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excitement. [updated]

19 Apr
I can’t help but be excited.  
I wrote a few weeks ago that I feel like I’m in a glass case of emotion.  Some days, I’m so ready to break free of this seminary institution; others, I don’t want to think about the inevitable departure.
Today I’m just excited about what is to come in the next few weeks.  Probably just as excited and giggly as this girl is to encounter a penguin.  [‘Hey, you penguin.  It’s too hot for you here.  I gotta send you back to the South Pole.’  Not an exact quote but, if you follow me in the slightest, you know where it comes from … name that movie for another ten points.  Remember, right now it’s Adam with 10 points and you with zero.  Here’s your chance!]  [Updated: Cassie for the win!  Check the comments for the answer.  And, yes, I think I am this excited!] Source: None via Lindsay on Pinterest

Frankly, I’m just giddy thinking about graduation.  The ceremony.  I’m excited to receive my master’s degree.  Rephrased: FREAKING excited.  You know, I’ve worked hard for this and it will feel great to have it completed and recognized in a graduation ceremony.  Hood me, por favor.
The night before graduation is baccalaureate.  [Try spelling that without the squiggly red line.  I fail every time.]  I’m pretty stoked that my mom and likely grandma and sister will be here for that occasion.  Prior to the worship service is a meet-and-greet with the CYF faculty/staff at Luther.  They want to meet my family.  And I want my family to meet them.  [I’ll be the first to admit I was pretty dumb my first two years at school.  I made little connection with the CYF team – the area of my concentration – and fellow CYF students.  Dumb.  Attempting to make up for that lack of awesome-ness this year.]
If we keep going backwards, the week and a half before the weekend of graduation is senior week.  I’m on the planning team for a week of events such as a possible dinner cruise, outdoor movie, and fun 5k.  For every minute that there isn’t a planned event, here’s hoping there will be impromptu and spontaneous hanging out and going out.  There will be no classes or papers; what else am I to do?  [Pack, says the logical part of the brain.  Nah, says the part that wants to have fun.]  
Before that, there will be the satisfaction of turning in final papers, attending final class periods, defending and turning in a thesis.  I feel ready for it.  Let’s do this thing.

the things I dream about.

31 Mar
Last week, I had this really wacky dream.  I was somehow cast to be the substitute on a hockey team.  [Note: I can’t skate even the tiniest bit.]  The game was in overtime [Is it even called overtime in hockey?  Hint at how little I know about this sport I play in my dreams.] and time is going in super slow motion.  As people skate about the rink, I think to myself, “Which goal is ours?  Did it switch?  I don’t remember …” as I search wildly for any kind of clues.  Suddenly – or as suddenly as things go in slow motion – the puck is in my possession.  *insert naughty word*  WHICH GOAL IS MY TEAM’S?  *insert naughty word*  I still don’t know so I take my best guess.  Naturally, I guessed wrong.  The team lost on my account.  I woke up feeling absolutely terrible and being reminded why I cannot bear to play competitive team sports; I fear I will let people down.  [Hello, Enneagram #2.]
While that is apparently what I dream of while wrapped in my warm quilts at night, not quite where I intend this blog post to dawdle.  [Unless you want to hear about my dream of yellow shoes made of jell-o.  That’s a classic.]  Here are the other things I dream of, while my eyes are still open –
A hammock between two trees.  Wherever I end up once my time is seminary is spent, may there be two trees close enough together to match the length of my Mexico hammock.  Please, God, please.  [I may need to invest in these to hang it more securely.  Right now, it’s always a guessing game of how quickly the hammock with drape to the-butt-touching-ground height with slippery rope.]
Time to get lost in a book.  [A friend posted this on facebook.  It is wonderfully written, and captures my childhood love affair with books; a love affair I hope to rekindle once not a full-time student.  If you’re a reader – or if you date one/are married to one, certainly click on over.]
That my thesis would write itself OR at least give me the time and energy to do so.
My future craft room.  Seriously.  

Project Etsy.

28 Jan
Jennifer Parker: It’s like Doc’s always saying –
Marty McFly: I know, I know.  If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.
Jennifer Parker: That’s good advice, Marty.
I want to put my mind to something.  There’s something I want to accomplish.
But I’m fearful.  I’m fearful of failure.  And let’s face it – no one wants to fail.

I especially don’t want to end up riding in this boat.  No Regretsy, please.  (Thanks to jD for the link to that one.  Chicken poncho?  Really?  There’s a Regretsy blog too – go at your own risk and prepare to be thoroughly disturbed.)

By writing it here, by telling you what’s up, I feel like it’s real and there is no way to go but forward.  And maybe I need that push.
Next week – the week after J-term has ended but before second semester begins – will be the launching of Project: Etsy.  [What’s Etsy?  A homemade marketplace online.  Everything from wonderful to creepy.]  I’ll need a name, some sort of product, a dream of what is to come.  Ideas have been floating around in my head for the last couple weeks; it’s time to bring them to fruition. 
So I’m putting my mind to it and jumping [into a frozen lake, yes – see previous post – and into what will now be referred to as Project Etsy].  To land flat on my face?  Maybe.  But here’s hoping not.

no-buy January.

3 Jan
Hey!  Happy New Year!

…     …    (awkward side glance)   …   …   (other side)   …   …

Moving on …

I spent a lot of money over Christmas break.  Over my life.  Lots of money on essentially unnecessary things.  There needs to be a no-buy January.

No new cardigans.  
No new wire baskets.
No new nothing.
No-buy January.
The exceptions to the purchasing power of my debit card will be groceries/shampoo-ish items.  (And, if I may, add a Joann Fabrics clause?  I plan on quilting this January and will be doing my best to use what I have but new thread or a yard or two may be needed.  And a long-underwear clause.  I need some when I walk to campus on this chilly days.  Beyond that – no-buy January.)  In addition, I’m starting a box to gather 100 things I can remove from my life.  A move to simplify.  One hundred things to give away or donate by the end of the month.  I was reminded again as I packed the car to come back to St.Paul yesterday: I just have too much stuff.
Moderate expense on social activities/maintenance is permitted.  (Birthday gifts/postage expense/etc.)  But no more than $20/week.
Starting tomorrow.
Because tonight I went to the Minnesota Wild hockey game and that ticket was $35.  It was a last-minute game as my roomie stumbled upon a few tickets from a friend of hers.  I had never been to a Wild game and all I know about hockey I learned from The Mighty Ducks, but it was a blast – they won in overtime.  And I am in awe of anyone who can skate – RUN – on ice.  My favorite part?  The sound the players made when they pushed others with their complete weight and effort into the wall.  I giggled every time.  And the fight.  For fun.

Green Grocery Bag Challenge.

8 Nov
I’ll be the first to admit – I’m rather annoyed by the onset of Christmas decorations, advertisements, and the consumerism of the holiday already being prevalent in all arenas.  The grocery store had Christmas music playing this past weekend.  I’m a pretty big non-fan of Christmas music to begin with – other than traditional hymns sung on Christmas Eve – so it was a dose of extra torture.  I join many others with the train of thought that this should most certainly wait until after Thanksgiving.  Consumer America lends no such luck.
Despite the fact that this is directly related to the holiday, this I will get on board with – the Green Grocery Bag Challenge.  Found on Sew, Mama, Sew, this challenge is a call to forego wrapping paper for cloth grocery totes.  Not only would the large garbage bag of ripped holiday paper be lessened, but the gift recipient also receives an additional gift to limit the use of plastic bags throughout the year.  Double score.
Now, I do love paper.  Pretty paper.  But I also love fabric.  Pretty fabric.  The trick will be finding the time to sew the bags but I’ll make my best effort.  Want to join me?  OR I’ll sew a bunch of bags and you buy them from me?  (I’ve been looking for a little side business of sorts …)
From Sew, Mama, Sew’s blog post about the challenge:
The Green Grocery Bag Challenge: A Holiday Sewing Project Benefiting Mother Earth

Fact 1: US consumers generate 4 million tons of wrapping paper and shopping bag waste during the holiday season alone.
Fact 2: The US goes through 100 billion single-use plastic grocery bags every year.
Fact 3: This year, you can make a difference!
How? The challenge is this:
Wrap your holiday gifts in reusable cloth grocery bags.
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