A beautiful day

Today I ate my lunch by the duck pond, for the second day in a row. The duck pond is at the library in Barrington. The library in Barrington (as well as an office that shares that building) is where I work.

Yes, I got a job. It happened by accident, but was so providential I couldn't pass it up. Here's what happened:

Last Wednesday our Internet stopped working --- I blogged about that from the library. It was, in fact, the whole reason I went to the library that day. (Know this: our internet SHOULDN'T have worked to begin with, because we hadn't called to do the set-up. But if it had NEVER worked, I would have called right away, and never had gone to the library. But it did, and I did. This is important.) The day before, a notice had been placed on the library bulletin board reading something to the effect of "Seeking CAP intern".

I wouldn't even have noticed it, except that this day I chose to stop and scan the whole bulletin board. And except that I had done that job before --- in '99, I was the CAP intern in Athens. So that night I called and left a message for the contact person.

Some things you should know about CAP jobs:
1. They are only for the summer
2. They are only 35 hours a week, and very flexible with when you work those hours
3. The job can be as stressful or non-stressful as the intern wants to make it
4. You meet a ton of people as a CAP intern
5. In most places, high school and college students fight for CAP jobs.

I couldn't figure out why the job hadn't been filled. I found out later that the federal government had denied funding to this CAP site, but then just a few weeks ago the provincial government had come through. But by that time, all eligible candidates in the area already had jobs.

I received a phone message on Thursday. Finally, on Friday, I talked with Joelle. And on Friday, I emailed her my resume. And on Friday, I went to meet with her. And on Friday, she offered me the job, pretty much right away. Technically I don't fit all the criteria (because I'm not going back to school), but they're making an exception.

My goal for this summer was to meet people. Now I have a job where that's what I do all day long; that, and sit in front of a computer making stuff and helping people. These are things I love to do. It is low stress. It is money. And I get to work in the library, which since the first time we visited here I was wishing I might some day be able to do, but knew the likelihood of a position coming open was slim.

And, there's a duck pond right out front, with benches and a fountain and, yes, ducks. And the last two days have been sunny and beautiful.

God is so good, isn't He? I went from wanting a way to connect with people to having one handed to be because of a series of FORTUNATE "coincidental" events. I am blessed.

I have a new friend name Jill. The last time I came to visit here, she took me horseback riding, and I hoped she would be my friend. And now she is, for true. And I am teaching her the drums, and she reminds me of Megan, who picked up the drums so quickly. And she is going to teach me riding in return, as she is learning herself in lessons. Tonight, she is coming for some drumming. And yes, that rhymes.

We have a BBQ now; Paul has wanted one for years, so now that we have a place to put one, I broke down and let him buy one. Paul BBQs all the time now, as happy as can be. The day we bought it, coincidentally, the church threw a welcome party for us, and people gave us money. That money more than paid for the BBQ. Yes, we are blessed.

Paul wants a MacBook Pro, and I may just let him get one. I doubt the church will throw a party to cover THAT, though.

Yesterday, Paul went to visit our neighbours, and they sent home a lobster for me, cooked but still in shell. Today, with the help of Burt (Effie's husband), I ate it. And it was tasty.

I miss Selinda and Lynnette today. And the Young children make me homesick whenever I think of them. But I am happy thus far in my new life here.

Effie and the Swordfish

Today a random man brought me some swordfish. Okay, he wasn't SUPER random - he's a guy on (I think) our LBA. I realized that I REALLY need to remember to get DRESSED when I get up, because I was cleaning in my PJs when he arrived. ANYWAY, I had never eaten swordfish before, and had certainly never HANDLED fresh fish before. But I sliced myself some little steaks and fried them up. It has very little taste, so I LOVE IT! What a nice surprise!

Effie was 85 yesterday. I met her at prayer meeting. She and her husband Burt live a few houses down and across the road from us, and don't have a car anymore. I'm going to bring Effie to town (Barrington) tomorrow, and I can't wait! Our pastor says these are two of the most Godly people he's ever met, and they are pillars of the church. I would be happy to do nothing else but chauffer them around for the rest of the year.

Unfortunately, I need to find a job so that we can keep gas in the car. Nuts.

So, my internet is not working at home -- it was, but then Paul tried to set up his new laptop on the network. Now neither the network or the internet is working. I'm at the public library in Barrington right now. It is small, but has 7 computers with internet access. So until OUR internet is fixed, I will only be online here.

Things that I noticed about yesterday (i.e. the CHANGE):

1. It's amazing to have things to do, but also time to do them. It's been a very long time since I've experienced that.
2. I am super glad that Esther (Weatherby - i.e. Mrs. Weatherby's daughter) Corey lives across the street from me. On Sunday night, we played hand and foot. Yesterday, I picked up a jacket Paul had left there, and we just visited. Because people do that here - just stop by, and visit.
3. Days are WAY longer here. Like, I feel like it's Friday, but it's only Wednesday. It wasn't expected it. Each day doesn't feel long itself, necessarily. Like, I'm not bored yet during the day. But the passage of time feels like it has slowed.
4. The water often looks like it's on fire, because of the fog coming off of it. The fog makes the sunshine that much more special.

Today the true change begins

This afternoon, my husband will walk a few minutes up the road to go to work, and I will not. I've started to process this in a peripheral way, but I suspect that when he closes the door behind him and I'm left here alone it will start to really hit me. I'm curious about what it will feel like.

I will be looking for work, but it won't be the same, of course. Good different, I think. Possibly very good.

Exalt! 2007

Wow. My body is so confused right now; it's not sure when to eat or sleep or provide adrenalin. After a week on a bus and doing concerts following a week of practice, practice, practice, I fear my body will never forgive me.

So worth it.

Exalt! 2007 is over, and while I'm glad because there's no way I could have sustained that pace for another day, I'm sad too, because Exalt! 2008 is a full year away. But by then I hope that I'll have some Woods Harbour kids to bring along for the ride.

I loved my band. And LOVE my band. So talented -- I wish I could take them with me where ever I go. And I loved watching the way that God worked in the teens' lives. Normally I'm rather opposed to "mountain top experiences" for teens, because I don't believe they always have the capacity to process them in ways that are helpful to their future development. But this was different somehow. I'll need to think about this more.

An aside: It was amazing how freeing it was to be a married woman travelling with a bunch of kids, as opposed to being a teenaged girl --- I really didn't give a rip whether I rolled onto the bus without make up, and didn't have to wake up 2 hours early just to get ready :)

Currently I'm in Fredericton at Geoff Hooper's place. Beulah is on, so we have to stick around for the meeting on Thursday (well, PAUL does --- I'll probably ditch at least part of it to spend time with people, now that I'm no longer "Pastor Renata"). My schedule for the week is as follows: Wednesday I'll head into Saint John to return this computer to the church, get a massage, stock up at MusicStop, and then head to Beulah to do the rounds before returning to Geoff's. Thursday is Beulah-day all day. Friday, we head to Woods Harbour.

Did I mention I haven't seen the house we're renting? Paul dealt wih the move while I was away with Exalt! (what a prince!), and so all our stuff is there and mostly unpacked. We'll probably look into buying fairly soon, but for right now I'll be happy to be settled.

The end.