weekend

This was a good weekend. Got enough sleep. Did some unexpectedly cool things with respective friends. Had some good, encouraging conversations. Some things seem to be moving in good directions...just in general. Chillin with my roomie rocks, too.

Thursdays

I think I enjoyed last night a lot. I hung out with Daryll (who, incidentally, left today so he could leave for Israel on Monday). He was coming in and out a lot...and we went outside with my killstick (steel pipe) and batted my taco bell sauce packets until they all exploded, and then we went into the lounge. After I didn't put a hole in the wall with the killstick we got out a 2-by-4 and played baseball with a whole freezer full of ice, which was sweet. We also went to common grounds and played connect-4 in line for $1 anydrink.

Additionally...
I always wondered what it would be like to repeat a course. Easy? Just as annoying? Would lectures drive me crazy because I'd already heard them?

The answers are interesting. I don't remember anything from the course the first time around. However, I seem to learn it all again without further study, and on tests, it mostly seems like the questions can't possibly be the right ones because they feel too easy. (Current test records: 110% and 104% compared to 78% and 88% the first time around). (Oh yeah, I guess I should mention that I dropped stats first time through because the B I had was going to kill my scholarship, only it turned out later it wouldn't because the registrar had my GPA messed up. A story for another time.) It's great having one less class that needs real looking after, since my policy has always been to pad out my class schedule with english stuff to keep my GPA up...

cello

In case you don't know, I play cello. Well, I guess more like I played cello from fifth grade on through 12th, every morning, and enjoyed it mostly. I mean, obviously you don't enjoy something you do every day all the time, but I did have a good time. I can still remember playing twinkle twinkle little star variations from the Suzuki Method books for my great grandma Janet ("Play that jazzed up one again, James, I like those.") I play her cello...'twas made in 1919 and does it sound nice.

Ben and I passed notes in class today during organizational culture. It was awesome.

braaaaiins....

I think that hands down, the coolest thing about the flu is the way it shuts down my brain and stuff.

Plus we lost to 2A in the first game of the playoffs so we're done with that...and I'm really sorta beat up from the game. Add in with that the way I just realized that I had an assignment due tomorrow that I had forgotten about, and it's just another tuesday evening for me. Blaaaah. This is just like last semester, only I don't stay up until 2 AM any more...It's been hard concentrating on stuff lately (for instance, I'm blogging now instead of doing Mech and Kin...)

*cough, wheeze*

And yet at the same time I have been enjoying the company of my friends more than ever. Whether it's been catching up with old buddies or spending more time than usual with new ones, I feel like I've really been doing well from a social standpoint...which makes school seem like even more of a burden than usual. I guess I'll pull through.

well...

Today I worried about stuff. Relationships. Grades. Health.

I realized tonight: I am thankful for the opportunity to worry about such trivialities.

There's more than a few people out there who have to worry about whether or not there will be a meal for them that day. Whether or not they will be killed for something like their faith. Any number of things that I have never had to deal with.

Darn, we're so blessed.

Down with the sickness

Well, I watched everyone come down with it and suffer, and now I have it. Pretty sure it's the flu: respiratory congestion, aches/cramps, etc. ARG! I feel rotten now. I always hold out almost long enough and then succumb.

Well, God is the great physician. I know He's got my back.

phew.

On Sunday I woke up to Prairie Home Companion playing on the radio. Justin came in shortly thereafter and we listened for a while...it was peaceful, and made me nostalgic for the cottage kitchen on a Sunday afternoon...sun outside, and the lake, no work.

Rrrg.


Sunday was also TJ's 21st birthday, so we went to Applebees as a group of about 18, somehow were seated with no reservation, and enjoyed ourselves.

And...today was Valentines day. I thought it was pretty okay...it's nice having a holiday to wish people happiness on. But I think that those people touting "SAD" day can (in a totally nice and constructive way) stuff it...I'm unsure why it irritates me as much as it does. Maybe because I'm single, but maybe more because it's an obnoxious phrase! bah! :D In any case, I think a good time was had by most, though Tony, our QB, was off with some girl instead of helping us not lose to Quad 1. Because we did lose. And then I watched G2 play G1, and it was actually a very good game so I stayed and watched all of it instead of doing my heat transfer assignment of doom.

Jimbo is my Valentine

yup...we even ate at Bodascious Barbeque tonight :D

Heh.

Tonight was probably the best quad 4 party we've had in a while. We had the whole place al mood-lit and stuff...coffee was served...and we hung out for a while. I played the first decent round of hearts I've had in a while with Nate, Bri and Abbi...then John Spiegel started this whole spinning on a bar-stool thing, which fell naturally into several-participant jumprope with a goodly gang of people, and from there we began the first annual Vandal winter indoor track sports competition which started with limbo, and then a high-jump competition (Tim won after clearing about 5' 4" ish...I think I made about 4' 6") followed by a long jump, in which I cleared roughly 14 feet. After that we boxed...I boxed with Hesh and some other dude (both fights ended early, Hesh from a shot to the mouth and the other guy from me hitting his contact out :-/ ). And After THAT, and some coffee and ice cream, I played speed scrabble against a most admirable, but sleepy, opponent. Now I am very sleepy, so I shall play World of Warcraft with ben and do work in the morning...

Second time I've skipped church in a row, oh well. Grandpa Bill is still recovering from brain surgery, which is going well but still slow and occasionally frustrating, so praying for him=awesome.

a picture or two.

Here's us posing with our nice trophy :D




I also posted this picture of our pre-game prayer, which drew the event organizer's attention. He had this to say in an email:

"I was awestruck when I saw your pictures posted on pbnation. The opening shot of the team prayer was great. You don't see too many of those in the pics highlights of tournaments!"

I praise God that we can be out there and be showing our faith through action!

MORE winning!

Well, we shipped out Friday night, spent the night in Dalla, and competed this morning in the NCPA Lone Star Bowl versus Oklahoma State, Lousiana State, University of North Texas, Texas Christian, and Southern Methodist. The field was a little sparse but we managed to avoid getting out-gunned this time. We made the finals easily and it all came down to the last game of the day, LSU versus OSU B--if LSU could keep OSU from getting the win, then we would take first place. So we were giving LSU all our spare paint and cheering them on. LSU did wind up beating them, or at least kept them from getting enough points...so we took first. We won a trophy that's about 4 and a half feet tall and little ones for each of us too.

I feel so huge right now. The points garnered off of this tourney put our team, currently, at second in the United States.

Not to brag (too much)...but like, you know how in video games the point is generally to be the best, eventually, work your way to the top spot or whatever? We're doing that, only this isn't no game. We're winning in real life at something real. And I think we're representing our Lord well on the way.

Plus, the refs all liked my gun a lot because they were all sponsored by evil and shoot the same thing... :)

$

I am worth $2,403,278.00 on HumanForSale.com

Jinkies.

operation

Well, grandpa Bill's surgery went well...what an answer to prayer! I'm so grateful to all the people that were praying over this. He seems to be in better shape than they expected, too, so rock on.

God give me wisdom
God give me strength
make not my path easy
but please keep it straight
between today and tomorrow
there is worry enough
so take all the remainder
help me give it up.

:)