Wannabe Cowgirl

It's been quite a . . . what? A week? A year? I can't even begin to choose. But it's been quite a something, regardless. I guess I'll go with the weekish time span. Not only have I been back in my favorite Montana school to work (I love it so much! God has really blessed me with the community there, and the opportunity to work with such wonderful kids), but I've been quite busy in other ways. Crocheting for the first time in ages, talking the deep talk about cancer, donning a super sparkly dress and dancing it up (or trying, anyway -- white dancers unite!) -- it's been a blast.

And that's not to mention the recent meetings and returnings. World-traveller and greatest "read my mind" contender ever returned to the wide wilds of Montana on Wednesday, and it looks like I'll get to see her for the first time since April. I'm so excited, and nervous at the same time. But I can't wait to hear about her adventures and all the people she's met and worked with and, I'm so sure, touched deeply. Reading her blog has been something like reading an updated Russian version of Acts. So amazing. And so wonderful to meet up with an oldish friend again.

While on the front side of life there is the super coolest Firely-loving guy there is. Thanks for appreciating Mr. Whedon when no one else I know this side of the Continental Divide does. Well, except boy Cody. But that's besides the point. The point, if there ever was one in this long and rambling post, is that it's good to have people, new and old. The brushing of souls and elbows is a gift I will never grow tired of.

white dog dances
in the cold winterlight
and tears freeze to skin.
the soul shivers, grabs
for what it does not own
and emptiness swells.
break me.
break me --
chisel false dreams
and faces, gather
this broken worship
until all i am is You,
pale child dancing
in winterlight.

Is it December already? I can hardly believe it. It still is a little unsettling to write "2006" at the end of every date...and now it will be 2007 soon! How crazy and strange time is. As the foster grandparent of a class I substituted in this week told me very rightly, time flows by faster every year. And to think that sophomore Spanish class used to feel like an eternity.

But I've decided to greet the new month and the impending year with a firm step. Whatever that means. Anyway, I kicked off the day with a brisk car cleaning and bunny abode scouring. If you don't know anything about me, I make a big mess, especially since I've essentially been living out of my car for the last year (on weekends, anyway) and hadn't yet cleaned out that insanity. Until today! All those months of stress and embarrassment at having unsuspecting people get into my car clean and emerge tainted with cess pool grossness. A good lesson to learn, I suppose.

This month, I've also learned that peanut butter really does make your teeth glue together and your tongue stick to the bottom of your mouth. I always thought that Shel Silverstein poem was just exagerrating. I've learned that working retail in December sucks, and that people can get nasty when they can't buy what they want. I'm starting to see that I will probably spend the majority of this winter with cold feet (the literal kind, not the proverbial). I've learned that UPS is very, very stubborn in its refusal to deliver a package without a sticker. I miss the outdoors, and I miss crazy stupid wig fun. I've learned that coffee is coffee, although some coffee is better than others, and that project days are much more fun coming out of a month of conscripted writing. I've learned (or relearned) that I love the sun and miss it when it's gone.

A good education for a day, I suppose. But then much more is in store this month. God is crazy like that. Crazy, and really, really good.