Favorite Cozy Spaces in My Home and How It Works to be an Online World Bible School Student Helper

Thought I’d come in and do a quick update before working on the next video. I’m enjoying Prince Harry’s, “The Spare”. Now that I have started it and getting into it, I see that I can probably read a little bit each day. Many of the sections are a page or two. It’s hard for me to find a long sitting spell of time to read but I work on it a few pages at the time. I’d like to be finished by the time April is over. So I can meet my goal of 1 book a month. To some that is not much but to me it is with so many irons in the fire.

For those wondering about “Snuggie”. Snuggie is doing well and still gets to sleep in bed hidden from the jaws of Mr. Dexter. I use him as a pillow for my chin sometimes when sleeping. That may sound weird, but I sleep on my side and it kinda gives me a little extra “side pillow” of support. I saw him laying in the bed here and decided to give him some “air time” on the blog. lol. Snuggie was my “dog” –he’s really a sloth –til we got Dexter. Now He’s just an extra little friend who literally gives me support, pillow style. My “inner little girl” is happily fulfilled though and comforted by Snuggie (who looks like my old poodle Tugie now gone – the title “Snuggie” comes from Snuggle and Tugie). When I was a little girl I loved stuffed animals, particularly dogs. I had a lot of Snoopy’s. I also had a favorite teddy bear. I liked stuffed animals better than dolls any day. So Snuggie has been special to my child like heart because of that but also because he looked so much like Tugie.

Yesterday when I was dizzy with vertigo, George went out and planted my vincas in the planters and at the mail box. Wasn’t that sweet? He knew I’d have fallen over sideways with all that going on. I’d have not been able to do it yesterday and was already thinking I’d have to keep the flowers alive and plant them another day. But I looked out the window and they were done. Bless him! I’m so appreciative of him. He also took Mom her grocery order, tried to fix her DVD player (didn’t have the right cord yesterday), and changed out some light bulbs for her. He keeps life going for me and I’m so thankful. And he’s been sickly too and not feeling well – sinus issues.

Dexter is a good baby! We’ve enjoyed him so much lately. He’s getting all out of that puppy stage and while he still loves to play, he’s just not obnoxious about it. He loves to help me work in the house – like changing sheets – that’s his favorite thing. He jumps on the bed and plays with the sheets. I do the best I can with him on it. He helps me take the dirty linens to the laundry room (follows me and sometimes tries to get the sheets to help me carry it, lol). He looks for dropped laundry sheets and socks so that I can chase him down.

You know how you’ve worked so hard on something over time, and you just take a moment to notice? I just noticed as it was getting dark and the lamps were turned on, how cozy my nooks are and how much I love being in these little cozy places. I took a minute to thank God for these places that I sit and work, or create, or read, or plan, or do Bible studies, or Bible Student Helping. I love working in my office. It’s been a perfect space for me.

I have the card table ready to go with the puzzle on it. It’s been there forever! But soon I’m going to get it going. I want to wait until after our little social event with the life group Sunday in case we need the table for something. But it is a summer puzzle with boats. It’ll be a fun relaxing time to put in a few pieces at the time. The hardest thing for me to get started is making the border and finding time to separate those pieces out. Once it gets started though I work them fast.

For 2024, I’m promising myself to begin using my camera more. I won’t be retired yet and it’ll be more time consuming, but even if I just take it and use it for some photography for the blog or take it on some outings and get some good photos, I’d be happy. I just need to continue learning and already I’ve lost what I’d learned. Well not totally. I did also invest in some cheat sheets too to help. lol

Dexter loves this chair – the one Mom gave me when she wanted a more comfortable recliner. Truth be known, Dexter would sleep here at night if I didn’t close the room off. It hurt my feelings when I woke up one night and couldn’t find him. He left my bed for Mom’s recliner! lol I told him I wanted my dog to sleep with me and he had to come back! So I closed the door off. lol. But he can sleep there other times. He sits there when I’m blogging or editing videos – if he is not over by the window peering between the curtains. He loves to look for wildlife outside the windows and to see the neighborhood dogs.

But I’m thankful for the new black chair because I missed having a chair in that room when I moved this one below from my office and into my bedroom. I needed the one in the bedroom more. I didn’t want to buy another chair, but since Mom gave me that one, it works perfect. But now I have one in both places.

Dexter likes this one also. Matter of fact you can probably see his hair in it. I need to vacuum it out now that he has quit shedding for the most part. But I sit and read a lot here or do a Bible lesson. Dexter sometimes sleeps in the chair overnight, sometimes in the floor, but most of the time in bed with me.

My bedtime spot gives me glee also. I have it set up just right and my bed is comfy. I take my probiotics and magnesium and do two sprays of melatonin, put my face cream on “CERAVE”. My phone and/or iPad and watch charge up here as well. I love my little bedtime routine. Get water, wash my face, brush teeth and head to bed. Dexter loves to watch me do my bedside routine for some reason. Probably b/c I stop to pet him and talk to him. Once I do lights out he goes and hangs out with George til bed time.

I’m tempted to say “the angel watches over me” but technically that is not right. But she does remind me that God and His “staff” of angels or whoever He appoints is watching over me. There is also an angel on the front porch as well. Sometimes I see her shadow through my window. lol

George fixed us sort of a Brandy Alexander drink last night with some sipping chocolate. It was very good. Tiny so not too many calories I hope.

World Bible School

Well, I just had to tell you, that I have 305 students currently. But no alarm at the number. So many enroll with good intentions and never follow through. I have about 5 students going through the lessons on an active basis. There are usually anywhere from one to five tests to grade daily. It takes about 10 min – sometimes less and sometimes more – to grade a test. So I think with all the irons in my fire – having this load is about right. In addition to grading tests, some of the students respond to my initial “welcome message” which I have been instructed to tell a bit about myself, my family, where I’m from, what I do for a living, what pets we have, what hobbies. And I leave it by saying “And I’d love to hear all about you!” I get about one response a day of a student responding back. They are always about 16 to mid 40’s. I always give an encouraging response back and it’s like having pen pals. I offer to pray for them. One said she would pray for me too. It’s been such a positive experience.

I’ve been praying there would be more of us working the numbers though. I get on and there are anywhere from 25 pages to 60 pages of new enrollees. They can start the lessons without being assigned a Study Helper, but they can request one and I have my profile set to where they can request me, but no one has. But we can go in and adopt them. I try to stay around 300 students as that seems to be where I get enough doing the lessons to give me about 45 min to an hour toward it. I adopt 10 to 20 per day though because if they are not active, they drop from my student list after 30 days. It looks like we a message them before they drop off. I need to make sure I know what is happening and what I should say here before I start addressing them. It sounds weird to say “please do a lesson before you fall off”, lol. I just need to find the right words and make sure they are truly dropping off the site. It might just be from my page. I’m still learning.

In the last few weeks we’ve been closing the gap from 60 pages to 24 and doing “encouragements” – a message we can send up to three times per student. I don’t think each person can send but one. I have a message that is the same that I insert to make it quick. I encourage (insert the message) on about 30 to 60 students per day. So today we were 8 pages in where all the encouragements were done.

I also have the same “welcome message” so if I adopt 13 people in a day I just click the insert button and it auto populates and I hit send.

I’m meeting the most charming young ladies. One today is moving from her country to New York where her uncle is a doctor and she is attempting to follow in his foot steps to be a cardiologist. I wish her well. She is studying for her SAT’s and I told her I would pray for her. I love hearing their hobbies and getting to know them.

Here’s some statistics on what we’ve been doing. In March alone, there were 3,291 web students, 440 postal students, and 7050 web-light students (using an app). The online activity for March: 18,528 quizzes graded by study helpers, 18,690 quizzes submitted by students (I guess some were pending being graded at the time they took note of the statistics, lol). And 12,407 adoptions were made. I’m astounded at these numbers. There is so much going on that I don’t see.

But I’m so elated that I can be a part of these numbers. The article I got the numbers from is entitled “More than just numbers!” There are over 1,000 study helpers now. But I’m happy to see us conquering pages of enrollees. It always bothered me they would sit there for days without being adopted or encouraged. We are about 5 days out (coming from 10) on the pages I see each day. When I was in San Antonio there were 10 days of pages of enrollees – meaning it was taking ten days to get to a new enrollee. I fear by that time they have lost interest. So it’s good to see the pages lessening.

Anyway, just wanted to pop on and say hello. I am feeling better today and the vertigo is gone. Sometimes I get a slight feeling like it’s going to happen but I keep taking my cold medicine once a day just to kinda keep the decongestion going. I think fluid got behind my ear causing the crystals in my ears to move. I had to do the Epley Maneuver and was pretty nauseated, but it got better after that and after moving around and letting my eyes get a visual on things. To lay down and sleep I think would have just prolonged things.

Today just felt a lot better and was able to get a lot of things done at work toward quarter end too. So that is good.

We are getting ready this week for our life group to come over Sunday. So I need to try to get this video edited too and do some clean up each night, as best as I can.

Hope you all have a great week!