giddy about the next two weeks of training! 

Testing Testing Testing

It's testing time, and in grand Worley fashion, this whole testing thing is EXTREMELY disorganized.  They want us to bring up their scores, but about ten minutes before we were supposed to start this morning, we realized we didn't have enough calculators for the students who were supposed to be using them during the test.

Due to such errors, along with kids not being in the right rooms, our test started over an hour and a half late, and now, it's one oclock, and my kids are still sitting in my room, watching a movie, and starving because we haven't taken them to lunch yet.  I've been giving them all the candy I have trying to keep them quiet and help them fulfill their hunger.  It is sad, very sad.  

Testing time is super boring, but it's pretty uneventful, and I have nothing stressful to do. No lessons to plan, no copies to make.  Just watch movies, color coloring sheets, and feed them lots of candy and popcorn.  Maybe once or twice we'll play a game. 

Anyway, I'm interested to see how this whole thing pans out, and after it's all done, it's Crescent City Classic time, as well as Easter with the family, and then NEW YORK.  Gosh I miss those people.