Catching up

So, I haven’t blogged in a while, but I stayed pretty busy this week. I was home, and I no longer have a laptop, and since my mom got that nice new computer, she isn’t the best at sharing it. ;) Plus, I really didn’t want to get up early to beat her to it. She did manage to get me addicted to a few Facebook games and the Game Show Network, which I don’t get on my white county cable! Ugh! I had some time to catch up on sleep, and visit with friends and have good food and good company. I started to feel guilty about being so lazy and unproductive while I was home, but MG quickly reminded me that summer break is supposed to be a reset before school starts back. Oh yeah. Why didn’t I realize that ten years ago?

I went to Fayetteville for the better part of the week. It was pretty hard being there, especially when I hadn’t taken the time to let things set in. Once I got there, it all set in real quick, and the memorial service Saturday night was pretty much the emotional climax of two weeks. I broke down and I cried a lot (I’m pretty sure I hit my tear quota for the year, so don’t expect it again for a long time), but I made it through, as did everyone else there. Tony’s family seemed to be handling it better than I did…but I assume that is partly because they had a week to process and partly because they had to watch him decline so in the last few weeks. The service was beautiful; it really was a great celebration of Tony’s life. Many of us cried, but we all laughed and we all shared some of our fondest memories of the past few years with Tony. May he rest in peace until we meet again.

The week before the memorial, I spent a lot of time with extended family and friends in the Fayetteville area, and I stayed really busy: from swimming to hiking to volleyball to playing with kids and everything in between. I got to check on Baby Isaiah. He is doing so well. He is now over 5 pounds, eating out of a bottle, and out of the incubator. It’s amazing! He is getting stronger everyday. I got to see my favorite baby girl and her Mimi, Papa, and Tio, W and C, the Collins, the Thompson gang and their GG and lots of other friends I’ve been missing for the past few months. It was good to see everyone and blow off some steam.

I headed back to Van Buren to hang out with Momma Greta and Daddy Roger this past week. We were pretty lazy most of the week, but as I say that, I realize we really didn’t laze around all that much. We had a funeral and funeral dinner, shopping, hair cuts, lots of swimming. Our lovely friend Dixie got her in ground pool, complete with diving board (that sounds like Barbie’s Dreamhouse) installed last weekend, so I spent a part of every day swimming/playing in the water and hanging out with Dix and her gang. It was a blast…since I got back to Searcy, I’ve felt like I was drying out…like a fish out of water. It’s been three days and I haven’t been in a pool! Luckily, I’m going to see Allison tomorrow, and we’ll inevitably swim, since she lives in a Lindsey apartment and their complexes always have nice pools. ;) (No, I’ve never worked for Lindsey Management. Ha!)

I also took the Praxis Exam in Ft Smith this week, so I can actually be accepted to the MAT program…I did fine on the two parts I got grades back on, I just have to wait for the written portion’s grade to come in. Fall semester classes start tomorrow. It’s back to the grind. But I’m a pretty big nerd, I like school a lot…so I’m pretty excited about the first day of classes. J I decided to be a slacker this semester and drop two of the 7 classes I was signed up for. So now, I will have 2 undergrad art courses and 3 graduate education courses. It’s going to be a big change from my course load of 4 studios and a history course last semester.

I think I’ve stayed pretty true to the title of my blog with this post and rambled a whole lot. This is precisely why I need to keep up with my blog and not wait two weeks in between posts.

Song of the day is: “Song in my Soul” by AVB, thanks to Dixie for the AVB cd this week. If you’ve never heard it, look it up. It’s a good one.

Verse of the day: Philippians 4: 4-9

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praise-worthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace be with you.”