Easter, baskets, eggs and chickens

these have all played an important part in my week thus far.

first, we had a lovely Easter, complete with family (mostly via telephone), friends, food, and...Easter baskets! mine contained a stuffed bunny that smells like chocolate. pretty fantastic.

speaking of baskets, remember the old aphorism "don't put all your eggs in one basket"?



wise folks, those aphorists. while there were no eggs in my Easter basket, i had unwittingly put a lot of proverbial eggs in the a certain proverbial basket labeled 'Getting Hired as a Spanish Instructor at UGA for the Academic Year 2006-2007'. you know, eggs like "how we will make money for the next year" and "how i will evaluate my own skill and value as a person with an MA in Spanish Literature". clearly, those eggs belong in another basket.

okay, so that metaphor is getting a little out of hand. let's move on to the chickens. yes, yes, the chickens you're not supposed to count before they hatch. apparently, i also had been doing just that, subconsciously of course, when i considered being hired as an instructor as a given (since i had been awarded an Outstanding Teaching Award by the same department one month prior).

i think you can see where this is going. jenna, the chicken-counting basket-stuffer did not, in fact, get hired.



after the initial splattering of eggs on the ground (remember, the ones of financial security & self-esteem?), i've now decided to take a different stance on the whole situation. for one thing, i can now sympathize with some dear friends in similar situations, and put my money (or lack of it) where my mouth is. that is, believe what i've been telling others about how God is our source of worth and provision, not our job (or...lack of it).

as this is an issue with which God really likes to beat me over the head, i would appreciate your prayers.

so, coming back to Easter, that afternoon, i was surrounded by folks for whom God has been faithfully providing despite difficult circumstances. i am poignantly reminded of His grace to us, which comprises the real reason we celebrate Easter. He has made the ultimate provision, a substitute to pay for our outstanding debt to him. what else do i have to worry about?

for those who thought it wasn't me

Your Superhero Profile

Your Superhero Name is The Shatter Ninja Your Superpower is Paranormal Your Weakness is Crystals Your Weapon is Your Golden Saber Your Mode of Transportation is Dinosaur

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Favorite Uncle John Quotation of the Day

"Don't be surprised if you get a hangover along the way to redemption."

a post so interesting, you'd think i wrote it myself!

April Fools' Day Origin

There are several explanations for the origin of April Fools' Day, but here is the most plausible one. April 1st was once New Year's Day in France. In 1582, Pope Gregory declared the adoption of his Gregorian calendar to replace the Julian calendar and New Year's Day was officially changed to January 1st. It took awhile for everyone in France to hear the news of this major change and others obstinately refused to accept the new calendar, so a lot of people continued to celebrate New Year's Day on the first of April – earning them the name April fools. The April fools were subjected to ridicule and practical jokes and the tradition was born. The butts of these pranks were first called poisson d'avril or April fish because a young naive fish is easily caught. A common practice was to hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke. This evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continues on the first day of April.

and on a completely unrelated sidenote, happy birthday to cool hand crawdaddy longlegs wraparound.