Joy to the World

Spending 5 hours in Sears was not what I had in mind for this evening, but my car is fixed. I had a flat tire, which was due to a broken spring. So, I had a new tire put on, new springs/struts, and an alignment. It took much longer than expected, and I felt bad for the mechanic, who ended up working over 3 hours of overtime. Sears is in the mall, and I did find a really cute dress on sale at The Limited.

I had a Christmas party last night, which was fun. I had a few friends over, and we talked and played telephone pictionary. I like small, low key gatherings with good friends.

I also got my old job as a team leader, formerly known as crew chief, back at the public library, so I am working 2 jobs until the end of December when the reference intern position ends. I am going to miss that job, but I am glad that I can continue working at the public library, and I did miss aspects of my circulation job. I also made a display board/cart for the library, and it has done well and garnered some complements. One half is dedicated to "Winter Festivities," and the other half is "The Weather is Frightful: Books About Extreme Weather." The winter festivities side is cuter, but I like the other theme better. :-)

I have to work on Sunday morning, which means that I will be going to early service, and I have to miss Sunday school. I'm bummed about missing Sunday school, as we will be discussing the role of men.

Pine Scent and Lasagna

Our apartment smells like pine tree and lasagna. Separately, they are good scents, but together, it's an interesting combination. I bought a tree today. It's a very nice tree. I like it. It is, however, a bit big. My tree last year was the perfect size, but this year, it takes up a quarter of the living room. My roomie and I periodically just start laughing at it. My roomie is being very cool with it. She said it's like living in a forest. :-) It's definitely a conversation piece. I'm going to start trimming it this weekend.

There are so many things that I would like to do or to be "into," passionate about. But, one can only be "into" or passionate about a few things. My "things" are my faith, people (relationships, i.e. friends, family, patrons, etc.), books, libraries, and objects in libraries. This is actually a longer list than I thought, but I think it is difficult to be passionate about more than 5, maybe 6 things. Thus, I would like to be a better cook, crochet, work on my Spanish, learn tech skills, etc. But, I don't have the space or ability to be into these things. I can add them to my schedule, but they're not my thing, and that's ok. Time and desire. Time and desire.

Hallelujah

I wanted to share this video. The beauty of this song brings tears to my eyes. There's another video of a flash mob in a food court singing the same song, which is also amazing and highly recommended. I'm so glad that this song transcends our secularized culture. It's beauty and meaning is beyond words.

Heaven is Going to Be Huge!

Our new sermon series is about heaven, and I'm enjoying it. Today, the pastor talked about the dimensions of heaven and put it in terms I could relate to. It's going to be huge, and I'm so excited, because that means that everyone will fit. :-) And, eternity isn't as scary, because we will have no time restrictions, so we will be able to meet everyone and do everything and be with God forever! Though I really still can't visualize what it will be like; I'm just trusting that God will reveal all in His time and give me the strength to go through anything.

God is Good

This is crazy busy nutso time for me, so I probably won't be posting too much. Then again, I may post more. I'm so very good at procrastinating. :-/

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was so good to see my family, and I'm especially glad that I was able to see my brother, as I think seeing him will be more rare due to distance. Break was much too short, as I came home Wednesday night after working until 9 PM and then had to come back Friday night, as I worked 8:30 AM-5 PM today. I have to work tomorrow too. :-( But, it's good to get the hours in. I packed a lot into 2 days, including visiting with family and friends, a bit of shopping, and even some homework. *gasp*

I'm really getting into my project for my evaluations class. I'm doing real research and it's really cool, though somewhat overwhelming.

I went to the opera on the 19th for the first time. My roomie and I went with our neighbor. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed getting all dressed up and fancy, and it was all of our first times, so we shared the experience together. We saw Die Fledermaus by Strauss. It was a comedy, so lots of shenanigans and no death. It was a nice romp, and I enjoyed the music. Strauss is a fun, lively composer.

There is a blog post on the Boundless website entitled "Thanks for Nothing." The poster asks the question what are we thankful for that didn't happen? I think the topic is a really good one to ponder. I am personally thankful that I didn't get into U of I. Twice. Rejection is not easy, but it meant that I was able to work at the 'dale for a year and live on my own, and I was also able to come here to b-town. God is good, even when I don't understand what He's doing.

I'm Workin' on a Buildin'

November is finally upon us. It's dreary gray and cold. Which is as it should be. We have had an unnaturally sunny November.

I have the whole day free, so I am planning on heading up to campus after lunch and working very hard on my project for my evaluations class. I am nervous and excited about this project, as I am doing "real" research, and it is rather different from my normal research papers. I'm praying that it goes well.

I was sick last weekend, and I am doing much better, but I am still feeling weary and low energy, which is frustrating. Especially since I want to go running but know that I shouldn't until I'm back to normal.

I'm going to the opera tomorrow night with my roomie and our neighbor. It's Die Fledermaus. I've never been to the opera, and I'm rather excited, especially for the opportunity to get dressed up and go out for the evening.

I wish I had more deep thoughts, but stress is not conducive to that right now.

Blessings.

13.1 Miles

I just signed up for the mini/half marathon in Indy in May! It's the largest mini marathon in nation, and I'm excited for the experience. I can't really believe that I'm doing this, but I'm also excited. I have at least 2 other friends who are running as well, so I'll have people to train with. I know there will be days that I will so regret my decision, but I think it will, overall be good. I'm looking forward to proving to myself that I can run long distances. Now, I need to buy a good pair of running shoes.

I think I am getting sick. I have a sore throat, and I had it yesterday too. Not cool. Hopefully it's not a bad cold. I have a lot to do.

I have taught 4 instruction sessions this week, and it's been a lot of fun. This last session was rather out of my comfort zone, as it dealt with statistics and government documents, which I am not very comfortable with, but I learned more about resources we have and that are available. And, I like learning. I talked with several different librarians, and it was good. Slowly but surely, I'm becoming more familiar with Lexis Nexis. Good times.

I really need to go grocery shopping and clean my room. I'm rather out of food. I have almost finished the entire box of elbow macaroni that I made the other day. I didn't realize that not making the whole box was an option until my roomie mentioned it. Oh well, leftovers are good. :-)

We got a new dishwasher the other day, as our old one had been making horrendous grating/grinding noises. We didn't expect a new dishwasher, but we are not complaining. :-)