Exam Day

Well, it has finally arrived...the last day of class..and I couldn't be more relieved. Well, actually I could-I'd be more relieved if we didn't have to take an exam today. But, that's neither here nor there--my friends and I have been studying and I feel like I am as prepared as I can possibly be. At this point, I just want to take the durn thing! But, one more hour..I can make it =) I think it's the same kind of mentality with which I approach giving a presentation in class-I just want to get it over with and go first!

This has been a really tough semester. I've been taking 2 grad classes simultaneously and both of them have been a lot of work, but the one I'm taking in person has been a little more attention demanding so it's captured alot of my time. Hopefully after finishing this exam today I can just bang out what I need to for the other class and the professor will have mercy on me. He's been cool in the past, but pray!

On top of school stuff both of my jobs have kicked into high gear lately. I've been given a title change at Regent. I'll still be doing the same old stuff but also doing some other records processing that have trickled down to me. In my time at regent I have gone from temp to records assistant to records processor to scheduling coordinator to the most recent-Senior Records Processor. That makes me feel old. The powers that be want to give me (and others who also had job/title changes) a raise, but it all depends on the ol' budget. I want to be like Tim Gunn and say-Make it work, people! Make it work! A pay raise would be much welcome when I'm going to England this summer. My other job, the one playing piano at church, has also blossomed into something else--and I will definitely get a pay raise there (yay) but I don't know how much at this point. Anything would be welcome.

Is anyone else stalking their mailbox for the economic stimulus checks?!?! Or, are you too cool for school and got it direct deposited...? I went old-school this year. Hopefully it will arrive soon. As I mentioned before..trip to England is looming!


Okay, that's about it for now. I might update later and let everyone (whoever is reading this) know how the exam went.

And whether or not I gouged myself in the eye w/a spoon during it.


Kidding (sorta).

To Everything There is a Season

I attended a home-going service today of a dear friend of our family's. He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that took him really quickly and at the young age of 52. It was sobering to think that he was so full of life not even a year ago when we were just hanging out watching our church's co-ed softball team play (his wife is on the team, I used to play but have switched to observing). His brother is in my dad's southern gospel quartet and his mother is in choir with my mom, dad and I-so, our families are really intertwined. I, in general, have a weird thing about funerals. I really do not care for them. My idea is that the person is no longer in that body, you know? They have gone into eternity--so why linger over it? I know it's about paying respects and gathering and remembering what impact that person had on our life, but it all seems macabre to me. I mean, I still go-obviously, but I guess it just seems weird to me. Today's service was a bit different than those I've been to before--by the time the preacher got up to preach the message there wasn't a dry eye in the place after hearing a touching eulogy. But the preacher was so clear in his presentation of the gospel and relating it to how our friend had accepted the Lord that I couldn't help but be glad that the Lord knew exactly what we needed to hear in this setting. I know that there were probably unsaved people in the crowd (and it was a big crowd!) so I pray that what he said today would cause a stirring in their hearts. I want them to realize that the hole in their hearts can only be filled by One-our Lord. As we walked out to the graveside, I looked around at the crowd of people and wondered. Do they know? Will they know? The sun was shining and the air was crisp with that warm spring feeling that still has a bite of cold to it. On our way to the graveyard we walked by a playground full of 2 and 3 year olds playing and shouting and laughing without abandon, and I thought-this is right. This is exactly as it should be. To everything there is a seaon, is there not?

Nothing but Vincente..all the time...

If you ask me how I'm doing lately, I might just yell "Vincente Minelli!!!" at you and run away. This is because I am working on a project about the beloved director and lately I feel as if I am eating, breathing, singing, sleeping--nothing but Vincente Minelli. He was a fascinating man--check out some of his movies if you get a chance-never was a better visionary than Minelli...

This picture is a perfect portrayal of how I feel as this current term wraps up. I'm behind in BOTH of my classes and by Jove, I'm a goin' nuts! So, if you don't see me around for a while...please check in my bedroom-I may have fallen and become trapped under an enormous pile of books and my laptop.

Sigh....off to take another quiz ....

Musings on C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia

Well, not my musings on the well loved books. No, my musings would be short and elementary as in, wow, they are great. That Aslan ,eh? He's super. No, that just would not do. I have just returned from a lecture by the author of the book you see pictured on this blog. Michael Ward has come up with a theory so incredible, that even C.S. Lewis's stepson, Douglas Gresham is skeptical about its validity. Ward believes that C.S. Lewis, in a very secretive way (that he was known for) has hidden a deeper linking of the Chronicles of Narnia books together. He believes that yes , they are, as Lewis claimed-a story of Christ but they are also something so much more and significant. Basically, that Lewis intertwined the concept of the mediaeval cosmos in the books. He explained that there were thought to be 7 levels of the heavens and in order they are: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Anything beyond that was thought to be where God existed. Each level has its place in astrology (it's a scary word for the Christian but here we mean it without harm) and in mythology. When using these levels as analysis Ward has found it easy to label each book as one of the levels of heaven. Namely:

Moon-The Silver Chair

Mercury-The Horse and His Boy

Venus- The Magician's Nephew

Sun-The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Mars-Prince Caspian

Jupiter- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Saturn-The Last Battle

Obviously, these are not in chronlogical order, but you get the idea-there are elements in each book that Ward would argue that contain the associations with the levels of the heavens. I don't know if I completely agree with him yet, it's been some time since I read the Chronicles, but as I prepare for my Study Abroad course in Oxford that is on C.S. Lewis I find it intriguing to be able to read the books with a 'new light' as it were. I was a child the last time I read them. I look forward to reading Ward's book to get his full argument as he didn't have near enough time to cover it all in a 45 minute time period. He signed my copy which was neat- not that I'm 'that' big on getting autographs ,but I have a feeling this book is going to be causing a great stir in the literary and academic circles.

What a year it has been (so far)

Well, I canNOT even believe it is APRIL already. April 6th! What the? Where has 2008 gone? It has been SUCH a whirlwind. I should have known it would be by starting it with a trip to NYC for the last few days of December 07 and first day of January. The semester at school is not going as well as it should and most of that is due to my laziness, but also because I took a bit of a tumble three weeks ago. It has slowed me down significantly in the typing area. It is taking me forever to even post this thing! But, just to give you an idea of my year, thus far, let's do a little quarter year check up in no particular order, other than how i'm remembering things:

-Celebrated New Year's in NYC
-had lots of fun times with friends visiting me in town
-done lots of dog-sitting (shocker)
-bought a planner
-am actually using it to 'plan things'
-Taking two classes at the same time (not just a moduar or something, one online, one on campus)
-had a fun visit with Bridget and the boys w/my Mom
-Made some new friends at school
-got an awful case of the flu
-car repairs needed, warranty covered it (yay)
-lots of baby showers
-had a cavity filled
-went to see Michael Buble in concert
-got to hang out with his DRUMMER! We're totally BFF's now.Seriously, he wrote Jenn and is like..are you guys going to come see us on the last leg of our tour? (EEK. I AM BROKE)
-Went to see a touring show of Rent
-it was 'eh'. looking forward to the movie
-And, oh--yeah, totally ate it by slamming into a wall after my ankle rolled. In front of 15 people. Of course.
-facebook addiction grew
-discovered the lure of twittering (twitter.com)

AND...the big news..I'm going to ENGLAND in JUNE!!! Last week of June and first of July I will be in jolly ol' England on a Study Abroad course my school is offering. I might have to sell a few organs or my firstborn child to pay for it (ha ha, kidding) but I'm determined to do it without taking out a loan! Someone has already generously blessed me with a gift towards the trip--I'm in awe of how God takes care of me, time after time. I don't deserve it, at ALL! Anyways--got any odd jobs you need doing? For um, pay? I'll do it! No more turning dogsitting jobs down, that's for sure!

So, that's about it friends. Now that I've posted this link on my facebook page maybe more of you will actually read this stuff! Feel free to comment!

Love,
Shawna