Gratitude

Have I mentioned that I love England? Seriously. I was driving over to Downham Market this morning, and it was a gorgeous day, I had the window down, sunroof open, radio on, admiring the bright green fields and beautiful houses and cottages, thinking about all the places I'm planning to visit... and I was so happy I thought I might just explode. I'm not saying this to brag or make you jealous, it's just... what did I ever do to deserve this???

The answer, of course, is nothing, and that's why being here is that much more amazing. At church on Sunday, the pastor talked about the passage in Exodus where Moses took the Israelites out of Egypt and into the desert. They were free, but they started complaining that they had nothing to eat. So God sent them manna. What did they do? Yep, complained about the manna. God was giving them everything they needed (freedom, food), but all they could do was complain. This struck home a little bit, since I had spent the majority of the morning and afternoon being infuriated at my computer for not connecting to the wireless internet. I mean, come on, here I am in paradise, and I ruin my day by getting upset about internet? I think the world will go on spinning if I can't check my email or post a blog.

Point is, I have been thinking about that a lot this week, and the gratitude I feel for God allowing me to live out this dream (that was just a dream for sooo long) is overwhelming. I want to make the most of it and not waste any time being grumpy about silly little things.

Today was very productive, which makes me very happy. I turned in the housing paperwork, got to sit down with the agent face-to-face, and even drove by my house to make sure it was still beautiful. (It is.) After the inspection is done, I will get to sign a lease and move in as soon as the landlords are ready! I did some birthday gift shopping, sent a couple packages, and talked to a very helpful person about a cell phone. I have to wait for AT&T to send me the unlock code for my phone, but after that I'm pretty sure I know what plan to go with.

Tomorrow, I get to go to work! I am not sure what I will be doing other than getting computer accounts and things set up, but I am looking forward to learning my job. Jose says I will be more into ops and he will be more into admin, which is cool, definitely a change from my last job. I may have to actually remember how to do weather... haha, j/k. It will be different, though, I realized at WFDO that it's harder than I expected to forecast for a new area. After having the SECONUS weather patterns ingrained in my head for the last 2.5 years, forecasting for an island only 14 degrees latitude south of the Arctic circle will be a completely different animal. I just hope I learn fast!

Speaking of latitude, I don't think I have mentioned yet how long the days are here. I didn't realize (or I guess really think about) how far north England was and how the daylight would be affected. Because it is summer, it begins getting light around 4:00am, and does not become completely dark until around 10:00pm. In the winter, it will be the opposite... Jose says you can drive to work at 8:00am in the dark and drive home at 5:00pm also in the dark. Weird. Anyway, I am going to take advantage of the light this evening and go for a run... SOOO do not miss the heat and humidity of Louisiana. I love England! :D