Pile high of reading

Yes, these are my books. Last semester i apparently measured how many inches of reading I had to do. (Most of it was for one class) It seems so long ago, I hardly remember. But, today, as you can see, there is plenty to do. Grace the wonder mutt woke me promptly at 6am and my Saturday hasn't stopped. I began with the Wal-mart trip for supplies and then baked and cleaned while reading "A History of the Church IN England." Nothing like Anselm and the smell of chocolate biscotti. I think even Anselm would be tempted to taste Martha Stewart's double chocolate biscotti.

So, the school year has officially begun. Lots of reading, lots of work and poor Grace has lots of time in her crate. Seems to be that time! So, here i am in the library with that stack of books to read, better get cracking!

When Bad turns good.

So, today i got up and headed to the gym.

I pulled out my ipod, somehow it had not charged and the battery was dead.

I attempted to turn on the TV, managed to turn someone else's off and abandoned that activity also.

I finally GOT ON the treadmill and found that i was on a treadmill that was convinced that the metric system was far superior and found I had to convert my weight to KG and my speed per mile to Kilometers and then of course convert my kilometerage into mileage. My brain hurt a bit.

And then.

A friend turned on my television (and even asked me what channel i would like)

A neighbor laughed with me about my math skills and conversion rates

I managed to NOT fall off the machine...

Sometimes it is the community that makes the experience so complete. It takes living outside of our individual bubble of music/noise/insular distraction to welcome that in.

Not about WHO we know, but by WHOM we are known

I run (or try to) every morning. These runs take place, for the most part, on a treadmill in a gym. I attempt to divert my attention from the slow digital clock of how far and how long i have been running by watching TV. And every so often I see Erin Burnette. And she makes me smile! You see Erin and I went to high school together. A tiny school in Delaware and now I am running on a treadmill and she is on NBC. It makes me soooo proud to see her on the TV. I usually take a moment and say to my neighbor (who is usually sweating to the oldies in their own cloud of unknowning)- THAT'S ERIN!!!! They usually nod and keep on sweating to the oldies. It just makes me soooo proud to see where she is and what she has done with her gifts and talents.

In our middler year we have launched into our readings of Paul. Or perhaps i should say we have launched into readings about Paul (In true anglican fashion we have to read about him first!) and one of the things that I keep hearing as a chorus is that "we are of christ, not of other apostles." What if I had the same amount of joy and pride with saying, "wow, look at God at work in her." Do we give God the glory? I do find joy in the Christ I see in others, the joy of seeing God's pleasure in God's creation. What a good and joyful thing INDEED it is. And i do think Erin Burnette uses her gifts and talents pretty well!

Same Place, different time, different roles

So, being back at Sewanee and starting anew. I began my studies as a freshman here on this campus 16 years ago. Yes, there are freshmen here who were 2 when this occurred. Yes, I am old. Geez. Now, that we have gotten that out of the way, it has been a real joy to come full circle. Being able to experience Sewanee in a different way. I am still a student. This time i spend more time in the library (I really LOVE THE LIBRARY!) and this year (middler year!) i have been given the opportunity to give back some of what i have received during my first experience of Sewanee. There were lots of things to experience here as an undergrad. As a seminarian the opportunities abound and the joy is from a differnt place. I was able to give a wal-mart trip to three freshmen today, two of which are from my home church. It's a gift to see them weekly and to hear what they are up to. Also i get to be a part of the catechumenate program this year as a facilitator. It was an incredible journey for me and i am excited to be still and listen as the program begins anew this year. And to top it all off, we are all back here in the library and there are new friendly faces and then some of my favorite undergraduate faces....especially one of my former youth from Spartanburg. He is also a fan of the third floor of the library. What can i say? Blessings abound and now i should get back to my reading......reading about preaching... ah me oh my. Thoughts to ponder!

Way past time for an update

Hey my little audience-
Not sure who you are and if you are even still checking, but I have been reading my beloved CPE resident's blogs and loving their dedication and processing on their blogs. It has reminded me that i have neglected this outlet and update space. Please forgive me and here goes.
We have begun our middler year. The "middle" year, soon to be on the downhill! The new juniors and DAS/STM/MA students are here also. The new undergraduates have arrived and we have even begun our classes! It's a bit overwhelming. A few days ago I wrote down all the fun new things that fill the plate this semester: classes, chapel, K-OS, Catechumenate, Come and See Weekend Chair, Middler Rep, Sunday School Teaching, Otey News, Choir, Work Study and somewhere in there I get to walk the dog, go for a run and oh yes be a wife! We shall see how it all works out... I am thankful for ALL of the opportunities here, i am just afraid that i have, much like at a buffet when you are starving, filled my plate FULL.
It is true- my experiences during the summer in CPE are coming up in daily conversation. I am thankful it is not always in the "oh yeah, well we had a level one trauma bay and 588 beds" comparison method, rather the sharing of the compassion and need for pastoral care in the most likely and unlikely of places!
It's been great to see my seminarian class again and to meet new folks along the way! The second year back has a nice ring to it and a bit more comfort, at the moment. We have had several "You know so and so" moments and of course it was an utter joy to celebrate the arrival of THREE of the youth from my home parish in Augusta as they enter the College as freshmen!!! So fun! So my promise is to work a little harder at keeping things updated!

Survived! and now for the "In-between-time"

And now that the 11 weeks of CPE is finished, it is hard to believe it was 11 weeks long. Sure enough, teachers and students are back in school and somehow i feel like my summer vacation just started. I have 12 days off before my classes begin. I have a stack of books i want to read (fun ones), a list of recipes i want to cook, and lots of time I want to spend with Rob. We spent the first night at home with marvelous friends eating yummy food and playing some vicious Wii. Loads of fun and a great celebratory evening!
I had a friend ask me, "How will you describe CPE to your friends that ask you about it?!" I struggled for words. "It was challenging and so rewarding." are the words that come to mind. Words that have been used before and are still so vague. But, this is what the time WAS! I was blessed with the opportunity to BE with people in the midst of their crisis moments, their grief, their unknown. I was challenged to think about relationships with patients and colleagues with a different perspective. It was challenging and yes, so rewarding. And like so many of the things we do, you get what you put into it. There really is so much to learn!!!!
So, now i am enjoying a week at home with Rob before we head back to the little house on the mountain.

Mid Summer Update

I have just completed my 4th week of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). I am here for 11 weeks (in other words until August 14th). The unit is a chance to work on our pastoral skills in the midst of hospital care and crisis. I have 7 "on-calls" where i am the chaplain "on call" for 24 hours. This means i respond to any page i receive. Chaplains are paged for all Code Blue (cardiac Arrests), Trauma Alerts (when an ambulance comes in with someone with serious injuries) and Trauma Code (more severe injuries than an alert). When we are "on call" we stay at the hospital until our shift is over. I have already completed 4 of my "on calls" and only have 3 left to do! July 6th, 13th, and 27th. Outside of on call we are at the hospital from 8:30am to 5pm, monday to friday. I have joined the gym in Spartanburg and get up and go to the gym first before work. The drive to the gym is about 45minutes, the drive to the hospital is only 30 minutes.

As you might know, I am staying in the Simpsonville house. I vaccum and clean up each thursday night before i left for work on Fridays and then i drive from work for the weekend with Rob. With a sale pending on the house in Simpsonville, i have begun my search for the next place to "dwell". The closing on the Simpsonville house is July 29th. Do not worry. When i was accepted into the CPE program here and asked mom and dad about staying in the house, I also called a friend to see "if the house sold" could i stay with her. She has graciously kept the offer open. I am waiting to see if friends have a room for me (so MUCH closer to the hospital)...but, do not worry I do have a place to sleep....

I get to see Rob every weekend (for the entire weekend, now that my "on call" weekends are done!) which has been quite nice! The Moons will be together on Lake Carbondale for the 4th of July.

I finish here August 14th. School starts August 26th. I will go home August 14th and I have a doctor's appt in there somewhere.. Rob and I will head to the mountain shortly thereafter for some time to play up there before school starts..... And then i will officially be a MIDDLER. wahooooooo. begining my second out of three years of school.
Okay, i think those are all the details on what is going on in the Moon World.