Hello Goodbye

I am wondering where September is going. Things are going crazy fast, and this is a short month. I feel like I just turned in MFA packet #2, and I'm already worrying about the next one due September 25th! The scariest thing about time flying is that the faster it goes, the more pregnant I get. I'll be 16 weeks on Friday! That's freaking me out just a bit. At this rate, February will be here in the blink of an eye (pardon my cliche.) Lots of schoolwork to do between now and then, so it's a little scary.

On the upside, I finally finished all my Flannery O'Connor reading today (FINALLY!) Don't get me wrong...I love her. I was just in O'Connor overload. Now, I'm finally getting to the part of my reading list that I've been waiting to read. First on the agenda? Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club. I love Amy Tan, so I'm very excited about this book. I started today after I finished with O'Connor, and I've already soared through a big chunk of the book. After that it's Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth (thanks to Leslie for letting me put that one on my reading list.) I'm so excited about all three, so knocking them out before the October deadline should be a breeze.

On a completely unrelated note, today (technically yesterday according to the clock) marks the release of all things Beatles. Beatles Rock Band is being released, and in conjunction with that, they are also releasing remastered versions of all their albums. Being Rock Band junkies, we already had our copy of Beatles Rock Band on reserve, and Steve picked it up on his way home from work. He then proceeded to play like a man possessed. He didn't even stop for dinner. Now that's devotion. The game was great, though. The songs are divided up into the years in which they were released, and the venues coincide with the years. For example, the early songs are performed in The Cavern, and the two American venues are Shea Stadium and the Ed Sullivan Show. We played drums, we sang, and we strummed on our fake plastic guitars. John Lennon is probably rolling over in his grave after my performance of "Twist and Shout," but hey, it was fun.

As with all our previous Rock Band fests, the cats remained unmoved as the music blared through the living room, rattling both furniture and bones. It doesn't faze them anymore. I'd like to think they were just chilling out to the mellow notes of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," but I think it's more likely that they've just grown numb. Good thing. We've got a Beatles party coming up, and they need to be ready.

Hold On To That Feeling

Four days to go. It seems unreal that in four short days I'll be a college graduate. Tomorrow I drop off my final paper/exam for Domesticity class (and no, that's not a class on how to make beds and sew on buttons), and then that's the last school assignment of my undergraduate career. I know it's cliche, but the past four-and-a-half years have gone by incredibly fast. It literally feels like yesterday that I was psyching myself up for my first class (Art Appreciation.) I had to make a deal with myself before the class that I would speak out at least once every night. Now, they can't get me to shut up.

It's really hard to comprehend the changes we go through unless we have a frame of reference, and this school journey has given me an excellent one. I am no longer the girl who's initimidated by a room full of other students...even if I don't know anyone in the room. I feel confident in my opinions and my ability to speak them in a coherent manner. I am so grateful for my time at Converse and for the knowledge and confidence that I gained there.

Today, as I sat waiting for the delivery truck to bring my new dining room furniture (a whole blog entry in itself), I received two phone calls from classmates. That's one thing I'm certainly going to miss...a built in group of women with the same interests and ideals. I have been so amazed and overwhelmed by the friendship of the women of Converse, and I will miss the interaction with them.

This weekend promises to be fun enough, however, to drown any I'm-going-to-miss-everybody blues. Thursday is commencement rehearsal and the senior candlelight dinner. Friday is Baccalaureate (not certain on the spelling of that one) and Hats Off and then dinner. My parents and Steve's will be here for that, so it should be fun. It also doesn't hurt that I have a fabulous new dress for those occasions. (Who doesn't love to get dressed up in a pretty dress?) Saturday morning is graduation and then brunch on the lawn. Everything is capped off by the graduation party that Steve is throwing for me that afternoon. There will be grilling and friends and cake, and I am certain that the evening will devolve into Rock Band. What party at the Gray house doesn't end up with a roomful of people pretending to play instruments and wailing into a microphone? The cats will probably have to go into hiding.

In less that two weeks after graduation, my first grad school residency begins. I am very excited about that, too. Though it's hard to focus on that with all the graduation frenzy bubbling up inside me. It promises to be a lot of fun, though...spending 9 days with a bunch of other writers. I'm thinking summer camp, only, hopefully, with better food.

Tortellini, Tri-Bond, and the Leaning Tower of Birthday Cake

So another crazy weekend has come and gone. Last week was insane. I felt like I never stopped, and maybe that's good. If I had stopped, I probably would have collapsed. The list of things I needed to do just kept getting longer and longer and time shorter. On the upside, however, lots of really fun and exciting things happened.

On Tuesday, I went to the Elizabeth Cox reading at school. She was amazing! The story she read was wonderful, and she was so willing to answer questions. I bought two of her books, and she signed them both. I also got to hang out with one of my favorite people (who also happens to be named Sarah. Coincidence? I think not.) You just can't beat time with a friend combined with a Panera cinnamon scone.

Wednesday started with a dentist appointment. Fun, fun, fun. My face was numb for so long afterwards that I had to eat my Chick-Fil-A lunch with half my tongue completely dead and trying desperately not to bite anything important. Then it was on to the writing center followed by 2 1/2 hours of creative non-fiction.

Thursday was the most non-stop day ever. Ten o'clock class followed by a lunch break of gift shopping that took so long I had to hit the ubiquitous Chick-Fil-A, and I was still a few minutes late for my Concept meeting. The meeting ran long, and I had to run straight to Buffy class. After working in the writing center, I headed down to print off the Concept stories for the Lykes award contest. Converse printers and I never get along, so this took much longer than I had hoped. I had to drive straight home, run inside and grab my stuff for Bible study, and drive straight there just in time to sing "Happy Birthday to Terra" and then recite my memory verse that I had been practicing out loud in the car on the way there. (I'm out of breath just typing all this.) When I got home from Bible study I almost collapsed. What a day.

My weekend wasn't exactly restful either, but at least it was full of fun. A friend of mine refers to taking a "mental health day" from time to time. Well, let's just say I took a mental health weekend. Friday started with lunch with Terra and her parents at Soby's on the Side. (Have you ever heard of a red velvet cookie sandwich? Well, I have, and it's a beautiful thing.) That night, Sarah came over, and we had tacos and a Rock Band fest. Major fun. Sarah even made a video of our performance of "My Sharona." Let's just say it was inspired. Especially the part where Sarah realized the lyrics were somewhat colorful while she was singing them.

Saturday, we went to the Joe Beam marriage seminar at church. It was great, and he was very funny. Afterwards, Kayla and Daniel came over for dinner and games. The couples in our Life Group have been so open and friendly to us, and it was wonderful to be able to have them over and try to return the favor. So, we all bonded over tortellini and Tri-Bond. Good times.

Sunday night was Life Group at our house. We had a houseful of friends from church, and a garage full of smoke. We had volunteered to grill hamburgers, and the weather wasn't exactly cooperating, so we had to "grill out" in the garage. (Don't worry, we left the garage door open.) I also made a birthday cake to celebrate two Life Group birthdays. Unfortunately, the baking gods were once again not smiling on me. By the time we got around to the celebrating, my cake had started to split in half, the strawberries on top sliding down into the crevice. The good news is that I didn't have a meltdown. (Though my candles did. We had to sing an abbreviated version of the "Happy Birthday Song" before the candles completely ran down the sides of the cake.) We just ate my very deformed, but very tasty, cake. No one seemed to care that it didn't look like a magazine cover. They were too busy licking cream cheese frosting off their forks.

The 3 R's: Reading, wRiting, and Rock Band

It's never boring at the Gray household...at least, it hasn't been for a while. School, of course, remains a neverending blur of work and commitments. I am trying to balance classwork with Concept Literary Journal obligations and reading entries for the Julia Mood Peterkin contest and working in the Writing Center and applying to grad school and scholarships and trying to get some work submitted to journals. At least one thing is going right...drum roll, please...I found out last night that I was accepted to the MFA program at Converse! I was so excited. (Still am, actually.) Feels good to check one small thing off my very long list, well, that and having my FAFSA finally completed. (Thanks to Steve for that.)

If only school were the only thing keeping me busy. There's the everyday, daily stuff like cleaning the house, cooking meals, laundry, grocery shopping, and trying to see Steve occasionally. Then there's my church commitments. Starting next Sunday, we'll be hosting Life Group for a while. I'm actually looking forward to this, but it is another thing on thelist. On Thursday nights, I attend a women's Bible study. This means more homework, but it is so worth it. Once a week, I get to go spend a couple of hours with some truly amazing women. We not only study God's word, but we also get to love and support one another in a deeper way than simply seeing each other on Sunday mornings would allow. Sure, I'm usually exhausted from a full week by the time Thursdays roll around, but I wouldn't want to miss it for any extra rest time. It's such a wonderful time to recharge and pray for one another. Plus, the lady who leads has the most adorable little boy ever, and he is always entertaining.

This weekend will be a bit more challenging than usual (and that's saying something) since I am going to a women's retreat tomorrow (Friday). Our church is having a special women's weekend on Friday and Saturday in Flat Rock, NC. I'm really looking forward to the drive up with the girls and sharing hotel rooms (translation: one big slumber party). It does, however, mean less time to work on school stuff, but I'm just going to have to trust that God will help me get through my work despite my condensed schedule. I'm definitely going to take my camera, so I hope to have some pictures to post when I get back.

My exciting life doesn't end there, though. Steve, too, is having an eventful week, and by that I mean that the Stevie Ray Vaughn songs finally came out for Rock Band. I really wish I liked SRV since I know I'm going to be listening to Steve play his songs on the game over and over for quite some time. (He's playing them as type, in fact.) Ah, Rock Band...It really is a wonderful time to be alive, isn't it?

So that's my life right now. I've probably left something out (like my 1:30 am brownine baking or 2 am history assignment), but you get the general idea. No need to belabor the point. I think the name of my blog pretty much sums everything up right now.

On a completely unrelated note, if I don't graduate soon, I'm going to weigh six hundred pounds and be in desperate need of bypass surgery. I love Zaxby's as much as the next girl, but really, if I eat any more chicken and french fries, I'm going to rupture an artery! Why does fast food have to equal fried? I'm going to start having dreams where angry vegetables are chasing me down and beating me senseless with a cold, hard french fry.