Easter

I didn’t do a whole lot yesterday. In fact, I sat and watched TV from about 5pm onwards. I watched Far and Away which stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and is directed by Ron Howard. I saw it once when I was younger and loved it. I acquired it on dvd during my last Christmas with Alex (not this past one but the one before that) during the White Elephant exchange they do at the Christmas party for his Mom’s side of the family. I finally watched it again last night and realized its not a very good movie overall, but I still really like it. It’s a classic period epic – the struggle of two Irish immigrants trying to get free land in America. Honestly, its pretty poorly acted at times as well, but both the stars are really young. In fact, I don’t even recognize Nicole Kidman half the time.

I was planning on working on Chemistry tonight so I can catch up on the chapters but now we have a project we have to work on that we’re going to do tonight. I’m really not pleased with this assignment, though I see the merit in it. We’re supposed to write a professional memo and submit it on Friday as if we were really working in a professional setting. What this has to do with chemistry: absolutely nothing. What this has to do with professional life: quite a bit. I see the value of learning to write a professional memo, especially since I haven’t written one since 7th grade computer science class but I dislike having my attention drawn away from chemistry. I need to catch up by reading chapter 16. I’m a bit behind on that but it occurred to me this morning that Wednesday is symposium day which means we have no classes during the day (I still have advanced art research) so I can use that time to catch up on my chemistry homework.

This week is Holy Week (Easter is on Sunday.) I love Holy Week. Its probably one of my favorite times of the church year. I love the Easter Vigil service, which is a night time service involving candlelight. I usually play the piano for it. There are seven readings, though we usually only do five and the whole service lasts two hours but there’s something almost magical about it. Everyone comes together to celebrate Christ’s sacrifice and the return of his light to the world after his descent to the dead. Its very peaceful and I probably look forward to it the most of all the church services of the liturgical year. Unfortunately, Mom didn’t schedule me to play this year because she wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing and scheduled Peg for the Vigil service and myself for the Easter morning service.

We never go to church on the actual holiday. We always go to the vigil service for Christmas and Easter so its going to be very strange going to the service for the actual day. I’m willing to do it though, because I’ve never done it before and I’m kind of curious about what goes on during those services. Mom was a little upset with herself about it but Peg called her saying, “Thank you so much, I’ve always wanted to do the vigil service,” so she felt like she couldn’t just take it away from her. In all actuality, I’m not that upset about it, especially since Peg is so excited about doing it. I don’t really mind not playing; I just mind having to miss my favorite service, so I’m going to go to both. Normally I try to avoid going to church twice in a weekend but I’m not willing to miss out on my favorite service. I’ll just be extra holy this Easter.

I’m really cold right now and I don’t know why. Actually, I suspect I do. I just did a conference with Kevin and there’s a guy here doing a graduate research project on Writing Centers so he interviewed me after the conference which made me really nervous and shaky and now my adrenaline levels are coming down and I’m freezing cold. I’m having a second cup of coffee because I hope it will warm me up. Its not working very well right now, probably because I’m typing and not holding my hands around the hot coffee.

There are only fifteen school days left and it feels like its going way too fast. I started a count down calendar on my dry erase board with thirty or so days on it and now there are only fifteen. I can’t believe its going by so quickly. Lori and I both think this semester, in fact this whole school year, has gone by too quickly. She’s anticipating her wedding in July and is really nervous about it. I’m anticipating moving back home and getting my life on the right track. I’m still having doubts about med school but I’m going to pretend I’m not and keep forging ahead regardless of how I feel. Hopefully I’ll either find something I know for sure I want to do in the future or end up as a stay-at-home wife and mother. Funny, I just thought about this. There’s a joke that women go to college to get the MRS degree. I’m going to med school to get my MRS degree. I think it’s funny. I guess I’ve never done things the easy way.

I’ve been thinking about people who start things and don’t finish them. I started my Public Relations degree and didn’t finish it. I’m finishing my Art degree but not doing anything with it. I’m going to med school but will I finish? I don’t know if I have the drive and the dedication. What am I saying?! I just got done telling myself to do it anyway. Forget the doubts. Pretend they don’t exist. I’m going to med school and I’m going to be a doctor – what kind I’m not sure yet – and I’m going to find a husband and we’re going to get married and I’m going to complete my call in life to be a mother, with or without the husband. There’s always adoption.

Books: I finished a Barbara Cartland romance The Dragon and the Pearl. I’m hoping that she gets better about writing the dialogue for the main women characters. There were fewer elipses (…) in the middle of the heroine’s sentences this time around and since I’m reading them in order, hopefully some editor told her to get rid of them and she’s working them out of the dialogue. It makes the heroines (even the strong ones) seem breathy and helpless and ridiculous. No one wants to read a sentence in which every two words is separated by a breath. Its annoying but I keep reading her because the stories are so romantic and ridiculous. She does have great settings, though. This one was in China during the Boxer rebellion. Supposedly, she also fairly historically accurate. It makes me want to know more about British history.