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!!!!!!!!!

It's Good Friday

It's Good Friday today, and I'm not doing anything Good Friday-ey. I was going to go to the services at St. Luke's, but Rick and I are meeting Matt and Emily for dinner tonight. I haven't seen them in a while, and Matt was my first friend at Harvard so I think it's more important to celebrate that friendship than sit in church thinking about how I would rather be eating dinner with them. So there.

Anywho I'm sitting at Starbucks right now working on some homework. I got a reading room privileges card at the main Harvard library, but I couldn't get my computer to log onto the wireless network there for some reason, so i came here and had to pay 10 bucks to use the internet. Normally I'd just deal, but there are about five online books I'm using for my Chaucer paper and I have to connect to the internet and then Yale's network in order to look at them off campus. I feel very yuppie-ish sitting here in Starbucks working on my Mac, though, and yuppie is not something I ever want to be. Oh well.

Maundy Thursday services were pretty good. Rick said it was one of the saddest things he'd ever seen, which I thought was big. I didn't know it would affect him that much, and it was just interesting to see the reaction of new eyes to the whole service. I guess I'm so used to the service (not that it doesn't affect me) that I don't approach things at church in the same way he does. Needless to say, he provides refreshing (and often hilarious) insight into the church world.

I'm hopefully getting a new bike soon (maybe even tonight!). My ankle injury is putting me out of running for a while, and now that both of my ankles are prone to twisting easily, I need to put running behind me mostly. However, I LOVE biking and always have, and Rick's life used to be biking, basically. So I'm going to get a good bike, either a Trek or a Specialized, and we're going to start biking hardcore. Our first ride of the season is planned for tomorrow, and we're hoping to do a century (100 miles in a day) but the end of the summer. Woohoo! There are some really great biking resources around here, as well as awesome places to bike, so that will be good. I also found a website that has women's sizes (as opposed to misses') in bike clothing, so I can get a jersey and a pair of shorts. Then hopefully I'll lose enough weight by the end of the summer that they won't fit anymore :) But regardless, it will be good to get back into shape and there's no way I'd rather do it than cycling with Rick.

Other than that, it's cold and windy here. It snowed last night...on the first day of spring. Damn you Jack Frost! But it's supposed to be 43 tomorrow, and sunny, so that's all good. It had better be. I hope.

I should get back to studying. Just thought I'd take a break and update this thing.

Spring, etc.

Happy first day of spring! I think. At least, Rick told me today is the first day of spring, and as we both hate winter I'm willing to believe him. And the weather channel website had changed the banner to a more spring-like flower, so sure. Happy first day of spring. Too bad it looks nothing like spring outside! It's cloudy, windy, and about 40 degrees right now. It could be worse, but it could most definitely be better. I've noticed buds on trees earlier this year than last year, which is a good sign. March in New England is a hard month for me, but hopefully the blooming will happen at a more normal time! (although I recently read an article about how spring has been coming earlier and earlier due to global warming). My allergies have switched into spring mode, but the weather hasn't. Oh well.

My ankle is still swollen and sore, both on the inside and the outside. Luckily biking shouldn't be a problem (I tested myself on the exercise bike and I was fine). It's just walking and therefore running that are problematic, which is a bummer because I was hoping to get back on a running schedule now that spring is here. Hopefully within a couple of weeks I'll be good to go. I think I'm going to get ankle braces for both ankles, however, as I sprained the left a few years ago and the right is now turn-prone as well. Just for a precautionary measure, but still.

I still haven't heard back from the Food Project. I don't know if they've called anyone or if I just didn't get an interview. I did however find another job I might apply for...it's basically being the camp director for this 8 week music camp in Waltham. shouldn't be too bad, from the looks of it, and it's a daytime thing. I'll just have to find time to fit in studying for the GRE (which I HAVE to do this summer). Speaking of grad school, I spoke with an old prof of mine from HDS and she seemed pretty excited about the possibility of me applying to the ThD there in history of Christianity. That's exciting, too, because I'm really trying to create relationships with potential PhD advisors and everything. I'm going to start emailing people this spring, and then hopefully meet with them in the fall right before I send in my applications.

On another note, today is Maundy Thursday. I am perpetually asked what "maundy" means, so I looked it up in the OED, and there are several definitions: One is the ritual of footwashing, originally where royalty would wash the feet of the poor to commemorate Jesus washing the feet of the apostles. This is the meaning we have now. Almsgiving is an obsolete definition of the word. It can also refer to the money that the monarch would distribute at the Maundy Thursday ceremony. There are also several more obsolete definitions: to take part in the Last Supper, the Lord's Supper or Eucharist, and also to feast or take part in a feast. There are also several compounds, but I thought my loyal readers would be interested in the general meanings of the term.

I'll be going to Maundy Thursday services at St. Luke's tonight. The past couple of years I've gone to Trinity, but now that I've found a new church home I'll be going there. Rick doesn't get home until about the time the service starts, so he's not coming. Oh well. It's funny--I was telling him about the first Maundy Thursday service I remember and he drove home to me how much of a church nerd I am. I was probably 7 or 8...old enough to remember the service even now but young enough that I didn't remember the service from the year before. Anyway, when it came time for the altar to be stripped, everyone was kneeling and reading Psalm 22 while church members stripped the altar. I had no idea what was going on, and was getting really upset because I thought they were closing my church and I had no idea why and no one had warned me about it! I don't remember being visibly upset, but I do remember this inner anguish at the prospect of St. Peter's closing, and I thought the stripping of the altar was some sort of liturgical way of doing this (yes, I am a nerd). Well, when you leave the service you're not supposed to talk so I had to wait until we got in the car to figure out what was going on. Rick's reaction to this story: How old were you? You were really that upset?

Yes, I am a church nerd. Go figure.

Spring Break

Hello everyone. It's week number 2 of spring break (yes, Yale gets 2 weeks!) and I'm sitting here at the kitchen table in Worcester working on a paper. It's been a relaxing break so far. I had some more asthma trouble last week and then on Friday sprained my ankle really badly. It's still swollen but the doctors say it's not broken, so that's good. But it is about five different colors, which is fun I guess. Monday was St. Patrick's Day and Rick and I met up with his old roommate Felipe for dinner, which was fun. We were supposed to meet up with Matt and Emily, but Matt is sick so hopefully he'll get better and we can meet on Friday instead.

I've pretty much just worked on this Chaucer paper over the break. I have two 20-30 page papers due on April 28, a 10 pg. on Apr 11 and a 5 page on the 28th. So I'm just trying to get a jump on this one. On top of it all, I'm presenting on my paper topic on Monday in Chaucer, so this gave me a reason to get a bunch of the research done. I'm about halfway done with researching the topic I think. I'm just a little nervous because I'm not sure I completely have a thesis for the paper yet, but hopefully one will come to me as I study. I just want to get this paper and the two shorter ones done so that I can work on my Milton paper, about which I'm pretty excited. I'm also hoping the Milton paper will be good enough to be my PhD writing sample, so I want to make sure it's extra good. I just need to get this other stuff done first so that I can work on it!

Other than that, there's not much going on here. The weather sucks--it's cold and rainy. The past month has had cold and rainy weekends. Needless to say Rick and I are both ready for some sun. It's also Holy Week. I'm reading at the vigil on Saturday night, specifically the flood story, which given the current weather situation seems fitting. Rick and I watch Jesus Christ Superstar last night, which he had never seen. His take: "Wow, my Lord and Savior has got soul!" Ha. I love him.

Hope you are all staying dry wherever you are, and having a blessed Holy Week. Spring and Easter are almost here!!!

Democratic Primaries

I'm poking my head out of 16th century Germany to make a comment on the Democratic primaries. At first I was stoked about all of the choices. I mean, this wasn't going to be about voting AGAINST anyone! It was going to be about voting FOR someone. And then my guy (John Edwards) dropped out of the race and I've been at a last about who to vote for. However, given recent events and a news article I just read about how Obama is now going to criticize Clinton even more and raise MORE doubts about her ability to lead, I wonder what kind of benefit this is going to have in November. What if Hillary wins? Will voters in the fall just remember what Obama said about her? I understand each one is trying to win the nomination, but there's so much mudslinging going on that I feel both Democrats will be stained by the time it's most important to be squeaky clean! Especially considering that the Republican nominee is going to be McCain, and last time there were many Democrats who were willing to vote for him. I don't know if that is still the case now, but I wish the Dems would LAY OFF IT. I don't want to know why you're better than she is, or why he is less prepared than you. I want to know things like: what are you going to do about the rising problem of debt in this country? How about the war that's draining our budget, draining Iraq of lives, and draining our military of soldiers and confidence? What are you going to do about the rising costs of higher ed and the rising problems of debt among young people? And what about all of those under 30 without health care? And what about education in poor sections of the country where all sorts of kids are being left behind through no fault of their own? And what about social security? If it's not going to be around when I'm old, what are you going to do to help me out, especially since retirement is becoming more and more costly while less and less people are able to afford it? And then there's the issue of a job...what about all of these great educated people I know who can't get a job? What are you going to do about that?

So, Obama and Hillary, get over it. I don't care what you think about the other person. I care what YOU think. Let me make my decision based on that.

Oh and Obama--plagiarism IS a big deal.

One down one to go.

Well the OT midterm is done. Not too bad, at least that's how I felt coming out of it. I felt that I wrote all I could on the first question but only got three pages out of it (in my tiny handwriting) and the second I did five. So hopefully that will be good. I was going to start studying for Reformation right after but I'm realistic and knew my brain wouldn't be in retention mode quite yet, so I'll probably start studying after section. Woowoo.

Found an awful website. It's called Gradcafe. Some people love it. Right now I hate it. I've just been reading and all of these people are getting rejected from PhD programs--and many of them have applied to the same schools to which I'm applying AND they're applying for a second round. It's a bummer. A good friend of mine who is brilliant hasn't gotten in anywhere yet, and everywhere else has rejected him (again). Sheesh. It's very very disheartening. Needless to say, it's gotten to the point that when I think I'm going to stop studying for the night I say "PhD" to myself to keep myself going. Everyone around me seems so confident that I'll get in somewhere, but I guess I'm more realistic? Hmm. I'm not bashing myself here, I just know that next year hopefully by this time I'll know something.

I had a meeting with my history prof last week to talk about PhD stuff, which is good. My languages will be out of the way when I apply (I've done French and will do German next year) which is apparently a big thing for history programs. At this point I think I've decided that if I get in to any history programs I'll go for those over religion, mostly because I have a better chance of getting a job AND I could teach in either religion or history. So we'll see. I have to get in first. At this point I'm thinking my top choice is Brown, but all of the schools I'm looking at (History-Harvard, Yale, Brown, BC Religion--Harvard Div, BC, BU) are good schools. I'd just like to get in to one of them. Luckily I've already figured out professors, and am hoping to read some of their work this summer and meet with them in the early fall. I'm also hoping to have a writing sample from one of my lit classes this semester. I think the Milton one would be most applicable, as it's a combination of lit, religion, and history, which is my interest, but we'll see. I'm hopefully meeting with the prof tomorrow.

Anyway I have a meeting about my exegesis so I'm gonna peace out. One more midterm left and then spring break. Woohoo!

Still Here.

Just wanted to let you all know I'm still here. One midterm tomorrow, and another on Thursday. After that I'll (hopefully) get an opportunity to write more. Right now all I can think about are Old Testament prophets and German and Swiss reformers...

Midterms

Hello everyone. Midterms are just around the corner, so needless to say I'm pretty swamped school-wise. But luckily after next week I have two weeks off for spring break (that's one of the great things about Yale). I'm just going to be working on papers during that time, but that's OK. It will focused study time, which is a hot commodity as the semester rolls on. So school is going well, but busy. I was home last week for my brother's senior BM recital and the convention for my diocese. Nathan did an absolutely phenomenal job, both at his recital and at the club where his combo plays. I'm so proud of him! And convention went well too. It was good to see people. Most of all it was good to see my family. While I don't feel I got to spend much time with them, due to convention, it was great to see everyone. Blaine is getting so big! And he's hilarious--such a great kid. Anyway I have to go. I have more reading to do (it never ends!) and studying, etc. Hope you're all staying warm!

Oh and go to www.proposition317.com and sign the petition to get St. Patrick's Day made an official holiday!!! Why? you might ask. Why not?!

Yo.

Howdy folks. There's really not too much happening at the moment, I just thought I would sign in to say hello. Things up here in New England are going well. The weather is weird, but what are you gonna do? School is going OK. I had a paper due last Friday that I turned in Thursday (got that mom? THURSDAY! Ha.) I'm hopefully meeting with my history professor next week to talk about applying to some history PhD programs. The more I think about, the better of an idea I think it is. It may involve writing a much more extensive paper than is required for class this semester, but I will need a writing sample so I'm willing to do it. Hopefully the prof will work with me. I'll let you all know how it goes. Valentine's day was good, although we didn't celebrate until last night. We went to dinner at our favorite Thai place here in New Haven, and then went to the opera to see Die Fledermaus, which was fantastic. I love comedic opera--it's got music, acting, and comedy. This one was hilarious, and the cast was superb. So that was great. Oh and we got some ice cream before the show from Cold Stone, which is always a treat. Rick has tomorrow off so he is staying here an extra night. Huzzah! Although I'm going to be doing homework most of today. I'm almost done with my Chaucer reading for the week but I have a TON of reading for Milton, and this is primarily non-fiction and prose, so it will take a little longer. But it has to do with his positions on the Anglican church, so that will be especially interesting. I'm still trying to get through my OT bible readings. I have a couple of thoughts about an exegesis topic, one possible from Amos. I'm going to talk to my TA and see what he says about the topic and if it will be possible to find anything about it. We shall see. Other than that I'm just doing the school thing. Looking for a summer job as well--I applied at one place already, but they said they'll contact me in mid-March about an interview. Not sure if I'm going to apply to the NPS job I found--I really like this other one better. So keep your fingers crossed (I'll tell you more about it if I get the job). Oh and I'm not going to El Salvador for spring break. The trip went way up in cost and I'm broke, as is most of the group, so they're postponing the trip. If they go in May I won't be able to go, as I'll be in southeastern Europe with ISM, but I hope someone at least gets to make the trip.

Well, it's time to get dressed (I know...lazy Sunday and all that), and then go to the grocery. Woohoo! Hope you all are staying warm!

The Quarter Century

That's right folks. As of last Tuesday, I am now a quarter of a century old. Woohoo! This is one of those birthdays where I didn't really feel any different...in fact there are only a few of those that I can remember, 22 being the most recent. But there are a few things that come with 25, namely: I can't ride the insurance gravy train anymore (aka be on the rent's health insurance) and I can rent a car without having to pay the extra charge, which I guess is a good thing. Oh and I could be an American Camping Association camp director (you're supposed to be at least 25). 24 was a good year, and I have no doubts that 25 will be great as well. Rick and I celebrated this weekend with dinner at this nice and tasty hibachi place we found in Worcester. We were going to go bowling as well but we had some mega snow so we put off the bowling until further notice. Which is OK, as I'm bringing my mom's old bowling ball back from KY with me next time I go home.

On other fronts, after a really crappy beginning to the semester (hurting my back and then getting really sick) I think things have finally (knock on wood) calmed down and I can get in the swing of things. I have a paper due for Milton on Friday. It's only 4-6 pages, but I have no clue what I'm going to write about. There's a particular passage from "Lycidas" that I find to be extraordinarily beautiful, and I think there's some wonderful resurrection imagery in it, but I'm not sure I could get 4-6 pages out of it. We'll see. Milton is my favorite class, though, so I want to do really well on this paper. I also have ideas for my Chaucer paper, which is good. And I'm hoping to pick out an exegesis passage for OT this week so I can get started on it.

Spring break looks like it will be exciting--I'll be traveling to El Salvador with 4 other Berkeley students. We're going to visit a BDS grad and see how missions are done in El Salvador, and what the church is doing with the MDGs, etc. I'm excited about it, and as I want to do young adult ministry I hope that this will be a good opportunity to make connections and see what the theological and logistical side of mission is about. I went to Honduras on a mission trip when I was 16, but I'm excited to go as an adult. And the group going is really great, so huzzah! I need to start brushing up on my spanish. No recuerdo mucho!

Ummm...what else? I've been reading lots of Martin Luther for my Reformation class, and I'm loving every bit of it. His anti-semitism and demonizing of the RCs is obviously problematic, but there is so much wonderful stuff in his writing! This particular quote is from Alistair McGrath (who wrote the Reformation thought textbook we're using) where he says that one of the things Luther was saying is "faith isn't the same thing as certainty." WHOA. Why has no one ever put it like that before????? It was like the heavens opened up and angels were singing when I read that line. Not that I've ever felt faith IS certainty, but I think there was always a nagging feeling. But putting it like this is pretty amazing, for me anyway. And Luther's "The Freedom of a Christian" is a wonderfuul text: Christians are servants to no one and servants to everyone both at the same time. There are some wonderful paradoxes (plural?) in Luther, and I wish everyone could read his stuff. I'm only scratching the surface, but I can see why the Reformation really got moving with him.

I'm trying to think of what else has happened recently...mostly school. My last couple of weekends with Rick have been really fantastic. They're always wonderful, but I've come out of these past two weekends feeling really really refreshed, which is great. He's awesome :)

I hope you all are doing well and getting a blessed start to your lenten season. And hopefully staying warm. It's friggin' cold here!!!

Oh and GO CARDS! Way to beat Georgetown :)

The Coolest Kid in the World

Here are some pictures of the little guy (from October). I can't seem to get the bottom two to rotate on blogger, so oh well. you can just turn your head. Anyway this kid kept me smiling these past couple of days when no one was around (this is not meant to guilt anyone out...I just mean when I was lonely, thinking about Blaine could make me smile). Thanks, Blaine.

On another note

On another note...
I just bought my plane ticket home for convention. Woohoo!

And somewhat relating to my last post, it's amazing how much thinking about a wee child can make you smile, even if you're in really bad shape...I swear one of the things that got me through this ordeal was thinking about Blaine. Crazy how great that kid is. I can't wait to see him (and the rest of the fam) in a couple of weeks.

Also, it's raining. Alot. But I bought rain boots from Wal Mart a few weeks ago and now I'm getting to break them in. Hopefully they won't leak, but for 15.00 I can't ask for too much, I guess.

Update

I thought I would give you all an update, but most of you probably already know this stuff, as I think only my family reads this thing. But for those out there who read it who aren't family...After the night of 1/30.early morning of 1/31, I just couldn't handle it anymore, so I went back to urgent care. They gave me two more treatments, a few inhalers and an antibiotic and sent me home. An hour later I was wheezing badly again, so I went back. The doctor, who was the most sympathetic I'd had and who I felt really understood that something wasn't right, send me upstairs to the little "student hospital," where I was admitted. There they were giving me steroids through an IV and nebulizer treatments every few hours. Needless to say I'm doing MUCH better (knock on wood). The coughing has started to go down, and when I do cough it's more productive, so to speak. I was also about to get some sleep last night, and hopefully I'll get some tonight as well. Delfin and Debbie came by yesterday, which was super nice. Delfin, Jason, and Debbie really stepped up to the plate on this one, and I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends! I spent most of this morning reading at the hospital, which was good because it was homework I was doing, and now I just got home. I'm going to hit the showers, and then it's off to Panera with Delfin and Jason to get some real food.

Hope you all are having a happy February. It seems half the people I know (including myself) were born within the next 5 days. Crazy.

Ridiculousity

This is ridiculous. It is now about 5 am. I went to bed at 11 pm, woke up at 11:53 pm coughing and have been up ever since. It won't stop! And all I want to do is sleep. That's it. Get a good night's sleep, which I haven't had since last Tuesday night. I thought tonight was going to be the night...I was nice and relaxed and fell asleep pretty quickly. Little did I know it would be yet another sleepless night. The doctors have told me just to take Tussin DM, which I've been doing, use my inhaler, which I've been doing, and take some sudafed, which I've been doing. BUT IT'S NOT WORKING. So I'm going to call down there this morning and see if I can get an appointment or if they can tell me anything else that might work. I have to wait for the Tussin to wear off (even though it's not working, it's in the system) before I can do anything else. I'm just tired. Tired and frustrated. This sucks.

A Poem for Pondering

I was doing some reading for my Milton seminar tonight, and one of the assigned readings was this poem. I read it, and had to reread it a couple of times because I loved it so much. So I thought I would share. The last four lines are my particular favorites. This particular version uses modern spelling, instead of the original Milton spelling. Hopefully that will make it easier for everyone to read. :) Enjoy!

"At a Solemn Music" by John Milton

Blest pair of sirens, pledges of Heav'n's joy,
Sphere-borne harmonious sisters, Voice and Verse,
Wed your divine sounds, and mixed power employ
Dead things with inbreathed sense able to pierce,
And to our high-raised fantasy present
That undisturbed song of pure concent,
Ay sung before the sapphire-colored throne
To him that sits thereon
With saintly shout, and solemn jubilee,
Where the bright Seraphim in burning row
Their loud uplifted angel trumpets blow,
And the Cherubic host in thousand choirs
Touch their immortal harps of golden wires,
With those just spirits that wear victorious palms,
Hymns devout and holy psalms
Singing everlastingly;
That we on earth with undiscording noise;
As once we did, till disproportioned sin
Jarred against nature's chime, and with harsh din
Broke the fair music that all creatures made
To their great Lord, whose love their motion swayed
In perfect diapason [complete harmony], whilst they stood
In first obedience and their state of good.
O may we soon again renew that song,
And keep in tune with Heav'n, till God ere long
To his celestial consort us unite,
To live with him, and sing in endless morn of light.

Awesome, isn't it?

Asthma and Academics

The point of the title is that the two don't mix. Wednesday afternoon I had to run to sign for a package and run back to class (it had my textbooks for a class, thus it was important!) and ever since then I've had this constant asthma attack that won't go away. Seriously. I went to the doc on Thursday and they just said to use my inhaler regularly until it ends and take the 3 steroid tablets she gave me. Woo. Yesterday I was better most of the day, until I got to work. Thing I learned: I'm allergic to books. You see, on top of the wheezing, my throat and ears have been constantly itching from some allergy I'm sure, and the moldy and dusty books just exacerbated it. That and night time. The past three nights I've only slept about 2.5-3 hours, as I spend the rest of the night coughing. It's awful. I just want to be able to breathe and sleep!!! I guess if this still hasn't gone away by Sunday I'll call the doctor again and see what the hell to do. I just want my bronchial tubes back to normal. Sheesh.

Crappy Week

What a crap week. Monday started out OK, with my two classes going well and everything. But then on Tuesday everything started to go downhill. I went to my two classes (which were great), but when I got up from history I'd pulled something in my back and could hardly walk. I've been having back pain since November, but this was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. So I made my way (slowly) over to the health center, where they told me they thought I had a herniated disc and gave me some painkillers. I took the naproxen twice but never touched the perkiset (sp?). Anyway, that night was horrible. I couldn't move, I was all alone, and nothing seemed to go right. I could barely get off the couch. This sort of thing always seems to happen to me when I'm alone. LAME. So then yesterday was OK I guess. Still back pain, but nothing particularly bad. However, Tuesday has put me behind in a couple of classes and it's only the first week! I still have more Chaucer reading to do when I'm done writing this, and then OT. Have to have Amos read by tomorrow. And the Book of the Duchess in Chaucer. Sheesh. Then today I found out that my boss forgot to submit my timesheet, so I don't get paid this week. On top of that I got in trouble at work for "noticing people's books." Apparently it's a violation of some kind of confidentiality if I "notice" what people check out. What happened was this: a guy who has been getting tons of stuff on reserve about a particular topic came in to check them out. Having "noticed" these books, I asked him what he was researching, and then we got into a really good conversation and I met a really interesting person. All because I had "noticed" his books. I notice things. It's just part of who I am. I feel like I'm being asked to turn that part of me off. Too bad I need the money. I like the people I work with, but it's going to be hard not to ask people how they liked a certain book or what they're working on. That's how you start conversations and get to know people! God forbid I do that. So that was really really tough. It just felt so...personal. It wouldn't if I weren't the sort of observant person I am, but there it is.

So I'm glad tomorrow's Friday. I just want Rick to be here and to veg a bit and forget about this stupid week.

On a different note, I checked out Jesus Camp from the library today. I heard it was a very balanced look at the born again movement among young children, but I never saw it (I didn't want to if it demonized these people, but apparently it really doesn't). So I'm hoping to watch it some time this weekend, if not when Rick is here then on Monday night. I'll let you all know how it is.

Classes for the semester: OT Interpretation 2 (prof is hilarious), Reformation Europe (the historical area I want to specialize in with a good prof), Milton (also great prof and a grad seminar with only 8 people in it so far), and Chaucer (with another great prof and also a grad seminar with about 18 in it). 3 of the classes meet downtown which is different but I like it. It's nice to get off the hill and study in the Bass library (it's underground!!!). And the grad seminars, while they may be a lot of work, look like they're going to be great. FINALLY! Small classes! Woohoo! I'll let you know about potential paper topics as well, once I finally settle on them.

Alright now I must go. It's 8:15 and I still have 14 large pages of Chaucer's middle English to get through. And the book of Amos.

Later.

Back in the Swing O' Things

Hey everyone. Sorry it's been a while since I updated this. I was home for a couple of weeks for Christmas and New Year's, and then I was working last week. Today was the first day of the semester, so now that I'm back into the swing of things I figured I would write.

Christmas was a blast. It was so great being home and having NO HOMEWORK for the first time in two years. I got to hang out with the fam and just relax. So woohoo! there. Then Rick came down for New Year's. We went out with Erin and Chase to Wick's (which was crowded, overpriced, and loud) and bowling (which was great). Then it was back up to New Haven for a few days of working and a long weekend with Rick. Now I'm back into the school routine. Well, kind of. I have to wait for my loan money to come so I can buy books, but once that happens I'll be more in the swing of things.

My classes for the semester look like they will be pretty good. I'm taking OT 2, Reformation Europe, and two grad seminars in the English dept. (assuming I can get into both): Chaucer and Milton. Everything's a go for Chaucer, and Milton meets tomorrow morning so I should know something by then. I was surprised by the number of people in Chaucer, but I guess Medieval studies is a big thing so people want to take it. It will be interesting to see how many people show up for Milton. But anyway three of my classes are downtown, which means a ton of walking for me. But oh well, it hopefully won't be too bad.

Other than that, I don't know much. I"m hopefully going to start my gym routine tonight. I actually got up at 6 am to work out this morning (exercise bike!) and then tonight I'll try to run and swim. Yay for exercise.

Hope you are all having a good 2008 thus far!