Green Butterfly

My brother's band has their CD release concert tonight. This is something we have all been waiting for for a long time. I am super excited to be able to support them tonight. The CD sounds amazing by the way - one of the benefits of being related to the band! :)

I am sitting in a little coffee shop at home right now, working on grad school essays, student teaching applications and seriously thinking/writing about what I believe about education and my professional life - kinda deep! haha. Well as I have been sitting here, a lady in her late 50's I'd say walked by the front of the stop about 6 times. So this isn't too unusual considering the shop is located right on the square of downtown Chambersburg - however the unusual part is that she had a green butterfly painted on her face - like covering her entire face. I kinda wish I had a picture. That's all I have to say - a lady walked by several times and she looked like a green butterfly. :)

Passion

When you are passionate about something, it is so hard to keep that passion hidden. Today I was going through some pictures to create a slide show for my presentation at church next Sunday night. I began reminiscing of my time spend in Indonesia this past summer and I began to ask, was it really real? Did I really go there? Did I really live in a village for a week? Seeing the faces of the kids brought back so many memories of our daily jalan-jalan (walks). As difficult as it was living in that village I miss it so much. The beauty was spectacular, the people so genuine. God, there is something burning inside me, screaming to be let out - a passion and desire to just go. To go wherever it is that you want me to go. Here I am God, send me.

Where were you?

This blog is going to take a bit more of a serious tone today. Its hard to believe that 7 years ago was the day that the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Western Pennsylvania. I just got back from breakfast and watching the news coverage of the memorial services going on at those places. Before parting with my roommate as she went to work and I headed back to the room, we commented on where we were at the time of the crashes (because it was nearing 9:03 when the second crash took place). Here is my account of the day:

I was blessed to have been home schooled at this time of my life and take pride in the fact that I was at home when all of this was happening in NY, DC and PA. I was sitting in front of the computer checking my email that particular Tuesday morning when my mom called down the steps to tell me to turn on the TV that something had happened in NYC. I got up and turned on the television and sat in disbelief at what I was seeing. I would end up sitting there most of the day. I can remember the newscaster's words just before the second plane hit the second tower...something along the lines of "Oh my gosh, look, there's another plane!"

I watched as the second plane plowed into the tower (and would see it again and again as it would be replayed). I don' t really remember specific feelings other than shock.

What were you doing on that day? Feel free to comment, I'm curious.

And now for our Feature Presentation...

Today in Spanish class we had our first quiz (which I was scared about, but don't think it was too terrible because I actually studied most of the right things)...but after that our professor decided to pop in a video for us. Good idea right? Wrong. At first I thought it would be some short 15 minute thing, 30 minutes max and I wouldn't have to worry too much about my comprehension level. Once again - wrong! Now this class lasts 1 hour and 20 minutes (take about 20 minutes out for the quiz and roll etc) ...maybe my professor thought a nice afternoon nap would be nice for all of us, not too sure, but the remaining hour proceeded like this:

Dark warm room
Drizzles outside the window
Padded chairs (with wheels!)
Big screen
A man narrating in Spanish
Pictures of the history of Latinoamerica
Few live clips
15 minutes in Kaitlin gets uncomfortable in the padded chair and puts head down
Uh-oh! Its all down hill from here
The drone of Spanish was the perfect recipe for a nice little doze (probably took about 10 of those)
Mmmm couldn't tell you anything that he was telling us - even when I was alert

Wonder what the discussion on the movie is going to be like on Thursday? (I know I'm not the only one who didn't catch anything that went on)

Saw the fire safety video tonight for the last time of my college career...sheds a tear...or not...Now that one was MUCH more interesting than the Spanish one...fire was involved...fire is always more exciting...

Maybe I should take up plumbing...

So lately I have spent time reading my cousin's blog of his summer in Asia and it never failed - he seemed to get into something interesting all the time! (Yeah he was in Asia, but still...) Now that he is home, even in Indiana he finds himself enjoying life as it comes and then writing about it. Well, I've been learning about living life for today and not wishing for tomorrow to come (because then I will never enjoy today)...so maybe if I start a blog and tell you about it, then it will help me find the smaller adventures in life.

This afternoon I was enjoying a Friday with no classes, doing something on my computer, not too sure what, when one of the girls on my hall came and knocked on my door. I was happy to see her until she warned me about our community bathroom...she said something about one toilet overflowing and the other one being clogged but not having any water.

I have to admit, I had been aware of the clogged toilet already, I saw it but kinda hoped someone else would plunge it...I should have known better - I'm the RA (its assumed in the job description to plunge toilets). ha. So I got up from my computer to scope out the damage, grabbed the plunger to attack the first problem. I tried flushing, to add some water...water came but the mass of toilet paper did not flush. So...I tried flushing again, plunging at the same time. Suddenly I had to jump out of the way for fear that the water would cascade over the side of the bowl...thankfully it did not but instead unclogged itself. First issue solved - not so bad.

Now on to problem 2...the small pond of water around the last toilet in our bathroom. I spent the next 10 minutes mopping up water from the floor and trying not to think about where it came from and hoping that next time people learn to plunge their own toilets! Mmm yes, some of the joys of being an RA...what else will this year bring?