Nursery, again; Hawaii, again

Today was our every-other-Sunday to lead the 3- and 4-year-olds in Nursery. It was great! The past couple times, I've been really nervous and uncomfortable, but today was just the best! The kids were fun and really good, and I felt way more comfortable playing with them and knowing how to talk to them. Except when I asked one little girl to read a pop-up book to another little girl and me -- she looked at the book, then looked at me and said, "But I don't know how to read!" Oops.

I was just so excited about having a good day in there, because I've worried about not being good with kids. Everyone has said, "Oh, they always put the newlyweds in there and it ends up being like birth control." But actually, these kids are like the opposite, whatever that is! I kind of want a 4-year-old! Skip the whole baby thing!

Lately I've been kind of ... I don't know the word for it -- anxious? Bratty? And I realized something that helps is to pretty much only listen to classical music when I'm in the car. Before, I listened to harder things, and I think that, combined with a touch of road rage, has been making me an unpleasant person, especially when I'm driving. Sometimes I have to remind myself, "That's a child of God in that car," or more effectively, "What if that's the Bishop in that other car?" Is that bad??!

I'm excited and sad to go on a weeklong vacation on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to it because I'll be going to one of my favorite places, Hawaii (!!!), but I'm sad to leave Neil! I wish he could go with me :( When I got my ticket it seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I am being pathetically dependent. Maybe we went a week without seeing each other when we first started dating, since we lived an hour apart, but I don't think we've been separated for more than a few days since we started seriously dating, and I've seen him every day since we got married. I'm really looking forward to having fun with the Robertsons (Jr. and Sr.), just chilling and getting my tan on, but it would all be infinitely more fun with Neil there. Plus, he'll be going up to NYC while I'm gone, and I wish I could go there, too. I'm so selfish! I've learned my lesson -- no more separate vacations!

I guess this trip will be like when I was in Hawaii two trips ago, Dec. 2006, to run the Honolulu Marathon. I went on my first date with Neil Nov. 14 and I really liked him, but I didn't know where it was going to go. The trip was kind of like a make-or-break thing: If we kept in touch while I was gone, we'd probably date some more, but if we didn't talk for that whole week, things would probably cool off, possibly irreversibly. Luckily, he txted and called pretty much every day, and I was quite impressed by that. He really cared about me and not just when I was nearby! It was so cute and thoughtful. Soooo let's hope he's just as good about keeping in touch now that he's "got" me :)