Self-Pity, Party of One

Warning: The following words are just a mini-rant of frustration with my circumstances.

If I were so silly as to tempt the Lord, I would say that life is not going according to the Deven Plan, and I've had just about enough.

I would say that He's pushing it by asking me to trust Him with
(a) the hospital bills that are beginning to roll in,
(b) the fact that the insurance year rolled over while Caleb was in the hospital so we have to meet his deductibles twice,
(c) my cut hours at work resulting in a as-of-yet undisclosed, yet assumedly serious, reduction in pay, and
(d) the family car (MY CAR) that is currently dead.

But I won't do that. :O

Actually, as I was tackling Mt. Laundry this evening while throwing my woe-is-me lollapalooza, I did think "Lord Jesus, come quickly!" Nothing like a little adversity to kick in some longing for HOME.

The Comforter reminded me that "in this world you will have trouble." (Me: Is that really necessary??) "But take heart! I have overcome the world." I am so thankful that, if I work up the courage, I can hand these troubles over to someone who saw this day coming.

PS - Also, a backrub from Stephen was helpful too, but I don't want God to think that I put His help and Stephen's on the same level. :)

PPS - God has blessed us with being able to save up for emergencies, so there is no imminent financial crisis. I just hate to see that savings being used. (So wait a sec... I save up for it, but I don't want it to be touched. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. That makes a whole lotta sense.)

LCS Staff Party

A long time ago (read: before Christmas break) the teachers celebrated the end of the semester by having a staff party. (It also may have had something to do with Christ's birth, but I'm pretty sure it was mostly about getting ready for two weeks off.) Our administrator and his family made an awesome lunch for all of us, and we all had to eat up or lose our jobs. ;) We also had a white elephant gift exchange, one of the more memorable parts of all our staff parties. Here are some pictures from the day.

The gang's (mostly) all here!

The ladies of the Music Department

The oft' unpictured Mr. Kline

Some of the girls: Stephanie (barely visible), Dotty, Cindy, Keetha, Vickie, and Rhonda

Debbie was so excited to find a penguin-themed present, but her happiness was short-lived...

Dotty was the victorious penguin possessor at the end of the day.

LouAnn found a frog and puckered up, but no prince appeared.
The frog-prince

Not even the DIVAS can change anything!

Amy was probably hoping for a certain singing prince...

This Amy found the semi-traditional moose ornament. (Lucky girl!)

Chris was very happy with her sombrero (brought by yours truly), but Tim stole it from her to add to his Easter Egg hat collection. So she ended up with...


...this dignified item. (Somehow, I doubt that she was phased by receiving underoos.)

And so went the party. I ended up with the Frog Prince. Michele ended up with spare parts (see below).

Here's lookin' at you, kid.

We totally have a blast when we're together. While I might not be ready to go back to WORK, I am ready to go back to friends. See you tomorrow, everyone!