Tuesday, July 11, 2006

My Big Story

I've been telling this story all week in terms of "I've gotta stop worrying about money, because God really takes care of me."

You may not know this about me, but I worry about money. A lot. I was especially worrying about money when we didn't get Chris's tax money until yesterday (stupid pre-assessment review), which we were going to use for paying my summer tuition. The problem was that the university wouldn't give me my Fellowship cheque (very much needed for rent) until I payed my tuition. And so I had to quickly borrow money, and got the tuition paid using online banking on Friday afternoon. Friday, June 30th at 4:00pm. The day before a holiday. And then a Sunday. And then a bank/University holiday. The only day when that payment could process was on Tuesday the 4th, and we were flying to Saskatchewan that afternoon. Oh, and over the weekend they automatically added on a service charge (because it was a new month), meaning that even if my payment got processed, there would still be a bit of money owing on my account. I must admit that I was a little freaked out. Okay, I was sobbing on Monday night, unable to fathom what we'd do, if I couldn't get the cheque on time. We prayed a lot.

On Tuesday morning, the tuition people said that they processed the payment and that they'd be reversing the service charge, but it would take until the end of the day. The guy from the faculty was pretty sure I'd be able to get my cheque, and told me to go down to get it. It was early afternoon when I got to the faculty office. The guy I had talked to said he needed to get authorisation, in order to give me the cheque. His superior checked my account, and all she could see is that I owed that service charge. Again I explained that it would be reversed by the end of the day. She was leaning towards making me wait until the end of the day. You know, around when my plane would be leaving. I was starting to freak out.

And then an earthquake hit. (We thought a truck hit the building, the way it jolted us.)

Pandemonium. People in orange vests were evacuating the building. The people I dealt with suddenly looked at each other and told me: "Sign here! Take your cheque!"

I found myself outside, among all those evacuated from the building. It took me a while to realise everything that had happened. I'm still stunned. (And I finally got to experience my first "real," as in one that I could feel, earthquake.)

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In other news, I've had a really nice week. Camp was exactly what I needed, and I learned and grew a lot. At the same time, it was bizarre because I had been away from everyone for a whole year. Suddenly, I couldn't recognise anyone's kids, and kids that I remember being so small have suddenly grown to be as tall as me. I don't know what I think of that.

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In other news again, Chris and I visited his old camp yesterday. We got to see Derek, which was singularly awesome, and Chris and I went canoeing for an hour and a half. I forgot how much I love canoeing. I'm obsessed. The muscles in my arms started remembering what to do and soon it was like I'd never been away. Okay, so my shoulders and triceps could tell that they haven't gotten a good workout in a while, but all I can think of is how often we're going to need to borrow our friends' canoe, we we return to the Island. Canoeing is exactly my kind of activity (my summer version of cross-country skiing). You move silently, pulling yourself along. You don't tear through and destroy.
Okay. Now I'd better go. Uncle Travelling Matt will be here soon.

3 comments:

arimich said...

That is the best story ever. I love that getting your cheque actually involved an earthquake.

crazy mom said...

Oh my, that's a story to share at many campfires to come.
"earthquake=Maryanne gets paid"
moral of the story: Maryanne is in God's hands.

Life of Turner said...

Only singularly awesome? I question your adverbial preference in that statement. :) It was doubledly good to have you visit. (HA!)

Derek out.