Update

We are now heading into the last two weeks of the term which promises to be a crazy, crazy time. In the meantime, I’m getting sick again. I don’t know if I caught the cold that’s been going around or whatever, but it is reminiscent of what I had in December as it has already moved into my chest. I’m also starting to get very physically tired which is not good... I’ve been pretty good all day. I’ve had some coughing and some minor congestion, but for the most part my energy level has been pretty good. I’m taking Mucinex now in hopes that it works and I am able to get rid of this before it gets much worse. Anyway, we’ll see where this goes.

Otherwise, things are pretty good right now. I’ll let you know how the next two weeks turn out though.

Kate

Some thoughts...

Some thoughts now, probably more later.

We are at the end of the second day here in Ft. Worth. We have the evening off an totally on our own. I’m very tired and about to take a nap before my friends and I venture out for dinner. However, I thought I would write some quick reflections now with the intent of writing some more later.

At the end of today I’m still interested in community-based organizing and probably more so on one level due to some connections I’ve made, yet at the same time less excited about it on another level. I think it sounds like a very interesting way of doing leadership in the church and the more I learn about it, the more I think I would like to try it in a congregation setting to see what happens. However, I also realize that it is not the only way to do mission and therefore am becoming less excited about it simply based on the fact that I know it is only one way. Nevertheless, there were some connections I made today during a workshop that has interested me. It seems to me that community-based organizing and pastoral care share a lot of the same principles. I actually wonder if that’s why community-based organizing works in many cases because it shares these same principles and may be seen as pastoral care on a larger level. That gets me excited... partially because I love pastoral care and partially because a big component of pastoral care is relationships which I love. It is all about relationships. =)

On another note, it is also very cool being here because when we gather as a large group, we are probably one of the most ethnically diverse groups in the ELCA. It is awesome to see the range of people who are Lutheran and how we all live out our faith lives. The diversity is definitely something I’ve been missing lately.

Ok, enough for now. Time for a nap.

Kate

Ft. Worth...

I’m in Ft. Worth... very tired and probably heading to bed. I will say that the stuff we’re engaged in is pretty cool so far. Tomorrow promises to be a very full and interesting day. I’ll be sure to reflect more tomorrow night or possibly even Sunday or Monday after I return. But for now it is time for bed!! It was a very, very early morning and now it is past my bed time.

Kate

New Job...

Yesterday, I was offered a new job for the spring term and today I accepted. I’m going to be the Bible Division’s research assistant starting at the beginning of the spring term. The person who was the research assistant has to relinquish the job, so they asked me. It came out of the blue, but I think it’s going to be a pretty cool job. Basically it includes checking references in manuscripts and some bibliographical work for the Bible Division professors. What’s pretty cool about it is that it can include what any of them are working on. So I’ll probably be seeing some of their manuscripts for future books and other writing projects which will be neat. So basically, I’ll be getting paid to do something I would probably do for free. =) I’m somewhat amazed they asked me because usually the division assistants are seniors. But on the other hand, I’m not terribly surprised because almost the entire Bible Division has cornered me at some point about going to grad school and getting a PhD which I am seriously considering. Actually, today when I accepted, Wally (who is the division chair) told me that one reason they asked me other than I’m a good student is because if I do decide to go to grad school, this can be something else to put on my resume. Sounds good to me.

Anyway, I should say that I will be adding another job... I’ll still be working in the computer lab too. The bonus about that job is it is almost guaranteed homework time and I get paid for that too. It’s got to be the sweetest job on campus. Plus, if it is ever slow for me for homework, I could technically work on the stuff for my new job while I’m in the lab... make double the money for the same number of hours - sweet!

The only other hot topic thing right now is Ft. Worth. I leave early Friday morning to head there for a conference. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m excited about the conference itself; plus, I’m excited to get out of here for the weekend. It does mean I’m losing a weekend... but I would probably lose this weekend anyway because it is also Visit Trinity (when prospective students come) and originally I was signed up to help with several of the events. Anyway, I’m looking forward to it and I think it will be awesome. Plus, the hotel we’re at for the conference is the hotel (apparently) that JFK stayed at the night before he was shot. Now it’s a Radisson, I don’t know what it was then, but I thought that was pretty cool.

I’ve probably written enough and it is definitely time to go to bed. I’m pretty wiped. The last several days have been extremely busy.

Kate

Wrap up

So I met with the last potential supervisor on Thursday - that would be the guy from Portland. I liked him and thought it would be a good site to be at. I think at this point I’d be really happy with Portland, Chagrin Falls, or even Jamestown... but we’ll see where I wind up. I have a couple more months now to wait... so it’s back to normal for now, back to academics, church, and the hospital. =)

As for the rest of the week, it went pretty well. I got some much needed rest on Friday with some work accomplished (although, not too much). I then worked my butt off yesterday preparing some stuff for confirmation today and worship this week. I spent today at church (of course) and then starting a sermon for Transfiguration (two weeks away). This week looks a little crazy (it’s my I-group’s worship week which means I’ve got stuff to get ready for Wednesday along with homework) and then I leave early Friday morning for Ft. Worth and the ELCA CBOSS event. So I basically lose my whole weekend (leave Friday, come back Sunday) and then move into a week when I’ll have to start writing papers in addition to the sermon. Needless to say, these next couple weeks could be interesting.

I’m going to make an effort to write during these upcoming weeks, but if you don’t hear from me in a while... that’s why.

Kate

So Far...

Here’s the update so far.

The guy I met with on Monday night and liked so much was from Chagrin Falls, OH (the Cleveland area).

I then met with one person yesterday. He’s from Johnstown, PA. I thought he was a nice guy, but I don’t think I could work with him very well. He’s my first, “Please don’t send me here” thought.

I then met with three more people today. The first was from St. Clair Shores, MI (the Detroit area) and while I thought there were some neat things happening at the church, I was not impressed with the guy as a supervisor. So he’s a no for me too I think.

The next guy was from Jamestown, NY. I really liked him and thought there were some really good things going on at his congregation. I think Jamestown could be a good match.

The third and final guy I talked to today was from Richland Hills, TX (the Ft. Worth area). I have mixed feelings about him and his site. I thought the congregation sounded kind of neat... definitely a new experience for me (it’s big, and it’s busy). I also thought he was a good guy, could maybe work with him. But I also think his idea of how internship would be is a little too contrived. I’m not sure I’d get a real sense of parish ministry while on internship there. I understand that his model is to try to stay out of the ditch that a lot of interns wind up in, that is to be pigeonholed into doing something to serve a need the congregation has rather than allowing them to experience a variety of things. But, I think, by trying to stay out of that ditch, he has gone too far to the other side of the road and wound up in the other ditch. I don’t know. A lot of people I’ve talked to think it sounds like an excellent model and there are definitely some neat things about it. But I just feel like I would be allowed to be the intern even though that’s very clearly the intent. It’s kind of ironic actually... so there’s the mixed feelings.

Anyway, I have one more meeting left. I meet with the guy from Portland tomorrow. I’ve heard nothing but good things about him... but I also think everybody wants to go there. So we’ll see. I’ll provide another update later in the game.

Kate

At this point...

At this point in the game, I’m starting to think I’m very happy my internship placement is not up to me.

I had my first meeting tonight with a prospective internship supervisor. It went really well. I liked the guy and think he would be a good match as far as being a supervisor. He’s pretty much what I’m looking for in a supervisor, so that’s cool. I’m also excited about his congregation and found the idea of a large suburban congregation that is mission-minded very intriguing. However, in starting to think about the fact this is my first meeting and I have five more to go, I also realize that I am bound to find others I really like. Which leads me to the idea I’m glad I don’t have to decide. Knowing that I am pretty agreeable and work well with many different types of people, I am really glad I don’t have to decide. I think it would be incredibly difficult for me to make a decision.

I am confident the Spirit will match me to the supervisor and congregation I need to be at. For now, I’m excited about talking to more people and seeing what else and who else is out there.

Kate

Update...

It’s been a couple of days since my last post... so here’s an update.

In recent news, the ELCA and Trinity are paying for me and six other students to attend the Congregation-based Organizing Strategic Summit (CBOSS) event in Ft. Worth, TX in two weeks. Congregation-based organizing is about working for justice and the good of all people through congregations and faith communities. I’m pretty excited, I think it will be an awesome conference. I hope to learn a lot during the three days we’ll be there.

In other news, I’ve been on call at the hospital since last night at 9. Thankfully, last night was mercifully quiet, but I did have an early morning wake up call and wound up going into the hospital at 6 this morning. I then was back in at 10 and then again at noon. I was able to get out of the hospital at around 2:00 this afternoon and stay out until about 7:30 this evening. I had seven pages for four patients, all of whom died. Four deaths and I still have about nine more hours on call. I’m not really sure where I’m at with all of this... January was a very quiet month for me. I was on call six times and only had to go into the hospital once during those six times. I had a whole Friday night/Saturday where I didn’t have to go in at all. It was really weird. Today is sort of a little more normal for me... I usually get paged and wind up at the hospital a couple of times at least. This is, however, probably close to the greatest number of people I’ve had die in such a short period of time... and I’ve had nothing else. Usually I get somebody who makes it... at least for the time being. There also seems to be something about having such a quiet month and then the first time I’m on call in February, boom, I get hit with four deaths. Yet, in many ways, I’m detached enough and ok enough with death that it doesn’t bother me as much as I think it would have eight or ten months ago. I don’t know... really, I’m doing ok. Even in the midst of the deaths, I have had a couple of really cool experiences today. Two families were really big on telling stories, so it was neat to hear about the person each time. The last one though was very sad - 29 year old diagnosed with lung cancer in September coded tonight and didn’t make it. He was married six months ago... was diagnosed two weeks after their honeymoon. His wife, her mom, and his mom were very emotional (I definitely would be) and I don’t think the staff quite knew what to do about it. The other was very low key and all the family wanted was a prayer. Anyway, that’s probably more than any of you wanted to know... but I felt I needed to process some of it. Let’s just hope that tonight is quiet still because I’ve got to teach Sunday school in the morning. =)

I believe that’s it for now... at least all of what is on my mind. Things are going pretty well here... busy as usual though. I’ll be reflecting on some of the internship stuff in the next couple of days I’m sure. One of my meetings got moved up to Monday night... so maybe then I’ll start.

Kate

Internship

Most of you know that I will be going on internship next year. Our class, right now, is in the middle of the assignment process. Basically, the way it works at Trinity, is the contextual ed director assigns you to an internship site. Now, there is a lot of stuff that actually goes into this process so it is a good match. Back in October, each of us had to turn in internship applications that had all sorts of information about us on there. It encompassed everything from what geographic locations we’d like to where we had grown up to previous work experience to a one page autobiographical statement. Almost anything you would want to know about me, fact wise, was contained in those seven pages or so (ok, not really, but it sure seemed like it). Then, after we turned that in, we sat down for a one-on-one interview with our advisor and Jane Jenkins (the contextual ed director). The purpose of this interview was the flush out what was in the paperwork and for Jane to get to know each of us a little better.

That was pretty much what has happened up until now. Next week is a meet and greet event during which several potential supervisors come to campus. As part of this, Jane gives us a list of people she wants us to talk to (at least three people). These meetings are one-on-one with the potential supervisor and 45 minutes is allocated for each meeting. They occur over a three day period. Anyway, last week, we got our list from Jane of people to talk to. I have six people on my list! We are encouraged to sign up for more meetings, but I think six is plenty. My schedule is pretty full next week.

The thing about this is that not all the supervisors will be there. But there are reasons Jane has us talking to the people she has us talking to. Either they are potential people she is considering for us or they match characteristics of people she is considering, people who can’t be there. I actually think some of them might just be Jane seeing how we do with somebody who will be totally wrong for us. =) Having six people makes me think that she either doesn’t know what to do with me or I have the potential to work with any of them and she wants to see how I’ll do. I believe it might be a combination of the two. There are probably some of my classmates that will be very obvious who they will work with best and who they won’t... but as my advisor said in my one-on-one with Jane in October, I will be easy to place because he believes I could do well with a variety of people. And so a variety of people I get: Portland, OR; Ft. Worth, TX; St. Clair Shores (Detroit), MI; Chagrin Falls (Cleveland), OH; Johnstown, PA; and Jamestown, NY.

Up until last week, I’ve been pretty ambivalent about the whole internship process. I’m excited to go, but at the same time, I knew it was way off in the future and I have other things to worry about now. I think, honestly, my advisor has been more excited about the whole thing for me than I have been. But last Wednesday my mind temporarily left this place and was out on internship for the day. Thankfully, things went back to normal on Thursday. I am my old ambivalent self again. I don’t know that I would mind going to any of those places geographically. It will certainly be interesting to see what the supervisors are like next week. I will certainly let you know what I think.

Kate

How are things going?

I recently asked a friend how things were going... really, a pretty standard question for me to ask. His response was, “Bad.” I wasn’t totally caught off guard; I knew there were some things going on for him and that was partially why I asked. But his response did make me thing a little later about the question and my responses to it when I’m asked.

That question, “How are things going?” is a question usually reserved for a quick greeting in the hall... something asked in passing. Another version of it is “How are you doing?” Either that or in pastoral care type conversations, or even just conversations with a friend; but I think most frequently I ask it and hear it in the context of a greeting, usually in a hallway. When I’m asked, my typical response is. “Alright.” Nothing terribly specific, nothing that will point in either direction. If things really are good, then I’ll probably express that... but if things aren’t so good, alright will suffice. I think part of this is because I’m not willing to take the time (or sometimes I just don’t have it) to discuss anything futher. The minute you say things aren’t good, that things are even bad, people want to know why and how and how that’s affecting you. Part of that is the natural human instinct to figure out what’s going on I suppose. But, especially around here, people genuinely care and want to help in anyway possible. I think it’s a symptom of a life of ministry... a disease that has affected this place... one that I’m not sure I really want to cure. =) Anyway, I think when the question is asked in passing, in a hallway, I’m less likely to be honest, to open up, because that would take up more of my time and energy. Now, change the context, and I’m probably more likely to be honest, to open up. If I’m with a good friend and we’re sitting someplace talking, that’s a bit different.

What made me think of all this I suppose was the context in which I had asked the question. It was almost in passing, in the courtyard between buildings. Yet my friend was extremely blunt - things are bad. I think even those times I’m being more honest, I tend to try and paint a slightly better picture of things for myself... I don’t think I have ever described things as bad... I’m more likely to hedge things a bit. I wonder if that is simply an encouragement for myself. I don’t want to admit how bad things really are. Or, perhaps, my willingness to always look for the good in things. I don’t know...

So, in some respects, my friend’s bluntness caught me off guard. But I’m glad he and I talked. He appreciated my asking and it gave me something to think about. I don’t think I’ve come to an answer about any of this, nor do I think I need to. These are simply some observations about how we view things and then how we voice them (which are often not the same way).

Kate

Flying By...

I realize it’s almost been a week since I last posted... but only because I’m looking at the date I last posted and today’s date together. Otherwise, it really does not seem like it has been that long. I believe it is because time is just flying by. Tomorrow starts the fourth week of the term and I’m sure that before I know it we’ll be at the end of the term. I really just don’t know where all this time is going.

In other news, I am definitely back into the swing of classes and such. I spent much of the day yesterday in the library partially because I really needed to get some stuff done but also because I just simply wanted to get some work done and that’s always been a good place for me to be. I’m also honestly starting to think that the more I study, the longer I’m in seminary, the bigger a dork I become. I’m excited (but also willing to laugh at myself for this) because I found a website tonight that allows me to download MP3s of the New Testament being read in Greek. Man! What a geek! I think I’m sick, yet I’m not sure I want a cure either. Anyway, definitely back into the swing.

Here’s something I feel like I need to debrief/journal about. As part of my MIC experience this year, I’m visiting two members of our congregation on a fairly regular basis. I made my first visit to one of these ladies on Friday. Overall, it was a good visit and I am happy that I get to walk with her on her journey for a short while. But one thing about it makes me stop and think about a lot of things taking me back to CPE. This particular person has had a lot of health problems lately and after being in rehab has moved to her daughter’s house until she is strong enough to move back to her own house. She can’t drive and only gets out if someone takes her or occasionally to go out to eat with her daughter and son-in-law. She also doesn’t have very many visitors. Anyway, she was extremely glad to see me. Partially, I think, because she and I used to talk when she was still going to church, but additionally because she really wants to be with people. During our visit, she talked a lot and I listened which is exactly what I had planned. But after an hour, I needed to go. I wanted to stay, but I had other things to do. Additionally, I thought (and this is totally a CPE thing), have I been here long enough, too long or not long enough? I wound up excusing myself at a point when the conversation died down a bit, but she asked if I really had to go. I wanted to say no I think because I do enjoy visiting with her, but also because I felt bad she didn’t have anybody else there at the moment (her daughter and son-in-law work during the day) and I would be leaving her to an empty house. I genuinely felt bad. But I also knew that I had other things I needed to do and other appointments to keep. I also knew that I couldn’t be there with her all day, every day, and I can’t take away how lonely she is. I did tell her that I would like to come back and visit again. She really liked that idea. I have to say I look forward to it, but I also have the feeling that I will feel the same way next time too. I really wish people didn’t have to be so lonely, it makes me sad. But regardless, it was a good visit.

That’s probably enough from me for now... probably more than needed to be written, but oh well. More at a later time I’m sure.

Kate

The North

There are a couple of things I miss about the southern portion of the United States (particularly the Southwest). Now that it is winter, there is one in particular I am reminded of almost every day. I am reminded that in the winter we get significantly less daylight each day than the southern half of the United States. Almost every day (with maybe the exception of Saturday and possibly Friday), I go to sleep when it is dark (and has been dark for a while) and I get up and leave when it is still dark. Now, I know I don’t usually get as much sleep as I should, but it should be noted that it is dark here for at least fourteen hours a day, if not more. If I went to bed when it gets dark around 5 or 5:30 and got up when the sun rises sometime between 7:30 and 8, then I would be very well rested.

When I was in high school, which was the last time I really remember getting up early on a regular basis, it was only around the time of the switch off of daylight savings time in the fall that I would drive to school in the dark. I almost always left the house to go to school at 7, and usually the sun was up by then. But this is New Mexico which is closer to the equator. This is showing me how much further north Ohio is and subsequently darker (not to mention all the clouds which usually don’t bother me). My temptation is to say the whole getting up before the sun thing needs to stop, but I don’t really see that happening while living in Ohio, at least in the winter anyway. During the summer, I would usually get up before the sun, but by the time I left the sun was usually up thanks to the rotation of the earth. That’s the bonus I guess... darker during the winter and brighter during the summer.

So that’s the random musings of the day... more later I’m sure.

Kate

Something Really Cool...

I had the privilege of being part of something really cool today.

On Friday, Jen told me about a meeting that she thought I might be interested in going to. She had been told by her MIC supervisor and he said she was invited and could bring a friend if she wanted; but we had to keep it quiet. Why the secrecy and what kind of meeting was this?

For the past three months, an ecumenical group of local clergy have been meeting along with some lawyers in an attempt to write a complaint addressed to the IRS. They believe (and I think rightfully so) that the pastor of World Harvest Church in Columbus, Rod Parsley, and another pastor of a church in Lancaster, OH, and their churches have been violating the IRS tax code. They have been using their churches as a means for electioneering. So, they had finally crafted the complaint asking for the IRS to investigate these two pastors and their churches; calling additionally for an injunction. Today’s meeting was a meeting of local clergy to sign this so it can be sent to Washington.

This has the possibility of being huge and as I write this, the story should be going out on the AP wire. Plus, it will also be appearing in the New York Times and the Columbus Dispatch. NPR has already interviewed Jen’s MIC supervisor and the story should appear there too. Rod Parsely and World Harvest have become ‘rising stars’ in the national religious arena as well as the conservative Christian political arena. I actually saw him on Larry King Live some time last fall. Additionally, in light of the IRS tax investigation of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, CA, this should make national news. With all this media coverage (hopefully), it would be dumb for the IRS to ignore it.

So anyway, we’ll see where this goes. As I am not clergy yet, I didn’t sign it, but that’s ok. Getting to be there and witness this was kind of cool. I hope it works because I, honestly, think that what Parsley and his church claim to be the gospel is in fact a load of crap. Health and wealth will not be bestowed on you by Jesus because you give your life savings to World Harvest, Rod Parsely, and whatever causes they might support. It angers me.

In fact, I just checked the New York Times website and sure enough, there was the story underneath National News. Here’s the link to the story: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/16/national/16church.html

Anyway, that’s the scoop... we’ll see what happens next.

Kate

Time is passing...

I have been a firm believer for a while now that time does actually seem to get faster the older a person gets. However, I am still amazed at how fast time seems to be passing the older I am getting. It seems that even one more year, or even one more quarter in the academic year, makes time go that much faster. We’re already done with the second week of our term, only eight more to go and I don’t even know where this week went. It will be the end of the term before we know it... it will be the end of the spring term before we know it, it will be the end of the summer and the start of internship before we know it... I just don’t know where the time is going. I run through days and before I know it, it’s time to go to bed and get up for another day. Then, before I know it, it is the end of the week and I have a few precious days of rest (but sometimes not) before it starts all over again. I don’t know where the time goes, but I think I’m ok with that. I’m enjoying the ride.

Kate

Who Says Worship Isn’t Fun?

Funny story from seminary...

Today, during chapel, we had a baptismal remembrance. After Pastor Ruth and Jeremie (who were leading worship) moved over to the font, Ruth started a short reflection. One thing you have to understand about the font at Trinity is that it is big and it has the ability to drip water. The noise of the dripping water (there’s a place for it to go, it doesn’t get all over the floor) serves as both a symbol of the running, living water we are baptized in and as an audible reminder of our baptisms.

Back to Ruth... during her reflection, she referenced the drip... but there was just one problem, it wasn’t turned on today. She looked at the font briefly, made mention of it and moved on. Apparently, this whole thing troubled the president of the seminary, Mark Ramseth. He got up, while Ruth was still talking, and started looking around the font. He was looking for the switch to turn the font “on” yet he didn’t find it. You know why? Because it’s not actually on the font, it’s up in the sound booth. It was hysterical! Here’s Ruth giving a short reflection on baptism and our beloved president is wandering around the font with a confused look on his face looking for a switch that isn’t anywhere near him. He finally gave up and sat down, but not before spending 30 seconds looking for it. And who said worship wasn’t any fun??

Kate

Barn Raising

Sometimes I struggle. I struggle to see God working in this world. There are times when all I see is the horrible realities of life all around me. All I see is the brokenness of humanity. It is during these times that I have problems seeing what is right in front of me... of seeing God’s love in the midst of the crap. It ebbs and flows... I always believe, always trust... but sometimes I wonder where God is in all of this. I wonder if God is really here or gone missing. Most of the time I wonder if I’m just missing what is really here. But there are definitely times when I struggle to preach the gospel because in many ways the words I speak sound incredibly hollow. How do words take away grief? How do words give hope? I ask myself these questions sometimes.

Now is not one of those times thankfully. Now I can see the ways God is working in the midst of everything. Not great things in matters of scale, but small things here and there remind me that we aren’t alone. We have not been left alone. Something that reminded me of this is something I recently read by Anne Lamott. In her book, Traveling Mercies, she has a section entitled “Barn Raising.” She talks about her friends who have a daughter recently diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. She talks about walking on the journey with them from diagnoses up through the time of the writing. Life is not easy for them, in fact it can be downright difficult. Yet she and the rest of their friends continue on the journey with them. Somewhere along the way, she realized that she (and the rest of their friends) could not take away the pain they were feeling. But what they could do, she describes as building walls around them. They can build walls that form into protection. This is what she writes:

Except that we, their friends, all know the rains and the wind will come, and they will be cold - oh, God, will they be cold. But then we will come too, I said; we will have been building this barn all along, and so there will always be shelter. (pp. 153-4)

That’s grace. Crap will happen... but there are people there to walk with you and to build barns around you when you need it. People to cook you food, people to take care of children, people to listen, people to hug, people to cry with you. God builds barns all around us when we need shelter, and uses our friends and other people around us to do it.

Kate

One week done... nine more to go.

So, one week of the term is done, only nine more to go. I’m settling back into the swing of things and it looks like classes (for the most part) will be good this term. I’m also enjoying being back here with friends and the community here, I really missed some of it during interim and while I was in New Mexico. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed being in New Mexico too and I miss all those people now that I’m back.

I’ll probably write more later... but for now, time to get going on the homework I suppose. I think I’ve procrastinated long enough.

Kate

Start of a New Term

Tomorrow starts a new term. In many ways, it seems like we haven’t been in classes in a really long time, like it is the start of a whole new school year. Granted, it’s been almost three weeks since my last interim class, but really that isn’t that long. I don’t remember the beginning of the winter term last year feeling like I had been away that long and I was out of the country for interim and not in Ohio for over a month. I don’t know what it is really... maybe I miss being in classes. Well, I guess to a certain extent I do.

I am excited about starting classes again tomorrow. I just can’t get away from reading some sort of theology books nor can I really escape theological conversations. It is hard for me to totally turn it off, I really enjoy it. I suppose it’s a good sign, I really enjoy what I’m doing. But I also think about trying to balance work with play... that way I don’t get burned out. I think to a certain extent, it concerns me slightly that I’m not able to completely detach (in the past three weeks I finished one theology book and am about halfway through another in addition to reading a novel) when I’m on vacation. But I also think that if I were getting burned out, I wouldn’t be attracted to it, I wouldn’t want to read the books. But I don’t know... how healthy is it?

Oh well... that’s what’s been on my mind, especially when thinking about the start of the term. One thing I will miss about vacation, sleep. I’ve been getting plenty lately and I’m not sure I’m ready to live on caffeine again. But that’s ok... it will work, it always does. Plus, this term should be quite a bit less hectic than the fall term. Even the type of classes I have lend themselves to a better schedule. Plus, some of the other commitments I had during the fall term either decrease significantly or go away altogether this term. However, in the meantime, there will be others that are increased or come up... but I still think it won’t be as crazy as the fall term was. Let’s just hope that I’m right. =)

Kate

Time Zone Changes

Changing time zones, particularly going east, can be problematic for me. I’m prone to be nocturnal anyway and stay up late. My usual bedtime is around midnight... not necessarily by choice (sometimes) but more out of my natural ways. So, when I travel back to the west, like say to New Mexico, it isn’t such a problem because I tend to go to bed around 10 there and it is easier to get up in the morning. However, the longer I am there, the more I adjust to that time zone and the later I stay up. What really screwed me up this time around was Christmas Eve. I had been going to bed at 10 for the entire first week I was there. But then I attended the 9 PM service Christmas Eve (which was good and I have no regrets) which forced me to stay up much later than my bedtime. That meant that I wound up staying up later the next night and the next. Soon I was back into my nocturnal ways there and staying up until midnight there. Now that I have returned to Ohio, I find myself staying up way, way too late. Last night, when I arrived home from the airport, I was up until about 3 or 3:30 AM. Now it’s 2 AM and I’m still not asleep. Although, I am heading in that direction soon.

It’s not so much a problem right at the moment because I don’t have a whole lot going on. I get to sleep in tomorrow. But, soon classes will start and that will be a problem. I tried getting myself up this morning at 10 to try and be tired enough to go to bed early tonight. I did get up then and I was tired earlier this evening, but I didn’t listen to my body and then got a second wind. If I’m not able to correct this in the next couple of days, Sunday should take care of it. I’ll have to get up super early anyway for church... might as well avoid a nap in the afternoon (although that might not be possible) and then go to bed early that night. We’ll see...

More later,
Kate

Welcome

Welcome to the new space for my blog. LiveJournal has served me well for the last year and a half. However, I really like the way that Blogger templates look (more than LiveJournal) and I have more control over how it looks too. Thus, I’ve decided to move my blog here. I’m keeping the original blog intact so people can look there for past entries. I hope this works as well for others as I think it will work for me. Please feel free to tell me what you think.

Kate