Crazy Corrie's Chronicles

     I haven't much time; I'm off in the morning - back to Washington DC! I was there just last week on tour with a large group - 83 people and 2 buses. Though only 3 days long, the trip was a memorable one for sure! Before the trip, the school had decided to split the buses boys and girls. Because the lead teacher was female and I was the lead tour guide for the trip, I was privileged with the darling and far less stinky girl bus while my friend and coworker was tasked with the far more rambunctious and might I say obnoxious boy bus! :) I was already counting my blessings, but the special attention my bus received at every turn only compounded my thankfulness and merriment!      Our first run in was at Arlington National Cemetery: our group of 44 ladies was making it's way down the crooked walk towards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier when we came upon a unit of Army boys rehearsing for a rather impressive funeral later. We of course had to pause to watch...

     I know, I know. I'm really bad at this blogging stuff. In my defense, I never said I was any good. I simply responded to the plea of the people to start this thing and made no promises as to it's consistency and brilliancy! However, as the Lord saw fit for me to be born in a time where my words may be published across the globe (theoretically) with the click of a button, I couldn't very well pass up an opportunity to speak truth, spread light, and be salt!      As usual, I have nothing profound to say - nothing that couldn't be copied and pasted from the world wide web or straight outa the Bible - but sometimes redundancy is the key. I know everyone's talking about how nasty social media has become and how divided the people are and how bleak, or depressing, or scary, or...blah blah blah. I'm done. I can't handle it. Christians, get your head out of your sorry butts and be LIGHT! Why are you fearing the world when Christ has already overcome it?! Why...

     Alright! Well, I'm back home - again! I know you're still waiting to hear some epic tales from the road, but before that, I thought I'd share some Halloween themed truth ;)      As you know, I travel a lot! And due to my frequent absences from Wisconsin and my home church, apparently I've qualified as "guest": or at least guest enough to serve as the "Guest speaker" for our church's annual fall festival/harvest party. However with historic tours at the forefront of my mind for 3 weeks, I had little time to think about or prepare for the unique opportunity which awaited me upon my arrival back home. But sometime between the day I landed in the Dairy State (last Saturday) and the day of our party (this past Wednesday), the Lord laid a message on my heart which I thought I'd share here as well. (if anyone wants to use this for their "trunk-or-treat" party, be my guest! :) This is a new format, so bear with me. Very *special Ag...

Okay, so I know you just heard from me; now what's this? Two posts in one week?! Is the world ending? No. Well not that I know of? However, this is a quick humorous anecdote that I typed up way back in March. I didn't have WiFi at the time, so I never posted... Anyways, I thought I would do these shorties periodically and call them "The CC Chuckles" . (yup. still a dork). He-larious! My first trip of the 2016 Season began with a few hiccups on Saturday: delayed flights, a few wrong turns, and forgotten dessert. But all in all it was a great day! However when I could finally get to my room at 11pm, I was exhausted! My students were safely tucked into their rooms on floors 19 and 20 of our hotel, and it was now my turn to call it a day! I took a quick look at my key card and saw that it began with a 2 and ended in 12. So I got off the elevator with my group on the 20th floor and began to search for my room in the donut shaped hotel. I saw the sign t...

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”  ―  Oscar Wilde ,  The Importance of Being Earnest      Wow. This may be the longest break in Chronicling since I left off writing after student teaching. I apologize. My behaviour is unacceptable. I've strung you along for years only to leave you hanging for 8 months! I am ashamed. I shall endeavor to make up for it - at some point. However, if I may be allowed to simply compose a general and unpolished statement of praise and wonder this time and reserve all of my harrowing tales for another date. In fact, I had intended to relay some of my juicy details and hilarious anecdotes today, so I attempted to dig some up for you by pouring over my journal this morning; however, beginning in early March and reading through the tour season, I was struck by the resonating theme found in entry after entry: God's rich blessings and faithfulness. Amidst the humoro...

"Well done, good and faithful servant."            November already? How can it be possible? As I look out my window at the drab, damp landscape - colorless, leafless, and sunless - I figure this is as good a time as any to finally compose the post I've long been putting off.      As some of you may have heard, my grandfather passed away last month. In some ways it was no surprise, and yet it's difficult to imagine his smile suddenly gone from this world. We in no way regret his current freedom from pain and suffering - for it was great in the end, and we know he is with our Lord - but selfishly we regret that he's no longer with us  and that the next generation of Hockadays have been robbed of having any memories with this dear man - the man who taught many of us to garden, or to fish, or to play the Price is Right; who faithfully video-recorded our every victory and defeat, our talents or lack thereof, his prize flowers and t...

     Okay. So, yes, I know I'm way overdue for a post. Yes, I should apologize. No, your hinting that you miss hearing from me has not been subtle. Of course my lack of touring right now implies that I have lots of stories with plenty of time to write about them. However. That is an ideal world. I do indeed have plenty to write about - years worth of stories packed away in my little brain and scrawled hastily in my journal as I flew from one tour to the next. But does that mean that I will have the ambition to polish them all up and make them presentable for the general reading public? Unfortunately, no. I will, however, endeavor to - as always - tell you my favourites (which somehow always end up being the longest!)      The other day I told this story to my pastor, and I thought to myself that surely I'd blogged about it already - it was after all, the highlight of my spring! But crazily enough, I'd simply told it numerous times - all over the country. B...