Growing Pains

At some point in every child's life, he seems only to eat, sleep, and grow. Sometimes I feel like that sums up my life here at IMPACT.  Well, except for the sleeping part, based on last night's late night essay cram session. But that was something that I wouldn't have missed for all the sleep in the world. We had a huge suite party with popcorn, Tang-laced Koolaid, and eventually brownies. Chelsea danced to Wannabe and Grace told all of us to shut up. I witnessed to Emma, and when Emma witnessed to me we discovered that Jesus Christ is like brownies based on the rather faulty argument that "Jesus is coming. The brownies are coming. Therefore, Jesus is like brownies."

Somewhere around 4 hours or less of sleep, I have this survival system that kicks in and keeps me awake without too much trouble so long as I don't abuse it. I was thankful for that this morning because we had an amazing Life Formations. Trent took us out to Callaway to a little pavilion by the lake, and we ended up spending an hour in quiet time as rain drops crackled through the leaves. I spent most of it praying, just praising God for how amazing He is and celebrating the many wonderful things He has done, then ended up reading Psalm 116 which led into a bit of confession. I love prayer.

Last night, I met with Mary Michael and we talked about a variety of things. She encouraged me to confront some people and had some excellent insights into my life and the universe, that sort of thing.

On Wednesday, I met with Basie and we just chatted about college plans, books, ideas, motives, and whatever it is that one talks with someone like Basie about. And I got a book for my trouble (SCORE!).

Tonight, Saltacious is setting up an open mic night in the classroom which is to begin in five minutes. I was considering singing "The Lonely Goatherd" from The Sound of Music, but I don't have it memorized and my voice will be awful now that I've had a blizzard from DQ. 14 of us went to Chick-fil-A in LaGrange for dinner this evening and then most of that number stopped by DQ while I think the rest went to Walmart. Over the course of dinner, Ben told Chuck Norris jokes, Chelsea tried to confuse the new CfA worker, and Kyle attempted to set David up with the manager, Brittany, based on the fact that they are both 21. On the drive home, Grace came decently close to hitting a deer at the exact place where Kyle hit one this past Wednesday, much to Jillian and Krista's horrified chagrin.

This afternoon, a group of us ended up having a discussion with Basie about dating. And when I poked my head into the SLC office, David and Mary Michael were playing with their Silly Putty. Win!

I did a gorgeous backstitch job on a dress of Mary Michael's that had a broken strap. It was kind of weird because a piece had actually torn off, so I had to take the same piece from the other strap, cut it in half, and then sew both straps back on, but I somehow had thread the exact shade of the dress and my stitching was marvelous, which is not something that I can say very often. Grandma once accused me of knowing more about sewing than I let on. It's true.

Tomorrow we're helping at Rosemont's Harvest Party, which means that I'll probably end up reading the Economics in Christian Perspective book on Sunday. That's not cool. Especially since Krista and I are going to church with Katie and then to lunch at her apartment and then Best Buy. And then in the evening, Nathan scheduled a drama practice and we have hall meeting. Thankfully, I like economics and I'm excited about this book.

Monday is my birthday! And by an awesome quirk, Monday also happens to be the day that Marana rescheduled the dinner for, so I'll be having dinner with the Basies for my birthday (although I didn't tell her because I would rather not be fussed over, thanks). Then on Wednesday my C group is having dinner at the Wilbanks. And on Thursday, all of my planning and plotting will come to fruition as somewhere between 17 and 19 people go on a CIU road trip. Another class with Dr. Gentry, a tour of the campus, and an overnight stay. One word: awesome!

Scary thought: somewhere in the course of the next week, I need to fill out and submit my applications. ARGH!