Thursday Thirteen

Stolen from Betsy!

13 things I love about living in B-town.
1. TARGET!
2. Good parks
3. Lots of accomplished young people- and fun events like Young Professionals of Bloomington
4. Farmers Market and other independent shopping options
5. A community of mostly like minded people
6. A butcher shop where I can buy goat meat... now all I have to do is find someone to make Curried Goat for!
7. Diverse and beautiful campus
8. $5 club movies!!!
9. great mexican restaurants
10. my large office with lots of different kinds of people
11. uh... no hurricanes :)
12. short drive to and from work
13. being only one hour from Indianapolis!

Hurricane Gustav can kiss my...

Hurrican Gustav was SUPPOSED to pass well to the north of Jamaica slightly brushing them with tropical storm weather.

Well, the latest news is that it has both changed paths and strengthened. The hurricane will now run to the south of Jamaica, much closer to McKoy and his family. Also, they have been moved from a tropical storm warning to a hurricane warning.

All that being said, I know they can handle this. Hurrican Dean, which struck August 2007 was a catagory 5- and one of the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic.

Please keep McKoy and our family in your thoughts and prayers over the next few days.

Tropical Storm Gustav

This may be a bit premature, but I swear, if Tropical Storm Gustav becomes a hurricane and heads to Jamaica, I am going to have to do something drastic. I'm certain that McKoy and I cannot go through another Hurricane Dean.

Scariest. Thing. Ever.

But you know, I'm kind of a goober. I once asked McKoy what they eat during the hurricanes (no power, outdoor kitchen... what are the options?) and he just looked at me like I was ridiculous. Which, I'll admit, I later realized I was ridiculous. Then he finally said, "we aren't hungry. We are too busy thinking about the hurricane outside and wondering if the roof will stay on."

"Oh. Ok. Duh." I don't remember for sure, but I hope that I was at least starving when I asked that.

On another note... I finally went to open a Bloomington Bank account at the IU credit union today. The second thing I said to the girl was, "I have to have an atm/debit card that works all over the world." And she looked at me like I was on crack! I mean, seriously though, I wasn't asking for a card to work in Sierra Leon- just China. But guess what, it won't work in China! I can hardly believe that. And, the icing on the cake, it is a security measure. For my own good she said. That line always cracks me up- can I not decide what is for my own good? And, if so, I want to use my atm card in China!

Apologies

So, I've been a total blog slacker this week. Well, let's be honest, outside of work, I've been a total life slacker.

I've been at the new job almost 4 months and there are still a few things I am not at all settled into. I'm the kind of person who wants to come to work at 8am, work my ass off all day and go home at 5pm unless there is something that needs my immediate attention. I also work best when I take a break in the middle of the day to refocus myself (some call it lunch). Well, both of my supervisors come in around 9, never take lunch and never leave at 5p. It is definitely throwing me for a loop. Added to all that, this was just an all around rough week and I leave for India like REALLY soon!

Things seem to be moving incredibly slow with McKoy's paperwork. Granted, I've never had much faith in the federal government, but this is just ridiculous. I learned yesterday that, according to Customs and Immigrations Timelines, people who have been deported from the US will get back in sooner than McKoy can get in. And that's if everything is done exactly right for McKoy- which apparently rarely happens.

I just feel like my life is in total limbo. And, even worse than that (for me) is the complete lack of control that I have over my own situation.

So, for the numerous phone calls I forgot to return this week and for the birthday phone calls I forgot to make, my apologies.

Written in the airport...

Betsy’s blog today kind of got me thinking. First of, it was a very touching sentiment from a new mother and a good friend. I know in my heart of hearts that Betsy and Brian will raise Henry with the best of all opportunities. Even though I haven’t met the little guy, I know that he is deeply surrounded by love from his parents, g-parents, uncles and adopted family (i.e. Aunt Mel B!).

It is funny to realize how much my college friends and I have grown since the days of late nights at the Beta house… and all the trouble we managed to get into or cause! But whereas I feel as if I have progressively watched my friends change over the last four (wow!) years, I, on the other hand feel like most of my change happened over night. I used to say I wasn’t really sure that I wanted children and I thought marriage was a long, long way away. Truth be told a lot of that had to do with the fact that I simply didn’t think I knew how to be a good mother… let’s just say I didn’t have the best role model in that field.

When I met McKoy I can easily say that everything changed. I met my teammate, my partner. And for the first time, I realized that, with him, I cannot wait to give my all to raising our children. And I imagine, that just like Betsy, there will be days where I’m not 100% confident that I’m doing the right thing- but I know that I can love those children and I can try my hardest by them everyday… and that, to me, is what truly matters. OK, enough sentimental garbage… How about MICHAEL PHELPS!

They were having a large discussion this morning on the Today show about whether or not he is the world’s best athlete. The gentleman that they were interviewing was trying to make the point that Phelps’ body is truly a work of athleticism. When you think about great athletes in sports like football, basketball and track and field, the difference between them and Phelps is that he does it all using much less oxygen. He simply can’t take as many breaths as the folks above water can! That to me is amazing! I happen to believe that Phelps is likely the best athlete I will see in my lifetime. I’m hoping he can get this record- I think he totally deserves it!

Church, anyone?

So, lately I've been doing as much as I can to keep out of the loneliness pit. In the book (and movie) "The Power of One," the little boy, who is sent away from his home when his mother dies speaks of the loneliness birds flying around in his stomach. I must say, I'm definitely beginning to feel those loneliness birds.

So I've been working out, reading a lot, working a lot and today I decided to try another presbyterian church here in town. A few weeks ago, I went to United Presbyterian Church, today it was First Presbyterian Church. Both of their "ads" in the Indiana Daily Student make claims of being "racially and ethnically" diverse communities of Christ open to all seekers. Um.. liars? Is it a sin to call a church a liar?

At both places, not only were there no signs of ethnic diversity, but I would venture to say that the average age was 70. Now, I know there are people my age going to church- I just can't figure out where! I mean, I like old people and all, but I'd like to know some people my age here in b-town!

Honestly, I'm not opposed to trying churches of different denominations- there is just a level of comfort in knowing how it works at a Presbyterian Church. But, I guess if I really need something in my life, I need to go and look for it. Maybe I should post a craigslist ad... "20 something professional looking for active B-town Church." Who knows.

Well, it is time to clean house, take a trip the park and watch some more olympics. Hope all is well with everyone!

Back to school?

So… I’m considering going back to school. Not applying for a grad program quite yet, but taking a few classes in the program as a non-degree seeking student. To be honest, I’m really incredibly nervous about it. Even college was just something that I was supposed to do- an extension of high school, a necessary part of my future. But grad school is a bit scary.

There is a master’s program here in International and Comparative Education- it is a study of social and cultural implications on education worldwide- sounds right up my alley. That being said, I’m finding that if I want to take a class this fall, I am going to have to miss at least 4 classes because of my fall travel! Which in a class that meets once a week is really scary to me. So I’ve emailed the prof to see if she thinks I can still do the work and if it is ok with her that I miss that much class. We’ll see what she says.

Other than that, I have nothing super excited to report. I told McKoy this morning that although I was nearly miserable in my previous job… there were times when I was also still really excited about what was happening there. That usually translated into times when I was really excited to get out of bed and go to work. I haven’t felt that here yet. I’m slightly worn out by the level of bureaucracy involved in absolutely everything. It definitely pushes my patience- when I want to take on a project, I want to take it on now… and that doesn’t happen here!

This weekend with Mimi went well- we didn’t have a HUGE talk- but she saw McKoy’s photos around the apartment and I think that made it real for her- which is exactly what I wanted. At dinner she asked, “so, are you planning to go back to Jamaica this year?” It caught me totally off guard, but I said, “yes, after fall travel I’ll be planning a trip back.” Then we talked for a bit about whether I had enough vacation for a trip and all that jazz. I just keep holding my breath knowing that once she meets him, she’ll love him. How can she not? But up until that point, she definitely does not love him. That's ok... because I love him enough for both of us.