Xanga Flashback

So, I was reading through some of the blogs I follow, feeling inspired, and suddenly I remembered..."Hey, didn't I used to have a Xanga account?" What's a Xanga, you might be asking. Well, it's pre-blog, pre-facebook, social networking at its finest. I found this beauty from when I was still interpreting at McNair. I'd like to call it "A Day in the Life of an Interpreter (circa 2006)". Enjoy.


Once and a while a day comes along, a shining,
shimmering gift of day--wholly unexpected--and you just gotta
roll around in it. I had one of those days today at
work. At work! (of all places). I came in this
morning expecting to have an as-usual kind of day.
BUT...first thing this morning, the kids watched a movie for
about 2 hours, then they went to see the talent show,
then outside to play, then lunch, then back outside for
the rest of the day!!! Are you kidding me? Where did
this schedule come from!?! It happened because the
talent show threw the schedule off to begin with, then
one of the 5th grade teachers was absent and they had
no sub show up. So, everything was canceled, I guess.
Nice.
The only work I've had to do, if you can call it
that, is to interpret the talent show *smirk*, and sit
here in the computer lab just in case my kiddo has any
questions while taking her test. Let me segue into
the talent show for a minute. "Talent" is a loose term
here. (I don't mean to be harsh, it's just that they are like 10.)
You just don't even know what an adventure it is
to try to interpret elementary school kids squawking
into a hot mic. I have to say, there were a few bright
stars, but overall...not so much. The whole basis of
my job as an interpreter is to LISTEN to what is going
on, to be the EARS for someone who can not HEAR. Do
you see the emphasized words? Listen, ears, hear. All
based on my ability to hear, and I should also add
UNDERSTAND what is being said...or sung. So, mostly it
was me (or Holly or Stephanie) trying to put English
signs to singing that sounded like the teacher on the
Peanuts cartoon singing karaoke. Umm...right. You try
to sign songs like, "SHMOW MOW CHECOM, YEAH YEAH,
SHMOW MOW CHECOM, OH BABY, YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE
FFHRRHFOEL AVERHUNM KA FFHHEEESSHHH, OH YEAH,
FOOORRREVERRRRRRRR. OH YEAH, SHEMMERFULVEVERLAK, BAKKERSHMRFFFFAAANA
FOOOOREVERRRRR!" So as an interpreter we sit there
staring at some kid with a mic and sign like 5% of the
words we can understand. So take that "song" above. We
would be signing: " .............yes, yes...*look
around to see if any other interpreter gets
it*............oh, baby.....*puzzled look*...........you make me
feel like....................oh yes...forever...oh
yes...................................forever" . All the dot-dot-dots are when our arms are just suspended motionless in the air in hopes
that we'll pick up a recognizable word.
So as you can probably imagine, our deaf ed. kids don't
enjoy the talent show very much. Not to mention the
assortment of piano/other instrument players
players. How do you interpret that? Um, you don't. Unless
you are Stephanie and you poke the air as the notes go
up and down. Valiant attempt my friend. What are the
odds we'll get some of the Higher Ups to buy us some
sound-sensitive flashing lights?
Anyway....there's my day. My kid has finished
her test, gone back outside and it's 30 minutes until
school's out. Life is good!!!!!!!!!


(P.S. You should have seen the spell check on this entry.)


End Xanga post. Actual date: May 12, 2006. Love you, Berlinn

Sharpening my pencils!

Yep, it's back-to-school time for me! My financial aid has finally gone through and I am OFFICIALLY headed back to school in 4 days! I am actually starting to get excited.

Today I found out about a huge blessing. The Lord Himself must have reached his sovereign hand down into the TWU financial aid department and processed my forms Himself. I turned the forms in Tuesday and as of today, 4 days later, my loans have been processed, classes paid for and extra money disbursed so I can get books, supplies, parking pass, etc. What in the Sam Hill is going on??? I don't even care. I'll take it! Aaaannnndddd, TWU even saved me a step. I knew my financial aid processing was going to be down to the wire because of the timing of my application process. When I went in Tuesday to turn in my loan forms, I was told that unpaid classes were being dropped that night and that there was not time for my loan money to come in before that, so I needed to get an emergency loan. No big deal. I've done that before. You just get a partial short-term loan to cover a percentage of the cost and that saves your classes from being dropped, and gives you time for your real financial aid to come in. So I filled out those forms and was told to keep an eye out online for my acceptance. So, from Tuesday to today, I have been checking and checking for my emergency loan confirmation. Well, it never came through. But, my classes were never dropped, so something had to be happening. Finally, this afternoon, I called up there to see what was going on and found out that my real loans had already been processed. TWU just canceled my emergency loan request and expedited the real financial aid. They even saved me a step!!! (Whew, I'm getting faint just thinking about it!) The lady I talked to said I had a zero balance, everything was taken care of, and to keep an eye out for the disbursement of the rest of the loan money (the part not needed for tuition). She said it could be as soon as today, or as late as next week some time. I went and checked online and it was already there! (Do you hear the angels singing???) That may be WAY more than you ever wanted to know about my grad school financial aid, but considering the experiences I have had in the past, this is a monumental victory in my epic battle of educational funding. Thank you, Jesus. You are truly my Provider in all things.

In other news, I also start back to work next week. With the starting of college classes comes the need for college interpreters. Financially, I already have enough work scheduled to cover our home expenses, so anything extra I work from now on will be bonus. Plus, the classes I have are on-going through May. Hooray! I don't have to worry about being dropped mid-semester and scrambling for work. (Aside: It is always a bit tense being an independent contractor because you never know if there is going to be enough work. It is glorious to be able to set my own schedule and pick and choose my jobs, but it is scary when the work thins out. But, I know the Lord will continue to give us exactly what we need. So, when I tend toward worry, I just have to hand it over to Him and know He will not let us down.) So for now, it looks good through this whole semester. Thanks again, Lord! Today has been a great day for getting to actually see His provision in my life. I love those moments. Faith tells me that provision is always there, but sometimes it is really nice to see it play out in front of me.

So, three cheers for the TWU financial aid department, and Snoopy-dance to the Lord for his fantastic, much-appreciated and constant faithfulness in my life.

Blessings,
Heather