*Well, I haven't posted in forever, as anyone can tell. I can't possibly catch up on what's happened in my life in the past 6 months but I can tell you that:

A. I live in Mobile, Alabama
B. I live with 5 other delightful people
C. I teach 6th grade-14 kids
D. In general, I love my job and my school, though certainly not all the time
E. The Lord has been so good to me although I am just now figuring out how
F. I made through my first semester of teaching and survived a new job, a new place to live, and new friends (for me, these are amazing feats!)
G. I miss my friends, family, and dog terribly
H. I am excited to see how I will change in the next 5 months.

*I love this quote:

"Gregory of Nyssa saw it as our lifelong task to find out what part of the divine image God has chosen to reveal in us. He suggests that we can best do this by realistically determining how God has made us-what our primary faults and temptations are, as well as our gifts-not that we might better "know ourselves," or in modern parlance, "feel good about ourselves," but in order that we might become instruments of divine grace for other people, and eventually return to God."

I hope to become an instrument of divine grace someday, God willing.

This weekend was good. I was a bit of a bum at bowling on Saturday evening but I'm just getting used to having to know so many people and to be friends with everyone. I tend to shut down when I'm in a large crowd which is something I've always known about myself but doesn't really help to improve group dynamics. Sometimes, I wish I could melt into the background and be an observer, not a participator. I keep telling myself that I just need time to be comfortable in my own skin with everyone but that amount of time keeps getting longer and longer as the summer progresses. For now, I am working on my individual relationships which will hopefully transfer into my community relationships. I have this awful feeling that I'm being seen as boring or a prude by those getting to know me. I am, admittedly, a serious person and have been my whole life but I'm not a shrew or by any means boring-just unsure in this new environment full of new people, new classes, and a whole new life.*

*So, I'm all about water and everything, don't get me wrong, H2O is G-R-E-A-T for your body!! But I've been drinking water like it's my job lately so I have this constant feeling of bloatiness or something.....I feel like one of those water babies that you buy for a three year old. Plus, I've also been eating bananas by the bunches, it seems, at least two a day. I guess I could eat something else besides bananas and water, although I know they are both good for you but you know how you get into a rut and you just eat the same thing over and over and over and over.......well, maybe not. But that's how I feel, as I sit here typing this entry with a half eaten banana to my left and an empty water bottle to my right.

God has been so good to me. Even in my times of loneliness (which is virtuous if you think about it) and uneasiness, He has been my constant companion and has been lifting me up when I need it the most. Praise be to God and His Son and Spirit! St. Joseph, protector of the Holy Family, pray for us. *

"What is man that you are mindful of him?"

P.S. I guess I'll have to get used to this some day but I still hate using inclusive language when it comes to God. I sincerely hope every Christian knows that God is omnipotent and outside of gender so that referring to God as "he" isn't technically correct. But Jesus calls God "he" and "father" and I feel like whatever Jesus says, goes. Changing the pronoun or omitting it altogether focuses people's attention on the wrong part of God, the gender part. That's not the part that I think it important, although some would say otherwise and they have a point, I guess. I know there's more to this debate than just that but I had a professor today tell us to write all our religion papers in inclusive language and I was taken aback. I've never been told to do that before.......

*I killed a bee today, all by myself. And before any bee lovers (which I am not) get all freaked out, I'll just have you know that that gimungo bee was invading my personal space and my habitat and I bet that if I invaded his beehive, he'd try to kill me, too.

I really miss the East Coast. Indiana is very nice but very.....flat. Notre Dame is beautiful, though, and even though I'm busy, I have some time to wander and pray and take it all in. I am in sore need of some friends, though, and I prayed tonight especially for a friend or at least the strength to get through this.

Now that this whole "Deep Throat" thing has been revealed, I'm kind of disappointed.*