Translations from conversations with teens

Shake= run away, get outta here
Used in a sentence: "I'm gonna shake." or "Let's shake."
Not to be confused with a threat of a seizure or a greeting of hands among acquaintances. Typically used when a teen is agitated and wanting to leave an area. After one has "shook" the police are usually notified and a run report is made.

On my ______ (insert a family member here.)= I promise or I swear
Previously known as "I cross my heart and hope to die."
Used in a sentence: "On my momma." or "On my cousin." or "On my dead baby sister."
If the relative who is used in the statement is deceased, the statement is to be considered more serious and really true like a "pinkie-swear."

Direction

For the past few weeks I've been toying with the idea of going back to school. I've been thinking about getting a certification to be a school counselor. I'm not super excited about the idea, but my reasons for doing it would be:

1) School schedule... meaning (probably) having summers off!

2) The salary would (probably) be higher

3) It would (probably) be easier than what I'm doing now

4) Did I mention summers off?

There are a lot of probablys that I need to figure out. I also don't know how long it would take since I already have a BS in elementary education and a MA in counseling. Or how much it would cost.

I'm trying to pray about it and make sure that I'm not just grasping at anything to get out of my current difficult job.

When people ask me what I want to do (meaning: career), I really don't have an answer for them. I honestly don't know. I do know that I want to be really good at something. And I want to help people (who actually want help.) And I don't want to be verbally assaulted or physically threatened every day.

I went to a therapist once who had been a school counselor for a long time and she was a REALLY bad therapist. (I didn't go back to her.) I'm honestly afraid that will happen to me.

So, do I just white-knuckle-it at my job for a while, look for another job (even though I haven't been at my current job for a year), or go back to school (while white-knuckling-it at my current job?)

Any opinions?

When the Body Just Doesn't Work Rightly

I'm sure that there are as many stories of this as there are people reading this (and more), but I had a moment of total frustration and confusion about the ability of my body to make the right decisions and follow sound operational strategy today. At work I was hit all at once with a feeling of extreme thirst....and extreme "have-to-pee." As I waited for an opportunity to fix both situations, I was struck by the irony and awareness that my body had just let me down in a failure of opposites. Obviously my body is not as adept at planning as it was once. I took the option to drink first and pee second...and I estimate that I drank exactly the same amount that I peed.

Thanks, body; great job working out the not-so-minor and obvious details of hydration balance today!

Grammatical Reminder

I am a very adamant believer that grammars are descriptions of language conventions and not rules that must be followed. The simplest "proof" of this is how a descriptive grammar can and does account for language change, that is to say, how a language adapts to communicate effectively in an ever changing metaworld. This does not, however, allow for a willy-nilly use of language; quite the opposite. Because language functions on the basis of shared linguistic conventions (i.e. "grammar"), for effective communication to occur each communicator (encoder-decoder) must operate within those conventions. There is, thankfully, enough flexibility in every grammar to allow for creativity, error, and ignorance, but in the main the conventions must be followed. If they are not, misunderstanding results. Part of the beauty of language is in its conventions (aside from the creative breaking of conventions for a specific rhetorical purpose). So here is another friendly reminder to the public that it sure would be nice to return to a long standing convention--the "was" or "were" use.

Indicative: "I was a young boy"; "I was at the post office yesterday."
Subjunctive: "If I were rich I would buy a boat"; "If I were you, I'd use a hammer."

The indicative reports on actual, historical reality that is verifiable in time. The subjunctive reports on possible or theoretical reality that may or may not become verifiable. By using the "was" first person singular verb in subjunctive constructions we lose the subjunctive descriptivity and clarity in communication.

If (no pun intended) a person is using the subjunctive marker "if" and is speaking in the first person ("I"), then "were" must be used. The difference is between "I am" and "If I am to become/do/etc." and the latter conventionally uses "were" as the verb.

Awesome

So, I'm at work and it's Memorial Day (I'm saving my vacation day for my parents' visit next week) AND I just got cursed out and threatened by a large 18-year old young man.

Awesome.

After yelling at me and calling me EVERY name in the book, he told me "You're gonna get yourself killed."
I should probably mention that this all happened because I told him he couldn't go to the video game store today since he ran away last week.


(Will and I have come up with a game to help us remain sane while frequently encountering situations like this. We earn points when we are yelled at, cursed at, etc. So, when it happens we can report it to each other and get some points. The person with the most points by the end of a certain time period gets a treat or gets to choose what we do. We haven't really been keeping track of our points but I think I pulled ahead of Will today. He said that since it's a holiday I get points-and-a-half! 75 points for me! Awesome!)

Waiting

In case you're wondering.... we're still here. It's just that there's not much going on to write about. We're staying very busy with our jobs, yard work and trying to stay on top of all the pet hair and dust that accumulates so quickly. Will is still looking for a new job but doesn't currently have any prospects. So, it seems that we are once again waiting and fumbling along and trying to be faithful while we wait.
Waiting. This is all too familiar territory for us. It seems that our path keeps circling back and we keep finding ourselves in this place. It's kind of an uncomfortable and scary place. From here we're able to see things work out so easily for others and we begin to wonder what we are doing wrong. And sometimes we honestly ask God if He's forgotten about us.
But this is our journey and our path and it's unlike anyone elses. It cheapens our story and minimizes our God when we covet and complain. Please pray for us that we will not loose heart, that we will learn contentment and that we will genuinely desire God's will for our lives.... no matter what.

Relief

I received some great news yesterday. The mother that I was going to testify against in the TPR trial next week signed a consent form and voluntarily terminated her rights to her children. I cannot express how relieved I was to hear this. I have been dreading the trial ever since I received the case (almost 4 years ago.) It is a very difficult case and it was going to be a nasty trial.
Unfortunately, they are still having a TPR trial next week and I still have to testify. There is one father who has just come out of the woodwork (after his son has been in foster care for 6 years!) He is claiming that he didn't know his son was in foster care... even though he went to the first court hearing, was assigned an attorney, received a court order and had a visit with his son that was supervised by a Children's Division case manager. This "father" wants his son to come and live with him... in another state.... away from the 2 biological sisters that the boy has lived with his entire life. This "father" didn't show up at the first TPR trial... which is why it was rescheduled for next Tuesday... (my anniversary.)
Needless to say, I am very annoyed with this man right now. And with the law and court system. I don't think that he should have any right to ask for his son back after he abandoned him for 6 years.
Oh well. Maybe he'll have a change of heart and consent too.