Progress is being made...

with my running. Since last year, I've run 3 5k's and have another one tomorrow. Having been a person who didn't enjoy running as a kid, I've grown to really enjoy it in my 40's. I'm even feeling. Calm and excited about the run tomorrow. I don't want to call it a race because I'm not trying for a personal best in my time, but I am enjoying the community that I'm becoming part of. My husband will join me, and the boys will be cheering is on with my parents. My sister-in-law also plans to run too. I will also get to run with my former professor and two former students. It's pretty special to be part of something that can tie us all together like that. I wouldn't get an opportunity like this otherwise.

Technology

I've been a sucker for technology for quite some time now. In fact, my interests and dependence on it is beginning to worry me. Hubby and I have recently purchased one of those smart phones, the ones that allow you to purchase apps that do everything from music, news, health and fitness, to banking. I've become so involved in it, that when it froze this morning while I was out of town, I seriously nearly panicked!! I drove to the nearest cellular office for my carrier and they showed me how to fix it, aside from the hammer suggestion, in which they informed me that using one would void my warranty. Now I feel better now that I can fix that issue on my own should it happen again.

I now have apps that keep track of my checking account, one that allows me to shop on line, and one to even check my heart rate! I've downloaded several different cameras that do different funky things to my pictures, then download them to Facebook. I even have one that allows me to add a new post and manage my blog! It's pretty much self-contained, and I'm loving it!

Aside from my pleasure with my new smart phone, I have recently learned that I'm not as smart as I like to think I am...Hubby and I were trying to figure out why we couldn't hear someone speaking on the other line...we didn't think about the plastic shield that we were keeping on the phones to protect them until the new cases and shields were delivered. Once we removed them we could hear just fine. Man I felt stupid! Gotta laugh at myself!! Can't help but think that I should have known this.

Faith

One Wednesday morning two weeks ago our principal began a discussion with the faculty that turned into a depressing discussion.  The mood stayed with me all day, with me spending the whole day distracted and trying to fight back the emotions that kept bubbling and trying to erupt.  I hated how I couldn't even smile at my students, although they knew something wasn't right.  It just wasn't me.  I'm usually cheerful and goofy and spend the day teasing and joking with my students.  I woke up the next morning and prayed for help to get out of this funk.  When I left home morning I was cheerful, so much so that it caught my attention as to how cheerful I was feeling.  By the time I got to school, I felt so happy that I seriously felt like skipping through the halls!!  By lunch time I felt so at peace that I just couldn't explain it.  It lasted throughout the day and has stuck with me since then.  I couldn't help but feel that my prayers were answered.

I've recently read a book that touched me and might have possibly begun a renewal of my faith.  It's called Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, by Todd Burpo.  Todd is a minister, but has been forced to reflect and reevaluate his own faith because of his son, Colby's experience.  I have been so touched by Colby's experience that I can't help but feel like I've gained a renewed faith.  Toward the end of the book, the Dad talks about a young lady named Akiane, who by the age of 8 painted a beautiful picture of what she believes Jesus looks like.

 

http://www.artakiane.com/gallery.html

Considering how her mother was atheist, Akaine developed a spiritual awakening that moved her mother to eventually believe in God.  Akaine continues to paint beautiful paintings and also write thought-provoking poetry.  But what moved me about the painting of Jesus was that Colby confirmed that this is what Jesus looks like.  (Noticed that I am referring to him in the present tense and not the past?) Two children who don't know each other, one who before the age of 5 talked about having gone to Heaven, and one who wasn't raised during her early years with the concept of religion, both imagine Jesus looking the same way.

I've always felt that things happen for a reason, and that there is a God.  However, what I've struggled with is the involvement of Man and Man making decisions for others in the name of God.  I have faith in God, but not so much in Man.  If that makes any sense.  Perhaps I'm just thinking too much about the whole thing, perhaps I'm going about this all wrong.  In the meantime, while I try to sort this all out, I'll focus on the here and now, and how I feel now about my faith, God, and Jesus.  I'll live for the moment.

Things weighing my mind....

Here are just a few things that are weighing on my mind....

• the staff cuts that our school board has decided on again...the loss of our middle school counselor...
• the possibility that she will be able to "bump" me and I'll lose my job...
• the 5K on the 9th that I'm not ready for yet...
• the 180 mile bike trek that I'll be doing in June that I'm hoping that I'll be ready for...
• the quarter coming to an end and my class finalizing things at the last minute...
• the cost of heating....$$$
• the master's program that I've been working toward...

Sometimes I just need to vent.  I know that my issues are so small compared to what others have to deal with, but these are my stressors.

What about the book?

I have recently succumbed to the appeal of reading electronic books rather than real books.  I've said for a long time that I could never give up holding a book in my hand, smelling the "new book" smell that I enjoy, and feeling the pleasure of turning the pages and seeing how much of the book I've already read.

What changed my mind?  Hmmm....possibly the books piling up on my night stand, bookshelf, end table and coffee table, and on the floor and in totes in the basement.  I personally didn't have a problem with my growing collection, but it was becoming a little too much for our little house.  I began researching the options out there.  Barns and Noble Nook, Amazon Kindle, and the readers you can purchase at discount stores all seemed appealing.  Finally, a couple of weeks before Christmas, I announced to Hubby that I wanted a Kindle.  I ordered one along with a leather case with a built-in reading light, and instantly fell in love when I received it by the end of that week.

I love how I'm able to keep it in my purse and take it out when I'm waiting at appointments.  I'm getting spoiled by the convenience of being able to download a book no matter where I am, and at what time of the day, or night, it may be.  I also like being able to change which book I'm reading when I'm wanting a change, and not have to deal with lugging more than one book around with me. 

What about the smell of a new book?  I love the smell of its leather case.... How about seeing how much I've read?  There's a bar at the bottom that shows how far along in the book I am, and I can see what page number I'm on too.  Whenever I come across words that are new to me, I just have to put the cursor on the word and I get a definition right a way.   When I come across phrases that are meaningful to me, I can instantly share them with my friends on Facebook. So many pluses about my ereader that I don't want to ever be without one.  As for reading real books???  I still have some, and not all books are available on Kindle, so I haven't given up real books altogether.

Patience and Trust

I tend to go through life with blinders on, hoping that everything will just work itself out.  If I let things get to me, they’ll only get me down and become a distraction.  If I stress, I become frustrated.  If I leave it in His hands and roll with the punches, everything falls into place.  Is it wrong for me to be like this? Everything has always worked out in the past.  God may help those who help themselves, but sometimes I have to leave it completely in his hands and trust that He knows best.  The hardest parts is being patient and letting go.

Rediscovered my blog

Yeah, well a lot has taken place since my last post this past fall.  I started taking graduate classes last spring towards my masters.  Between my classes, correcting and planning for my students, getting a workout in, and just every day life, my blog has slipped away into the hidden crevices of my brain.  I've only recently starting getting back into reading and have been mentally preparing myself to begin writing.  But that's another blog another day.

These are some of my more memorable moments of this year...

• I did the Edgar J. Paradis Tour de la Vallee bike ride this past fall.  While Hubby rode 63 miles, I rode 25.  I was very proud of myself!
• So far I have a 4.0 GPA in the master's program I'm in.
• I've signed up to run a 5K on April 9 and I'm not quite ready yet.
• I'm doing the Trek Across Maine for the American Heart Association, which consists of 180 miles in 3 days!  Yup, I'm crazy!!
• I've resigned to purchase an ereader that I just LOVE!!  I've become spoiled to buying books instantly and downloading them on my Kindle and reading until the wee hours of the night.
• Became a great-aunt to a beautiful baby girl. She was born 7 weeks early, but is such a strong little girl that she was home by the 3rd week.  Tomorrow was suppose to be her due date!

This past year hasn't exactly been too eventful, but has been quite busy with life in general.  We're almost done the 3rd quarter at school, so I'm looking forward to wrapping up the school year, and welcoming spring.  Just wish it would get here!!