RDs at Carrabba's

Chad, me, Launa, and Alex

Tonight Launa (my supervisor) took the Res Life team out for dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill in Mishawaka. The food was tasty, the conversation was entertaining, and the people were the best! I really enjoy working with this group of people. I feel that each one brings great gifts to our team and the supportive atmosphere that exists between us is unparalleled. It was wonderful to celebrate another year of hard work, fun times, greater learning, and good memories.

I had the Chicken and Spinach Cannelloni...hand rolled cannelloni stuffed with chicken, spinach, garlic, fresh herbs, fontina and romano cheese, topped with pomodoro an cream sauce. It was delicate and light, yet rich and mouth watering. We also shared an appetizer of the Grilled Bruschette. To steal a word from my favorite tv cooking personality Rachael Ray....it was yumm-o!

A new job, a new schedule, it's all good

The grounds crew planted pretty flowers in front of my apartment today!

I am so glad it is summer! It's only been a few days, but I really am having a wonderful time. It seems like forever ago that the students were here. And I don't really miss them yet - well, maybe a few special ones, but in general I don't. I love coming and going as I please, not having to worry about if anyone is causing trouble in the dorms is a relief, and working in ITS Media is great - I love the people there and the work is so very different from what my job normally entails. I really feel much more at peace and rested after just these past few days. I am still working on getting on a "normal" sleep schedule - I went to bed at 11:45 lat night, so I think that's progress. I'd love to get to the point where I am in bed by 11:00, but we'll see if I can do that...it's somewhat doubtful!

Memorial Day

Back in the day, Memorial Day was a day without work and with a whole lot of fun. I remember many bbqs, trips to Chicago, pool parties - just being with the singles! Today was not quite like that. I slept in until about 10:00, which was pretty much wonderful. I got up and made myself a yummy omelet for breakfast and watched a little morning tv to wake up. Then I got busy...

I am ashamed to say that I haven't done laundry (other than a few loads of undies and towels) for over a month! With the change of season from cold to hot I have been able to just keep getting new clean clothes out of my storage tubs and haven't done any laundry. The laundry has really piled up! So I spent the day sorting, washing, drying, and folding clothes. Sadly, I am still not done!

I did take several hours off to go over to the Housholders for a wonderful dinner - we had bread, cheese, fruit, and a little wine. It was a relaxing way to spend the evening. After supper we went for a walk around the neighborhood - the boys rode their bikes while I pushed Leah in the stroller. I always enjoy spending time with this family. I enjoy our discussions, adore their children, and appreciate the friendship that they offer so willingly. They are some of my favorite people!

Well, I need to go finish that laundry before I try to go to bed early...early for me that is! I start working in ITS Media tomorrow and have to be there by 8:30!

a couple photos of Lily

Here is my great niece Lily playing on the slide at the park when we were hanging out together on Friday afternoon. I love that curly mess of hair!

Not quite like I had planned.

Well, today was not quite like I had planned. I figured I'd do church, maybe grab a bite of lunch with friends, and then head over to Mom's for the birthday party where most of the family would be. This was not the case...

I did go to church as planned, but after that my plans went awry. My brother Jack called from Ellettsville (where he lives) to say that he needed me to meet him down near Remington, Indiana - about a 3 hour drive from here. Jack had a work conflict and needed to get Jake back here to his Mom's before evening. I agreed to go get Jake and thus missed the birthday party.

The trip there was rainy, uneventful, and a little boring. The trip home was just the opposite - sunny, entertaining and a lot of fun! Jake is 17 (turns 18 on June 9) and we talked most of the way home - about school, college options, dealing with teachers, and much more. We laughed, sang along to my Jimmy Buffet CD, and he made faces at the cars we passed! He's young, so he's a major speedy at text messaging, so I had him send a few texts to one of my friends that I was trying to work out some social details for next week with. She never knew the difference....until she reads this blog at least! :)

When we got back to Goshen I went over to Mom's place to visit a bit and see my brother - Johnny - who was celebrating his birthday. We had cake and watched some tv together.

Tomorrow is the holiday. I don't have any plans yet...and I hate that! I've put out a feeler to some friends that I am interested in doing something. Hopefully they'll call me in the morning (not too early!), but if not I think I'll keep working away on cleaning out the guest room!

Highs and lows...

What a week! I can't believe it's over already! Here are some of the highs & lows...

high- my last Sunday lunch with the college students that come to church with me.
high - the cool gift of a microwave from my students...plus the awesome new skillet I bought with the gift certificate they gave me!
high - going to the Brew with Andrea and Amanda just to hang out one last time before they graduate.
high- going to the Brew with Haly to hang out one last time before she left for the summer.
low - road kill in the bathroom on Wednesday morning....not amusing at all!
low - being on my feet for over 12 hours while checking out the dorms on Thursday.
high - picnic in the car with my mama on Thursday night when I was too tired to move.
high - eating the potato salad from DanaJay's - a new deli in town. The potato salad is the same recipe that used to be at Everett's....the only potato salad that I enjoy - it was delicious!
high - spending time with my great niece, Lily, on Friday afternoon.
low - the crabby emails from students complaining about their room charges.
high/low - two catering gigs this week.
high/low - the end of another year at GC.

Well, that's all for now. We are having a family get together tomorrow for two birthdays - my brother Johnny and my great nephew Gavin. I'll try to post some photos of the day...or at least of Lily and Gavin!

A special surprise from my students!

A month or so ago my microwave began to hum and glow when I used it...not such a good thing! I had put replacing it on the back burner until this summer when I had a little extra cash and time to go garage saling for a good bargain. Some of my RAs knew about this little problem of mine - as they witnessed the glow/hum action for themselves one night!

Tonight after our staff meal and meeting I asked if there was any other agenda that they wanted to cover. Two of them said that there was and that we had to leave my apartment and I had to take my keys along. I was somewhat suspicious of them and imagined all sorts of pranks they might have planned for me. We went to a storage closet and they told me that I had to unlock the door. I opened it with a great deal of fear and trepidation - fearing that an animal or something was going to jump out and scare me. Instead there was a large box wrapped in brightly colored wrapping paper. We proceeded to take the box out of the closet and return to my apartment.

When I sat down to open the gift they gave me a card that read...

- a little poem of gratitude-
thanks a million
thanks a lot
what you did
won't be forgot

it made my day
it made me smile
it made me giddy
for a while

you're really swell
you're really great
and that's what I
appreciate

I'm tickled pink
by all you do
that's why I wrote
this poem for you!

Inside the card were written notes from each of my staff members thanking me, on behalf of their floors, for all I do - the meals, the caring, the leadership, the meals, the friendship, the hard work, and oh - did I mention the meals?! :)

When I unwrapped the gift I found that they had purchased a new microwave oven for me. It's a 1.6 cubic feet GE model with stainless steel exterior and a turntable inside. It's very nice...much nicer than I would have bought probably. They collected more money than they needed to purchase it, so they also gave me a gift card to Target. I think I'm going to buy a large frying pan. That's something that will end up benefiting them next year!

A gift like this is extremely generous, and obviously not expected in any way, shape or form. I would be thankful in any case, but I think it's cool how God worked it out that I received it the same day that I received my annual review. My annual reviews are never "bad" per say, but I always take every criticism too much to heart, so this was a nice reminder that students do appreciate all I do and that I'm doing a good job.

Indian meal and movie

Tonight I hosted a group of students for an Indian meal and movie. I made three kinds of curry - my famous "Curry in a Hurry", the classic chicken/potato curry, and a cilantro/poached egg curry. We had the normal curry toppings of peanuts, coconut & golden raisins, and my favorite pita bread wedges. Yumm-o! Everything turned out delicious! And now my apartment has that wonderful spicy smell! :)

A group of 16 came. While we ate we watched an Indian movie "Hollywood/Bollywood" It was funny. We laughed a lot - sometimes with the movie and sometimes at it. The students who came seemed to enjoy themselves.

I've almost fed my goal for the year! I told Launa (my boss) that I wanted to have 2/3 of my residents in for a meal during this school year. That would translate into 137 people. I've had 132 so far. (That doesn't even include the 47 students that don't live in my buildings that have been here this year!) So, I need to find 5 more students to feed before they leave on Thursday morning! I'll let you know if I achieve my goal!

Well, there are a bunch of dirty pots and pans in the kitchen that unfortunately aren't going to wash themselves!

SST letter writing party

Tonight we had an SST letter writing party. I took the list of students studying overseas, colored paper, and lots of pens & markers up to the Connector 3rd floor lounge and we wrote letters to many of the students that are gone this term. I only had about 10 people show up, but combined we wrote about 30 letters. Not one of the most well attended events that I have held this year, but those who came appreciated the fact that they could write those letters without much effort or follow through on their part. Plus I know the students that are on SST will appreciate the mail!

It's weird to think that 1 week from today the residence halls will be closed up and all the students will go home...or at least they will move out of the residence hall and no longer be my responsibility. I have such mixed feelings about it this year. Normally I am so ready for students to leave, but this year I realize how much I will miss some of them. I think it might partly be because there are so many students that I am close to that graduated this year. I know they won't be back next year and my heart in mourning that fact.

I am looking forward to the residence hall closing because it means I will have more free time to do things like hang out with my mama, play with the Housholder kids, learn how to play poker from Megan, connect with my friends in ITSMedia, cook just what I want to eat, and well, the list could just go on and on!

She called me brave.

A friend of mine called me "brave" today. I don't know if I've ever been called brave before. I know that I think of myself as a strong person, but I've always sort of considered myself to be somewhat of a chicken. I hate horror movies (or even those with much suspense), am kinda scared of the dark, hate hate hate bugs - especially earwigs, and once I locked myself in the bathroom while my friend was stuck in the house with a bat flying around.

Maybe when it comes to things that are truly important like travelling to another country by myself or getting up in front of students (even those who don't like me) to share my heart or going back to school after all these years or in the case today- making the decision to go into a situation where I felt devalued with my head held high and engaging the situation with maturity, when I just wanted to run back to my apartment to cry.

When it counts I AM brave.

Thanks to that friend who called out something good in me that I didn't realize was there. You made a difference today.

a poem

I spoke in chapel a couple of weeks ago and shared some of my faith journey - specifically related to singleness. I shared this poem. Several people asked for it. I thought I'd share it with you. (My RA -Sonia Pankratz- shared it with me back in 1991.)

After a while.
by Veronica Shoffstall

After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul,

And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't mean security,

And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises

And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open,

With the grace of a woman,
Not the grief of a child

And you learn to build all your roads on today,
Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.

After awhile you learn that even sunshine
Burns if you get too much

So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul,
In stead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers

And you learn that you really can endure...
That you really are strong
And you really do have worth,
and you learn and learn...
With every good bye you learn.

Time to get involved

So, I was working on my resume recently - always good to keep it up to date in case an interesting opportunity comes my way! As I worked on it I realized that while I keep myself very busy doing lots of things at the college and church, I am not volunteering or involved in any organized activity outside of those venues. This is a problem...for several reasons:
1. It limits my social interactions to almost exclusively Christian people.
2. I'm not developing new interests/hobbies/experiences.
3. It doesn't reflect well on my resume.

So, I need to find something new to get involved in. I looked at the volunteer options locally via some websites, but didn't find anything that really got me excited. There are some great organizations that are about really great things, but the jobs they needed done didn't interest me. I think I need to look things up in the phone book or contact the Chamber of Commerce - something that is a little more locally based - sometimes the internet is better for big city residents when it comes to listing local opportunities.

I would like to get a bit more involved in raising money for diabetes research/education - though I wonder if I should get back in the habit of following the diabetic guidelines myself before I start trying to be a voice for them. There is a "Step out to fight diabetes" walk in Mishawaka this fall. Maybe I can get myself together and get involved in that. We'll see!

While I want to get involved in something, I want to be careful to not bite off something big this summer and then find I don't have time for it in the fall when students return and I start grad school. I'll keep you posted!

Mother's Day 2007

Today is Mother's Day. I spent several relaxing and fun hours with my mom. I took over a pretty hanging basket of flowers (her preference of gift for this holiday) and a pretty card. We went for a ride in the country after picking up a Diet Coke at McDonalds. When we got back I fixed my rear driver's side window that was falling into the door and she cleaned my windshield because she couldn't stand how dirty it was. LOL She loves things to be clean! Then we went inside and watched a little tv and chatted a while longer. It was fun to catch up with her. I've been busy and so has she recently, so we haven't spent much time together. I love my mama!

I received two thoughtful Mother's Day cards today. One from my good friend Tracy that talked about the ways in which I am a spiritual mother to many. And one from a student thanking me for the mother role that I have been to her and other students on campus. I also got a Mother's Day text message from my niece Megan. It was special to be remembered by these thoughtful women and to have the nurturing part of me recognized on this day.

This evening the Rissers and I took Cara out to supper at Hacienda for her birthday. It's been fun to spend time with her this week while she is home from Texas. She was very busy at Christmas and I didn't feel like I saw her much. We've seen her 4 times in the past week and will see her again briefly on Tuesday at her grandpa's viewing.