Haikus of heat

#1

take 2 of last week!

my AC isn't working.

comment in haiku.
#2

The thick air pushes

Each sweaty hair flat against

My throbbing forehead.

#3

diaper only, please!

i will sweat in pajamas -

my sweetness will melt.

This is the first time he tried spaghetti. He tolerated the taste, but then gagged dramatically on the texture of the meat. Then he stuck his finger in a socket and made his hair stand up all over his head.

Glad that is over with

I had to do a presentation yesterday in my class. It wasn't really stressful, or difficult, or time consuming. It was about bowel movements in special ed kids.

YEP. I stood in front of my class and talked about the digestive system, and its problems (ew) and products (again, ew). With a straight face.

I am not a very mature person. I laugh at potty humor in movies, so this was an amazing feat that I could address my peers for 30 minutes without cracking a joke.

Get it - "cracking" a joke?

Sweaty

You know how you never truly appreciate something until it is gone? Well, my air conditioner isn't working.

Right now, I am appreciating the heck out of it.

He's got the whole world in His hands

(Sometimes, I steal other people's stories, but you will totally dig this one! I am so excited and proud and thrilled that I feel like it is partly MY story, too, even though it has nothing to do with me.)

A friend from high school is a missionary in Turkey. She and her husband have lived there for several years, and regularly send email newsletters. I have kind of kept up with her through those, so I knew she was pregnant.

She came home to the States about four months ago, and she has been living with her family and helping care for her father, who has been very ill. Her husband was finally able to join her about a month ago, and they found a little house to rent for the summer. Although she grew up here, and her family is here, her heart is in Turkey. She has lived there for years, has friends and a home there, and had to leave all of that during this very important time of her life. Sadly, her dad's situation has been declining, and he has been hospitalized several times recently. Through all of this, her pregnancy has been progressing. I am sure her emotions were all over the place, with the stress, and the hormones. Oh, and the stress.

Well, we finally made plans to hang out last Friday. I was really excited to get to visit with her, and also excited cause Daniel was going to keep Dillon and let me have a Girl's Night Out. We met at the appointed time, and she just fell apart. She had gotten some bad news about her dad and felt like she needed to be at the hospital with him. We quickly made arrangements to catch up another time, and we left - she went back to the hospital and I went home.

In my mind, I was so sad for her because I could feel that she knew the end was coming for her dad. I cannot walk in those shoes. I cannot envision myself without one of my parents. My heart was breaking because I didn't even know what to say.

She has been on my mind a lot this weekend. I have actually been afraid to call because I wasn't sure what news I would hear and whether I would have the words for her.

Despite my fears, and complete lack of faith, I got an email from her today.

In an answer to the prayers of her heart, she went into labor on Saturday and gave birth to a gorgeous baby girl. She had been praying to have the baby early. Her labor went smoothly (ha! that is easy to say since it wasn't me!) and her doctor, who was not even on-call, made it to the delivery. In another answer to prayer, her father has taken a turn for the better and got to meet his first grandbaby. He was coherent enough to understand who she was and got to play with her.

I get tears in my eyes when I think about this. I was worried (accomplishes NOTHING, by the way!) and sad, but then God just has a way of showing us who is really in control. This family, who needed respite from the heart-wrenching care of an ailing loved one, is now joyfully celebrating the arrival of a new life. He has given them a gift that is beyond precious. His timing is amazing, and so much better than ours.

I wanted to share her joy with you! For her, her new baby, and her family, say a prayer of thanks today.

IDUS

This summer, one of the obligations for the grant program that I am in is that I teach remedial reading and math skills at our Summer Clinic. The kids who come are just a little behind in these areas, and the four weeks of intensive work can help bring them right along.

As graduate students, we are supposed to dress professionally since this is a sort of internship. In addition to the 12 of us, one of our professors also requires his undergraduates to "volunteer" at our clinic a couple of hours a week.

We have begun to refer to them as Inappropriately Dressed Undergraduate Students (IDUS). You can see them coming across the lawn in front of our building. They come wearing pajama pants. They come in spaghetti strap tank tops with no bra. They wear sweat pants pulled up around the knees that say "SUGAR" across the bum. They wear Corona ball caps. They wear midriff bearing tee shirts over an obvious bikini top. They come in cut-off jean skirts with the pockets hanging out the bottom.

It has become an embarrassment. Maybe there was a misprint in their syllabus? "Keep in mind that you are in a professional setting. Please dress inappropriately."

I dunno. Where is their pride? At least wear some nice slacks with your tube top, mmmkay?

Thankyouverymuch

Yesterday, in our Summer Clinic, my small group of kids was discussing the use of the words "Thank you." We talked about who we like to thank, and why.

One tiny boy, about six years old, piped up:

"I wanna thank my gir-fren cause she is SO NICE TO ME!"

After calming the kids down (because gir-frens are funny, you know!), we finished our discussion. Then, as a follow-up activity, we wrote thank you notes to people in our lives. This same little boy got caught up in the business of composing his letter. After a few minutes of working in silence, he looked up with his brow wrinkled.

"Hey, Miss Amanna! I need some help!"

I walked over to him, and bent down to hear his question better. His face scrunched up in contemplation, his hands smoothed the paper in front of him on the desk. His eyes were serious as he looked up and me and said:

"Hey! How do you spell 'hottie-hottie-hottie'?"

Laughing all the way

I have a new motto. It is "Laugh it off."

I stress and gripe about all the little, stupid things, and my life would be better if I didn't, so I am trying this new philosophy.

A sample scenario goes like this:

After noticing that Daniel failed to start the dishwasher the night before, I might say something like, "I see that you forgot to start the dishwasher last night like you said you were going to. That is okay. I am not mad. HaHaHaHa."

Or, like this:

When walking by a pile of Daniel's clean laundry piled high in the recliner, I might subtly point and quietly say, "HaHaHaHa."

At first, Daniel thought I was going crazy, but now he understands that I am already there and this is a way to bring him down with me.

Advice: Five Cents

Finally! A brief reprieve from school! This weekend will be full of naps with Dillon and laziness and catching up on blogs. I feel totally left out of everyone's life because I don't get to read about you every hour, on-the-hour.

Speaking of blogging - I was talking to a friend today about my blog, and she helped me realize something. Blogging is free therapy. Seriously!

I put down what I think, feel, like, hate, need, want, fear and envy. You guys give me pats on the back that say, "You are just like US! You are normal! We love you, Amanda Sue!" and I go on with my day feeling like part of the majority. It is just a cheap ego stroke, because, really, if you didn't agree with me, or didn't think I was normal, you would just go on to another blog to read, right?

I don't mind. I am glad you are all like me, or at least ENOUGH like me that you can tolerate what I have to say. And if you aren't like me at all, don't tell me! I rather like my skewed version of reality. And I am sure you don't want to pay for my REAL therapy.

Thoughts

1. Is today an ominous day, or is the media just trying to make us afraid of everything?

2. I cannot make a decision regarding this job. I am usually very decisive. Yet another "interview" this afternoon. I don't think teachers usually interview this many times. I am starting to exasperate them.

3. Dillon won't crawl. From sitting, he will stretch his little body out to the limit - arms straining, legs bent, hiney off the ground - but no forward movement. Silly boy.

4. We have a time warp in our city. I know this because my satellite radio skips FORWARD a couple of seconds when I drive through it. How is this possible? Is this making me age faster? Is it shortening my days? Maybe that is why I can never get anything done.