Full Circle

I don't have time to be writing right now.  I have so much to do with midterms starting next week, but here I sit.  Writing and reflecting.

I hung around in the student lab today after class ended.  I noticed a lot of traffic coming in an out of the conference room beside the lab.  I wrapped up what I was doing and walked out to head home.  I kind of peaked in the conference room and saw a lot of the faculty sitting in there with paperwork spread out all over the table.  That's when it hit me.

Like really hit me.

They were meeting to pick next year's class.

I've said this before, but I got my acceptance call on March 2nd.  That's Wednesday.  Wednesday, the next class will know.

It is just blowing my mind.  I'm really am here.  And I'm still shocked.  I still don't get it.  Like, what made them pick me?  Since I've given tours all semester I've been hit with tough questions from prospective students, I've listened to their concerns, I've encouraged, and I've tried to ease their minds...as this process is stressful and full of uncertainties.  I always tell them to be surprised and that there's "a light at the end of the tunnel".  It really does always work out.

The whole process and stress of it all seems so far away, yet almost like it happened yesterday.  I can still remember how unbelievably stressed I was but I can also remember the PURE JOY I felt the day I found out I got in.  But still, how did it happen?  I know it's part of the bigger picture and my life plan but really, why me?  I asked maybe one question.  I didn't research the program before I came.  I literally just came for a visit.  I rolled with the punches throughout the entire process and somehow got in.

I'm so grateful.  I really have no words for how I feel about being here.  I know that first and foremost, I am getting an amazing education...being educated by men and women who discovered many of the clinical applications that are used daily by audiologists and in the place where many of our test batteries were created.  Really just unbelievable.  After that, I'm here to meet people that I never would have before...my friends.  I can't imagine my life without them.  They are my family here.  But after that?  I'm not sure.  The rest is a mystery.

I'm looking forward to what's ahead.  So happy and content.  Excited for the new bunch headed to the MidWest.

Weird to have come full circle.

Week in Review

It was the week of the Valentine.  Came and went.  Luckily, I got to celebrate like four days in a row.  Date Saturday, returned to a clean house/Selena Gomez Valentine's card/M&Ms on Sunday, the actual day on Monday- naturally watched the Bachelor, and then Tuesday Barack Obama sent me a card and my secret Valentine from school also gifted me that day.

Barack (it's odd that the computer will auto-correct his name...) and Michelle sent me some gift cards.  Thanks B and Meech!!
I always remember Valentine's Day growing up and what a HUGE deal it was to get the perfect Valentine's cards for your class.  I can remember agonizing over which ones to give the boys...you know, as to not convey the wrong message to your seven-year old male counterpart with a rat tail.  I will also never forget my first, homemade Valentine from the cutest twin in the fifth grade.

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

I fall on my head

Whenever I think of you

I'm positive we never spoke to each other after that day. 

This week was FULL of studying...as will the rest of my weeks up until midterms...who am I kidding?  They will be full of studying for the next 2.5 years of my life.  Wish I could put a smily face after that.  But even with the studying, it has been an AMAZING week.  The weather has been perfect.  I've gotten to sit outside to read, which makes it semi-enjoyable.  It's funny how much your attitude will improve when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing.
This week:
Went to a great little coffee shop that I discovered while I was walking around with this guy.

As soon as he got up from his nap on Thursday I threw him in the stroller so we could get some air.  It was SO nice, but I heard the five words a baby-sitter NEVER wants to hear on that trip: "He looks just like you".  Um, hi.  No he doesn't.  So now I am self-conscious about it, but I guess I am old enough to be his mother.  We might stick to playing in the front yard from now on.  Please notice his ADORABLE Cat in the Hat hi-tops.  They are always a great conversation piece...like what does a cat say, where does a hat go, what a silly kitty.  You know, the reg.  He also said my name this week!  Well, the version I've been teaching.  My name is pretty hard with that voiceless "th" at the end...I can still remember being a small child and getting irritated with friends who called me "Bef"...so he will call me "B" for the time being.  "B" plus sign, "B" plus sign...he can do it now.  Makes me so proud.  Sounds very similar to what "ball" sounds like, but I'll take it.
On the walk, I discovered this adorable coffee shop in their neck of the woods.  I took the girls there for study time on Friday.

Nutella Latte.  Really, no words for it.  The only thing that could have made it better would have been having MyH(e)art sitting right beside me drinking one.  The girl LOVES Nutella.
My weekend has been spent: eating, chatting, studying, reading, watching: Going the Distance (hilarious), and The Social Network (really good), and skyping.  Skype is amazing but sucks at the same time...if you can't see "them" then how can you really miss them?  Great to see my people though...so no complaining.
Oh and I have to laugh about this.  This is the kind of mail I get these days:

Like an 85 year-old man.  Sadly, I was actually really excited about this.  I  was talking with the girls earlier in the week about how strange it is to be nearly 23 years old and know as much as we do about hearing aids.  We scoffed at a "normal" friend who asked, "How does a hearing aid even work?".  Isn't that just everyday knowledge? I don't even know who I am anymore.

Have a super week.  Enjoy this great weather!

Shootin' Truth

My heart is so happy tonight.  I just got back from Oxford and one of the best weekends I've had in a really long time.  I'll be honest.  I've had the Winter Blues recently and I've just been in a funk.  It has been hard being stuck up in the house, traveling on ice to and fro, driving, and so forth and so on.  But this weekend? I enjoyed warm weather, green grass, being outside, great good, and the best friends. Out of the slump.

Friday I raced out of class to start my journey to Oxford.  Speed limit signs were merely suggestions as I rocked it down 55.  I did get in to town in record time.  And I was thrilled to be there.  The poodle came over to help me get ready for a night out on the town.  I met  up with a big group of friends that night at Phillip's.  I could have died happy right then and there.  Amazing food and great conversation. We took the party to the Square that night.

Sweet Swampy 

Saturday.  Had a good lunch and some hang out time with friends.  That night I headed to BTree for the Charty...yes, the engagement shower for MyH(e)art and her beau...get it?  It was so much fun to see everyone and just "be".  Just so wonderful to be able to catch up with friends that I hadn't seen since graduation, while actually "seeing" the ones I talk to on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.  After the Charty, made a b-line to Boure for some dinner with Jenty and Jbaby.  I actually retract my previous statement about dying happy after Phillip's...because my Boure meal was the best I've had in a long while. 

After dinner we all went to the Library.  Where else would we go?  I was actually concerned when we got there because it was Cowboy Mario that night...which always proves to be eventful...but I just wasn't sure I was prepared to watch scantily clad ladies climb up on the bull and ride.  Yeah, just wasn't feeling it.  He did switch to the regular BoomBoom room music by the time the Charty moved over...hello, dance flo'.  Jenty and I hurried down to request a certain, very special song.  If you know me well, you know what it was.  I got DJ Mario over to the edge of the stage so I could make my request, he said...already got you covered.  Ummm yeah he did, because as the words were coming out of my mouth, I could hear the first few beats of MY song being worked in.  Thank you, for reading my mind.  So of course we dropped it low, brought it up slow...Jenty (especially) on some random man (to give her credit, she thought it was me)...I took a knee during that time to just observe her and laugh hysterically...the look on her face when she realized it wasn't, in fact, me was.......priceless.  Looked a little something like....this.  And I'm being really serious about that.

Thanks, guy

Last call came too quickly.  When it was time to go, we stepped out of the bar and I saw Dexter walk by.  Jenty and I took off in a dead sprint after him.  He was with his gf, who was not down for photo-ops at the time.  Being the sweet guy that he is, he obliged to take a picture with us...after I told him I was newly a Midwestener myself.  Well, three attempts later we realized my camera was on video.  Yeah.  So I now have three short videos of me, Jenty, and Dex...in statue position...and some lady slurring "I think this thang is in video mode...oh-my-gaaaawiish how do I change iiiiiit?  I'm sooooooooo sorry y'all".  Woops, sorry bout it.

 Valentine's Dance 2, Sir Berry?  Stop chasing waterfalls. 

Fabulous night.  Perfect weekend that also confirmed that chivalry is not dead, but I guess you can only find it in the South.  Today I got some good visits in with MyH(e)art, the poodle, and some girls in the Deeg.  I got to revisit my former homes in Oxford...nothing has changed.  The drive back wasn't nearly as exciting as the one there but I'm thrilled to be home and in my bed.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Big City.  It's hard for me to believe that this exact weekend, a year ago, I traveled to the Big City for the first time...for my official visit.  I went "knowing" I would never come back.  Glad those plans weren't up to me because I came back here...tonight...to the place where I live...in the Big City.  What a huge difference a year makes.  As hard as the distance is sometimes...the distance between my place and my people... it makes the trips that I do get to have 1,000 times sweeter.  I know I appreciate my friendships more...I know I appreciate the time with them more.  It always surprises me that I can pick up with each of them, right where we left off.  Everything just falls right back into place.

I felt like the best version of myself this weekend.  I felt so alive and just comfortable.  It was good for my heart and it cleared my mind.  I am ready for this next week.  It's going to be a good one. 

Excited.

Guess why I'm excited?




I'm headed to Oxford in two sleeps.
Can hardly contain myself.

Excited.

Pay It Forward

Last night I had a date with an 18 month old.  We read Goodnight Moon and shared some milk.  He wore footy pajamas and I donned a red hat...which provided much conversation during coloring time.  We had a lot of fun.  He, obviously, went to bed pretty early, so I read a lot about the circuitry in hearing aids.  It was a thrill.

His parents returned shortly after ten.  I told them what a nice boy he was, and other than the initial cry he let out when I walked in the door...his manners were pretty great too.  As I departed, I looked out and saw my car parked in the street.  Naturally, under a mound of snow.  I knew, without a doubt, I was stuck.  But, I prayed all the way to my car that I would be able to get out.

I get in and start trying.  No luck.  Right when I was about to walk back to their house for help, I see this man coming up from behind my car...but he was really...I guess "swung out" in the street from my actual car...so I could see him and not think he was a rapist.  He did have a shovel, so it could have turned out badly...but no he was there to save me.

His wife was inside doing laundry and she looked out and saw that I was having trouble.  He came out and shoveled snow.  Tried to dig my car out.  No luck because  I was on a snow covered patch of ice.  He tried pushing me out and then I looked back and saw his wife had come out too.  I let him try to drive it, but I was really stuck.  He went in to get some hot water and salt.  In that time, his wife and I started talking.  They were from the South.  Went to school in Alabama.  Her sister went to Ole Miss.  I guarantee you we would have figured out a mutual friend if I had been there any longer.  I just kept saying, "I feel so bad, but I am so thankful you are here!".  Just over and over.  After  a HUGE glass of salt, three pitchers of scalding hot water on my tires, and a push from MC and R...I was out.

I jumped out of my car and hugged them both.  Thanked them for the five hundredth time and promised a special happy when I return later in the week to keep the baby again.  They said, "Please, no.  We are all in this together".

Yeah, we are.  I am so grateful for them.  If they hadn't seen my out there, I could have been stuck all night.  On the other hand, they could have turned a blind eye and went on to fold laundry, or watch TV, or do whatever they do at 10:30 at night.  They didn't though.  They helped without expecting something in return.  They helped a perfect stranger.

I think some times it's easy for us to just turn the other way.  I know I'm guilty.  It's easy to just keep on going with the motions.  Break out of that.  I challenge you this week to do something for someone else....someone who is in need.  Keep your eyes open.  Big or small.  Be proactive.  Do something.

You never know when you might be helping a helpless Southern girl get her car out of the snow.  She might just be so touched that she writes a blog post about you.  You might touch her so deeply that she feels led to pass it on.

We're all in this together.

Pay it forward.

Snow

There's a lot of things I could say about snow.  None would be appropriate for the eyes of my mother.  I can honestly remember being a young southern girl and HOPING for a snow day.  I looked forward to snowball fights, sledding, snowman building, etc.  But let's be honest.  We rarely got enough snow to build a snowman.  The best part?  It had melted and moved on the next day.

So Monday when we got the news that we were under a "blizzard advisory" I was obviously less than thrilled.  I actually was in a panic mode when phrases like "declared a state of emergency" and "indefinite power outages" were being thrown around on the news.  Or when the building puts up signs: "While we will do all we can for the parking situation, it's recommended that you purchase kitty litter, sand, or salt for additional traction".  Thanks, the storm is here, too late.  Surprisingly, school was canceled that day...of course, I had clinic...so I got to stay.  We did end up getting out early, so Berns hopped in the Protective Services van with me and got a ride home.  Class was canceled Tuesday.  The roomie and I explored that night as the ice came in and experienced a very almost-Christina-Yang-moment by narrowly escaping a falling ice-sickle as it plummeted to the ground from the top of our building.

So on our "snow day" we were put through the ringer with school related emails.  God forbid we enjoy a day off...any of us...student or teacher alike.  When we had enough the roomie and I decided it was wine time.  So we headed to the corner store...that was closing early.  During our walk over there, I realized that living in a snow-globe would not actually be fun...at all.  We got to the store and got wine, brownies, and supplies for dinner.  It ended up being a wonderful night with chicken spaghetti and the Michael Jackson experience.

 Early stages of ice.

So Wednesday, we had a delayed start time.  10 o'clock to be exact.  And when do we have class?  10:30.  We got there, despite my near nosedive off the sidewalk...roomie reached to grab me...backpack added some velocity as it swung over my head...but my rock-hard core and toned quads compensated for my lack of proprioception.  Some how I regained balance and we trekked to school.  Class was fine...other than the fact that it was neuro.  Blah.

Today I knew I had to drive.  To work.  I was ready to tackle it.  I actually went out before I left and surveyed the area behind my car.  More ice than snow...should be fine.  It was.  No trouble getting there or getting back and into my spot.  Success.  When it came time for TV time I knew I was going to have to try it again.  I was feeling like a pro.  Took some roads less traveled to the Berns house...Sasha was more or less skiing down the street.  That was fine.  But then it came to parking.  And this literally is my biggest problem.  My beef is with the Big City on this, because while they plow the roads...they only plow where you can drive...not near the curbs where people have to park...they just push the snow all up over there which makes it nearly impossible for anyone to park...unless of course, you were parked there before the snow fell, in which case, you are screwed.  So I attempted to park but knew I would get stuck, so I made the block and came back.  Knew I couldn't parallel in the snow so I went forward and drove right into a mound of snow...where I got stuck.  Yes, again.  So I tried to get out.  Back up, pull forward, back up, pull forward, gun it, fishtail, wiggle the back end.  Nothing.  After the third fruitless attempt, I called Berns to get me out.  After I hung up the phone I started sobbing.  I hit a wall and had an emotional break-down.  Roomie held me while I cried and Berns got me out.  After that, we went to get supplies for s'mores and I bought some wine.  Let it be known.  I can't drive in the snow.

 I searched in the wilderness on Lindell for these sticks.  Like a real campfire.

So many words.

Snow.