hmmm ... interesting idea

Where HAVE you been? Ummm ... not sure ... but certainly not HERE for a long time. :)

Just talked with a lady from church who works at the local library (which happens to be directly across the street from my house). They are hiring someone part time to shelve books, read shelves, etc.

I find living with no emergency fund nervous-making ... and I've never been able to re-build mine since buying my condo. After 3 years, it's time to admit that it's not going to happen unless I change something.

When I think about part-time jobs, I always think "waitress" or "store clerk" ... but as a basically non-social person, after 8 hours at work, I'm not sure my energy could hold up to something that chatty.

But ... shelving books in a quiet corner ... THAT I could do! Plus it would be on my feet, so a certain amount of exercise built in.

Quite excited at this prospect, actually! I asked her to pick me up an application.

Exercise is still happening - often twice a day, but at least once. Study ... um ... not. I'm working on some projects for Christmas presents, and they're effectively consuming my time.

Trinka

the psych hospital

No ... no joke to follow that title ...

I just returned from visiting a friend in the psychiatric hospital. You know - when we come near to having a bad auto accident, or get a nasty case of food poisoning, we realize how fragile we really are. God gave us life in a moment, and He takes it back just as quickly. (and is just and right in doing so ... it all belongs to Him).

But our minds, too, are a gift. And one I take for granted, really.

When the Scripture says God "holds all things together by the word of His power." It is talking about galaxies, and molecules, oak trees, and our circulatory system. But He ALSO continually holds the reigns on our reason. That reason could slip away from my control just as easily as I could find myself tomorrow with diabetes or a sore throat.

The sweet lady I visited is one of the most gentle, quiet people--with a quirky sense of humor, and a desire to serve in behind-the-scenes ministries. I can always make her laugh - even tonight when her mind is a battleground.

just thinking, I suppose ... and thankful to be able to do so ...

miscellaneous miscellaneous

Just got done looking through a friend's pictures from her missions trip to Peru. They had a great opportunity to help out in a school, and work on building a church high in the mountains (about 2 miles up!). Plus ... apparently ... wear some nifty local swirly skirts. :)

I discovered at my condo board meeting Monday night that there's another signer on the board. We were discussing how many years a board member's term is, and another lady and I held up the sign-language #3 (thumb, and first two fingers ... the common way of holding up the middle three fingers is the sign language letter "w"). We both noticed, and I'm hoping to get a chance to ask her about it some time soon. She's already caught my attention by talking about missions trips, so I think it would be great fun to get to know her!

Working out continues to go well -- we've got treadmills in the basement now, so I have a date with one every weekday morning at 5:00, and my regular workout after work. Going to exercising twice a day seems to have been quite helpful.

My brother and sister-in-law had an exciting week last week - they won a Christian radio station's contest to have a free kitchen make-over. It was great fun listening to the announcement on the radio over the internet. If I could post audio files here, I'd let you hear it ... she was quite excited!

Hmmm ... and about Bible study ... not happening much right now. It needs to happen. I got some books from the library, and checked out too many at once, so I've been spending time devouring them to get them back by the due date. (ridiculous excuse ... I know ... however, it's the truth!) My pick of the bunch is called Kicked, Bitten and Scratched -- it's about a college program for animal trainers. I always love getting inside a career that's totally different from mine - and this was a fascinating read.

The fellowship to which my church belongs (I.F.C.A.) is having a cruise in February. They are discounting the interior cabins, and it's almost down to what I would be willing to pay. So I'm considering it. I've never been on a cruise before, and it might be fun! Particularly so, since it's church-related, so the drinking/gambling aspect won't be present. And the fact that it's in Feburary (a gloomy, depressing month, if ever I saw one) is a draw as well!

I also want to speak a word in praise of a great new Access add-in I bought for work. It's called DBPix, and it has performed miracles. Access allows pictures to be inserted in the database, but it's got a bug called "image bloat" that causes the database size to expand exponentially with every picture inserted. (mine was up to 1.3 gig in size). This add-in ties right into Access, and fixes the image bloat problem, as well as giving more options in working with the pictures. My database is now down to 14 mg., and I am a MOST satisfied customer.

OK - back to work for this girl!