I've been very blessed to have mostly enjoyed most of my jobs. Sure, there were days at Disneyland that i never wanted to see cotton candy again, and days where guests drove me nuts (like the lady who pitied us working on Christmas day as she bought something from me. Sure. Real sympathy that was.) I learned good service skills there and at Nordstrom; learned how to type rapidly, fix copy machines, and manage small accounts as an admin assistant for a print shop; learned a lot about everything from life to graphic layout from working at a church.
Teaching--high school or older adults--is exhausting but rewarding, and i thought i loved my current job (teaching older adults) until i began the Forest Service job. Then i learned what loving a job really is. Usually these two-hour classes leave me drained, my voice has been hurting a lot the past few weeks, and the constant demand to prepare for the upcoming lesson is a like a small stone in a shoe during a long hike. Landscape architecture for the Forest Service, in contrast, leaves me energized and ready to work way past the time to go home! I have the day off tomorrow and i wish i didn't; i've gone in on a few weekends; it's all i can do (illegality is the main barrier) to not bring work home.
It is not without anxiety, however, that i realized next week is my last full week with the older adults. I don't want to tell them: i want to just disappear. I know that's not healthy, not for them or for me, but i hate goodbyes, i hate disappointing people, i hate making people sad. I've known them for two years and some of them feel like quasi-grandparents. I've seen their ups and downs and many of them have few visitors. They'll have a new teacher, but i will miss seeing them and they say they like my class most. The cynic in me doubts that; the soft-heart in me, somewhere in there, mourns. If only i'd have time to visit once in a while--but i know i won't, not really, not realistically.
:(
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Amazing
Today my car died in traffic and cost me nearly a paycheck to get repaired, and i was told by my mother and by a registered nurse that i should get myself to a doctor within 24 hours. I was late to work and had to work late to make up for it. A friend had to pick me up, take me to my car, meet me at my apartment, and then meet me at my parents' house so i could drop off my mom's car.
It was a long day.
In some books, it might have qualified for the moniker, "bad day". On the other hand, though, i woke up refreshed and made it to the first job on time. When my car died--in traffic--it began acting strange just before the freeway onramp and so, THANK GOD, i was not in the second lane at 65+ mph when it kerplunked. I'd have been toast. And, after waiting and trying to get it to start through three green lights, a jogger stopped and wonderfully offered to push me out of traffic. He was so nice; i need to pay it forward. I was beginning to panic. I called Triple A and everytime it connected me to a person, it hung up on me. But, they called back and got a tow truck guy there. A policeman stopped to make sure everything was okay. My mom was able to pick me up--i broke down near her work and her work was back on my way to my second job--so i was able to get to my second job, even if i was half an hour late. And it was only half an hour late. The free towing covered all but a mile to my mechanic, who was able to squeeze my car in and get it fixed. I have it back. And fine, i'll go to urgent care tomorrow as soon as i wake up, i promise.
So, it wasn't such a bad day after all. I'm alive. I could ask: hey, if God could provide a person to push me out of traffic and let my car die before i got on the freeway, why couldn't He keep it from dying altogether? But, see, i don't think God often intervenes to change the laws of physics. If He did, they wouldn't be laws and we wouldn't be able to see the marvelously complex and simple beauty of His creation and the consistency and justice of Him. I don't treat my fuel pump as well as i should. The car breaking down was due to come. I'm just grateful He doesn't make me learn my lessons any harder than they need to be.
It was a long day.
In some books, it might have qualified for the moniker, "bad day". On the other hand, though, i woke up refreshed and made it to the first job on time. When my car died--in traffic--it began acting strange just before the freeway onramp and so, THANK GOD, i was not in the second lane at 65+ mph when it kerplunked. I'd have been toast. And, after waiting and trying to get it to start through three green lights, a jogger stopped and wonderfully offered to push me out of traffic. He was so nice; i need to pay it forward. I was beginning to panic. I called Triple A and everytime it connected me to a person, it hung up on me. But, they called back and got a tow truck guy there. A policeman stopped to make sure everything was okay. My mom was able to pick me up--i broke down near her work and her work was back on my way to my second job--so i was able to get to my second job, even if i was half an hour late. And it was only half an hour late. The free towing covered all but a mile to my mechanic, who was able to squeeze my car in and get it fixed. I have it back. And fine, i'll go to urgent care tomorrow as soon as i wake up, i promise.
So, it wasn't such a bad day after all. I'm alive. I could ask: hey, if God could provide a person to push me out of traffic and let my car die before i got on the freeway, why couldn't He keep it from dying altogether? But, see, i don't think God often intervenes to change the laws of physics. If He did, they wouldn't be laws and we wouldn't be able to see the marvelously complex and simple beauty of His creation and the consistency and justice of Him. I don't treat my fuel pump as well as i should. The car breaking down was due to come. I'm just grateful He doesn't make me learn my lessons any harder than they need to be.
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