before i forget:
2 funny kid quotes... (haven't done one of these for awhile, have i? that's because i've been so busy/stressed that i haven't really enjoyed my job lately. but here we go now...)

first one:
i was seeing a group of 4 kids- 2 boys, 2 girl, and the boys are brothers (1st and 2nd grade). well one of the boys had to go to the bathroom, so of course i excused him. we went on with our activity until his brother said, "where's damian?" and i said, "in the bathroom" and he said, "what's taking so long? usually it only takes like 20 seconds." i said, "well, sometimes it takes people longer than 20 seconds." then he got a hilarious look on his face and said, "i know what he's doing! and it starts with the letter 'p'!" the girls started giggling and i was trying not to. and then he realized that both start with the letter 'p' so he revised his thought.... "well, it's the one that's not spelled with the 'ee' and it rhymes with 'oop"!
so hard not to laugh, but i managed!

next!
yesterday, we were making "speech turkeys" by tracing our hand and then adding giant paper feathers to the hands to make them into turkeys. we then were writing/drawing pictures of our targeted speech words on the feathers. fun, eh? well, my sweetie 1st graders were working so hard, cutting and gluing and practicing their sounds. one boy kept layering on many feathers, to the point where i had to tell him to move on or he wouldn't have time to draw. then i was praising all of them, saying "man! these are some of the best speech turkeys i have seen all day!" and the little boy said, "yes, and mine is the featheryest!!!" with a huge grin on his face.
yes, a new adjective+superlative is born.

matt took me out to dinner last night, since we didn't do anything on my birthday. we went to this cool restaurant in point loma, actually, called "old venice", italian, of course. they have a cool bar/waiting room attached, with white walls and white candles and a huge fireplace with big, white wingback chairs. it reminded us of a huge, old house. we ended up having to wait over an hour for a seat outside, but it was worth it. so beautiful and the food was great. yay!

t-minus-27 hours until the edwards family arrives!
lots of chores and errands to do before that happens, though.

oh yeah, i had such a fun time in boardman, ohio with my dear friend heidi. they say you're lucky if you find one lifelong friend in your life, and i have at least 4. one is from kindergarten, when i was 4 years old with my little pigtails. i was in the library with my class and me and this other little girl were going around the tables (not really running, just being spunky). and i said, "do you want to be my friend? and michelle cho said "yes". and then we shared our snack later. i had carrots, which she wanted. and she had oreos, which i wanted. then she was in my wedding, taking care of everything. and now she has a 4 year old of her own (and a two year old and one on the way).

the other three are from college: teri, kelly, and heidi.
teri i met my freshman year of college, maybe the first few weeks or so. i can't remember our first actual meeting, because everyone just hung out all the time, but i do remember her watching "rush limbaugh" (which i hated) and mtv's 120 minutes (which i loved) in our dorm lounge. then we started talking and slowly figured out that we wanted to know more about God. and we started going to a bible study (me mostly to argue with/question our leader, dyan) and we started on that journey together, asking each other questions, praying together, and then i accepted the lord a year later, and teri was with me. and we were baptized together later. we shared some of the most intimate times with the Lord together. and a million other things happened in between and since.

oh yeah, at that same bible study, we met our friend kelly, who i thought was pretty religious at first. also, she had a loud voice (LIKE I CAN TALK!) in our lounge (by the way, my dorm room was right off the lounge, so anything that went on there became my business). she tried to witness to me and answer questions at bible study and she was in spain when i gave my life to the lord. but she came home the next semester and we spent thousands more hours talking and laughing in both of our loud voices! and we lived together for several years (ter lived with us for a year, too) and if one of us went away for the weekend, we'd have to make up for all the talking we had missed and we'd stay up late sunday nights chatting.

i met heidi through matt and joel, actually, at the beginning of my sophmore year of college. they said, "you have to meet this cool girl" and when she and i met, we decided to have lunch the next day. ("i would never to that in real life!" heidi says now.) we ended up chatting for hours at that lunch the next day and were joined at the hip the rest of the year. we really only had 8 months together and she left BG the next year to go to chiropractic school in atlanta and i grieved. but here it is, 10 years later, and we're still getting together.

but i guess what i'm trying to say is that when the Lord connects you, really knits your soul to someone else's, it is forever sometimes. no matter how much time you spend together or how much time has passed or how much space divides you.

and then there is family, which justin covered in his most recent blog.
and i'll do that someday, too, but that is another blog...

hey, if anyone wants to see how muddy mare and i were after our muddy buddy race, here is a link:

http://www.verismile.com/mp_includes/index.asp

outdoor ministry????
that's what i want to do!
(see mom edwards blog for reference)

seriously, i have been thinking about what i want to do for my next job. i'm sensing a change coming up in my life-- ph.d? teach college, outdoor education, mare! yes! fitness/nutrition--i've been getting so into it lately. on that note, i want to give a shout out to my brother rydogg, who has lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks--by eating BREAKFAST and regular snacks (healthier, of course, but regular---he says he hasn't been hungry yet). nice work! and to michelle: you can do it! i KNOW you can! plus, there's $200 at stake here... :)

but anyhoo. how can i become a paid world traveler? i just don't want to lose my summers off, this job is seriously wearing me out. a good portion of my day ends up turning into paperwork that is required by the state/federal government in order to cover my patoot so i don't get in trouble. enough of that venting. i do still love being a speech therapist. but what else might be out there for me? this is what i want to know...

welp, i need to start getting this house ready for our new influx of thanksgiving guests on sunday! :)