I was sitting outside reading through my almost done paper listening to the cries of the gulls and the loud caws of a flock of crows. They seemed to be doing battle of some kind.
Then far overhead I noticed an eagle soaring high up in the clear blue sky between two pure white clouds.
Beautiful.
I need to be outside more!
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Filed under Day to Day, Studying
This is the first day that I have been home on a weekday for ages. I was going to say that it is the first day I’ve had with no preset agenda but I had to withdraw that thought. In a few minutes I am off to a hair appointment and then I have some errands to run. I must work on the paper for my class today as well. So, I guess in reality my agenda is already pretty full.
But today I will also plant the last of my flower baskets – a chance for me to be out in the sun working in the dirt, planting some beautiful things.
I will also go for a ride, hopefully for an hour or so, on the Rotary trail which is close to completion at our end of the city.
Maybe I will get to spend some time talking over coffee with a friend – we’ll see.
So, I’d better get going.
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Filed under Day to Day, Gardening, Studying
Leo and I are going out to celebrate tonight. I got the results from my Greek course and they are worth celebrating over. Especially since I was pretty sure that I had failed the final.
Maybe it was a miracle!
So, one more class done. Sent off the next to last paper for this summer’s class so am on the home stretch there too.
Yep, I’m going to celebrate tonight.
Filed under Studying
Trying to sum up the last week. I wasn’t just ignoring this space. It is always a bit harder to post from a strange computer especially when there really is no time for writing – other than working on my papers for class.
It is an intense experience completing a full university 3 credit class in one week. Of course there is the pre course work and the post course papers so it does take more than just the one week. The next paper due – by the end of this week – is basically a case study to which we apply principles we learned in our readings and class work. Then a bigger 10 page paper due in a month. No rest for me.
Chicago was cold and wet. It rained almost every day except for Saturday afternoon and Sunday – when it was time to leave. There was no time for seeing any sights but we did spend time with friends every evening. That was good. And no shopping time saved me a bunch of money I’m sure.
The course content was challenging and the class sessions stimulating. As I was telling someone, it felt by the end of each day as if my brain had swollen from all that it had soaked up like a sponge. By Thursday we were a quieter group. I think we all were a bit overloaded. The course however, was excellent. It gave me a new and more profound understanding of caring practices and the theological and philosophical language which helps one to give words to why we need to be caring people.
I am up early this morning that we leave for Chicago. I rarely seem to sleep in anymore. I probably need a long holiday to let myself totally relax. Sort of need to reset the old biological clock with a long rest and no alarms.
But today we leave for Chicago and a week long course at our denominational seminary, North Park.
The course will be good; right down our alley, so to speak. The Theology of Caring and Health. And since the paper I needed to have completed before the course is done, I am beginning to anticipate this week eagerly.
We also will get to spend time with old friends from the Congo as well as see friends from my spiritual direction course. And then on our way back Rachelle and Ronin will come out to see us for a couple of hours at the airport in Toronto.
So, now I’d better go and do all those last minute packing things and close up the suitcase. You may hear from me in Chicago. I guess that depends on computer availability but I will try.
Filed under grandchildren, Studying, Travels
Why was I taking this Greek class again?
I just wrote my final. It was long. And hard.
The Mid-term was only about 3 pages and I had two hours to do it. The Final was about 8 pages and I only had two hours to do it.
Needless to say, there were parts that I did not complete.
I really do not know if I passed this exam. I hope my good marks throughout the year will help me pass but I have no idea.
But its done and now on with the next course. I have 2 books to read this week and a paper to write. So I probably won’t blog much till after we get back from Chicago.
I have one high stress week coming up. Next Saturday morning I am writing my final exam in Greek.
I wrote my last quiz this morning. As I was writing it, I could recognise the way I react to stress. My mind sort of shuts down. It simply goes blank. I have studied and studied and I should know the answers but my brain searches the database and give me one of those “page not found” messages.
So, this morning I was dealing with this reaction of mine, sort of watching it happen and then having to decide that my mind is giving me a false message. To do this I have to sit and regurgitate some of the facts that I know I know instead of looking at the question being asked. Once I do that, once I write out one verbal declension, it all sort of falls back into place – mostly anyway.
But there is much to review and so I doubt that I will post much this coming week. Of course, sometimes it is good to get away from the books and see what is going on in the world with my friends.
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Filed under Studying
Today I was planning so many things to do. Our turn for serving soup was here and I wanted to help. However, I have a sermon to preach tomorrow and a LOT of studying to do to finish up my Greek course. (It seems as if the closer I get to the final, the more stuff is filling up my evenings and keeping me from studying.)
Anyway, last night I went out. My friend, A, was involved in a show with some of her art and I really wanted to go both to support her and to see her latest works. So I did. The glass of wine was a nice way to relax as I walked around with other friends and we took in the show. I was so tired last night having spent a good part of the day in the OR. And other friends were there and told me that I would only be needed for a part of the day to help in the soup kitchen. That bit of news was such a relief.
Then this morning I got a call and was told that so many other folks from church had come to help that they would not need me at all.
There was another load lifted away! I love to help and so I miss being there but this time studying and sermon prep did need to take priority. I see this as one of the little ways that God watches out for me. It might just look like luck to you but whatever, I see God in this.
So, I have been studying pretty much all day, except for a trip up to Canadian Tire to pick up a few necessities.
Now, since it is finally warm again, I might just take the bike out for a few minutes.
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Filed under church, Day to Day, Studying
My day has been quiet. I had very few obligations today and even some of the things I intended to get done, I didn’t even attempt. (In other words I’ve sort of been lazy)
The day got off to a leisurely start at 6 am and for me this means I slept in a bit. My biological alarm clock has a loud and persistent ring and I just wake up. Made some very good strong coffee and sat and talked to God with no time constraints. That was good.
I did study. I sat and wrote out vocabulary words and know enough to know I need to do that again. So I will. Till I think I know them. Then I’ll do the quiz and realize that there are a lot of words I still don’t know.
And the day held a few other things. Reading for the summer course; looking up scripture passages for the Bible test I have to take. I never was good at remembering chapter and verse. (I blame it on the fact there is a number to remember) It seems as if repetition is my destiny for the next few years. Maybe it will do my brain some good.
Then I sat and went over some issues I needed to discuss with a friend. That took a couple of hours. Stuff I need to deal with that will be a challenge for me.
What a way to spend a lovely spring day! Actually it was very windy most of the day. I did manage to squeeze in a bike ride and in spite of the wind which made for hard pedalling on the way home, I was out in the sun and fresh air and remembered again why I love to ride my bike.
Then I re-potted some plants. That was as close to gardening as I got today. It is still way too cold to even think of putting plants outside. But in the sun and the songs of the birds in the back yard there was the promise of warmer days ahead.
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Filed under Day to Day, Gardening, Studying
So, in a day, I should be in Surrey for our church annual meeting and conference. I haven’t gone as a delegate for – longer than I can remember.
I am looking forward to this one. There are people I want to see again, especially Randall and Lauralea and another of my former pastors, Keith Fullerton and his wife. And I suspect there will be many others that I have come to know over the years. That is the main attraction of these events for me – reconnecting with people, seeing where our separate paths have taken us.
I sure do wish, though, that I had not come down with this stupid cold.
Anyway, I’ll be taking off tomorrow at about noon and won’t be back till late Sunday night. I’m hauling along my books so that hopefully I will get some studying done, maybe write one of the last two quizzes when I get back. It will be nice to finish up the Greek course and get on with the reading for my summer course.
And I want to be able to simply take a week or so to enjoy the spring and early summer that will happen so suddenly in the next three weeks. I have a night at the lake courtesy of my staff that I need and want so badly to take advantage of.
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