And Unwind

Well now.  My sanity is now somewhat restored.

1. I turned in over 45 pages of papers at 4:51pm yesterday, thus fulfilling all requirements for this insane quarter at Fuller Theological Seminary.

2. Dear Elise drove down from Santa Barbara to insistently celebrate #1 with me.  She picked me up in the old Volvo and brought me to school at 4:15pm-ish so that I could frantically keep typing-away on my MacBook to try (in vain) to finish one last paper that was still green before I was forced to print and hand them all in by 5pm.

3. Thankfully, Elise’s altogether under-rated humour and extra-large heart distracted me from thoroughly going into a panic attack over the fact that at 4:51pm I’d turned in an unfinished final paper to the most difficult professor in the School of Intercultural Studies.  (I still had probably worked 20 hrs on the thing, but its coherency just eluded me.)  As flying F’s hurled themselves at mental images of my transcript, Elise insisted on making me stop freaking out with the help of above-average fish-n-chips, her good graces, and the cute playlists from a just-found iPod resurrected from her 2005.

4. My Mama and Papa sent me 100 mini roses to congratulate me on pretty much finishing my dual M.A.  That was very nice.  I was reminded that I am terribly horrible at arranging flowers of any kind.  But the flowers still love me, sending me trans-national hugs from the family in Maryland.

5. Today I went for a 15 mile bike ride around Pasadena for no reason except to exhale.  The purpley trees are raining joy these days onto the streets of Altadena.  And I’m getting less awkard in my spandex bike shorts.  Maybe?

6. Tonight I feasted with Carrie Graham and her cute Texan parents at Pasadena’s finest Thai restaurant.  Good times.  Sad I’m losing her to Austin.

7. This night I also said goodbye to Christina Miller who is leaving for a 5-week term in the Holy Land tomorrow.  In between hugs and goodbye-prayers I did manage to take two books off of her shelf for the first of my summer reading.

8. In honour of Elise who’s been raving about him for ages, this night I’m having my first date with Mr. Sedaris.  He won me on page one when he used the word “terribly” much as I abuse it, and then on page two when I had to look up a word I didn’t know.  Lariat -noun 1. a long, noosed rope used to catch horses, cattle, or other livestock; lasso.   And then again on page three as I was giggling aloud.

9. Since I didn’t make it to my Graduation today (oops), I’m also enjoying Carrie Graham’s short speech on You Tube, and all of her invisible shout-outs to every seminarian’s homeboy, Walter Brueggeman.  I don’t know if it was her going to college in Nashville or what, but she’s so good with crowds I’m pretty sure she’s going to be famous one day, so be fair warned.  I love that she somehow included a Greek/Hebrew quiz and her singing a pretty prayer acapulco into her uber-short speech.  [It begins around 0:45 after the baby goes “ba ba ba” for the first time].

10.  I am looking forward to packing a box, going to the bookstore, and selling back some of the piles of books still stacked on my floor.  These books, my friendly relics from the 4am hours of the last 14 days of finals.  I look at them now and only see dollar signs.

11.  Also, today I spent time conspiring with Lu, one of my favorite Australians, as to how we can get Darrelle’s Jeep back to Colorado from Southern California.  Yes, this is Summer, with all her possibilities of roadtrips and backpacking in national forests.

And, I start to exhale.

(Photo by Through my eyes)