A Day in the Life

of a student ministry director...

Today, I squeezed 10 high school girls in a minivan that only had 4 functioning seats. It was like a clown car when we pulled up and unloaded at Panera.
As we passed a cop on the way there, I had to direct half of them to duck down and the other half to act normal. The didn't seem to mind. But seriously, what teenager minds undermining authority?

Estrogen is a funny thing

I think when you get married there are some instincts that unexpectedly kick in. I don't know if it's hormonal or sociological. Either way, I have found that there are some feminine desires and behaviors that are unexpectedly coursing through my body.

• I want to cook more. I have cooked and baked more in the past two months than I did in the past year. Maybe I'm wanting to use all my new kitchen gadgets. Maybe I like that someone is there to eat my stuff. Either way, my hobby for cooking has been rejuvenated.
• I want things clean. I've never been all that messy but I've never been all that clean either. In the past, the dustball in the corner of my room used to never bother me. I could walk past it for weeks until it became big enough to move on it's own. However, I now feel this odd instinct to clean and keep things shiny and smelling fresh.
• I want a garden. The idea of me bringing in fresh peppers, potatoes, lettuce, snow peas, basil, cucumbers, and more is so appealing! I know it's winter and I know I don't have the time or resources right now to do this but I'm feeling the urge. I told my dad that I wanted my Christmas present from him to be a day in Columbia helping me start a garden. I don't think he could be happier to give that to me.
• Kids. Now don't get the wrong idea. We are in no rush at all to have kids. But my attitude and desire for them has completely altered. About 6 months ago when people would joke around about us having kids, I would flip. It freaked me out. However, I have felt a shift in myself when the topic is brought up. I'm softened to the idea. I am seeing it a bit differently. Part of me wants it but the other 80% knows that we are in no place to even think about that right now. So until the time comes, we will have to be satisfied with our pooch to fill the void.
  

I mean, really?

The home-owning adventure never ends.

This morning, I went to turn on our kitchen water. Nada. Nothing. Dead.
After checking all the other water sources in our home and finding them to be fully functioning, we diagnosed the problem as a frozen pipe.

Armed with a hairdryer and flashlight, my beloved husband Austin suited up and crawled under our house into the nasty crawl space.
Nothing worked to thaw out this pipe. After leaving it alone for a few hours and letting the sun do its job, our water started working again. Whew.

That is- until the next freeze.

A Love/Hate Relationship

For the past 24 hours, there has been a meowing cat under our house. You would think that a solid foundation and hardwood floors would block out the small noise a kitten makes. Nope.
At times I feel very angry at this cat. It is interfering with the peace I hope to gain from being at home. It's like a rhythmic noise that I can't turn off.
Other times, I feel a genuine sadness and empathy for the kitty. In those moments, I open a can of tuna and put it in the crawlspace hole.
We've made relational progress though. It came within 3 feet of me yesterday.
But the dang thing won't stop meowing. I get angry. Just shut up! I can't sleep!
But then I think of it meowing for it's mother that is never going to return.
More tuna.
I've never felt such an range of emotions for a stray animal.

My relaxing day off

Mondays are usually a day of rejuvenation for me. Since Sundays and Tuesdays are my busiest days, I carefully guard my Monday activities. However, today, control of my comfort was taken out of my hands. Here's how it went down.

Sunday afternoon: Come home from church. Heat not working.
Sunday night: Heat still not working. House getting colder. Polly getting stressed.
Monday 7:30am: House is 58 degrees. Austin leaves for work. Polly cold and agitated.
9:00am: Austin calls and suggests Polly turn off and relight the pilot light on the furnace. (as if I know how to do that!)
9:15am: Polly successfully lights pilot light without blowing up the house.
9:20am: Polly even more agitated because furnace still not working.
9:30am: Austin makes an appointment with Company #1 to come look at furnace.
10:50am: Company #1 shows up. Figures out problem. Says its going to cost over $700. Suggests we just buy new furnace because ours is old and will have future problems.
11:00: Dilemma. Put a lot of money into something that is going to break? Put A LOT more money into something we will only use for 5-6 years. Much deliberation.
11:20: Polly calls her father for advice. He tells her some more questions to ask and to call another company for a second quote of the broken part.
11:25: Polly calls Company #2 who says they can fix it for $400. (a little relief)
11:45: Conners make decision to fix the old furnace rather than buy a new one.
12:00: Polly has to call company #1 and tell them they suck for trying to rip her off. (in nicer words of course)
12:45: Company #2 shows up and installs new part.
1:30: See ya $400 bucks.
2:00: House is warm!!!!!
2:00-4:30: Polly is still on edge for many reasons ($400 bucks-gone, making all these decisions, talking to all types of repairmen pretending to know what she's talking about, cranky from not getting a relaxing day, etc.)
4:30: Austin gets home. Polly eventually starts to chill out and enjoy the evening.
6:30: Polly and Austin make a veggie pasta dinner. Delicious.
7:00: Polly and Austin start clean up process.
7:10: Polly rinses something down the garbage disposal.
7:11: Polly flips switch to garbage disposal
7:11: Garbage Disposal not working.
7:11: Defeated laughter

Since October 10th

Some things that have changed since we tied the knot:

• I eat more meat
• I watch more TV
• To double check to make sure the toilet seat is down
• Don't leave leftover hair in the shower drain (it grosses him out)
• Twice as much laundry
• More stinky laundry
• There is now cheese, beer, bacon, ranch dressing, and 2% milk in the fridge
• The budget is in full force...kinda
  

Some things I've learned since we tied the knot:

• How to play the wii
• Sports knowledge
• That I'm more of a snot than I anticipated
• Cereal and yogurt are not a sufficient meal for a male
• Austin likes a house project if it can somehow involve a power tool
• No matter what you have in life, there is always a sense of discontentment
• No other relationship can sanctify you more than a husband/wife
• Always have frozen biscuits in the freezer
• Grocery shopping together can be hazardous to the relationship
• I have no poker face
• I can always love more
  

The Drive by Shopper

I had a garage sale today. They are a lot of work. Got up at 6:20 to go put up signs. Dragged stuff out my house and the garage around 7:00am. People started showing the minute we put stuff in the front lawn. Here are some stats of the day.

Assistants to the sale: Janny Drover and Amanda Hanson
First purchase: Dishes
Last Purchase: Picture Frame
Biggest money maker: Austin's dresser
Cheapest Item: The stuff in the Free Box
Moment I feel bad about: Selling a desk I knew would fall apart soon. (I warned her!)
Money made: $330!!
Embarrassing moment: Sophie growling and snapping at a stranger who approached her
AND
Me wearing a fanny pack all day. It's true.

Most Memorable Shopper:
This one deserves a story. I saw an older lady driving by very very slowly. Almost stopping to look. She passes, only to return for another slow drive-by. She then motions me over to her car. and asks me how much the dog kennels are. I tell her and she says she'll take them. I realized then she was expecting me to get them for her and take them to her car so I told her to pull over closer to the curb. She halfway did- still sticking out into West blvd-a very busy street. As she was stayed put, she explained that she couldn't walk but loved to garage sale. I softened.
The shopping continued.
And the traffic slowed.
She asked how much one of my mirrors was. I told her $15.00. She gave a sour face and asked about another mirror. Still too expensive. She explained that she was looking for a mirror for her friend in the nursing home who doesn't have on in her room. I'm a sucker so I told her she could have it to give away. She was delighted.
Meanwhile traffic is backing up because this lady's car is sticking into the street. I try to hurry her along but she continued to tell me stories about her nursing home friend.
We said our goodbyes finally. I realized then she had completely backed traffic up. People were getting angry. She was clueless.
Two minutes later, a slow moving mini-van drives past again. Stops again. motions me over again. Begins shopping again. She ended up buying a sweatshirt, bookcase, cooking dish and something else. Each time, we would bring the object to her car, she would examine, we would put it in the back of her car if she wanted it. It was quite humorous. But she was my favorite.
By noon, we had sold almost everything. It was a huge success!!
Now begins the debate between Austin and I on how to spend the money. Patio Furniture vs. Honeymoon money. Bet you can guess who wants what...

Special Thanks to my mom and Amanda. It would not have happened without them.