Maya and moth balls

working is definitely a good thing for me. even though i spent four hours straight playing with a two year old and am somewhat exhausted, it was so much fun! yeah, i'm nannying for this two year old named maya and she's the cutest little girl. she's got curly brown hair and big brown eyes with really long eyelashes. today i went over from 9 am to 1 pm and will be doing the same thing tomorrow and wednesday this week. next week i'll go over on tuesday, thursday, and friday so jessie, her mom, can get some work done. when i left today jessie said she got a ton of work done and that maya really liked me :-D i don't know why it's so great when a little kid likes you, but it's definitely cool for me. we played with her babydoll for a while and some blocks and animals too. then we painted for a while (fingerpaints definitely never get old, even when you're 21!) and played some board games. we danced around with jingle bells on our wrists and she has this great purple feather boa that she wore for a while. we had a tea party and made food in her little "kitchen." then i told her i'd bring hair things tomorrow to make her hair look all pretty. she was pretty excited about that idea, but she LOVED it when i made the stuffed animals talk to her. kids are so great! and time definitely goes by quickly when you're playing lots of little kid games. hehe.

after i left their house at 1, i went straight to the studio because mom and john had to pick tom and michelle, his new girlfriend, up from the airport. john came back around 3:30 and then had me get some milk to bring home. i got a ton of reading done at the studio and i'm almost done with The Hiding Place. it's sad though, obviously, but a very good book.

yesterday was a great day too. i went to church in the morning at Sheffield Chapel, the church i'd attended over the summer, and saw some familiar faces. it was definitely nice to fellowship with other believers. when i got home i finished cleaning dan's pig pen, i mean bedroom, and cleaned out his dresser drawers too. that means my clothes are actually upstairs now instead of in the basement! yay! after that i went to the mall with lisa for moral support. she still had Christmas shopping to do and she hates the mall just as much as i do. however, it was such a great mall experience for me. we were in and out of there in 35 minutes thanks to the list. i like list shopping :-)

well i'm going to get some more reading done before dinner. i'm also sitting on tom's bed that smells like moth balls and it's making me feel ill. oh geez, that reminds me! the elderly lady next door, her name is mary, made some cookies for us. no joke, they taste like moth balls! it was a very sweet gesture, but i seem to remember some cake she made for us over the summer that had the distinct taste of moth balls as well. we're thinking she's got moth balls near the flour she uses maybe? yeah, so there are a bunch of deceivingly tasty looking cookies on the table that are not being eaten, surprise surprise. ok, i'm going for real.

p.s. i miss you happy!