The fourteenth seven days.

This is my penultimate post (alliteration!) for the 100 Happy Days series, as this takes us up to day #98. Because I like consistency, I will post a full week next week, and maybe my thoughts on the project as a whole, depending on how much I have already said in that post!

August 17: Today I worked in the nursery at my church, as I do every third Sunday of the month. One of my happy moments today was spending some snuggle time with one of the little babies in the "crib" room, where I usually volunteer (I have a hard time lifting the bigger babies.) There was a squishy little girl who needed someone to hold her for the morning, and I got to be her buddy. This made me happy for a couple of reasons. One, some of our other kids- regulars- are getting to be old enough and active enough that they are happy to play with toys on the floor, instead of constantly fussing and wanting to be moved around. That makes my morning easier, because I usually have to deal with them- the little bitties are usually snatched up by the other ladies that I volunteer with! And this baby was a very good baby. She just sat and smiled and kicked her legs around. And then she took a nap. In all honesty, as much as I want to be a mom, I have absolutely no desire to have an infant. They are complicated and awkward. I'm happy for my friends who have babies, and I like my time in the nursery each month, but I'm definitely fine with only caring for a tiny human for 90 minutes once a month! It made me happy that my time in the nursery this morning was peaceful and pleasant, without screamers and grossness.

August 18: Today I got my first letter from Sharifa! Hallelujah. We were swiftly approaching the 6 month mark of correspondence to her, rather than with her (we got her as a correspondence kid in late February.) She didn't say anything about her family, or provide much insight to her life other than the fruits that are growing in Bangladesh, but it's a start! And her letter was written in April, about two months after we got her, so hopefully that means she is actually writing the letters, but they're just taking a while to get here.

August 19: Today I was really happy to "meet" another sponsor (online) who has a child in Tanzania, at one of the centers I visited in March! I am a member of a facebook group for sponsors and correspondents, which has taken the place of the now-defunct Our Compassion website. A lady posted a picture of her new correspondent in Tanzania, and asked what our experiences were like with that country. I replied that I love Tanzania, and mentioned that I had gone on the trip earlier this year. She asked if I had visited 812, and I had! That was the first center we visited! I was able to share my few pictures from that day (we weren't there very long) along with the video I took of the choir singing for us. It made me happy to be able to share these experiences and give this woman some insight into her child's center. And I know that it made her happy too- if I could see pictures from my kids' centers, it would make me really happy!

August 20- I got a phone call about another job interview today. We will see how things go. There are a lot of things to take into consideration about this job, because it is only part time and would require me to use a lot of gas, since it is in another county. I'd appreciate prayers for guidance about the opportunity! Getting the call made me happy because I was thinking since I live outside that county, they wouldn't be as interested. But the fact that I got a call (several days after the job posting closed) gave me a teeny tiny self esteem boost. My interview is next Thursday!

August 21: I was very pleased that my friend Shelley agreed to write a guest post for my blog (hit "older post" at the bottom of this page, or just scroll down a bit, to read.) I'm very excited about her upcoming trip to Kenya, and think it would be really neat if she wound up visiting Victor or Mary's centers! And by asking her to write the post, I got to learn more about her motivation for going to India earlier this year as well. : )

August 22: My family had a yard sale today. We used to have them more frequently, sometimes twice a year. I was thinking that we wouldn't have one this year, but it's good that we did. I had a lot of stuff to sell (some of it donated) and my own sales are going toward funding my next trip with Compassion. It was VERY hot today, and muggy, and my hair was going bonkers and my shirt sticking to my back after like an hour, and I wound up a little dehydrated (I did well the first few hours, but after lunch I was too tired to drink!) but I'm really pleased with the day's sales. I ended up making more money today than I usually do when we have a yard sale, and the bonus is that they are putting everything out again tomorrow! I have to work, so i won't be able to help, but my dad and Pappaw will be running things.

August 23: Normally I would not say that waking up early is a good thing, but today it worked in my favor. Brandon and I have been a one-car family all week (and it's looking like we will be next week as well...) but we both had to work today. One of his brothers is on a high school retreat with church, so this morning we got up very early (for me, anyway) and went to get his keys and then his car from the church parking lot. Brandon drove that car today. Getting up early allowed me to take care of some things that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. By getting up early, I was able to go by my mom's and get the shoes she ordered for me (so I could wear them to work and hopefully save myself some pain!) And it was nice to see her for a moment. Then I was able to go to the post office and mail something that I recently sold on eBay. And then I got to come home and go back to  bed for a little bit! If I hadn't had to drive around this morning with Brandon, I would have slept much later, wouldn't have had my new shoes for work, would have had to visit the post office after work, and wouldn't have been able to take care of the things I did accomplish in the time between leaving work and going to pick up Brandon. Plus going back to bed helped me feel much more rested when it was time to get up and go to work! So a small inconvenience saved me lots of time, energy and pain later in the day. That's pretty neat. But I don't want to make a habit of it!