Godsend in a Bottle

I think I’m going to start adding pictures to my blog.  Pictures are worth a 1000 words and some things you just have to see to believe.  Also, I’ve heard that Facebook is going to be overtaken by a secret group of hackers on November 5.  If that happens, I don’t know what I’ll do after I cry all my tears into my pillow.  I also feel like within the next 2-3 years, I’ll be phasing out of Facebook.  There’s really no point to it except to be nosey, but it depends on the friendships I develop and the ones I want to keep.  We’ll see.

I also love telling my stories that require more characters than a FB status will allow.   It’s a great outlet for winding down at night.  But it does take more time and makes my joints hurt from all this typing. 

Plusses and minuses.

One of my favorite things in America is Tropicana’s Simply Orange Juice.  It is a religious and expensive experience that is worth more than it’s $2.50 a bottle.  Swallowing the elixir is a savory moment in time when all background noises and conversations fade to the distance and you listen to the swish in your mouth of the South American orange juices flow past your uvula and down your esophagus. 

Aaaahhhh….bliss.

Well today, I went jogging for 24 minutes (I’ll speak on this in a later entry whenever I remember to) which ended up being 2 miles.  I drank a Naked Juice for breakfast and ran off to go teach.  It was 3pm before I got to eat breakfast.  As soon as I was done teaching and answering my kiddos’ questions, I raced over to the cafeteria and bought a slice of pizza, mixed vegetables, rice, and a cinnamon roll.  I shook some salt on the veggies and rice and scarfed it all done without even tasting it.  What a waste of $11 if you can’t even remember it.  Sad moment.

The best part of the lunch was the juice (refer to photo).  I had NO idea that Tropicana made grape juice and was just geeked to try it.  If it was anything in caliber and quality to their orange juice, I just KNEW my tastebuds would be in for a treat.

And it was all that I could imagine and more.  It was like Communion in a 12 ounce bottle.  I hadn’t had a glass of grape juice in YEARS and will definitely have to make this occasion happen more often. 

Blessings to everyone!

JLP

October and March

I’ve hit a slump in momentum.  I was totally “beasting” life.  Until last week.  I felt like a yacht in the middle of the ocean with a perfect wind opening its sail and gliding through the glassy water.  Until last week.  I felt like my fingers do when I twist my hair—so fluid and so calming and quick.  Until last week.

About 9 days ago or around last last Friday, all of my papers were graded, posted onto the online student connection site called Blackboard, lectures were prepared, schedule was perfectly followed and aligned.  It was beautiful.  Monday morning (7 days ago) hit and I had no absolutely NO, like none kind of desire to teach.  I wanted to sleep until at least 2:35pm and then watch movies all day til I would fall to a slumberful bliss at about 8:30pm.  Oh so extra terrible.  ESPECIALLY when you’re the teacher—trying to be excited and have an abundance of excitement to pass on to students.  AND of top of that, it was speech week which ALWAYS makes me sleepy. 

I did survive my extra special Monday and then hit an even specialer Tuesday.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are my rest days so I was able to rest. Wednesday hit and it was worse than Monday.  Thursday was blah.  And Friday was worse than Wednesday which was worse than Monday. 

Fail.

This last weekend (1-2 days ago), I had a conversation with Jesus and was trying to figure out “What in the world is going on?!?!!” and He calmly said—“Did you know it was October?”

I gave Him my exasperated look—“What does that mean??” I thought about it.

October.

Oc-tober.

Oct-oo-berrr.

OCTOBER!!!

OCTOBER AND MARCH!! These are my slump months!

Ever since I’ve been a freshman in college, I always hit a rut faithfully in October and March.  Never fails.  I’d start school brilliantly.  Slump.  Recover in November (prayerfully).  End school brilliantly.  Even when I’d try to overcompensate, overthink, overplan and try to avoid my slump, I would always hit it and it would always knock me academically unconscious.  I don’t know what it is, but it always wins.  I thought that since I had recently graduated that it would no longer be thusly, but alas, ‘tis.

I am grateful to say that I have bounced back.  I got my rhythm, my groove, my excitement, my vigor back.  Thank you, Jesus!

My slump this time left me with a pile of 65 speeches to record, absences to note, and a ton of bologna that was quite depressing.  I spent around 6.5 hours getting my life together after my out-of-body experience.  Some habits are easily breakable and easy to overcome, but this will take time.  I’ll try again in February and see if I can avoid my slump.  But for now, I can now say to the calendar and Fall semester: 

“BRING IT ON!”