School Daze

In the comments for my last post, Dr. John made some requests, "How about sharing a little of school with us the next time you blog. What classes are you taking. How hard are they. What are you discovering. " Those are some excellent ideas, especially since I mentioned that all my creativity is being sucked away.

It's almost like a customize meme. The next question is how I want to answer them. Do I want to be comical like Thom? Would I prefer to be euphemistic, and thereby avoid revealing too much about how I really feel about things? Should I sound all whiney and cynical about things?

I don't feel creative enough to be comical (on purpose). And if I try to balance the euphemistic and cynical stuff, it might come out somewhere near the truth. Ah truth, if there's one thing that I'm learning about it's people's ideas about the relativeness of "truth."

First things first ... Why don't we take a little tour of the campus of Wesley Theological Seminary. This was from a few weeks ago when there were still leaves on the trees.

1. What classes are you taking? I'm taking an ambitious load of: The Hebrew Bible, The New Testament, Early Church History (up to the Reformation), Philosophy, and Teaching and Learning. It comes to 17 credit hours. The idea with this was to get the required courses completed as quickly as possible, so that I could have the maximum opportunity for electives. I also wanted to be able to take a lighter load the year that I have to write my thesis.

2. How hard are they? I wouldn't really call any of them hard, except one, but they are all a lot of work. All but one have many writing assignment due throughout the semester. Few of them are very long, but the volume of assignments is challenging. (For example, the Hebrew Bible course has nine papers due in a 13 week semester.) That surprised me. I expected fewer papers with greater length requirements. I think that the longest papers I have are about seven pages. And, of course, there's all the reading that goes along with it. The Bible's the least of it (though it is extensive, of course). It has been "interesting" trying to adapt. I think that I'm on a good schedule now.

Strangely enough, the class that's the hardest for me is "Teaching and Learning". It is designed to help us to better adapt to the learning requirements of student to be effective. I think that it's ironic that I can't seem to connect with the professor. She's trying to introduce many different teaching techniques, but I always feel lost in her class. (She's a Lutheran, btw. lol) I am encouraged, however, because we're getting to a more practical part of the syllabus where we are evaluating and creating course curriculum. I get to work with charts and do long term planning. I love that kind of stuff, and I actually think that I know what the professor wants.

So, except for that one hiccup, I really love all my classes. I'm learning about new ways to look at Scripture and work with it. And I really love how all of these classes compliment each other. I was learning about different perspectives for Bible interpretation in both Hebrew Bible and New Testament at the same time, so those new concepts were reinforced, and I felt that I really learned and understood them more thoroughly than would have been possible otherwise. Philosophy and Early Church History have had a similar relationship because, the western philosophers had a huge part to play in church history, and they were contributors or developers of theology and doctrine. Talking about them (and their place in history) in both classes really helps to get it locked into this ol' brain. :)

3. What are you discovering? I would like to answer this with "It's too early to tell." That's mostly because I don't like the answer that I have to this question. I guess I am discovering some things, but I expect my assessment to change over time. (Sorry, I'm hedging here. lol) Right now, I'm discovering that the early church leaders were just as prone to politics and infighting about theological details for both personal and spiritual reasons as people in the church are today. I actually think that it might have been worse then if you can believe it. (And I haven't even gotten to the Crusades or the wars surrounding the Reformation yet!) I guess that I had hoped that I would find some church leaders back then who treated their peers with the dignity and respect that Jesus taught in the Gospels. I'm kinda bummed about not finding it.

I'm also discovering that my fellow seminarians are just as prone to being exclusionary and insensitive as anyone in the secular world. Even when they can spout out the lessons of the Bible in class, I see very little evidence of them putting them into practice when interacting with their colleagues. That has probably disappointed me more than anything else. I guess it's a good thing that I have time for little else than my classes. (And it helps when I remember that I'm an alien, and there are some things that I just don't "get." ;) )

As you can tell, I'm a little discouraged in the emotional department. I've tried to put on a happy face, and I really haven't said too much about it because I don't want to be a whiner. But if you can't be honest on your blog, where can you be honest? Right? On the other hand, it's probably not that much fun to read. But there you are. Can't have it both ways. LOL

But having said that, I'm still really glad that I'm here, and I'm learning about things I never dreamed of in my classes. That's really awesome. Thanks be to God! :)

The Delight of Satin Sheets

I realize that I have been gone for quite a while, and really I won't be in a position to change that for quite a while, probably December at least. School is taking up so much of my time, and I have to spend so much time reading & writing that I don't have the time or creative juices to come up with blog posts. I do occasionally have time for the 140 characters for a Tweet, but that's about it. (You can see that info on my sidebar, btw, if you're one of those anti-Twitter nazis. LOL)

However, today I find myself with 10 free minutes. And since I've mentioned them in a couple of blog posts, I had to tell you about might first night on my new satin sheets. I was finally able to find some at a reasonable price, thanks to a link over @ Quilly's. They arrived yesterday.

They were WONDERFUL!!! For the first time in my life I was able to sleep in cottony pj's without waking up with the sleeves and pant legs all twisted around my arms and legs in a knot. Whenever I tried that in the past, I would wake up feeling like I'd been tied up in a tourniquet. But this morning, I found everything where it should be. ;) This will be really nice as things get colder, and I want to wear cozier things to bed.

And to all you nay-sayers, I'll have you know that I was never at risk of sliding out of bed. LOL That might be a different story if I was wearing something silky, and I'm not going to use the satin pillowcase. And that means that I get to go shopping for a nice soft pillowcase. Mmmmm ...

Final score? Satin Sheets gets 4 out of 4 stars.

Saturday 9: Let's Go to Bed

It’s Saturday 9 time! Check ‘em out!

I can't believe that it's Saturday again already. This week has been a blur, and next week promises to be even more so. But I won't bore you with that (at least not right now). LOL In the meantime ...

Saturday 9: Let's Go to Bed

1. Has a relationship been effected by how one of you slept? I don't think so.

2. What side of the bed do you sleep on? It has varied over the years. I'm currently sleeping in a single bed in my cell (as in a monastic cell as opposed to prison), so you could really say that I sleep on both sides of the bed right now. ;)

3. Do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? Usually, go to sleep on my side and wake to find that I've been sleeping on my stomach. Weird. lol

4. Describe the bedding on your bed right now. How does it change with the seasons? Are you particular about your pillows or linens? Sheets and a bed spread at the moment. What would you like to know? They've been washed recently, so I suppose that's a good thing. lol I would really love some satin sheets. It has to do with the previous question. Bed clothes seem to get all twisted in the night. Seems like that would be less of a problem with satin sheets. But this is just a theory as I've never had them before. LOL

5. When sleeping with someone, do you hog the bed, steal covers, or snore? I don't think so, but since I'm asleep, I can't tell you for sure.

6. What do you wear to bed? If it varies, explain. For most of the last 30 years, it's been in the all-together. We're back to question three and four again with the bed clothes getting all twisted in the night. However, I figured that my cell-mate wouldn't really care for that. So, considering that I don't have my satin sheets yet, I'm going for a satin nightgown. I'd still like to test out the sheets. Then, I might be able to wear something warmer for the winter. Though the adventure of wearing satin with satin sheets could be like a carnival ride. :)

7. No matter how much you love someone, would you [sometimes] rather [be] alone? I admit it. I added some words to this question, so that it would make more sense to me. Having been alone for a very long time, I'd rather not perpetually be alone. However, habits of a lifetime are hard to break, so I'm sure that I'd need some alone time no matter how desperately I loved someone.

8. Tell us about a time when you awoke in bed, saw the person next to you and thought, "Oh, no..." No, I've never blacked out about the night before. I've always been well aware of who was sharing my bed. ;)

9. Tell us about a time when you awoke thinking it was a different day than it was. The one that stands out most in my memory was when I was getting ready to come back to the States from Paris. I figured out exactly when I needed to get up the next morning and leave the hotel to get to the airport at the right time. I decided to take a little nap before getting dinner. When I finally woke up, it was like an hour and a half after when I decided that I needed to leave for the airport. I scurried around the room throwing things into my bag praying that I wouldn't miss my flight. I like to get to the airport with plenty of time, so I thought that I still might be able to make it. I had CNN International on in the background, and something about one of the news reports caught my attention. Wait! What day is this? I think it's still last night? The sun was going down, not up. Whew! Plenty of time. It was funny ... later. LOL :)


Have a great weekend! :)

Saturday 9: I Call Your Name

It’s Saturday 9 time! Check ‘em out!

Saturday 9: I Call Your Name

1. If you could have named yourself, which name would you have chosen, and why? Larisa, it was my name in Russian class, and I always liked the sound of it. Say it with me, Lar-ee-sa. Isn't it pretty? But I really do like my own name. ;)

2. If you could relive a year in your life, what age would it be, and why? Eleven was pretty good. I was in love for the first time, and he even liked me. Things were going very well in school. I had lots of friends. I loved the house we lived in with a great yard with lots of flowers, lilac and raspberry bushes, kittens. Life was good. Unfortunately trauma happened soon after, and I lost it all. :(

3. If you could go back and change one friendship in your past, who would it have been, and why? Michael Salone. He overheard something I said in the stairwell at school. He heard it out of context, and it really hurt his feelings. Things were never the same again.

4. If you could have dated one person in your past that you did not date, who would it be, and why? Only one? Of course, this question implies that I had a choice in the matter. Maybe, the best answer would be Michael Salone. That could have taken life in a new direction. But that direction could have been stuck in rural Upstate New York, divorced with a brood of kids, living on welfare and food stamps. All things considered, I like the life I have better than that.

*Hey wait a minute! What happened to #5? I think that this is Saturday 8 this week. LOL*

6. If you had the opportunity to live in another country, which one would it be, and why? If you choose NOT to live in another country, why do you want to stay in your current country? There's a lot of things that I like about the UK. I have always loved my visits there. I have friends there, and I love its accessibility to the Continent. And a bonus is that they speak English there, so my severely lacking linguistic abilities wouldn't be obvious as often.

7. If you could choose your dream job, what would it be, and why? I'm not even sure that I know what my dream job would be at the moment. That's one of the reasons that I'm in school.

8. If you could wish a wish and it be guaranteed to come true (other than riches) what would it be, and why? I was just reading the other day, I think on a friend's blog, come to think of it (Sorry that I can't remember whose.) that things don't turn out like you imagined when wishes are granted, so I think I'll pass on this one. ;) (P.S. If you want to know the real answer, you'll have to find a way to hack into my private blog. *heh-heh-heh*)

9. If you could meet two blogger friends (you may choose more, if you wish) who would they be? Oh, that's a loaded question if I ever heard one. I can't limit it to just two. That's just not my style. :)

Have a great weekend! :)

Portrait of Words - Lost

It's that wonderful time again when we get to post our Portrait of Words stories, a writing challenge where we develop a story based on a set of pictures from Portrait of Words. Go check out the talent pool over there. :)

Lost

Once upon a time there was a girl named Jill who loved flowers.  No matter where she went, regardless of how unhospitable the area would seem to be, she would go out of her way to find them.

But one day, Jill found herself in some trouble after she wandered so far off the beaten path that she was lost.

Every where she went, she found herself surrounded by water.

“How can this be?”  She asked herself.  “I got here in the first place, and I didn’t cross any water on the way.”  She looked down at her shoes to confirm her memory, but her shoes were dry.

Jill continued walking around but felt sure that she was just going in circles, but then she came across a special frog, named Peter.

You might wonder how Jill knew this frog was named Peter.  She noticed that this was a frog unlike any that she had ever seen, but believing this really to be an ordinary frog, she began speaking to it.

“I don’t know how I get myself into these things.  I just wanted to look at these flowers, and now, I’m trapped here with a bunch of frogs and birds.  It’s not that I don’t love you all, but I’d much rather sleep in my bed tonight than on the ground with you.”

Then, Jill’s eyes opened wide with surprise when the frog began to speak, “There’s no need for that, love.”  She thought that he sounded exactly like Roddy McDowell.  “No, your not dreaming,” the frog answered to her unvoiced question.   “If you continue up the path , you will come to a statue.  Behind it is the path back to your world.”

Jill could remember the statue.  She’d passed it three times.  “Thank you very much …”

“Peter.  Don’t mention it, mum.  Now, on your way.  You’ll never see it after dark.”

“Okay, and thanks again,” Jill said as she turned to leave.  She thought that she could see a sort of smile on the frog’s face, which, when you think of it, looked kind of strange.

Once again, she made her way down the winding path.  There it was.  The statue, but she didn’t see any path behind it.  All she could see were low plants and trees.  No wonder she’d missed it.  As she got closer, and because she was looking at it, she could finally see the path out. 

Once she stepped on it, she turned around, and realized that this was the way she came in.  As she made her way back to her car, she thought, I really must get GPS on my cell phone.

Unconscious Mutterings …

A little “free association” meme to start the week.  This is over at Luna Nina’s Unconscious Mutterings.  And the best part is that you can put it up any day of the week, less pressure. ;)

Free association is described as a "psychoanalytic procedure in which a person is encouraged to give free rein to his or her thoughts and feelings, verbalizing whatever comes into the mind without monitoring its content." […]

"Rules are, there are no rules." There are no right or wrong answers. Don't limit yourself to one word responses; just say everything that pops into your head.

Hippity-Ho, and Away We Go!

1. Omelette ::  Cheese.  Why?  I have no idea.  I don't even like omelettes. lol
2. Classic :: movie
3. Thrifty :: spender
4. Search :: engine
5. Fan :: Hmmmm ... almost simultaneously I thought of the fan that blows air around the room and the person who admires an artist (music, writing, film, etc.).
6. Fussy :: I'm not ...
7. I am not ::  No fair!  I didn't even cheat looking at this for my last answer.  (Not consciously anyway.)  LOL :)
8. Indulge :: What is it that I would like to indulge in?    I don't think that I have the right resources and connections to do it.  But one day, God willing. ;)
9. Poor :: Aunt Arlene, she passed last Friday morning.  She had terminal cancer, and they only discovered it 2 or 3 days before she died.  She had been going to specialists for 2 years trying to figure out what the problem was.  I admit that I'm a little bitter about the whole thing.  Something similar happened to my dad, who had been under regular medical care for the last 30 years (doctor visists every three months or so).  I'm having a hard time understanding how it's possible that they didn't catch it sooner.  Don't really have a high opinion of physicians at the moment.
10. Manicure ::  *Looks down at nails*  Sure wish I could have one, but I think I'd rather have a pedicure. :)

This sure was a fun way to start the week!  :)

Saturday 9: The Last Time

It’s Saturday 9 time! Check ‘em out!

Saturday 9: The Last Time

1. When was the last time you bought something for someone else, and what was it? Last night, I bought dinner for my roommate.

2. When was the last time you complimented someone, and what was their reaction? Yesterday, their reaction was to deny it and then compliment me. It became kind of a mutual admiration contest. Those are always fun. :)

3. When was the last time you had to return a purchase to the store? What was it and why? I don't know if this technically applies, but this week I had to contact the company from whom I'm renting my textbooks. One (of like a total of 20) never arrived. I explained to them that I had to buy the book in the meantime, and they cheerfully refunded my money.

See Quilly, I told you I would look into that. ;) They saved me some serious buckage. It basically cost me half of what they would have cost otherwise. Even if this school's bookstore had a buy-back policy (which they don't), I'd never get back as much as I'm saving by renting them. They also have a "library" service that works a lot like Flickr. If anyone's interested why don't you go on over to Quilly's and click on her link, so that she can make a few pennies. :)

4. When was the last time you had an ice cream cone? Far too long, but really only a few months @ Dairy Queen. Haven't seen any of those her in DC, but they've got a lot of other neat places.

5. When was the last time you had to go to the doctor's office? It's been a REALLY long time since I've been, so I really couldn't say.

6. When was the last time you were embarrassed by something you did? What was it and what happened? REALLY embarassed? I think I've blocked if from my memory banks. I really don't remember ... really! lol

7. When was the last time a stranger was kind to you? I come across kind strangers all the time. The one that's sticking in my mind was from yesterday. A cashier at a store told me that I could get free validated parking in a shopping area where I'd paid to park (and had a hard time finding a place at that).

8. When was the last time you locked yourself out of your home? What did you do? I don't think that I want to talk about it. Might jinx myself. ;) lol

9. When was the last time you thought about cheating (on anything, a test or a person)? If I'm defining "cheating" as doing anything outside the normal rules of society (This would include speeding, running a red light, cutting in line at the grocery store, etc.), I probably think about it every day, but I try really hard to resist. I don't always succeed. (Does anybody?) :)

Have a Great Weekend! :)

Happy Blogoversary

I can hardly believe that I started this blog one year ago today.  Things have changed so much in my life since then.  I created this as a place for my fictional writings, but as I got to meet so many different people while working on writing challenges, I decided to expand a bit.

The sad thing, right now, is that I haven’t had very much time to blog in the last several weeks.  The fact that I began Seminary is a contributing factor, but not in the way that you might think.  Basically, it comes down to the fact that I don’t have as powerful internet connection as I used to, so everything takes three times longer than it used to.  Once I’ve done all my work on my online course, there isn’t a lot of time for the blog.  I’ll just have to play it by ear.

But today is a special occasion, so I will illustrate my adventures of the last month with you. :)

On the way to Washington D.C., I spent about five days with my mom in Tennessee.  I mentioned that staying at her place was almost like being at a resort.  Here’s some of the reasons why …

The “Veranda”

The  “Grounds”

The “Gardens”  

A close-up of one of the flowers

And the view from the Veranda

It was a wonderful time, and too soon, I was on my way to D.C.  It took me a couple of weeks to get a feel for the place, but I’m settling in.  And it’s even starting to feel like home.

This must be one of my favorite monuments that I’ve seen in D.C.  It is the World War II Memorial.  I’ve never seen pictures of it at night, and this hardly does it justice.  It is beautiful and mesmerizing.

The Korean memorial is really even more incredible, especially at night.  I’m going to go back to try to get some photos of that.

I also celebrated my birthday since I’ve been here.  I am the ripe old age of 41.  Though it’s easily the average age in all of my classes, it is decidedly older than most of my dorm-mates.

I decided not to make a big deal about it, but somehow I let it slip to my roommate when I was explaining why my mother sent me a box.  She told her friend, and they insisted on taking me to a French bakery that I found up the road in Potomac, MD.  A good time was had by all, as you can see.

Ji-Yeon insisted on party hats.  I made them go first. ;)

But I relented.  :)

While I’ve been here, I’ve been touring different churches each Sunday.  So far I’ve been to four.  This past week was the National Cathedral.  It really is an amazing piece of architecture.  But I really think that it looks remarkably like Norte Dame in Paris.  What do you think?

Notre Dame …

National Cathedral …

Notre Dame (a little burry)…

National Cathedral …

See what I mean? I still think that the National Cathedral is amazing.  I’m just sayin’. ;)

The detail of the carvings in this place defy description.  This is the pulpit.

I’ll have to come here again to do a more complete tour of the place.  It’s huge.  I’m not sure where I’m going this weekend.  I did here something about services by Franciscan monks done in Spanish.  That ought to be interesting.

So now we’re all caught up.   Happy Blogoversary to me. :)

Saturday 9: The Waiting

It’s Saturday 9 time!  Check ‘em out!

Saturday 9: The Waiting

1. Have you ever stayed online for a very long time waiting for someone?  Yes.

2. How do you eat oreos?  I usually twist them apart and eat the filling first.  If milk’s handy, I might dunk the cookie.

3. Are you cocky?  Don’t think so.

4. Did you have an imaginary friend as a kid?  Not the traditional kind. ;)

5. What t.v. station do you watch the most?  Was watching CBS.  Now, I’m not watching any.

6. Have you ever seen the ocean?  Oh yes, many times.

7. Have you ever been hospitalized? No.

8. What's your favorite brand of rootbeer?  Rootbeer? Blech!

9. Could you live without a computer?  Sure, but I wouldn’t have as many friends (real or imaginary). :)

These questions didn’t inspire too much commentary from me this time.  Sorry about that.  Things are getting more “normal” for me every day at school.  Tonight we’re supposed to have a tour of DC with dinner in town, so that ought to be fun.

Have a great weekend!

We're Goin' on a Road Trip

Contrary to rumors and other sorts of speculation, I have am alive and well in Washington D.C. Sorry that it’s taken me so long to send out an update, but things have been a tad bit intense. lol

Some of you may already know that I got out of Odessa a day late. I might not have gotten out at all if it were not for my dear friend Tammy. I might have had a nervous collapse if it weren’t for her. There are lots of people who helped me in so many ways. Sometimes it was as small as a smile or a kind word when I looked like I was near the breaking point. They’ll never know how important all of those things were to me. I am so thankful!

In the end, we were able to get everything out of the apartment. I wasn’t able to fit everything I intended in the car, so I had to make some last minute decisions. I left almost all of my books behind. *sob* The only books I brought were 2 Bibles. In the end, it was a good thing because the shocks on my car were weighed down about as low as they could go, and I’m not sure that they could have taken the weight of all of those books! (A tiny fraction of my library) Luckily, there was enough space in my storage unit to accommodate all of the extras. Kudos to the guys who moved my furniture and most of my household goods. They arranged everything in there so efficiently!

Got out on the road bright and early. Most of you know how much I enjoy a good road trip, but I’ve got to admit that this one was a bit more stressful than usual. With all of the cargo, I could feel every bump in the road. Oh, and did I mention that I had my bicycle strapped to the back of car on a bike rack? I made sure it was securely fastened, but with every dip in the road, I glanced back to make sure that there was no movement or shifting. I was a little more cautious, with more frequent stops, but everything went a-okay!

My first stop was to my mother’s in Tennessee. I spent almost a whole week there, and it was wonderful. I needed a chance to recharge my batteries, and it couldn’t have been nicer. I’ll be posting some pictures of the beautiful landscaping they’ve done. It was like staying in a fancy resort. I, also, took the opportunity to leave at least 1/3 of the contents of my car at her house. A lot of it was heavy stuff, so I was definitely able to lighten my load. That made the final leg of the drive to D.C., on Saturday, a lot less stressful … Until I hit the rain. lol

The rain wasn’t bad, but again it put me behind schedule. (Most of you probably know that I hate to be late. lol) Then, the traffic when I hit D.C. was a little congested because of the rain. I called the housing office and let them know that I would be a little late (turned out to be about an hour), and they said no problem. They had a guy on call who could get me my key. That all worked out well, and I was able to get in.

It was mostly only a light rain, and I could park very near the entrance to the dorm. So I put on my raincoat and got the important stuff unloaded. The rest has been accompanying me upstairs whenever I come in. It’s pretty much all up here now.

My roommate arrived the next morning. She had just flown in from Korea! She is a lovely girl named Ji-yeon. (It’s pronounced exactly like it’s spelled.) She doesn’t speak a lot of English, but we’re working things out. :) Understandably, jetlag has hit her pretty hard, so she’s been sleeping a lot the last couple of days, but we’re both quiet and accommodating, so I think everything will work out well.

I’m learning about and adjusting to the ways of Washington D.C. (that means traffic, mostly). The geography/topography is nothing like I expected. I can’t even tell you what I expected except that it wasn’t this. Basically, the town in built on rolling hills with lots of trees and very narrow streets. It really is beautiful, but it will take a bit of getting used to. I guess it really goes to prove that no matter how much research you do, there’s nothing like on the ground reconnaissance. I haven’t taken any pictures yet because I’m not even sure what I’m looking at! lol Soon, I promise.

I brought my camera with me on a walk this evening, but I forgot to take it out. lol One interesting thing I saw was the residence for the Swedish ambassador. It’s about 200 yards from the school. Is it odd that it has Spanish roof tiles? LOL :)

That’s all the news that’s fit to print. (And probably more than you wanted to know. See that’s why Twitter’s so good. You’re limited to 140 characters, so it’s hard to get longwinded. lol)