Reflections

Ruth won some Reflections things at her school.  She entered four areas and was in it basically to make money and to get points for her Sterling Scholar application.  She made $20 in gift cards with the two wins.

Election Woes

Ruth's debate team had an election party on election night.  Ruth drew a map of the US on a whiteboard and the team filled in the states as they were called.  It was a tough night for them, and a tough night at our house.   The next morning the debate team got together for a post-election breakfast just to console each other in their sorrow.  It was a tough week overall for all of us.  It just made it clear that the way that our family sees things is way different than others see things, including our own family and neighbors.

New Job

A month or so ago I got a phone call out of the blue from a local elementary school saying they had my resume and they wanted me to come and interview for a part time aid job. I was surprised because, while I had started looking at the job market again, the resume which they had was over a year and a half years old.  The amazing thing is that I had just told God two days before that if he wanted me to get a job that I needed some help opening some doors. So all things considered, even though I didn't really want to work as an aid again, I went into the interview just to see what they had to say.  A week later they called and said that I didn't get the job, but they wanted to hire me and they'd let me know if they had future openings. I just shrugged and went on with my life, not expecting anything.  Three or so weeks later I got a phone call from them saying they had a job for me and could I start at the end of the month?  It all seemed so surreal that I figured I better take the job.  I mean, how often are jobs just handed to you like that?  It's part time and has hours are in the middle of the school day.  So it's perfect.  I start the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Debate Judging

I got to judge at Ruth's debate tournament again this weekend.  This was a bigger tournament and there was a lot of competition.  Some of the kids I judged were amazing.  Ruth got fourth place, and was pretty happy with that considering the competition and that she'd been sick.  I took this picture of her before the competition.  Talking to walls is part of debate culture.  Before any tournament, you'll see tons of kids lined up against the walls giving their speeches and practicing their points.

Jared's Ukulele

Jared is still playing the Ukulele every day and he has an amazing talent for it, surpassing where many of my guitar students were after a year of lessons.   I love listening to him play and we've even played a few duets just for kicks.

New Adventures in Paraguay

We got word from Kaitlin this week that she's been moved from Asuncion to a city right on the border of Brazil.  She's a little nervous about the move as she was super happy in Asuncion, but she's excited to get more practice on her Portuguese.