Recommendation

If you have not already, go right now and buy Jill Phillips and Andy Gullahorn's new Christmas CD. It is awesome. Seriously. Go right now. You'll thank me later.

Under Contract

Wednesday we got locked in for our interest rate, and officially got under contract. So if everything goes according to plan we'll be closing at the end of May or beginning of June. And we'll get the tax credit, which is a great feeling, gotta say. I think our house inspection will be next Tuesday, and I think that's the last big hurdle before closing. It's kind of crazy to do all (or most) of this long distance, but somehow it's working out, and our realtor has been awesome. If you're moving to the Nashville area I would definitely recommend her.

So I'll tell you more of the house story. Back in March we put a bid on a house that was in foreclosure. It didn't have an agent at the time, and hadn't had one since last December. About a week after we made the bid they finally found an agent for the house, so we were asked to sign an agreement that we knew there were multiple offers on the house (more than ten!), and to make our best and highest offer. We raised our offer significantly and hoped for the best. A month later we still hadn't heard anything. I went back to Nashville specifically to see Leslie before she headed to Thailand, but managed a little house hunting without Michael while I was there. We'd been doing our homework and keeping track of our favorite houses online (try mlsfinder if you're a control freak like me). I told my agent which houses I wanted to see, and she set it all up. In the week before I went to Nashville three of our favorite houses were put under contract. This was really discouraging and enough to make me think this would never work out. The day of house hunting my dad went with me and we saw about seven houses. Which was exhausting. Only three of them seemed like viable options. I talked to Michael on the phone and we decided to put an offer on one that he liked a lot, but I felt really weird about. We offered $5,000 less than the asking price. Everyone said we would get it. Who won't come down $5,000? I was still feeling uncomfortable about it and prayed about it alot. He came back with a counteroffer, asking us to pay closing costs. We didn't feel comfortable giving up that much more cash, when we're already putting 20% down (and moving, probably buying a car, etc.) so we said no. He refused to come down! I felt huge relief. We immediately moved on to our next favorite house (and actually the one I preferred). We made an offer, then had to sign an acknowledgment that it had multiple offers on it. This felt eerily similar to the last time, and we were preparing ourselves not to get any house at all and to move in with my parents for a while. But last Thursday my realtor called and said they had accepted our offer. And since then it's just signing papers and getting interest rates locked in and setting up inspectors. I forgot to mention that I found a four leaf clover in the back yard of this house, and I also found a four leaf clover the day before I was offered the job. It just felt like a little promise from God. Of course, if all of this falls through, I'll have to rethink what kind of promise it was, but all the same, it's awesome to feel God moving in our lives and in our plans. So that's mostly the whole story of the house hunt. Or at least the highlights.

We're very busy. Four weeks until graduation weekend. I'm busy finalizing details of class trip. We're packing. There's a lot going on. My sleep patters tell me I'm stressed. You could probably have told me that just by reading this post. But God is good, and I'm trying to remember His promises to take care of me. Also, keep Michael in your prayers too, he hasn't found a job yet, but I know that God hasn't forgotten about him. It is frustrating though, because it seems like everything else has fallen into place, and being the planners that we are, we like to know what to expect. Still, it's feeling right, and being right with God is a very good place to be.

Love at first listen

I'm really loving Sara Groves' remake of Jars of Clay's Flood. I bought the whole $30 package that came with extra downloads, a mug, free trade coffee and an autograph. And I think Flood was worth it. Also, my favorite song on the new album, Like a Lake. I think it's about being open even after we've been hurt. My favorite lyric from the song

"Everything in me is tightening,
Curling in around this ache
I will lay my heart wide open
Like the surface of a lake

Wide open a lake."

It's beautiful and a little sad.

I'm also enjoying her jazzy remix of her own version of When the Saints.

Also today, I'm really glad to be a literature teacher, for the simple fact that I get to read the literature too. We read part of Walden today. Parts of me think that Thoreau is totally ridiculous, unrealistic and pompous. But parts of me really love him and I smile when I read it.

My favorite quotes from Walden for today.

"For a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone."

"I have frequently seen a poet withdraw, having enjoyed the most valuable part of a farm, while the crusty farmer supposed that he had got a few wild apples only."

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

"I would drink deeper; fish in the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars."

Otherwise, the last month has been very difficult at work. I don't really want to go into it or talk about it anymore. Suffice to say that at the end of many days, I come home, look at Michael, and think that he's the only person left in Pennsylvania who I like. (This is not altogether true, but you all know I'm perhaps prone to exaggeration, and it definitely feels that way some days.) So I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving break, but not the parent-teacher conferences that come before it. But if I can get through that without being screamed at (remember last year?), I think I'll have a really good break. I'm going to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday with her. Which freaks me out. How can I have a mom who's 60? I'm not prepared to have my parents grow old and die. And too often I dwell on it too much and then can't sleep. I digress. I'm going to try to start keeping a gratitude journal. Because I feel that my spirit could use it. Maybe I'll share some of that here.

In any case, you should go buy the new Sara Groves album, and if you can, you should get the extra downloads. Also, if you haven't yet, you should see Up. I cried a little. My favorite line, "I hid under the porch because I love you."

And I'm not going to try to write some conclusion to wrap this all up.

Thank you, Ben

Today Ben Yancer texted me to tell me I should check out mylifeisaverage.com. He promised I would not be disappointed. I've been laughing out loud a lot since then. Here's maybe my favorite:

Today, I was standing around waiting for my friend, when a businessman walked by on his phone and said "I don't care how hard it is, just stick it in!" I whispered to myself "That's what she said." The man heard, stopped walking, came back to me and high-fived me. Then continued walking. MLIA.

Go forth and have a laugh. It's Monday, after all.

Good books

This year I didn't try to read a book a week. Instead, I focused on trying to read award-winning books and books that came highly recommended by others. So here is a list of some of my favorite books of the year. I hope it helps you pick a good one.

The Good Good Pig-true story of a family and their pig. Heartwarming animal story.
The Known World-novel about free blacks in the pre-civil war south who owned slaves. Pulitzer prize winner.
People of the Book-historical fiction about the Sarajevo Haggadah, a valuable Jewish book which was saved by Muslims and Christians.
Grace Eventually-the newest memoir by Anne Lamott.
Year of Wonders-Historical novel about a town in England that is hit by the plague.
I am Asher Lev-I love Chaim Potok, one of my favorites of his.
First They Killed My Father-memoir about the Cambodian genocide.
Gathering Blue-Juvenile fiction - Lois Lowry's companion to The Giver
The Center Cannot Hold-memoir about living with Schizophrenia
The Law of Similars-novel about homeopathy and the choices we make in extreme circumstances
March-historical novel about Mr. March of Little Women, Pulitzer Prize winner, don't read if you want to keep your Little Women vision intact (but a very interesting book)
So Brave, Young and Handsome-novel by the author of Peace Like a River. Adventure and redemption.
The Lost-memoir/history, the author tries to find out what happened to six of his family members during the Holocaust. Kind of heavy and fact-laden, but very interesting to me.
Messenger-Juvenile fiction - companion to The Giver and Messenger
The Almost Moon-novel about family ties and mental illness. Pretty dark, but intriguing.

So those are my favorite books of 2008. There are about eight more that are in progress, you know how that goes... So I'll update if one of them makes it onto my favorites list before the end of the year. This post was especially for Kristina. =)

Exciting news

Freerice.com now has many subjects to quiz yourself on! You can try famous paintings, your multiplication tables, world geography, chemistry, other languages... I'm having a ball this afternoon. Go get excited all over again!

101 posts

For my one-hundred and first post I will tell you about Brian Regan. Most of you readers know who he is, you know, the "take luck" guy. Perhaps you, like me, nearly peed your pants the first time you heard him. Or had to pull your car off the road so as not to have an accident from laughing so hard while driving. Perhaps you slip little comments into your daily conversations that make you laugh, but confuse others. "Many much moosen." My students think their English teacher has lost her grammatical sense. Perhaps you call other Regan fans when you see two log trucks pass each other going opposite directions. Hey, it's been known to happen. In any case, Brian Regan has brought a lot of laughs to my life, and hopefully to yours as well.

Of course, one of the things that I appreciate about Regan is that he doesn't need "dirty" words to make his comedic stylings hilarious. Many comedians use these words alot. For shock value? I'm not sure what exactly what makes curse words funny, but Regan doesn't need them.

So being the Brian Regan fans that we are, when we heard he would be in the area, we snapped up our tickets. We drove to Scranton, (double-bonus, home of The Office!) the Electric City, with our friends Mark and Candace. There were probably about 2,000 people in the theater, so thank goodness we got orchestra seats, because his humor is definitely partially physical. Not totally necessary, as you know from the cd, but it certainly adds to the experience. Anyway, we totally enjoyed the experience. There were several times when I couldn't breathe because I was laughing so hard. Also adding to my enjoyment was the guy in the row in front of me and a couple seats over who was enjoying the show perhaps more than I. He was having convulsions. After Regan left the stage we gave him a standing ovation, so he came back. People (ok, I did it) yelled random phrases from his former acts and he would then do that particular bit. He made comment that part of humor is the surprise element, but he got some of his biggest laughs from those old jokes that everyone knew. At one point he just started an old bit and from the first phrase I was laughing uncontrollably. And who knew his dad was from Scranton? So all in all, a hilarious time. I highly recommend that if you get to see this comic genius in person you do so.

Also, Leslie has been visiting this weekend. Which is fabulous. And we got her addicted to The Office. We watched pretty much all day yesterday, only taking breaks to eat and play a little Dutch Blitz. It's always great to have Leslie around. She makes me feel good about myself and at home. I know, I'm already in my home, but she makes it more comfortable. I also highly recommend a visit from Leslie. And in other news, in case you hadn't heard, James and Linsey had their baby, Micah James, on April 2, Leslie's birthday. So hurray for that.