This is not the post I promised in my last blog. To be truthful, I haven't typed any more on that blog. But not to worry! I'm working it out in my mind.... just like my school papers.... and just as successful... OK, maybe I need to start typing again. :-)
But onto the real reason I haven't been blogging. My mom was life-lited to a hospital with a concussion and needs to get a plate put in her crushed and broken knee. Earlier today has been spent driving to Butler to get Katie checked out of Butler Memorial with a Concussion and some seriously painfully bruised ribs. Is that enough reason not to blog? If you believe me it is. :-D On the way home from visiting my brother, my mom and little sister got into an accident and completely smashed the car. I should have pictures up in a week but the car is completely totaled. My mom was going about 55 and someone took a left turn when they shouldn't have and they wrecked. Considering the speeds involved and that they may not have been wearing seatbelts, they came out of the wreck very well.
The people in the other car are apparently OK. Their air-bags deployed and protected them pretty well. One has a broken ankle and some bruises and the other was apparently OK, but at the hospital, they flew him to another hospital for more treatment apparently. The amazing thing about their relatively unscathed bodies is the fact that they are both over 85 apparently.
The Lord was certainly protecting my family and the brother and sister in the other car. While at the hospital, relatives of the other car came and was talking to Katie and one of them was a Methodist minister and offered to pray with Katie (accepted of course). My sister thought that was so neat and was so happy there was someone like that in their family. She hasn't yet told me too much, but I'll know tomorrow morning.
It's been an exciting day. Please pray for the health of my sister and mother and that my mom's operations go well. It has put a damper in her travel plans so my sister and I will have to go to NCFCA nationals alone. That will make things a lot less fun and tougher to get around so pray that everything goes fine for that to. Hmmm. At this rate, I might as well finish by asking you for your prayers for my whole family and the current situation.
It's been an exciting day.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Delayed
It is too late tonight (this morning?) to finish what I've done, so I'll just give a sneak preview to my next two posts. I'll talk about my activities this last week (a canoe trip), the friends I've met, my plans for the summer, what the Lord has been telling me lately, more friends I've met, the parting from friends, the hope of reunions, hopes for the summer, what it feels like to be graduated, and little details from what is happening at home right now. I'm feeling overwhelmed just writing these blogs. It's too much for one night. I've already been typing for an hour with no end in sight. (Don't worry if you wanted to see, it's so confused and muddled you wouldn't want to see it even if I finished it) It will take me a while to sort through my thoughts and feelings.
I am so looking forward to seeing people I know again!
I am so looking forward to seeing people I know again!
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Late night
I promised to write a blog on my post graduation life after my graduation ceremony, so here it is! Nothing has really changed.... there, that says about everything. I'm still waiting to see what God has in store for me. I was hoping to get an intership at a church, as many of you know, but that doesn't seem to be too likely. I don't think any of that waiting was wasted time though. I felt pretty strongly that God didn't want me looking for other jobs other than the intership, so he has something in mind (of that I have no doubt), if nothing else but to save me from a horrible job. :-) My dad di offer to let me work for him this summer ( he seemed rather pleased at that prospect). Whatever happens, I'm not worried but that doesn't mean I'll relax and do nothing if I have the chance. I still plan on looking for jobs, even if it isn't even close to my major. Right now, I'll just keep as many doors open as possible and see which ones close.
This week has been a little hectic. I've been taking a course called "Wilderness Ministries that has quite a bit more qork than I planned. Fortunately I'm learning a lot and am a lot more confident and competent to go on a self planned trip. Other than the class, I've been helping my dad some - not as much as I think he would want, but I'll try to do better as soon as this class is finished. In fact, I just drove home today from a craft show near Pittsburg. The rest of the McConnell's are at the show, but since I'm leaving in 7 hours for the canoeing trip for "Wilderness Ministries" I got to come home and work on more schoolwork. I would probably be finished by now, except that we sold another black puppy!
This post is starting to wander a bit... I'll try to pull it back into a coherent mass. What has been hapening outside of my normal activities? Very little. I haven't gotten to read anything extraneous this week, I haven't gotten to play war with anyone, but I did get the chance to play with grass. I found out that it is almost impossible to whistle with grass if I have a ring on my thumb finger. During dinners, I've been watching a "Murder She Wrote" mystery, and I went and saw Star Wars III today. I'm starting to regret that decision. I would have been just as happy watching it one or two weeks from now when I wasn't so busy. Oh well, live and learn!
With all of this activity going on, I still seem to be staying is a good mood, although my answers to questions people ask have been one word answers recently. (I'm not being a good conversationalist.) Two more side notes. 1) I've been enjoying peoples blogs, and 2) my spell checker isn't workings so I apologize for the incovenience of bad spelling here. Now you get a chance to see how I really spell when I don't think it matters.
This week has been a little hectic. I've been taking a course called "Wilderness Ministries that has quite a bit more qork than I planned. Fortunately I'm learning a lot and am a lot more confident and competent to go on a self planned trip. Other than the class, I've been helping my dad some - not as much as I think he would want, but I'll try to do better as soon as this class is finished. In fact, I just drove home today from a craft show near Pittsburg. The rest of the McConnell's are at the show, but since I'm leaving in 7 hours for the canoeing trip for "Wilderness Ministries" I got to come home and work on more schoolwork. I would probably be finished by now, except that we sold another black puppy!
This post is starting to wander a bit... I'll try to pull it back into a coherent mass. What has been hapening outside of my normal activities? Very little. I haven't gotten to read anything extraneous this week, I haven't gotten to play war with anyone, but I did get the chance to play with grass. I found out that it is almost impossible to whistle with grass if I have a ring on my thumb finger. During dinners, I've been watching a "Murder She Wrote" mystery, and I went and saw Star Wars III today. I'm starting to regret that decision. I would have been just as happy watching it one or two weeks from now when I wasn't so busy. Oh well, live and learn!
With all of this activity going on, I still seem to be staying is a good mood, although my answers to questions people ask have been one word answers recently. (I'm not being a good conversationalist.) Two more side notes. 1) I've been enjoying peoples blogs, and 2) my spell checker isn't workings so I apologize for the incovenience of bad spelling here. Now you get a chance to see how I really spell when I don't think it matters.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Second day and counting
Two days into this class and time is speeding along. Less than two weeks of classes left! To be honest, time would probably crawl if I only had this class to go to, but I have work at home to do so I have a lot to keep me busy and time flies when I'm having fun! Right now, I'm sitting in the GCC commuter lounge, listening to a completely empty building. Except for the staff, there is no one here. I wouldn't mind that too much except I don't have homework to do. My brother got a book for me, but the seller just sent a refund because the book got wet. Fortunately, he found a good replacement that should get here in a few days. In the meantime, I get to use Amazon's scanned pages of the book!
Now that I'm spending time outside, I'm starting to tan a little. To be accurate, fair skinned red heads don't tan much, but they get nice burns! I haven't been out in the sun during the afternoon since Saturday, so the red has started to fade. For some reason my hands don't burn much, even though they are often the only parts exposed to the sun. There isn't even a burn line around my ring! Maybe since my hands tend to be red anyway, the burns don't show up as much.
PA weather is at the top of it's game. All the trees have leaves, the various colors of blooms haven't faded yet, and the sun is out with a bunch of puffy clouds filling the sky. Magnificent!
Now that I'm spending time outside, I'm starting to tan a little. To be accurate, fair skinned red heads don't tan much, but they get nice burns! I haven't been out in the sun during the afternoon since Saturday, so the red has started to fade. For some reason my hands don't burn much, even though they are often the only parts exposed to the sun. There isn't even a burn line around my ring! Maybe since my hands tend to be red anyway, the burns don't show up as much.
PA weather is at the top of it's game. All the trees have leaves, the various colors of blooms haven't faded yet, and the sun is out with a bunch of puffy clouds filling the sky. Magnificent!
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
It's almost done
Today, I dedicate this post to the end of college. I'm think I'll have two more posts on the end of college after I finish my last course and after the graduation ceremony, but I thought I would post now anyway. As I looked around the class of 2005, I realized that I only saw about 15 people that I could talk to that I was friends with. Out of a class of over 600 people, only 15. Most of my friends are sophomores and Freshmen. I can't think of any people who are Juniors off the top of my head but I'm sure I have some.
Eric Ross, the senior class president, gave some great words of encouragement. He said that whatever is coming up, that friendships will last for quite a while, and there is always the shared experiences of GCC to tie us together. Dr. Jewell then got up and told us the same thing, but his words had some actual experience behind them. He said he had several friends he stayed in close contact with, even after all of these years.
excelsior!
Eric Ross, the senior class president, gave some great words of encouragement. He said that whatever is coming up, that friendships will last for quite a while, and there is always the shared experiences of GCC to tie us together. Dr. Jewell then got up and told us the same thing, but his words had some actual experience behind them. He said he had several friends he stayed in close contact with, even after all of these years.
excelsior!
Friday, May 06, 2005
Talking to myself
I think in this blog I'm going to just talk to myself and muse over whatever I feel like musing. Of course, since this is a public medium, I will muse with moderation!
Finals are almost done. What to do afterward? I really don't know. There is so much to possibly do... there is always picking a job and I may have a camping ministries job, computer job, helping my dad, or Wal-Mart. I can't think of anything that is really off limits at the moment. But I do think I need a job. Today, I had a test for my class, "Courtship and Marriage" and one of the topics studied is what dating and marriage represents. One of the things dating and marriage represents is maturity (hopefully), but I think getting a job also is an indication of maturity. My mom and dad have offered to put me through another semester, maybe even year of college (although they don't encourage it). I thought seriously about doing that for a while, but I feel at some point I have to "grow up" and get a job. I'm having trouble thinking of the camping ministries as a job, but after thinking about it for a while, I decided that I had the wrong attitude of what a job is. I was considering a job to be something that I earned mon..... (I have a beautiful, 11 year old dog, constantly wanting petted and it's interrupting every few seconds) .....ey at and provide for me and my family. I think that I have the wrong idea of a responsible job. A responsible job is a way in which I live to spread the word of God. Using what I think the right (or better) definition is, makes room for so much more that is God centered and includes God's plan for my life, even if I don't earn money at it.
Time for the next topic to muse upon.... I have a weird room. It looks nice when one first sees it I suppose, and I have grown used to it (Still Belle interrupts!), but looking around I see a small dragon made out of bolts, a few figurines from the top of a Lord of the Rings birthday cake, a scorpion encased in glass (with a glow in the dark felt bottom!), a few plastic lizards spread out, a silver horny toad with a geode slice as a base, a baby shark in a glass of formaldehyde, an alligators head I got in Florida (along with the shark), a Dino doll that I won at a carnival for correctly guessing the speed I throw a baseball, a Toucan carved out of balsa wood, and several, old drawings from my job this last summer, and my walking stick I use for the Appalachian trail. Ooo! I forgot the bag of 20 or 30 pewter figurines that I plan on making a display of this summer!. Keep in mind, this is only the odd stuff that I can see at the moment (but it isn't a full list. I refuse to move from my spot on the bed to see the rest of the crazy stuff I've collected!). Of course, there are a lot of normal items, but I like curio's. I also have verses posted here an there, but I made the mistake of putting most of them on the roof, but I never look up unless I'm going to bed and I don't have contacts or glasses! I'm hoping when my kids talk about me they can say, "[he] really lived."
My mom said I could only get on the internet for 20 minutes and I'm going on an hour, so I'll try to limit myself to one more paragraph about..... food. I consider myself a coneseaur of food. Put any food in front of me, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and it becomes a delicacy. I was being sarcastic about the coneseaur part. I have a problem with food, I enjoy it too much. I should modify that - I enjoy food as much as everyone else does, I just have less self control. I just had a good helping of ice-cream. :-) I always though 200 would be some special point, but as one passes that number, it is more of a surprise, "Really! I lost track!" I think too much weight shows a lack of self control, but it's so hard! As Monk would say, "Suck it up" and that is what I need to do. That is one of the reasons I enjoy racquetball so much, because of the exercise. I've found that I get tired much more easily now than before when playing racquetball. When I started playing racquetball, I never had my second game slump. My freshman year (about 155), I was talking to a smoker, and he said, "Yeah, I really pant by the time I get to the top of the stairs." At that time, we had classes in Caulderwood Hall, a two story building. He went on to say that he used to be one of the best runners in his school, and that he could run for miles without getting too tired (He may have been exaggerating). That little conversation has always boggled my mind - how does one go from being a great runner, to panting when walking up a flight of stairs without regretting it so much that one gives up the bad habit that is the problem? I think it is because we grow used to our current situation... and it would take work if we wanted to get back to the way we used to feel. It creeps up on a person, and one doesn't realize it until the work required to gain back one's previous health is already far gone and the uphill struggle is too hard to make it. It is fortunate that Christians have the Lord to help us back up that hill, whether spiritual or physical. The Lord is all that makes this world livable. Not having anything to live for after this life is done! How depressing! I wouldn't want to live like that for all the world. I look forward so much to the time when I don't have to be worried or lonely; to not have anything to look forward would give even a happy life like mine a depressing ring to it, empty and dull. The Lord would that none would be lost. How I pray all would find the Lord. :-)
Finals are almost done. What to do afterward? I really don't know. There is so much to possibly do... there is always picking a job and I may have a camping ministries job, computer job, helping my dad, or Wal-Mart. I can't think of anything that is really off limits at the moment. But I do think I need a job. Today, I had a test for my class, "Courtship and Marriage" and one of the topics studied is what dating and marriage represents. One of the things dating and marriage represents is maturity (hopefully), but I think getting a job also is an indication of maturity. My mom and dad have offered to put me through another semester, maybe even year of college (although they don't encourage it). I thought seriously about doing that for a while, but I feel at some point I have to "grow up" and get a job. I'm having trouble thinking of the camping ministries as a job, but after thinking about it for a while, I decided that I had the wrong attitude of what a job is. I was considering a job to be something that I earned mon..... (I have a beautiful, 11 year old dog, constantly wanting petted and it's interrupting every few seconds) .....ey at and provide for me and my family. I think that I have the wrong idea of a responsible job. A responsible job is a way in which I live to spread the word of God. Using what I think the right (or better) definition is, makes room for so much more that is God centered and includes God's plan for my life, even if I don't earn money at it.
Time for the next topic to muse upon.... I have a weird room. It looks nice when one first sees it I suppose, and I have grown used to it (Still Belle interrupts!), but looking around I see a small dragon made out of bolts, a few figurines from the top of a Lord of the Rings birthday cake, a scorpion encased in glass (with a glow in the dark felt bottom!), a few plastic lizards spread out, a silver horny toad with a geode slice as a base, a baby shark in a glass of formaldehyde, an alligators head I got in Florida (along with the shark), a Dino doll that I won at a carnival for correctly guessing the speed I throw a baseball, a Toucan carved out of balsa wood, and several, old drawings from my job this last summer, and my walking stick I use for the Appalachian trail. Ooo! I forgot the bag of 20 or 30 pewter figurines that I plan on making a display of this summer!. Keep in mind, this is only the odd stuff that I can see at the moment (but it isn't a full list. I refuse to move from my spot on the bed to see the rest of the crazy stuff I've collected!). Of course, there are a lot of normal items, but I like curio's. I also have verses posted here an there, but I made the mistake of putting most of them on the roof, but I never look up unless I'm going to bed and I don't have contacts or glasses! I'm hoping when my kids talk about me they can say, "[he] really lived."
My mom said I could only get on the internet for 20 minutes and I'm going on an hour, so I'll try to limit myself to one more paragraph about..... food. I consider myself a coneseaur of food. Put any food in front of me, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and it becomes a delicacy. I was being sarcastic about the coneseaur part. I have a problem with food, I enjoy it too much. I should modify that - I enjoy food as much as everyone else does, I just have less self control. I just had a good helping of ice-cream. :-) I always though 200 would be some special point, but as one passes that number, it is more of a surprise, "Really! I lost track!" I think too much weight shows a lack of self control, but it's so hard! As Monk would say, "Suck it up" and that is what I need to do. That is one of the reasons I enjoy racquetball so much, because of the exercise. I've found that I get tired much more easily now than before when playing racquetball. When I started playing racquetball, I never had my second game slump. My freshman year (about 155), I was talking to a smoker, and he said, "Yeah, I really pant by the time I get to the top of the stairs." At that time, we had classes in Caulderwood Hall, a two story building. He went on to say that he used to be one of the best runners in his school, and that he could run for miles without getting too tired (He may have been exaggerating). That little conversation has always boggled my mind - how does one go from being a great runner, to panting when walking up a flight of stairs without regretting it so much that one gives up the bad habit that is the problem? I think it is because we grow used to our current situation... and it would take work if we wanted to get back to the way we used to feel. It creeps up on a person, and one doesn't realize it until the work required to gain back one's previous health is already far gone and the uphill struggle is too hard to make it. It is fortunate that Christians have the Lord to help us back up that hill, whether spiritual or physical. The Lord is all that makes this world livable. Not having anything to live for after this life is done! How depressing! I wouldn't want to live like that for all the world. I look forward so much to the time when I don't have to be worried or lonely; to not have anything to look forward would give even a happy life like mine a depressing ring to it, empty and dull. The Lord would that none would be lost. How I pray all would find the Lord. :-)
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Slower than molasses
I must confess... I've been slow at posting more blogs. That will change! -hopefully- As of today, I will attempt to blog at least once every other day. I'm officially all done with classwork as of yesterday. All that I have left to do is study, but that won't be too easy either, so I will have to wait until finals is over before I can relax from school. But then again, I'll be starting school again in two weeks... and I'm already looking forward to it!
Yesterday, I had a pretty bad headache all day. Mid morning I had a surprise insight into a completely random topic, the enjoyment of pain. Whenever watching movies that are intended to be funny, there is always the big football player who doesn't mind pain and in fact thrives on pain. I never understood why! About mid morning yesterday though, I was walking to the TLC and all of a sudden, I realized I was enjoying my headache. The headache was throbbing back and forth between the front of my head to the back of my head, and I was having fun trying to match my steps to the throbbing. I was getting the peculiar sensation that I was walking along a beach and the throbbing sounded like waves. That being said, other than for 30 seconds yesterday, I didn't enjoy my headache. :-)
My computer is also being repaired so I am missing any form of IM conversation with the world. While not that drastic, it was comforting to have because I knew that if someone wanted to contact me, that someone could. Right now, I have no idea if someone is desperately trying to get ahold of me. All I can do is walk down to the TLC twice a day to check E-mail. (I didn't get any since yesterday!)
Due to my headache, I got to bed about 9:30 last night and stayed asleep (mostly) until my alarm went off at 7:30, so I need to do some work now. I'm off to finish memorizing two acts of Macbeth. I'm playing Macbeth and it quite exciting to be able to say, "Sure, I know a little bit of Shakespeare." and then quote a few lines.
Yesterday, I had a pretty bad headache all day. Mid morning I had a surprise insight into a completely random topic, the enjoyment of pain. Whenever watching movies that are intended to be funny, there is always the big football player who doesn't mind pain and in fact thrives on pain. I never understood why! About mid morning yesterday though, I was walking to the TLC and all of a sudden, I realized I was enjoying my headache. The headache was throbbing back and forth between the front of my head to the back of my head, and I was having fun trying to match my steps to the throbbing. I was getting the peculiar sensation that I was walking along a beach and the throbbing sounded like waves. That being said, other than for 30 seconds yesterday, I didn't enjoy my headache. :-)
My computer is also being repaired so I am missing any form of IM conversation with the world. While not that drastic, it was comforting to have because I knew that if someone wanted to contact me, that someone could. Right now, I have no idea if someone is desperately trying to get ahold of me. All I can do is walk down to the TLC twice a day to check E-mail. (I didn't get any since yesterday!)
Due to my headache, I got to bed about 9:30 last night and stayed asleep (mostly) until my alarm went off at 7:30, so I need to do some work now. I'm off to finish memorizing two acts of Macbeth. I'm playing Macbeth and it quite exciting to be able to say, "Sure, I know a little bit of Shakespeare." and then quote a few lines.
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