Why I'm Losing My Mind

Oh, there are so many reasons. One being deployment. I'm pretty sure that's a given by now. I really hate my deployment brain. Although, my MIL had a pretty good comment on me and my brain... I live in Hawaii, which is usually a vacay spot. Not exactly somewhere you live. So, even though I've moved in, found a church, made friends, and sent my hubby off to war away, my brain doesn't think I live here yet. I shouldn't be making schedules, keeping them, and making plans. I should be hitting the beach, soaking in the sun, reading, playing and relaxing. Maybe that's a better explanation than "deployment brain." Maybe.

The last 3 days have consisted of me driving back and forth to Honolulu. In case you didn't know this, I do not live anywhere near Honolulu. {Ok, in the grand scheme of things I really do. It's on the same island... Oh, if you only knew though...} On a good day, it takes me about 45 minutes to get there. On a really good day. On a normal day....let's call it an hour. So, why did I torture myself go to Honolulu? My beloved MacBook decided to act up. I did what any Mac owner near an Apple Store would do. I took it to the Genuises. They know what's best. They're like computer doctors. I dropped my beloved connection to my husband and the world computer off, praying it would be done that night because I wanted to Skype with Joe. No luck. The diagnosis was that there was nothing wrong with the hard drive {thank you, Lord!} and they decided to just reload the OS. In essence, wiping the computer clean. Apparently, this takes 24 hours. Whatever. After my interview Saturday morning {more on that in a minute}, I drove to Honolulu again to pick up my computer. Then, I drove to Miranda's house to hang out for a while.

Everything seemed all fine and dandy until I tried to restore the backup of my computer on my external hard drive to my computer. *sigh* It wouldn't work. So, I decided that I didn't really need ALL of the files on the external hard drive on my laptop. I picked the "vital" ones and copied those. 20 minutes later, it was done. Wooo! Wait. Where are all my files? Miranda and I both searched my computer for the files. Nowhere to be found. Not wanting to drive back to the Apple Store {which is insanely crowded on a daily basis thanks to tourists...ugh}, I called Apple. Sorry, we can't help you unless you pay $50 for 30 day help over the phone. Or you can make an appointment at a local Apple Store. Gee, thanks for NOTHING! So, I went back. They had no idea what to do except to wipe it clean AGAIN and this time reload the computer with the backup on my external hard drive. {Confused yet?}

Even though I begged them to finish it that night, they didn't. I ended up staying at Miranda's and borrowing her computer to Skype with my husband. Thanks again, Miranda!!! After church this morning, I went back. By this point, I was beyond frustrated. I was tired, hungry and I did NOT want to deal with the traffic that comes with driving to downtown Honolulu. I got to the parking lot of the mall and received a phone call that my computer was done. Yay. I went in, spoke to someone and was told they'd be out with my computer in a minute. Then, this huge Hawaiian and by huge I mean super tall and stocky guy came out with a computer. Not my computer. I told him this and he said, "This isn't your computer?" Uh, didn't I just say that? No, that's not my computer. "Is this your name? *holds out paperwork*" Yes.


The man disappeared. Then, he came back and told me it would be ten more minutes. I swear to you, if I hadn't been around a gazillion people, I would have yelled and then cried. After 3 other employees asking me if I needed help and 1 really sweet girl telling me to be patient with them, dude brought my computer AND my external hard drive out. Whew. I turned it on and it was magic. All my stuff was there!!!!!! =D I wanted to run out of there yelling, " FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOM!!!" But, I celebrated silently as I ran out of there. I think the problem with the whole thing was that I took it to the Apple Store in the mall instead of the Apple Store that's downtown near the Royal Hawaiian. That's the one I usually go to, but you have to pay for parking there. I didn't want to pay for parking, so I went to the mall. I won't make that mistake again.

Moral of the story: Don't be cheap if you want your computer fixed correctly the first time.

I've also had some issues with getting Jasper here. Again. =( I thought we were pretty much home-free, but I guess not. I transferred moneys to my SIL, but apparently they're in limbo and she doesn't have it yet. Which translates as they may not have enough to pay for his flight and extra charges, if there are any. On top of that, the address we were given for the cargo drop-off area is either wrong or bogus. I offered to check on it, but with my computer out of commission [until 3 hours ago], it's not like I could really help. After talking to her husband, I felt a little more calm... But, I still felt like I was losing my mind. Anything else we could add to the pile?!

Now for the interview issue. =)

Thursday night, I was sitting at home relaxing and watching TV. Around 2000, I realized I'd left my phone in my purse and on vibrate. Woops. I glanced at it to see if I had any missed calls or texts, and sure enough I'd missed a call and. I received a voicemail from the owner of a local tutoring company, asking me if I was still interested in the job [which I'd applied for 4 months ago]. I called him back and we set up a time for an interview. At first, I was really excited. Then I thought about it. A job means responsibility. It means getting there on time, doing certain duties, filling out paperwork, driving to work, etc., etc. Did I really want that? Did I really want to be tied down? What about when Joe comes home on R&R? What about going to see my family? What about Jasper? I don't want to leave him home alone all day.  In the end, I realized that God had brought me this opportunity. It's not like it would hurt to do the interview.

By the time I got up on Saturday morning, I had convinced myself that I wasn't even going to be offered a job. Boy was I ever wrong. Friday night, I prayed that God would show me the way very clearly. I was confused and needed help. Before I left my car for the interview, I prayed again. I asked my bestie to pray for me. God is seriously awesome and has the best sense of humor ever. I feel pretty certain that the interview was NOT my best ever. Despite my cooky answers to questions and my inability to tutor kids in anything other than history, language arts and basic math, I was offered the job. The best part: I accepted.


I am now a tutor!!! I will be tutoring - probably only a few kids - a few days a week around where I live. The company gives tutors students based on their location. For instance, I wouldn't have to drive to Honolulu to tutor because it's too far and really unreasonable. My [now] supervisor/boss/person said that some people have 10-15 students, but I don't want to be that busy. I think I'm going to try to keep it at a reasonable level so I'm not stressing myself out. Plus, I would really like to keep volunteering at the museum. They need all the help they can get, and I don't want to leave them empty-handed. He seemed to be very understanding about Joe being in the Army, the R&R situation and traveling. Honestly, I think he realized I wouldn't take the position if he wasn't flexible. =) It seemed that way to me, anyway.

It may seem weird, but now I'm thinking of all the school-related supplies I need/want to buy! =D I love, love, love buying school supplies!!! I honestly think that was one of the many reasons I wanted to be a teacher. Lol! I'm thinking I will definitely need a planner, pencils, pens, paper, a binder?,  folders?, sticky notes.... Anything I'm forgetting? Help, please! Oh, and business cards. Since I go to students' homes, I'm required to swap info with the parents. The easiest way to do this is to get business cards. I'm having a hard time finding good ones because I don't want to put all of my info on there. I mean, do I really want them knowing where I live? Eh, not really. But the cards look funny without the address! So, I need your help!

My favorite business card WITH all of my info:

{Oops. I think I cut the bottom off when I did the screen shot.}

Same card WITHOUT all of my info:

See what I mean? It looks weird.

P.S. These came from VistaPrint.com

What do you think? Should I put my whole address or should I just put the city that I live in? Would that solve the "awkward space" problem? {And obviously, I'll be using a different email address. I just don't want to put that one on my blog.} Help, please! Oh, and if you can think of any other fun school supplies I might need, let me know!

I should be back on a regular basis, now that I have my computer back. The blogging hiatus was NOT my idea! I will most likely be back tomorrow with pictures of my puppy's arrival!!!! =D

Hope y'all had a good weekend!