Mood:  chatty

I am now the proud volunteer of a little girl from our local children's home.  She's very sweet and just wants to be loved.  I am really excited about the possibilities that volunteering with this girl can bring.  She came from an abusive situation in the past and needs lots of TLC.  I think that she (and all children like her) are special and need special love from people who can show them that not all people are bad and abusive.

 I am really excited about when I'll get to take this little girl (she's 10 years old) off the campus of the children's home because there are lots of things that I can think to take her to see and do.  One such thing is an art class that I attend.  I think that art has great theraputic value and will do this little girl a world of good.  I'll take her to the classes until she shows signs of loosing interest....because there's nothing worse than having to sit through something that you don't want to be at and I want to be sensitive to the child.

It also crossed my mind that Halloween is just around the corner.  Perhaps I can ask if I can take her trick-or-treating then.  That would be fun for both of us!  I just don't know how to regulate the candy intake because I don't know if she'll be able to take it all back to the home.  Perhaps I should keep it with me and allow her access to it when she's with me.  I don't know.... I'm thinking too far ahead.

 I'm SOOOO excited though!!!!!

Mood:  energetic

Today I met my Little Sister from the Children's Home.  She was really cute.  She's 10 yrs old and likes animals.  I am really looking forward to getting to know her.

Sept 24th is the day that the council will meet to discuss my entrance into the community.  I'm sooo excited and nervous at the same time.

I spent some time with the vocation director today and the meeting went well.  I was sooo happy with it.  Hopefully future meetings will be more like this one was.

I attended the funeral of one of the Sisters last night.  Didn't really know her, but I wanted to show my support to the community.

Mood:  not sure

The Council will be meeting on the 24th of this month to discuss whether or not I can make the next step.  I am really excited about this, but still really anxious.  Anxiety seems to follow me where-ever I am.  Maybe I should focus on not worrying about things.  Here I am...worrying about NOT worrying.  LOL!

Anyways, keep me in your prayers.

On a lighter note, I've finished one of my pencil drawings, so now I am free to work with my pastels.  I've never used this particular media before, so I'm interested to see how it turns out.  My subject matter is SUNFLOWERS!!!  I love sunflowers and will probably choose to draw them first in pastels...then I'll branch into other things.

I took some rather beautiful pictures of a sunflower that I am growing in our yard.  I think that I'll look to these pictures for inspiration.

Mood:  hug me

I returned from my grandma's funeral late last night and decided that I needed an additional day to reflect.  So, today I am at my parents' house for a while.  I will miss talking to my grandma on the phone when dad would call her.  I feel that she was my greatest advocate in praying for me as I consider religious life.  Now, she'll be praying for me from Heaven.  It just doesn't seem real.  While at the funeral home, I was able to touch my grandmother one last time.  She was so cold.  I kinda wish that I hadn't done that because that's not a good memory to have.  I would rather remember her giving me a hug when she was still alive.  Now the last memory that I have of her touch is me touching her cold arm while she was in the casket. 

She looked like she was sleeping and that she would wake up at any moment.  I swear that it even looked as if she were still breathing...but how is that possible?  It was just my imagination working overtime.

I enjoyed seeing my family gathering for the funeral, but what a sad thing to have to gather for.

I wonder if I will ever get back to St Louis?  That's where my grandparents are buried...but there is no longer any family members that live there...  It was so sad to think that I probably won't go back to the gravesite in my lifetime :-(

As I type, tears are streaming down my face.  I know that Grandma lived a full and holy life and that she's in Heaven with God and Grandpa, but that doesn't make it any less painful.  God be with our family as we live without grandma.

Mood:  sad

I just received word that my grandma died today.  Please pray for my family and for her...may she rest in peace.

She was my greatest advocate in my discernment journey.  I could always count on her prayers.  Now I hope she is praying for me from Heaven.

Also, I may have a niece..it's a long story...

Mood:  energetic

Check out the new SND vocation ad at the bottom of my blog!  I'm sooo proud of the Sisters for creating a banner like that and putting it on the web!  BRAVO!  I think that if you click on it, it will take you to the international page of the Sisters of Notre Dame.  I know a few people who are pictured in the ad.

Well, the vocation director is talking with the provincial and she'll talk to the council to see what my next step will be.  Please keep me in your prayers!

Mood:  not sure

Ok, I have nothing to worry about.  That's what the vocation director told me when we left from our last meeting...  You know me.... I worry about everything.  It's how I function in life.  I really don't know what I'd do with my time if I wasn't worrying about something or another.  Ha!

So, the vocation director is going to give me a favorable review with the council when she presents.  I'm super excited about that and I hope that the coucil will give me a chance.  So, I might be able to be a postulant!  I'm SUPER excited about that!  And I'm looking forward to all of the challenges that that will bring.

I still haven't given away most of my dolls.  I have ideas, but that's as far as it's gotten so far.  Oh well.

We now have a stable internet connection at the house!  I'm excited about that.  That, and we now have FREE long distance calling!  BRAVO!

Mood:  irritated

Well, we lost the internet connection at the house.  Now I have to walk over to the school to check my e-mail...and I am not doing that very often.  I guess I'll have to learn to live without the internet for a little bit.  I can always check things out when I am at my parents' house or at the school next door.

I gave away one of my Cabbage Patch Dolls that I'd collected (JoAnne Renee was the name of the doll).  The girl that I gave it to made me a cute Thank-You note that she painted herself.  It was very nice of her to do that.  I hung it in my classroom.  I hope that the girl treasures the doll.

Saturday I'll be volunteering helping out at the Children's Home Flea Market working in the basket booth.  That should be interesting.

I hope to be a Big Sister to one of the kids at the Children's Home soon.  I hope that it works out for me.  I wonder what I can do with the child...like what kinds of things that the kid would want to do.

Peace!

Mood:  not sure

Well, I think we've officially lost our internet connection at the house.  So, I'm stuck checking my e-mail whenever I can at work or at the school next door.  So, there might be days when I won't get messages.  It seems like a bummer, but I guess that if people could live in the past with no internet, then I can do so now...  At least until we can get a connection established at the house...  It's not as big of a bummer as I think it might be.  It will give me some more time for prayer.

I will be going home tomorrow and then getting my dolls from my parents' house...the ones that I can part with.  I hope that there are kids out in this neighborhood that would like a doll.

Mood:  accident prone

I attended a First Aide class for 6 hours today and they couldn't even give me the paper that I'm supposed to give my boss so that she knows that I was there...bummer...  By the end of that class, I was sooooo tired, I was near falling asleep at the table. 

Then I went to the Heights for a mini art lesson from one of the Sisters.  I loved it, but I was so tired that I had to turn down an invitation to join prayer and supper.  I came home and crashed.  I slept at least an hour and a half and was still sleepy when I awoke.  I had previously been so worn out by that class that I couldn't think straight...

My new fish, Antigone, killed my other fish, Persephone.  How sad :-(  I guess that the tank is just too small for two fish.

I haven't started giving away my doll collection yet.  I want them to go to kids who will love them.  I'm just nervous about going out in the neighborhood and approaching the kids lest their parents think that I'm up to something no good.

I'm thinking about becoming a Big Sister to a child at the Children's Home.  I hope that I can make an impact on the child's life if I am able.  I wonder what that will be like...