A divine plan

You know that feeling you get when you know someone totally "gets" you? I hope you do. The Husband and I have been together for a little over 10 years now, but I feel that our paths were truly designed to come together. I don't know that I fully believe in the thought of there being only one person out there for each individual. I mean, what about people who loose a spouse and remarry to have a wonderful marriage? However, I do believe that God is the controller of our destiny and He leads us to the people we need most in our lives. Then it is up to us to be alert enough to actually realize someone great is standing before us.

So, all that said, let me tell you why I really believe that God destined for The Husband and I to be together. Life is full of little moments that could be called coincidences, but when you start to add them all together, you can see that sometimes, it's a little more than a simple coincidence.

As a child/young teen, my family took several mini-vacations to a small, remote town named Leakey, Texas. When I say small, I seriously mean it. The entire area has grown since I was down there as a kid, but even now, we're talking about a place where the nearest Wal-Mart is at least an hour away. It is a beautiful area, and the primary draw is the Frio River. During the summer months, this place is literally crawling with tubers. Even in years when the river is low, it is a blast. Gardner State Park is also down there and it is a great place to visit.

How does this relate to my story? After The Husband and I had been dating about 2 years, he asked if I wanted to join him at his family reunion....in Leakey, Texas. Apparently, the Frio River has been his family reunion destination for years. While they haven't always been in Leakey specifically, they have been in the immediate area. How odd. I mean, if you look this area up on a map, you will see how odd it is that the two of our families would both find this place to vacation. Middle of no-where. Seriously.

Okay, you're thinking, so what? It gets better.

Right before my 16th birthday, Cosmo (my dad) gets a job at Palo Duro Canyon State Park so we move from Austin to Amarillo. Big jump! I adapted and ended up loving that region of the world. When I started dating The Husband (at least once he was deemed good enough to mention to parents), I told Cosmo and Darma about him. Cosmo's response was, "I know that name. He worked at Palo Duro for a while. I'm pretty sure we fired him." Great...that's a wonderful way to start off a relationship with potential future in-laws. Needless to say, they all get along great and it's a nice funny anecdote. However, it is also my number 2 step on my path to destiny.

While I know that a lot of people meet their loved ones in college, but when you think about it, that's a pretty amazing thing. Out of all the colleges/universities in the world and all the people at each one, what are the chances you will meet that one specific person. The Husband and I met during my last year at West Texas A&M University - while I was actually dealing with a failed engagement. It took 6 months, but when we finally went out, I knew there was something truly wonderful about this guy.

Here's my last "coincidence." In high school, I attended a summer camp with some friends. I did not attend their church, but thought it sounded fun so I took off from Texas to Arkansas for a week-long summer church camp. While visiting my brother-in-law and other family this past weekend, I realized that their house is about 5 minutes from the camp. Crazy! What are the freaking odds that my family would end up living down the road from my old summer camp?

I know all of this might seem kind of silly, but it's like our paths were crossed many moons ago and it just took time for us to find each other. All I can say is...God is good!

Simple joys

Have you ever noticed how the smallest things in life can bring you joy? I'm not being sentimental here. When I say smallest things, I really mean it.

Yesterday was "stock the house" day. About every 3 or 4 months, we really have to restock almost everything in our pantry, fridge, freezer, and bathroom. On a month-to-month basis, we do our shopping and replace little items here and there, but it never fails that we seem to run out of a lot of stuff all at the same time and I have to do a major replacement job.

By the end of August, we had about 10 miscellaneous food items left in the pantry and the fridge only had milk, juice, and cheese. When I say we were out of stuff, I mean it. It was starting to get interesting around here for dinners. : )

Since it was the end of the month, we were short on funds so we had to wait till payday to do our shopping. So as soon as the money was in our account, I got the pleasure of hitting the local Wally World to restock my house. To some this may seem like a chore, but this is one of those really simple joys for me.

The Husband and The Wee One stayed at home and I took off - another joy...shopping alone. I am one of those odd people who actually enjoys grocery shopping. I don't really care for clothes shopping or just walking around window shopping, but I really do like to shop for groceries. I think it is because I know exactly what I want and need. I know where to find it, and I don't have to worry if it makes my butt look big. Although, maybe if I worried about that more at the grocery store, I wouldn't have to worry about it at the clothing stores...hum.

Anyway, I managed to get a grocery cart heaping full in 40 minutes, which isn't bad considering how much I bought. Not only was I going quick, but my basket was moderately organized. Here's a glimpse into my mind...I'm a freak about that kind of organization. Shopping with The Husband drives me crazy half the time because he just throws things in the cart. I like for stuff to have a sense of order so that when I get to the checkout I can make sure that cold stuff is together, fruits and veggies are together, boxes, cans, miscellaneous items, etc. It also allows for more room in the cart. We have very different ideas in relation to spatial arrangements. And yes, my way is better.

So, I get everything that I can - by the way, our local Wally World is notorious for being out of stuff. Last night I couldn't get my butter, creamer, sour cream, cheese, and more. You gotta be kidding me, right? After my disappointment about these various items, I checked out, loaded the car and headed home. The Husband unloads for me while I start putting things away. That's another spatial arrangement issue that we have come to terms on. He will just throw things in the pantry and I'll never find them again - and really, our pantry isn't that big.

Once it was all put away, I stood back and took it all in. My freezer is jammed full. My fridge is nicely stocked. My pantry is full of delicious goodies, and it is organized neatly. My house might look like a tornado went through the middle of it, but my pantry, cabinets, closets, and drawers are always in order. It's a thing with me.

Therefore, my simply joy of the day is that I have a house full of groceries and they are put away right. Life is good. : )

Working Girl

Okay, sort of a working girl. I teach as an adjunct (meaning part-time for those not in higher education) speech instructor for Oklahoma Panhandle State University. I really enjoy teaching - even basic public speaking.

This semester, I am teaching an online speech class for the university. This is a little different for me. I have taught hybrid classes with the University of Phoenix, but I've never taught a full online course before and it is a little different.

At this point, some of you are thinking...how the heck do you teach/learn public speaking online? I mean, isn't it supposed to be about giving speeches? I understand your question and it is definitely not the prefered way to teach this - at least in my opinion. That said, there is also a need for online speech classes.

Since almost every institution of higher education requires students to take a basic speech course, we need to be open to offering it in a manner that students need and want. Online is the new way to go for many students. I will admit that students doing their online class while sitting in their dorm room or in their cubicle at their on-campus job, really bothers me. If you are on campus, take a regular speech class. However, I understand that there are just some students who would rather do it that way and that's fine.

Anyway, I am now into week 3 of this course and it is going fairly well. I am curious to see how my evaluations turn out at the end complared to my previous traditional class evaluations. Turning a class into an online class is not as easy as it may seem. If you've been teaching a while, it's not the hardest thing in the world, but it is critical to understand that teaching in the classroom and teaching online are different beasts. The activities that worked great in a face-to-face class, typcally don't fly well online. You have to get creative to keep students interested and motivated.

I'll put this out to you all to see if you think I'm getting close to the mark. Here's this week's threaded discussion. How does the opposite gender communicate? What about the communication patterns/styles of the opposite gender bothers you? There are two discussion threads. Males are supposed to respond in one thread and females in the other. In a traditional class I have the two groups split up and create a list of what they don't like about the opposite gender's communication style. Then we come together as a class and go through them all and talk about possible "solutions" to the complaints. For this online exercise, I have allowed them to read all the comments and complaints and then offered a third thread were we can discuss the "solutions." We'll see how this one turns out transitioning to online. I really wanted to keep this activity so I hope it works.

So, I'll pose the question to you as well...What about the opposite gender's communication style drives you crazy?

"No...I don't want it!"

We are on the countdown till The Wee One's birthday. She officially turns 2 in a couple of weeks and while we've been seeing signs of the "terrible two's" for a while, this week has been especially challenging.

At first, you think it is wonderful when your child learns to talk. All the new things they can express and tell you about, even in their fragmented sentence structure. Then they start figuring out that they can use this new-found vocabulary to reject things, and pout, and make you want to pull your hair out. I really do think it is part of their twisted plot to get us back for keeping them cramped up inside us for so long. Don't they realize that that process was just as uncomfortable for us (if not more so)? Gheesh!

Anyway, the past two weeks have brought a series of new phrases and words into our home. "Ewww, nasty." "Nasty, gross." "Mine." "Knock, come in." "Someone at door." "Cited for scuela (Excited for school/escuela)." Mostly pretty cute.

Then we got the not-so-cute ones..."Arrrr, oh shit." Yeah, she said it. Fortunately, it only lasted 2 days, and I'm hoping doesn't make a reappearance for a few years. (Is it sad that it was kind of funny/cute when I first heard it? Be proud of me...even thought it was kind of funny, I did not laugh!).

Then the dreaded, "No...I don't want it!" Sometimes she leaves out the "I" for extra irritation. I mean, really, if you are gonna whine, at least whine in a sentence. That one has not left so quickly.

Pretty much everything this week has received this lovely phrase. To top it off, she has one of those typically cute, high, sweet voices. Not so cute or sweet when the high pitch is used to whine. She has also started to do a little dance with the phrase. That's lovely. I mean the dance is kind of cute, but it's being used as a whine so it loses it's cuteness very quickly.

I'm not sure if it is all the weather changes, the fact that she started back to Mother's Day Out last week, the fact that she's turning the corner to official toddler-hood, if she's teething, or if she's not feeling well like everyone around us, or a combination of all of the above (that's my bet really). Regardless the reason, it is driving The Husband and I crazy. She has had a lot of timeouts this week and some early bedtimes. After reading a friend's blog this morning, I'm beginning to think it's just something in the air. Her children are at least at ages that you can reason with (in theory). At my little precious' age, we can try some amount of reasoning, but let's face it, a 2 year old isn't exactly high up the level of cognitive communication.

For now, we will fight it out and ultimately, The Husband and I will win, although I anticipate some ugly battles in the near future. Lord, give me strength (for real!).

Frazzled

My mind is just on the frizz today. I feel like it is running in a million different directions, and to be honest, it probably is. Today is the first day back at Mother's Day Out so I have a block of time to myself to get things done. That said, there are sooooo many things I need to do that I can't seem to get hold of it. I know, I know...use a little time management. Yeah, if it were that easy, I'd have it done by now.

Anyway, here are few of the frazzled ramblings going through my mind today...

- Do I have enough life insurance to cover things for The Husband and The Wee One? (Thank you MetLife for making me oh so much more aware of all the costs that would be added to The Husband if I weren't around...day care, housecleaning, etc.)

- How do I make cuts in my already super tight budget to afford more life insurance? ($300 a month on groceries is already pretty darn lean, don't ya think?)

- Why can't our society see that we have put ourselves in this financial recession by our own doing? If we didn't have to have EVERYTHING we want, the minute we want it, we might be a little better off. (Listened to a report on the radio about the number of people still losing their homes...maybe they should not purchase something they can't afford just because they want it.) Note...I am not totally free from blame on this. My splurge comes in the form of travel, and though we do it cheap, it is still something we should reign in.

- Are there any online communication courses I can teach?

- Why won't my stupid computer work the way I need it to to get this application to teach an online class done?

- How in the heck am I gonna get my stats done for my dissertation so that my advisor doesn't drive out here and kick my butt?

- Does anyone know the going rate for statistical help?

- Is it okay for The Wee One to live off chicken nuggets and fruit snacks since that's all she'll eat on a consistent basis? (Okay, she does eat other stuff, but I know that her main supply of nutrients are from these two things...oh, and milk).

- Am I doing enough with The Wee One to give her all the experiences and learning opportunities she needs?

- What church should be be attending? (Been searching, and let me tell you folks...it's hard to find a place where you really feel you fit and belong).

- Should I change my plans to visit my dear friend since her work situation is getting ready to change?

I guess that's about it for now. So, now that you know what a spaz I am, I hope you are able to appreciate the randomness of my ramblings. For now, I will lay my burdens and worries before God and go take a shower!