The Saturday 7

1. Exciting news: I was able to move my school library into a bigger space! A few years ago, we got downsized to make room for more classrooms, and I've been cramming 24-26 kids into this space for every library period:

That's not a great picture, but you get the idea. However, we just hired a new Head of School and he thought it would be a better fit for him to take this room and me to take the former Head of School area. Check out all this space!

I had my first library classes in the new room this week and it was such an improvement!

2. An update on the floor saga: we paid to have the crack in Levi's wall repaired and were assured that it would prevent further water leakage . . . only for more water to cover his floor a month later. A technician came out and told me that it was a new problem that the warranty wouldn't fix. I pushed back a little and then Justin called and left an strongly worded voicemail. Eventually they sent out another technician who had much better news. He thinks the original work was not done well, so he re-did everything. We've had a couple good rainstorms since then and no wet basement, so fingers crossed that it's actually fixed this time! Thank you, Jesus!

3. Soccer has officially started for 2/3 of my family. Lena and Justin had their first games on Thursday. Levi had one practice last week, but his second practice and today's game got cancelled because the fields were so wet. But he's been practicing with Justin's team every day! This week Justin has a game in Baldwin on Monday, while Lena has a home game. Justin and Lena both have home games on Tuesday (and Levi has practice at the same time), and on Thursday Lena has a game in Baldwin, Justin has practice, and Levi has practice at a separate location. It's so much fun.

She went outside to do some soccer drills, and came back in like this!

4. Lucy is experiencing all kinds of milestones as she inches ever closer to turning 16. She finished segment two of driver's training, and logged all 50 of her required hours. Plus, she went to her first job interview and got the job! (At a local ice cream shop.) Which led to us setting up her first checking account, complete with a shiny new debit card. Wowza. This growing-up thing is going disproportionately fast all of a sudden! She won't start the job until school is done, but she's counting down the days until she can get her license!

5. Today, Levi got to go to MSU's Spring Showcase with Luke, Ruby, and Casper. It wasn't the nicest day, but Levi doesn't care. He loves to go places and do things with people. (#extrovert) He was just thrilled to be included.

6. I read an interesting book this week called How to Be Well: Navigating Our Self-Care Epidemic, One Dubious Cure at a Time. It's no secret that I have a bad attitude about every new "life-changing treatment" from coconut oil to activated charcoal to apple cider vinegar. I think they're all scams - especially the ones that get wrapped up into a tidy MLM package and promise to heal what ails you if you'll only subscribe to this certain set of supplements that only cost $195.99 a month! So this book was right up my alley. I went into it hoping to have my viewpoint confirmed, but actually left it with a profound sadness. Here's my Goodreads review:

I liked this book because it was a scathing review of our culture's wellness obsession, and I like being validated in my distaste for every new health gimmick. That said, I will say it was poorly titled, as she doesn't truly offer any realistic alternatives. But the main reason I liked the book was its searing revelation of a godless culture. Larocca is a self-proclaimed atheist, but even she admits that part of the impetus behind the wellness trend is a result of modern culture abandoning faith traditions. People are desperate for community and terrified of death. It was so interesting to read about Soul Cycle's similarity to a church, and the lengths people will go to in order to avoid death. Sadly, Larocca doesn't come to the conclusion that there is hope beyond thousand dollar full-body scans and ashwaganda smoothies. Faith in Jesus promises that this world is not all there is, and participation in the Church provides a community that will uphold you until that eternity is ushered in.

The older I get, the more I feel for people who have no hope of Heaven.

7. Pics and memes