Pack to take, pack to store, Goodwill

I'm making a list.... shocking! Well I guess it's really 3 lists in 1, 3 different categories but 1 event/task... moving. "Pack to take"- aka whatever fits in my car! "Pack to store"- furniture, dishes, books, rugs, and all the "I'll probably need this again someday" items. "Goodwill"- coffee mugs from white elephant Christmas parties I can't believe I haven't gotten rid of yet, t-shirts from college (ok not all of them, but it's time for a few to graduate), and all the other stuff I rashly gather up in a trash bag before heading to the donation center. I feel like I need to walk around and label everything with a little sticker or post-it-note.
I took a story book about saying good-bye to read to the kids at work on Friday, in effort to help them understand and have time to adjust to the fact that I am leaving. After I read the story we talked about how many days are left before I move, where I'm going, and how lots of them will be "moving" to kindergarten or 1st grade. I made some statement about how they will have new teachers and caretakers and that even though I am leaving they will still have people who will teach them and take care of them. After thinking about that statement for a few seconds one of the kids said "But Miss Jamie that's not the same". 
Honestly, I think it's all the stuff that doesn't fit into one of my categories that make me feel a bit nostalgic. I guess it's good that precious memories and lessons learned can't be put in a box, I'd never have enough packing material to hold those treasures.  

Woof woof

One of my neighbors got a dog... said dog barks mostly during human sleeping hours, aka night time! At first I thought "no big deal, the dog just needs a few days to get use to his new surroundings." Yeah not so much... seems this dog simply likes to "howl at the moon", or the city lights as the case may be. On a positive note, it is a larger breed and so I'm not being kept awake by some yapping toy poodle. Just another reason I am completely fine admitting I'm a cat person. They are self-cleaning, non-barking, no walks required perfect pets! My cat, Miles, is a bit of a chatter box, but I'm pretty sure he's not keeping the neighbors awake at night.  

Changes pending

I started a blog 3 years ago just before I moved to Dallas and began my graduate studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.... yeah that lasted all of 6 weeks. My grand plan for using a blog to keep folks in my life updated on my life quickly took a backseat to my busy life... funny how that happens. The wonderful, crazy busy, and exhausting 3 years of grad school flew by, just like everyone tells you it will when you feel like time stands still (and that 25 page paper will never get done!). I can't believe it. Of course the end of this chapter of my life means a new chapter must begin... aka CHANGE.
I'm not sure many people readily admit liking "change", though lots of folks claim to be "flexible". I fall into the "not a big fan of change" category. So although graduating with my Master's degree is wonderful it is also a bit terrifying. My mind races with things like how would I answer an interview question about how I handle conflict? How long is the grace period for student loans again? What am I going to do with my life....? Change is good, change is a part of life, change is inevitable.
My hope is that I will be a little better at this whole blogging deal. My life changes, I'm slowly learning to adjust and even enjoy a bit of the process, and love knowing that no matter how much things may change in my life my God is constant and unchanging, always.