Where Was I Before I Was Born?

This chapter tries to answer the question of where we were before birth. It gives a very succinct answer: "You were nowhere." However, this is obviously too short an answer, so the author meanders on with it, moving on to the question of death. This was probably a mistake, but it sure is a great mistake, as it brings us to the Bayless All-Time-Favorite Quote in this book. She explains that all living things have a beginning, but not all living things have souls. She explains it this way:
"Only people have souls. When your little puppy dies, he will not go to heaven. The life that was in him will be gone. After you have buried him, you will never see him again."
What great words of comfort for a child grieving the loss of his puppy! Dale especially likes the fact that it's a "little puppy" that is dying, not an old, blind, half-lame dog that has lived a full life.
How does this idea fit in with the question of where were we before birth? Not sure!

A Year Early

Ever since I put together my approved degree plan in the spring of 2007, I've anticipated my graduation date to be May 2010. Well, it looks very much like I was reading one of the degree plans wrong. And actually, I'll be graduating May 2009.
To say I have mixed feelings about this would be wrong. I have one pure feeling about this: terror.
I feel completely inadequate. The thought of sending out resumes, seeking ordination, and selling myself as a qualified soul shepherd in less than 12 months is horrifying. I was really counting on 2010. That felt safe. It was nice and far off in the distance. Now I'm looking at 2009. It doesn't even sound as nice to say: "twenty-oh-nine" versus "twenty-ten."
I have a friend who is preparing to leave the country in less than a year and has to raise $11,000 or so before she does it. I have another friend who has quit school and is pursuing her dream of being a singer-songwriter. I have a friend who wants to bring fresh drinking water to the entire world. And to all of them, I say, ha! I'm way more afraid than you are!
I know this will pass. But wow, I had no idea I was so completely dependent on another 2 years of school!

Can You Tell Me?

Based on the recommendation of my friend Kerry, I will be doing a series of posts on this excellent book, published in 1950. Dale and I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, handed down to us by a family member, learning many things that we wished we had known when we were children.
The first section of the book is "Can You Tell Me About Myself?" and the first chapter within it is "Where Did I Come From?" In this chapter we learn the following:
"When God made the first man, Adam, He made him out of dust, and breathed life into him. When God made the first lady, Eve, He made her out of one of the bones - a rib - of Adam."
This is really enlightening. What I've learned from this is that men are dirt, and women should be skinny because they are made from a rib. Thank you, Dena Korfker!

(PS - If this seems a bit mean-spirited, just wait til you hear some of the really good quotes...)

Rejection

I got a rejection email this week. It didn't bother me. That's two rejections so far. I figure that, as a writer, I have several hundred rejections to go. And of course, this week I attended the funeral of a friends' nine year old daughter. So you could say I have a lot of perspective about little things like rejections.
There's also this little voice inside my head that's telling me to relax. Take my time. It's a stomach knot whenever I research literary magazines. I don't know yet if this voice is fear or my creativity: fear about putting myself out there or creativity wanting time to develop and grow.
I think it's creativity.

The Kiss Hello

My friend Kerry Smith has detailed the different types of hugs here. So I decided to discuss the kiss hello on this blog.
Now, I know most of my friends and family do not participate in the kiss hello, at least not with me. This could be because I am certifiably disabled in the execution of the kiss hello. I am the person who dodges or goes for the wrong cheek, leading to head bobs, random mouth kisses, and other exceedingly awkward moments. Please know that this blog is not an invitation for you all to inflict the kiss hello on me, unless you just want to have an awkward moment. And now, here are the types of hello kiss available.

The Air Cheek Kiss: In this move, the greeter moves in, presses her cheek against the other person's cheek, and kisses the air audibly. The maneuver is most commonly executed on both cheeks, but very rarely will only hit one cheek. The person receiving the kiss may make air-kissing noises as well, if they are quick enough.

The Cheek Kiss: In this move, the two people move together and the greeter kisses first 1 cheek, then the other. About half of the time, this move is only executed on one cheek. There is no rule as to which cheek is first, although among those who practice the Kiss Hello, there is some kind of psychic knowledge which allows the greetee to present the correct cheek. The person receiving the kiss may return the cheek kisses, but again, must time it perfectly.

The Mouth Kiss: Most commonly practiced by family members, it is occasionally shared between female friends and very good opposite gender friends (but with no sexual overtones). This is a closed lip kiss in the context of a hello. Men are much less likely than women to use this maneuver.

The Forehead Kiss: This is a move for ex-dating partners, people with a large gap in age, or opposite gender friends. This kiss says "I care about you in a protective way." Can also be used on people who would normally warrant a mouth kiss but are eating something or talking.

The Open-Mouth Kiss: This kiss generally only occurs between lovers. Although if a person is incompetent at the Kiss Hello, this can be the mangled result as the person receiving the greeting moves their head awkwardly to look at the person kissing them.

The Head-In-Hands-Cheek-Kiss: This kiss is practiced by those who are kind enough to recognize an incompetent Kiss Hello person, such as myself. In this move, the greeter takes the person's head in their hands and moves it from side to side, squarely planting a kiss on each cheek. This is a very rare form of the Kiss Hello, and is best practiced swiftly before the person receiving the greeting can struggle, resist, or cause a scene.

Another photo of Duchess

Isn't she sweet? This happens about 4 times a week. The rest of the time she is very busy stalking and attacking the other cats, her toys, random dust, the occasional insect, the bugs and birds outside, and her tail, as well as continuing patrolling the kitchen countertops for any accidentally left out food.

Duchess

Here's a couple of pictures of Duchess, our precious little hellcat. She looks very sweet in the picture, but don't let that fool you! She's 7.5 pounds of holy terror 80% of her waking hours! She is sweet just enough to keep her food coming consistently!

Bad Memories, Released

I'm on Facebook. And recently, I set my privacy settings so that people could search for me. And someone from my high school contacted me asking to be friends. It was a shock to me. See, when I signed up I entered my high school name and browsed the other people from my high school. It was a bunch of guys who I never much cared for. So I didn't contact any of them. But then, this week, one of them contacted me.
To say this guy made my life miserable would be an overstatement. To say he acted like a jerk to me and made my life very unpleasant would be true. To say that I found his friend request baffling and confusing would be an understatement.
I was not popular in high school. I was in the crowd of rejects, losers, and socially unacceptable people. I was in the group of people who got made fun of and humiliated. This guy was not in my crowd. He was in the crowd of people who mocked us.
So I agonized over what to do, as a couple of friends will confirm. Should I confirm or ignore the request? Should I send an email dragging up the past and asking why he even wants to be friends? Should I confirm, but then warn him not to be mean to me again?
I finally decided to confirm. It felt good to confirm, because it confirmed to me that I have forgiven him - that the past doesn't have a hold on me. Yeah, he was a jerk, but then, so was I, at times.

frittering away

I had a great weekend. I read two of my poems at our church's coffeehouse event. I got a lot of good feedback. One person said my poems were spectacular. That is still bringing a smile to my face.
But today I have frittered away my time. Not entirely. I made dinner this morning - assembled ingredients into a slow cooker, that is. I went to the chiropractor. And I went to Duke to practice organ. And on my way home my spirit told me it needed some time. It needs to reflect and think and consider and start constructing my summer schedule - start organizing my life around my priorities and goals. And so I read a book, and then checked email, and then surfed the net, and then balanced our budget, and then surfed the net some more. My spirit is not pleased. Neither am I. Darn that totally hilarious and addictive Stuff Christians Like blog!
So part of my summer schedule will include figuring out how to use my computer for writing and school and NOT Net-surfing. At least, not till the other is done. Will I turn off my internet router? Maybe.