100th Post... :)

I love blogging. I'm not sure exactly why, but I do. I'm sure it's mostly egocentric - trying to tell my story, to share my thoughts with a world that can take them or leave them... To a world that can read them or not.

I think I forget that part sometimes.

We all want to be liked and approved - even online. So when I start to feel like my life and my thoughts are not appealing to anyone who reads them, then I think they're not worth processing or posting.

And yet, that means I miss out on doing something I really enjoy - namely, writing about something I care about. When all the while, I can write whether anyone wants to read it or not. And those who don't like to read it don't have to.

Excellent.

And on top of writing blogs, I thoroughly enjoy reading them. Seriously - my life is just fine without Facebook (and my email traffic is suddenly much lighter), but I think I would miss blogs if they were gone. I love reading about the thoughts, experiences, and faiths of some people that I know and love - and some that I only know online. It's an interestingly new type of community that I feel like sociologists and psychologists can and probably will have a hay-day with, and I enjoy it. Today, I even discovered that Southern Living, Cooking Light, and Real Simple magazines all have blogs! This is my excited face... If only you could see it.

How did I stumble across such treasures?

I was trying to Google some information about submitting articles for Southern Living.

That's one of the items on my bucket list - basically right under seeing the Cubs play at Wrigley Field I've listed being published in Southern Living. Truthfully, this list is only imaginary and stored in the back of my mind, but when I picture it, those two items are on there in that order.

I'm not even sure if they (Southern Living) accept freelance writing.

And I haven't drafted anything yet.

Although, I do have a couple of ideas swirling around in my head... :)

So who knows? Maybe it will happen. Maybe it won't. It doesn't really matter. When a believer really considers where they'll be and what they'll be doing and WHO they'll be with after the time runs out to accomplish the things on a bucket list, it seems that the list becomes completely inconsequential.

In the meantime, I'll keep on blogging and dreaming and trying to use this time wisely.

This weekend has been excellent. I did a whole lot of nothing Friday night and Saturday night. I got LOADS of work done on Saturday and feel so relieved to be caught up (and a little bit ahead in some areas) once again - or at least until tomorrow. Haha...

I talked to my mom for awhile on Friday and got to catch up with her after a few days. I can't believe she might be here with me three weeks from right now. I know this will be a huge step outside of her comfort zone, and I'm so thrilled to see how much she loves me and how love can motivate us to do things we never imagined... I can't wait to give her and Nancy (her cousin; more like an aunt to me) a glimpse of Honduras and to help them see that it's not as bad as the news has made it seem in the recent past. Even if they struggle to see it like I do, I know they'll enjoy the weather and hopefully the company, and that should make it all worth it. :)

This week is bound to be very busy, but that's good because that's what's gotten us to March in seemingly the blink of an eye. It's hard to fathom that it's been almost two whole months since I was at home. I feel like Christmas break wasn't that long ago, and I'm thankful for that feeling.

Besides the regular schedule and demands of teaching, I also have at least one or two things scheduled for each afternoon and evening.

Have I mentioned that I am coaching the newly formed Pinares pep squad? And have I mentioned how much I love it? God really does prepare us for His work and use our talents and experiences in the most incredible ways... Despite the eye rolls, baffled expressions, and snide remarks from my dad throughout the years I spent dedicated to cheerleading (Dad, don't even try to deny it! But it's okay... I was never meant to run anyway - so at least I found something to do.), God knew that those years of practices, clinics, camps, pep rallies, and games would come in handy later on down the road in a small country in Central America.

Our school hasn't had anything similar to a cheerleading squad for a long time - mostly because of the difficulty of balancing strict (sometimes legalistic - oops, did I say that?) school rules and policies with a "sport" that often involves short skirts and dancing. When some girls got together with the guidance counselor this year to propose to bring the squad back, they took on a very agreeable position including pants for the uniform and no dancing. And then they recruited me to teach them some basic moves, chants, and cheers. Why me? I am the ONLY person on staff here with any background in cheerleading.

I'm here for such a time as this, right?

I know it seems silly to think about cheerleading on that level, but it has been fun to get to know and invest in some 11th grade girls... As a general rule of thumb, this culture struggles with rhythm (clapping along with songs at church can be maddening), so that has presented a bit of a challenge. However, the girls are there because they want to be - and they are so eager to learn and to practice because it's all so new to them. We've told them that they won't be performing for anyone anytime soon, but for now we're practicing every Monday and Tuesday after school with hopes for an all-sports celebration pep rally at the end of the year before they start to cheer for and encourage all of the sports next year. I enjoy leading it for now, and I love the way that I get to laugh with and have fun with a great group of girls after school.

So that's Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday is faculty meeting. Thursday will be something I've never done before. Progress reports went out on Friday, and I was shocked when I sat down to calculate how many students had missing assignments that they never turned in. I'm okay with kids getting an occasional zero for not doing their work because that's pretty real-world. But apparently if I don't ride their case and demand to receive their assignments, they won't turn them in late. They just won't do them at all. So on Thursday, I'll be staying after school to work with half of my class (conditional on parental consent) on making up missing work for partial credit. It's unfortunate, but it's better than failing half of the class because they didn't do their work. :)

Then on Friday, it's possible that some of my girls will be coming to my apartment to hang out as a reward for good behavior. They're really excited about it, and honestly, so am I. This is something I felt like I couldn't do in Alabama (and with most students, you wouldn't want to), but these girls are great and I enjoy getting to know them. We'll see... If it works out, maybe we'll bake something together. Maybe I'll find a fun recipe on one of the new blogs I'm reading. :)