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Tonight I was walking across campus after picking up yet another stack of papers and such from my mailbox over in Student Life. I ran into two international students along the way that were visiting. One is a new resident of my building, so I stopped to see how his first day on campus and in the US was. We chatted a bit and his new acquaintance - another student from him home country - chimed into the conversation. He commented how he had worked here this summer and had cleaned my residence halls. He said that he thought that I should have cleaned them because I am so fat and I could have burned some of that fat off while cleaning. I stood there with eyes wide and I'm sure my mouth dropped for at least a few seconds. I gained my composure and laughed it off saying that I had other work to do during the summers. Then I wished them a good evening and headed back to my apartment.

As I walked across campus I warred inside my mind about whether I could be offended or hurt, or if I just had to let it roll off my back. After a quick call to a friend, I knew that I had to let it roll off my back. I'm sure it was an appropriate comment where he is from and that he didn't intentionally mean to hurt my feelings...at least I hope that's the case!

The joys/sorrows of interacting with those from different cultures. Should I have told him it was an offensive comment? Did I do the right thing by laughing it off? Is it better for him to not be embarrassed by knowing that he insulted me or is it better to let him know so that he doesn't make comments like that to others? Or do I just let it roll off my back and expect that others should do the same? I don't know what the right thing to do in that situation is.

RA training is over.

RA training is over and the first years move in tomorrow! It's an exciting time of year around here. I'm never sure which day of school I like the most...the first or the last. Both bring their own joys and change of pace.

I am very excited about the staff that I am working with this year. They seem to be excited about the job and ready to do it. The men bring a lot of maturity (2 are juniors -one took a year off before coming to college, so he's actually the age of a senior) to the team. They are able to see the big picture of their actions and how it affects those around them. The women are a good crew also - having lots of excitement about the role and what they will be doing with their floors this year. I think that we will work well together. It might be the perfect group to end my career as an RD with...we'll see! I make no promises about the future. :)

I told my boss today that I think this is the best RA training that I have been a part of. We started out with an overnight retreat at Merry Lea, which was AWESOME...a great time to get away from technology and just be together - casting vision, playing together, and eating good food. We were busy everyday, but had time to do some personal stuff in the midst of it all. I remember the first several years (every year if I'm totally honest) that I would break down in tears - usually in the middle of the student life office because I hadn't had any time to take care of myself. This year I had time for taking care of myself...heck I even dyed my hair last night and am going out for dinner with the Rissers tonight! So, I've been going strong for 10 days so far and no tears! yipeee!

Well, I need to go do something with my hair before I head out for dinner with the gals. bye!

I did something today that I have never done before.

Today was my last day of freedom before the school year starts. I should have spent the afternoon with my head buried in a book for school, but instead I went to an afternoon movie...alone! I have been wanting to see "No Reservations" starring Catherine Zeta Jones and saw that there was a matinee showing today at Linway Cinema, so I went....by myself. It was a little weird in that I couldn't whisper to someone when I had a thought about the movie, but other than that it was no big deal. It was actually pretty fun!

I am slowly getting used to doing social things like that alone. It's not my favorite thing to do and I doubt I would ever go to a evening showing (esp on the weekend) alone, but for a matinee I didn't feel like too much of a freak!

BTW -I'd give the movie a 7 or so. It was good, but not great. :)

Too cute!

I found a website with photos of cats on it.

Isn't the face on this kitten just too cute?

It's almost time

Wow! Where did the summer go?! The school year is quickly approaching and I can hardly believe it's been almost 3 months since the students left. It was a good summer. Not the best ever, but good none the less. I got to travel a bit, work with some fun folks, and rest up for the upcoming onslaught of busyness.

I'm having a few last hurrahs with friends before I disappear into the world of GC for the next 10 days or so. I'm getting together with a friend who is visiting from Minnesota this afternoon and then will go out with the Rissers and Rebecca this evening. Tomorrow evening I am spending some time with Mom.

I have faculty retreat on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. I have mixed feelings about it as usual. I am always eager for the opportunity to connect with others after a summer of everyone off doing their own thing. There is a buzz of energy and excitement that I really enjoy. It gets a little long and heavy on the academic side of things, but will be more fun this year since Deanna is coming for the first time!

On Friday my staff arrives. I am very excited about this. I enjoy working with them so much! I'm eager to get to know them all better and to see them grow in this role! We are going up to Brunks for the weekend to do a retreat. It should be a good time - relaxing, fun, and full of laughter!

I'll try to post again soon.

It's been a while....

I think it's been about 2 weeks or so since I last posted. I don't really have a lot of new stuff to say, but thought I'd jot a little something before you all write me off and stop reading my blog.

I've been doing a good job of connecting with people the past little bit here. Having folks in for dinner, making plans to meet friends for a meal out, hosting another poker night, stuff like that has been keeping my extrovertedness fed! :)

My friend Rebecca got home from a year in Oxford, England on the 20th. It's been great to have her around and we have seen each other or at least chatted on the phone a bit every other day or so. I LOVE not having to check and see if she's on skype just to talk to her. And being together in person is so much better than on the phone.

I go back on contract on Wednesday. It is with a mixture of contentment and dread. I know my job and do it well, so there isn't any anxiousness about it - just contentment that I'll be back doing what I enjoy. The dread comes in when I think of how I am going to manage my schedule this year. I know I can handle the work from Grad school, but I don't know where having a personal life is going to fit into things. I'm also a bit worried that I will have to take my "weekends off" as the nights I'm in Huntington for school and will end up feeling like I haven't really had a break until Christmas break. I'm also not sure how the other RDs are going to be with me being gone so much. I know they are supportive of the idea of me going back to school, but when it really starts happening and they are covering for me I'm not sure how supportive they are going to feel. I'm planning on having some good discussions about it before the school year starts so that we can set up a plan of action if any of us are feeling uncomfortable with the situation - a plan for discussing it as a team rather than it becoming a 2 against 1 situation.

That's all for now!

Strawberry Pie

Tracy invited me over for dinner with her family and in-laws this evening. It was a welcome diversion to my day alone. Tracy hinted that it would be nice to have one of my desserts, so I made a quick trip to the grocery. Strawberries were on sale for a really good price, so I decided to make a strawberry pie. I have a pretty good sugar free recipe that I used to make for Dad, but since I have been good about watching my calories today I decided to go for it and make a full sugar version....one with no jello used for gelling assistance. I found a great recipe on my favorite food site www.allrecipes.com. It was very very yummy! Everyone enjoyed the pie and I came home feeling like I hadn't totally mooched off the Buller family!

Here's the recipe in case you need a good Strawberry Pie recipe...

• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
• 1 quart fresh strawberries
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup water
  

1. Arrange half of strawberries in baked pastry shell. Mash remaining berries and combine with sugar in a medium saucepan. Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into boiling strawberry mixture. Reduce heat and simmer mixture until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over berries in pastry shell. Chill for several hours before serving.
   

An oddly un-busy period of time

I LOVE to be busy. I enjoy days when I'm running from one thing to the next and end up at home after being gone for 12 or so hours. Falling into bed exhausted feels good to me.

Though I seem to be in a particularly un-busy period of time right now. I work in the mornings, but my afternoons and evenings hold very little structured activity. Something that somewhat unnerves me. I don't like hours and hours of time alone at home.

I've spent a lot of last week reading...finishing 4 novels in a little over a week. Not little books either - each ranging from 350 - 750 pages long. It was fun to disappear into a different little world for hours at a time. A good friend told me that she had done the same thing recently on vacation with her spouse - sort of as a way for her extroverted self to keep in contact with other people on their little getaway...us crazy extroverts! :)

I combated it over the weekend by planning a busy day on Saturday and when faced with an afternoon and evening alone on Sunday I invited myself over to Paul & Kirsten's place. I was there for about 8 hours - it was a saving grace that they were home and open to my just hanging out with them. I talked with them, read my book, played with the kids, talked some more - it was wonderful! I love hanging out at their place. It's chunks of time with them that I most miss during the school year. Being at the Housholders refreshes me and is a who lot of fun too! :)

This week I see the next several days as being pretty wide open again. I'm trying to get household tasks done and to take time to enjoy it - because a month from today my staff returns and it'll be weeks until I have time to just sit and enjoy the quiet - if I can find quiet on a campus with 600 or so residents at that point! :) Even next week things will start to pick up again - my dear friend Rebecca returns from 10 months in England and I'm sure we will spend some significant time together. I just about cant wait - but I will remind myself to savor these days that I do have and to make the most of them so that I can recall the calm in the midst of school beginning.

Some days are tougher than others....

This weekend has been tough. I think it is a culmination of several things....attending three weddings last month, my sister getting married, reading "Pretense" - one of my favorite Lori Wick books, watching chick flicks while cleaning my apartment the past couple of days, PMS, being at home alone the past couple of days, and gaining a few pounds on vacation. Most of those things are good or at least a reality of life that normally doesn't bring my spirits down, but all combined together have got me in a little bit of a pity party today...asking questions like, "Why is my sister prettier than me?" "Is anyone ever going to love me?" "Why don't I have more friends?" All quite ridiculous questions when I look at them from the big picture and think clearly, but not today. Today they seem to reflect an unfortunate truth about my life.

Today I feel lonely, ugly, unloved, fat, destined to be alone, sad, etc... I know that these things are not true...at least not wholey true...
-I may be lonely today, but I won't be lonely every day.
-I may feel ugly, but I'm not really...at least not in a way that frightens small children.
-I may feel unloved, but that's SO not true!
-I may be overweight, but thankfully that doesn't define who I am.
-I live alone and may never get married, but I know that God is always with me and won't ever leave.
-I may be sad tonight, but I probably won't be tomorrow!

When I feel like this, I like to say, "It's OK to visit Pity Partyville, but you can't set up camp there!" I can cry a few tears tonight, but in the morning it will be time to buck up and look at things through clearer eyes. And since I often can't do that on my own, I'll be asking God to shine His truth about me into my heart so that I can!

Vacation...day ten

Day ten = finally home!

We left my brother's place in the morning with the intention of going straight home stopping only for fast food meals and gas as needed. Well, about 2 1/2 hours into it we decided that we needed a little visual variety and decided to go off the interstate and drive through Huntington, Indiana. That way mom could see where I will be taking classes in the fall. After we drove through the pretty campus we deiced that we should drop by and see my brother Gary's family in North Manchester. Gary was at work, but Linda was home with the kids, so we stopped there to visit for a while. We stayed about an hour, watching some dvd footage from their recent vacation and looking at some scrapbooks. It was a nice break in travelling, but then we hightailed it that last hour back to Goshen.

I was very happy to see my little Geo Prizm there in Mom's garage. I drove home and took a nap on my bed right away! In the evening I went over to visit the Housholders who had returned form Oregon on the 4th. It was good to see them and hear about their fun travels. I came home around 10:30 and spent the rest of the night reading until I fell asleep. I took my phone off the hook and silenced my cell so that I could sleep as late as I wanted on Friday!