Midterms this week. Reading week next week. I'm ready for the break.

Since I last posted, I had my final ordination interview and was authorized for ordination upon graduation in May! Exciting stuff. It's kind of wide open right now where I'll be in a year. I'd like to stay around here, or in Texas at least, but that might not get to happen. So I'm exploring some options.

I'm thinking I need to find some more non-minister friends who can go to concerts with me on Saturdays. I don't want to do that every week or anything, but every now and then. Sunday morning's not too bad after a fun Saturday night. I've done it before. Rhett Miller's playing this Saturday in Dallas, but I've had no luck finding a concert buddy. Boooo.

I did get to see Ingrid Michaelson last week, though. My usual concert friend Katie and I trekked to Dallas because she loves Ingrid and because I was in a "forget school!" kind of mood. And now I love Ingrid, too. I appreciated her before, but I didn't have any of her cds. We listened to her very recently-released album on the way to the concert, and she played most of the songs from it that night. And oh man, some of them are just so dang good.

I am quite annoyed with Xanga right now. I wrote a substantial post just to have it deleted when I added a picture, which they said would be SEPARATE from the written entry. I'll try to remember most of what I said.

So, it's been a while. When I last wrote, I still had mission trip, ordination paperwork, JYF camp, and General Assembly ahead of me. All in all, it was a pretty great summer, but I'm glad to be home for more than a week at a time!

Just before Bosnia, I started re-thinking my plan to be a professor. For the rest of the summer I thought about it in the midst of my other activities, and by the time I got back from Indianapolis, it was pretty clear that I want to work in the congregation. I think that's where I'm called. But I hope to be the kind of pastor who writes, researches, creates, and contributes to conversation and action within and beyond the local church.

So, this will be my last year of school...for a while, at least. I may go back for more book-learnin' someday, but not right away. And it's odd realizing this is my last year. I love school a lot, so I already know I'll miss it next year. I love school supply shopping and getting ready for classes. This semester will be fun. I'm taking Church History 2, Intro to New Testament (I know, it's funny that I saved it for the end), an independent study about environmental ethics, a pastoral care class about spirituality and psychotherapy, and choir.

I typed this entire story out earlier, but I don't feel like going into the detail I originally did. So, here's the gist: I cleaned my mountainous mess of a room, and as I started, I decided I wanted a Mexican tin mirror for my wall. The next day at lunch with my friend Katie, I told her about it. After lunch we went to an antique shop where she'd bought something the day before, and at the back of the store, there was a Mexican tin mirror. And there was a sale on mirrors that day. So I got a great mirror, and it was a steal. Here's a picture of it (taken with my iPhone, which I love and which makes me feel like I'm living in the future because it is so amazing):

P.S. The "Listening to" feature isn't working right now, but I want to note that I'm listening to "Sign on the Door" by Kasey Chambers. I've pretty much been listening to her all summer since I got all of her cds at once in June and before that just had some random songs. Some of her songs just knock me off my feet. Last week the one that suddenly got me was "Lost and Found." I'd listened to it many times this summer, along with the other songs on that album, but a week or two ago, I finally really heard it in a different way. So, I learned it and played it at Music Night! And this week I put in a new-to-me Kasey Chambers album, and one song really called out to me. So, today I learned that song..."Sign on the Door." That song is my new theme song for a while.

I was out tonight with a couple of friends, and after a few drinks, I found myself listening to a pretty rockin' band at this hole-in-the-wall, watching the lights from the disco ball on the ground go around and around, and thinking about how the past year seemed to be in fast-forward.

Past years have seemed to fly by, but this one really did. A lot has been packed into the past five years or so, and each year has gone by pretty quickly. But last June 5 really does seem like just a blink of an eye ago. I remember it like yesterday -- it was the day that the Grand Camp staff arrived in Athens and we did a lot of prep work and a couple of us stayed up late singing and playing guitar late into the night. But a lot has happened in that time. A year ago was a year ago, not yesterday. Part of me kind of wishes I could go back to last June 5 and redo some things since then. And another part wishes I could slow down the happenings of the past year and hold onto everything that did happen.

I watched a mediocre new show last night called The Listener, and there was one scene in the first episode where the main character is kind of telepathically slammed with an image of a woman who was in a car wreck. It's so strong a feeling that he is physically affected by it; it looks like he is actually slammed by something. That's sometimes how I feel with my own memory. Memories slam me back into the moments in which they happened with such force that it seems like I'm there, and then when I realize that a certain amount of time -- a year, or more -- has passed, I'm discombobulated. It can be a tiring business.

I know I've talked a lot about my memory on this Xanga lately. I guess it's just because I'm increasingly aware of it. It trips other people out that I remember some random dates, and honestly, it trips me out, too. My sister's got a great memory for dates, too. It's genentic, I suppose. Anyway. I'm just typing to type at this point. I'm very, very tired, and it's time to sleep.

It's become somewhat of a tradition for me to post on here when I have no business doing so -- when I have a paper due in a few hours. Technically, the paper I'm working on today isn't due until midnight. But I need to finish it in the next three hours because I'm going down to Gatesville for a little party at my dad's house tonight. The paper's interesting, and I wish I felt like writing it. But I don't. Blerg!

I went down to Boerne on Friday and then to Galveston on Sunday. It was a nice little vacation. On Sunday afternoon, before I left for G-town, I went with my grandma to a picnic for all the thrift shop volunteers. There were a ton of people there, mostly older folks. And a lot of them were pretty boring and even annoying. But there was one lady, Myrl, who just cracked me up. She's 94 or so and is hilarious. When the hostess asked a small group of us if we wanted anything to drink, Myrl said "not if you don't have Jack Daniels!" Later she was going on and on about how she's a Democrat and how she just loves the Clintons. My grandma told her about how I was on stage with Hillary at the rally last year, and Myrl was soooo excited. She said that they're the most brilliant couple. She said: "Now, that Bill, he's a scoundrel. But I've forgiven him. And I'd tell him so if I could only get to Washington, D.C. But I can't. And even if I could, I don't think they'd let me near him."

Galveston was good times. Spent time with La and Mom. We went shopping for baby stuff for Laura's little bun in the oven...so fun! And I saw two movies in two days in the theater, which hasn't happened in a while. First was Angels and Demons, which was pretty good. I didn't know Ewan McGregor was in it, and that was a nice surprise, since he's one of my favorites. The next day we saw Night in the Museum. I hadn't seen the first one, and this one was a little choppy (especially at the beginning), but it was entertaining, at least. And Hank Azaria was really funny.

I got some excellent news on Wednesday morning. A paper I wrote for my Disciples History class is going to be published! This fall! I don't think the whole thing will be in there because it's too long. But I'm still SO thrilled about this!

That's it for now. My pizza's ready, and after I eat, it's write, write, write, until 2:30.