From broken toilets to soup and roommates.

I went to bed last night with a splitting headache and a broken toilet (grrr). I prayed that God would fix both while I slept (the headache was enough to make me want to cry, and I don't know anything about plumbing). I woke up this morning headache free, but with a toilet that still didn't work. Knowing that God is still God and must have some reason for allowing me to have to deal with a broken toilet, I went in search of help. Fortunately Deric was home. Just as he was about to call a plumber, he managed to get that toilet back to normal working condition (well, as normal as this toilet has ever been). I'm very glad that it didn't overflow, as I had just spent all afternoon yesterday cleaning the bathroom. Sometimes toilets break, it's a fact of life that at some point we will all have to face. Things don't always work the way we want them to. Sometimes you need to be humble and ask for help in order to solve the problem. Anything that can be broken, can also be fixed. This is what I learned from the broken toilet.
I had my interview at Soup Etc! today. It sounds like it would be a pretty cool job... and I would get FREE lunch every day (I am a big fan of free food, especially if it's good)! It's a very cool little place. They have 40 different kinds of soup, 8 of them are served each day. They also have sandwiches and muffins and coffee and stuff like that. If you want to check it out, here's their web site: http://www.soupetcetera.com/ It's a healthy alternative to fast food. Look at me, I haven't even been given the job yet and I'm already a walking billboard for them. They really should just hire me ;)
The manager was interviewing a few people today and told me that she would make her final decision by Sunday night. I think she liked me, and I expect that she'll offer me the job. She asked if I could start on Monday if she hires me. Uh... YES! She brought up the fact that she knew given my experience and education that this would probably not be a long-term job for me. She told me that she was totally o.k. with that. She said that even if I only stayed for a few months, as long as I got something good from the experience and was able to give something to them, it would be worth it in her eyes. I like her perspective! That was one of the things I was worried about - taking a job and having something in my field come up and feeling bad about quitting. It was like she had read my mind, and expressed that she would fully support me moving on to something else at whatever point in the future that time came. She seems like she would be a very good boss and it sounds like a cool company to work for. I have no idea what the pay is... I feel like you're not supposed to ask that in an interview and she didn't bring it up. I have a feeling it's not much more than minimum wage (but I'm hoping and praying that it is). But, like I said to my dad... 40 hours of minimum wage is a heck of a lot better than 0 hours with $0 wages. I'm kinda excited and hoping that I get it. It would only be weekday hours. That leaves my nights and weekends to do some volunteering, get involved in a ministry, and maybe still have some free time...
FREE TIME... sweet free time. Although unemployed is not so good, I am really enjoying having free time for the first time in a LONG time! It's great! No. It's better than great... it's magnificently splendid! I actually have time to cook real meals... no more rushed microwave dinners on the way out the door to run from one place to the next. I feel like I have time to breathe and I'm really enjoying the fresh air. I hope that my life never has to feel as crazy, stressful, and hectic as it did in the last four or five months before leaving Virginia Beach! Life is much less enjoyable that way.
Oh, I also took the sky train today for the first time. I should have taken the bus to the sky train station (in nice weather I could even walk... it's about 1.5 miles from my house... that would be a pretty long walk though so maybe not), but I sorta cheated and drove to the station. I was afraid I'd get on the bus going in the wrong direction and end up being really late. I parked my car in Safeway's parking lot - since I was only gone for a couple of hours I figured I could get away with doing that. If I was gone all day there would be no way... my car would probably get towed (there are signs in the parking lot proclaiming a one hour limit for parking). Anyway, the sky train is very cool. It only takes 7 minutes to get downtown from the Broadway station (the REAL downtown that is... I feel like I live downtown, but technically I don't... technically I live on the east side... in Hastings-Sunrise area/neighbourhood... I think. If you ask me, all of Vancouver feels like "downtown"). If any of you are interested, I found a really good Vancouver website that has a section detailing each of the different neighbourhoods. I thought it was cool. If your bored, or planning to visit :) you should check it out: http://www.vancouveruserguide.com/
One more exciting thing today (this is getting long). Amber told me that tomorrow afternoon (3pm) there is a girl coming to check out the other room and apartment and see if she wants to move in. It sounds like she may be a perfect match... she's 27 years old, new to the area (she had another place to live and it fell through at the last minute), and is here because she feels called by God to this area. She is a Canadian citizen, but grew up in England. She is looking for a job here and trying to get involved in ministry in the downtown eastside (that's the area that has the high rates of homelessness and drugs). Hmm... does she sound at all like anyone else we know (except for the growing up in England part)? Please pray for Deric and Amber and I as we meet her tomorrow, that if she is the right person to fill the empty spot in this house that God would make that clear to us and to her. I'm really excited to meet her, and hope that it will work out. I'll post an update tomorrow. Well, that's all for tonight. It's already past midnight... yikes! Goodnight!