Balm for the Soul

I picked blackberries today. About 1/2 gallon. It is the end of the season, and I found out that I missed blueberry season. :-( But, Mom brought blueberries with her, so that is good. My family, including my brother came up and visited me yesterday. It was so good to see them again and just be with them. This was my brother's first time up, and I'm glad that he made it up. We are both so busy that we don't get to see each other much.

Back to blackberries, the church I attend has an adopt a college student program, and though I didn't really think I qualified, as I'm a graduate student and not homesick or anything, the 20 somethings Sunday school leader sent my name to the guy in charge of it, and I now have a set of adopted parents. My adopted mom has a friend who has blackberry bushes, and she let me come out and pick some, which was very nice.

I feel redundant saying that I'm busy, and it feels like a cop out or excuse sometimes, but I am always on the go, with either work or volunteering or social life, which is not bad, as I'd rather be busy than bored, but I also miss having down time. I need large blocks of time to motivate for letter writing and working on my academic pursuits, and I just don't have that. The summer is flying by, and there is still a lot I'd like/need to do. Sigh. Time always gets away from me.

I'm sorry for my absence fr0m the blog, but I do most of my internetting at work, and there are certain sites I do not go to, my blog being one of them, and I'm usually not in the mood to post when I get home. Thus, I realize that I have not yet updated about Philadelphia or Ohio. I had a lovely 4th of July weekend in Ohio with my college friends. We visited one of my friends and got to hold her adorable baby girl. I haven't held a baby in a long time, especially one so little. She is 3 months old. We found a wonderful ice cream place and had gourmet ice cream. My favorite was the pear, though the goat cheese with cherry was rather good too.

RBMS was quite the adventure, ending with a taxi ride in a hailstorm to the airport. I have decided that flying is not all that it's cracked up to be. Layovers and 2 hour delays. Not fun. I have a wonderful friend, however, who was willing to pick me up from the airport at 1 AM. We didn't get home until 2:30 AM. I tried to stay awake, but I just couldn't and fell asleep on the way home. For the conference, I stayed in the dorms, which was the cheapest option, but not the most convenient, as they were 2 miles away from the conference hotel. So, I would take the subway in and then a taxi back at night, as I was not going to take the subway after dark. One night, however, I had a security escort walk me back to the dorms, as I was within walking distance, but unsure of where my dorm was and definitely not going to wander around Philadelphia after 10 PM by myself. Drexel and UPenn are right next to each other, and they have security escorts who ride around on bikes patrolling and walking people home, which was very nice, and I had a good time talking with the guy who walked me back. I met some interesting people at the conference, and my favorite session was on outreach and special collections. Some people have done some really interesting things regarding outreach, and I was inspired. I wish I had tried harder with outreach at my old job. I signed up for a "buddy," someone who was an older and more experience member, and I met up with mine for lunch. She gave me a lot to think about, and I really appreciate meeting with her. It was one of the best things to come from the conference. There was also a book arts fair, which was really cool, but of course way out of my price range, even the cheap stuff. When I get a real job and have some expendable money though, I would love to purchase book or literary art. That's my kind of art. :-) Unfortunately, I was unable to explore much of Philly, though I did go to the Reading Street Market. That was fun and quite the experience. I'm proud of myself that I did not freak out with the crowds. Maybe I'm maturing. :-)

There is much more I could say, but this is a long post.

Blessings