A friend recently wrote on his blog about how songs just suddenly transport you back in time.  One of those songs is “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield.  I was madly in love with him when I was a teenager.  I think I’ve seen him in concert 4 times.  The first time was with my friend Julie from high school.  The concert was at this outdoor theater that is now an industrial park L.  Was so excited I left my keys in the car and we had to go back out.

 So, imagine my surprise when I was driving down the street the other day and saw that he’s going to be playing at a local theater!  The day before my birthday.  I seriously thought about calling my friend from school and seeing if she wanted to go, but given the price of the tickets and the whole unemployment thing, probably not a good use of our money.  Oh well.  Just have to wait until I hear Jessie’s Girl on the muzac somewhere and I’ll be transported back again

Remember when I said I wanted a hippety hop?  This is the next best thing.  I've been taking a core strengthening class and most of the work is done with a stabilizing ball.  It's so much fun!  I think I might actually be able to stick to it. Why didn't anyone think of this sooner?

I haven't really had much to say lately, which as everyone knows, is a rarity.  I 've just been feeling a little lost, I guess.  I feel like fate is having its way with me and laughing about it.  Jobs that seem to have been created with me in mind have just slipped through my fingers. It's just frustrating.  But I know I'll end up where I'm supposed to.  I just really hope it's soon.

 

I am currently suffering from volunteer backlog.  Right now, I have to enter all the Kindergarteners in the school directory database, update all the addresses of out of district students, and confirm all the teachers email addresses. That’s for the school.

 

ALSO,

 

I have to cut out a whole bunch of Jesus Fish (Icthus) out of those foam sheets for name tags and cut little slits in the tops of Chinese take-out containers for the Sunday School class I am currently helping with.  The kids save money all year for the Heifer Project and every year we try to come up with a new way to make banks.  So this year, I thought, hey, Chinese food containers, they even have handles.  I should also mention that the other two teachers are men. Two of the nicest men around, but not very crafty.  So I have a feeling that portion will fall to me.  But that’ll be fun.

 

Plus,

 

I volunteered (and I’m not really sure how this happened) to help with the church newsletter, which apparently is due by next week.

 

Then,

 

I get an email tonight reminding me that I volunteered for a group that cooks meals for families in need and that they will be calling me soon.

 

And let’s not forget the whole single parent part and the whole looking for a job thing.  So maybe I should shut up, stop complaining and get to work!

 

Maybe my problem isn’t over-volunteering, perhaps I have to much of my identity tied up in what I do instead of who I am? 

As I think I’ve mentioned in the past, my mom lives in Atlanta.  She sent me this, and it is so very true, I had to share it.

 

ATLANTA, Georgia Explained

This is for anyone who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, has ever lived in Atlanta, has ever visited Atlanta, ever plans to visit Atlanta, knows anyone who already lives in Atlanta, or knows anyone who has ever heard of Atlanta.

Atlanta is composed mostly of one-way streets. The only way to get out of downtown Atlanta is turn around and start over when you reach Greenville, South Carolina.

All directions start with "Go down Peachtree" and include the phrase, "When you see the Waffle House." Except that in Cobb County, where all directions begin with, "Go to the Big Chicken."

Peachtree Street has no beginning and no end and is not to be confused with:

Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Place, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Road, Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree Run, Peachtree Terrace, Peachtree Avenue, Peachtree Commons, Peachtree Battle, Peachtree Corners, New Peachtree, Old Peachtree, West Peachtree, Peachtree-Dunwoody, Peachtree-Chamblee, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.

Atlantan’s only know their way to work and their way home.

If you ask anyone for directions, they will always send you down Peachtree.

Atlanta is the home of Coca-Cola. Coke's all they drink there so don't ask for any other soft drink unless Coca-Cola makes it. Even if you want something other than a Coca-Cola, it's still called Coke.

The gates at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport are about 32 miles away from the Main Concourse, so wear sneakers and pack a lunch.

The 8 am rush hour is from 6:30 to 10:30 AM.

The 5 PM  rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:30 PM. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday afternoon and lasts through 2 am Saturday.

Only a native can pronounce Ponce De Leon Avenue, so do not attempt the Spanish pronunciation. People will simply tilt their heads to the right and stare at you. The Atlanta pronunciation is "pawntz duh LEE-awn."

And yes, they have a street named simply, "Boulevard."

The falling of one raindrop causes all drivers to immediately forget all traffic rules. If a single snowflake falls, the city is paralyzed for three days and it's on all the channels as a news flash every 15 minutes for a week. Overnight, all grocery stores will be sold out of milk, bread, bottled water, toilet paper, and beer.

I-285, the loop that encircles Atlanta, which has a posted speed limit of 55 mph (but you have to maintain 80 mph just to keep from getting run over), is known to truckers as "The Watermelon 500."

Don't believe the directional markers on highways: I-285 is marked "East" and "West" but you may be going North or South. The locals identify the direction by referring to the "Inner Loop" and the "Outer Loop."

If you travel on Hwy 92 North, you will actually be going southeast.

Never buy a ladder or mattress in Atlanta. Just go to one of the interstates and you will soon find one in the middle of the road.

The last thing you want to do is give another driver the finger, unless your car is armored, your trigger finger is itchy, and your K-47 has a full clip.

Possums sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.

There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 live in Georgia.

There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Georgia, plus a couple no one has seen before.

If it grows, it sticks. If it crawls, it bites. If you notice a vine trying to wrap itself around your leg, you have about 20 seconds to escape, before you are completely captured and covered with Kudzu, another ill-advised "import," like the Carp, Starling, English Sparrow, and other "exotic wonders."

It's not a shopping cart, it's a buggy. "Fixinto" is one word (I'm fixinto go to the store).

Sweet Tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're 2 years old.

"Jeet?" is actually a phrase meaning "Did you eat?"

"Momma-nem" means: How's Mother and all of the other children and other members of the family doing.

Lordy, I love Jawja!

Y'all come back, ya hear!!

                         

Shannon crawled into bed with me last night, I have at least one in with me most nights.  But Shannon tosses and turns so much I can't sleep.  And she talks in her sleep.  So last night, she starts yelling in her sleep, "Emma, get off me!  Get off!"  I roll over just in time.  She hauls off and punches me in the stomach!  My gasp for air wakes her up, she looks at me, realizes what happened and starts crying.  How is it I get punched in the stomach and I have to comfort her?? 

 

Wafting through the windows, I hear the strains of Stardust being played by a trumpet.  It’s soft and beautiful and seems to come in through all the windows.  I love Hoagie Carmichael, especially Stardust and The Nearness of You.  So I start going from room to room looking out the windows.  Looking out into the park, I see an older man sitting on a park bench at the top of the hill, playing a trumpet.  I stand there for a few minutes, just listening.  Then I walk over.  The man is a little quirky, taught himself how to play.  I thank him for the music, and head off, my day brightened considerably. 

 

Boy, do I need advice for this

 

I saw this one coming a mile away.  In fact, I mentioned it to Margherite a couple weeks ago.  The area I live in is split into haves and have nots.  The haves live on the other side of town in two very expensive neighborhoods.  But in someone’s infinite wisdom, in an effort to balance the socio-economics in this area, they bus those kids over to the grade school in our neighborhood.  And our neighborhood is one of the poorer neighborhoods.

 

Miss Shannon came in to me crying this evening.  Her best friend, the one that had the High School Musical Party, suddenly won’t be her friend.  She and two of the girls in her neighborhood have become inseparable.  And not only is she suddenly not her friend, she won’t even acknowledge when Shannon tries to talk to her.  I saw it a couple weeks ago.  Twice when I dropped her off at school, I watched her call to this girl over and over again.  And even tho there was no way she didn’t hear, she just walked right by her. 

 

She was heartbroken.  I didn’t know what to say.  I told her that if this girl didn’t want to be her friend, she couldn’t force her.  That she was better off without her.  We talked about her other friends.  And about how she just got elected to student council. But the whole time, I just wanted to cry.  I wanted to tell her that I could make it all better.  Instead, all I could do was try to make her understand that it wasn’t Shannon, it was the other girl.

 

Anyone have any advice?

I decided to make apple butter from scratch.  Not hard, but really time consuming (I really need to find a job!).  But here's my question: How is it I started with 12 lbs of apples but will only end up with about 4-5 cups of apple butter?  That doesn't seem fair at all.

 

Princess Emma has decided that she wants to be a high school musical cheerleader for Halloween (ick).  So we went and bought the costume yesterday and she wore it all day yesterday.  She also spent the entire day jumping around like a lunatic. By the end of the day, my sanity was somewhat questionable.  Of course, it didn't help that High School Musical II was on again.  I think this is 4 times already that we've seen it.

 

Other than that, not much going on.  Still no job, starting to get really frustrated.  But trying to not get discouraged.  Could be much worse, I know.