Who Stole the Cookies From the Cookie Jar?

I'm working at a summer camp for the NP. It's wearing me OUT!! We've hired 20 young people ages 16-19 to run the summer camp, but my job is to train them. WHEW!! They were hired two weeks ago and I've been trying to help them understand that we are gonna need a really tight schedule to deal with 50, 5-12 year old children. They have not been understanding, so when the camp started on Monday they were all over the place. On Tuesday, we had some issues. The snacks set aside for the summer camp children camp up missing. It took us all day to find out that 4 of our workers stole the fruit roll ups and vanilla wafers. At one point, it started to be funny because the investigation was getting really silly. I really wanted to laugh at the whole situation and I wanted to make it a game, but it was a serious situation because I didn't want stealing to become a habit for any one of them.

After we found the culprits we told them that they needed to replace the stolen items. We ended up with 4 boxes of Fruit Roll Ups and a bag of cookies (the boy didn't replace the vanilla wafers, but he brought cookies).

The next day one of the workers came back from lunch high as a kite. I looked at his eyes and they were blood and he was squinting. I asked one of my co-workers if she could make a judgement call and she agreed with me that he looked high. After getting him into our office, we questioned him and at first he denied it, but then he confessed. So we had to send him home. We let him know that his was grounds for termination, but at this point he wasn't fired. After he left, I got to thinking about when he said that he was by himself. It didn't sound right, so I asked one of his friends who all went to the store during lunch and his friend confirmed that it was three of them. So the investigation continued. We found out that the other two boys were not involved when he smoked the joint, but they went to store with him afterwards.

Then the following day, we had an incident where the children were playing near the parking lot and broke one of the workers mirrors.

So, it's been one issue after another...

Heaven is for Real

I ordered the book, "Heaven is for Real" at the library about 3 or 4 months ago. I just picked it up two days ago and I was blown away by the story. I've always known that heaven is real and I've been a believer in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but this book put me face to face with the "theory" of my spiritual beliefs. It also introduced a picture of what Jesus actually looks like....

In the book, Colton, the little boy that went to heaven and was sitting on Jesus's lap describes the beauty and awesomeness of the colors and how Jesus's eyes are "pretty." His parents were very interested in a description of Jesus so throughout the years as they would come across a picture of Jesus, they'd ask their son about it and to no avail, he'd tell them that wasn't it, until one day they came across a picture painted by a girl named, Akiane.

Akiane is said to be a child prodigy who has been painting since age 4. She painted a portrait of who she calls, "The Prince of Peace," which is a picture of Jesus. When Todd Burpo, Colton's dad, saw the picture and how the girl described how "pretty" his eyes were, he asked his son about it and Colton stopped in his tracks and shook his head "yes."

The picture that Akiane painted was what Jesus looked like as he sat on his lap in heaven.

Two small children, one at age 4 and the other at age 8, who have never met have confirmed what Jesus looks like.

I was in awe! Look at his eyes!!

It wasn't just the picture that captured me, it was the stories about his grandfather who died 30 years before he was born and his sister who was miscarried that he had never met, that captivated me and gave me a clearer picture. I have a different perspective of Jesus and God.

THANK GOD FOR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

I was BROKE. My car note is past due (I only paid $190 and I was supposed to pay $220), my account was overdrawn, I need some gas, and I have no minutes on my phone.

So, I was a little nervous about my unemployment check because I have no idea when it runs out. I am overjoyed because I check my account and I have money, moolah, deneros, chedder, cheese, bread, bacon, etc.....


THANK GOD because I didn't know where I was gonna get money from. I do have my Link card, but I can't fill up my car with that.

When the money was loaded on my Link card yesterday I was so happy. I went to Kroger because I wanted some cheese grits and asparagus to go with my baked chicken. I was a little disappointed because the only thing that tasted good was the asparagus. How can you mess up cheese grits? Ugh.

Any way, I thank God for favor even when I don't do it.

Busy Bee

The last two weeks have been thoroughly busy. The NP that I volunteer with was awarded a 60K grant to hire 20 young people ages 16-19 to host a summer camp. We've been supervising these young people and it is exhausting. We haven't started the summer camp, we've simply been training them to run a summer camp so we've done First Aid training, sexual harassment training, and we will be doing a training on bullying and cyber bullying and conservation. The workers will be teaching the children about conservation along with doing fun summer camp stuff such arts and crafts, swimming, etc.

I haven't heard anything about the job that I've applied for, but there is another job teaching Adult education classes part time. I would love that job because it would get me back into the classroom. The only problem is it's part-time and there are no benefits. Hmmmm.

I filled out my unemployment certification. I'm not sure when my unemployment runs out, but I am out of money and I have an overdrawn check. Bummer. I've got my Link card with $155 and I'm gonna use part of that money to buy snacks for the summer camp, because we need snacks for the children and that will be my donation since I can't help buy supplies.

In other news....

I'm applying for a dual major at at the University of Illinois--MSW/Ph.d program. Priority applications are due December 1. I've got to have 20 credit hours of social/behavioral sciences to apply. I also have to be working or volunteering in a position doing something with social work. Thus, the need to work in the other position as a Case Manager.

We'll see.

Staying Motivated

I started working out last week. I was so excited. I did about 2 hours of aerobics. But, because of my schedule this week I haven't been about to work out. I need to stay motivated. I've been watching Dr. Oz and getting some really good weight loss tips. Some of the things that I'm gonna be doing include:

1. Do a one week liver detox that will help to curb my sugar and carbohydrate dependence. The liver detox includes eating one week of cruciferous veggies. During this week I can't eat sugar or carbohydrates.

2. Drinking and ice cold glass of water first thing in the morning. This helps to jump start metabolism.

3. Eating 30 grams of protein 30 minutes after I wake up. This helps to boost metabolism and it helps me to not be tired after lunch

4. Leaving one day a week as a "binge day" where I will be able to eat anything I want to eat. This is so that I'm not restricting myself from things I like to eat.

5. If I do happen to fall of the wagon, within an hour do some exercize.

I'm gonna try things things along with lowering my saturated fats and sugar. My goal is to lose at least 20lbs by the end of the year.

Great Interview

I had my interview for the Case Manager position. It was great. I was poised and answered all of the questions thoroughly. I asked questions at the end and everything seemed really well. I'm not sure their perspective, but it was good. They said that they will be calling me this week. I've been praying that God give me direction because I do need a job, but I also volunteer and we have a summer camp coming up that I want to work with. If I take the job, I won't be able to work with the summer camp. WHAT TO DO?? I just pray that God lead me because I do need a job and I want the stability, but I also love what I do with the non profit that I work with.

In other news, I've been looking for programs for school. I'm checking out the MSW/Ph.d program at U of I. It sounds like a wonderful program and something that I will enjoy. However, of course I need to apply and if I'm accepted, I need to pay tuition--all the more need for a job. Unless I get a graduate assistant ship which is what I want to do. Some of the requirements of the program is that I need 20 credit hour of social behavioral science courses which I'm gonna try go to do at the community college. The priority deadline to apply is Dec 1, so I will have my application in their office that time.

Summer Reading

I just wrote about wanting to find a good book to read for the summer. So, imagine my surprise at the article in Sunday's Parade Magazine about summer reading. They gave a really good list of books to try. I'm gonna try I’m Feeling Lucky by Douglas Edwards. It's not fiction, but it sounds interesting. It tells the story of how google grew from a two man company to the bazillion dollar company it is today. Douglas Edwards used to work for google and he's telling about his experiences. I think there is also book by Ben Mezrich, the guy who wrote about Mark Zuckerberg in Accidental Millionaire. I"m gonna try to find that to check out.

I Need a Good Book to Read

I haven't read a good book since Evanovich's book #16. I can't help it, she writes so well that I haven't found anything the measures up to her work. I'm also a big fan of Dickey, but I'm not in the mood to read about sex. So, I need to find a a new writer to entertain me.

I skimmed through Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover because when I get more settled, I want to become DEBT FREE!!!

But, I need something to entertain myself. I used to love reading, but nothing seems to interest me. I'll start a book, but quickly become bored.

For some reason I have old text books and lately I've been skimming through an American History book. It's so interesting learning about our history. Of course these are books that I had from high school and college, so I don't know why I don't remember learning this stuff, but it's been interesting to me. What is more interesting is what they don't teach in the textbooks about how America was founded. You know the nursery rhyme "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue..." It tells a nice story of how Columbus "discovered America," but we don't often hear real story about the theft of the land. So, I've been reading about what our children are taught and it's interesting.

But, I need something else to "tickle my fancy." I"m gonna explore the New York bestseller list to see what I can come up with.

Sweating to the Oldies

I got my YMCA membership. I"m SOOOOOO happy!!! And the best thing is that when I applied before they were asking me to pay $27 a month, now I'm only paying $18 a month. THANK YOU JESUS!!!!! My goal was to not pay more than $20 a month and God honored my desire.

I started my aerobics classes today. I did a 30 minute step class and a 30 minute spin class. I hate spinning, but I thought I'd give it a try. My but hurts from those seats. But, it was a good class. I"m not gonna do it again.

I'm gonna stick with aerobics and pilates and zumba.

I'm gonna weigh myself and take my measurements to track my progress. Maybe I'll look into weight watchers again so that I can track my progress online.



*Post Script: I weighed myself. It's not pretty--196lbs.