Its A Small World After All*

So, as I come to the end of my senior year at Seabury, I find that I am comforted by strange things. Here is an example. Luke went to a college reunion this weekend. (I stayed home and played softball.) He had two "its a small world" encounters.

Encounter #1: D is a college friend of Luke's, but she is a year older, so she had several friends there that Luke did not know. One of these friends approached Luke this weekend and asked him if he knew A. Now, A is an old camp friend of ours. We've both her since we were all about 14. I lived with her in college for a couple years, and she was a bridesmaid in our wedding. Well. It turns out that this random friend used to work at a camp (not the one where I used to go) with A up north in Michigan somewhere, and stayed in A's house a couple weekends when A was out of town. Now, A is a big picture person, and has pictures of Luke (and me) on her walls. The random friend - who actually did go to college with Luke but didn't know him at the time - recognized Luke from the pictures on A's wall.

Encounter #2: Luke had lunch this weekend with another college friend, E. E is looking at a graduate program at the University of Michigan, and was in Ann Arbor recently. While in Ann Arbor, she stayed with a high school friend of hers, A, and his girlfriend H. Well, it turns out that H is a high school friend of mine, and Luke and I have spent time with H and A on several occasions.

I can't even keep these stories straight in my mind, with all the crossed wires and strange connections. Yet somehow, that gives me hope as I look toward saying goodbyes to the people I have lived with, argued with, worshipped with - the people I have loved for the last three years.



*Yeah, sorry about that. But hey, the song has been in my head all day, and in kindergarten, they taught me that its nice to share. Enjoy!

New Tricks

Today was the all-Seabury softball game - and it turns out that I really like playing softball! I actually hit the ball a few times, and chased a couple out in right field. It wasn't the most stellar performance of the day, but hey, I'd never played before. I also learned why you wear a glove to catch, and why you're supposed to keep your other hand out of the way. My hand is still stinging a bit. Ah well. Anyway, it was such a fun time that we played to nine innings (softball is usually seven I guess), and the weather cooperated. And, of course, Seabury won - always a bonus for my competitive side. And, score another point for the "try it, you might like it" team. They really seem to be winning lately.

Someone To Watch Over Me

There is a tree right outside my office window. I like that it provides a little more privacy, but still the sun shines in here. On bright sunny spring days like this, its just beautiful with the bright green leaves and blue sky. And today, as I work on one of my last presentations for my seminary career, there is a bright red cardinal sitting on a branch watching me. What a colorful morning!

Blame the Mafia

I have a million and three things going on that I should post about. I could post about Grandma's funeral on Monday, on the beautiful things that were said and the Winnie-the-Pooh that was read. I could post about my lovely family-in-law and how fun our dinner was and how much Luke's dad and uncles are alike yet different. I could post about my brother-in-law who does amazing origami and made me a three-headed dragon out of purple paper. I could post about the job that looks official, but I think I'll wait to have a contract in had for that. I could post about searching for a condo to live in, and how exciting it is to look at a place we might own. I could post about the amazing chocolate experience that was last night. Theres just so much going on. So, I think I'll do a quiz instead. Thanks PPB and Jane!

Three names you go by:

Susie
Q (to only two people. I kinda like that)
Seuss

Three screen names you've had:

GWbutterfly
shernand (from my maiden name)
um, i think thats it

Three physical things you like about yourself:

hazel eyes
long legs
crooked teeth

Three physical things you dislike about yourself:

my non-functioning thyroid (happy little pills help, but still...)
scars from chicken pox
lower back issues that will just get worse with age

Three parts of your heritage:

Cuban
Irish
Michigan Wolverine (trust me. it counts. I bleed maize and blue!)

Three things you are wearing right now:

my wedding and engagement rings
new white cords from the Ann Taylor outlet
pink toenail polish

Three favorite bands/musical artists:

Indigo Girls
U2
Great Big Sea (but only cuz it seems silly to put Indigo Girls again)

The last three songs you listened to:

Beautiful Day - U2
Free to Be You and Me - Marlo Thomas, I think (a favorite childhood record - i just bought the cd)
Final Hour-Lauryn Hill (iTunes on shuffle as we speak)

Three things you want in a relationship:

laughter
comfort
understanding

Three physical things about the preferred sex that appeal to you:

blue eyes
deep voices
yeah, what Jane said about the rearview

Three of your favorite hobbies:

cooking
scrapbooking
singing

Three things you want to do really badly right now:

buy a condo (and understand all the mortgage stuff)
go to CA to visit my best friend
be done with school

Three things that scare you:

snakes (i can't even type it without getting the shivers. can we say "phobic?")
drowning (i'm not really a very good swimmer)
losing my family

Three of your everyday essentials:

a kiss from Luke
milk
music

Three careers you have considered or are considering:

vocal music - singing, teaching, whatever
arts management
Episcopal priest - and thats the one I'm going with

Three places you want to go on vacation:

Ireland
California - specifically, the Bay Area, more specifically, Josy's house
Brazil

Three kids' names you like:

Isabella
Gabriel
Adrienne/Adrian

Three things you want to do before you die:

Be a mom - whether through biological or adoptive means
Visit at least six continents (I have three down)
Sing professionally

Three ways you are stereotypically a boy:

Serious lead foot. Is that a boy thing?
my ideal Saturday afternoon? beer and a football game
my hot temper. Is that a boy thing too? Its so hard to tell.

Three ways you are stereotypically a girl:

i love painting my nails
the waterworks known as my eyes
gossip gossip gossip

Three celebrity crushes:

Michael Vartan
Brad Pitt
Will Smith

Three people I would like to see take this quiz:

the three people who need the most distractions, whoever they might be

Vertigo

Thank you all for your well-wishes and prayers. They are much appreciated. As a welcome distraction, Luke and I had tickets to the U2 show on Monday night in Chicago. U2 is awesome. They are even more awesome live. If you get the chance to see them, you just should, because they are awesome.

I had fun at the concert, can you tell? It really was amazing. Interestingly, it made me remember why I like praise music too, but that is for another post perhaps. My favorite part of the concert (besides the first two songs - "City of Blinding Lights" and "Vertigo" - the energy in the United Center could have solved our fuel crisis) was during the second encore: I don't know what this woman on the floor said, but Bono brought her up onto the walkway part of the stage and said "you should know that giving a false commerical is a federal crime". Then, the Edge handed her his guitar, and Bono asked her what she wanted to play!!! So, she (and a bunch of her friends from the floor) said "Party Girls" - so she played guitar, Bono sang it, and the rest of the band played along. They did pretty much the whole song. It was so crazy!! And yeah, I was jealous. Guess I should work on my U2 and Indigo Girls music, just in case I ever get that chance.

In Memory

Luke's grandmother died last night. She was 94, and had made it clear for quite some time now that she was perfectly ready to go. She was the kind of grandma who always had pictures of her family around - three sons, twelve grandkids, and two great-grandkids. She was the kind of grandma who taught Luke to make Manhattans when we went to visit her - and passed on this sage advice: "Its okay to drink alone, as long as you only have one or two. Otherwise, I'd never get to have a drink!" She was the kind of grandma who passed on jokes with a perfectly straight face, and the kind who gave me her set of pearls from her wedding for my own wedding, even though I only married into the family. Mostly, she was the kind of grandma who loved her family very much, and she will be missed.


Father of all, we pray to you for Dorothea, and for all those whomwe love but see no longer. Grant to them eternal rest. Let light perpetual shine upon them. May her soul and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.

It is SO that kind of day

thanks to frog for the distraction!

My Weird Sense of Fun*

It's a gorgeous day outside, and it even resembles something like the feeling of warm. But, alas, I am stuck inside because I haven't finished a paper. This is a pretty common side effect of being in seminary.

Today's task: write an introductory article on Ezekiel, similar to the ones found in study Bibles. So, I have been reading through a few books, taking in different ideas about the text: Does the traditional three-part structure really work for this book? How did Ezekiel understand his role - as priest, prophet, watchman, or some combination? What that mean for the nature of prophecy? And, I found myself (yep, I meant to use that phrase) formulating my own answers to the questions, and I'm beginning to really understand what those crazy profs mean by "write in coversation with commentaries and scholars". And, even more - I really like doing that! Its amazing how fun just sneaks up on you in academic work.

Of course, this would be more fun if I hadn't left this paper to the last minute, and if I wasn't rushing through the material to get this done. Dang. Gonna have to work on that whole procrastinating thing. Again.

*props to Elizabeth and boot camp for the title

With All My Extraneous Writing Time...

Last week, I was having breakfast with Micah and Laura, and we came up with a great idea for a blog. We would call it "Life-Sized Sheep", and we would post stories and ideas of people doing interesting things with ministry. Probably it would start with friends of ours, but it would awesome if it grew beyond our own circle. It would be a good project to launch on "Good Shepherd Sunday," which has already passed this year. I'll add that to my to-do list for the next decade.

Also, I am slightly coveting a notebook that a friend bought - its a little black notebook with staff paper in it! So, you can write down tunes that come to mind. As someone who constantly has a song stuck in my head, this might be handy. Unfortunately, I am also coveting the ability to transcribe music from my head, which is not one of my stronger musical skills. Ah well.

Persistent song of the day: The Spacious Firmament On High. Please use this hymn only as an entrance procession, unless you are intentionally putting this song in your congregation's head for the week. In that case, sing away!