Apple cider

Wednesday I was the referee for a volleyball championship game. I've never had so many middle aged/ borderline-still attractive women mad at me at once. It was crazy times man, crazy times. They were full of useless advice which flowed in a nearly uninterrupted stream from the benches and sidelines for the entire hour or so of game. In addition, as 'head ref' I was perched on a platform that couldn't have been more than 1.5' square about 6' off the ground which had no railing or supports of any kind. It was really a different kind of experience. What made it worthwhile though was at the end, a few of the soc-uh, volleyball moms came up to say sorry for all the yelling, thanks for sticking it out, and one of the coaches even admitted that she consulted the rules and I was right about a call that had resulted in a great outburst. So take that, middle aged borderline-still attractive lady!

Apparently theres a typhoon in or around the Philippines, we've had a lot of rain lately. Yep.

The other afternoon when I got home, due to the storming the power was out. So I did the sensible thing, which was light a candle, eat (tuna/vegalink/ketchup/tabasco sauce sandwich), and take a nap. When I woke up, I realized that the wick in the candle had been positioned near the side causing a hole to form in the wall and all the wax to suddenly become free of its constraints. What resulted was a cascade down the front of my counter, onto a chair with a shirt (one of my favorites) hanging on it, which transformed the shirt into a giant wax stalagmite. Yep. Also, I later found out that one of my students had visited, walked in, had some chuckles at my form sprawled out probably gape mouthed on the couch snoring. That sandwich musta really knocked me out.

I rearranged the furniture in my apartment. It used to always irk me when mom would do this at home, but now I am mostly irked by the growing number of things that no longer irk me. I feel like I'm goin' soft, man!

The kids have a school 'store' after school in the lunch room, and sometimes they leave the cash box unattended. The teachers have advised them that this sort of thing is foolhardy, but yesterday it was alone again and one of the teachers took it. It's been rather amusing to see how easily friendships are thrown asunder in hopes of proving ones own innocence. Quick, someone call Harlow Doyle!

The leaves of a certain island tree are falling in the occasional gust of wind associated with having a nearby typhoon. I feel the twinge of homesickness at the thought of missing my favorite time of year, autumn. I need someone to send a flat rate box with the following contents:

hayrides
colored leaves
hoodie that smells like a campfire
frost
apple cider
pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks

Thanks.

The other day while waiting for someone to get off work, I struck up a casual conversation with a taxi driver from Bangladesh. He was a colorful fellow, and the highlight of the conversation (which covered many topics) was when he told me about the American sailors that come ashore from the ever present ships in the larbor:

"Yea man they always say "Maaan I been on that f* ship for too f* long, man I need some f* p*!!"" LOL I'll let you use your imagination to fill in the blanks..

The school enrollment is down right now, as well as that of the CDC (daycare). The enrollment fluctuates all the time due to the number of ESL students that come through, but it is especially low right now. Please continue to pray for us all out here and if possible, feel free to make a donation to the school! If you are interested in how to do this, email me at floridavenue@gmail.com.

Shout out to Liesse for reminding me to stay on task with this thing haha