The Skype attempt

As you know, Caitlin is in Rome for the semester. This, of course, makes communication very difficult. It's made even more difficult by our crazy schedules and the 6 hour time difference. A great solution to this problem: Skype (if you don't know what it is you should probably look it up because I don't know how to explain it. Sorry.). Even with this great solution Caitlin and I weren't able to Skype till tonight for the first time. And guess what? The connection was so bad that we were only able to talk for 3 minutes at a time! It was so crazy. Our entire conversation consisted of, "Hi! oops! I lost you. Can you hear me? There you are! Oh no - I can't see you again." It was sad. It was nice to see her face, but I miss her way too much for that to be enough. I'm not giving up though - we'll try again soon! I think I'm going to have to skip something on my schedule so I can fit in time when she'll have the best connection.

I love you Cait and I miss you so much!!!

RIP Pepe

My mom's dad (Pepe) died last night around 6pm. He wanted to be alone when he died and he was - my mom and grandmother had just left the hospital. I don't have many details right now because my mom wasn't up for talking.

I just love to update you all ...

I know, I know, every time I post I have a billion things to say. That's just how it is right now. :)

First and most urgently: My mom's father is dying. He's had heart problems for years and fought through numerous near death illnesses, but as far as we can tell this is the end. He has pneumonia in both lungs and has stopped eating. This is the first time he seems to have given up and that's why we think it's the end. My mom is in Florida with him now. We just pray that the Good News he's heard so many times will really sink in before he takes his last breath.

I got my first official illness from my practicum kids last week: conjunctivitis. I've had it before and I knew I had it right away, but when I called my doctor for the drops (they've just sent me a prescription for them before) they said I had to come in to be seen. That was on Wednesday. They couldn't see me till Friday morning. Which meant that I was contagious till Saturday morning. That's a lot of days of not doing anything! Of course I didn't use that time wisely so I still have a mountain of school work to get done. One of these days I'll learn.

Nick and Marci are married!!! I didn't get to go to the wedding (like I said before - family only), but I did get to see some great pictures. Here's one of them (stolen from Marci):

The last news we heard is that Nick isn't leaving for Afghanistan until April.

Haley's back to normal now (except that she's avoiding lactose - doctor's orders) and is in Israel right now. She and 24 other people from our church (including Pastor Mark and Terry) are there on a ten day tour. They left yesterday and they'll be back next Wednesday. We all think they're a little crazy considering the war that's going on over there, but the tour people claim that they won't be anywhere near Gaza and they'll be perfectly safe. I'm still a little worried.

I guess that's all I have to say. I felt like there was more, but apparently not. Tune in soon to hear all about my amazing 21st birthday! :)

Green Painted Jeans

I started my student teaching last week and I am LOVING every minute of it!!! The classroom I'm in is Pre-K (so 4&5 year-olds). Their teacher is awesome and we have so much fun everyday!! One of the big things we do in the classroom is open ended art projects. Which basically means that Ms. Carolyn (the teacher I'm working with) puts out a certain medium (usually paint) and a specific kind of paper (dinosaur shaped paper, wax paper, construction paper, etc...) and then lets the kids do what they want. There is no right or wrong and they can even use their hands if they so desire. For some reason unknown to me they are all loving green. Green paint, green bingo dotters, green markers. They're having a blast with the green, and I've gotten it on two pairs of jeans now. I actually like that idea - I feel a little more like a real teacher.

They're my badges of honor - green painted jeans. :)