Are You There God? It's Me, Allison

Dear God,

First of all, thanks a bunch for the torrential downpour on Monday night. 

I know someone, somewhere thought an 8:00 p.m. baseball game in Herndon on a school night was a peachy idea.  I, on the other hand, was busy trying to coordinate the completion of Algebra homework, (Jack) dance class, (Katherine) and identification profile assessment for grad class (me).

Meanwhile it dawns on me that I have not yet A: walked the dog (And has he eaten dinner?  Wait, did anyone even feed him breakfast??) B: Cooked dinner (Beanies and Weenies again, dear family?) or C: done the laundry since Jack's last baseball game...so how much do you want to bet his uniform is in a sweaty crumpled pile at the bottom of the hamper?

And then, just as I was on the verge of losing any and all remaining sanity, the precipitation began.  And I knew it was you, God, sending a storm.   A storm outside to cancel the game.  An extra gift of time to help calm the storm inside.    Thank you.

Second, I am really sorry I've been so bad about talking to you lately.  You know these last few weeks have been pretty crazy busy with me going back to work full-time and taking this grad class.  I really don't know what I was thinking with the grad class, by the way.  September is always busy in the classroom and switching grade levels adds another level of stuff to do.  Plus the new report cards, err, excuse me, Progress Report Standards.  And the training for the new teacher evaluation standards.  And helping Jack and Katherine with homework. 
And Girl Scouts. 
And baseball. 
And guitar...sometimes I wake up at 4am and can't fall back to sleep thinking about everything and hoping I won't forget anything.  (I told Paul I felt like I needed to cover my whole body with Post-It note reminders.  Paul said he'd love to see my body covered with nothing but Post-It notes.  Not sure he got my point.) 

Friends keep asking, "How's it going?" The truth is that it's going fine.  Better than fine, actually.  I love my class and my team.  My days fly by in a sleep-deprived, adrenaline-buzzing frenzy.  I feel challenged, needed and appreciated.  Every day someone makes me laugh.  Every day someone makes my heart swell with warmth.  My class, bucket-load of work that it is, is stimulating and thought-provoking. Life's far from perfect--I haven't figured out how to fit in exercise, cooking or cleaning.  But I'm setting my sights on October... (October, It's the New January!) when we get settled a bit more. 

Meanwhile, God, I just wanted to touch base.  Every day I am thankful for so many things and, even though I haven't lately stopped to tell you, I really appreciate all of them.  Especially the rain.