The long-awaited update

Two weeks without an update? For shame!

With almost two weeks of my summer job at The Hawk Eye behind me, I'd say it's gone pretty well thus far. It didn't take me long to get back in the game, and I'm feeling much more comfortable there now than I did about halfway through my internship last summer.

I've written probably a dozen or so stories since I got back, and in this morning's paper is one that I'm pretty pleased with. Three guys from California Baptist University are kayaking down the Mississippi this summer and yesterday they stopped in Burlington for a break. They're raising awareness and money for the International Justice Mission, an organization that rescues victims of human sex trafficking. They want to raise at least $20,000 by the time they reach New Orleans in July, and so far they've already raised about $12,000. Check out their blog, it's pretty sweet.

On a sad note, last weekend I said goodbye to a very dear friend. My cat P.J. was almost 15 years old and very sick. It was with a heavy heart that I watched "Princess Jasmine" close her wide green eyes for the last time as our vet put her to sleep last Sunday. I stood as close by as I possibly could and kept my eyes on hers. I wanted to be the last person she saw before she left. More than once last weekend, I cried harder than I had cried in a long time. But after P.J. had passed, I cried mostly because I was so relieved that she was no longer in any pain. It hurts sometimes to go to sleep without her curled up beside me, purring loudly and rubbing her head against my hand...but I know I did what was best for her.


1993


2005

Workin' it

Somewhere close overhead, Daddy is walking around on the roof of our house with a leaf blower, blasting "whirlygigs" (maple tree seeds) from the gutters. We got a double whammy of whirlygigs this spring because the maple trees didn't produce them last year.

Well kids, these last couple of weeks spent loafing around the house have been fun, but now it's time for me to join the ranks of the gainfully employed. I'll be working at The Hawk Eye (the newspaper, not the restaurant!) in Burlington for the next eight weeks. Today's my first day back in the newsroom, so I'll be leaving for B-town in a couple of hours. I'm a bit nervous, but at least it's a familiar environment; I did my internship there last summer. The big difference this time is that I'll be on the payroll as a full-time employee--though I'll still hold the title of "news intern"--so more will be expected of me.

No pressure, right?

Fungus, and other guilty pleasures

Pardon the lack of recent updates...I've had plenty of time to write but not much to write about during my first week of summer vacation.

My first full day back home, last Sunday, I went mushroom hunting with Daddy after church. As a first-time collector of this aromatic, rich, and delectable fungi, I'd say I did pretty well. Between the two of us, Daddy and I brought home about 60 mushrooms. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the strange traditions of us Midwesterners...these mushrooms are no joke. You can bake 'em, fry 'em, freeze 'em, or dry 'em. They are absolutely delicious but you need a lot of patience and several hours of free time to find a decent amount of them.

I've had plenty of time this week to read for enjoyment. I'm wrapping up the complete works of Jane Austen. I finally finished reading Emma, completed Northanger Abbey, and tonight I read the first two chapters of Persuasion. I've resolved to read everything on my bookshelf that I haven't yet finished before buying or checking out any more books. And if I can't willingly finish one, it's getting booted from the shelf.

I'm not an avid TV fan. It's not because I hate it, I'm just very picky about what I watch. The most recently-made sitcom I enjoy watching is Home Improvement, a show that ended its 8-season (or 9-season?) run nearly a decade ago. Call me out of the loop, but I don't like most of what the general public considers "funny" these days. I've only enjoyed a couple of shows that have been on the air in about the last 10 years, and both were cancelled after one or two seasons.

Fortunately, my mom has recently overcome her previous dislike for Home Improvement. Nick at Nite has been showing several episodes of it every night, so it's become part of our evening routine. I loved it as a kid until the storyline got a bit too heavy and dramatic. I appreciate the later seasons more now that I'm older, and I'm glad I don't have to watch it by myself anymore when Daddy's on the road.

In all honesty, my favorite episodes of Home Improvement will probably always be the ones featuring Jonathan Taylor Thomas. The last season was a bit empty without him. I guess it's true that you never forget your "first love."



And on that slightly self-deprecating note...I will now review this entry and wonder why I can't think of anything more deep and profound to write about. Perhaps later I'll embark on an Indiana Jones-style quest to recover my small but mighty collection of JTT posters.

I seem to be digging myself deeper. This is getting embarrassing.

Tagged.

Because of finals, packing, and the move back home, I haven't had much time for blogging in the past week. I got home on Saturday night and it has been wonderful thus far to be back.

Audrey tagged me quite some time ago and I've just now gotten around to posting my own response. Here it is:

I am: the apple of God's eye.
I think: a bit abstractly.
I know: this summer will be even more rewarding than the last.
I want: to be part of that mission trip to the Czech Republic in June. I look forward to the point in my career when I will earn vacation days from work.
I hate: mosquito bites on my ankles.
I miss: my friends from school.
I fear: for certain circumstances in my future. But I try not to, because I know God is taking care of those things.
I feel: thrilled to be home.
I hear: the ticking of the kitchen clock, the clicking of my dog's toenails as he paces around the house, the lawn mower in the front yard, and cars rumbling up and down the street.
I smell: nothing right now...the scent of last night's fried mushrooms has finally faded.
I crave: another hike in the woods like I had yesterday. It was glorious.
I search: in the wrong places sometimes for the things that are right under my nose.
I regret: a somewhat painful decision I had to make during the school year...even though it was for the best. Growing up really sucks sometimes.
I love: how God has been working lately.
I ache: sometimes when I think about Rachel and Gloria. But I know they aren't hurting...far from it...and all the pain will be forgotten when I see them again.
I care: so much that it hurts sometimes.
I always: find myself thinking way too much about things that are of little importance.
I am not: perfect.
I believe: that God has a sense of humor.
I sing: slightly off-key. I neglected that skill long ago.
I cry: less than I used to.
I fight: to be heard, a bit too much sometimes.
I write: constantly.
I win: ...at...life? Um, OK...next one...
I lose: perspective when I try to do everything my way
I never: thought I would grow to love country music, or the prospect of living in Iowa by choice.
I confuse: friendship with simply trying to "love as Jesus loves" at times.
I listen: better than I used to.
I can usually be found: somewhere on campus, or safely tucked away at home.
I am scared: that I will never have an answer to this one...?
I need: to finish unpacking.
I am happy about: life in general.
I hope: to have my own place within the next year or so.
I am tagging: Rachel W. and Rhema

False alarms

I don't think I mentioned this in my last entry, but on Monday I got a call back from The Hawk Eye. They offered me a full-time, paid internship for the summer!

Nothing else is new, really. Except there's been fire drills on campus every night this week and last night was the first one in Frances. I was just starting to fall sound asleep at around 3:15 when the head RA who lives on my floor came into my room and told me to get up because the fire alarm had been set off. I wouldn't have minded it so much if I hadn't already gotten in bed. Part of the reason I went to bed so late was because I was afraid I'd just be rudely awakened by alarms...and what do you know, it happened.

People from Claudius and EMR were running wild when their alarms went off around 1:30...I heard them screaming and running around in the rain, mud wrestling, boogey-boarding in the trench in front of Towers. Security was chasing them all over the place. Some guy slipped and fell into the landing outside Chick-Fil-A and the Internet Cafe...not down the stairs. He literally fell over the side. He spent the rest of the night in the hospital. I haven't heard much more about what happened to him.

The alarms went off in Michael as well...twice. By 3:15, when our alarms went off, it was no longer pouring down rain. But most of us stayed in the Fishbowl lobby. The Fishbowl roof was leaking big-time and there were huge puddles in the hall. Some of us slipped and almost fell, myself included. After about 10 minutes they let us come back down the hall and then stopped us around the Susie elevators and a security guard spent about 10 or 15 minutes more yelling at us. This guy is a retired firefighter and so you can imagine all the horror stories and scenarios he used to try to scare us. He barked at us to hang up and turn off our cell phones and warned us of the consequences of pulling a fire alarm...begged us to turn in whoever was responsible if we knew who's been behind all of this. He was so angry, I thought he'd never let up.

Trust me, if I knew who was behind all of this, I'd have no reservations about snitching on them. Because this is ridiculous. Rumor has it that this will continue every night until the end of the semester, and that they'll do it half an hour later each time. It's a darn good thing for me that I only have one final and a final sketch left. I feel sorry for those who still have a ton of finals and papers; this fire alarm business is really disruptive and immature. It was funny the first night, but not anymore. RAs in Claudius got word of last night's alarms, knew what time it was gonna happen and everything.

The alarms have been tripped in Susie and Wesley as well this week but they didn't get set off last night. Gabby hasn't had any issues yet, but that's not surprising.

You would think security would have been more vigilant after the first night...it happened almost simultaneously in Claudius and EMR. I doubt that whoever is doing it will ever get caught...supposedly they're not even pulling the alarms, just setting off smoke alarms in their rooms. So this could go on for awhile. Meantime, the rest of us will keep getting yelled at and treated like criminals.

I guess I'll be sleeping with one eye open tonight.

How sad. I can't even think of a title.

I've been slightly bored this evening. It's nice though, considering that I haven't had time to be bored in months.

The pile of assignments and tests has dwindled to an sketch in acting due on Monday and a comm theory final next Thursday. Also, I need to start packing. I'll be heading home a week from Saturday.

The remainder of this week and the weekend ahead should be pretty fun and relaxing. I'll be watching Juno, my new favorite movie, with Aandra and Heathyr tomorrow...visiting the Philbrook Gardens and Museum, er, sometime hopefully...going to a student publications staff barbeque on Saturday...Rachel T's birthday party on Sunday. Stump and Richard were talking about a trip to Lake Skiatook at some point.

I apologize if this entry is a bit dull, but I'm tired and will probably hit the hay in the next half hour or so.

I'll leave you with some photos I took yesterday in the midst of studying.



An energy drink that actually tastes good...Amp Overdrive. Like Code Red, but with an extra kick of caffeine.


My room was pretty tidy until I got back from spring break...


Post-it notes, postcards, movie and concert tickets. Life's little scraps.


I think I was using the aperture priority setting, with no flash of course. It was around 7:30 or so. My favorite time of day during spring...




Sweet nectar from heaven


This is why I don't have a roommate...dumb stuff like this. Just kidding, sort of.


Ugh, so nice out...and I was stuck inside.


I miss Rachel. Whoever was in her room last left the blinds up. Whenever I look outside I still find myself looking into her window--even though she's no longer there to smile back at me. I can't believe it's been about seven weeks already since she and Gloria went "home."

*Yawn* Alright...lights out now.

Of earthquakes and infidels

Early this morning an earthquake rocked the Midwest. It was measured as a 5.2 on the Richter scale. The first time my hometown has ever experienced an earthquake in my lifetime--it was the first one in the Midwest in forty years--and I was sound asleep in Oklahoma. I must admit I'm a bit jealous, although I doubt I would have even felt it. I'm a pretty sound sleeper.

I just remembered the earthquake practice drills we did in daycare when I was a kid. I think that's what we were practicing for anyway...would hiding under a table protect you from an earthquake? Hmmm. Unless someone thought we were still in the midst of the Cold War ;)

What's strange is that the famous San Francisco earthquake happened 102 years ago today. Also, I was just on the phone with Mom and she was speculating on the significance of this morning's earthquake in light of recent events in our country. Take, for example, Jimmy Carter's defiance of the U.S. and Israeli governments in meeting with the chief of the Hamas militant group. OK, let's just call them what they are. Terrorists. I think it's pretty obvious but I'm gonna say it anyway: Jimmy is 1. incompetent and 2. a traitor.

News flash: Hamas leaders and their cronies are not a peace-loving crowd. Furthermore, we will never achieve world peace. Try telling that to Jimmy "Give Peace a Chance" Carter. I think we need another earthquake to start right under Jimmy's feet. That might knock some sense into him.