Nacrotizing Fasciitis

This was one of our conversations last night at dinner.
Tucker: So, today I was pretty sure I had nacrotizing fasciitus.
(for those of you whose husbands haven't had close encounters with this as much as my husband has- it's a flesh eating bacteria)
Rebecca: Really, it has to enter through a cut or sore. Where's your open wound?
Tucker: Right here!
(In just the right light, I see a tiny cut at the base of his thumb)
Rebecca: Why did you think you have nacrotizing fasciitis?
Tucker: I was feeling achy, and I looked up the symptoms and was having several of them. And the cut is on my left side, if I lost my left side I wouldn't be able to write!
Rebecca: Why don't you think you have it anymore?
Tucker: Well, it turns out I was just nervous for my presentation. After it was over, I felt fine.

By the way- his supervisor told him after his presentation... "Tucker, you're really kicking ass here!" He's so smart!

God is our Provider

As we adjust to living on one income, we are also realizing how good God has provided for us. We were going to have to take from our savings each month, if our expenses stayed the same. But, this month is the last month for my car payment (caching!), and we refinanced our house so that takes another $200/month off of our expenses (caching! caching!). Our direct TV contract ends this month, and our land line phone contract ends this month! So, we have just what we need now to live on one income! We really know that God has provided perfectly for us during this time. He is so good! We were just talking last night and amazed at how He is our wonderful Provider. He has definitely reminded us that He cares for us, He knows us individually, and he cares for our needs! Thank you Lord!

It's ours!

So, we finally paid off my car! YEAH!!!! I'm so excited about this one. We paid it off last week. Tucker really didn't even want me driving it last week because he felt like it was just going to blow up or something after we sent our last payment in. How crazy, it's not like it has a target on it now. My paranoid husband...

In other news, I got in a wreck today! A 15 year old boy went out into an intersection, changed his mind, and reversed right into the front of my car. Aaagghh!

Classes...

So, I just started three new classes for the fall. I was actually excited to get started to add some interest to my days. I'm taking a course on teaching writing that requires us to write for 30 minutes each day (among other less exciting things). There are so many stories that I have in my head that I've been wanting to write about. I think I'm definitely going to enjoy this class. The other class is all about research. Do you know how hard it is for me to read a chapter about statistics and get it? I need visuals! The questions at the end of some of these chapters seem like they haven't been explained (Interpret the following in ordinary language: Rxy= +.90, p<.05). Yeah, I'm so sure....
I was originally planning on taking 3 classes and teaching, which I knew would be crazy, but had no idea how crazy! These first two weeks I had 17 chapters to read. Yeah, I think maybe God was giving me the gift of sanity by not giving me a job... so far (still open to something part time).

We're done... almost!

So, we finally finished all the big projects with the reno. Yea! We have a list of about 15 things left, but these are all little things (30 minutes-1 hour). The problem with this list is that it's been at about 15 things for about a month. We do a project and then more things get added to the list. Like after we grouted the tile, then we needed to touch up the paint around the tile on the wall. So, we have 15 things on our list, maybe they'll go away... or maybe that's normal for home owners.

I'll post some pictures when I can figure out how to get the camera off the timer mode. Help Tucker!

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil;

I found out in June that the writing contract work I was doing last year was being cut out of the budget for this next year (this dang economy!). So... I started (although it was uncomfortably late) looking for a teaching job. I never realized how I took for granted that this job would always be there for me to fall back on. I never thought this whole economic crisis would be affecting me! I mean, I'm a bilingual teacher, you need me people! This is one thing I've realized- even the most secure job or situation can be taken away, nothing is guaranteed except the foundation of the gospel and God's promises!
Well, apparently all the thousands of teachers laid off in CA and AZ have meandered over here. I talked to a principal (who didn't have any openings) who showed me a stack of resumes about 3 inches high that he'd received. Needless to say, I went around to each school with openings, to find they weren't openings at all. All of them had already been filled! Even a huge school that is just bilingual already filled its positions.
I think the most discouraging was that the old school I worked at had a 3rd grade bilingual position (this is what I've taught). I already knew the team I'd be working with and had been volunteering there the past year. But, the principal was new :( . He ended up hiring someone who wasn't even certified bilingual (she will have until November to be certified)! It's frustrating that I'm certified and have experience with bilingual and that grade, and have great test scores from my students, but yet he wouldn't even give me the time of day.
I was really depressed about this for about 2 months, but recently am more at peace about it. The doors have so obviously been slammed in my face, that I feel that God is telling me "no." I'm not sure why, but that's okay.
We heard a sermon on Psalm 23. The pastor said that the "anoints my head with oil" was referring to a practice shepherds did with their sheep to cover their heads with a spicy oil mixture that averted their predators. Although the sheep don't like it, it's for their protection. So, for some reason, God has put "smelly oil" all over me. Each time I get discouraged I picture me handing my desire over to God on his throne as I say a prayer, which helps me as the visual learner that I am.

What's wrong with me people?

This is Rebecca's hubby again, sneaking in a post while the cat's away (the "cat" being Rebecca and "away" meaning that she's sound asleep). I just wanted to write so that I could get on my soapbox for a change (is "soapbox" another word for "kitchen counter"?).


I mean, lately it feels like we're only motivated to work on our house when we have some deadline that pops up...and usually it means a week of having little sleep, a few cuts and bruises, and a lot of bran (there's just something about fiber that keeps me going). It seems like we've realized this fact, because deadlines keep popping up every week: my parents coming to visit, Rebecca's dad coming to visit, our Bible study group coming over to eat, the mail man coming to deliver more junk mail...it never ends! Don't get me wrong; I love having people over (except the mail man of course...he and I are like oil and water...we just don't mix). But these deadlines are going to be the end of me. To show the effects of all this rush-ed-ness, here's a picture of our lovely butcher block countertop just out of the box:


And moments later, here's me trying to repair a big chunk I accidentally cut out of it:


I mean, eventually we seem to get to the end, despite all the missteps. For example, here's one of our countertops after it was put in:


It just seems like, with all this hurrying about, weird things keep happening lately. I mean, no one has been able to find our neighbor's cat, Lucky, since we recently closed up the walls in our living room.

On an unrelated note, I need to hire an electrician to come over to inspect the wiring I've done in the walls. Whenever I turn on the lights, the switch makes a "meow-y" sound.

Oh shoot...gotta go...