No Adult Left Behind

As I drove into Atlanta this morning, I reflected on the last seven days and the many good things that have happened in them, for which I am very grateful.

-- A "Connects" party at the Adams ( I don't know if that is the right spelling...) on Saturday. Video was taken, but we have a big ol' backlog of video to edit and post so it may not be aired for a while...It was a great contest between three teams: Brad and Stephen, Mr. A and David, and Nate and Daniel. They constructed vehicles out of Connects; Penny, Mrs. A., Sarah and I were judges.

-- Daddy's words of encouragement from God: " Be strong and of good courage," which translated into palpable strength...and courage and a widening of vision. Oh, God can really answer prayers!

--Jeff and Fritha stopped by to stay with us--and are here as I write! We're having a grand old time.

--sorting through wedding pictures with Brad til the wee hours

-- a really fun Youth group on Sunday afternoon. There was a great group of people and we had an enjoyable time playing basketball, ultimate football and I introduced a game I used to play at the Shelter with the girls ("Big Bunny") and it was a big hit.

-- a really great time of getting our hearts together with Nate and Penny. I am so thankful for them and I'm glad we're such a team. They are long suffering, beautiful, kind GEMS of people.

--I used my birthday money to buy an under-the-counter radio/CD to reduce the clutter in my kitchen. I'm very happy with it.

--Daddy, Mama, and Sarah A. coming over to help me move some of the leftover PRC yardsale stuff out of my basement. THANKYOU! That was huge.

--getting off work EARLY today! They let me go at 11:00! I'm supposed to report in on Monday morning...and I'm not sure of the rest of the week. ( Okay, so I didn't reflect on that this morning as I drove in, b/c I didn't know it was going to happen.)

--and speaking of today...I'm just going to go off this little bulleted list thing here...It was the perfect day to get off early. I had about five hours of sleep last night and so I came home and went back to bed for a few more. I know five hours may not sound so bad to some people- like Liane- but for someone who has been used to eight hours a night for the last seven or eight months, it's been pretty rough recently. It's been impossible to get to bed at a decent hour in the last week or so.

This morning, there was a festive atmosphere in the office. It felt like the last day of school.
( Speaking of which... congratulations, Andrea!) A guy from the next room down the hall came into our office and proceeded to just HANG AROUND for literally an hour...doing nothing but talking. I am not exaggerating. He just stood there and let his mouth wag. I was like, WHAT are you DOING? I stifled the urge to tell him to get back to work, the slacker. But it was kind of entertaining. He and the guy in my office talked about everything from soccer to rappers. As they talked about the World Cup, they mentioned that Czechoslovakia was playing the U.S. Somebody asked where Czechoslovakia was, and the loafer replied that it was in Sweden. Oh, is it now? I stifled the urge to screech with laughter. And I was like, "Um...No..." and the loafer jumped in with certainty in his voice, " Oh yeah, it's part of Turkey." Ah. The truth emerges. Go back to the fourth grade, you clown! I mean, I know things change in the world and countries get re-named ( like it's actually the Czech Republic and Slovakia or something like that) but...um...geography doesn't change. Not that much anyway. Not unless there's a really bad earthquake. Only then would there be a chance that part of the Czech Republic would end up as part of Turkey.

It was a weird mixture of tickling my funny bone and rousing my eye-rolling scorn. "I don't know what education on this island is coming to, Phillips."