Popping In

Just a quick update. The beginning of school has gone very well; all my classes are emotionally challenging in really good ways, my schedule is very open and, I'm going to be staying with my other "parents" until June (when I graduate). So, now I am looking for a job (still) and a temporary home for my kitty (my other "parents" have two dogs and, well, that's different than two cats - as well as that went at my "parents"). Oh, and P.S.(before and after (14 inches later) in that order):

"Revelation is Interactive" ~ Papa Bill

Bumpy landing, with the exception of receiving "A" in crash-course on Blakely Island. Start of regular school in 5 days. Very excited and very overwhelmed. Staying with "parents" till November (except when they are out of town in which case,will stay with other "parents"). Focusing on school and healing (so, God in both cases).

Very happy to see kitty (Norris) after 3 months. Grateful for friend's excellent care of him. Will be with staying with me at "parents" house. "Parents" also have two cats; should be interesting.

Prayer and God's response deeply desired.

Until my next "away"...

Radical Symmetry

Have you ever had the thought, "How could things get worse?" I learned that the answer is...don't ask.

1) Through a frustrating and complete LACK of clear communication, I lost my job.
2) The final exam I just took...well, let's just say I failed to really "take" the exam.
3) The friend who was supposed to drive me to the Conference got in a car accident. (She's fine. Her car...isn't).
4) I STILL have no idea about the housing situation. I may be being picky, but I don't want to live just anywhere. And now, the job thing makes that harder. But, I need to decide by the 25th or fin a new place for my poor cat.
5) Fall quarter starts in ten days. I'm really excited to be studying theology again but...I don't think I'll be ready in ten days...

That's all for now. (I'm sure things still COULD get worse, but it's funny how, at this point in my life, any way you cut it, things fall (at least slightly) apart. Of course, this could be a good thing...and, it may even be an answer to the prayers I've been praying (since we all know how God's answers never really look like we expect). I'm leaving the island today (in about two hours) and, Conference still pending, this may be my last post for a while...though I do hate to end on such a cacophonous chord...so we'll see...

Fictional Drag

Today I learned that my TA (that's her - Cyan - to the left of our prof Dr. Ridgeway after having just caught a horse clam earlier this morning) is younger than me...by a lot. Awesome. But, I get to go to the Spiritual Hunger Conference with a friend! And we're going a day later, which works out since I've got to figure out my housing stuff. That is a completely overwhelming topic that I don't really want to touch right now; the open room at the place I moved out of in June is "mine unless I say otherwise" (according to my landlord); I LOVE the place I was living, but I want to live with Christians (I really miss my old roommates), I've found what seems to be good roommates but either the place is too expensive or isn't in the right location (there are only so many bus connections yet in Seattle) so I'm looking into getting a bike, which is also an overwhelming aspect in and of itself (since I hardly know anything about bikes; the last one I owned I think I left locked up on the CU campus when I moved to Seattle three years ago!). I need to move at least by the 25th since that is when the guy who is taking care of my cat is going out of town...I really need to decide... School starts on the 28th which means I need to unpack and find all my school supplies (plus order and receive the books) - but I am SO excited to bey studying theology again (with the exception of the fact that people tend to blame you for all the moral and religious problems in the world), and ends up here in two days (this final is going to be impossible). Today, though, I got to talk to my friend who was in the ER - he's home now! Also, after our "sandy intertidal" hike (I got to go clamming for the first time!!), we got some time to study, finish our notebooks, and I got to get my class presentation (on the Portuguese Man-of-War) over with, though honestly, it wasn't that great compared to the others that went today, too.
Now, all that's left is a test, and a quiz (oh and the participation points you need to get from asking questions during other presentations...)
But, despite the persistent headache all this is giving me, I'm starting to learn (by experience!) that things always work out, actually, so I guess all this stuff rubbing on me is just fictional drag.

Pisasters A'Plenty

So, yesterday was a study day. I didn't get nearly enough done. But, I did get a 93% on my midterm. I still have a presentation to finish, a paper to finish, a quiz to study for, 4 chapters to read and just a heck of a lot of work. A friend is in the ER with some weird stuff going on, which stresses me out. I really want to go to the Spiritual Hunger Conference but that depends on if I can get other people to go with me. I am overwhelmed with finding a place to live and don't know what to do with my cat. I have a final on Friday. BUT....
today we got up really early in the morning to catch a really low tide and do transect lines on the various regions of the intertidal zone and we got to see SO MANY PURPLE SEA STARS! They are, in science-speak (as in, that's their Genus name), called "Pisasters". It looks like it rhymes with "disaster" (and that is what they wreak upon ultimately defenseless mussel populations in the midlittoral regions of rocky intertidal zones) but it's actually pronounced "PIE-za-ster" which makes them THAT much cooler!!