I can do it,

but I hate keeping secrets.
Especially when it's great news. And it's all I can think about.

"That's all, Mom. No more news that I can think of" --except for this really exciting thing that I'm not supposed to tell anyone until further notice--!!!

Announcing (drum roll) alternate good news:

1. I got a part time job in a PT office as an aide! It's just a few set hours a week, with the option of getting called in for a few more hours here and there when it's busy. The important thing is the exposure it gives me, including a PT outside of my faculty whom I can go to as a resource. Of course, a little extra cash for gas money or something doesn't hurt, either!

2. I got a mattress. So I'm sleeping where I pay rent now, instead of at Sharon's house. Next priority is a bookshelf, although the piles of books scattered about the bedroom floor are suggestive of academic genius, and can be motivating in a fantastical sort of way.

3. The March for Life is a "go;" the final count of teenagers under our chaperone is 12. They're really good kids, and we are 3 adults, so it should be a good time. Of course, a busful of teenagers (we're not the only group of teens-and-adults going) will always have that element of the unpredictable.

4. I still like the material I'm studying, even though it's much different from last semester. In every consecutive country that I visited in Europe, I said, "No this is where I would want to live and learn the language." I'm finding the same pattern starting with physical therapy. "Orthopoedics--no, Neurology--is what I think I'd like to specialize in.

Good thing I still have some time to gain experience!

New Book

I just bought 5 new books today (I already bought 8 others online over break).

I've already started the first one.

It's a page-turner, let me tell 'ya: THE HUMAN BRAIN
Little neurons are dancing around inside my head, already.

Found out I do have a spring break, and it's in March, and it begins on Portia's birthday. Maybe to commemorate, I will do some New England skiing. But I hear the snow is amazing in Tahoe this year....

reminder

As we're in the car, on the way to the airport, I am sad to leave home.

Dad: I remember at the beginning of September, you were so happy with the program, with the faculty, with your fellow classmates. Is that still the case?

Me: Yes.

Then the realization:
At this time last year, I was hoping and praying I'd get into this program. I hadn't even had my interview yet. I wondered, "But if I don't make it in, what will I do? There's nothing else I want to pursue."
How easy it is to forget all those hours of anguish and worry and fear--and all the vows binding me to eternal gratitude "if I do make it."

So tomorrow is the first day of the second semester, and I have just been reminded:
I'M EXCITED!!!

short

skirts are too long
they enclose my heeled boots
their hems collect snow
and they sneak underfoot

shelves are too high
where liquor is kept
"sure I'll make you your drink,
when I find my stool-step"

lines are too long
when you cannot look past
this man's back in your face,
so broad and so vast

but the bright side of hope
shines forth faithfully:
He said, "let the little ones
come unto Me"

the power of DIA

Strange how, on Saturday, I will drive into one side of DIA and fly out of the other. When I touch land again, it will be in NY, and the exit signs will say "Leaving Kennedy Airport."

But someone next to me in line at the Security checkpoint in Denver will be landing in San Diego, or maybe even in Dublin! We will walk through almost all the same doors. He'll just walk a few feet further to another gate's waiting area. The type on his boarding pass will be arranged in such a way to allow him to fly out of the same building as I do, but in a different direction.

Even the people in my own waiting area will be scattered once we arrive at JFK. Each individual has his own reasons for flying at this time, on this day, to this destination. And we're all gathered together for a few hours in the great span of time to share a concourse train, a waiting area, an airplane.

Air travel itself is fascinating. But the power of airports--what goes on inside of them, on either side of them--amazes me even more.

compliments (?) from the man Wade

After my 6 months away from home: "You look great--the first thing I noticed was your arms"

After looking at wedding pictures: "Tell your sister she looks hot"

After berating the president, the Republican party, and the majority of Americans who are "obviously idiots": "Shannon hates me because I put everything into perspective"

After learning that Dad's 2 cinema favs are The Godfather and The Natural: "I knew I liked that man"

After a few at the bar: "If I wasn't married to Kristin, I would date this girl--and she'd get me into heaven"