An Interesting Day

It's been a day with no power...and I haven't left the country yet. 

There was a thunderstorm this morning, which didn't drop too much rain, but did generate a lot of wind.  I woke up at 7:19 AM to the tree in my parents backyard splitting in two with one side crashing to the ground (which fortunately hit nothing but the ground...but now half of the backyard is taken up with tree).  About 5 or so minutes later, the power went out (probably because another tree didn't aim as well).  So today has basically been a constant quest to find places that have backup generators and free wi-fi.  [I'm really not that shallow, but my only communication device that works without electricity (aka my cell phone) had one bar of battery left...so it's more been looking for places to charge my cell phone...because my parents are out of town camping in Wisconsin, and I need to ability to get in contact with them if necessary...and as long as I'm looking for somewhere with available working outlets, I might as well look for somewhere I can entertain myself as I wait for the slow cell phone to charge.]

My first thought was Starbucks, because I was planning on meeting a friend there for coffee around lunch time anyway.  So I drove to the one by school, where I usually hang out.  It was closed.  The one down the road had a truck out front selling drive through coffee only, but that didn't help me.  I went further down the road to Barnes and Noble and there I got lucky for a while...however, once I got a partial charge on my phone, I was nice and gave the outlet up to someone who had their computer die on them.

I came home after meeting with my friend (we talked for over two hours, it was good times), cleaned out my car because A.) it had to be done some time in the next 9 days and B.) it doesn't require electricity to clean (until I get around to vacuuming, so that hasn't happened yet).  I read for a little while, wrote in my journal for a little while, played a game of Monopoly on my iPad (which started the day with a full charge, and still had a pretty full charge)...and then went with my sister to Panera for dinner.  And as we were looking for a table (both carrying laptop bags) a woman asked if we were looking for an outlet, and said she was just about ready to pack up...good timing.  So I'm currently in Panera with access to an outlet (and it's air-conditioned in here - bonus!)  Once my phone is charged, we'll leave, and I probably won't have to look for anything tomorrow, because the phone should hold the charge for a few days...and hopefully by that time, the power will be back on.  Talking with people who talked with ComEd...that may not be for up to 5 days.  I'm hoping it's sooner, but until then, there's not too much I can do about it (other than going out and finding free wi-fi and electricity).

Details, Details, Details

There are days when I feel like I work all day and never get anything accomplished, and there are days when I feel like I hardly do anything, but realize that I've checked a lot off of my to-do list.  Today (fortunately) was one of the latter days.

This past week I had a chance to visit friends in Indiana, which was a much needed break/rest...however I realized when I came back that I have barely two weeks left before I leave, and I still have a lot of details to attend to.  Yesterday I had little direction...I did a little bit of one thing, left it and did a bit of another...so I was working, but it felt like it was futile and nothing was getting done.

Today was very different (due in part to the preparations and things I had done yesterday).  I officially registered my house as being leased with my association, including a copy of the lease and contact information for everyone involved, I went to school and finished up the organizing and things I needed to do there, I almost finished my online Spanish class - all I need to do is burn my oral final presentation to disc (it's recorded and sitting on my computer right now), write another paragraph (which I may do tonight before bed) and mail it in.  I can very likely have that all taken care of tomorrow.  After that, I have a few phone calls to make, and I have to pack.  Otherwise, I think I'm mostly set.  There are still minor details to get worked out.  I'm going to help my mom clean the house for my going away party. I have a few letters of recommendation still to write (I should probably wait until I have fully reverted into English, because right now I'm still thinking a lot in Spanish).  But I'm not panicking about only having two weeks left to go (we'll see if I'm still saying the same thing when I have two days left to go...but for now I'm feeling pretty good about things...)

Two weeks from tomorrow I will be in Honduras (by this time at night).

T minus 22 days and 7 hours...

It's difficult to believe that in a little over 3 weeks I'm going to be in Honduras. I've been spending the past few weeks trying to whittle down the to-do list (and finish reading Harry Potter y la Orden del Fenix). Mostly, what's left on my to-do list now is shopping and packing (and writing about a half-dozen letters of recommendation for students who were thinking ahead). I think I have everything else pretty much lined up. I have the documents I should need for residency, I have medical insurance, I have a passport (which I'm pretty sure was assumed, but just in case you all thought I was missing something pretty major)...I still need to get some copies of my passport, but that won't be too difficult. I'm over 90% funded (even with the budget rising, and rising again...). And funds keep coming in. The going away party is scheduled (and if you haven't gotten an invitation and want the information, let me know).

Things I still need to get done...
- Physically pack...I have lists made of what I'm bringing, what I still need to purchase, but the actual fitting of everything in as few containers as possible without exceeding weight limits still needs to be accomplished.
- Get those copies of my passport.
- Finish my online Spanish class (which has helped me as I'm reading through the Harry Potter series in Spanish...and reading books in Spanish has helped me with my class as well).
- Write my July update (which I can't do yet, obviously, because it's not July)
- Wrap up everything I need to at school (LZ)...I've been there a few days so far...it'll probably take me another day at school, maybe two to get everything finished, organized, and ready to sit for a year.
- Write letters of recommendation (and drop them off at school, or contact the students)
- Double check and triple check everything!

It's very strange to realize that my time here is limited.  Suddenly, as I do each activity during the day I think of how few opportunities I'll have to do that activity before I leave.  As my leave date gets closer, somehow this seems both more real and more surreal.  It's always difficult for us to picture how life will be when circumstances or location change...and our expectations are almost always different than the reality that comes. 

Well, I should probably get back to being somewhat productive...and/or watching more NCIS.

Getting caught up on the "to-do" list

I've officially been out of school for a week (as of an hour ago).  The first few days were crazy, but life has started to calm down a bit.  The last few days I've been trying to whittle down my to-do list.  This both has to do with school stuff and Honduras stuff.  Unfortunately they're not terribly fun or exciting things, it has more to do with organizing and paperwork - neither of which is exciting to talk about.  I got the last major stuff done today in terms of documents (or at least I mailed out for them...now it's just a matter of waiting).  I still do need to get medical insurance for when I'm gone, I know what company I'm going to be getting it through, most likely, but there is still the paperwork involved (and a doctor's physical, so I should probably schedule an appointment for that).  I need to get color copies of my passport.  That one is just a matter of actually going somewhere and getting it - not difficult, just a little time consuming (and therefore I keep putting it off).  I also need to finish my spanish class, because trust me - it will be much easier to finish it (and submit it) before I leave rather than after (granted, my spanish will probably be much better a few weeks after I leave, but that's beside the point, from what I can tell my professor thinks I'm doing a pretty good job already).  Reading the Harry Potter series in Spanish is helping...I'm very glad I stumbled upon those books a few years back...I think that was thanks to Robin - she was looking for them (and found them) in French.  And speaking of, I should probably use this time to get more work done on my Spanish class, so I can be done with that! 

All in all, progress is being made...and hopefully I'll remember all the little details that have to get done in enough time for them to get done!

A weekend of family :-)

When school is over for the year, I usually prefer to spend the first week just relaxing, not doing much, and recovering.  This year, I didn't really have that luxury - my cousin was getting married...so my last day of school was Wednesday, and on Friday morning we (Dad, Mom, Carolyn and I) left for Minnesota, driving the land barge (my somewhat affectionate nickname for their van).  Eleven hours later (there was some construction traffic on I-90/I-94 near the Dells) we made it to our hotel.

I won't make you suffer the itinerary of our trip, but a couple things I got out of it.  The first (and I've known this for years) - I have an awesome family!  We're loud at times, we can be crazy (not naming names here...mostly because it would be a long list!), but we genuinely love each other, care about each other, and are interested in what's going on in each others' lives.  I can sit down with any of my cousins or aunts or uncles or my grandma and have an in-depth conversation about life or whatever.  We enjoy each others' company.  There aren't any people I don't want to see.

The second thing I got out of it is that I am so blessed to have the family I have.  They pray for me...and I can't really verbalize just how awesome that is.  My family has also been the largest financial supporters in this whole endeavour.  Over 40% of my support has come from family.  What can I say to that, other than to thank God for the amazing people he has put into my family?

All in all the weekend was good times, well worth the 20+ hours of driving over the course of three days.  And now I get to relax and recover...well that and try to get all the little necessary details taken care of...

Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't say somewhere in here - Congratulations Sarah and John!!!!

The Transitions Continue...

It's the last day of school.  And while I have been eagerly anticipating this day for some time, it still feels strange to realize that I'm not coming back here next year.  I'm not going to see many of the teachers for a year.  Some students who I've had in my class this past year I may never see again.  That's the strange part of teaching - the constant transitions from one year to another.  And it changes so quickly...a year really isn't all that long to get to know someone before they're gone...and you have to start all over again.  So while on one hand I'm very glad to be finishing off the school year - one less source of stress, more free time, and the blessing of sleeping in - on the other hand, I'm going to miss people here - both students and teachers.  If only going somewhere else didn't require leaving others behind...

I feel so loved...

I think I should leave more often (said totally tongue in cheek).  I don’t know whether it’s just that I’m leaving or more what I’m doing, but over the past few months I have had so many people encourage me, tell me what they think of me (in a good way), pray for me, etc.  It’s been amazing, I feel so loved.  And this is on top of the many people who have donated money…and more who have told me they’re still planning on donating.  The outpouring of support I’ve experienced has at times been totally overwhelming. 

And it’s not just what people say – but the fact that they ask about how preparations are going.  They pray for me.  I think back to how many times I knew people who were preparing for trips or going on missions things and I was so concerned with what was going on in MY life that I only remembered after they would mention something about it.  [Now, there have been many times when I have remembered, but still, I know there are times when I haven’t…and in the cases when I do remember or do think about it, they were people who were close to me.]  I usually don’t even need to mention Honduras, people ask.  Which is appreciated both because it often means they’re remembering to pray – so necessary – and it gives me a chance to talk about what’s on my mind…because Honduras is a constant thing, and especially as the school year is coming to a close, most of what I do is in preparation for Honduras.

A two weeks ago (and a bit), my department at school had a small “celebration” for me.  It was appreciated (and considering how I feel about surprises…I appreciated that I had somewhat gotten wind of it ahead of time, so I wasn’t really surprised).  Last Thursday night Campus Life had something for me as well…they rolled it into the “senior send-off” that happens every year.  Pretty much I was put in a chair and people said (usually nice) things about me.  I’m not comfortable being the center of attention in large groups…so part of me didn’t really appreciate it as much as I should have, probably.  But the things they said (and the thought behind it) were appreciated.  And this morning, the group of students who normally pray in the morning asked if I would join their circle so they could pray for me.  Wow.

There are so many ways that I’ve been encouraged by people in the past month (and more).  Words can’t express what I’m feeling right now.