This has been the LONGEST week ever! My first week back at school. I wish I can say that all my classes are SUPER easy and I'm gonna ace them all this semester but that would be a BIIIIGGGG lie; which is kinda something I try NOT to do, being that my future job as a Pastor frowns on that! all kidding aside, its just been an emotional roller coaster this week!
With the return of all students, it was a time of sadness when we all gathered for a convocation on being a "healing community" as we prepare for the return of Ben's wife Renee and his cousin, Jon. I can't even begin to imagine what they have been going through, but its been tough dealing with a whirlwind of emotions from all the students here. We will finally have the memorial service for all students this Tuesday the 9th, as Renee and Jon return to school. ANOTHER emotional day. I personally hope that our community is what they need to move forward from this tragedy.
So onto another subject.....
I think this semester's classes, while always challenging are going to be realy fun for me. I have noticed, within myself, a great sense of spiritual growth happening. I find myself thinking at a deeper spiritual level and asking a great many more questions than I did before about my personal faith and trying to grasp for answers to ALL my questions...which is sometimes NOT possible. I also have another class with LOTS of GREEK. I SERIOUSLY thought I was done with all my Greek last semester.....NOPE! So lots of translating. Good news is....I AM getting a little quicker at it and am able to pick up on a lot of it just by reading it more. So I guess if I had to look at the positive...that would be it! Another class I am taking this semester is Loss and Grief. I know....sounds depressing, right? Actually, it is quite interesting. Analyzing why people mourn the way they do and grasping why I FEEL the way I do at funerals. It's been especially nice that a few of my fellow students are getting together to study together this semester. Something we NEVER did last semester, which I think is a big help for me. Just yesterday, some of us got together to start translating the Greek in Philippians. So it was nice working as a team on it...at least for me.
All the Loss and Grief stuff will DEFINITELY prepare me for my CPE this summer. Speaking of which....I had hoped to be in Baltimore, MD this summer, but John Hopkins Hospital is dragging their feet on doing interviews, so I have accepted the offer to do my CPE at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, TX. I'll be staying, this time a little longer, with Julie and Darrell again. I have to admit that I am nervous for 2 reasons. One, CPE is going to be very emotional for me and secondly, I am still debating whether I want to risk my best friends' friendship by staying at her house again. It was already quite stressful this past month, but I THINK that was because of everything I was going through. This summer will be quite different in that I will be working most of the day with most my weekends off, unless I'm on call. So I am anticipating it being a little easier. Don't misunderstand me....I OWE A LOT to my best friend Julie who helped me, put up with me and took care of me during and after all my hospital stays. It just became stressful after a while; thus the reason for my concerns. But I have faith that she and I will survive. Besides, I figure, it can't be any worse than all that crap was! I won't enjoy the HEAT of Texas, but right now, since it's 27 degrees here in Iowa and starting to snow again....that HEAT is sounding awesome right now!
Had some followup appointments with an infectious disease Dr here in Dubuque this past week. Looks like everything is going ok. I will finally have the PICC line out on February 15th, as long as my blood work comes back OK. They took blood this past week and the infection, while not totally gone yet, is still showing to be in my bloodstream...but very slightly. I'm not worried, just concerned because now my OTHER knee is getting easily irritated! Geez....if it's not one thing its another!
So I FINALLY did it! I changed my tags and Driver's license to Iowa. Why? For a few reasons. One, I become more eligible for scholarships as an Iowa residence. I was able to apply for 2 more scholarships just because I claimed Iowa home! Then there's the tags issue. This state doesn't require state inspection, which means I won't have to hassle with trying to get my car inspected with my service engine light that doesn't ever want to go off. (Yeah, I know I need to get it fixed....but I have larger priorities with medical bills right now!) My new Iowa pic is AWFUL! Did you know that they don't let you smile when you take your driver license picture?? It is ridiculous! I look tired and mad and heck on my picture. It is REALLY bad! I don't plan on showing it to anyone; too embarrassing!
So my baby sister's wedding is coming up next month. Gonna be fun and nice to get away from campus for a few days. We'll see. It's not gonna be as big as her first wedding and this time I am actually IN the wedding party. I have to admit, I think I look pretty good in the dress for her wedding. I bought some small heels to wear with the semi-formal dress. My sister Tamara is also in the wedding party....so it's gonna be interesting for sure with my whole family together. It's always an adventure!
So I need to get some studying done and some dip made before I watch the Superbowl tonight. Rooting for the Saints. Hope they win...if not, I'll be watching some cool commercials! Until next time...Peace and God bless!
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