Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

Today was the last day of my temporary job at the college, and my colleagues surprised me with a lovely card and a box of chocolates as a thank you. It was so kind, and I was really grateful for the gesture. I'm not sure what is next for me in terms of work, so you can pray that I find something soon.


After a well-fought battle for a criminal background check with the State of Georgia, I finally got the paper I needed to start pursuing work in an educational setting. I had an interview with a teaching supply (substitute) agency on Thursday, and I am just waiting for my paperwork to go through before I can be called to sub. Complicating matters is the fact that I'll have to walk or take public transportation for every job, and I'm a little nervous about going to new places and getting there on time. I also don't know the reputations of the schools where I'll be subbing each time. It will take a while to get used to some trial and error. However, I am confident that God's goodness will be made evident to us even if I don't get called for a single job. He will provide!


Rereading what I just wrote, I'm noticing that I fear the unknown. Don't we all to a degree? I was so worried that upon our arrival in England that we would be friendless, homeless, and penniless (I'm the family pessimist) for a long time. So far, I've been much-more-than-pleasantly surprised at how wonderful our life is here in Durham with amazing friends, a lovely barn to call home, steady work, and most importantly his presence with us! I'll have to keep reminding myself of God's provision in the past so I can have peace about my future. 


As the sage Forrest Gump says, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get [but God has a plan for His glory and your good]." Or something to that effect...

Chocolate Chip Chum

I don't often liken myself to Bible characters, but I seriously thought of myself as the widow of Zarephath a few nights ago when I used the last of my chocolate chips to make some cookies. She had only a teensy tiny bit of oil in her jar, but God kept filling it up every time it went empty. I know it sounds stupid, but I prayed a timid little prayer as the last precious chip went into the dough. "Lord? Will you please send me some more chocolate chips from America?"

And wouldn't you know it... I got a box delivered the next day. I didn't know what it was, but I waited for Nathan to get home to open it because I could count on his enthusiasm, and I needed someone to take pictures.

 Nathan is so excited he can't keep his mouth closed. Shocking.

What the...? A FOUR POUND BAG OF CHOCOLATE CHIPS?! THE LORD LOVES ME!

There may or may not have been some shimmery tears.

I immediately sat down to write my friend Jenn this note:

Between Jennifer Ginn and You

Nicole Sampley Parker January 4 at 9:23pm

Did you SERIOUSLY spend $40 of your hard earned middle school teaching money and stand in line at the PO days before Christmas Lord knows how long to send me a 4 lb. bag of chocolate chips?!

This deserves its own blog post.

YOU ARE MY HERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

XOXOXOXOXOXO,
Nicole

Jennifer Ginn January 5 at 2:53am Report

OK. So I bought you the bag not reeeeaaaaally considering the cost of shipping it across the pond. By the time I did, and went to the Post Office (in the middle of the day on my Xmas break, so line was not terribly long), I decided it was basically payment for all the fabulous school supplies you provided me. Seriously, I am using those black crates and all those hanging file folders you gave me. They have been invaluable, as I FINALLY (4th year of teaching) have a good organized system to store all the students' work. And I KNOW how much legal size hanging file folders (in exactly the colors I needed to coordinate with our new block schedule and color-coded classes) cost. So, yeah, that was my justification for the $40 shipping. Also, a world in which a person has not ever tasted the incredible deliciousness that is a home-baked chocolate chip cookie is a very very very sad world indeed. What is wrong with these Brits???? I wanted to be sure you were well-stocked to marvel future deprived Britons with the wonders of the chocolate chip cookie. I cannot think of any edible object I like more in this world. So, your need for chocolate chips really hit home with this gal. ENJOY, my friend.
jenn

She is officially my chocolate chip chum, because I like chocolate chips, I like her, and I like alliteration. Thank you Jenn!

Rabbiting Around

This week I am training my replacement at the college. Actually, it took about an hour to show her the ropes. She's transferring from one college reception to another, so she knows loads more than me about how things work. I'm basically spending my last few days reading Pilgrims Progress and making occasional small talk with my coworkers. And now, for some interesting terms I've learned lately.

Rabbit around (v): to chatter mindlessly "Nicole spent the day rabbiting around at the office when she was bored to tears with no work to do."

Faff about (v): to rabbit around and/or waste time

Trolley (n): shopping cart, buggy (for all you Southerners)

Trolley dolly (n): a person (especially a man) who carries someone else's (especially his wife's) groceries. "Nathan came to surprise Nicole at Tesco just so he could be her trolley dolly, because she tends to cry when she buys more than she can realistically carry home." True story.

 Speaking of rabbiting around, I saw this in our neighbors' yard the other day...

Methinks this kitty wants to do more than rabbit around with this rabbit.

Name That Condiment... Again

If you actually know what these are and care to fill me in on whether or not they're any good, what they go with, how to eat them, etc., be my guest. I'm still amazed by how generally tasteless English food is despite all of this wild stuff on the shelves at Tesco.

Seaweed Peanut Crackers

Fruity Brown Sauce

Sweet Piccalilli

Mixed Pickle

Pickled Walnuts

Seafood Sauce

Boxing Day and the Day After

After eating our fill of Christmas foods, we decided to take our friend Nathan out for two more English specialties: Indian food, and fish and chips. On Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, hardly anything was open for business. We walked around for at least an hour trying to find a pub. The one pub that WAS open (called Varsity interestingly enough for all you Atlanta readers) was too rowdy for my taste, so we decided to try Rajpooth, the same Indian restaurant where we met the Texans at the beginning of our time in Durham. Success! With all of the students out of town for the holidays, it was just us and "the people" (locals). We got our food and were enjoying some delightful conversation when there was some scuffling. 

To make a long story short, a fight broke out outside of the restaurant while some of the patrons were on a cigarette break, and a young woman got "popped in the snout," as my Nathan likes to say. Her nose was bleeding and she was rushed off to the restroom by one of her friends. Another guy in her party came back in next, shaking his right hand and loudly proclaiming something to the effect of, "You should have seen the other guy." I'm not sure if he was defending the lady's honor or if she got mixed up in the middle trying to break things up between he and "the other guy," but everyone in the restaurant stopped eating and was trying their best not to stare. 

It wasn't but a few moments later the opposing party rushed into the restaurant, at least four big Geordies, yelling racial and homophobic slurs at the group now inside, trying to finish business it seemed. It was clear that everyone in both groups was quite drunk. I was getting uncomfortable, as was everyone else, but was pretending to really savor every bite of my chicken tikka masala. Somehow, things got calmed down, but I noticed that once the ruffians left, an Indian waiter kept the door locked and only let people in if they wanted to eat inside. 

No one seems to know why Boxing Day is called Boxing Day, but I now have it on good experiential authority that it's called that because English people like to box. Sam, that sweeping generalization was just for you.

The next day, Nathan and Nathan went on a walk around town and did some pub hopping to enjoy a fine selection of warm beers. That night, we opted to get some fish and chips. One simply cannot go to England and not have fish and chips. We first tried "the best place in town" (Bell's) according to our landlord, which was quite a distance away on foot. We got lost, called friends for directions, kept walking and walking and walking in the freezing cold, and finally got there! Closed. Typical.

We ended up walking back into town and trying The Court Inn, where the Nathans enjoyed a beer earlier in the day, but we decided to take it home to eat it. By the time we got there, we had been out for more than two hours, and our fish and chips were a bit soggy. Not to be deterred, we popped everything back into the oven for a bit and then chowed down. 

 That's a lot of fried food my friends.

Making memories... 

Nathan, we enjoyed your company this Christmas. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Christmas Dinner

We got back from our walk and I finished our Christmas turkey dinner with some home made stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and salad.

Here are the boys loading up their plates.

Happy boys!

Since we got to decide what Christmas tradition we wanted as far as how and where to eat our dinner, we decided to eat our meal while watching some Seinfeld on the computer. We have three nesting tables that we set out in front of each of us. When we got it set up, it looked like Christmas dinner for the three little bears. One for Papa Bear, one for Mama Bear, and one for Baby bear.

Good times with Seinfeld at Christmas!

Christmas Day Walk

When our turkey was a-cookin', the three of us decided to walk a couple miles up to the prison to perhaps visit and give some Christmas treats. We didn't get in (not surprising) for security reasons, but we saw some great views. Then we went back home and ate more treats.

There's the cathedral in the distance.

On our walk we saw a dog kennel and cattery, as well as a dove cove. Cool, eh? 

More pictures from our walk are on Nathan Dicks's Facebook page if you want to check them out. Happy New Year everybody!