drama queen

I am officially not as good at east coast living as I thought I would be. I had this romanticized idea about winter on the east coast from christmas movies based in new york. I always just assumed I would automatically enjoy the brisk, cold weather and take to it quickly. Wrong. My body has gone into shock this week. I am wearing multiple layers of hats, scarves, and gloves and I am still shivering. I really try my hardest not to be dramatic, but I am acting a little like a drama queen in this weather. I completely understand why animals want to live in our house. I actually have a little (a very little) compassion for the squirrel that was living in our house. For those of you who haven't heard the story of the squirrel here is a quick synopsis.

On my last night in Philly before Christmas break my roommates and I discovered an animal in a closet. In said closet this animal had made a nest with Tera's clothes and pieces of paper and had chewed through a plastic laundry basket. What is the animal you ask. Oh, just a full size SQUIRREL. Sick. So we all flipped out and shouted profanities and cried and laughed and then we called the landlord. Thus the landlord sent over a man who when we answered the door was holding a big stick. He told us he was a redneck from Florida and that he was going to kill the squirrel. So then "Steve" we will call him had a change of heart and decided to try and catch the squirrel in a box. Bad idea Steve. The squirrel, who we thought was tired and half dead, was not. It ran into one of the bedrooms, then it ran up Steve's leg and arm and jumped into Sara's bed. We all freaked out. I jumped onto a chair, and then the squirrel ran downstairs and then proceeded to get stuck in our radiator. After a few more minutes of the squirrel freaking out and running around we somehow managed to chase it out the front door,crazy night.

Some in our house think that the squirrel has taken up resident in our house again. We have no way of knowing for sure, but for now there has been no concrete evidence.

This week has been good in other ways. I completed a tax training through the Benefit Bank this week. It was weirdly exciting to learn about filing taxes. I have no idea why I liked it so much. I made friends with one of the ladies taking the class and I picked her brain about working the non-profit world and living in Philly. She did better than me in the cold weather because she is from Michigan. Oh Texas, how you have spoiled me.

For curriculum we are reading Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. I highly recommend it. It has always been one of those books that I have wanted to read, bought to read, borrowed to read, but never really did it. Big mistake on my part for waiting so long. It is excellent. I am most attracted to the way the Manning talks about why Jesus is so close to children, and those with childlike hearts. He mentions the incompetence of children and how they really don't have the ability to do lots of things for themselves, and how God longs to do far more for us than we allow Him to. A seemingly obvious thought, but still so hard for my mind to grasp.

I hope everyone has a great week.