manna.

oooook.

good news! i have a job! that's right...i'm EMPLOYED!

praise the Lord and pass the bread. amen.

as of tomorrow morning, i will be an instructional assistant in a third grade classroom for the county. as i have been told, i will be co-teaching 29 students for the year. i couldn't be more thrilled. i really like the principal (he's a JMU grad!) and the few teachers i met during the interview process. i have yet to meet my co-teacher, so there's a prayer request wrapped up in there somewhere...but i am confident this will be a good situation.

in other news, however random this may be, a little something to add to my "ooh, i love my neighborhood" post a few weeks ago:

i left town this weekend and returned to a flyer on my desk informing me that my area has tested positive for the west nile virus. waaaaaay to go, mosquitoes. now kim and i arm ourselves with "deep woodsmen" bug repellent. it's manly. i don't enjoy it so much.

and i'm off to make my lunch for school tomorrow. YAY!

harry.

it's been a most uneventful few weeks. the job search continues. it's been an all-consuming affair. i'll let you know when i do. hopefully soon.

so, rather than discuss the boring aspects of my day-to-day, here are a couple of highlights from the past few weeks.

yesterday morning, while walking charlie around 6:45 a.m., i came upon a bus stop full of children loading onto their big, yellow taxi. as it pulled away and a dad started walking toward me, he started skipping...threw his arms in the air...and exclaimed, "it's like Christmas morning!" he was obviously thrilled at it being the first day of school. it made me laugh.

a friend-of-a-friend recently told me that charlie's face resembles that of harry...from 'harry and the hendersons'...the loveable 1987 john lithgow movie about a pacific northwest big-foot character that shacks up with the all-american family. it was one of my favorite movies as a kid. and i have to say, i see what she means. charlie and harry both have amazing facial expressions. don't believe me? check it out:
i think that's about it for now. like i said, not too much goin' on. and i think i am OK with that. for now.

anchors.

i have been most un-productive the past few days. for someone whose to-do list currently holds only one significant task, this is oh-so-sad to the finest degree. i could blame it on the hot weather for creating this lethargy. it would be a lie.

i think in many ways i am learning to just be. to sit. to talk to God in ways i haven't ventured into for quite some time.

i can't stop thinking about hope.

i want to grasp this abstract/concrete idea.

i had one of the greatest conversations of my lifetime last night. my kindred spirit, amy, and i spent over an hour talking about all-things-Jesus and hope and God and glory and peace. it was the kind of conversation that leaves you feeling as though you just left a really amazing church service. you want to walk around the house and just say "amen" over and over. it left me with many things to meditate upon. and a very strong desire.

i want holy wisdom.

among other things, i would love for God to explain to me why hope is an anchor to my soul. and how.

and how i can hold onto this incredible anchor for all i'm worth.

curious.

i went on a walk a little before 7 a.m. this morning with my pup. and i saw a most curious thing.

floating above my neighborhood was a tiny, green balloon.

i wish i knew the story behind its release.

some things are destined to stay a mystery.

lazy, hazy days.

today is one of those days where my deepest desire is to lay around and read. everything. i have been sucked into an updated version of pride and prejudice (needless to say the classic version is loads better). it makes me want to read all-things-great-literature.

i am also LOVING this cooler weather. a walk with charlie this morning at 6:45 was a pleasant way to start the day...it was even a bit chilly and we enjoyed the cool breeze compared to the blasts of humidity we have endured the past few days.

there's not much else to say, really. i want to go curl up and read some more but...i am off to edit the last few wedding photos waiting on my desktop.

maybe then i can meet Mr. Darcy.

old things new again.

i used to have a livejournal...another version of the popular blog. mine chronicled my last few months in harrisonburg. i found it this morning while looking at old internet bookmarks. the following is one of my entries from almost exactly 2 years ago. it made me laugh outloud.

[dated august 10th, 2005]

i went tanning yesterday.

this is something i vowed i would never do. and i am normally not this vain. HOWEVER....i am in a wedding in a little over a month from now...and i would rather have a little tan than reflect the flash from the camera.

whatchagonnado.

now, i know there are those that will judge this decision. and that's OK. i am prepared. in fact, i have paaaaaaaaaaid for my sins.

here's the low-down:

ok, so i walk into [nameless] tanning salon...and this young girl behind the counter asks for my last name, thinking i am a regular customer. i almost laughed...because how could she mistake ME, pale-as-a-bale-of-cotton-laura, for a regular customer. anyyyyyyway. i quickly inform her that i have never been tanning before...and she says, "so...what do you want?"...and i am all like, "umm....to tan...." (seriously stating the obvious).

ok, so i pay for 10 sessions. HA. yes. i know what you are thinking. i have heard it all. she then asks if i have a lotion. CLEARLY she is delusional. i say no and then get pointed to the $40-50 case of lotions. i gracefully glide back to the front of the salon and ask for a sample. only $5. much more budget-friendly. ok, so i choose a dark tan accelerator. baaaaaaaaaaad idea. did i know this at the time? of course not.

she then asks if i want a basic bed or a hot bed...i ask for the difference and she explains that the hot beds have the newest bulbs. naturally, i want the newest. i am american.

so we head to room #2 and she shows me how to work my coffin of doom and says that the maximum time is 20 minutes.

i get down to my skivvies and on goes the lotion. i turn on the bed, squint my eyes from the glare, put on my little goggles that would protect no swimmer i know and lay down on some bulbs. i close the top and it is seriously close to my body/face. if i were claustrophobic, i would probably have died from anxiety.

so here i am. laying there, listening to the bulbs pop as they heat up, sweating, thinking, "is this going to singe my skin" & "my legs and back shouldn't be this warm, right?"

13 minutes later, i step out. i couldn't make it the whole 20. i think the voice of God bellowed down to room #2 and told me to get out.

ah-hem. no one told me you are only supposed to stay in 3-5 minutes MAX your very first time. information like this is not inherent, people. we all had to be potty trained, did we not? same principle. go with it.

i am red like whoa. all over. there are CLEAR tan...no wait, burn lines on my back/chest. my skin is severely angry with me at the moment. and i am trying to make it happy with aloe.

stupid is as stupid does.

in the 'hood.

things my roommate (kim) and i love about our richmond neighborhood:

the two adorable kids down the street who wait for us to take our dogs on a walk in the morning...and once we are down the front steps and within earshot, we hear the familiar, "hi, charlie/tasha!" as they wait for us to approach for the routine dog-petting. charlie especially likes this attention. it might be going to his head. moving on...

the mysterious naked barbie that showed up in our backyard. i believe she is missing her arms.

or, for that matter, the strange pair of plastic-must-have-come-from-a-little-boy's-GI Joe-toy legs that have been in the street for the past few days...albeit a little shattered and run-over.

martha across the street. her garden. sammy, her dog (a sometimes charlie/tasha companion). a friendly presence who loves to talk. to us and to all dogs.

our fish pond in the front yard. home to willie, nelson and curvy (our koi). oh, and the lilypads.

our neighbors who enjoy a dip in their tiny pool from time to time. and the fact that he always opens the door for her.

the latino men down the street. and their music. and the corona bottle caps i find on my daily walks.

the house with the giant fish for a mailbox (hook included) and a sign on their porch that reads "beware of attack turtle."

the random pumkin patch in a neighboring yard. with a gigantic gourd. ready to carve...in august.

the eccentric motorcycle family down the street with flowers planted in an old toilet situated nicely in their backyard.

the fact that everyone is so unique, amiable and more than willing to stop for conversation on any given night.

welcome home.