Who and what?
Life has been a bit of a jumble lately, fitting things in here and there, like puzzle pieces. I feel like I have so much to say, but I’m not quite sure how or where or when to say it.
On Wednesday I went to the Harvard Divinity School Open House. I got there at 8:30 (after a bit of a trek through Cambridge), chatted awkwardly with a few people, and wondered why the hell I was there in the first place. I haven’t been in school in a year and a half, and I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to be a minister in the first place. I felt... Odd. Out of place, but not uncomfortable. We settled in for a few panels, and I took careful notes; about the University, the programs, Admissions... Pretty typical. I had lunch with John Buehrens, who is a mucky muck among UU's (he was president of the UUA from 1993-2001, and co-wrote A Chosen Faith, which is an AWESOME book that explains a lot about Unitarian Universalism), and who is a really great guy, apparently. I adore his writing style, and essentially want his job. :D It was an honor and a privilege to sit by him and talk to him, and it was a great insight to the kind of people I’d be learning with and from.
After lunch, we did the requisite campus tour, and it all looks homey, inviting, and interesting. The library looked like a place I could call home, and I peered through a window into the stacks, fogging up the window with my impatient and jealous breath. After lunch was an information session with current students, which made me nervous (the words rigorous and workload were used quite a bit), and then a session with Admissions and Financial Aid, which made me break out into a cold sweat. FAFSA? Fees? Work Study? Educational loans? Oh, dear. It was a long but fruitful day, and I got quite a few answers and only a few extra questions.
My biggest trepidation that had me nervous at the start of the day was my caution about parish ministry. There were so many interesting people there who had done different and interesting things with a degree in ministry, and it really drew me toward it even more. There was a woman working in a non-profit, and she said that this was her ministry, that working there was a form of ministry for her. It really hit home, in an unexpected way. So, my biggest reason for not going into the ministry was resolved, but the practical side of graduate school was hit home with a Papi-sized baseball bat. I just don’t know if I can afford it, especially right now. After that day there, I’d love, love, LOVE to go to Harvard Divinity. It has the right blend of ministry and academia that makes me clap my hands with glee. It looks like absolutely the right place for me. I just don’t know if I can.
*****
Sunday I'll head down to Concord to keep my drugged-out mother from killing my father ("RICHARD! Go make the salad before you shower. And don't forget to vacuum, this place is a pigsty! Did you remember the dip? Oh, and the wine! Did you buy wine??"). She's laid up and recovering from foot surgery, and not only is she a very dependent patient, but my dad isn't the best nursemaid. She's a dear thing, but can get a bit stressed before a party. We'll have to give her an extra dose of anti-stress and anti-nausea medicine and hope it keeps her calm. The choir that performed in Transylvania is performing for the church congregation, and so my mom thought it would be nice to have a few family and friends over for a bite to eat and some wine before the concert. Which means, since she is laid up, that Dad and I get to get everything ready. Oh, joy of joys. It's going to be a lovely night, and things can't go that wrong (it's FAMILY. They've already seen the worst of us), but it will certainly be entertaining.
*****
Wes' parents are going away for part of the weekend (it's his mom's birthday, yay!), so we're going to huddle up there and be domestic for the weekend. Spending a long weekend with Wes, doing not much of anything sounds absolutely fabulous. I think he's going to spend time with his Mom while I'm at the concert, and then I think I'll head up again for Sunday night (since I don't have work on Monday, but he does have class). Mmmmmm, long weekends.
*****
This is, after all, November, and NaNo is in full swing, a little over a week in. I, unfortunately, am very behind, but I am catching up. I just wrote 1400 words in about two hours, and I’ve now made my way to 2,127 words (just over 04%, yeehaw), and have finished my first sermon, as awkward and bumbling as it may be. Of course, with NaNo and being busy at work (I had TWO meetings this week, dang it), I have fallen off the wagon on some of the Halloween threads for TR. This is Bad, because Halloween was over a week ago. I have started to catch up again, and I sincerely hope that all my beloved muns don’t hate me. I know the threads are there! I will catch up!! *is determined*
But, for now, I’m just chugging along. If you stopped to ask me, I could rattle off the list of random things I need to do. I have work (that I get paid for, right, hmm), Halloween TR PLUS regular TR, and NaNo. So, we’ll see how things turn out, evolve, wind up. It’s getting downright COLD outside, and I don’t approve, even though it means I can wear my winter hat. I’m digging out the sweaters, the flannel pants, the wooly socks. The seasons are a-changing, my dears...
On Wednesday I went to the Harvard Divinity School Open House. I got there at 8:30 (after a bit of a trek through Cambridge), chatted awkwardly with a few people, and wondered why the hell I was there in the first place. I haven’t been in school in a year and a half, and I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to be a minister in the first place. I felt... Odd. Out of place, but not uncomfortable. We settled in for a few panels, and I took careful notes; about the University, the programs, Admissions... Pretty typical. I had lunch with John Buehrens, who is a mucky muck among UU's (he was president of the UUA from 1993-2001, and co-wrote A Chosen Faith, which is an AWESOME book that explains a lot about Unitarian Universalism), and who is a really great guy, apparently. I adore his writing style, and essentially want his job. :D It was an honor and a privilege to sit by him and talk to him, and it was a great insight to the kind of people I’d be learning with and from.
After lunch, we did the requisite campus tour, and it all looks homey, inviting, and interesting. The library looked like a place I could call home, and I peered through a window into the stacks, fogging up the window with my impatient and jealous breath. After lunch was an information session with current students, which made me nervous (the words rigorous and workload were used quite a bit), and then a session with Admissions and Financial Aid, which made me break out into a cold sweat. FAFSA? Fees? Work Study? Educational loans? Oh, dear. It was a long but fruitful day, and I got quite a few answers and only a few extra questions.
My biggest trepidation that had me nervous at the start of the day was my caution about parish ministry. There were so many interesting people there who had done different and interesting things with a degree in ministry, and it really drew me toward it even more. There was a woman working in a non-profit, and she said that this was her ministry, that working there was a form of ministry for her. It really hit home, in an unexpected way. So, my biggest reason for not going into the ministry was resolved, but the practical side of graduate school was hit home with a Papi-sized baseball bat. I just don’t know if I can afford it, especially right now. After that day there, I’d love, love, LOVE to go to Harvard Divinity. It has the right blend of ministry and academia that makes me clap my hands with glee. It looks like absolutely the right place for me. I just don’t know if I can.
*****
Sunday I'll head down to Concord to keep my drugged-out mother from killing my father ("RICHARD! Go make the salad before you shower. And don't forget to vacuum, this place is a pigsty! Did you remember the dip? Oh, and the wine! Did you buy wine??"). She's laid up and recovering from foot surgery, and not only is she a very dependent patient, but my dad isn't the best nursemaid. She's a dear thing, but can get a bit stressed before a party. We'll have to give her an extra dose of anti-stress and anti-nausea medicine and hope it keeps her calm. The choir that performed in Transylvania is performing for the church congregation, and so my mom thought it would be nice to have a few family and friends over for a bite to eat and some wine before the concert. Which means, since she is laid up, that Dad and I get to get everything ready. Oh, joy of joys. It's going to be a lovely night, and things can't go that wrong (it's FAMILY. They've already seen the worst of us), but it will certainly be entertaining.
*****
Wes' parents are going away for part of the weekend (it's his mom's birthday, yay!), so we're going to huddle up there and be domestic for the weekend. Spending a long weekend with Wes, doing not much of anything sounds absolutely fabulous. I think he's going to spend time with his Mom while I'm at the concert, and then I think I'll head up again for Sunday night (since I don't have work on Monday, but he does have class). Mmmmmm, long weekends.
*****
This is, after all, November, and NaNo is in full swing, a little over a week in. I, unfortunately, am very behind, but I am catching up. I just wrote 1400 words in about two hours, and I’ve now made my way to 2,127 words (just over 04%, yeehaw), and have finished my first sermon, as awkward and bumbling as it may be. Of course, with NaNo and being busy at work (I had TWO meetings this week, dang it), I have fallen off the wagon on some of the Halloween threads for TR. This is Bad, because Halloween was over a week ago. I have started to catch up again, and I sincerely hope that all my beloved muns don’t hate me. I know the threads are there! I will catch up!! *is determined*
But, for now, I’m just chugging along. If you stopped to ask me, I could rattle off the list of random things I need to do. I have work (that I get paid for, right, hmm), Halloween TR PLUS regular TR, and NaNo. So, we’ll see how things turn out, evolve, wind up. It’s getting downright COLD outside, and I don’t approve, even though it means I can wear my winter hat. I’m digging out the sweaters, the flannel pants, the wooly socks. The seasons are a-changing, my dears...