Again, I miss public transportation

In Ukraine, I took public transportation for in-city travel, of course, but also for inter-city travel (like when I visited Dnipropetrovsk or Kiev). I did not always love it. If you take the inter-city buses in summer, you nearly roast to death (no AC and people are often reluctant to open windows AND there are always more people than the bus manufacturers ever intended). If you take the inter-city buses in winter, you never get warm. On the 4+ hour rides to Dnipr, I'd keep my winter coat (and often my gloves and hat) on the whole way. It's a sign that you're going to be cold when there's a thin layer of ice coating the windows...

These buses were also VERY old and clunky. Seriously- most of them have been around since well before the Soviet Union dissolved. They often break down, there is almost no leg room, the luggage bins overhead will hold the equivalent of a 3-ring binder, and heaven knows when the seats and curtains were last clean. The seats are very narrow, and I almost always ended up next to very large men who took up more than their fair shares of the available seating.

As uncomfortable as the rides could be, I truly enjoyed the rides (after the first couple wherein I had NO idea what was going on or if I'd actually get to where I was trying to go or if I'd get left at a random bus stop). I particularly enjoyed the rides in the winter- when the leaves had fallen off of the trees. I really came to appreciate the beauty of the tree limbs. It's sort of like art, and I could stare at the branches for the whole ride. I did several times, actually.

I came home for Christmas break the other day. The ride was so different from the inter-city trips in Ukraine. I was driving my car, had total control over the temperature, and wasn't sharing a seat with anyone. I like that situation, for sure. However, I sort of missed the intercultural experience and the solitary times of reflection I usually had on buses.

I know that sounds lame and sappy, but I never fully realized how much I liked those things until now. The nice parts of the trips were usually overshadowed by things like big, smelly men and icy windows and grumpy bus driver. And little kids running up the aisles and animals on the bus and no leg room. And wretched roadside pit stops.

But, the trees were truly lovely.

On Weddings.

Well, Brad and I are in the throes of preparing for our wedding. It's really fun in some ways. In some ways, it's really overwhelming to think of all the little details that have to be taken care of. According to any wedding magazine, we're already months behind on planning- and we're still 6 months out from getting married!

Things that have been accomplished:

*Engagement ring- check

*Chapel applied for and reserved- check

*Bridesmaids and groomsmen secured- check

*Dress, veil, and shoes purchased- check

*Initial gift registries started- check

*Officiant on calendar- check

*Pianist- check

*Honeymoon planned out (mostly)- check

*Invitations- check

Things left to be accomplished:

It's a super-long list, so I'll just mention the things that are causing me the most head-scratching moments.

*Bridesmaids dresses- Oi. I have the color picked, but the actual dress is sort of elusive.

*Caterer for reception- WAY too many choices available. I'm no good with choices, after Ukraine.

*Photographer- I really detest having gobs of pictures taken. I tend to get REALLY grumpy.

*Address list- This is an unaccomplishable task; I'm completely convinced.

*Music- We can't seem to narrow things down.

Anyway, I feel like I should have started planning my wedding about 4 years ago, in order to be timely and on top of things. Also, there are some SUPER creative people in this world; these wedding magazines are full of wedding and reception ideas that would NEVER have occurred to me.

Technically, we have a knot.com site (we had to sign up so that we could access some sites we wanted to check out). I went through and filled out a page about us, and this is the link here.

I'll keep you posted on how things are coming. I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished in January. We'll see how that goes.

Merry Christmas to All!

MEV and I put up our Christmas decorations this week! Brad and I decided to go ahead and buy a Christmas tree that will be the Boswell tree beginning next Christmas...but he said it was ok for ME and I to use it this year. Isn't he so nice?

First on the agenda: crank up the Christmas music! I think we listened to an ecclectic assortment of the Trans-Siberian orchestra, Bing Crosby, Jessica Simpson, and Hanson. We got our tree all set up and then had the best time decorating the tree and the rest of the living room. All of our ornaments and decorations seem to have great stories attached to them. We have Natvity sets from Botswana and India, Ded Moroz stacking dolls from Ukraine, handmade ornaments from MEV's friends from South Asia, Egyptian glass ornaments that my aunt got for me after our family fell in love with Egypt, the ornaments that my Ukrainian friends made when they visited my apartment last Christmas, along with ornaments that we've collected from family and friends over the years. It's neat to look at our decorations, which are so full of significance and memories, and think of God's faithfulness to us over the years. Here's some photographic evidence for your holiday enjoyment:

The living room. The garland strung across the windows was made by a friend of MEV's from South Asia. It's cute- little felt circles stitched up. See Brad's and my tree?

Nativity from Botswana.

Nativity from India.

My New Year's bell from Ukraine. I realize it's not New Year, but it's really pretty.

As a Union employee, I get the faculty/staff Christmas ornament this year.

Egyptian glass ornament.

Ded Moroz, Snegurochka, snowman, bear, and penguin.

MEV's lamb and Asian bell.

MEV's ornament from a friend in South Asia.

Ornaments from our respective international locations.

This angel was made by a friend of mine, Olya, in Ukraine.

Last Christmas, in Ukraine, I had friends decorate ornaments for my tree. This was Nastia's.

A middle school-aged friend of mine from my Ukrainian church made me this stocking last year. I'm not sure it's actually supposed to hang on a tree, but that's where it'll live for this year.

Ukrainian church.

Ded and Sneg, hanging out.

I love just sitting in the living room and checking everything out. I also enjoy the tree more, knowing that it came pre-lit! I mean, who wouldn't, right?

Happy Christmas season!

Camera Clean Out, Part 2

I found these pictures on my camera, too, which reminded me that I never did share about Day 2 of Engagement Weekend.

If you remember, Brad's ruse for getting me to be unsuspecting of the upcoming proposal was by leading me to think we were going to Wicked on Friday night (fake email from the theater, telling me our seats had been overbooked- remember the trickery?). Surprise! That wasn't true- we were really going on SATURDAY night.

So, Saturday night rolls around, and we get dressed up to head to Memphis. Mom asked to take a few pictures of us:

Mom was playing with the camera and caught us in the mirror. Then, we staged a pose and reshot this picture.


Mom's artistic side came out.

There was potential for a good picture here...but there's some major glare on Brad's glasses.

So, Brad tilted his glasses, which gave him this super weird look...and I look like Quasimodo.

I'm pretty sure I said something snarky about Brad's glasses-tilt, and that resulted in this face from Brad.

This is very appropos of our relationship. I promise we like each other.

This was our "we give up, but here's a picture of the ring" pose.

We headed off to Memphis; Brad had made us reservations at an INCREDIBLE restaurant in the Peabody Hotel, and we planned out enough time for us to see the famous Peabody ducks before dinner. I love ducks and was SUPER excited about seeing these particular ducks.

Our ride to Memphis was great; we talked through some wedding stuff and calendaring stuff and got to Memphis with plenty of time. While we were waiting for the ducks to make their appearances, Brad made a startling statement:

Brad: Oh no...I don't have the tickets.

Erin: Which tickets?

Brad: The Wicked tickets.

Erin: Stop that. It worked last night, but I'm on to you now.

Brad: I'm really sorry...I don't have them.

Erin: Seriously, quit.

Brad: Seriously, the tickets are in Jackson!

We went on like this for a few more minutes before I actually believed him and started to panic. He called his roommate, who was going to help us try to find a way to get the tickets. In the midst of all his business, the ducks made their appearance. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people in front of me, and this was the only picture I got:

Long story short: Brad's roommate decided to buy cheap nosebleed tickets- last minute- and drove our tickets to us. We got in the theater with 15 minutes to spare. Whew! We love Roommate. Here's a picture of us in front of the theater, post-show:

We had a GREAT time (once we got our tickets and got in, that is...)!

And here's a picture of my ring.

Camera Clean Out

Here is a flashback to waaaay back in October when Sister Dear had a birthday! I planned, along with Amiee's friends, a surprise birthday party. You should ask Kat about how awesome I am at planning surprise birthday parties...another story for another day.

A small group of us went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant while friends decorated and set up for the party in the dorm room. Amiee was forced to wear a sombrero and then had whipped cream smudged on her nose. She loved it...very much the opposite of how I would have felt. I'm boring, I know. :)

The whole thing actually came off without a hitch- shocking! Here's a picture of Amiee and all of her cute friends. Aww...

Sorry for the sabbatical!

I realize I've been extremely remiss in my blogging. I've been sort of up to my ears in wedding stuff for part of the time (more on that in a future post) and the other part I spent just being tired from all the stuff going on in this thing called life. Sidenote: living in Ukraine- where traveling just takes so much more time- got me accustomed to a little less hustle and bustle. I was busy and doing things in Ukraine, but the fact that I had to wait on things like buses and trains or had to take the time to walk places seemed to cut down on the ability to commit to too much activity.

Anyway, today is a confession post: I have discovered that I'm a little bit of a snob. Why is that, you may ask? Well, this week, I had a student in my office, chatting about Thanksgiving. She was telling me that she was asked to make the "homemade, from scratch" pies for her holiday gathering. She then followed that with this statement, "I told them that if they'd get the Pillsbury dough and the pie filling, I'd be happy to!"

I mentally scoffed at Pillsbury dough and pie filling constituting "homemade, from scratch." Seriously? I didn't do just a ton of baking before Ukraine, but when I did get thrown in the deep end (that would be the cooking and baking processes of Ukraine), I had to figure out how to make things from actual scratch (sidenote: my mother did try to teach me these things as I grew up, but I didn't take the time to learn). I spent a lot of time pulling up recipes on the internet and gathering them from my mom to learn how to make my own Bisquick, pie crusts, pie filling, pumpkin puree, and a myriad of other things. That whole making-things-from-scratch business is exceedingly time consuming (and complicated when you're learning to read packaging in Russian- or worse, having to learn to ask for those things in the market!) and deserves a great deal of applause, in my opinion.

So, for all my ex-pat friends and non-ex-pat friends who take the time and effort to bake from ACTUAL scratch, I applaud you.

Pictures!

Brad and I didn't get pictures during our actual engagement, so we asked our friend, Hunter, to help us "recreate" engagement night. I'm including those pictures for your edification. Brad already put these up on Facebook, so I'm also adding his captions for the process. Enjoy!

We arrive at Union for a short walk before the "movie" we were going to instead of Wicked. Unfortunately they had "double booked" our seats for the show at the Orpheum in Memphis. Sad...

She has no idea what's coming.

No idea at all.

I did my best to listen intently to our conversation about the day's happenings.

I was succeeding at listening VERY intently.

The time comes... We stop abruptly. She's puzzled.

Brad: So, I've been lying to you. I never had tickets for Wicked tonight.

Erin: *Confusion*

Brad: I always had tickets for tomorrow night.

Erin: *Confusion.* What a mean trick!

Erin: Wait a minute... I think I know what's going on!

I had to make a move fast before the opportunity to surprise her afforded by the confusion had passed!

Marry me!

Yes!

And now we're engaged.

Wicked, Deception, and Proposal

I'm so sorry for the lengthy delay in writing. I've had a really good reason!

Short version: I got engaged! And, I saw "Wicked" for the second time!

Full version (get comfy- it's lengthy):

I LOVE "Wicked." Love it. I sing "Wicked" songs on an almost daily basis. Then, "Wicked" decides to come to Memphis for the month of October! Brad, knowing my deep and abiding love for the retelling of the witches of Oz, booked tickets and informed me that we would be going on Friday, October 29. I started counting down the days.

Logo for Wicked. Elphaba on the left, Glinda (Galinda) on the right.

To read about it, click here. One of my favorite songs: "The Wizard and I." It's just great. And fabulous. And nothing like The Wizard of Oz, which is good, because that one frightened me as a child...and I've never recovered.

So, last week, I was thinking of "Wicked" around the clock. I had a less-than-awesome week, and it was the light at the end of the tunnel. My supervisor let me leave a little earlier than usual so that I could get ready (not only is she a fellow "Wicked" enthusiast, she also knew the grand scheme of the weekend).

Now, sister had had a traumatic medical "emergency" last week (don't fret- she's doing much better now), so my parents had a legitimate reason for coming to Jackson (they were planning to come all along, but Amiee's little problem gave them a valid reason to publicly arrive in Jackson and hang out at my house). I'm pretty sure Amiee didn't plan that, but it would have made the story more impressive.

Brad arrived a little later than I had expected him to (seeing as how we had to drive to Memphis, eat, and get to the theater), and when he walked in, I thought that something truly dreadful had happened. His entire countenance looked grief-stricken, and I promise he looked like he was on the verge of tears.

Me: What's wrong?? (you have to imagine that extra question mark- it was the urgency in my voice)

Brad: Erin, I'm so sorry. I got this email before I came over.

(Brad pulls out an email and hands it to me)

The Orpheum (theater in Memphis) had sent him an email apologizing for double-booking our row for the show. They asked us to call Saturday morning for an update on available seating for one of the other showings that weekend.

I felt my stomach drop, and I think little tears started welling up in my eyes. But, no. Brad looked so sad and despairing that I didn't want him to know how sad I was.

Me: Oh, that's ok. We'll just call tomorrow...pause...Can we still have a mini-date?

Brad: Yes! Definitely! Anywhere you want to go.

We decided on a restaurant, and I said I would change clothes. My mother was insistent that we both stay in our dress up clothes. She thought we just looked too nice to waste it.

Um. Ok...

We had dinner (a LOT earlier than normal), and the plan was to go to a movie. There was a chunk of time between dinner and the movie, so Brad suggested that we go to Best Buy and play Guitar Hero (we like to do that sometimes. we're cool. we know.). After dinner, I realized that I needed something from home and asked to make a quick trip home before going to Best Buy.

Brad became extremely defensive, questioning why, exactly, I needed to go home. For those of you who don't know Brad, you should know that that was terribly uncharacteristic. I explained that I needed something that I'd left at home. He continued acting agitated, and when we stopped at a traffic light, he sent a hasty, hurried text, mumbling something about Hunter (his roommate) and needing to respond to an earlier text.

As we got close to the turn to my house, I noticed that he wasn't slowing down, seemingly because he was playing with the iPod.

Me: Brad, you totally missed the turn.

Brad: Oh, man. You're right. Sorry...I was just trying to find the "Wicked" soundtrack.

We turned around in a nearby driveway and drove VERY SLOOOOOWLY to my house. When we got to the house, I went back to my room to find my tights; because I wasn't allowed to change, I was really cold. I couldn't find my tights and came out grumbling about it. We said goodbye (for the second time) to my family and Mary Ellen and headed out. Back in the car:

Brad: Hey, I had thought about going to Best Buy to play Guitar Hero and then going for a walk around campus. Let's go walk before it gets cold.

Me: It's already cold...and I couldn't find my tights.

Brad: It'll just be a short walk...

Me: (pitifully) Ok...let's go for a walk...

We got to Union and parked in the teeny tiny parking area near the bell tower. We started walking to the bell tower, and I was chatting about the long work week I'd had. I reached a stopping point, and Brad stopped walking.

Brad: So, I have a confession. I've been lying to you for a while. We never had tickets to "Wicked" for tonight.

WHAT?? How does a person respond to that? Lying? NO "WICKED" TICKETS??? What a mean trick!

Me: I'm sorry?

Brad: Well, we've always had tickets for tomorrow night. I had something else in mind for tonight...

...insert really sweet and awesome things here...Brad get on one knee...

Brad: Erin Elizabeth, will you marry me and be my wife?

Me: YES! Yes. Yes.

Brad stands up. We hug.

Me: You are such a liar! (I hit him)

At this point, I started going through all of the deceptions that had taken place (there were a lot!), and I realized how much effort he'd put into making sure that the proposal was a perfectly surprising moment. He had also planned an after party...which is why he'd freaked out about swinging back by the house- everyone was setting up for it! They covered so nicely, and I had no idea.

Lies:

1. The Orpheum hadn't double-booked our tickets: Brad had been in cahoots with the ticketing lady, and she'd sent him the bogus email so that he could show it to me. WHAT?

2. He wasn't texting Hunter: he was texting my mom. Text said: "We're headed to the HOUSE. IT HASN'T HAPPENED YET!" This was because they were setting up for the party.

3. He didn't accidentally miss the turn: he intentionally picked up and fiddled with the iPod so that he could "miss" the turn and kill a little time.

4. We were never going to the movie: he just needed to make me think there was a plan for the evening until he could propose.

Sneaky.

And that's where we began all the craziness that is the post-proposal life. I'll do a part two about the actual "Wicked" experience- it's a good story.

Whiners...what DO we do with them?

I know I explained my job in an earlier post, but I have an additional job this semester that I did not mention earlier: facilitating discussions that follow up on a series of lectures given by one of our professors of philosophy (note: I only do this for the students that I work with). During the first semester, all new students take a “freshman experience” course (at Union, it’s called Gateway). My supervisor is the primary instructor for our kids’ Gateway class, but they have a series of lectures given by another professor that will- hopefully- help broaden their understandings of college and a “learning environment.”

Anyway, after Dr. B gives one of his lectures, I do a follow-up/review lesson in the next class. His lessons are really great, and I totally enjoy them. The students pay attention…ish. It’s early and most of them don’t go to bed until the sun starts to come up (ok, that may be an exaggeration for some students but definitely not for all of them). The first lesson he taught was entitled “Who am I?” and focused on identity. This last lesson was about meaning, answering the question, “Why am I here?”

Y’all. It was a great lesson. However, he used quotes from C. S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man and Nietzsche’s “The Madman.” Those are both rather dense works of literature. My students + 8:00 am + Nietzsche = huh? I took notes furiously during his lesson, because I knew that I was going to have to have a broad range of info to pick from. This would be essential, given that I watched the students’ faces and saw the blank stares that they were giving him during class. Seriously? Most people get stuck just trying to figure out how all those letters fit into the name Nietzsche, much less what he was talking about.

This weekend, I devoted a good chunk of Saturday night and then Sunday afternoon to developing a good solid lesson for review. I enjoy writing lesson plans, for the most part. I like the creativity that goes into it, and I like trying to tap into the different “intelligences” that they had us memorize in our education classes. I planned this one out and had Brad check it over to make sure I wasn’t butchering any of the philosophical aspects. I hadMad Gabs for us to play (hinting at the difficulty of finding meaning), I had small group discussions planned (because they only wake up when they have the opportunity to talk), and only moderate thinking outside of concrete answers was required. I was excited; I thought they were going to be grateful for the fun game, as well as the chance to talk and not get in trouble.

I think I was wrong. They whined about the Mad Gabs being too hard. They whined about having to move to get into groups. They whined that they didn’t get the assignment that they wanted. They whined that the assignment had THREE parts to it. They whined that someone from each group had to be the spokesman.

They were so whiney!

I got so frustrated with them. I know it’s the plight of the teacher to be unappreciated and whined at, but seriously, folks: we’re in college. Let’s put on our big people’s pants and appreciate the carefully-selected Mad Gabs.

I would have LOVED to play Mad Gab way back when I was a student…

(P.S. Jaclyn and Susanna: I thought about y'all the WHOLE time we were doing Mad Gabs. SUCH fun!)

The run-down

Since the last time I wrote, my student’s mother passed away. She sent me an email at 6:38 that morning to let me know. Surprisingly, she still attended her classes all day. The memorial service for her mother isn’t for another couple of weeks, so she is still here at UU until then. It’s been very encouraging to see the Union community come together and encourage her. In one of her classes, the professor canceled class that day and took all the students to the on-campus coffee shop for coffee. My student also had a class where the professor contacted all of the students and arranged for everyone to wear pink to class in honor of my student’s mother (who died as a result of breast cancer). Our Keystone students have been great at rallying around here and offering support, as well. In some ways, it’s almost better that she’s still here on campus right now, receiving that love and attention.

In other news:

-I’m going to see “Wicked” this weekend in Memphis! Yay, Brad.

-My friend, Molly, is getting married in less than 2 months, and I LOVE the bridesmaid’s dress for the wedding.

-I got to watch Tuesdae come in 2^nd place at the Cross Country conference race this past weekend. Go, Tuesdae!

-I facilitated class for my students this morning (at 8:00- they are SO not awake at that time of day), and no one boo-ed or threw tomatoes.

-We were under a tornado watch all morning (um, I REALLY don’t handle tornadoes very well any more), and the electricity went off 7 times, killing my computer to the point where it didn’t cooperate for an hour.

-I get a haircut today, which will revolutionize my life.

-Last night, at JCrib (the urban ministry that I’m volunteering with), I was responsible for the kitchen and for dinner. I was so afraid that I was going to poison them accidentally (I’ve never cooked in that massive quantity before), but it went so well.

I know that everyone wanted to know all of those tiny details. I should have taken the time to develop each into an interesting anecdote. That’s really what most of my posts are: tiny details from life that I hyperbolize to within an inch of their lives. Maybe I’ll go back and do that sometime soon…

Here’s a “Mad Gab” that I used in my class this morning (Mad Gab is a game wherein you read a series of words that don’t make sense together, but when read aloud, they sound like other common phrases): Half Ahab Bee Two Stay. Anyone get it?

I MISS PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Who would have thought I'd ever say that? Goodness, not me. Anyone remember this? Or this? Or maybe this? It wasn't always my favorite thing.

Yesterday, though, I decided that I mostly definitely miss some things. Namely, I miss trains. I really like the convenience of train transportation. There are, of course, downsides to taking trains:

1. You're limited on what kind/amount of luggage you can take.

2. You are set on a time table, whether or not you like it.

3. You're on the train with lots of people- much like an airplane.

4. If you get motion sick, you're really going to want to avoid the backwards-facing seats.

Despite these negatives, the great, shining positive is that you don't have to be responsible for cross-country trekking. Don't ever minimize the value of not having that responsibility...

I spent part of my Fall Break in St. Louis, visiting my dear friend, Kat (some of you may remember her epic-like visit to Ukraine last year, including a little train-jumping that went down). We had a great weekend of good food, farmer's market, hanging out at the fire pit, building a fort, and enjoying the Botanical Gardens. It was GREAT fun! The tricky part came when I was navigating and driving myself back to Jackson.

I'm really and truly not bad with directions. I'm very good at following directions and at driving, but I have very dreadful night vision. On the way back to Jackson yesterday, I was doing great on navigating until I got back into West Tennessee. That's when the darkness set in, and my ability to see went away with the sun. Y'all- please note that when it is said that West Tennessee is "rural", that statement is to be taken most literally. There is NOTHING out there! If you, for example, miss your exit, there are no lights or signs to let you know where you are or where you're going. If this is the case, you may find yourself driving north into Kentucky instead of southeast into Jackson.

Good grief. I miss trains.

Discipline: The Glad Surrender

I read a book in high school called Discipline: the Glad Surrender, written by Elisabeth Elliot. It was such a great, straightforward look at how discipline is something that we all should incorporate in our lives. For the next week or so after reading the book, I was SO disciplined about everything. Then, I got over it and went back to regular life.

Over the past few weeks, I've found myself really interested in stories that revolve around discipline. For example, tonight M.E. and I watched Julie and Julia. It was so good! I loved almost every moment of it and was so inspired by the discipline involved in Julie's undertaking.

To read more about the project behind and the plot of the movie, click here.

I had decided to watch the movie because I'd read about how it had inspired the author of newdressaday.com. I LOVE to check this site on a regular basis to see what kind of crazy creative contraptions she's been designing. It's fantastic! Both of these women (Julie from the movie and Marissa from the blog) chose to tackle year-long projects: Julie- 500+ recipes in 365 days and Marissa- 365 new clothing items in 365 days for only $365. Di-sci-pline.

On a smaller and less famous note, I even drew motivation from here. I liked her ideas and the way she broke down her objectives into categories that would enrich her life or someone else's.

So, how do I make this applicable into my life? I want to be disciplined to do something cool and that plays up to a creative strength of mine. I also want to be disciplined to tackle some sort of spiritual discipline, like finishing the large sections of scripture that I often set out to memorize and only get partway through. I also want to commit to something that would serve others in an intentional and consistent way.

Do any of you kind and faithful readers out there have suggestions for a disciplined experiment to commit to for the upcoming year? I'm thinking and praying about how to become disciplined in my life...and how to actually structure something to make it happen.

On a different note, this time last year, I was in Budapest! In memory of that occasion, here are a few pictures to enjoy:

Oh, how I loved Budapest! Must go back one day.

I still love my job. I promise.

It's true. I do still love my job.

Sometimes, though, it's really sad. This week has been one of facing the fact that a lot of my students are failing; some are failing because of their lack of motivation and initiative, but some are working themselves to death and still not making the cut. I have such a hard time watching them struggle and then having to watch them come into my office, crying and asking me what else can they possibly do.

For several of them, the answer to that question is that I have no idea. What else is there to do after tutors, study and test taking skills, study sessions, paper critiquing, disability accommodations, changing study styles? There's not a lot left to work with.

Today brought a new low. My day was supposed to be primarily comprised of paper work and filing (midterms are going out this week). Most of the day was exactly that. At 2:00, though, one of my students came into my office and dissolved into a sobbing puddle of tears. After much effort to get the story through the crying, I found that her father had just called to tell her that her mother (who is terminally ill) was given two days to live. If that wasn't bad enough, her ride to take her home for fall break wasn't planning to leave until this coming Friday (if you're keeping track, that's two days away).

What in the world do you say to that? For the longest, I didn't say anything. I just hugged her and let her cry while I frantically prayed for something even remotely logical to say. I finally bumbled through something and prayed for her (of course, I totally broke down mid-prayer), and then spent the remaining time I had this afternoon trying to find a way to get her home earlier. Not so easy. Thankfully, the residence life office located a student headed the right direction who would be happy to offer a ride.

Y'all. It was a rough afternoon. I HAD to come home and eat an ice cream sandwich. And, I tried to commit my student to the Lord once again, praying that she makes it in time to see her mom.

I realize this wasn't a happy post, so here's some positive news to end on: God is still sovereign. I'm so glad!

Brain...zapped...mornings...evil

I know it's been a few days since I updated. It's not that anything particularly exciting has been going on to keep me distracted; really, I've just been so brain-dead at the end of each day that I can't come up with anything significant to say. Actually, I often can't even really put sentences together after a work day.

Most of my job consists of meeting with students, which I love. However, after that much talking, listening, being on the receiving end of an emotional unloading, repeating the same instructions, etc, I just can't even put original thoughts together at the end of the day. I'm always a little brain-zapped. Ask Mom, Amiee, or Brad. They will concur.

Anyway, the past week and a half has been full of much Academic Counselor-ing. Some was fun...some was not-so-fun. I always want everyone to succeed at everything (rival football teams excluded), and it hurts my heart when some don't. I guess I just have to accept the fact that some people will not succeed at everything. This includes me. I mean, I would never succeed at running cross country...

...which is why I opted for going to cheer Tuesdae on this past Saturday! Any readers remember my beloved Rowlands from Ukraine? Well, sweet Tuesdae runs cross country for Blue Mountain College, and their most recent race was at Union. So, Amiee, Kyleigh, and I got ourselves up and out at 8:00 in the morning (mornings...evil...out to ruin us all) to go cheer for Tuesdae (and the Union runners, of course). She ran her best time ever! I like to think it was the influence of our cheering. Here's my best cheer for cross country:

"RUN REALLY FAST!"

It totally worked. Good job, Tuesdae!

Boys...sometimes they smell weird

I'm learning more about college boys now that I'm an Academic Counselor than I did when I was actually in college. One of these insights is into the olfactory world of boys.

Y'all...it's intense.

I have an office (all my own, and I love it) that is rather small and- shall we say- cozy? Close quarters. Well, when I have meetings with my students, I become oh-so-very-aware of what they smell like, due to the "coziness" of my office. This week was rather harsh on the nose. One moment, it was the overwhelming scent of too much cologne. The next, it was the scent of too much basketball/not enough shower. Sometimes, it's the scent of I-just-rolled-out-of-bed-and-am-really-not-fresh. This isn't the case with the girls. Excepting one particular girl student, I don't generally smell anything from the girls.

I have yet to have a guy come into my office who doesn't leave some sort of scent. Usually, it's not very pleasant.

Remember how I like my job?

I still like it...however, I've decided that Thursdays might be the death of me! I have 20-minute, individual meetings with students literally all day. About 20 of those meetings. While I love that part of my job, it's really draining to go through the same set of questions, prescribe similar-yet-slightly-different solutions, explain how those solutions work (over and over and over again) while maintaining a this-is-the-first-time-I've-said-this-today demeanor. It's like teaching/being in the classroom only with one person at a time and many more times per day. Oi!

I've already perfected a few schpeils (sp?) for some of the speeches I give multiple times a day. Here are a few of the topics I am now proficient at addressing:

1. how to increase the hourage of sleep acquired

2. how not to do dumb things (like not sleep for 3 days) that lead to getting sick

3. how to use the FREE tutoring service

4. what study habits ARE

5. how to go to the FREE tutoring service and let them show you how your "study habits" are totally ineffective

6. how chapel credits work

7. what comma splices are

8. how college is different from high school (you'd be horrified at how necessary this particular discussion is)

9. how grades below a 75 are D's at our university and no, you shouldn't be proud of those scores

10. Yes, you have to use capital letters for proper nouns.

Again...oi to Thursdays.

I like your job.

I realized recently that I've never written much about what I do. It struck me that that might possibly be of interest to some of you; my roommate and I were chatting about it the other night, and partway through the discussion, ME (roommate) said, "Erin, I like your job!" Granted, compared to her job, mine is a day at Harry Potter's Wizarding World (aka: gobs o' fun). She's teaching in an innercity/urban setting here in town and deserves an award. And a cape. And a crown. She's a hero of society.

Having said that, here's a little about MY job:
I work at my alma mater, which is great. My job focuses on first-year students who have been conditionally admitted to the University and are required to be a part of an accountability program. I spend my time meeting with these students, following up on all their classes (assignments, quizzes, tests, concerns, victories), setting up support systems (tutoring, paper critiquing, meetings with the school counselor, organizing workshops), and listening to them when they're overwhelmed and stressed and missing home. I get to spend time getting to know them and helping them find ways to succeed in class. It's awesome. It was such a blessing that the Lord provided a job that I love and that falls within my skill set. He really such a provider-God.

And, apparently ME like my job, too.

Things YOU like

So, last time, I listed things that I like. This time, I'm listing some things that y'all like!

Brad suggested:

http://passwird.com/ (for electronics, especially) and http://www.steepandcheap.com/ (mostly outdoorsy items that are sold one item at a time)

Breanne suggested:

Swagbucks http://swagbucks.com/ She said that "You win points for your internet searches. With 450 you can trade them in for a $5 Amazon.com gift card. It's a great way to fund your reading habit :)"

Kirby suggested:

http://hip2save.com/ as a great coupon database.

Have fun!

Things I like and you might, too

I did a post like this whilst in Ukraine, and I thought I'd revisit the concept now that I'm back in the States. Enjoy!

"Ramona and Beezus"

GREAT G-rated movie based off of Beverly Cleary's children's fiction series.

Mark Driscoll/ Mars Hill "Luke"

Sermon series (really long series!) about the gospel of Luke. I listen to it in the office when I'm working on boring, paperwork-y stuff.

http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/jesus-rejoices-in-the-holy-spirit

USA Network Shows

We don't get USA on our tv, so I can- legally- catch up on episodes for free online! May I recommend "Burn Notice" especially?

http://www.usanetwork.com/series/

Two Thrifty Sisters

This is a resource for thrifty shoppers! They also update on free giveaways/opportunities/etc.

http://www.twothriftysisters.com/

New Dress A Day

I accidentally stumbled across this website a few weeks ago. This gal in California started a year-long project wherein she refashions old clothing (one item each day) for a dollar or less. It's so great!

http://newdressaday.wordpress.com/

uu.edu

This one I check daily because it's my homepage at work, but it's also a really interesting read. There's all kind of stuff going on around the U!

http://www.uu.edu/

Pandora.com

This is a free, online radio program. You type in the kind of music you like, a specific song, or an artist/band, and the program creates a playlist of similar sounding-songs for you. You can create multiple "stations." I also frequent this at work. Such genius.

Hope you find something that you like, too! Do y'all have any favorites to share?