I'm a bit overdue for a post, aren't I? I apologize for the lack of new reading material here...you would not believe what we have been through the last couple of weeks. Honestly, as I sit here and think about how to explain everything, I am very near tears out of sheer exhaustion and mounting frustration with just about every aspect of life in West Virginia.

For starters, there is some good news...my family came out to visit a few weeks ago and it was so wonderful to have them here!!!! We had a lot of fun touring DC and driving through Gettysburg National Park and "periscoping" (you had to be there), not to mention eating smores and slightly overcooked hot dogs (read: Ed knocked one into the fire and rather than just pitching it, I insisted I would rinse it off and it would be fine...FYI, ashes leave a bit of an aftertaste) and the same pot of baked beans three days in a row...fabulous. :) Seriously, their visit was much too short and I am already looking forward to seeing them all again next summer.

Also, I have decided to join the ranks of many of the other Lail/Thurm/Johnson women in my family and begin a career in the medical field...I started taking classes towards a nursing degree a few weeks ago and will go full-time when we become official in-state residents in January (I have mixed feelings about being an official resident of this state...so far the only good thing about it is the in-state tuition). I am taking Anatomy and Physiology right now and I love the class, but have been frustrated more than once at the low educational standards of the region. My entire class is constantly asking, "Will that be on the exam?", "Will you tell us what will be on the exam?" and "Do we need to know that for the exam?" I sit in the back with my head in my hands wanting to scream, "Just know it all! You need this information for your careers, you idiots!" I think once I become a nurse, I will never let another nurse touch me for fear he or she was one of those who learned only what they knew would be on the exam. I was not on the exam, so don't come near me with that needle. The worst part, though, is that the professor caters to the complaints! Each quiz gets a little easier, a little shorter...I am really missing the scholastic standards of IWU.

Alright, so all of these exciting things have been going on, and right in the middle of it all, our staff sort of "blew up" and rumors went flying. We discovered that workers who are nice to our faces are not very nice to our backs, various supplies have mysteriously disappeared and we are tipped off that some employees might be using the company gas card to slip a few gallons into their car every once in awhile. In the end, our maintenance manager and housekeeping manager (husband and wife), who were the two most valuable employees we had, gave their 5 days' notice and left. On a Friday morning, right before the busy weekend. You can imagine how easy it is to find qualified and knowledgeable people who will work for near minimum wage at a seasonal job. So we have been scrambling, to say the least, to cover shifts and clean up messes and complete projects. I am now the head housekeeper (not because I am qualified or know anything about industrial chemicals, but simply because I am still here) and Nate is both the maintenance manager and the general manager. So I'm trying to go to school and do my homework and keep the house liveable AND work housekeeping every day of the week, and Nate is trying to keep all the maintenance guys busy with jobs and interview 15 people a day AND still do all his general manager stuff. You could say we are a little busy.

I wish I could now type a paragraph about how God is just carrying me/us through this whirlwind time and how we hardly feel the stress because God has given us superstrength...but I need to be honest and say that I'm tired. I'm frustrated. I'm bitter towards the company we work for for not letting us pay people what they are worth so we can attract qualified employees (I'm sorry, but minimum wage does not really attract good maintenance managers). I'm angry with the employees who are taking advantage of us. I'm even angry that I'm frustrated with all of this! I know that God is with us and that He IS carrying us in the palm of His hand, but I still feel like I can barely keep my head above the water. I just get up in the morning and start working and pray it will be enough to make it to tomorrow when I can work some more. I'm sure you can see why blogging has taken a bit of a backseat.

Anyway, I'm sorry this is not a more positive post. We need your prayers, everyone. We are definitely in over our heads at the moment.