Boo.

This is a stressful year, to say the least. Right now I feel like I'm caught up in the middle of...nothing. And yet it's everything at the same time. Waiting for PhD admissions or rejections, waiting to find a job, waiting waiting waiting. And it's wearing me down, especially with the school work I need to be doing. I'm ready for Feb. 4 to be over, to be honest. Then the ISM project will be done and I can put it behind me. I was hoping to do a lot on it last week but the funeral and everything kept that from happening. I'm not blaming anyone...it is what it is, and family comes first. I don't have class tomorrow so hopefully I can get a lot done. Well, not hopefully. I have to get a lot done. I've been completely unproductive today. Every now and then I have those days when stress reaches a level that keeps me from being able to concentrate. Today has been one of those days. But that means tomorrow shouldn't be one of those days, which is a good thing. So hurray there. Nathan is sick with an infection, so he's in the hospital while they try to get that sorted out. Dad is currently en-route to Louisville from PA, where Erin will pick him up around midnight. And Mom is in IA with Nathan. We're all over the damn place!

Not much else really to report. I'm thinking of changing the blog background. This one is starting to get boring. Rick and I have a photographer for our wedding. I like his stuff and he seemed really nice over the phone so he should be easy to work with. The only major thing we have to do now is flowers, and figure out the food situation. The rest is just stuff my Mom, sister and I can do. And Rick when he's there to help : ) It was nice and warm one day this week...Friday I think. It was incredible. And then it got stupid cold again. Alas for winter! Ummm...my birthday is coming up, but this has been such a stressful time that it doesn't even feel like it! Because of the trip to Canterbury (which should be awesome!) I won't be able to see Rick until a week after my birthday, which is a bummer. Yep. don't know too much more than that. Everything is ice here, because of the melt on Friday. Rick's drive way is a skating rink. Seriously. Too bad I don't have any skates...

Funeral Homily

For those who don't know and read this blog, my grandmother passed away this week. I've been in PA for the funeral (which was this morning). I preached the funeral homily, and just figured I'd post it here. Who knows if any of you will read it, but there you go.

"Ever Onward"
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
It’s amazing how the Holy Spirit works. When I heard that my grandmother had passed away, I began thinking about her and what her life had taught me. Over the next few days, ideas for this homily began to swirl around in my head. Then, last night, I was talking to Jerri Smith and learned something new about my grandmother. Whenever she would leave the room, she would say "Ever Onward!" This is not something that I had ever heard, I guess because the occasion never arose. But more and more people began to mention this phrase, and I couldn’t resist making this the center piece of the sermon. So, as she would say.
It is fitting that such a phrase would be central to a funeral service. Often we think of these times as times of mourning and remembering. And to a certain extent they are. We are here to celebrate the life of my grandmother and to remember her spirit as we mourn together. But we also come here to do something more. We are an Easter people—always looking forward to the Resurrection. Indeed, the first lines of the burial service in the Book of Common Prayer say "I am Resurrection and I am Life, says the Lord. Whoever has faith in me shall have life, even though he die…" (491). In this time it is easy for us to get caught in a kind of "Good Friday" mode, scared about things to come and saddened by our loss. But as Christians we do not live in the Good Friday moment. We live in the Easter moment.
The scripture readings today speak to such a moment in different ways. The Hebrew Bible readings note God’s constancy in the face of trouble. Job, the man who had everything taken away from him yet still remained faithful to God, proclaims, "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth" (19:25). Psalm 46 makes a similar statement: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult…The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge" (46:1-3, 6-7). These are good words for us to hear, even when we are not in such a state of loss. In our world it often seems that the nations are in an uproar and the kingdoms are tottering. And now, when our personal grief threatens to overwhelm us, to totter our own kingdoms, Job and the Psalmist assure us that God will remain firm to the very end. Even on Good Friday, when Jesus’s words on the cross "My God My God, why have you forsaken me?" echo in our ears, God is there. And God is with us now.
The New Testament readings provide us with another view of this Easter moment. The epistle speaks of the future time as well, yet not in the catastrophic sense of Job and the Psalm. Rather, we get a picture of the kingdom to come, the heavenly city where we will "hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike [us], nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be our shepherd, and he will guide us to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes" (7-16-17). Jesus tells of this time in the Gospel of John, when all who see the Son and believe will be raised and have eternal life (6:40). If there was ever a vision to help us move ever onward, these pictures from the New Testament provide it.
These passages also provide us with comfort at the passing of our mother, grandmother, and friend. We can be assured that she has moved Ever Onward. As I told Mrs. Smith last night, I’m sure her soul uttered those words as the passed. But what about those of us who are still here? What do we do when the ones we love have moved ever onward? We can take comfort in the hope of the Resurrection, but how do we go about our day to day lives when someone close to us has died? How do we rebuild when our kingdoms have tottered? One of the hymns we sing today is about the saints of God—but not those saints we might think of ordinarily. These saints are ordinary people. You. Me. We all have the ability to be saints. And we can learn from the lives of the saints who have gone before us, people like my grandmother.
When I was about eight years old, one of my homework assignments was to put together a family tree. This included the creation of a construction paper object that looked something like a tree with people I drew who looked something like my family. The other part of this assignment involved an interview with a family member who was not your parent. I decided to interview my Gorgeous Ma (so named because she always told us to look Gorgeous in pictures), because how many people in my class had a British grandmother? She told me one story in that interview that has always stayed with me, though I have never known why. I think the reason is becoming more and more clear as I get older.
The question I asked her had to do with school. "What was your least favorite class?" I asked. She responded "art." I asked her why and she told me that as a girl, she had been told to draw a picture for art class. So she drew a picture of a local shop. The teacher, however, was not pleased with her rendition. "Why didn’t she like your picture, Gorgeous Ma?" I asked. "Well," she replied, "the store window was empty." As I said, I have long wondered why I remember this story. It sounds like something my grandmother would have done, but it was not particularly inspirational for whatever artistic talent might have been budding within me.
The night I heard that Gorgeous Ma had passed away, I once again thought of this story and began to wonder, what if each of our lives were a store window, filled by the events of our lives? And this got me to thinking, what would be in Gorgeous Ma’s window? It’s likely that the answer would be different for each of us. We all knew her in different ways and have particular memories of this wonderful woman. For me, this window would be filled with many things: a map of England, a tray of warm strawberry tarts like those she used to make with my siblings and I, a picture of her Yorkie Love, some knitting, a book about Jewish spirituality, pictures of family that have long hung on her walls, calendars done for the historical society, a Book of Common Prayer, a bottle of Estee Lauder Beautiful, and the bear skin rug in her living room. The list could go on for quite a while, but you get the idea. We could each sit here and fill that window with so many things.
These windows are things we can carry with us throughout our lives. Just because she has passed, doesn’t mean that my grandmother’s window is all of a sudden empty. It remains in our lives, to be cherished and viewed whenever we like. It also challenges us to think about our own windows. What will people put in my window when I am gone? What do I want to be there? How do I want my window to help others?
As my grandmother moves ever onward, so do we. We move onward in the knowledge that God is steadfast even in the midst of turmoil. We move onward in the hope of the Resurrection, and of the time when our tears will be wiped away. And we move onward with the memory of this wonderful woman, looking to her window as we try to become saints in our own ways. Amen.

Loss.

I'm in Pennsylvania right now. For those who don't know, my grandmother passed away unexpectedly on Thursday evening. She had broken her leg and had to have surgery to repair it, but they had to go in and do something on her heart first. Her body just gave out, and her spirit went home. Although thinking about it, I'm not sure (in retrospect, obviously) that she would have been able to handle the 6-8 hour surgery for her leg. That's pretty tough on the body and everything. Needless to say, my family is in shock. First Nathan got sick (although he's doing better and the chemo is doing what it's supposed to do!!!), then my grandfather had some life-change stuff (don't really think I'm supposed to write about it here, just has to reorganize his life a bit, basically), and now my grandmother dies. Seriously-this kind of thing only happens in novels and in movies. When my mom called to tell me, it really felt unreal. In a way it still does. I'm staying in her house with my dad (mom is with Nathan in IA and Erin has to work) and there are just all of these reminders that she did not expect to enter that hospital and not come back. For example, her clothes for when she got home are laid out on the chair in her room. Her mail is in the backseat of her car, as if she just grabbed it and stuck it there to check it later. There's a book half-read on the coffee table. The fish are swimming lazily in their tank. The freezer is full of various foodstuffs that she bought. It's just so...weird. Surreal, really. When my Fluffy died (my mom's mom) I was 10, and didn't really notice those sorts of things. Not to mention that she was at the Barn (the country house) when she died, and we were in the house on High Street for the funeral. But now that I'm going through this kind of loss as an adult, it's seriously a completely different experience. It is a different experience, but one would think there are similarities. Maybe there will be Yoohoo at the funeral home (at my great-grandmother and grandmother's funerals in BG, we drank a lot of Yoohoo at the funeral home. So now Yoohoo always makes me think of death, and therefore I can't drink it). Gorgeous Ma will definitely be missed. I have a card by my bed in CT thanking me for the engagement photo I sent her, and it said the date was already on the calendar for next year. And I know she was really looking forward to my ordination, and that was something I really wanted her to see--graduations didn't matter so much to me, it's the ordination that I thought would be best for her to be at. But now she'll be seeing it from a different perspective. Oh well. At least she'll be present in some sense! I'm preaching the homily at the funeral. I asked Carol, the vicar, if I could. I feel like it would be a way to honor her, and to honor her excitement and joy about my vocation. Now I just have to write it...

The Righteous and the Rest.

I don't do this often, but I figured maybe I will start whenever I do preach (which is less often now, more often in the future I'm sure). This is the short homily (3-5 minutes) I will be preaching at St. Luke's tomorrow morning. The three texts listed are the lectionary readings we're doing in Chapel in the morning, so they give a Scriptural context for what I'm doing. The idea actually came to me in chapel today, which was convenient as I preach tomorrow.

“The Righteous and the Rest” Ps. 14, Mk. 1:29-45, Eph.2:1-10

Religious groups can be exclusive. I know, it’s hard to imagine that we could be an exclusive bunch, interested in our own salvation and our own journeys to God, but it’s true. The psalmist today provides a perfect example of this. The psalm is full of “they did this” and “they did that.” It reminds me of listening to four year olds complain about their peers who haven’t shared a toy, or are eating one too many cookies. Or, for that matter, one group of church goers critiquing the liturgical practices of another church. One of the great things about the psalms is their ability to hold a mirror up to humanity—both the good, and the bad. The psalmist speaks of “they” and once uses the more direct “you”—words meant to create a dichotomy between the righteous and the rest. The beginning of Paul’s passage almost seems to run along the same lines: you were dead when you followed the ways of “those who are disobedient.” We are the righteous. They are the rest.

I bring this tendency to exclusivity up because I want to make a few comments about mission. Now, you might think that this would be a rather odd way of bringing such a topic up, but I think it is important in seminary, where we can easily ignore the outside world. An example: this December, when I had about seventy-five pages of writing due at the end of the semester, I spent an entire evening writing at my desk. The ground was clear when I started, and when I glanced out of the window I was startled to see three inches of snow on the ground. Mind you, I sit right next to a window. Literally. It’s about a foot away from my desk chair. And there is even another window in my room. I had gotten so wrapped up in what I was doing that I had not even looked out of the window for hours. And this is just concerning the weather—much less the social justice issues, the poverty and helplessness that seems to pervade my neighborhood. I have to ask, am I too busy to look out of my own seminary-world window to see that? And the answer, if I’m honest, is more often yes than no.

This leads me to my next point. Forgive me GOE takers, but I want to talk a minute about the missio Dei, or the mission of God. In the mid-twentieth century as the ecumenical movement gained more and more momentum, there was increasing conversation about the mission of the Church universal. Before this time, mission had actually been missions, carried out by individual churches with the focus on conversion. However, by the time the 60s rolled around, Christianity had spread throughout the world and denominations were finding that missions might not be the most pressing need for the church anymore. This was known in missiological terms as the missio Ecclesia, or the mission of the church. The implications of this term are that missions were dependent upon the actions of the individual churches—the Church of England, for example. However, by the 1968 World Council of Churches meeting in Uppsala, the ground had shifted to the missio Dei. The WCC defined the missio Dei as something meant “to bring all people into this new creation. All who work for justice and peace in the world participated in this new creation” (Douglas 272). In more stark terms, the mission of God was not dependent upon the church. Indeed, the mission of God worked outside of the church.

It’s interesting that it took almost 2000 years from Jesus’s time to figure this out. Genesis 1 does not read: “the spirit moved across the deep from it’s source point of St. Stephen’s by the formless void.” No. That spirit moved before an institutional church even existed! Similarly, in today’s Gospel passage we see Jesus responding to the deep needs of those around him. In yesterday’s Gospel he preached repentance. In today’s he goes about curing the sick and casting out demons. All of these outside of an institutional Church.

Now, at first this all seems like an odd message to give to future leaders of a church institution. Hopefully my last two points will show it is actually quite relevant, however.
The first point comes from the Ephesians passage. As Paul writes: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (8-10). We were created to do good works; to be a just people who work for justice. Our very nature as a Christian people is to be a people who reaches out to the deep needs and hurts of the world, as Jesus shows us in Mark. The hardest part is done—we’re already made for good works. Now we just have to do them!

The second point, and the one thing I’d like for you to take from this if you don’t remember anything else, is that the mission of God is not confined to the church. I said it before, but as the dean said, redundant communication is key to leadership development. There are going to be people responding to the mission of God whether or not they go to church. But think of all of the great resources we—as part of a larger institution—can bring! Prayer, advocacy, people-power, and money, to name a few. But we have to respond to that call. We have to look out of the window and see not only the snow falling on the ground, but the homeless who are forced to sleep in that snow. The missio Dei is going to happen with or without us: the question we must ask is, do we want to be a part of it?

Jobs jobs jobs

Well, PhD applications are in and now it is just a matter of waiting. And waiting. And waiting. I hope and pray that I get in somewhere, but I know things will be OK if I don't. Ordination is on the horizon (God willing) and there will (God willing) be a job at a church for me somewhere up here, be in part time (for PhD plan) or full-time (for not that plan). We've started getting job notices in the weekly mailing for the Berkeley. And I keep seeing these great youth and young adult jobs coming up. Only one is in a part of CT that is way too far for me to drive to work (3.5 hours) and the other is in Pensacola (and that would be a Diocesan job!). It's frustrating to see all of these coming and me being unable to respond to them except to think "nope, can't do that." I'm not saying I'm mad at my situation--I love Rick, and he has a house and a good job. Those are things that cannot be given up in today's economy, and now that Rick is finally doing the job he went to his company to do in the first place, he should revel in it! Not to mention that there are tons of churches up here. I just keep telling myself that all of these are coming up for other people, and that God really will show me some paths sometime soon. I guess I'm just hoping they're paths that I want, which is the problem, isn't it? Vocation isn't about what I want, it is about responding to the deepest needs of the world, as Beuchner put it, and that doesn't always involve our exact desires. Yes, your vocation must feed you, but it's not a self-vanity thing. I just have to be aware of that. And my boss at chapel has told me that a person willing and wanting (even better) to do young adult and youth work, I should have no problem getting a job.

So phew. The search is on. I hopefully hear from PhD programs in mid-February, which is when they usually start giving positive replies. Right now I just feel very up in the air, because I don't know what kind of job I'm looking for (PT or FT). Hell, Rick and I can't even discuss insurance for next year because we don't know if I'll be in school or at a job somewhere. Sheesh. My entry into the job market begins...now I just have to find something.

Other than that, today was the first day of the semester. Had a good class, which has now been moved to Wednesdays (this doesn't effect my ability to change it). I have no class on Mondays and Fridays this semester, which will be awesome. I have an oral presentation on a 300 page book next Wednesday, but I took that date because A. it's on John Donne and who wouldn't want to present on him? and B. I can get it out of the way now, and all I have left in that class will be a short 4-6 pp paper and a 20-25 pp paper. Shouldn't be too bad. And ISM. I've picked up more on that research, and am meeting with my partner in crime on Friday to plan our presentation. At this point I just want to pass it and get it over with. Because two days after that...I'm off to England! Woohoo! Haven't been back since I studied abroad in 03, so this will be good. We're going to Canterbury for the most part, but we'll be in London for a day (which is where I studied), and I think we have a free day. Alot of people are going to Cambridge, since we have an exchange there, but if it's a free day I'm going to go somewhere else. I've been to Cambridge (liked Oxford better, actually) so I would like to use this opportunity to go somewhere I haven't been. Or go to London and explore some more...who knows! Any suggestions?

Disgust and prayers.

Sometimes the government really grinds my gears, in the words of Peter Griffin. The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. And what does the US do? Abstain. Seriously guys, come on. People are dying over there, and it is the ordinary civilians who have already been suffering from the blockade of Gaza...and now the ceasefire is being ignored, even if it means pushing Gazans into more and more impoverished situations...and they were already impoverished before! I realize the history and politics of the area are complex, but seriously. Human rights are an issue here, and the UN had to call off aid efforts because their people were being attacked and some even died. Come on. I'm not one to demonize one side over the other-it seems to me that both are at fault. But there are innocent people suffering for all of this.

So I'm asking us all to pray for Gaza. Pray for the people of Gaza. And pray for the leaders of our world, that they figure out that ordinary people ARE important.

Another day done...

That's right. Another day of the GOEs has come and gone. Today we had contemporary society and liturgy. The contemporary society question was no surprise--it was on the MDGs. I wouldn't have predicted that, but as it is the primary mission objective of the church today, it wasn't too surprising. What was funny about it was that I wrote on this question yesterday afternoon when talking about missio Dei and the role of the Son and the Spirit in that. And then here they showed up again. Ha. Funny how that works out...The liturgy question wasn't even really a liturgy question. We had to talk about two ways a community's and two ways an individual's lives are shaped by participation in the Eucharist. I'm not so sure how I did on this one...I don't feel bad about it. It just felt blah.

None of this was helped by the fact that I'm having a cold/sinus/allergy thing. I knew it was coming on last night, so I tried to drink OJ and rest up but to no avail. Luckily it didn't really bother me too too much until late this afternoon. Now my face is all stopped up and my nose is turning pink and raw from all of the blowing. Ew. May take some nighttime cold and sinus meds tonight to try and dry things up a bit. And drink lots of water (as that and milk are all I keep around...I finished the OJ). We don't have exams tomorrow and the weather is supposed to be horrid, so aside from a trip I have to make out in the afternoon, I'm lounging about watching TV.

I've started to work on this Golden Compass project for ISM. I think it may be quite interesting...but I'm not sure how I'm going to present it (it's in collaboration with another student). Nevertheless, there's one book I'm especially interested to read about how it is an allegory of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Paradise Lost. That fact in itself is not new to me (I think it's pretty obvious when you read the book), but I'll be interested to see how this particular author approaches it. Milton's so crazy to begin with (don't get me wrong...I LOVE me some Milton), I wonder how this guy is going to say Pullman "turns" him on his head.

Day One Down...Three to Go.

For those of you who don't know, right now I'm taking the General Ordination Exams for the Episcopal Church. It's basically a series of 7 3.5 hour exams that test various areas in which ordinands are supposed to show competency. Today we had scripture and theology. I felt pretty good about both of them. My scripture answer was a little long, but I tried and tried to cut stuff and felt that everything in there was essential. So we'll see. Theology was...interesting. The past few years have been questions concerning patristics, so I was expecting that. This year they added missiology to the theology part, and what do you know we got a mission question. Luckily my class with Ian Douglas prepared me somewhat for it, so I didn't feel completely out on a limb. Tomorrow we have contemporary society and liturgy and church music. What's funny is that on the liturgy and church music question we can't even use hymnal resources! That doesn't make ANY sense to me whatsoever, but then again no one asked me so there you go. So overall I felt pretty good about today's exams. Unfortunately right now I physically feel kind of cruddy. I worked out mid-day today (I finished exam 1 1.5 hours early so I had time), but this afternoon I started feeling gross. Now I feel like I'm coming down with a cold or something. So I have a big glass of OJ here next to me and hopefully that will help (too bad I don't feel like drinking it!)

Here's my funny news article for the day. I love the BBC news feed on Firefox. I always come across articles like this that are completely random but that I would probably not ever find otherwise. It's also a great way to read American news from a European perspective. There was an interesting article on Obama and his silence concerning the recent events in Gaza. I guess it makes sense, but I figure lots of people are going to be disappointed if he doesn't say something in two weeks.

That's about all I know. Have to start working on my ISM project. I hope to do some stuff on Wednesday. And maybe tomorrow night. We'll see how I feel after the exam. Everything was a sheet of ice here this morning. Rick called me at 8:15 to make sure I was OK (didn't pick up as I was in chapel, but I thought it was sweet). Apparently his house was surrounded by a solid sheet of ice this morning. It was pretty bad here, but it warmed up during the day so lots melted. It's supposed to be cold tonight, though, so I guess we're in for the same thing tomorrow. Yay New England.

Wear some crampons if you're going out there...

I'm Back...

Sorry for the several month hiatus. A lot has happened. Here is a summary of the past few months:

1. PhD applications. I have one left to do (UConn, due on Feb. 2) but other than that I'm pretty much done with them. They've taken up tons of time, both in work and in stress levels.
2. The semester. School. Same ol same ol really but finals week I wrote 75 pages in 5 days. Pretty impressive, I think.
3. Job. I'm a chapel minister this year, and that involves planning the Wednesday night services as well as the every day morning prayer. It's pretty labor intensive but I really like it.
4. Life. This is a big one. My brother (age 22) was diagnosed with Berkitt's Lymphoma in November. It's thrown us all for a loop. He's started chemo (finished round 3 of 7 during Christmas week) and will have his first CT scan since this all happened on Thursday. Needless to say, prayers are welcome. I'm also planning a wedding. I got the dress over Christmas, and the bridesmaids picked theirs out. We have invitations too. So planning is coming along.
5. Future stuff. Now I have to turn to job things. If I don't get into a PhD program I'll be looking for a full time job in a parish. Otherwise I'll look for part time. GOEs are this week, which is stressful in and of itself. AND my ISM project is due in a month and we haven't done anything on it. Yikes. That's my project for this week-after the exams and going to the gym I've got to read like a maniac. Woowoo. And I have to get my CDO profile done so I can try to find a job. Yeehaw.

All of that has kept me away from my blog, but I'm hoping to be better about it this year. The semester should be interesting. I go to England the day after my birthday for a week, which will be fun. Mid-Feb. to March I should hear from programs and then I will have a better idea of what is going to be happening next year. Until then it's kind of up in the air.

I hope you all have a good 2009! See you around the blog!

Cheers

Hola

Hey everyone. I didn't realize that it's been almost 20 days since my last entry. Sorry about that.

Needless to say, I'm SUPER busy pretty much all of the time. Class, independent study, PhD apps, and even starting to think about the wedding (which I haven't really done too much of) have taken up all of my time. Oh and chapel ministry too. That's probably a bigger time chunk than some of the PhD apps are at this point. So entries may be sparse this academic year, or at least semester. Just warning you. :)

Lots of stuff is happening here. Classes are going OK. Only one is not as good as I had hoped, but it's not bad. Just OK really. The others are fine. Chapel ministry is going well but incredibly time consuming, which is fine I just didn't realize how busy it would make me until we started doing it. I like the people I work with, though, which is great. PhD applications are starting up. I take the GRE on October 6 and tomorrow morning I'm going to work on my personal statement. Joy. I also need to start studying for the GOEs, which involves reading for Anglican history and theology 1 and at least getting the books for reference for Anglican history and theology 2 (I took a close equivalent at EDS with Ian Douglas, but the dean uses some different books here that could be useful). I'm not looking forward to taking those. The GRE shouldn't be too bad. Just tedious really, and a little writing but nothing like the GOEs will be. I still don't understand what the point of them in but no one asked me. Oh well.

Erin and Blaine are coming up in two weeks. YAY! I'm really excited about their visit. I haven't seen anyone from my family since early June, so it will have been 4 months when she gets up here!

Not much wedding planning going on, really. I've been so swamped and Rick and I have had busy weekends for the last couple of weeks and the next couple, but by mid-October things will have calmed down and we can toss some honeymoon ideas around. Christmas will be when planning begins in earnest, I think. I'm trying to keep it affordable and environmentally responsible, and most of all fun and joy-full.

Other than that...Rick and I are going to NJ this weekend to visit his parents. It will be the first time we've seen his parents since we got engaged (we haven't seen mine yet since that day, but I'll see them at Thanksgiving and he'll be down at New Years. Damn expensive plane tickets!). And we'll see his friends from college, which should be fun. They're funny guys, so it's always interesting to be around them when they get together.

Alrighty well I need to eat and study before the Office premiere comes on.

Byefornow.

Hanna 2

Hanna has moved in. Interestingly enough, it's not much different than a Nor'easter. We were under a tornado warning until 9 pm, which I only found out about because I was looking at TWC's website. There are no sirens or other warning systems up here. My mom said these people don't know they're supposed to freak out. Ha. It was humid as all get out today and was awful. Rick and I didn't sleep well because it was so hot last night, so this morning we went to Denny's, the LL Bean outlet, Trader Joe's, New England Beverage Warehouse (where I was able to pick up a 12 pack of Shipyard Pumpkinhead--my all time favorite fall beer), Krispy Kreme (HUZZAH!), Kohl's (got some awesome hilarious t shirts) and a pet store to look at the puppies and kittens. I swear if Rick had said yes when the store manager asked if he wanted to hold a kitten we would have walked out of there with two of them. Ha.

But back to Hanna. Stephanie and Gordon had a spare window unit they're loaning me and that's already made a HUGE difference. I think this tropical storm is just a more humid Nor'easter. I looked at the radar and the whole state is covered in yellow and green blobs. And it is apparently supposed to rain something like 6 inches in the next day. So Rick will probably have to leave tomorrow morning after church to start emptying out his basement. LAME.

Oh well. I'll keep y'all updated.

Hanna

I should preface this entire entry by stating up front that I am a total weather nerd. As a child, I loved watching the weather channel (still do, actually). During my first year in Boston there was a thundersnow, and I got so excited I had to stop walking home from the grocery--in a blizzard no less--to call home and report it.

Well, I move to New England and it's now my first Tropical Storm Warning. Hanna is moving in tonight and tomorrow. I'm not sure how this is going to be any worse or different from a Nor'easter, except that a Nor'easter stays for DAYS and this should be gone by Sunday morning. But we will see. Rick has seen a couple, although he said he wasn't paying attention enough to note whether or not there was a difference. But never fear, my land-locked readers. I will observe carefully what goes on in this Tropical Maelstrom and report back. You never know...Ike may be headed this way as well.

As my mom said, who would have thought that I would only have to travel 1000 miles away from home to New England to experience a tropical storm? I wonder if they shouldn't rename it by this point. i mean, it's hot and humid as hell up here, which is made worse by the fact that no one (including me, unfortunately, but not Rick thank God) has air conditioning. So I've spent the last few days sweating. Anyway it's still not tropical. I think the high temp tomorrow is 80. Couldn't we call it "super-tropical" because it's above the tropical region? And it sounds cooler.

But that's just my two cents.

School's In for September

Whew. It feels like it's been a month since I updated this thing, but I guess it's only been a couple of weeks. Needless to say, lots has happened in that period of time!

But first, the good news, which I can officially announce via the internet...Rick and I are getting married!!!!!!!! : ) He asked me after we went out to dinner on the 13th, and of course I said yes. So now planning has commenced, and we're both really excited (favorite thing of the moment: Rick will smile, lean over, and whisper in my ear "We're gonna be married!"- it's nice to have a fiance who is just as excited as I am.). So yeah, the wedding will be next summer on July 25th. Woot woot!

Other than that, school started yesterday. I had a wonderful Shakespeare seminar downtown. The prof is hilarious! Then prayer book yesterday afternoon which was also good. Today I've got Dante, tomorrow senior colloquium (Affectionately called mass class) and Tuesday I'll have my other seminar downtown- Law religion and literature in post revolutionary England (I'm excited about that class). So not too bad. And now that part of my loan has come in I can schedule the GRE and get started on the PhD applications. The new Reformation professor here at YDS said he'd help out as much as he can as I start applying, so that's good.

Yep. Things are going well. And my sister is coming to visit in a little over a month! I hope the weather is good, but if not there are still some great things I'm hoping we can do. The apples are already ripe for picking, but I think there will still be some then. So we'll see.

For those who were wondering, I preached yesterday morning and everyone seemed to like the sermon. So yay! And the service last night, which I spent days planning, went really well also! I slept in this morning to recuperate (I was exhausted yesterday, to say the least). So now it's time to get ready for another day of school.

Later, yo.

Hanging Out

Well, camp is done and school things don't start until next week, so I'm spending this week lounging around. Yesterday I woke up at 10 and then I cleaned some, followed by a 22 mile bike ride. I didn't expect the ride to take the 2.5 hours that it did, but it ended up being almost totally uphill. I don't do uphills very well, but I did the ride and completed it. My back wheel got knocked out of whack somehow, so Rick is going to look at it and fix it. We also have to re-position my seat because he said it's probably too far back (hence the back and knee pain by the end of the ride).

Today I'm spending the day uploading music onto my external hard drive. I found the correct AC cord for it, so now I can actually use it! Now I can upload all of my music and get my IPod almost back to its original state. Woohoo! Rick's roommate comes back today, which is kind of a bummer. I like the guy, but it's been really nice having the house to ourselves (as in, we can watch TV in the living room without feeling like we're taking the TV away from someone else. Let's see, what else? I'm going to go to Old Navy today to look for something for our pictures on August 30th. We're not going to match, but at least coordinate (I think we're going for blue, but maybe green...it all depends on what is on clearance!).

I'm moving down to school on Saturday. I'm really excited about this upcoming year. My classes look good. My roommates are awesome and the house is great! I'm also applying for PhD programs which will be hard but I think exciting, in that I will be writing about what I want to do. I'm trying to keep a positive outlook on the whole thing. And then I'll be planning for the big event! Huzzah!

That's about all for now. I'm going to head out sometime soon for Old Navy. Hope you're all having a pleasant day!

Massachusetts Things to Do Part ?

As a continuation of an earlier post RE great things to do in New England that you might not know about, I have another one. Today Rick and I went to the Breezy Picnic and Waterslides grounds. Now, I'll start with the bad and then move on to the good. The bad: it's too expensive for what it is. For waterslide rides (unlimited) for the day and admission to the lake/picnic growns it's 17.50 for an adult. The good: it's a lot of fun! I don't think the price is right, but for a once a summer thing (maybe twice) it's fun. There are 3 waterslides that are pretty cool and the waterfront is nice. So I recommend this.

Anyway I'm back to watching the Olympics. I need to get into an Olympic team. I think mayeb curling. What do you think?

Yay!

Hey there everyone. I have AWESOME news, but I'm not putting it online just yet until all the necessary persons have been informed personally. But never fear, for those of you who haven't spoken with me yet rest assured that you will know of what I am speaking soon enough.

SO aside from the wonderfulness of the last week, things here are starting to wrap-up summerwise. Camp ended on Friday. On the one hand I'm sad not to see some of the kids I've worked with, but I'm glad not to be working there anymore. It was hard working with some people who just didn't do their jobs. But whatever. I got a couple of gifts. One family got me a 25 gift card to Barnes and Noble (I'm going to use it to get Brisingr in September) and another got me a really nice Vera Bradley bag and wallet. I guess that's what happens when you work with the wealthy. At first I wasn't sure about the gift, but it's actually quite useful and the colors (blue and brown mostly) looks very "me."

BTFO starts in about a week and a few days, so chapel ministry stuff will be happening soon. I'm excited about that. I'm also ready for school to start up. I wasn't sure about what was going to happen for one of my classes, but I did decide to switch out one div school class to (hopefully) an English seminar on Religion, Law, and Literature in Post-revolutionary England. It looks cool and right up my alley so keep your fingers crossed it works out!

This week, as I'm not working, I'll probably work on some more GRE study and start getting PhD application materials in line (update CV, figure out when applications are due, making lots of lists, etc.). And I've started reading Moby Dick. Rick hated it but I'm LOVING it way more than I expected. I tend to enjoy 19th century American lit. but I especially like this one.

I was supposed to move some stuff in to my new house this weekend but no one is in town so I guess I'll have to do it next weekend, which isn't the worst thing in the world. But I still have to go to New Haven for a doctor's appointment. LAME. Hopefully I can meet Jason and/or Delfin for lunch, though. Then back to Worcester. Rick's roommate is out of town until Wednesday so we've been spending time watching the Olympics (anyone else want to hear about athletes who are NOT Michael Phelps?) and movies. Tonight we're having steak and backed potatoes and corn and then we're going to watch some LOTR (Which we've strangely never watched together). We want to see Star Wars but I think we're going to save it for next weekend.

Well, that's about all. I think we're going to Gibby's for an afternoon awesome ice cream treat, and I'm going to watch the men's 300M Steeplechase until we leave, so that's all. Just thought I would say hello to everyone! I hope your summer ends well and your school years get off to a good start!

Minuteman

Rick and I rode our bikes at Minuteman National Park. now, I'm a big supporter of NPS as I worked there and they are good people, and the parks are amazing. This one was no exception. We rode nine miles (a couple in light rain but luckily it didn't pour until we got to the car) and saw the rode the British marched on April 19 1775 during the battle of Lexington and Concord. There are some original houses still standing, and they have some living history interpreters walking around. Why did I not apply for a job there? I'm a goofball, that's why. And the nature in the park is amazing...there are meadows, cornfields, and huge trees that were probably there in 1775. only downside? Now I'm sick with sinus crap, most likely from the pollen overload. I'm on 2 kinds of allergy meds and still this happens. Ridiculous! So I'm not going to move anything in New Haven today. It will have to wait until I'm down there. Oh well. Only two weeks left of camp though, which is awesome!

Tragedy and other news

Sad news. Two young girls in Louisville were killed in a hit and run. This kind of thing is tragic in and of itself, but the families were both members of the Diocese of Kentucky, and one of the families I know decently well (but I never knew the child). Anyway it's been a really tough week for a lot of people in the Diocese, and for those in the community who knew Riley and Claudia. I didn't know them, but I know it's a tragedy when two young people are taken so needlessly. And the fact that their parents are only a little older than I makes it tough to think about as well.

Here's the news story about the funeral. Normally I wouldn't point this out, but you should look at the photo gallery. Something about seeing so many people, and seeing the priests in Easter white was very moving. But even more moving is the sermon from Ben Maas, rector of St. Andrew's. I cried reading the whole thing, but it is a moving sermon and probably about all you could say in the face of this tragedy. So read it, and look at the pictures, and remember that we are an Easter people.

In other news not much is going on aside from work work and more work. I thought it was getting better but today I was reminded just how much I don't really like my job. Luckily the kids make it worthwhile. Nothing really happened today, it's just some people's general attitudes. But I can't change them and there's only 2.5 weeks left so whatever.

On a happier note, my sister and Blaine are planning a visit for October. YAY!!! I'm super pumped about it, and hope it all works out so that it will happen. it would be so awesome to have them up here!

That's about all for now. I'm going to hop on the exercise bike now to work off the PBJ I just ate and work off the stress from my job. Hope you're having a good summer!

Busy busy.

I realize it has once again been a while since my last blog post, but this summer has been busier than most. So here we go with what's gone on lately...

I just got back from Matt and Emily's wedding. It was wonderful! I officiated, and it went well so I was happy about that, and I got lots of compliments which I took to mean the families were happy (as were the bride and groom, which really is all that matters) so huzzah. We went to Salisbury beach yesterday morning to pass the time and loved it. Way better than Hampton, so I think we're going to make that our new beach. AND it's a state park, so we can support the state park system. I think next summer we'll get an annual pass so we don't have to pay 7.00 every time we go in. We also saw Dan yesterday which was great. Hopefully I'll be getting together with him and also Tricia (though prob a different occasion) sometime soon. I have no money at the moment though, so frivolity will have to wait.

Other than that, I've just been working. The job is going a little better and I've gotten to know a few of the people I work with more, which is nice. The camp director also seems to like me a lot because I actually do my job, so that's good. And the kids I have are really learning their stuff and seem to be excited about it, as much as they hate it sometimes that I won't let them do cannonballs the whole time like some of the other teachers. But whatever. They're learning and that's important. I had two of my littlest kids (4 and 5) learn how to swim on their back when they kept saying they couldn't. That was super exciting. So yeah. Camp is camp, although it's weird sometimes to think about how wealthy these kids are but how they don't even know it. I hope they learn to use their privilege for good when they get older.

The garden is doing well. We have tomatoes, and when I got back from NH today there are tons of cucumber and squash blossoms!!!!!! I think they bloomed while we were away, but I'm so excited! I never thought I would be able to grow anything until a few years ago when I did a garden for my mom. I may not be able to do flowers, but I can do vegetables it seems. Hopefully these will all turn out well. I've never done cucumbers before, but they plants are huge now that we got back from NH! I'll actually have to attach them to the trellis (they haven't gotten big enough yet).

Not much else is going on here. Work. work. Study for the GRE. Still waiting on books to get here. I only need 1 more and then I can start on my history reading. I've also finished David McCullough's John Adams, but I'll review that one in a little while. For now it's time to wash cars and then go to BJs for some shoppin'.

Hope you're having a fun summer!

Back

Sorry for the delay. Life has been crazy, and now that work has started I feel like I'm either working all of the time or trying to get in at least a little hang out time with Rick. The job is going OK...better this week than last week so far. I work with mostly 19 year olds who don't understand that working at camp means you're there for the kids and not the salary. But yesterday and today have been better, so I'm hoping things will get at least more bearable. It's been quite sunny and hot, and it seems no matter how many times I put on sunscreen I'm still getting slightly burnt, although I'm pretty tan now. But I'm standing on a pool deck with no shade from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM so that's likely to brown the skin. Or bake it. Or both.

Anyway...I've been studying for the GRE. Vocab mostly, but yesterday I started some different stuff. It's boring but necessary. I'm still waiting on two books for my summer reading, and one of them I am about to order from Amazon and cancel the Marketplace order because it's been 17 days and no word on anything, and this particular book is still in print. This is why I don't like Amazon Marketplace. I always end up with the sellers who don't stay in touch very well. LAME. Hopefully I can get something figured out soon.

Rick and I went for a bike ride on Sunday-18 miles (about). It wasn't very long but it felt good. And yesterday we worked out at the house. Don't know if we're riding or using the machines tonight, but I slept so well last night because of the workout! It was great. And I swam yesterday, but I don't really have time the rest of this week. So maybe we'll do a little bit longer workout tonight.

On another note, the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) recently met in Jerusalem and issued this statement about the state of the communion. It was interesting reading, albeit not surprising. In fact, I'm a little surprised something like this hadn't come out sooner, but they timed it to be released soon before the Lambeth Conference starts to meet. Needless to say, I think it may make things a bit...ummm...AWKWARD. Rowan Williams responded with this statement which I thought was pretty decent. While I don't agree with some of the ways he's been handling contentious issues (such as the ordination of women bishops in the CoE), I thought this was a statement that was willing to look at both the positive and negatives, especially considering the fact that his "authority" is being questioned by GAFCON. Very pastoral and I think a very open look at a statement of concerned leaders in the world. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean you should automatically dismiss them, and Williams's statement displays this. Unfortunately, PB Jefferts-Schori was not so gracious. This letter is, to me, at least as damning of the GAFCON folks as they are of the AoC and ECUSA. I was incredibly disappointed to read this statement from our Presiding Bishop. While Williams made the excellent point that getting rid of colonialism doesn't necessarily mean the colonized taken over the former colonizers (although I'm sure there are many who might dispute that point), Jefferts-Schori just seems to write off the GAFCON folks as not even Anglican.

How very un-Anglican of her.

Sheesh.

Love.

This is love. Seriously. Read the article, watch the video. It's a great story. And it just goes to show that everything is not lost for humanity.

Dude.

This is a major bummer. not only did my external hard drive crash this spring, but now my iPod has crashed and I've lost all of the computer files of my music. Almost everything I have a hard copy of, but some things may be home so will have to wait for the holidays to update. LAME. Oh well. Guess I can start fresh though. And then soon enough I'll have my iPod touch. Huzzah!

On an unrelated note, Kung Fu Panda is friggin' sweet. I LOVED it. It's a great movie about being yourself, and it's hilarious (I love Jack Black and he's perfect in this character).

OK I guess I'll start uploading some music now...

Book Review: Eat Pray Love

Everyone has been telling me to read this book, from co-workers to my mom. Mom loved it so much she bought me a copy when I was at home because hers was loaned out (not that she wouldn't buy me a book she didn't love, but still). So I've read it. And here's my final assessment:

It's OK. But then again, going to the doctor and getting a shot is also OK. Not great, not a nightmare. I've thought about it, and the last third of the book, in Bali, is excellent. I loved that part and could read it again. But in the first third she sits around and eats pasta all day. Don't get me wrong, I love pasta as much as the next gal, but I don't write about eating Italian food all the time. And the second part, in India...let's put it this way. I spent two years studying Buddhism in America for my undergrad thesis, so I've read my fair share of Americans getting into "Eastern" religions, and I have a very low tolerance for most of what they have to say. So that personal bias came out very strong in this middle section. There were some parts that were OK, but having studied Hinduism as an undergrad and a grad student (I'm not an expert but know more than the average bear, so to speak), I definitely had a shaded reading of the middle section. It's a nice story, but seriously if you want to read a good journal read Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek or George Kennan's Tent Life in Siberia.

Overall grade: B-. I'm not giving it a C because the writing is very good. I just didn't find the book all that interesting, and kept reading it just so I could finish it (I hate not finishing books...I read The Brothers Karamazov every summer and only make it 50 pages further than the last summer.)

New England...stuff

I've decided to add yet another feature to this blog. It may only be helpful to those of you who live in New England, especially in the Worcester/Boston/New Haven area, but it could be interesting to the others. Before I moved up here, my primary ideas of New England were lighthouses, lobsters (both of which are more Maine than anything else), fall foliage, blue states, Puritans, cold, Red Sox, and Ivy League schools. Now, all of these things do exist in New England and are pretty prevalent, but I've found that there's much more out there. So this is a little section of my blog in which I'd like to mention a few "hidden treasures" that visitors and those living here might not know about.

1. Wachusett Brewing Company. This is a craft brewer in Westminster, MA. Rick and I go there pretty often in the summer, fall, and spring (the roads can be bad in the winter, depending on how you get there) with our growler to fill up on our favorite brew. I'm personally a huge fan of their Summer Ale, and I also like the blueberry (but only with blueberries floating around in my beer). I'm not sure what Rick's favorite is. New England boasts tons of local breweries, and the most famous one would probably be Boston Beer Company (aka Sam Adams...the brewery tour is great, and you should go). Wachusett is pretty close to Worcester, though, and they make great beer and are really cool people. We've gone on the tour a couple of times, once on our own and then we've taken friends there to experience its coolness. So you should go. Check out Leominster State Forest while you're on the way. They have some really nice hiking trails.

2. Purgatory Chasm. Rick and I stopped here on the way back from RI once just because we'd passed the signs on the 146 several times and thought it sounded cool. And it is. Purgatory Chasm is a huge chasm (imagine that!) through which you can climb over rocks and take in the beauty. You can also rock climb, with a permit (I think), and walk along the edge of the chasm. But be careful. People have gotten seriously hurt there before, so you don't want to go walking too close to the edge. But it's beautiful and I believe one of the cooler sites in central MA/ RI area.

3. Wholly Cannoli. Easily my favorite pastry shop in New England, this place has cannoli's of every flavor. I love the pumpkin ones in the fall, and next on my list is the pistachio one. They also have a beautiful selection of cakes, cookies, and other Italian desserts. I hear their sandwiches are really great too, and some day I want to try their pizza. It's in Worcester, and lucky for me really close to the house. They recently renovated the store next to theirs, so now they have beautiful display cases and a great coffee-shop ambiance for having your pastry. The North End in Boston is good (the pastry shop down the street from Mike's is excellent and not crowded with tourists), but why go to Boston when you can get superb Cannoli's without the crazy tourism lines right here in Worcester?

Actual conversation overheard this afternoon while in Building 19 (kind of an equivalent to Big Lots...)
Woman: It looks like we're going to have Thunderstorms today.
Man: What?
Woman: I said it looks like we're going to have T-storms today.
Man: T-STORMS????!!!

God New England is a weird place.

Back and books

What a nightmare. Yesterday and this morning were air travel HELL. Got to Philly too late to catch the flight to Providence, so I spent the night in the airport, which is a weird experience, got on a plane to Boston at 6 am, and got there with no luggage, which just got to Worcester an hour ago. LAME. And then there was work on the T, so my T ride to Porter was 30 minutes longer than it should have been. Oh well. The saving graces were at the Philly airport. One store was open where I could buy contact solution so I could take them out and try to sleep. I didn't have my glasses with me (they were in the checked bag) but at least I could give my eyes a rest. And the Au Bon Pain was open. I got to the airport at midnight and was starving. Thank God for ABP.

Anywho...this summer I've decided to add a feature to my blog. It's going to be called "Hilary's Rad Reading Roundup." Not really. But I've decided to start writing reviews of the books I'm reading for pleasure. This won't be the NY Times book review by any means, but it will let all of you loyal readers know what I'm reading and catch up on some cool books, if you want. During the school year I'll just write about books I read for pleasure, as there are too many I read for school (which doesn't say the school books can't be pleasurable to read, it's just a different type of reading process).

So...for the first review I'm writing about The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I've been wanting to read this book for years, and it's been on my shelf at home for a similar amount of time. The only problem is that I'd never gotten up the initiative to read it. So this trip home, I started to read one book (which I will write about when I finish it), but it's a nice hardback so I needed a paperback for the pool. This book was kind of beat up and a paper back, so the Kingsolver it was. I realize I'm years behind everyone else in reading this, but too bad.

On the whole, I thought it was a wonderful book. It really brought me to think about the function of missionaries, especially in the 50s and 60s, when Jim Crow still reigned supreme in the South, and these missionaries had to bring their experiences in this climate to the middle of Africa. The book was thought provoking and heart-rending. I loved it. I especially appreciated the different writing styles for each particular character, minus the Father. Not only did this provide different accounts of the spirituality of the book (I do believe it is deeply spiritual), but it also allowed me to revel in the liberation that happened for these women.

Downside of the book: I felt like after the family fell apart, the book kind of fell apart. We just started getting these small vendettas of what was going on in each particular woman's life. Much of the spirituality of the earlier portions of the book had suddenly gone missing. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but I thought it made the end portion of the book feel somewhat...empty. I still finished it, as I wanted to know what happened to each character, but in an effort to follow the rebuilding, so to speak, of a family there was a loss of something deeper that had been in the book.

Overall grade: B+.

Airports

Howdy everyone. Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. I have been in KY for the past 10 days having a wonderful visit with my family. It's been great getting to see them, especially since I only get down here every so often, because of flight prices, etc. Anyway right now I'm sitting in the Louisville airport. It's been a nightmare trying to get back to New England tonight. I was supposed to fly through DC, and that was delayed to the point that I would miss my connection, so now I'm going through Philly, but will likely miss my connection to Providence there, spend the night in the Philly airport, and fly into Boston really early in the morning. I think I should get in around 7:40 am. What sucks is that I packed my glasses. But I just bought a contact case. I guess I'll try and sleep in them and if worse comes to worse take them out and put them in some rewetting drops I have. I couldn't find any saline solution, which is too damn bad. The plan is supposed to be here around 9:30 and we should soon be leaving around 9:45. Too bad most of the people around here are jerks, and not the workers I mean. The passangers are just MEAN. On top of all of this, there's a line of storms moving this way that could very well upset things. I kind of hope there's a delay of the flight to Providence so that I could make that flight and see Rick earlier, but my bags are going to Boston so thank God I have my prescriptions here. The guy sitting behind me is a real asshole. He was bugging the US Airways worker and standing around while he was trying to help others and then got all mad, and now all I can hear is him complaining. Sheesh. Get a grip people and calm down. Your complaining won't get you anywhere.

Anywho...yeah. So we'll see what time I get to New England. Either PVD or BOS. Luggage is going to Boston, since I think that's the most likely flight I'll be on (and not Providence, unless it gets delayed). To be honest, I really just want to see Rick. I haven't seen him much in the past month and I miss him terribly, and I was looking forward to seeing him tonight. Oh well. If I don't make tonight's flight hopefully the flight in the morning will go and I'll see him sometime in the next 12 hours or so.

The fam seems to be doing OK in general. Blaine is so big and talking and he's the cutest thing this world has ever seen. It sucks that I get to see him so rarely, and the rest of my family too. And now with gas prices going up...I was going to drive to work this summer because it was going to be cheaper, but now it's looking that since gas prices are going up I may start thinking about taking the train in order to save some money, or at least break even and help the environment a little.

I think I'm rambling now. I'm going to waste some more time online I guess. Hope you're all doing well and staying cool in this heat!

Back in the USA

I'm back in the US now. The trip was good...the Balkans are absolutely gorgeous, and I learned tons. But I'm glad to be back. I missed Rick terribly, and hated the fact that I missed Blaine's 2nd birthday. Oh well. When else would I get to go to Bosnia and Croatia and Montenegro? Had some stomach issues there that ended up with me in a Croatian hospital getting an IV, but I'm better now so no worries. And I wasn't terrible then, it's just that after 7 days of every thing you eat and drink passing through your system one's intestines start to revolt. But anyway...I'm back, and now packing up the apartment to move into storage on Monday. but first...WESTIES!

So I'll type more sometime next week once I'm in Worcester and more settled down. Just wanted you all to know that I'm back safely.

Hmm.

Well, the semester is over. Phew. Now it's off to Southeastern Europe for another random European adventure. I had one hell of a day. Had to leave Rick this morning to come back to New Haven, which is always a crappy experience. Then I've been busy all day. I'm just now getting to my laundry and its 11:30. On top of it all the cold I had moved into my chest, so I had to go to the doctor again. They gave me another breathing treatment and put me on the prednisone for another 5 days. They also gave me the highest dose of advair but I think I'm just going to stick with my low dose, but take the high one with me. I read the info and it just seems like too much...I don't know why they didn't just give me the middle dosage. Whatever. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. Oh and I got some Zyrtec (Walmart brand of course) so that should help some as well. Then I just had another busy night with a mix up with some friends that hurt a little at first (I'm fine now).

All of this, and what I really want to do is hang out with Rick and start my vacation. I'm learning that for me, taking random trips right after the semester ends with a group of people none of whom are super close to me is a bad idea. I've found that at the end of tough semesters (this one was just a lot of work and trying to get this asthma sorted out--which I feel it still isn't!) I just want to be with the people I love and relax. It may be just me, but that's that. But we will be seeing the other YDS group who's going to Bosnia one day while we're there, and a friend of mine is in that group. It's not that I'm not friends with anyone in my group, there's just no one there that I feel super close to. And intense experiences--like seeing a new culture--are better, for me, with people I know and care about. London was different--that was England. I felt somewhat at home there. But here I won't even speak the language!

Anyway my laundry is about ready to switch. Feel free to send me an email over the next two weeks. There should be internet cafes and I can email you back! I'll put up some pics, etc. when I get back...although once I get back Rick and I have Westies in the Woods and then moving my apt. and then WSI certification and then visiting in Louisville, so I may not upload pics until June sometime. We'll see.

Hope you are all having a good May!

Two down, one to go.

My exams are done for the semester. Whew. I wish I could feel more relieved, but I have this paper still hanging over my head. Thus far I've written two pages...but I just got done going through Revelation (the NRSV) to find applicable passages. Now I need to go back through the Geneva Bible version, type up the verses I need (there's unfortunately no good online Geneva translation that I could just cut and paste) and take a look at the margin notes. The Geneva Bible is a pretty interesting thing, actually. It's from the 16th century, and the margin notes are full of Calivinist doctrine...It's like a Calvinist Talmud (I think the Talmud...the one with the text in the middle and the commentary on the edges...my brain isn't all with it right now so I can't remember which it is...or maybe it's Midrash. And that's in the Talmud. Oh hell. Forget it.). Anyway this and the KJV would have been what Milton knew, and at the stage in his writing I'm talking about I would be surprised if he mostly used the Geneva, but I can't prove that. Anyway the marginalia give some interesting theological insights into how people were taught to read the Bible at that time. So it's turning out to be helpful. Unfortunately the copy I'm using is a facsimile, so the spelling and type face is old...thus f's and s's look the same. And the type is tiny and not that clear. But I'm happy I was able to get a hold of this copy--my professor had said they're really hard to get a hand on here at Yale. This one was just on the shelf in the div school library. Go figure.

Went to dinner at HGS tonight with a bunch of people. We thought they would have some great Mexican food, but it was Asian. WTF? IT'S CINCO DE MAYO PEOPLE. Oh well. The rye toast and the soup I had weren't bad though (mostly because they weren't pseudo-Asian).

Anyway I should get back to working on this paper. My allergies have gone crazy and I feel like total crap. Started taking some Sudafed so I hope that clears this all up before Friday. I don't want to go on a transatlantic flight with my sinuses clogged up before we even leave! Talk about awful.

Hope you all are doing well.

Exams

Exams are upon me. I'm currently studying for the OT final tomorrow morning, then I'll have some Ramen, and then I'll work on history studying some more. I just got back my exegesis paper, and my TF called it "marvelous!" I think that's the best comment I've gotten on a paper since Stephanie Paulsell told me one of my papers was "beautiful," but somehow marvelous, as related to an exegesis, seems more exciting. And he said it would be hard to argue with my presentation. He gave me a 97! That's amazing, and something I've never achieved as a grad student. Woohoo!

Now, on to studying. Oh and it's 11:10 PM. I'm not usually one for staying up late the night before a final, but I'm not really sleepy for some reason, so I'm going to make use of the time for studying. Woowoo.

Papers won't be done by tomorrow though. Thursday at the latest, Wednesday hopefully. We'll see. Either way they'll be done before I leave for Europe.

Duh.

So I think I've figured out what may be the most annoying questions I get at the library. In no particular order...

1. Do you have change?
Answer: we are a library. We don't sell things. And I don't personally have change because I'm a poor grad student too.
-I've actually had 2 people get really upset with me when I told them we didn't have change and that they should try the refectory. Seriously. Why would I have change? It's a library! We don't take in that many fines. Sheesh.

2. Is the copy machine working?
Answer: Did you try turning it on?
Response: Yes, but nothing happened.
-So then I go and follow the person to the copy machine (this usually happens when I'm working alone and have to leave the desk unattended or when I'm already busy with someone else). Then I either press the start button to turn off the power saver, or I turn the copier on. Like they said they already did.

3. Can you fix the printer?
Answer: No. Try the one in the student computer lab.
-I'm not a tech person, nor do I really have the urge to go upstairs and try to break the printer. In an attempt to fix it.

4. And this is the worst (because it's a Friday question)...you all close at 5 today? Wow. That's early.
Answer: Yep. We close at 5. Just like we do every Friday.
Response: You all should stay open later.
Answer: No we shouldn't. Get a life. Shut your face. I don't really say any of those things but that's what I'm thinking.

5. (This one I get on Thursdays when I open and then work a few hours in the afternoon). Wow. You're still here. Do you work all day?
Answer: No, I decided living in the library was cheaper than renting an apartment. So now I just shower in the bathroom and sleep on one of the bean bag chairs in the MRC.
-This has gotten more frustrating as the days get nicer and I'm stuck sitting inside from 3-6 in the afternoons, when everyone else is outside talking/playing frisbee/having a nice time and I'm inside getting asked goofy questions. Please don't make it worse by pointing out to me that I am working all of the time.

So, folks. What's the lesson to all of this? Be nice to your library staff, and don't ask stupid questions.

Ugh.

So I don't really like Derby. Growing up we could never really do anything on Derby day because we live so close to the Downs (but not close enough for people to park in our yards and make mad money!). Anyway, this article is just another reason not to like Derby. With people living on one dollar a day or less throughout our world, the C-J wants to glorify this?

Ridiculous. Friggin' ridiculous. I'm not saying that people shouldn't enjoy themselves. But this is beyond excessive. Ice from the arctic? A trip to Milan? Renting two mansions side by side instead of staying at a hotel (and not in the Penthouse suite) like normal people?

One more reason why I don't like Derby. (But I love Louisville, which most people would say my dislike of Derby negates, but there you go.)

Can-u Canoe?

I don't take credit for this blog title. It was the name of a unit at a camp I worked at, and I thought it would be appropriate for this posting. WHO KNEW that canoes were so damn expensive? I need to find some camp or something trying to get rid of some old canoes. Rick lives near several good places to go canoeing, so we thought it might be fun to get one. But they're really expensive, even the low end ones! Who knew? Not me. So if you have a canoe you're looking to get rid of for about 100 bucks, call me. We'll buy it off of you.

In other news, only a week left of school. Woohoo! Technically there's two weeks left but I'm determined to be done by Monday. So I've got a new work schedule figured out to get everything done writing-wise by Friday and take my two exams Monday. Then a couple of days next week with Rick (as well as this weekend) and then Europe for two weeks. Just got to get these papers written.

Still no word about a job. Lame.

And my sister turned 24 yesterday, and my brother graduates from college this weekend. Huzzah!

Dude...come on already

No word on the job front. Still. I'm supposed to hear something this week (hopefully). I'd really like to have this squared away before Europe, but if I don't get either position then I will probably have to wait to look for a job when I get back at the end of May. There's just no way I'll have time before that. Sheesh. Three papers, one bibliography, one short response, and two exams left. And two more classes. Then this semester is done. Woohoo!

Needless to say, I'm ready for summer to get here.

Summer Beer is Here!

I just realized that it's been a week since my last post. My life is so taken over with papers and such that I forget what day it is. Oh well. Anyway, Rick and I had a great weekend this past week. Friday night we went to Imperial, which is only the best Chinese buffet around. And I didn't have to work so I got to his house early, put a chair outside, read my book and drank beer. Huzzah! And then on Saturday while Rick had to work I planted grass seed and washed and waxed my car. I only did one coat of wax, but it made a huge difference. Then it was off to church (for which we were late, but only because I was really dirty from yard work and car washing and Rick washed his car too), but we made it. Then back to the house, grab the cooler, and off to the drive-in! It's one of our favorite past times, both before we met each other and now together. There's no better way to watch a movie than at the drive-in. And there are several near Rick's house. The one we went to was a little bit of a hike (halfway to Providence RI in Mendon) but it was definitely worth it! We saw Horton Hears a Who and Nim's Island. They both were OK. Horton was better than I expected, and I didn't know anything about Nim's island, but it was interesting. In a couple of weeks the drive in near the house opens. Woohoo! Up on the list to see: Harold and Kumar, Prince Caspian, and INDIANA JONES (needless to say I'm excited about that one. Who isn't?). Then yesterday we slept in and then went for an 18.5 mile bike ride. Since we were in Worcester I got to use my new bike again! It's amazing how good it feels to ride that thing. We went out into the countryside some and saw some beautiful places, so that was nice. Then it was back to New Haven.

This is the last week of classes for me. Next week is reading week and then the next week is exams. I still have so much to do, AND start packing up my apartment AND get ready for the Europe trip. It will all get done, it just makes life a little hectic.

Re: the title of this post, summer beer season is here! We have emerged from the heavy dark and spiced beers of the winter into the glorious, golden, cloudy days of the wheat beers of summer. Needless to say, summer is my favorite season. Not because of the beer, but that's an added bonus! Favorites:
Sam Adams Summer: Sam is a staple around here, and while the Boston Lager isn't necessarily my favorite beer of all time, Sam's Summer Ale is pretty amazing. It's cloudy, it's flavorful and doesn't necessarily need the orange or lemon slice with it.
Sam Adams Cherry Wheat: This isn't really a summer seasonal, except for back home. In MA you can get it all year round, but I think it will always have summer associations for me. This is my mom's favorite, and I like it as well. It's pretty fruity though, so if you don't like fruity beers, don't go for this one! But it has a nice full-bodied flavor, unlike some fruit beers I've tried.
Wachusett Summer Ale: This is a local favorite. We live about 30 minutes from the brewery and have a growler, so we go up there on weekends when we can to get it filled. The people there are awesome and they make a great brew. This is an interesting beer. I always thought it was cloudy, but I guess I never paid attention. The one I poured last night was clear, which is weird for a wheat beer. But it has a great flavor, and the lemon is not too overpowering. A definite must-have if you're in a locale where this beer is available.
Blue Moon They've started coming out with beer for all seasons (Full Moon, Harvest Moon, and New Moon I think is the spring) but the regular Blue Moon is still a favorite. And it's the one I can find most consistently on tap when I go places. Great flavor, great color, nice and cloudy, and perfect with an orange.
Goose Island I can't remember the name of their wheat beer, but it's really good. This is a more recent discovery. I think the brewery is in Chicago or somewhere thereabouts, but they make a great beer. Can't get it here in MA, but I like to have it when I'm home. I don't know this one as well as those above, so I can't comment on it much more, but it's good and if you can get it, I suggest you try it. I've also had their lager...but not their IPA (I don't really like IPAs in general, so it's nothing against the company)
Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat I think that's how you spell it. Anyway they're out of the midwest and make a few wheat beers, but the sunset is my favorite. Hard to find in some places, but I've been able to get it in both MA and KY, which makes me think they're expanding. Like Goose Island I haven't had this one too much, but every time I do I enjoy it.
Harpoon UFO I'm putting this on here because it's a local beer and it's not bad. If I had my choice of any of the above I would go for them, or even a Wachusett Blueberry (which I also really like) or a Sea Dog if I can find it. I'm not a huge fan of any of Harpoon's stuff, although their Irish Red isn't bad. The Harpoon Raspberry UFO is also fruity (like the Sam, but Raspberry not Cherry) and is good, but you have to be in the mood for it. The regular UFO is OK too, but again I'd go for a Sam Summer or a Blue Moon any day (which are the two other wheat beers most likely to be on tap up here).

Well, there are some hints on summer beers, if you're interested. Mom, I've already introduced you to most of these, so I'm not sure this will be very helpful for you ; ) But next time you're up here we'll go to Wachusett and Sam Adams and go on some brewery tours. Woohoo!

On another note, I've had another contact rip. These things are supposed to last me twelve months (2 each). I've had them 3 months and have gone through 4. I had one right contact tear but I'm not concerned about that. The left ones have been tearing ridiculously often. There's definitely an issue here, and hopefully I can figure it out. Until then, I'm wearing glasses, which sucks because I don't have any RX sunglasses so I spend every minute outside squinting. Joy.

OK I've procrastinated enough. To the Milton-mobile! (aka a place to read Paradise Regained).

Yo yo.

Howdy. Not much going on here at the moment. Just waiting for Rick to call. We were in Jersey this weekend, and he didn't get home until after midnight, and then had to get up and go to work. I didn't really get to sleep until he called to tell me he was home, but I'm sure he still had a little unpacking to do. We went to spring show and go,which is a VW and Audi show in Jersey. It's fun, and there's always an awesome collection of air-cooled cars there (vans and bugs). Rick didn't show this year, for a few reasons, but it allowed us to get out of there sooner (it was windy and cold, so that was nice).

Things here are starting to wind up/wind down, depending on how you look at it. We only have two weeks of class left, but I still have several papers of varying lengths and two exams. Not to mention getting my apartment packed and moved into storage and getting ready for the Europe trip. I'm getting more and more excited about that but I have so much to get through first that I can't think about it too much or else I get distracted. It's hard to find good travel books for the countries we're visiting, but I'm keeping my eyes opened.

Oh and my sister passed the boards and is now an RN! I'm super proud of her--she got married, had a baby, went to school, and worked all at the same time (relatively) and now she's got herself a license and a job and woohoo for her! Now I just have to get a job...eventually...

Droppin' By

Thought I would just drop by. Things are going ok...school mostly. I've reached my school threshold for the semester...AKA I'm ready for classes to be done. Luckily we only have two weeks left, and then exams, and then Europe, then Westies, and then hopefully a summer job. Other than that...I'm just working on papers. Had a paper due today that I finished on Tuesday. 1 down, 3 to go. And 2 finals. Woowoo. Rick and I are headed to NJ for the weekend to visit his family and go to a car show. It's supposed to rain, but hopefully it won't. Other than that...not really too much other than school work. I had a stomach flu virus last weekend. It was awful. And then Rick got it. And then his roommate picked it up, so it's a powerful bug I guess. But luckily it's not long lasting. I got sunburned yesterday from sitting outside reading at 10:30 in the morning. It's ridiculous. I'm such a pasty white kid. I also emailed a couple of potential PhD professors and both emailed me back with positive input, especially the one at my number one choice, so that was super exciting! My job interview went well today, and I have another one (for a different job) on Tuesday, which I also hope will go well. I should know something by the end of April, either way. And hopefully it will be something positive. I leave for Europe in about a month. The trip looks cooler and cooler the closer we get to it. Hopefully it will be as neat as it sounds. Well, that's about all I have for now. Just school school and more school.
Hope you're enjoying spring.

Update.

I couldn't think of a good title for this posting, so it's just "update."

I'm currently taking a break from reading Paradise Lost. I have to get through 4 more books tonight. Sheesh. It's a lot. I didn't go to my Chaucer seminar today because I needed to finish the research for my exegesis and read for Milton. I finished the research and now I'm working on the Milton. Woowoo. Still haven't written the Chaucer paper. The research is done and ready to go, but I have an exegesis due on Friday that is more pressing, and then I have to get cracking on Milton. Chaucer's deadline got moved to May 12 so I have some time on that one. I guess I'll write it during reading week.

Things have been kind of crazy lately. I found a place to live next year, which is exciting. I'll be living with 3 other women in a house not too far from campus. They're a cool bunch o ladies so that will be fun. And the rent is the cheapest I've ever had in New England. So cool people and the price is right. I also have a job for next year...I'm going to be a Berkeley chapel minister. I won't know what it fully entails until I start doing it, but I'm excited. It should be a good learning experience. I also have an interview for a job on Friday. I'll say more about it once I know if I get it or not. It looks cool, though.

Mom was sick recently, which was a huge bummer. I wish I could have been home. Warren (the priest at St. Luke's) said "well yeah but what are you going to do?" And I said "Be there." Which is a very CPE-esque answer but it's true. Half the time the best thing you can do for someone is just be there...even if they're asleep. But she's doing much better now and went home yesterday! Thanks to everyone here at school that has kept her in their prayers...they really paid off! Then this weekend I got food poisoning/a stomach virus. We went to cracker barrel, got free meals because they messed up our orders (we didn't cause a fuss and didn't even ask to see a manager or get a discount...it was really no biggie) and 10 minutes after we left I was winning the vomit olympics INSIDE RICK'S VAN!!!!! Thank God he loves me so much. He was a real sport about the whole thing, and now the van is cleaner than ever, after he cleaned it out on Saturday. I was a blob that day and pretty much just slept most of the day. Then yesterday we de-winterized our cars and I came back to New Haven. But now Rick is sick, which is why I think it was a virus. I wish I had known that and I would have made him stay 20 feet away from me! But we both thought it was food poisoning. Go figure. I just feel bad because I can't be there to take care of him...I could have driven up there this afternoon, but to be honest gas is just too expensive right now. It's 3.49 a gallon at the station near my apartment. Crazy. But last I talked to him he was feeling better. I'm calling him in a few minutes to check up on him again.

And speaking of Rick, he wrote the sweetest blog post. Just wanted to let you know he's awesome. :)

On a bummer note, I think my external hard drive has crapped out on me. It has all of my pictures on it, as well as my music and documents from college. I'm going to have to take it to a data recovery place and probably have to pay a bajillion dollars. Ew. Makes me feel queasy just thinking about it.

Other than that...I'm just working on papers. I got my new Keens today. They're bright "emerald" (it's really more teal) and super comfy and waterproof. I'm totally wearing them tomorrow. I've been looking for new capris, since mine ripped in June. I have a pair from Penny's, but you can only get them online and I really don't want to pay the shipping on them again (I got a pair with a gift card), and old navy didn't have anything. Wal mart didn't either. I guess maybe I'll check Target and fashion bug next time I'm in Worcester.

This weekend we're off to Jersey for spring show n' go. It's the first show of the season, and there's usually an awesome selection of air-cooled vehicles to look at (they're the older VW's), so that will be fun. I hope it doesn't rain, because that would NOT be fun. But whatever. I'm just ready for Westies, because that means it will be summer! (it's the campout we go to that's a bunch of VW vans camping out. It's awesome!)

Until then, I'm just waiting for the trees to become green. It's really spring at home. It's only kind of here, and even less so in Worcester. Maybe soon we'll hit 60 degrees. One can hope.

The Heat Is On

Well, as the title to this blog says, the heat is on. Metaphorically speaking, of course. It's New England and 50 degrees feels like 65, but I'm not complaining. I'll take what I can get. What I am referring to above is that paper crunch time is upon me. Here's the rundown of due dates:

April 11 Old Testament Exegesis (8-10 pp)
April 15 Berkeley short paper (it's only 2 pp so no biggie)
April 28 Reformation Europe Paper (5-6 pp)
ISM project proposal and bibliography (this is important!)
Chaucer seminar paper (20-30 pp)
April 29 Milton seminar paper (20-25 pp)

So there you have it. The big ones are all due basically on the same day. As it stands, the research for Chaucer is done. I'm going to write the outline tomorrow between OT and Chaucer and then start writing the paper tomorrow night with plans to finish by Tuesday night. Why so quick? Well, the OT paper is due NEXT WEEK. I have a passage and a topic, I just haven't start researching it yet. And then two weeks and Milton is due. And Reformation. And ISM. I may ask for an extension on the Reformation paper by a couple of days. It's a comparison of two historiographical views based on two monographs, which isn't a big deal, I just need the time to sit down and read the books. So I figure I can use a weekend to do that. And hopefully my TA will let me turn it in the Monday of reading week. I'm just not sure how I could get it done (well) otherwise, and it's a topic I'm interested in so I want to do the paper justice. Milton is the paper I'm most looking forward to, so hopefully I can get Chaucer and this OT thing out of the way and get started on it. I'm building off of my other paper for that class that was due in Feb., which the professor seemed really to like, so I have some basic stuff already done for that one, and 4.5 pages written already. Woohoo!

Other than that, I've just been enjoying the spring weather. My friend Sean was confirmed yesterday, so Rick and I went to the service. Before that we went to the mall, which felt very teenager-ish, because I wanted to look at Penny's for a pair of capris. They only have them online, it turns out, but we ate a tasty lunch at B-dubs (which I didn't know they had up here!!!). And we got a nice coffee treat and I tried on some Keens. I ended up buying a pair online for a good price...these will be PERFECT for the summer, and they're so supportive! So I'm excited about that.

Rick and I went for a bike ride today. I found where that trail picks up, so we did a 20 mile ride. It felt good but I was starving by the end and "bonked" as Rick says (which means my blood sugar dropped). But all in all it wasn't a bad start to the season. Hopefully we'll have even better weather next weekend and I can put similar miles on the Trek. Woohoo for warmer weather! Alrighty well I should go. I have to do my homework for the week tonight so I can write tomorrow night.

And I should find out if I got the chapel minister job early this week. Hopefully tomorrow. Hopefully.

And I'm teaching clarinet lessons now to a friend of mine's daughter. It's pretty fun helping a newbie learn the ropes, and she's better than she thinks she is (before we played she claimed she couldn't make a sound, but oh was she wrong...). Ha.

Hope it's spring-y where you are. The daffodils and crocuses (crocii?) are starting to bloom here. As Dr. Zoidberg would say... Hooray!

PS I've decided instead of saying I'm going to be a priest, I'm going to start telling people that I am going to be a "Christian enthusiast." It's a Family Guy reference, but I think it works.

Anne Rice

One more thing...

The above here is an Anne Rice article about her faith. It's a pretty beautiful expression, I think, and once that may surprise a lot of people, coming from her. But it's interesting, and I thought given the Easter season it would be appropriate. Apparently her new book is really good (I heard this from a reliable source who is ordained and is smart and understands the importance of Biblical scholarship...).

He is Risen! But my job prospects are not...

ALLELUIA!!! Sorry this comes a bit late, but Easter has come at last! I had a great holy week, and ended it up with a wonderful weekend of services at St. Luke's Worcester and a great steak dinner with Rick. Awesome. We went to the Easter Vigil at St. Luke's on Saturday night. Having attended the vigil at Copley Square for two years running, I was afraid this one might seem to be a let down. Never fear, though, because it was AWESOME. Warren had us reading different translations of the different scripture readings (whatever the translation of Genesis 1:1-2:2 was is fantastic) and the music team did an excellent job. I love the traditional exsultet, but the one they did was amazing...and the congregation was able to participate in the singing, which was very appreciated on my part. Overall, the service was great! Rick read part of the prayers of the people. I have to say I'm so thankful that they asked him to read. Talking with friends here at YDS, it seems that partners and spouses sometimes get left out of the mix, and are consistently identified with the seminarian. But the people of St. Luke's asking Rick to read felt, to me at least, like they were affirming him apart from his connection to me, and I think that's incredibly important! Also, I've come to realize that the older I get, the more the Easter Vigil becomes my favorite service of the year. I literally get goose bumps every time. I used to think Christmas Eve midnight mass was my favorite, but living in New England...Easter seems to herald the spring and bring renewal right when I need it. That and I realize more and more how much we need to be an incarnational easter people. I think some year I'm going to preach Easter at Christmas (reminding people of why this child was born) and preach Christmas at Easter (reminding people of the sacrifice and miracle that is involved because of the incarnation). 'Tis a good thing.

In other news, I didn't get the job at the Food Project, and I have no clue why. I didn't even get an interview. I feel that I'm incredibly qualified for that job, but oh well. What are you going to do? It's a bummer though, and now I'm looking around for another summer job (which is the last thing I need to add to my already overfilled plate right now). I did interview for the Berkeley chapel minister job today. There are 4 positions and 6 people applying. I would like the job, but if I don't get it I guess I'll just deal, you know? No sense dwelling on it, because all of the people applying are top notch and I have no clue how they're going to decide who to pick. We'll see, though. They said today they would let us know early next week. Woowoo.

Schoolwise things are going ok. I got a 97 on my OT midterm and a 93 on my history midterm (which, considering the average was a B/B- I'm pleased with). So those went well. I thought I did fine on OT but I didn't expect a 97. It was a pleasant surprise. I'm also making some headway on the Chaucer paper. The research is done, now I need to write. I was going to do some of that tonight but I had such a crappy evening and a headache that it didn't happen. But I don't feel guilty about it. It is what it is. Hopefully I'll at least get a good outline and introduction done tomorrow morning before I have to go to work.

Rick is coming down here this weekend. My friend Sean is getting confirmed, so I think we're going to go to that. We're also going to try to get some bike riding in. I've been trying to find where the East Coast Greenway path picks up near my place...I've been following these little white painted trees on the pavement at every intersection. It's kind of fun, as I don't know where they will lead me next. Anyway I'm hoping we can find the pick up this weekend, because then we can ride off the roads and not worry about anything other than foot/bike traffic. And I think the weather is supposed to be nice.

Other than that...spring is here. I took the interior windows out of my bedroom (they act as insulation during the winter...hard to explain how they look but just believe me) which is a sign of spring, and I put away my sweaters. Even if it gets cold again I'm not wearing cords or sweaters. It is officially spring. Take THAT New England (but please don't retaliate with winter weather!)

WKU is playing UCLA right now. UL is playing UT right now. Can I watch the games? Nope. Oh well. They'd probably lose if I watched anyway. I think I'll go to bed instead.

Hope you all are having a good week. And once more, just because...

ALLELUIA!!!!!!!!!