Random Thoughts

• Tom bought Gracie a large squeaky tennis ball for outside in the backyard. I told him we didn't need it, that it was a bad idea. But he didn't listen. Now, my little girls spends her day doing one of two things: 1) sitting outside, clinging to her ball for dear life or 2) sitting at the door, asking to go outside to cling to her ball for dear life. It is unbelievable how obsessive she gets about things. And it's also so unreal how much she is like me with her obsessive-compulsive nature. When you combine that with how much Riley is like Tom, it is just unbelievably strange. (And in case you were wondering, Gracie is currently at the door crying for her ball. And also in case you were wondering, this ball is currently a filthy mess from being dragged through dirt, so this is why it can't spend its day indoors as well as outdoors).
  
  
• Now on to Riley. We don't have a garbage disposal in our kitchen sink, so we now have the dilemma of what to do with the remnants of food in our pots and pans. So I decide to hire myself a garbage disposal in the form of a Riley. Now, every night, he helps me clean dishes and plates and all other sorts of things. He does such a good job that I had to inform Tom that the dishes in the sink were in fact still dirty, even though they looked spotless.
  
  
• We have to stop eating out. It has been hard to fill up the refrigerator and actually get a full meal on the table every night. I've been successful about four nights a week, but those other three nights kill our budget. So I have planned meals better for this week, and I'm hoping that we can make it to the end of the month with very little eating out. Our budget is begging us to.
  

• Speaking of the budget, I finally accepted the fact that we will have to go into debt in order to pay for Tom's schooling. I don't think we will have to take out any non-subsidized loans, but we will most likely be using all of the subsidized ones. We just got our tuition bill, and man was it insanely high (and this was only for one quarter), but man was it nice to see our loan amount applied to the bill.
  

• Despite the insanity of the tuition, I am so happy that Tom is attending Fuller. I really can't express how much I love this seminary, and how ecstatic I am that Tom will be receiving his training here. It is worth every single cent.

• We visited a church plant on Sunday! It is in the very beginning stages, and they technically haven't opened their doors yet to the public, but we were so impressed with it. They meet in a comedy club/bar that is surprisingly sooo conducive to a worship service, and they have pretty much every value that we feel is important in a church. Life groups, social justice, prayer, community, etc. It was pretty exciting to find it.
  

• I have a crush on Joe Biden. I think he is such a handsome man. And such a great pick for VP.
  
  
• I do not get Palin, though. I'm trying y'all, I really am. But I do not get her.
  

• I do adore her baby boy, though. I kind of want to steal him and make him my own.
  

• Ok, off to work on lesson plans. Hope this satisfies Sommer for a little bit.