Abandonment

This blog has been sadly abandoned in the past months. I am really quite a terrible blogger and I'm fairly certain that no one reads this anymore, except maybe a random check every six months or so. Does that stop me? Nope. Should it? Probably. Will I be better about it? Not for awhile, at least. I'm off to school again. The land with two places to connect to snail-speed internet and very little time to spare for such frivolous things as blogging. Who knows, maybe I'll be a more responsible blog owner. But drawing a universal from several particulars, I would say that this blog won't be touched until Easter. Until then, God bless!

Dawn's Rosy Fingers

The morning of the philosophy final is one of enormous pressure, relief, and exhaustion. The week has been long, the finals have been demanding, the people around you are stressed, and you only want to get home.

When you wake up that Friday morning, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, you have a final approaching, but it will soon be over - for better or for worse. This year, I had taken five finals in the past six days and wasn't sure I was ready for the last one. You hit a spot where you've studied everything; you aren't sure, though, whether it's enough. But as I left the dorm at 6:30 in the morning, muttering my daily rosary under my breath as I headed down to the chapel for the celebration of Mass, I looked around me and saw this. I could not have asked for a better confirmation of the beauty of God's providence and His magnificent overruling guidance in this world. Finals would soon be over. And all would be well.

Story time

So, I know you've all been wondering what Kris Kringle season up at TAC is like. Well, maybe you haven't been... maybe there isn't an existent "you".... but I'm going to tell you what happened to me during that strange week anyway. :)

KK season is one of silliness, humiliation, and laughter. You draw from a large box a slip of paper with someone's name on it and you are that person's KK. You play pranks on them, do nice things for them, make them do silly/stupid things for the amusement of others. Christian charity should be the rule which overrules everything, and it generally is. At the end of the week is the Christmas dance, during which you find your KK and you are rewarded with a present. The whole thing is a fun tradition, which the tutors dread to some degree, as do any participants.

My personal experience was rather funny. I didn't hear anything from my KK for a week, but he certainly made up for that. I found a note in my box Thursday night, telling me that I had to wear all black - "as much black as possible" - and sing Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked to my Latin tutor before class the next day. I was also supposed to find a witch hat to complete the costume, but couldn't find one. Trying to keep to the spirit of things, I completed my ensemble with a broomstick. Also in my box was a surgical mask, along with instructions to wear it between the end of class and dinner. When I was asked why I was wearing it, I was to reply with "oink oink oink." The first request (singing) I was willing to comply with. I enjoy singing, and my Latin tutor is a good sport. I was nervous, yes, but it was fairly easy. The second one, however, I couldn't do. I have an abhorrence of those things... they make me feel really sick.

Friday afternoon, I got a new note in my box telling me that, since I had enjoyed the first prank so much, I had to wear a very interesting outfit for the remainder of the day. A friend's pink pants (which would never fit me. EVER), the highest heels I could find (with the instructions to NOT fall over) and my sparkly heart shirt from (dare I tell you?) Victoria's Secret. This shirt had a history... basically, a good friend was over at our house when I realized where it was from over Thanksgiving. I reacted in an inordinate fashion and he laughed at me. And he was also good friends with my KK. The two of them put their heads together to make mischief for me. So after class on Friday, I was decked out in all this finery (jeans substituting for the pink pants) and whenever anyone asked why I was dressed in such a fashion, I had to respond "It's a secret" and point to the part of the shirt with the brand logo. I was rather embarrassed, but it was in good fun.

Besides, I was well rewarded. I was given a large (and I mean LARGE) box full of chocolate. My KK and friend figured they had put me through a lot and should be nice to me. It will be a memory that will make me smile for years to come. :)

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

However, unlike John Denver, I know with a fair amount of certitude when I'll be back again. The mob is packing up and heading up to see my mom's father. It looks like this will be a "good-bye" trip... pray for us if you would.

On a more pleasant note, here's a picture of the mountains surrounding my beautiful campus. This was the first snowfall of the year.



This is what it looked like down on campus.

Christmas time

I lied about posting at Thanksgiving. I know I didn't promise anything, but I still feel negligent. In all honesty, the thought of posting did not even enter this little brain of mine. I arrived late Wednesday afternoon with two additions, had Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, went KK shopping, uploaded pictures to facebook, generally chilled out on Friday, and then was back on campus by lunch on Saturday. Yes, we're crazy. It was a short trip home, but when you aren't driving, your opinion is not important. And I didn't mind it... it was good to have a day to just hang with friends on campus. The stress of school doesn't make that possible. I, at least, am always worried about something that is due in the future (whether that future is near or far is inconsequential - it if is due, I view it as a large knife hanging over my head)

Then school started again. It is a bit of a downhill slide from Thanksgiving break to Christmas break. There are a lot of goings on to keep you busy, as well as that bleak raincloud with the word FINALS etched across it. It sits on the horizon, gloating over you. No matter how much happiness, frivolity, and joy you may have up until then, that raincloud will pour torrential amounts of water upon you. But I love it. I really do. Seven days of intense academia, but you are well-rewarded for them. You see everything you learned come together to a wonderful, cohesive whole and you do it in the company of some of the greatest people on the planet. And there is nothing as satisfying as walking out of a final feeling you succeeded to the utmost of your abilities. Yes, it takes hours to reach the level of confidence which that thrill demands. Believe me, though, it is worth it. When you can explain with ease the phlogiston theory and Lavoisier's counter argument as well as the definition of motion and the principles of change, you feel accomplished. I suppose that is why so many people view TAC sophomores as conceited and annoying. We are simply reveling in the fact that we know what we are supposed to know. And that is a wonderful feeling which cannot be contained, though, perhaps, it should be.

Then home. Christmas was only a week away when I arrived. The bustle of the season is incredible, yet surreal. Three weeks off seem a long stretch, but one that is gone in but an instant. I have been home for approximately 9 days now, and I until January 10th to enjoy it. And I will. I have been up until this moment, and there is nothing to impede me from continuing in that enjoyment. Home is good!

SURPRISE!!!

I'm posting! In the middle of the semester!!! I must be insane!

It's Saturday afternoon, and I'm in the library. I just read about 40 pages of St. Augustine's Confessions after I had been fighting with a weird exercise in the Ptolemy manual. I didn't eat lunch today, since the green glop which was served did not closely enough resemble Mexican food. Many of my Saturdays here at school go this way. And, unlike at home, getting on the computer and blogging is much like an afterthought. I never think of it when I have time to do it. Today, for some reason, is different.

The year has been rolling along. Kind of like a roller coaster. It has its ups and its downs, but it isn't a ride I would choose to get off. I'm taking 6 classes this semester (as I was last year as well) and they keep me busy. I'm managing to have ETMF frequently, partially due to the presence of two freshmen whom always make me happier.

When I'm home for Thanksgiving, I'm hoping to post a bit. We'll see if that happens. In the meantime, God bless!!!!

Progress, Slow but Sure

In my desperate attempt to find employment, I sent out an email. It was a fairly mass email - it included everyone who has been in or involved with our parish choir since the invention of email. Well, not quite, but almost. It was, more or less, a "take pity on me and hire me" type of email. In it I offered to babysit, house sit, clean, do office work, food and bev work, sewing, etc. And in two days, I've heard two things! Within a half an hour of sending it out, I heard from a woman who owns a company who can potentially give me work and from a retired general who needs his garage cleaned. I haven't heard from the lady again, but I just got back after three hours of manual labor. It felt good, especially after I was given some money. I go back tomorrow to plow through more junk. (I would just like to take this time to note that I am eternally grateful that I am NOT a pack-rat. I mercilessly throw things away) And then, on Saturday, my music teacher has hired me and several other of her students to paint the interior of her house. In addition to all of this, a friend of a friend needs some alterations done. Between all of these things, I should be able to put some decent money in the bank!

The other response I got from the email was not quite as happy. The man, a retired Admiral, isn't able to give me any work, but he offered his prayers. (I wonder - he was the team leader of the Blue Angels at one point - do angel's prayers count more? ;-)) Then he mentioned that he knew Dr. Dillon. They were friends and had gone to seminary together. He asked that I say hello to him from him. It almost made me cry to do it, but I had to respond that Dr. Dillon had passed away. I was able to send him a link containing information about the accident and such, but I hated to tell him that way. Dr. Dillon touched so many people... more people than he probably ever imagined when he was alive. I guess he knows now, though...