I was attempting to download a patch onto my big laptop and it crashed on Monday and hasn't been able to boot up correctly since. I need to take it to my computer repair guys today to see what is wrong. The error message says something like that it is caught in a continuous faulty loop or something similar.
I am just hoping that it is an easy fix, because my mini is great for simple things but I really rely on my big laptop for major writing assignments (like writing my book, mostly) and even blog posting simply because the keyboard is much easier to type on than the mini is for any major length of time.
Anyway, I can post a Mystic Monday post from my mini, and will try to get to one later today (even though it is Wednesday again) because I know how much you guys are getting used to learning about all those obscure friends from the early church. I hate to disappoint.
Mrangelmeg and I are off this afternoon for a drive to Indy to participate in my first ever Alumni Gathering for my Gradual School. I am really looking forward to seeing the Abbot and
President Rector and hopefully a few other friends from the area. Before I do that I have decided that I have to get a mani-pedi because my toenails are looking really bad, so after my morning workout I am stopping at the nail salon.
Pax
Showing posts with label grad school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grad school. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, March 02, 2009
Good News On Tap
Each year my good friend from Gradual School, Diane does a lenten reflection series as a part of her own lenten journey. Each year she has shared them with us. This year she has gone way High Tech and posted them via video on the web so that a wider audience can benefit from her wisdom.
I have added the RSS feed to my sidebar so that you can link to it if you wish
It is the one called Good News on Tap--------------->
Check it out. You won't be disappopinted.
Pax
I have added the RSS feed to my sidebar so that you can link to it if you wish
It is the one called Good News on Tap--------------->
Check it out. You won't be disappopinted.
Pax
Monday, August 18, 2008
Welcoming Home the Schoolboy(Man?)
Mrangelmeg began another of his Masters classes today. Unlike my program, his classes are a week long, and he gets out of work to take them. He is in Budgeting and Finance this week and again I say better him than me.
I don't know how much nightly homework this class will entail, but I do know that he is going to try to stick to his schedule of working out at the YMCA each night. I am going to try to make sure that he has a nutritious meal each night, even if that means I have to actually cook. (And you all know how much I love to cook).
Tomorrow I have to drive up to Indianapolis to attend the Orientation session for my internship program. I would laugh at mrangelmeg because he is going to be studying so hard, but it turns out that I will have at least five books and between 10 and 15 articles to read this semester, and who knows how many papers to write. While my work won't be quite as taxing as Gradual School was reflection papers do take some time and effort.
Oh well, I will have plenty of time to stop reading and writing after I have died (unless my purgatory is a very long time spent in a place like gradual school, which I could easily imagine as being a place to work off ones sins).
Tomorrow's dinner will be whatever I decide to throw in the crock pot before I take off in the morning.
Pray I have nice weather for the drive, and Mrangelmeg has an easy time with his budgets and finances the rest of the week.
Pax
I don't know how much nightly homework this class will entail, but I do know that he is going to try to stick to his schedule of working out at the YMCA each night. I am going to try to make sure that he has a nutritious meal each night, even if that means I have to actually cook. (And you all know how much I love to cook).
Tomorrow I have to drive up to Indianapolis to attend the Orientation session for my internship program. I would laugh at mrangelmeg because he is going to be studying so hard, but it turns out that I will have at least five books and between 10 and 15 articles to read this semester, and who knows how many papers to write. While my work won't be quite as taxing as Gradual School was reflection papers do take some time and effort.
Oh well, I will have plenty of time to stop reading and writing after I have died (unless my purgatory is a very long time spent in a place like gradual school, which I could easily imagine as being a place to work off ones sins).
Tomorrow's dinner will be whatever I decide to throw in the crock pot before I take off in the morning.
Pray I have nice weather for the drive, and Mrangelmeg has an easy time with his budgets and finances the rest of the week.
Pax
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Gradual School Flash Back . . Compliments of the Ironic Catholic
I hope she doesn't mind I am going to quote it here because I burst out laughing, sprayed my computer with coffee and scared my kids this morning:
The Ironic Catholic: Weather: An Apophatic Front Sweeps In Today:
"Periods of apophatic darkness including ways of negation over far northern Minnesota, should make a paradigm shift into northern Wisconsin, processing but not spirating well north of the metro area.
The hypostatic union may spark numerous parabolic metaphors from late Tuesday night into Friday, ripe for nighttime analogical imagination capable of localized cataphaticism.
Eschatological forecast: 1.5' of dogma by Friday, some interpretation over the millenia, when most apocalyptic language should pass to our south, over Iowa. Next age should be clear (but yet more windy) than the last."
If you intone the words in a southern drawl and add a knowing yesssss to the end of each paragraph, this could have come from the mouth of one of my professors at Gradual School as a way to confound the less aware students. Sadly, some of my fellow gradual school classmates would be nodding along in agreement while others were furiously scribbling notes. Still others would be fumbling with their theological dictionary under the table furiously looking up every other word trying to appear as though they were keeping up with the flow of his discourse. (I have to admit that my first class I was one of the ones withe the theological dictionary in my lap), but even I would have known that this was too much, I hope.
This is way too funny. I may send it to Fr. Denis. It will make his day. I can just hear him saying "Yesssssss" in his knowing way after he has read it, with that little smile on his angelic face.
Pax
The Ironic Catholic: Weather: An Apophatic Front Sweeps In Today:
"Periods of apophatic darkness including ways of negation over far northern Minnesota, should make a paradigm shift into northern Wisconsin, processing but not spirating well north of the metro area.
The hypostatic union may spark numerous parabolic metaphors from late Tuesday night into Friday, ripe for nighttime analogical imagination capable of localized cataphaticism.
Eschatological forecast: 1.5' of dogma by Friday, some interpretation over the millenia, when most apocalyptic language should pass to our south, over Iowa. Next age should be clear (but yet more windy) than the last."
If you intone the words in a southern drawl and add a knowing yesssss to the end of each paragraph, this could have come from the mouth of one of my professors at Gradual School as a way to confound the less aware students. Sadly, some of my fellow gradual school classmates would be nodding along in agreement while others were furiously scribbling notes. Still others would be fumbling with their theological dictionary under the table furiously looking up every other word trying to appear as though they were keeping up with the flow of his discourse. (I have to admit that my first class I was one of the ones withe the theological dictionary in my lap), but even I would have known that this was too much, I hope.
This is way too funny. I may send it to Fr. Denis. It will make his day. I can just hear him saying "Yesssssss" in his knowing way after he has read it, with that little smile on his angelic face.
Pax
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Reality Is . . .
when mrangelmeg is taking a Masters Class called Statistical Analysis for Effective Decision Making (and way better him than me on that one) the same week as our 25th wedding anniversary he has to make the decision that . . .
I become statistically irrelevant. (at least for this particular week).
When you consider all of the concessions he had to make so that I could complete my Masters Degree, I have to give him some slack on this one.
Hey, it could have been worse, He could have been TDY somewhere else in the country this week. This way at least if his homework load isn't extremely heavy on Wednesday evening we might be able to go out to dinner.
I become statistically irrelevant. (at least for this particular week).
When you consider all of the concessions he had to make so that I could complete my Masters Degree, I have to give him some slack on this one.
Hey, it could have been worse, He could have been TDY somewhere else in the country this week. This way at least if his homework load isn't extremely heavy on Wednesday evening we might be able to go out to dinner.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Some Thoughts on Gradual School Graduation
The weather was awesomely beautiful considering it was rainy and cold on Friday AND Sunday. All day Saturday it was Sunny with a nice breeze. We were really happy to have the great weather.
Our friend Felicity couldn't be with us because her father passed away on Friday. Please keep her in your prayers. We will share her joy next year when she walks for her graduation.
I got to be a Candle bearer for the processional at Commencement Liturgy in Abbey Church along with Susan (a colleague I have known from Diocesan work since before we started at St. Meinrad). As we were standing outside preparing to enter we both realized we were the only two women in a very long line of men of men. (all the monks who teach in the Seminary/School of Theology concelebrate the Mass with the visiting commencement speaker: The Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless, DD, Bishop of Sioux City Iowa.)
My dear friend John and his wife were able to join us because of a slight hitch in his recovery schedule. Claudette said that his first thought after being momentarily upset that his bone marrow transplant would have to be postponed was that he would get to share the day with Diane and me. They even got to the Hill in time to sit in church with us.
The angelbaby's comment on the resplendent liturgical vessels used in the Abbey Church: (said, wide eyed, just after she returned from receiving Communion): "Mom, really little hands, great big cup."
My kids who drove down Saturday had a really scary encounter with a gravel truck (we see a lot of those around these parts) but the only damage I have is a chip to my front windshield, so I feel very blessed.
There were extra places at our lunch table (Diane and I shared a table because we had so many common friends we wanted to invite, so we got to allow one of our professors, the associate director of our program and the administrative assistant in her office to sit with us at lunch. This was really great.
I had little boxes made up at a place here in town called The Chocolate Emporium that said:
Our friend Felicity couldn't be with us because her father passed away on Friday. Please keep her in your prayers. We will share her joy next year when she walks for her graduation.
I got to be a Candle bearer for the processional at Commencement Liturgy in Abbey Church along with Susan (a colleague I have known from Diocesan work since before we started at St. Meinrad). As we were standing outside preparing to enter we both realized we were the only two women in a very long line of men of men. (all the monks who teach in the Seminary/School of Theology concelebrate the Mass with the visiting commencement speaker: The Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless, DD, Bishop of Sioux City Iowa.)
My dear friend John and his wife were able to join us because of a slight hitch in his recovery schedule. Claudette said that his first thought after being momentarily upset that his bone marrow transplant would have to be postponed was that he would get to share the day with Diane and me. They even got to the Hill in time to sit in church with us.
The angelbaby's comment on the resplendent liturgical vessels used in the Abbey Church: (said, wide eyed, just after she returned from receiving Communion): "Mom, really little hands, great big cup."
My kids who drove down Saturday had a really scary encounter with a gravel truck (we see a lot of those around these parts) but the only damage I have is a chip to my front windshield, so I feel very blessed.
There were extra places at our lunch table (Diane and I shared a table because we had so many common friends we wanted to invite, so we got to allow one of our professors, the associate director of our program and the administrative assistant in her office to sit with us at lunch. This was really great.
I had little boxes made up at a place here in town called The Chocolate Emporium that said:
Admit it
You'll miss me.
on top and each box was filled with a dark chocolate truffle. I painstakingly signed each and every box (now I wish I had taken a picture of at least one of the boxes). These I handed out at the luncheon to all of my friends, professors, the monks in the administration, Father Abbot Justin, and the seminarians that I have known since I have been coming to the school. The story behind the saying is that I am the one who brought chocolate candy to every class (to ensure that my chocolatarian side wouldn't starve on the weekends) they will miss me when I am gone.
I was very good at lunch, and even though the wine selection was top notch, I only drank one glass so as not to embarrass myself at the convocation.
I will freely admit now [mostly because 1) I have the signed diploma in my hands, and 2) the President Rector busted me after the convocation when my Pops got a picture I will post as soon as I get a copy]: that I actually wore my I love Jesuits t-shirt under my gown to the convocation.
I made it across the stage without tripping or hurting myself. I will admit to checking inside the diploma, just to make sure it was duly signed and official. My friend Diane, hadn't yet gotten her final grades and was expecting to get an empty one with Psych written inside, hers was signed too.
The Bishop's address was a bit offensive to me, the nicest thing I can say about it was at least it was short. I happened to be sitting in the front row of the auditorium and since it isn't air conditioned the outside doors were open on either side of the stage and I was smack in the middle of a very brisk cross wind and getting colder by the minute.
When we processed out of the auditorium we walked through a hallway lined with all of our professors who were clapping as we passed. If anything that happened that day was a moment that made me start to cry, that was it. Seeing my favorite professors, Damo, Clayton, Ryan, Fr. Richstatter, Br McDreamy all standing there wishing me well, was more than I could bear.
We sat with friends and drank champagne (not nearly as nice a spread as last year's) and chatted for a long time. I got some really cool gifts. Deacon John had Icons made for us: Diane is Perpetua and I am Thekla (it is a very long story, remind me to tell you) It was such a thoughtful gift. Every gift I got was thoughtful. Diane gave me a rosary bracelet from the Vatican Museum gift shop from her recent vacation in Italy. She has a matching one from Assisi. Pops and Pat got me a Harry Pickens CD (we have a mutual admiration for Jazz and specifically Harry Pickens, whom we have heard in concert together twice.
My kids got me a talking card of Vizzini from The Princess Bride saying that my achievement in graduation was "Inconceivable" and a copy of The Philosophy of The Office" Which may be the only Philosophy book I will ever enjoy reading. My kids; where do they get that sarcastically cruel streak?
In the evening we had a small dinner gathering of some of our lay student friends. We ate sandwiches and yummy home made potato salad and salsa and then we sang Karaoke. It was lots of fun.
I will post some pictures when I have time, but today is my library day and we are starting inventory and the librarian is out today (she took a surprise visit to Georgia for Mother's day to see her mom) so I have to get going so I can get things started.
Pax
Friday, May 09, 2008
After all this effort . . .
I should at least get super powers or something.
My graduation is only a day away now. I would be really excited if I weren't so darn nervous about forgetting something for the trip down there. Not only do I have to pack for myself but I have to make sure that the kids all have nice clothes, and then I have to make sure that everything gets packed for our little party on Saturday evening.
I have been dyed and mani-pedied and shaved and am even planning to actually style my hair (this is something I haven't done in years I am telling you).
I have new clothes to wear and promised mrangelmeg that I would be on my best behavior, meaning not too much wine at lunch, until after I walk across the stage in the afternoon to receive my diploma. Then I get to relax and party a little.
One of my close friends and I are planning a dinner party for the evening so that all of our friends from down there can party with us (including our professors and the monks). That should be fun, I am bringing my karaoke machine.
I had better get some sleep now. I will post some pictures of my big day when we return.
Pax
My graduation is only a day away now. I would be really excited if I weren't so darn nervous about forgetting something for the trip down there. Not only do I have to pack for myself but I have to make sure that the kids all have nice clothes, and then I have to make sure that everything gets packed for our little party on Saturday evening.
I have been dyed and mani-pedied and shaved and am even planning to actually style my hair (this is something I haven't done in years I am telling you).
I have new clothes to wear and promised mrangelmeg that I would be on my best behavior, meaning not too much wine at lunch, until after I walk across the stage in the afternoon to receive my diploma. Then I get to relax and party a little.
One of my close friends and I are planning a dinner party for the evening so that all of our friends from down there can party with us (including our professors and the monks). That should be fun, I am bringing my karaoke machine.
I had better get some sleep now. I will post some pictures of my big day when we return.
Pax
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Graduation Keeps Getting Closer
I am sending out Graduation Announcements today and it occurred to me that the official date of my Gradual School Graduation is less than a month away! I got my class ring (see picture) in the mail this week and have been wearing it ever since (thank you mrangelmeg, it is the best birthday present I could have ever asked for).
We even got confirmation of our housing arrangements for graduation weekend since we are staying down on "The Hill" for the weekend to make it less stressful on me. Mrangelmeg, the angelbaby and I are driving down on Friday and meeting up with one of my closest friends Friday evening for some good times. We promised to take the angelbaby to The Unstable --what they call the campus bar (if you know anything about the Rule of Benedict you might get the little inside joke in the name of the bar).
The other four kids are driving down on Saturday and joining us for the festivities the day of graduation and we secured another suite for them so that they can stay over Saturday night and don't have to drive back until Sunday.
We are hoping to find a place to have a little informal get together on Saturday evening for Lay Students and families, we haven't decided where that will be yet, or what that will entail, but it will all get worked out in the next few weeks.
I keep trying to decide what to wear to graduation, I suppose I could just wear something I already own, after all it will be under a cap and gown for the official ceremony. I have threatened to wear this , but considering the reception the last time I wore it when I was down there it might not be such a good choice. They might decide to withhold my diploma.
Pax
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Happy Birthday My Dear Felicity
Today is the Birthday of a dear friend of mine from Gradual School. A while back in a Women in the Early Church we all got the names of Women Saints and hers is Felicity, (mine is Thecla by the way, there is a story there but that is for another day).
She also happens to be an Organic Dairy Farmer from Ohio and has posted a
"Day in the Life" video on YouTube.
The song in the video is one of our personal favorites Shaking the Tree by Peter Gabriel, listen to the words they are awesomely powerful as a women's song of empowerment. (Nota: the book; Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner; that she is reading is from our Women in the Old Testament class last fall.)
Enjoy the video and send up a prayer of blessing on my sister Felicity on this her birthday.
Pax
She also happens to be an Organic Dairy Farmer from Ohio and has posted a
"Day in the Life" video on YouTube.
The song in the video is one of our personal favorites Shaking the Tree by Peter Gabriel, listen to the words they are awesomely powerful as a women's song of empowerment. (Nota: the book; Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner; that she is reading is from our Women in the Old Testament class last fall.)
Enjoy the video and send up a prayer of blessing on my sister Felicity on this her birthday.
Pax
Friday, February 15, 2008
The Countdown is SO ON! Save the Date!
84 Days and Couting!
I got my official registration form for St Meinrad Graduation today. I will receive my Gradual School Diploma for a Master of Arts in Catholic Thought and Life on May 10, 2008.
The Schedule of events includes
10:00 a.m. Eucharist in Archabbey Church
12:00 p.m. Formal Luncheon
1:30 p.m. Robing and Pictures
2:00 p.m. Convocation/Graduation
reception in Alumni Commons following the Convocation.
So far there is only one hitch; I get 6 tickets for the luncheon. Which one of the kids has to eat Wendy's from up the highway? (no really we can order more tickets but I am going to ask them just to see their faces).
Now I have to order my class ring, and figure out what I am going to wear, and make sure the kids all have nice clothes to wear, and make sure that mrangelmeg tells them at work that he needs to be in Indiana that weekend and not somewhere else. Whew, and I thought all the hard part was over.
Pax
I got my official registration form for St Meinrad Graduation today. I will receive my Gradual School Diploma for a Master of Arts in Catholic Thought and Life on May 10, 2008.
The Schedule of events includes
10:00 a.m. Eucharist in Archabbey Church
12:00 p.m. Formal Luncheon
1:30 p.m. Robing and Pictures
2:00 p.m. Convocation/Graduation
reception in Alumni Commons following the Convocation.
So far there is only one hitch; I get 6 tickets for the luncheon. Which one of the kids has to eat Wendy's from up the highway? (no really we can order more tickets but I am going to ask them just to see their faces).
Now I have to order my class ring, and figure out what I am going to wear, and make sure the kids all have nice clothes to wear, and make sure that mrangelmeg tells them at work that he needs to be in Indiana that weekend and not somewhere else. Whew, and I thought all the hard part was over.
Pax
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Best Christmas Gift This Year
I PASSED MY FINALS!
THE LETTER CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY, WHAT A CHRISTMAS GIFT!
PAX
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Bigger than a part time job
I was notified by the Principal of the Middle School that they had offered the position to a graduate of the IU Library Science Department. So I suppose I wasn't meant to be a part time Media Assistant next year.
I am a bit shocked that someone with a degree in Library Science would want a part time job. Is the market that saturated, or is this person a woman with children who really doesn't want to work full time-- who knows.
I know that, as nice as this little job might have seemed, God has grander plans for me and if I wait long enough they will be revealed to me.
On another note I was notified in an email yesterday that I probably won't find out till after Christmas what my grades will be on my finals. They were handed in to the registrar today (or was it yesterday-- this week anyway) but probably won't be processed and mailed out until the week between Christmas and the New Year.
The person who wrote the email said he was sure that I had passed, I would love to take his word for it, but I will be able to sleep a lot more peacefully when I have the paper in my hand that says I have actually passed and will be able to graduate in May. Then I will really feel done.
Until then, I will just sit and wait and pray and watch. God has something planned for me, I just wish he was a bit more forthcoming with the details.
Pax
I am a bit shocked that someone with a degree in Library Science would want a part time job. Is the market that saturated, or is this person a woman with children who really doesn't want to work full time-- who knows.
I know that, as nice as this little job might have seemed, God has grander plans for me and if I wait long enough they will be revealed to me.
On another note I was notified in an email yesterday that I probably won't find out till after Christmas what my grades will be on my finals. They were handed in to the registrar today (or was it yesterday-- this week anyway) but probably won't be processed and mailed out until the week between Christmas and the New Year.
The person who wrote the email said he was sure that I had passed, I would love to take his word for it, but I will be able to sleep a lot more peacefully when I have the paper in my hand that says I have actually passed and will be able to graduate in May. Then I will really feel done.
Until then, I will just sit and wait and pray and watch. God has something planned for me, I just wish he was a bit more forthcoming with the details.
Pax
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Little Blessings
Did I tell you that I applied for a job today? No? Must have slipped my mind. It is only a little part time job; 17.5 hours a week working as a media center assistant at a local Middle School. I volunteer at the Media Center at the angelbaby's elementary school on Mondays and the woman I work for there told me about it. She got a plea via email from the Woman at the Media Center at the Middle School for help finding the best candidate. Since I already know how to use the software, and pretty much know my way around a library she thought it would be perfect for me.
I do need to get back into the work environment at some point, but I just have no idea what it is I want to do yet, and well, I just don't feel ready to go back to work full time. It would be especially difficult for me to work full time with mrangelmeg's travel schedule as packed as it looks like it will be this spring. This little job could be just what I need to get me back out there. I could earn a little money, get into a regular schedule every day, build in time to get to the gym right after work every day, which would be another good thing, and perhaps by spring I will have a few dollars in the bank and be back on the road to being in shape.
After my interview I drove up to my sisters' house to check on them and find some paperwork that my mom needs to have turned in at the nursing home. Blessedly, everything she needed to have was right there are their house. I had been waiting for one piece of information and I kept getting the wrong information, over and over again no matter how nicely I asked, but thanks be to God, there at my sisters' house was exactly the information I had been trying to get. Small miracles do happen, sometimes.
Then I went up and turned in the last of mom's paperwork so that she can be placed on Medicaid at the nursing home. That will be another worry off of my shoulders when that is taken care of, I can promise you that. Having to worry about how to pay these bills every month at the nursing home has given me many a sleepless night, especially when there is only one other sibling who is willing to help me with finances. I am just really lucky the mrangelmeg and I had some extra money put away for a rainy day, because in mom's case the last few months while we were trying to get everything straightened out where her finances were concerned, it was pretty much a monsoon. I just hope that some day I can repay mrangelmeg for his patience and forbearance when it comes to taking care of my family in this way.
So, by this Friday I will know if I have a new job that will start on January 7th, I should know if I have passed my finals (one would hope that they would have them graded in the same semester that they were taken), and on Friday evening mrangelmeg and I are going to drive to Louisville Jazz Factory to spend the evening with a bunch of my Gradual School friends for a little impromptu pre-Christmas celebration. It could be a very very happy day for me. Or it could be just a great day to spend with some really great friends who will help me drown my sorrows.
I am waiting in neurotic hope. As I told a dear friend just a few hours ago: the job is only a part- time job, I seriously won't be that torn up if I don't get it, it will be confirmation from God that my talents are needed in another direction and that I should keep looking for the opportunity to serve. I will on the other hand be quite torn to shreds if I don't get passing grades on my finals especially that last one that I wrote when I was so darn sick. I keep praying that my brilliance shone through the fever. We shall see.
Pax
I do need to get back into the work environment at some point, but I just have no idea what it is I want to do yet, and well, I just don't feel ready to go back to work full time. It would be especially difficult for me to work full time with mrangelmeg's travel schedule as packed as it looks like it will be this spring. This little job could be just what I need to get me back out there. I could earn a little money, get into a regular schedule every day, build in time to get to the gym right after work every day, which would be another good thing, and perhaps by spring I will have a few dollars in the bank and be back on the road to being in shape.
After my interview I drove up to my sisters' house to check on them and find some paperwork that my mom needs to have turned in at the nursing home. Blessedly, everything she needed to have was right there are their house. I had been waiting for one piece of information and I kept getting the wrong information, over and over again no matter how nicely I asked, but thanks be to God, there at my sisters' house was exactly the information I had been trying to get. Small miracles do happen, sometimes.
Then I went up and turned in the last of mom's paperwork so that she can be placed on Medicaid at the nursing home. That will be another worry off of my shoulders when that is taken care of, I can promise you that. Having to worry about how to pay these bills every month at the nursing home has given me many a sleepless night, especially when there is only one other sibling who is willing to help me with finances. I am just really lucky the mrangelmeg and I had some extra money put away for a rainy day, because in mom's case the last few months while we were trying to get everything straightened out where her finances were concerned, it was pretty much a monsoon. I just hope that some day I can repay mrangelmeg for his patience and forbearance when it comes to taking care of my family in this way.
So, by this Friday I will know if I have a new job that will start on January 7th, I should know if I have passed my finals (one would hope that they would have them graded in the same semester that they were taken), and on Friday evening mrangelmeg and I are going to drive to Louisville Jazz Factory to spend the evening with a bunch of my Gradual School friends for a little impromptu pre-Christmas celebration. It could be a very very happy day for me. Or it could be just a great day to spend with some really great friends who will help me drown my sorrows.
I am waiting in neurotic hope. As I told a dear friend just a few hours ago: the job is only a part- time job, I seriously won't be that torn up if I don't get it, it will be confirmation from God that my talents are needed in another direction and that I should keep looking for the opportunity to serve. I will on the other hand be quite torn to shreds if I don't get passing grades on my finals especially that last one that I wrote when I was so darn sick. I keep praying that my brilliance shone through the fever. We shall see.
Pax
Monday, November 19, 2007
Confirmation!
I got a confirmation email from the Dean.
My finals are in his hands now.
It will take at least a month to clean up the clutter around my desk that had accumulated in the research phase of my essays. While I am at it I may as well clean the entire room, under the beds and the closet and, well everything. That will keep me so distracted that I won't have time to think about what is going on with the essays.
And in the end I will get my grades and have a clean bedroom.
This could be really great, either way I will have a clean bedroom.
Pax
My finals are in his hands now.
It will take at least a month to clean up the clutter around my desk that had accumulated in the research phase of my essays. While I am at it I may as well clean the entire room, under the beds and the closet and, well everything. That will keep me so distracted that I won't have time to think about what is going on with the essays.
And in the end I will get my grades and have a clean bedroom.
This could be really great, either way I will have a clean bedroom.
Pax
In the (e)mail
I emailed my essays to the Dean this morning. I send the hard copies later today from the post office. Freedom is within reach.
I had the worst nightmare last night that the rubric for the essays had stated that they were supposed to be 8-10 single-spaced pages instead of double-spaced pages. A bit late in the game to have to rethink that, and when I got up all frantic of course I couldn't find the rubric anywhere and it had been right on my desk for two months.
The evil one can play some nasty tricks on you at the 11th hour, especially when you are as filled with perfectionist tendencies as I am. (Well I really want to be a perfectionist, I'm just not quite good enough to be one.)
So, In just a few hours I will be completely free to sit back and wait for my grades, and that will take at least a month (judging from how long my friends have had to wait for their grades). In the meantime I think I will do some reading for fun. I was going to link to Loyola Classics but there must be something wrong with their Internet link right now.) Oh dear.
Pax
I had the worst nightmare last night that the rubric for the essays had stated that they were supposed to be 8-10 single-spaced pages instead of double-spaced pages. A bit late in the game to have to rethink that, and when I got up all frantic of course I couldn't find the rubric anywhere and it had been right on my desk for two months.
The evil one can play some nasty tricks on you at the 11th hour, especially when you are as filled with perfectionist tendencies as I am. (Well I really want to be a perfectionist, I'm just not quite good enough to be one.)
So, In just a few hours I will be completely free to sit back and wait for my grades, and that will take at least a month (judging from how long my friends have had to wait for their grades). In the meantime I think I will do some reading for fun. I was going to link to Loyola Classics but there must be something wrong with their Internet link right now.) Oh dear.
Pax
Sunday, November 18, 2007
I AM DONE
And it feels great!
I finished writing my last paper yesterday afternoon. Mrangelmeg is doing the last of the edits tonight and I am going to mail these babies off tomorrow (one whole day early woo hoo!!!).
I don't think I have another thing to say about grace, free will, theologians, the Magisterium, or heresy, I am tapped out.
Now I just have to sit back and wait for them to be graded and hope for at least a B average on the three papers and no lower than a C on any one paper. I think I did at least B work on all three and quite possibly A work on at least one of them (in my humble opinion) so I am pretty safe. But who knows.
As that great theologian Tom Petty said:
The Waiting is the hardest part.
It always sounds better with wailing guitars in the background.
Pax
I finished writing my last paper yesterday afternoon. Mrangelmeg is doing the last of the edits tonight and I am going to mail these babies off tomorrow (one whole day early woo hoo!!!).
I don't think I have another thing to say about grace, free will, theologians, the Magisterium, or heresy, I am tapped out.
Now I just have to sit back and wait for them to be graded and hope for at least a B average on the three papers and no lower than a C on any one paper. I think I did at least B work on all three and quite possibly A work on at least one of them (in my humble opinion) so I am pretty safe. But who knows.
As that great theologian Tom Petty said:
The Waiting is the hardest part.
It always sounds better with wailing guitars in the background.
Pax
Saturday, November 17, 2007
A Cautious Reason to Celebrate
I think I may have actually finished my Systematic Theology Essay rough draft this afternoon. I read it through once and it seems to flow pretty well, has an introduction supporting statistical middle arguments and a conclusion that ties it all together.
I am printing out a copy and leaving it here for mrangelmeg to read and I am taking the evening off. The girls and I are going to go see the movie Bella which we have heard is quite good and is in town this weekend. Mrangelmeg will edit the paper and let me know if he thinks my thesis holds up (I did use an analogy in this paper that was a bit creative but I think it holds together pretty well).
Tomorrow I will do the final edits on all three papers. The end is actually that close. I can hardly believe I survived. A week ago when I was really sick I never thought I would make it to this point.
God is good, all the time.
Pax
I am printing out a copy and leaving it here for mrangelmeg to read and I am taking the evening off. The girls and I are going to go see the movie Bella which we have heard is quite good and is in town this weekend. Mrangelmeg will edit the paper and let me know if he thinks my thesis holds up (I did use an analogy in this paper that was a bit creative but I think it holds together pretty well).
Tomorrow I will do the final edits on all three papers. The end is actually that close. I can hardly believe I survived. A week ago when I was really sick I never thought I would make it to this point.
God is good, all the time.
Pax
Monday, November 12, 2007
An Open Letter to All My Gradual School Friends
I know you were all concerned about my health this weekend because I looked so very ragged all weekend. I just got back from the Dr. and I wanted to allay your fears. I do not as one of you not-so-subtly suggested actually have the bubonic plague, but rather it is only a very bad case of bronchitis.
I am now getting some stronger medication than the over-the-counter stuff I was trying to use to combat this while I was with you, and God willing, I will be feeling better very soon.
I just wanted to let you know so that you don't have to go out and burn the clothes that you took with you this weekend and take baths in antiseptic (or whatever it was that people did to keep from getting the plague back then. Maybe it was take long bike rides and eat a healthy diet of chicken.
I am really sad that my last weekend with you was one in which I felt so very under the weather, but I am glad that I got to see you all one last time. Keep me in your prayers as I complete my last essay.
Pax
I am now getting some stronger medication than the over-the-counter stuff I was trying to use to combat this while I was with you, and God willing, I will be feeling better very soon.
I just wanted to let you know so that you don't have to go out and burn the clothes that you took with you this weekend and take baths in antiseptic (or whatever it was that people did to keep from getting the plague back then. Maybe it was take long bike rides and eat a healthy diet of chicken.
I am really sad that my last weekend with you was one in which I felt so very under the weather, but I am glad that I got to see you all one last time. Keep me in your prayers as I complete my last essay.
Pax
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Now I am Really Done With Philosophy . . .
Because my never-ending Philosophy essay for my MA final is complete!
It was a horror story! just in time for Halloween, I tell you. Last week when I was doing the research I was flat on my back sick as a dog. This week when I was writing I kept writing and no matter how much I wrote it never seemed to get long enogh to reach the minimum length requirement. (believe me it is just barely eight pages which is the least I have to write and I am stopping NOW)
I was never so glad to see the bottom of a page in my life.
So, Now I move on to the Systematics essay for a professor I love and have taken two classes for and know exactly how to write. This one will just be a matter of pulling all the information together but I should be able to knock it together in about a week.
In the meantime I need to do a PowerPoint presentation on Deborah the Judge for the Women on the OT class I am auditing this semester. I can do that in a few days if I get right to it.
So I am way ahead of schedule so long as nothing weird happens (oh dang I wish I hadn't typed that, I am just asking for trouble.)
Pax
It was a horror story! just in time for Halloween, I tell you. Last week when I was doing the research I was flat on my back sick as a dog. This week when I was writing I kept writing and no matter how much I wrote it never seemed to get long enogh to reach the minimum length requirement. (believe me it is just barely eight pages which is the least I have to write and I am stopping NOW)
I was never so glad to see the bottom of a page in my life.
So, Now I move on to the Systematics essay for a professor I love and have taken two classes for and know exactly how to write. This one will just be a matter of pulling all the information together but I should be able to knock it together in about a week.
In the meantime I need to do a PowerPoint presentation on Deborah the Judge for the Women on the OT class I am auditing this semester. I can do that in a few days if I get right to it.
So I am way ahead of schedule so long as nothing weird happens (oh dang I wish I hadn't typed that, I am just asking for trouble.)
Pax
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
What is it Like Living With a Big Ball of Stress?
Ask my patient and devoted husband. He got up and took the girls to school this morning so I could sleep in because I got such lousy sleep last night. He edited my first essay and will edit the other two and has listened without complaint to all of my stressful external mutterings about how I am going to ever get these things together. I really don't think I could do this without him and I wanted to say that somewhere where he would be sure to see it.
Thanks for the lifeline. Without you I would be adrift out there somewhere still trying to figure out which first word to put on the paper.
Countdown till final essays are complete and turned in:
T -minus 28 days.
Pax
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
