Interesting incident today. I went shopping yesterday, and as a gag I bought a vintage 70's dress. It's brown gingham, empire waist, with plenty of crochet lace and last but not least a little built-on apron -- very popular in the peasant vintage look. So I was in a bookstore this evening attempting to find books 4 and 5 of the Chronicles of Narnia that I've somehow misplaced. So I was meandering around the humor section on the way back from the ladies room, and a man stops me and asks if I'm part of a religious order. He wasn't speaking english too well, so I thought He was asking about my cross necklace. I have this great moment of "God is sending me someone to witness to!" and then he finished his sentence with, "your dress, it is so...unusual." He thought I was a part of a group that rides in wagons, and lights candles for actual illumination...and grows wheat for their on consumption. Yeah. It was great! I think next time I'll make up a story -- bring out a shawl and drape it over my head....then say that I'm a nun in the order of who-knows-what. Mary Beth seems to think I should just play it like a hippie commune leftover -- talk about the sisterhood of daisies or something. I'll have something worked up! Anyway -- try explaining to a foreigner that I wore that dress for fun!

So, fall break is 2/3 over, and I haven't accomplished much on my list. But, my friend's quilt is coming along nicely. She's doing all of the sewing -- I'm doing the pinning. I hate pinning...but its the most crucial part of this whole process...so I think its coming along nicely. My house looks like a fabric shop puked all over my living room. Ah well...I think we'll all be happy when we put all of the zillions of squares together and hand quilt the thing. For a first quilt it isn't turning out too badly! Anyway = I'm off to bed. Church come before you know it

The apartment is clean -- with the exception of the kitchen floor and counters which will get done tomorrow. Sleep will be accomplished shortly..and I am currently reading "So I send you/Workmen of God" by Oswald Chambers. Oh, and I went to Hobby Lobby today, and they were having a half-off of flowering bushes today, so I bought one to keep in my pitcher in my bedroom. So, 4 down! We'll see how tomorrow goes. Maybe I'll even get cracking on my research paper!

Top Ten Things To Do While On Fall "Break"

1. Clean apartment -- if nothing else gets done, this one must.

2.Sleep

3.Keep sewing Jen's recital dress

4.Bake actual food-not involving Ramen, Soup or Pasta

5.Read....something

6.Memorize Little Red Riding Hood for November Performances

7.Hobby Lobby!

8.Write research paper due in November because you know you won't have time to write it the day before.

9.Learn Pieces for Wine Party gig next weekend.

10.Relax -- oh wait, not if I have everything else on this list to do!

Randomness

I'm really very tired and sleep deprived today, as a result of staying up half the night studying for my two tests today. Or rather, I should have been staying up to study. In actuality I read 1/2 of Little Women, 1/2 of Perelandra, and did approximatly 40 minutes of actual Political Science review. I did get up and do another hour and a half of polisci, and I'd studied for Italian on Saturday, so it wasn't a complete blow off. And frankly, as long as I pass that class I'm happy.

In other pressing news, I went shopping today. The weather (Thanks be to Maleldil -- read Perelandra, you'll get it) has reached well below 70, so I got inspired to go shopping. Consignment of course...who can afford to buy clothes off the rack...and I got a new pair of jeans, corderoys, and 4 tops - one of which says "I wish I was skiing." Which I do. I love skiing. Its the only sport I'm even remotely good at. I cought a frisbee last night at youth group sheerly by accident. I clapped my hands because I was excited and a well aimed throw landed between them. It was delightful -- and everyone was very happy for me. However I didn't notice anyone throwing to me when the real game started. Which was good because my team would have lost by the third or fourth time I ducked.

I have two more tests this week. I can't wait to be done with undergrad. This whole semester has been test after test -- not as bad as Matt who's taking 21 credits and making up all of his finals from last semester when he got a gig in California and had to leave early. Now what to do about grad school. I'm really trying not to pu the cart before the horse and take matters into my own hand. God's done pretty well steering my life when I didn't know it, I'm sure he'll keep it up -- but I wish he'd fill me in this time. Oswald Chambers says we should thank God for times of apparent silence, because its in the silences that we learn to Trust him best. I hope so...because some days I feel panicky. Like a kid in a dark basement who's dad has let go of his hand to turn on the light. And the kid starts yelling "daddy where are you?" And the Dad says "I'm still here! Trust me -- nothing's going to happen to you!" Oh for that kind of faith!

In other news, I'm making a quilt. Well, I'M not making the quilt per se. But I happen to have the sewing machine...and a basic knowledge of how to use it. Anyway -- I'm a commodity.

I took a spiritual gifts test today. I'm great at doing stuff, lousy at mercy. I have very little. But I'm a good administrator -- "Martha" if you will. That's ok. I can deal with that - it takes all kinds to make a church...and someone has to clean up after everyone, and take care of odds and ends. Although I usually forget the odds and ends, so I guess I should focus on the teaching aspect of my skills. Or something!

Well, thats it for my randomness. Did I mention I love CS Lewis? I think his writings are brilliant. How could one man think so much? And for the curious, go read some of his fiction opposite JRR Tolkien. You can see where they met to discuss theology and mythology, and even some philology. It's great-- there are some places in his fiction that are very similar to Lord of the Rings, and vice versa. Go read it. You have my permisison! Goodnight all!

God is so amazing! I went tonight to see Shane Bernard in concert -- and it was awesome! I didn't know any of the songs, and usually that makes me so self-conscious that I can't enjoy anything. But it's ok -- I didn't even understand the words most of the time..I just prayed that they would play one song that I knew so that I could join in the worship. And not only did they play not one, but two -- they were my current favorite (I'm desperate for you) and one from childhood that I haven't heard in ages! It was wonderful, and the opening band was from Seattle! So exciting! And God sent someone to pray for me...and what was prayed was exactly what was on my heart -- isn't He wonderful? On that note -- I'm going to bed! Must be up early for church...

Going through books like a weavil in a library

I have two tests on monday. Polisci and Italian. How do teacher do that -- its a conspiracy! Its probably because of our pending "fall break." (Actually a glorified three-day weekend). Here you go kids! Live it up! If they really wanted to help us out with a whole day, they should have stuck it to an actual holiday (ie thanksgiving) so we'd have one more day to travel without missing classes. Ah well, the idiosynchrisies of Baylor never cease...and God wants me to stay here longer? Well, actually I have no word on that one way or another....We'll find out soon enough I guess -- but if wanted to send down fire from heaven and burn up our music school -- fine by me. It would be the fastest way to get rid of the rats..kill em with burning asbestos.

I have a canker sore. Ouch. And so I coudln't get the numby stuff open, so I bit on the tip of the tube to get it unblocked. And it squirted everywhere. So now the left side of my mouth is numb. Kind of fun really...

Coaching with Kathleen Kelley (no seriously that is her name)

For my first real coaching, I think it went very well! I sang Beth's Death Aria from the new and wonderful opera Little Women (for those of you who I subjected to a lecture on the merits of this opera already, I'll spare you a repeat). I was very worried, because I forgot to get the coordinator the music ahead of time, and this accompaniment is not easy...but I showed up, and she looked at the music and said, "Little Women! Oh wonderful! I love that opera!" It was so much fun! We made it all the way through the aria (odd for a coaching), and she had so many suggestions! I'm the only person here that even knows the show, so no one could tell me what to do with it! Oh so cool -- told me to change my characterization in a few places -- and it WORKED! For most of the vocal stuff it was things that my voice teacher has told me over and over -- but did I do them? no. Now I will. Anyway! It was great -- my voice stayed with me (after all that hell yesterday I didn't have much of one this morning) and I learned a lot. It was a great way to get my feet wet in the field of master classes and coachings. Next time maybe I'll have one in front of an audience!

My time in Hell

So we had the dumbest choir concert last night! May I just stress ho dumb it was. It was all hymns and church anthems for some symposium. Now, I must say, I like hymns. I love the message, and the content, and the melodies. But did they make us sing the good ones? No they did not. They made us sing the dumb, homophonic ones. And the one good one we sang was an arrangement (aka -- we took away the melody, changed the harmony, and shamelessly conformed the whole thing to our own melody that has nothing to do with the original song). I hate those. There was a high point -- we got to learn an African summons by rote (I love doing that -- even if I am a good presbyterian and can't clap and sing at the same time). Then we had to sing choir anthems. Not the good, moving, stirring, passionate ones. Of course not. We sang the cheesy, overemotional, sappy "Marching to Zion" ones (more on that later). Anyway, the music was all easily sight read-able. Were we allowed to sight read? NO. We had to rehearse it. During choir (fine). Then we had to meet at 5 to rehearse it some more. The concert didn't start until 7:30. Then did we get to sit -- NO because we're doing the whole darn show standing up. So, instead of just telling us that we'd be standing up the whole time.....we PRACTICED standing the whole time. And every time we stopped, some idiot choir police had to open their big trap and say "Um....there are some (key word -- some = everyone but me) sopranos on measure 34 that are singing an F, and it should be an F# . I could have killed them. The rest of the choir would have helped at that point. And after a two hour rehearsal, they gave us snacks (the least they could do I'm sure)...and the cheese crackers weren't the peanut butter kind. (That really isn't that bad in and of itself, but it capped off the misery). The concert itself was agonizingly long. Every tempo was slow to begin with (Randall Thompson's alleluia alone took 15 minutes). Then having the whole "congregation" joining in slowed the tempo even more. And in the end, we weren't "Marching to Zion" -- we were trudging, plodding, limping to Zion. Anyway --that heavens that is over. And do we get a day off from choir after a 5 hour night last night? no........