Posted by Rebecca
Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:07:00 GMT
After losing last weekend to work and stressing all week over a test today (which felt like it went well) and a paper, I’m feeling rather uncreative and rather uninspired today. So, instead of writing about weird people in my office or what God has shown me lately, I’m going to write a few boring and uninteresting lists, mostly so I’ll be able to refer to them later and remember some stuff that I would like to do. My lists even have very uncreative and uninspired titles. Items on the lists are in no particular order.
A Bunch of Things I Wouldn’t Mind Doing Before I Go Home:
- Hike part of the Appalachian Trail.
- See as many national parks as possible, including Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite, and Big Bend.
- See the northern lights.
- Become fluent in another language.
- Author something that gets published.
- Get married, have a family.
- Go to New Zealand.
- See REM in concert.
- Visit the Holy Land.
- Read every play and sonnet written by Shakespeare.
- Memorize as much of the bible as I can.
- See the Magellanic Clouds.
A bunch of things I’d like to do this year:
- Finish half of what is left on my degree.
- Memorize the book of James.
- Lose 15 pounds (on again off again).
- Develop transparent relationships with friends.
- Know God better.
- Finally get a tan.
- Write more.
- Get rid of more clutter (I’ve been working on this but I don’t feel like I’ve even made a dent in it!)
- Buy a loft bed from Ikea.
There you have it folks. Apparently, in addition to my many other fine qualities, I’m also goal oriented. Yay.
Posted in Various and Sundry | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Wed, 07 Mar 2007 22:41:00 GMT
Fragments of poems scattered through my pages.
Wonderful words and excellent phrases.
*
I saw his soul for a second.
The old professor smiled.
His blue eyes told the tales of days gone by.
Mind full of knowledge, head full of stories.
Familiar with youth and with life and with glories.
*
Green eyes, time flies, it’s all unspeakable.
*
Brown eyes, depth unknown.
You hide your soul in the corner of your mouth.
You turned your head, I saw you smile.
In that instant, I finally loved.
*
Words, at the moment, meant something magnificent.
I captured them before they were lost.
Tucked them away so one day, they may become something.
*
Green light at night, shadows on dark pavement.
I am alone and you are with me.
I am never alone.
Midnight breeze kisses my cheek.
Your heart beats so close to mine.
I can find you here, even in the darkness.
You meet me under the street light, never far from where I am.
Your beauty is always near.
I see a leaf scuttle across the silent sidewalk.
You make it.
You make the wind that moves it.
I keep walking, but my soul stands still in awe of who you are.
*
Yes, the words meant something.
I remember them.
They mean something.
I don’t yet know what it is.
But I know that one day, I will.
Posted in Heart Art | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:30:00 GMT
About three years ago, when I was transitioning from my first admin job to my second admin job (I’m now on my fourth), I met a middle-aged man who left a strong impression on me.
We were moving offices around at the end of the summer and we had hired a temp to come help with moving furniture and boxes, and prepping rooms for paint. The temp that came over was a tall, super nice, middle-aged man.
He was very nice, very friendly, and very intelligent.
I remember him saying that he had a young daughter and he was going through a divorce and had gotten laid off from an electrical engineering job and was struggling to make ends meet.
He became a temp at UT so he’d have a possible chance of getting some kind of job that would enable him to pay child support and such. His story moved me because here was a guy with a brain who wasn’t lazy and life still dealt him a bad hand and he was doing everything he could to stay in the game.
I made it a point to pray for him and as often as I thought of him I prayed that God would open a door for him. After we finished moving the offices, I didn’t see him again. I wondered over the last three years what became of him, but chose to trust that God was taking care of him.
Yup. He’s in my office right now, finishing up his homework. About three years ago, he saw a flier for the graduate program here and talked to the graduate advisor about it. They encouraged him to apply and he was a provisional admit. He will graduate this semester with a Master’s degree and has been doing interviews with engineering firms all over town and will likely land something great with an excellent salary, as most of our graduates do.
I remember recently someone stated that it’s hard to remember to pray for people when you’re likely to never see the fruit. I said at the time that I believe you have to trust that God honors your prayers. I can pray all day long for people in Darfur and I may never ever see the fruit of my prayers but I know that God is listening and I know that he takes my requests to heart.
When I prayed for this man I didn’t have any hope of ever seeing him again or finding out what became of him. But for some reason, God decided to let me see the fruit of that prayer. Of all the prayers I’ve prayed, he let me get to see the fruit of that one. I now know that what I’ve believed for so long is true. God listens. Prayers bear fruit.
You never know when you’ll get to see it.
Posted in Along the Way | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Mon, 05 Mar 2007 21:35:00 GMT
Allergies are bothering me today but other than I feel pretty good. Kinda like a champion, which seems to me a theme running in my life these days.
The Graduate Recruiting event that I planned for this past weekend went very smoothly. The Salt Lick made some mistakes but they are forgivable mistakes and I know to do more research on barbecue catering next year. Everything else went very smooth and I got a ton of compliments from the recruits, the student hosts, and the faculty. Next year, I’ll know what I’m doing from the beginning and I imagine it will be a lot less stressful.
The faculty are wanting me to get my degree as soon as possible because they realize that I’m talented and intelligent and that having a degree would be a very good thing for me. They are currently planning to get approval for me to take extra classes this summer and for me to do school work at work, because the university is pretty much dead during the summer and my work will be almost non-existent.
I had to write an essay at 7:30 this morning because the recruiting event on Friday kept me out of class, and I had to make up the essay that I missed. I was nervous about it because I’ve been brain dead all weekend and now I have allergy issues, but I waltzed in and apparently nailed it because I got it back in class at 11:00 and it had a big fat A on it. It’s a good feeling.
Yesterday we talked about the Fruit of the Spirit in Sunday school and I got a lot of scriptural confirmations about things that I have been experiencing in my life recently. I had a feeling that some of the changes in my life were due to the fact that I was bearing fruit, real fruit of the joy and peace nature, but it was really good to hear someone else describe my experiences and awarenesses to the letter and define them as joy and peace.
I’ve been thinking about kingship the last few days and what it means to be under submission of a king. Because I am studying Viking literature right now and a lot of the stories deal with kings, I’m using that as a basis to begin understanding what it looks like to live as a servant of a king, loyal to that king only, and willing to do what that king asks and commands.
One of my favorite stories that we’ve read so far is about King Hrolf and his Champions. Yes, there are animistic and mythological aspects to the story, but the Champions were men of great courage, strength, and character. They protected the king and the king’s interests and were willing to lay their lives on the line every single time the king needed them to. As a result, they were highly rewarded and honored by the king.
If you compared me to the great men and women of faith, I probably wouldn’t even come close to their level of championship at this point in my life. But God has changed me, and I believe that in some percentage of those situations, I’ve responded correctly and as a result I’ve grown. I may not be a champion yet, but I relish the fact that I’ve been given what it takes to be a champion. The reality of that is slowly sinking in, and I’m starting to feel like one. My hope is that soon, I’ll act like one.
Posted in Along the Way | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Tue, 27 Feb 2007 17:05:00 GMT
Question: What happens when you play Diablo II in your living room right before bed while your roommate watches “The Music Man?”
Answer: You dream of killing monsters with the “Eagle Orb of the Frost”, and your killing spree is set to “Seventy-Six Trombones.”
Posted in Dreeeeeam, Dream Dream Dream! | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Mon, 26 Feb 2007 23:05:00 GMT
So I accidentally deleted the Flickr badge, which would be why so many of you couldn’t find it. But it’s back up there now. Enjoy!
Posted in Various and Sundry | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Mon, 26 Feb 2007 23:05:00 GMT
A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a friend who was purchasing some lottery tickets. He felt that the money pot was finally high enough to justify him spending a few bucks on a ticket.
He then went into a long explication of what he would do with the money if he won. He talked about paying off his debts, then paying off the debts of all his family members and the buying a new car, a house, etc.
I thought about it for a minute. I thought about what I would do if I were to come by a ridiculously large sum of money that I could spend at will.
I like the idea of paying off debts. I know I would pay off my car and my student loans, and then give everyone I know about a hundred bucks because I probably owe them that much in lunches, gas, etc.
I’m not sure if I’d pay off the debts of my family. I think this for two reasons. First, I think if possible, people need to be responsible for their own funding and livelihood. Obviously if someone in my family was in trouble I’d help them. Well, let me qualify that statement. If it was an emergency like high medical bills and no insurance or something, I’d help out. If it was something like a family member was an idiot and got themselves in trouble, I would think long and hard about letting them get away with no consequences. Secondly, I would very much want to help my family preserve their dignity by not helping them handle their finances, which I think is something they would keep private anyway.
I’d give money to my church and several other ministries, like Mission: Possible! and Shaohanna’s Hope.
Then I’d drop a ton of the money to pay for the construction of wells in African nations. Often, schools are available for children there but the kids can’t go because they spend their entire day hauling water to and from faraway wells just so their families can survive. Even then, the water is not always clean. I’d really like to help out there.
Then, if I had anything left, I’d spend it on me. A trip to New Zealand sounds perfect.
What would you spend your money on if you won the lottery? Keep it short, it is after all only a comment. :)
Posted in Various and Sundry | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Fri, 23 Feb 2007 23:54:00 GMT
So there’s this one undergraduate guy who randomly wanders into MY OFFICE on occasion and does his homework.
In my office.
Granted, my office has a reception area, but really, at 4:00 PM Friday, the last person I want sitting across the room from me is some weird 19 year old that I don’t know. I don’t even know his name.
It bugs me a little.
Ok. It bugs me a lot.
What’s weird is that it doesn’t bug me when people wait in the reception area for appointments. Maybe that’s because I know they will only be there for about 10 or 15 minutes.
But the last time this dude was in here, he was here for like over an hour.
At least this time he didn’t bring his buddies.
Oh yeah. So this one time, he brought his entire study group and they sat around tapping their pencils and popping their gum while doing their homework.
In MY OFFICE. Without asking. Like they own the place.
Hello people, my name is on the door, yours isn’t.
I haven’t said anything yet because I think I should consult the faculty just to make sure they didn’t do something odd and say that students could do their home work in the administrative associate’s office.
Occasionally he stops working on his homework and stares at me.
Actually, he’s probably not staring at me, he’s probably staring in my direction and thinking really hard complicated engineering thoughts.
But it’s still weird.
Today he is wearing a suit and tie and rubbing his eyes.
Seriously. He needs to find the library.
Posted in That Other Category | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:53:00 GMT
I have the CR-V now. I have a car payment now.
But I’m happy.
I had Auto P.I. do a “Lemon Busters” inspection on my car yesterday morning and everything passed with flying colors.
So Dom took me down to the dealership, I signed 500 forms, including one really large one (large in area), they detailed the vehicle, and I drove it away.
Everything is done. Insurance, loan, all of it.
I drove it to work today and for the first time since I drove it off the lot yesterday I was able to actually focus on how the car felt while driving. I have to say, it drives very smoothly. It’s very comfortable, rides well, etc.
I learned last night that it has a V-Tec inline 4 cylinder engine. It drives like it has 6 cylinders.
I also learned that there are different types of 4 cylinder engines. Didn’t know that. Now I’m smarter.
I’m still decompressing from the entire process of being carless, searching for a car, deciding on one, buying it, and getting used to having freedom again. But I learned a lot about God, me, and the world through the process and that’s a very goog thing. Now that it’s all over, I feel like I can finally concentrate on other things.
This sounds hokey, but because I learned so much, I feel kinda like a champion. And I bought the car from Champion Toyota. So I decided to name the car Champ. I’ve never named a car before, and I didn’t grow up in a family that names cars, so it’s a little weird for me to name it, but I think the name fits.
My flickr feed on the sidebar of the page shows a few of the pictures that Dom took of me with Champ. You can click on the feed to see the rest of them.
Posted in Various and Sundry | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:20:00 GMT
Twitchy sorta sold me a car last night.
I call him Twitchy because of his face. Even when he wasn’t talking, his face kept moving. I’ve never seen anyone with such an overexpressive face.
Seriously.
I’m pretty sure his eyebrows have minds of their own, because they never move together, and they never match the expression the rest of his face is making, nor do they at all coincide with what he is saying.
It it bizarre.
While I was smiling and nodding and simultaneously trying to not choke on the load of you-know-what that he kept trying to feed me, I was also clenching my jaw so I wouldn’t bust out laughing at his frolicking eyebrows.
Anyway.
I say he sorta sold me a car because we agreed on a price and stuff but I haven’t signed on the final dotted line yet because I’ve never seen the vehicle except in pictures. It is going to be driven from Houston by a crew today. I have a mechanic coming tomorrow to the lot in Austin to do a 600-point Lemon Buster inspection on the car. Once I have the report from him, I’ll make the final decision. I hope the final decision means I sign on the final dotted line, because I’m tired of living sans vehicle.
As for the final price, don’t ask me. It’s not because I’m unhappy with the price. It’s because I thought about it and really, it’s none of your business. Just know that I am satisfied with the deal and I trust that God answered my prayer in which I requested a fair deal for both parties. It’s all in his hands anyway.
Hopefully, I’ll be driving my own vehicle again on Thursday. Yay!
Posted in Various and Sundry | no comments
