Pinkie

I'm an instructional assistant for a little girl.  I call her Pinkie (in my head).  I sit in her classes, take notes, and smile at her when she turns around to make sure that I'm there.  She's a very nice girl, and she works hard and pays attention in class.

Pinkie is hard-of-hearing. She has a cochlear implant which enables her to hear most things, plus her teachers wear an FM microphone which transmits to a receiver that she wears around her neck.  I take notes on what the teachers are saying so that she will have a record later, in case she missed anything.  Today I took Pinkie into the library through teachers' lounge, so she could bypass the metal detectors (she's never been through one).

When I took the job, I was afraid that I would be bored.  Not yet!  So far I've learned about the tools of geography, glanced through a science book, reviewed PEMDAS and absolute value, heard about proper kitchen safety, helped kids log on to multiple internet accounts, and observed the three-clap in P.E.  It's my first time going to junior high (besides being a teacher), and it's okay so far.

On to the rest of the year!

Here I sit with...

bags of frames at my feet, frames holding pictures of our church's global partners and maps of their areas of ministry

a small, white, empty plate (save a few strawberry Pop-Tart crumbs)

my hair in a ponytail

my eyes on the screen

a crick in my shoulder

the drip of the faucet in my ears

Les Mis' "One Day More" playing through my speakers

the thought that I need to do the dishes

delight from getting Roald Dahl's Esio Trot from a used bookstore using our store credit

questions: Should I take our unwanted books back to Glendale tomorrow?  Where will I get new frames for church?  Will my hair and face cooperate for church staff pictures on Wednesday?

gratitude for a new assistant job at this school

Les Mis again (how about "Stars" this time)

the thought that I really do need to do the dishes...

Found on page 124

This is an important thing, which I have told many people, and which my father told me, and which his father told him.  When you encounter another person, when you have dealings with anyone at all, it is as if a question is being put to you.  So you must think, What is the Lord asking of me in this moment, in this situation?  If you confront insult or antagonism, your first impulse will be to respond in kind.  But if you think, as it were, This is an emissary sent from the Lord, and some benefit is intended for me, first of all the occasion to demonstrate my faithfulness, the chance to show that I do in some small degree participate in the grace that saved me, you are free to act otherwise than as circumstances would seem to dictate.  You are free to act by your own lights.  You are freed at the same time of the impulse to hate or resent that person.  He would probably laugh at the thought that the Lord sent him to you for your benefit (and his), but that is the perfection of the disguise, his own ignorance of it.

:: Gilead, Marilynne Robinson

$1.00

As the previous post states, I've been busy organizing, rearranging, and sometimes tossing our papers, possessions, and paraphernalia.  I looked around and saw paper bags, plastic bins, stacks of books, piled blankets, and weary pillows, and while it doesn't usually bother me, for some reason it rankled for a few days.  So I decided to do something about it.

In our bedroom, we have a  tall, plain, white Ikea cabinet that we use for a dresser.  It has four big shelves, which work great!  I never really liked regular dressers anyway; I usually tried to stuff too many t-shirts or socks or whatever into the drawers.  Not the greatest for easy access, plus I could never see everything all at once.  Anyway, the cabinet is great.  The white filing box, clear plastic bin, green sleeping bag, and roll of Christmas tree lights were not great.  So, I jumped on a local facebook page that permits members to buy and sell items at discount prices.  I put up a picture of an Ikea basket that I found on-line and asked if anyone had any to sell; I was willing to pay $4.00 each.

Ikea basket, normally $12.99

A week later, and I have five baskets, for a total cost of $14.00, five for the price of one!  I bought two from one lady for $4.00 each, and three from another for $2.00 each (there was some wear on these).  Now I have three of these on top of our cabinet.  One holds gift bags and boxes, one holds frames and pictures, and one is empty (for now).  The fourth basket is also empty, and it fits perfectly in this little shelf-thing that is also nearly empty.  The fifth is in the kitchen holding plastic bags.  Not too bad!

Another nice thing about this is that I sold a dish set for $15.00 and bought these baskets for $14.00, so I still made $1.00 by getting rid of something I didn't like and acquiring something I did!  Haha!  Now to see what else to sell... ;)