Joie de vivre

I had some fun, inconsequential things to say, but I can't bring myself to write them just now.

Guys, whether you know her or not, pray for alissamarie. Her father died today, just two and a half days before her wedding.

I know most of you have already seen this plea on any number of other LJs, but I felt compelled to do my part in case there was even one person who hadn't seen yet. 

My heart is sore.

Godfather II: Very good, very tragic.

Request: my eyes aren't right today. It's getting increasingly difficult to read the computer screen or even papers. My eyes just aren't focusing correctly, and it's really frustrating. I suppose it's due to stress or tiredness, but it's not boding well for work. =\ Prayers appreciated.

3/19
As usual, I did not escape town today without buying some books. Mrs. Klay-Mart is getting to know my quite well...she was shocked, actually, that I only bought two from her today. I went ahead and got "The Complete Italian Cookbook" from Chris today. I've been eyeing it for months. It's huuuge. It must weight nearly five pounds, lol. And every page has color photos of almost everything. Also bought my first Terry Pratchett book (Hogfather) and was amused to read the blurb on the back. You know where they usually say "The author lives in California with his wife, two daughters, and a cat named Frank"? Well, this blurb is wonderfully typical of Pratchett writing in general:

"Terry Pratchett lives in England, an island off the coast of France, where he spends his time writing Discworld novels in accordance with the Very Strong Anthropic Principle, which holds that the entire Purpose of the Universe is to make possible a being that will live in England, as island off the coast of France, and spend its time writing Discworld novels. Which is exactly what he does. Which proves the whole business is true. Any questions?"

Then I had a sweet surprise when I went to catalog the new books (only four today!). I opened the front cover of Papa's Wife to find--and this is why I love used books--a whole letter writen on the front cover, dated June of 1976.

3/20
I'm sort of shocked, at yet not shocked at all...all of which is sad. I just found out that a girl I know is two months pregnant. She's a year younger then I am. It was shocking enough when she announced she was engaged last year, but it seemed as if they were being somewhat responsible by saying they were waiting to get married until they were both out of college. Lol, that's about FIVE YEARS.

So now she's going to have a baby. And they've upped the wedding date to June 04. Ok, like, what are you going to do with your six month old at your wedding? Let him be the honorary ring bearer? Just last July this girl and I and another girl had a sleepover...watched movies, did our hair and stuff, talked silly girl talk. This is all so wrong.

2/23
Sunday School went better this morning then I think it ever has. The lesson was Jesus walking on the water, and the kids were really into the story and...I just felt inspired. It was awsome. And the kids were really good today (for the most part) and we had a lot of nice "conversation" instead of my just telling them to be quiet and stop calling each other names. The coversations really showed what they think of me, though. It's really odd. They must think I'm really old and everything...they want to know when I'm going to get married. Bwaha. Oh, and afterwards I was looking for my mom, and I saw one of my students in the hallway, so I asked her if she'd seen my mom. Her eyes got really big and she said, "Teachers have moms too??"

Funny how adding four inches to your height changes your perspective. I dug out my four inch heel sandles from the depths of the closet and wore them to church for the first time in a long while. It was odd to experience life as a five-foot-six girl again...whoa, was I really 5'6"?! Wow. I didn't notice it much until I started flipping light switches which were further down the wall then I expected them to be. I forgot that the shoes rub on my toes, and I wore them with bare feet, so now I have two blisters. Oh well, "One must suffer in order to be beautiful." Er, tall.

Oh, and for the first time in my life I get to be Mary in the Easter program. ; ) When I was little that was always my dream. ; ) What's best is that it's a non-speaking part. Hurray. I just have to sit there and look adoringly at my baby.

Lol, I wonder who'll be Joseph? Oh my goodness, there are certain people who I will absolutly *die* (of amusment or otherwise) if they pair me with. Bwaha.

2/24
Something terrible has happened to a guy from my church. He's in the St. Francis burn unit with severe 2nd and 3rd degree burns over most of his face, arms, and torso. He was camping with some friends, and a REALLY STUPID IDIOT tried to get their campfire burning better by pouring gas on it. The fire came back into the can, of course, and the guy threw the can behind him, where it hit the guy I know and splashed burning gas all over him. Please, please pray for him. His name is Paul and I think he's about 19. I know you don't know him, but he needs every single person that he can get in prayer for him. And remember his mother, too. She has had so much trouble in life, and I'm afraid this might be the last straw. Her only daughter drowned a few years ago, and another son is in and out of the hospital with depression and other problems.

This and some other things had me feeling sort of fearful and worried today. But then I went to my spring...in our nine acres of woods we have a dear little spring, tucked into a little hollow. It's very peaceful and calm. I sat down there by the upper pool for a good little while, praying and enjoying the cold water on my feet, the sunshine, and the new green leaves bursting out. It did me a lot of good.

2/25
My oldest younger brother has a dentist appointment today, so I get to spend some time at the library. Actually I will probably be back on Friday, when my youngest brother has a dentist appointment. I wish we had a library closer. This isn't too bad, but it just means I can't go whenever I want...I got so spoiled being about the bike to it in Florida. Oh well. At least this isn't a really tiny library, yet small enough to allow me to really get to know the librarians (and they me). When I called to reserve a computer this morning, Donna said, "Oh, hi, Marie! We're looking forward to seeing you this afternoon!"

And I think I'll go check out some Arcitectural Digests now. And then go copy some pictures for Gwenyth (and maybe, just maybe, finally get her letter out), go give Chris some books, and probably buy a few. And run to the bank if I have time. Mom dislikes it when I carry so much cash on my person. ; )

Oh! And I need to look for more info on the Fibonacci number sequence. (The sequence of numbers, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, . . . , in which each successive number is equal to the sum of the two preceding numbers.) I'm interested just because it's neat mathematics, and besides, Leonardo Fibonacci was Italian! This sequence is found all over in nature.