The World Spins Madly On

I have ignored this blog for a month and for that, I apologize.
There have been quite a few many exciting happenings in my life in this past month as well... which you obviously have the right to know about, good and faithful stalkers.

1) I'm feeling really attracted to the sweet sweet melodies of The Weepies today. It's not necessarily because I myself feel weepy, but rather, because I feel sweet and melodic.

2) I applied to DePaul University's Master of Arts in Writing and Publishing program seven days ago. I should hear back from them in four to six weeks. Pray for me.

3) I'm also on a job hunt. I found a couple jobs I am extremely interested in. One of them is with this nonprofit organization called Genesys Works, and I loved that one the most, except literally the next day I looked at the job site, the position was no longer posted. I was sad and confused because I was so excited about it and the deadline for resumes was late in April... so I don't know what happened. I emailed the man in charge to inquire about it two days ago, but I have yet to hear back from him. Another job I was excited about was an RA position at a Franciscan Volunteer house for the full-time volunteers at a soup kitchen in the Wicker Park neighborhood in Chicago. I was excited because not only would it give me a way of moving out of my house (free room and board is included in my "pay," which would just be a $3000 yearly stipend), but it would give me a way of volunteering for a cause I have always been very passionate about. The only way I could really say yes to that position, however, is if I can find another job in the city or near the city... so, pray for me. There is yet another position at the Lasalle Manor in Plano, Illinois, which is a bit south of the city, but it's another live-in position as a retreat coordinator for the retreat center. I would also love this job... but you know... there are also little details about grad school and if I would be able to do both despite the distance. There are also other secretary positions available both in the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Joliet which I'm interested in mainly because it's a way of getting my foot in the door... not that I'm really all that excited about being a secretary. So if you can... please pray for me.

4) I feel really blessed to have the friends that I do. I thank God for you every day, you know.

5) For Lent, I have been trying to get up to see the sunrise every morning and see the sunset every evening. I use the time in the morning to wake up and pray. Lately it's been foggy and rainy pretty much every day since I got back, and so I have not been bothering to wake up at 6:30 in the morning if I don't have to. I feel kind of lazy for doing that... but there's no sunrise! It's God's fault! haha. I still make it a point to wake up early enough to pray in my prayer journal, so that has to count for something. I love the time that I get to spend with God every morning. I wish I would have done it earlier. It sets the tone for the rest of my day, and since I start it with God, it just makes it so much better. It's like finding a cookie recipe, and then realizing that you could throw in chocolate chips and make it even awesomer.

6) Just invented the word "awesomer."

7) I keep alternating between being really excited about my future and scared out of my pants about my future. Tonight, I am excited. A half a week ago I would have been without pants.

8) I have a lot due next week. I need to do better in nutrition. I'm just a really lousy quiz taker. It doesn't help that I hate studying. ha. Whoops. It's hard to focus on things like non-theology classes or non-English classes when I have more important things to do like apply for jobs and freak out about my future. Do you think professors understand that? If I talked to my prof and asked him if there was a way I could write him a paper about metabolism or vegetarianism or whatever, and have it count for some kind of extra credit, because I am a horrible test taker and also because I have more important things to worry about in my life than earn my completely unnecessary second natural science credit... do you think he would be understanding? You know, I think if I were ever a professor and if a senior student came to me in my situation, I would probably be understanding. I would tell him or her to create a newscast about the second coming of Christ. Could be fun. Especially if he or she could score an interview with the Big (Wo)Man.

9) I had a really terrific spring break. It was amazing to see friends and to spend so much time with my family. I spent the majority of time with my sister, believe it or not, and her new puppy, Reesie. I don't think I have ever been able to tolerate my sister for that long. Now that I sit and think about it... it's a miracle at all that our relationship is where it is now. I love that I have been getting to know my sister like this for the past couple years. We used to not get along at all... like most siblings. We only started to get along when she moved to Mexico and I moved to Minnesota. But now we're hanging out and watching movies and playing Mario Kart like civilized human beings. It's really wonderful. A blessing. I am sincerely thankful for the time I get to spend with my sister. I think this is one of the biggest miracles I have seen in my life. It's really wonderful and I am really happy.

10) I am trying to reconnect with old friends, especially the ones who I feel hurt by. I'm not really doing a good job at it... but it's a step-by-step process, just like it was with my sister. Pray for me.

11) I have not been making much progress at all with Weight Watchers. Not on the scale, at least. I can now fit into one size smaller (size 16 and larges! Woo!), but as for that stupid number on that stupid scale, I keep hovering in this 7-8 pound range. It's frustrating. But at the same time, I am trying to measure more of my success with my "non-scale victories." And I have a ton of them. For starters, I am finally able to tell myself that I do NOT need to eat because I am NOT hungry. I have been able to identify when I am feeling sad or lonely or bored or stressed or whatever it is... and more often than not, I am only eating because of these feelings. I haven't been able to find activities to successfully take my mind away from the act of eating as a means of comforting myself... though I have always wanted to take up knitting, and I think the actions with my hands will help. Other than that, I read nutrition labels, I look at menus at restaurants and plan ahead of time before going out with friends, I exercise often, I drink water, I have cut back on how much pop I drink... I was able to survive spring break without one night of binge eating. This is a monumental bravo for me. I usually go home and can't help but eat. I think I am getting stronger through this experience... no matter what the scale is telling me. I can't begin to tell you how empowering this is.

I'm not sure what else I have left to fill you in on. I hope this was a sufficient fix. I promise to do a better job.

Love,
Sara