Okay, I was thinking today about the things that make me happy in life--- and it made me happy and smiley just to think about them. Here's the condensed version of what makes me happy and smiley: (oh, they are in no particular order)
1. CHILE (the country...chili is okay too!) and the Gaia School (Paola, Rob, Juan, Gisell, Orlando, Dagly, and Alvaro)
2. my school (I love my hs...I couldn't ask for a more learning-centered, academically challenging, and motivating environment in which to learn)
3. my friends (Goodberrys [and learning to ice skate... it was quite the scene, I'm sure...and going hiking] with Jason; Palace Point with Cameron, Chile with Marsha and Kit and all the other cool kids, lunch with Mark with a too-perky waitress, and all the other memories...wow.)
4. dance (or at least it did...somewhere in my heart, the passion is still there, but for now it's become a new kind of memory...not good, not bad...it's just there. I heart the good memories that haven't been erased by the prominence of the bad ones, and of course I love the people I met-- the kids my age, and the kids I taught, and my teachers...)
5. my sweethearts- (aka my doggies and kitties, Finney, Max, Mysti, Jenna, Deacon, Hope, Ginger and Casey)
6. Bojangles iced tea
7. Country music
8. My church, youth program and youth leaders (and all the other pastors and my friends there)
9. The smell of the air in the minutes before a thunder storm
10. Overalls and ribbons tied in my ponytail (a phase I will likely never outgrow)
11. TV shows (there are only a few that deserve this list): Strong Medicine, Law and Order: SVU, West Wing and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and Friends (we have most of the seasons on dvd...a definite, constant source of laughter when I need it!)
12. Movies: Casablanca, Miss Congeniality (1 and 2), Sound of Music (as it is on VHS with Julie Andrews) and Promises (a documentary about the effects of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict on children)
13. Books: When the Last Leaf Falls, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Humanity: A moral history of the 20th Century
14. Clay Aiken
15. Writing my novel... actually I have two works-in-progress right now. One of them will remain top secret until it is (if it ever is) done
16. the color yellow
17. the smell (don't think i'm crazy) of hardware stores and craft stores, and sort of shoe stores... but not as much
18. my gym, especially this one guy that works there...er...I mean, especially the bikes, the indoor track and the stair-master
19. my car... it's just all-around wonderful...most of the time!
20. doing things that weird other people out...it's super-fun. like...answering my cell phone and preceeding to have a conversation, even though the phone never rang and no one is on the line, or answering my home phone one of three ways:
1. in Spanish
2. "Thank you for calling Papa Johns pizza. How may I help you?"
3. "Orange." (or ocassionally "Purple.") You see, a lot of people, (even on Full House)
answer the phone with "Yellow" as in, an alternate version of "hello." Why yellow? Why not purple or Orange?
And there are other fun ways to weird people out...dance around in a public place to whatever song happens to be on their music system...weird looks are fun to get...
21. Flex committee, though I have to go during summer vacation, is super-awesome. I heart working with the teachers and the other two students to create and improve flex programs
22. Babysitting
23. Research papers--- okay, I'm a dork, but that's okay with me. I really enjoy consuming information and formulating ideas, comparisons, or whatever.
24. Being hyper, and as I informed Ms. Greenwalt (and a few other students), it doesn't make me immature...just happy and energetic and/or excited...there is a difference. (suprisingly, she agreed! haha)
25. the news...i feel so informed and well-rounded...plus, I learn a lot (mad props to CNN, MSNBC, our local news stations, and the NY Times)
26. Duke Bball, even though we're losing players to the NBA...
27. Crest toothpaste...yeah, that's random, but oh well
28. my Saucony running shoes...I heart them sooooo much
29. one thing that makes me happy is the idea that I can effect change in the world--- I have the power...it sounds trite...but it means so much to me that I can have a lasting impact on the world--- I don't have to be a vapor that comes and leaves...I can be something. I can be the one who finds a cure for cancer...or AIDs, or who helps save lives in other ways...someone who impacts the world, echoing change and betterment long after I leave...that would be awesome. The idea itself makes me happy...I can't imagine the feeling of actually accomplishing that...wow. How amazing.
30. the prospect of going to college and getting married, and getting a job, and having kids, and growing old together with the man I marry...the future in general makes me happy
So there it is...it's blah and just a bunch of incoherent nonsense, so I promise to come back with something more next time...something of substance with importance or pertinance in your life...maybe (but probably not, but i'll try none the less)
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Wow. Here I am and I don't know how to put into words what I'm thinking and feeling. To be honest, I'm really sad. Ms. Greenwalt is, as many of you know, moving to Boston this summer. In fact, she's loading today. Wow, that came unexpectedly ... at least for me. The two of us (Ms. G and I) had been putting off saying goodbye because we both figured she would stay through most of the summer and we would get to say goodbye in July at church. Well, she's loading today, (as I said earlier) and it doesn't look like she's coming to church on Sunday. I'm upset and relieved at the same time...funny, huh? I am going to miss her terribly, and I really wanted to say goodbye, but in her email she said, "Maybe it's better to have no official goodbye...just, see you soon." I knew that it would hurt to say goodbye, but it hurts this way too. Of course, she's stressed with the move, closing, etc. So, for now, we've said "see you later" and hopefully, I will [see her later, I mean]. I'm sure she'll be back next spring for graduation, but that's a long way off. I will miss her dearly, of course, but maybe it's less painful to have an open-ended farewell, (which may actually be no farewell at all), and less painful to not have a final chapter...there's much time left.
In other news...A toddler was abandoned in Washington state on Monday night. He is said to be in good health--- warm, recently fed, and well-cared for. He was left in the stairwell of a church. The person who abandoned him sat on the stairs with him until he fell asleep...and then left. No one has reported a missing child, and police do not yet know to whom the child belongs. And no one seems to be able to get the child to talk. I can't sit in judgement here...there may have been extenuating circumstances or major problems that we can only guess at or imagine. I hope, I really do hope, that whoever left this child had a good reason for doing so.
In other news...A toddler was abandoned in Washington state on Monday night. He is said to be in good health--- warm, recently fed, and well-cared for. He was left in the stairwell of a church. The person who abandoned him sat on the stairs with him until he fell asleep...and then left. No one has reported a missing child, and police do not yet know to whom the child belongs. And no one seems to be able to get the child to talk. I can't sit in judgement here...there may have been extenuating circumstances or major problems that we can only guess at or imagine. I hope, I really do hope, that whoever left this child had a good reason for doing so.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Not much to post about. Same ol' same ol'. VBS was this week. I was in the three-year-old room, helping out. I love my Riley and my Sam (actually I heart all the kids in that class, but those two in particular). Apparently they both go home at night and talk about me. They are soooo sweet. Tonight's the "closing" ceremony. (even though we still have another day of VBS tomorrow/friday). All the kids will sing, dance or do a skit for their parents/families. Of course, my kids will likely just stand on-stage and do the hand motions for the songs. They haven't figured out the singing thing yet. Oh well. After VBS ended today, the church treated all the youth helpers to lunch at Fuddruckers, which was fun. Megan (she works at CHBC, and she's soooo sweet) drove me to Fuddruckers, and emphatically informed me that I am a nut. Okay, I guess I can't deny it any longer. I am a NUT. We had fun, though. Tomorrow's the last day of VBS...*tears* I'll miss my three-year-olds for sure!
I finally met Carlye's baby, Elisha Stephen Dash Daugird! YAY. He's sooo cute.
At the end of July (more specifically July 28-August 1) I'll be in D.C. looking at colleges! (Georgetown, George Washington University, and American U). I'm excited. I think the prospect of living in D.C. (or M.A. or N.Y.) is very, very exciting and a wonderful opportunity. Those are the other two places I'd like to live, if not in NC or VA (which would be okay, but the climate is just getting to be a bore). I am looking at Northeastern University and Boston University, in MA; and I'm looking at a few colleges in NY. It's very much still a scary process, but it's exciting at the same time. Of course, I still have college apps and essays looming ominously over my head, as well as my second go-round with the SAT, though I think I did fine on it the first time. However, no one seems to be able to tell me what a "good" score is for applying to college.
If anyone has a good idea for a column topic, tell me. I want to write a regular column in the school paper this year, but I don't know what to write about.
More later. Time for the closing ceremony now.
I finally met Carlye's baby, Elisha Stephen Dash Daugird! YAY. He's sooo cute.
At the end of July (more specifically July 28-August 1) I'll be in D.C. looking at colleges! (Georgetown, George Washington University, and American U). I'm excited. I think the prospect of living in D.C. (or M.A. or N.Y.) is very, very exciting and a wonderful opportunity. Those are the other two places I'd like to live, if not in NC or VA (which would be okay, but the climate is just getting to be a bore). I am looking at Northeastern University and Boston University, in MA; and I'm looking at a few colleges in NY. It's very much still a scary process, but it's exciting at the same time. Of course, I still have college apps and essays looming ominously over my head, as well as my second go-round with the SAT, though I think I did fine on it the first time. However, no one seems to be able to tell me what a "good" score is for applying to college.
If anyone has a good idea for a column topic, tell me. I want to write a regular column in the school paper this year, but I don't know what to write about.
More later. Time for the closing ceremony now.
Monday, June 13, 2005
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
I really really want to travel the world. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Here's my list...
Top 5 Places I want to see for purely tourist reasons
(in no particular order, and of course I'm not going anytime soon)
1. Greece
2. Australia
3. Spain
4. France
5. Italy
(European continent- and Australia-, here I come...only not)
Coming in, in the top ten to finish off the list:
6. Brazil
7. Switzerland
8. China
9. Egypt
10. Israel
(and I guess Germany gets to be number 11)
Top 5 places I want to go on my quest to make a difference in this world:
1. Ethiopia
2. Sudan
3. Phillipines
4. Honduras
5. India
And the top 3 things I want to do in my life (other than get married, have kids, graduate college, get a job that makes me happy, and run a marathon):
1. Affect change (through politics or diplomacy, curing AIDS or cancer, ending world hunger, creating peace; I don't care, as long as I have a positive impact on the world)
2. Finish and publish a novel (not necessarily the one I started already)
3. Travel
That sounds stupid doesn't it? That my top three things include publishing a book that no one'll read, and traveling. How selfish. Well, I guess if you break down all the things I think I'd like to do to affect change...no not really. Still selfish. I guess I'd really just like to feel like I've had some influence on the world that has made it easier/better for the next generation. I don't want a utopian society, by any means. Some pain and suffering does induce growth, which is good. It's the unnecessary pain and the endless hurt that I want to alleviate. Maybe someday...
Top 5 Places I want to see for purely tourist reasons
(in no particular order, and of course I'm not going anytime soon)
1. Greece
2. Australia
3. Spain
4. France
5. Italy
(European continent- and Australia-, here I come...only not)
Coming in, in the top ten to finish off the list:
6. Brazil
7. Switzerland
8. China
9. Egypt
10. Israel
(and I guess Germany gets to be number 11)
Top 5 places I want to go on my quest to make a difference in this world:
1. Ethiopia
2. Sudan
3. Phillipines
4. Honduras
5. India
And the top 3 things I want to do in my life (other than get married, have kids, graduate college, get a job that makes me happy, and run a marathon):
1. Affect change (through politics or diplomacy, curing AIDS or cancer, ending world hunger, creating peace; I don't care, as long as I have a positive impact on the world)
2. Finish and publish a novel (not necessarily the one I started already)
3. Travel
That sounds stupid doesn't it? That my top three things include publishing a book that no one'll read, and traveling. How selfish. Well, I guess if you break down all the things I think I'd like to do to affect change...no not really. Still selfish. I guess I'd really just like to feel like I've had some influence on the world that has made it easier/better for the next generation. I don't want a utopian society, by any means. Some pain and suffering does induce growth, which is good. It's the unnecessary pain and the endless hurt that I want to alleviate. Maybe someday...
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