Misquoted

I never said that I have scabies. Just so you know. This is a nasty rumour being started about me by my oh-so-maybe-not-so-wonderful roommates, Lisa Bierma and Laura Stewart.

I demand a retraction from both parties.

Life: A shadow and a dream

Do you ever have those mornings where you wake up and for some reason everything feels off? Even though you may have had a decent sleep the night before, you're awake an hour before the alarm is supposed to go off and for some reason you can't get back to sleep because the feeling just nags at you? This happened to me this morning. I don't even know if I could say why, but today I feel a bit like I'm living in a dream. Everything seems fuzzy, as if I'm walking a completely different life than I was yesterday. Maybe I'm having one of those introspective days that pop up every once in a while. Those days that make you take a look at the way your life is going, and you try to understand how you ended up here of all places.

Maybe it's the weather....

I got a job!

Yes, that's right, I got a job. It's at Homestead Christian Care in Woodstock. A bit of a drive I know, but it pays well and it's in my field and I really need the money so beggers can't be choosers right? I start training Friday and I'm very excited.

I need a job

well, the new year has begun and a new semester is underway. I thank the Lord everyday that this is finally my last semester. Don't get me wrong, I love Redeemer...if only it weren't for those pesky classes and all that reading I fully intend to do yet know I'll never get to. I am not a student at heart.

I have also come to the distressing conclusion that I have no money, and therefore must find some sort of part-time work to pay for my tuition and rent for the next four months. If anyone knows of anyplace hiring, let me know. (And yes Stew, I know Pita Pit is hiring...it's on my list of thinking abouts...)

In Memorium

It is with a sad heart that inform you of the tragic death of my van...(and my sister's van). She lived a good life. A long life. Saw the East Coast three times and numerous places in between. Cause of death: transmission failure. We will always remember her fondly.

In Memory of
Our Plymouth Voyager
1993-2004

(...on the bright side, we've already found another vehicle to take her place...)

Of bumps, tears, and second chances...

It is hard to put exactly into words all the many things that I have been experiencing over the past number of weeks. My papers are done, exams rapidly approaching, and the Christmas season is upon us. To say that I feel slightly overwhelmed at how quickly the last semester has gone by would be an understatement, but at the same time I am glad to see it coming to an end.

Of course, the end of semester would not be complete without our annual Christmas concert, in this year's case, not one, but two concerts of Handel's Messiah. I would be remiss if I did not explain something of what this year's concert experience was like. To be honest I found it difficult to feel ready for the concert on Friday night. The evening seemed to come upon us rather before we were ready for it. Since singing the Messiah in high school I've loved the music and was so excited to be singing it again, but for some reason I wasn't in the mood for it yet, and didn't feel like it was coming together. The night of the concert: it went really well....until the end. I still don't even quite know what happened, but one minute we were singing together, and the next we were all over the place. Some say it was the sopranos, others say it wasn't...I don't really know where it started. All I know is that I had this sinking feeling way down in the pit of my stomach, that we'd done so well, and now we were blowing it...on a piece that we'd gone over so many times.

After the performance was finished I couldn't get my legs to stop shaking, and it was all I could do not to burst into tears...which I eventually did anyway, unfortunately not before I left the school. Tears led to a bloody nose, which led to a mad dash for the bathroom and a nasty bump on my head after running into the wall when I took the corner too fast. It was not a happy night.

Saturday was blah. I don't know how to describe it better than that. I knew we had a second chance that evening, but I almost didn't feel like doing it for fear we'd screw up again. It was hard to feel focused. It wasn't until I was sitting there just after the performance had started and I was listening to the orchestra play the opening peace that I began to pray, and I realized that God was in that church with us. What we were doing was truly for His glory. He would give us the strength to do it, to stay focused, and to enjoy ourselves. I never have had a more amazing experience singing with the choir than I did last night. I hope and pray that I never forget it. And who knows? Maybe someday I'll get the chance to sing it again...

Brilliance in surprising places

"College is breaking my spirit. Everyday, telling me things I don't know... It makes me feel stupid!" --a random character on Gilmore Girls

Who would have thought that such a brilliant comment could come from a show like Gilmore Girls?

Writer's block

There is nothing quite so frustrating for a student than to face a writer's block right in the middle of paper season. Especially when you're so close to being finished this one major paper......but you just can't quite figure out how to write a critique on Dooyeweerd's "The Great Synthesis". Craig Bartholomew is a wonderful man, but I have a hard enough time trying to understand this stuff let alone analysing it and forming my own opinions it.

I look forward to Christmas...sure to be a hectic holiday this year with twice the family gatherings as normal...this is what happens when you have a significant other in your life...but at the same time it will be good to spend some quality time with my family again without having to think about school or work. Little sister will be coming home from Dordt, the first time to see her since she left at the end of August...you don't really realize how much you miss them until you never see them. I keep meaning to call...

*giving my head a shake*

...getting too introspective here...sheesh...sometimes I wonder if there's such thing as normal life...

ugh papers. 'nuf said.

I know that I always say this, but I really am very sick of school.

So I ended up getting permission to go on the Montreal Mission Trip, and I'm glad I went. It was a lot of fun meeting new Redeemer people, hanging out with a bunch of first years for eight hours there and eight hours back in an eleven seater van, playing pool etc. with the Seafarers and learning how to speak Russian. Well, learning how to say "yes" and "no" in Russian...(that would be "da" and "niet"). Good times. The one drawback to the whole trip was having to sleep for three nights on the floor of a church nursery. I think we should have brought a chiropractor with us. On the bright side, I've developed a new-found appreciation for my mattress.

I'm getting tired of writing papers and I've only just started working on them. I finished an 11-pager this afternoon and handed it in, but seeing as how the whole thing was based on personal reflection and not on library research I have a hard time justifying it as an actual paper. The next two will likely be not so pleasant to write. (I think of that paper discussing Dooyeweerd for my philosophy class...my brain hurts just thinking about how much time I'm going to have to spend pondering...) Yet again on the bright side, there's only just over a month until this semester is done and I'm finally on my last semester here at Redeemer.