Finally!

Hey...not sure if this just published. If so, it wasn't supposed to. Oops.

What's up lady-o's? I'm in class right now. My students are taking an essay test. It's nice to have a day off from talking loudly to them and making them behave. Overall, it's been a great experience here. The students are a lot like the students at Buena Park. They do not see the intrinsic value in education, though they do desire to get good grades and succeed in life. Most of them are very sweet--there is one girl that drives me absolutely nuts (she talkst to her neighbor CONSTANTLY and acts annoyed at ME for interrupting when I ask her to be quiet--yeah, definite seat change coming right up) but I'm even warming up to her. Yesterday I was thinking that I'm not sure I want to teach anymore though. Gulp. It's just been a tiring first week and a half--we don't even have text books yet! So I've had to invent activities to keep us busy, even more than coming up with things to hep them learn. It is a very exhausting job; the teaching part is fun (think: college prof?) but the crowd control is frustrating. I think it would be a blast to get to teach upper division college courses. I'm kinda still thinking about going into optometry. But then, I really want to get married and have babies, and it would be nice to have summers off (of course, with optometry, I could set me own schedule if I went into private practice...!) Oooh, and then Hannah, you wouldn't be alone in the sciences anymore!

I am going to wait and see how things go once we are able to start, you know, reading. It will also help once my body has adjusted to mornings at 5:45. I keep screwing that up, though. Last weekend, I slept in Sat/Sunday and stayed up "late" (12:30) on Saturday hanging out with my big sis. Her hubby was at an entrepenuer (I have NO idea how to spell that, and I gave up completely on trying) conference, and I just finished reading this book on investing. I'm going to talk to him to get some ideas, but I'm really excited about getting my money to work for me. I'm planning on putting a couple hundred into stock each month. It makes a lot of sense, especially since i'm not used to spending that much each month. I'll be putting a lot more into some form of short-term savings other than a savings account (ie somethng that makes more interest, maybe a CD) but I don't really know what that means yet. The thought of making money is exciting, not because I want to hoarde it and have a big bank account, but because then I'll be open to letting the money flow through me, I won't be tied to one place/house/apartment, but can go when and where God directs, giving money and help to those to whom he directs me. That's a place my parents have never really been and I look forward to it!

In other news...I'm going on a college retreat this weekend (the speaker is Brennan Manning. Hannah do you remember Jonathan Taylor talking about him? I think he's the guy that wrote _The Ragamuffin Gospel_ and I think JT talked about him on occasion...). My new friend Courtney is going, and so is John the youth pastor and some other folks I've known for ages, though not well. I look forward to getting to know people better. I am still quite desperate for friends! Also, my ol' pal Austin is in town. I'm supposed to organize a little get-together of peeps who were around when Austin was around--so people that I at one time knew well. I was supposed to get on that Sunday, but I'm always so sleepy that I forget. I'm hoping tonight's not too late to let people know, because it would be fabulous to see people.

Yeah, absolutely crazy about the UC stuff. It makes me so angry; it's bad enough that they refuse to even admit that Darwinism is a highly doubtable theory, but refusing to let others admit that or teaching something that is as much of a legitimate theory in their science classes is ridiculous. Sigh.

And Michelle, I'll do my best to remember to pray for your cousin. It's pretty crazy stuff going on down there. Thank God for technology, though. Could you imagine 100 years ago when the day before a hurricane would seem like any other day? It's great that people can now be warned and have time to evacuate and stock up on supplies, etc.

Well, earlier this week I thought I had cancer. I totally cried about it and freaked out (wonder if I was pmsing?). You know how I already had that big lump in my neck? Well, I also have another one behind my ear, and it's been there for a while, though I thought it had disappeared for a while. And then two weeks ago I noticed a third one. So I mentioned this to my mom, who panicked. Apparently I was supposed to go back to the doctor about the first one in my neck if it didn't go away in a few weeks--and this was when I was ten! So...I went to Kaiser yesterday after work and had my doctor look at that while we also talked about some annoying sinus problems I have had this month. I (like Jen) have fatty tumors. Three of them. In my neck. Crazy, huh? So they aren't harmful, I guess--harmful tumors grow outrageously quickly. I could remove them, but that would leave scarring and you can't even see them now, so I'm not gonna.

Okay. I feel like I have absolutely been rambling on and on.

Valerie, when do you start school? Do you have lots of lesson plans done?

Michelle, have you started the credentialing program yet? How's life at home without the sisters?

Hannah, how's Biola? I miss it!! I've been looking at the lectures on THI and sighing over not being able to go. 'Course if I were there, I'd probably sigh about having to go! And how's work?

I really want to do that Thanksgiving thing! I think I'd drive, not fly, in order to save $$, so that would cut into my time. But I'll check airfare anyway...just guessing it will be expensive for the holidays. Also, Michelle, anyway your sis could hook us up with a place to stay? If we only had to rent a hotel for one or two nights, it would be great.

Anyway. It's now my prep period and I have work to do!
Much love,
Danielle