Rutgers - 1 down, 14 to go

I took my first Rutgers M.S.W. class during my PTS break. It ended on July 3 so my summer has now officially begun! I'm thrilled to have started the M.S.W. work and found the class to be very interesting. I'm also excited about the classes I'll be taking at PTS in the fall...and also about my field ed. Working at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital will help to give me a clue about what type of social work I want to do.

I'm "vacationing" at the manse this summer and love it. The wildlife is awesome...even the "domestic" wildlife. Yesterday I was going down Main Street with Tim and he had to slow down to let a chicken cross the road. No, I didn't ask the chicken why it was crossing the road! Also a family of deer love to graze in our side yard (and Tim has learned to mimic their "run for your lives" sound - they go sprinting up the hill when he does it). We've seen a baby bear playing on the ridge behind the house but never saw the mama bear. We should not have left the porridge out I suppose!

Sig

Okay, so I haven't been fair. It took me much longer to post about our other new dog. I bet that is because he lives here with me...and he is the 2nd child after all. When we adopted him, his name was Keith, but since that is my brother's middle name, we decided to change it. Rachel thought of Siegfried and we call him Sig for short.

Sig is a sweetheart. He is a good boy because he is old. He sleeps most of the time. He likes most people (unless they are jogging or riding a bike or walking a dog). He seems very pleased to have been rescued from the shelter and even more pleased to have been rescued from the NYC pound.

He can sit and lay down. We're trying to teach him to flop over (because he likes to do that anyway for tummy rubs), but he's not quite getting it yet. I'll keep trying.

Kismet (Kizzy, Kiz)

Driving

For old times sake, I've posted a remembrance of the modifications Rachel made to my car in 2005. Read on for an update:

A few days ago, while Rachel and I were travelling down the road, I said she should take her driving permit exam this weekend. She AGREED with me (!!) and told me that even if she backed out I was to take her down there and make her take it. Well, it didn't come down to that. In fact, we left the house at 7:45 AM (on a Saturday morning) and nobody was kicking nor screaming.

At the DMV (or NJ's equivalent), there was a huge line, but they moved very quickly and within 30 minutes she had taken her test and passed. Yippee Skippy! I then offered to let her drive us to our celebratory breakfast of nannerpus pancakes (see below), but she looked at me with horror and declined, explaining that she won't be driving on those scary roads for a while (I don't blame her - and I was somewhat relieved).



The breakfast never happened. IHOP was too crowded so we decided to eat an early lunch at KFC. Turns out they aren't open at 9:15 so we went to do our banking. On the way to another KFC, we passed a lovely neighborhood by Rachel's former high school. It had wide streets and no parked cars. I suggested she try out her new permit there and to my surprise she said yes. As we were changing seats we noticed a driving school car going past and realized we made a good choice (but will never buy a house there!).

Rachel handled the curves and turns quite well. She even remembered the difference between her brake and accelerator! We didn't run into anything and the car is still in one piece. The best thing of all is we know a place she can go to practice that is not quite as scary as the other places in NJ.

Finals Week "things"

I've known for four months that a 5,000-6,500 word "synthetic exercise" (a.k.a. essay) was due for my systematic theology class at the end of the term. I even got a jump on it and did the first section about a month ago, but then I kept putting it off. Now I have 2,000 words and it is due on Saturday at noon. It's no wonder my nerves are frazzled and I finally ditched the bird today. His squawking and constant need of attention fried the last of my nerves and I called the bird place we bought him from and asked if I could bring him in to get his wings and nails clipped...and to talk to them about taking him off my hands. Then I hung up and was very sad. I called Tim and he recommended I board him for a few days, until my paper is done. Then, after the Christmas holiday break, when I am thinking more clearly, I can make a decision. So, I dropped Eddie off for a vacation break from this boring apartment for a few days. As soon as I opened the door to the bird store, he perked up and got so happy. He fluffed out his wings and started squawking to all the birds in the place. It was like he was saying, "It's about time I got to have a conversation. What's happening?!" I know he will enjoy his time away, and I will too. I also know that he will have picked up some new squawkings.

Last night Rachel and I went to the seminary's "Carols of Many Nations." It was very nice. Students from other countries read Bible passages in their native tongue while we silently read along in English. Then we or the choir sang a song from that country as well. It was wonderful. The best part was the end. It brought tears to my eyes because we sang "Silent Night" as the choir sang "Peace, Peace" while we were lighting candles. It reminded me of the Duncan church in the 90's. Then we all processed out of the sanctuary onto the steps of the chapel and the quad and sang some Christmas Carols. It was a very nice night.

Now I'll be getting back to my paper. I know it will get done, but I also know that it will take longer than I planned. In my mind I would be finishing it tonight and let it stew for the next 24 hours before submitting it on Saturday. Now I'll face reality and know that it will probably only get to simmer for a few hours before submission.

Year Two, Semester One, finished (ABP)

I had a bittersweet day on Wednesday. I'm usually pretty happy when I sit through the last class of a semester, but that day was different. I was glad because it meant I'm that much closer to graduating, but I was very sad because it was the last class I would take from Dr. Donald Capps. He teaches pastoral care classes and is retiring after this year. I've had three classes with him and he is my favorite professor by far. I'm sure it is because he teaches what I love, but it is also because he has such a sweet and kind demeanor. I'm going to miss him.

I also enjoyed my theology class this year. Dr. Ellen Charry taught it and this is my second class with her. She is passionate about studying about God and that passion reminds me of why I am here. Although the final for her class is a synthetic paper and it is a bit intimidating (5,000-6,500 words where we will engage our tradition, a theologian, and our beliefs), I know it will help me understand more about what I think and why than anything else I've ever done. When I finished her class on Thursday I was happy to be finished but dreading the work that would consume most of my time between then and Dec. 13 when the paper is due.

I am excited about a few things though. First, we registered for the Spring semester classes on Friday. I'll be taking classes on: Exegesis of Exodus, Theologian Karl Barth, and Introduction to Preaching. My three week short semester in May will be a class on Rhythms in Prayer where we'll actually go to a monastery for the second week of class.

I'm also excited because in just eight days I'll be headed to Oklahoma. I'll only be there from Dec. 14 - 21 because Tim and Rachel will still be in New Jersey (Tim has a job and Rachel's semester finals aren't complete until the 16th). I have a CPM (Committee on Preparation for Ministry) retreat on the 19th, but I'll also get to visit Mom, Dad, and Doug a few days before a road trip. I'll be on the road one day making stops at the Guthrie cemetary, lunch with my Aunt Babs, and then an evening in Wichita, KS where I'll meet my grandkitty and spend some time with Rebecca. She and her boyfriend, Jason, will be driving down to Duncan on Saturday to spend a pre-Christmas celebration. On Sunday we'll attend church at FPC where I get to be a liturgist, and then they will drive me back to the airport. It's going to be a whirlwind trip, but will be great fun.

I'll fly back into Philadelphia at 12:05 AM on the 22nd. After spending a day in Stillwater, NJ, Rachel and I will drive to NYC to pick up Joey so she can spend Christmas with us. We're looking forward to our first Christmas in the manse and hope more family members will be able to join us next year.

Now back to paper writing!
(For those that wonder what the ABP was about in the title, that's a take off from the PhD "kids" who put ABD after their title. It means "all but dissertation" and mine means "all but papers".)

I preached today at a retirement home. Tim can have that job. I don't mind preaching occasionally, but if I had to do it every Sunday I would go crazy.

Hi Becky!! Since she is a "follower" of this blog, I figure she deserves a shout out. Now when is she going to start a blog?

I started taking a "Mindfulness" class last Friday. I'm supposed to do my mindful exercise every day, and so far I haven't done one. I have been busy with the sermon, but now I don't have that excuse.

Okay, that's it for now. I'm really not very hip on being wordy today. I guess I spent my allotment with three papers last week and a sermon!