Catching Up

Before I really get going, I'm watching the synchronized diving and holy cow, the Chinese are freaking amazing.

Anyway, I have not written all summer. Now there is probably a lot I could have written about, but I didn't because, well, there's been a lot going on! To begin:

Nat Gets Fit Update
Well, of course I'm a complete and total slacker. I have not eaten correctly or exercised all summer. No joke. But, today is a new day and the Olympics are on. This is relevant, wait for it. Also, I just finished listening to Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock [will review later]. In it this high school farm-girl trains a quarterback during the summer - there is much discussion of hard work, etc. So as I was listening I was thinking how I don't like to work hard (ok, who likes it, right?) and I let that stop me so many times instead of just pushing through. Then of course the Olympics are happening, and these athletes are amazing. You probably wouldn't have ever thought of me as an athlete, but I kind of did think of myself as athletic in high school. I always danced instead of playing sports, but I thought that if I had tried something like volleyball I could have been passable. I was always fairly strong and flexible with good coordination. I never liked to run. Nowadays I can barely touch my toes sitting and, when I tried, could manage all of ten push-ups --from the counter--not even on-your-knees-girl-push-ups. I did try though, which should be noted. Actually, I took Kip out for a walk this evening, and I have to say that I had forgotten how good it can feel to do something. So I thought that if these Olympians can work hard for years to get where they want to be, surely I can work hard to reach my - admittedly less exalted - goal. So, baby steps. Hard baby steps. I will do some sort of hard physical work every day for the rest of the Olympics. Now I know this would be better if I had said it at the beginning of the Olympics or even if I had said every day, but like I said - baby steps. I think I'm going to go to Weight Watchers again, too, because goodness knows I probably need professional help to do this. Anyway, on to other topics. I have a...

New Job
I am not going to teach this year! I probably sound too excited about that. There are things that I miss about teaching, but it is very nice to have a change. I am now the Interim Administrative Assistant at the Presbytery of Sheppards & Lapsley. I get to be in the middle of all kinds of things going on with the larger church, meet new people, and hone my data entry/newsletter writing/web page upkeep/mass mailing/phone answering/problem solving skills. Good times! Also I am...

Back in School
This summer I enrolled in the Masters of Library and Information Sciences (MLIS) program at the University of Alabama. (gasp!, i know) Bama has the only MLIS program in the state that is accredited by the American Library Association. There are other schools where you can take classes toward School Library Media Specialist Certification (which is my primary goal), but I also wanted to be able to get a public library job if the opportunity arises. Plus, for job hunting I think it's just better to have the Masters. So I took my first class this July. That's right a semester's worth of work in just five weeks - talk about intense! It was Research Methods and we had about seven assignments that basically amounted to writing a research proposal by the end of the course. I swear I almost quit halfway through, but decided I couldn't afford to just lose that money. So I saw it through, and although I don't have my grade yet, I think it will be okay. In the fall I will be taking two classes, one about instructional methods on four weekends and one about technology every Tuesday night. They start in about a week and a half, and I'm pretty excited. I guess I'm hoping they'll be a little more fun than Research Methods, although I did learn a lot. Now, in order to get a little closer to T-town and my new job in Hoover, I'm...

Putting My House on the Market
Yes, moving. I hope. Sometime. In the next year. As we all know, the market is not exactly seller-friendly right now. I have had a couple of people come see the house, but no bites yet. Surely some college student/recent grad/young family/empty nesters need a little house on a golf course with a fenced yard near some horse farms. Right? If you know of anyone who wants/needs to move to Montevallo, let me know. If you want to check out the listing, here's the MLS number: 398996 It's listed for $129,900 which is a great deal in my neighborhood, Fairview. See if this link works http://www.remax-alabama.com/remaxal/modules/internet/search/includes/mapsearch/listingpopup.asp?mlsid=325&mlsnumber=398996&l=y to see pictures, etc.

Well that's most of the news for now. I will try to be more consistent with my future posts.
Love to all!