7 Quick Takes: Resolution

1.  In case you were wondering, Notre Dame football is back and it is wonderful.  I had a very good time at the gamewatch with the Milwaukee club, and plan to return tomorrow.  The team looked pretty good, and more than anything I am just SO HAPPY to have them back.

2.  I have not been overwhelmingly public with this bit of news, but I just submitted the last of the paperwork, so I guess it’s time for the announcement.  I am not going to be finishing my degree at Marquette.  It’s expensive, it’s draining, it’s no longer a good match for my career goals…. so when I (eventually) get a Masters, it will not be from Marquette.  It will also probably not be a straight-up academic MA, either.  With my interest in ministry, I want a program that is more in tune with ministry.

Major thanks, though, to the amazing and wonderful professors I have had over the last year who have taught me so much.  I will miss them more than anything else.

3.  I have had Taylor Swift’s new song, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” stuck in my head for about two days.  Now, as a youth minister, I feel it is my professional duty to be able to recognize, identify & mildly enjoy whatever the heck it is teens these days listen to on the radio. This particular song is catchy and upbeat, and let’s face it, I like pretty much any music I listen to.   So I went to watch the video, because that’s a good way of listening to songs I am too cheap to actually purchase myself.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook know of my reaction.

I do not know what sort of drugs the creative team was on, but they appear to be having a good time.  I think it’s a blatant attempt to pander to a much-discussed “hipster culture” that nobody really understands (Hint: Hipsters aren’t one homogeneous whole).  I also think it’s really, really funny.

Really, really funny.

So, if you need cheering up, check it out.  It’s a laugh a minute.

4. I just received a text notifying me that my goddaughter just army crawled about 6 inches.  This child is 4 months old and utterly amazing.  I am so blessed that she and her delightful parents are in my life.

5.  I started knitting my boyfriend a scarf for Christmas an embarrassingly short time before the holiday last year.  I knew from the get-go that it wasn’t going to be finished in time, but I got a respectable six or so inches done before we exchanged gifts, so I just wrapped up the whole work-in-progress, needles in all.  I then repossessed it immediately so I could finish it (rest assured, it was not the only present I gave him).

I am not a consistent knitter.  Which is why I’m still working on that same scarf.  I am determined to finish it this month.  I have a very specific deadline, and in order to meet it, I am taking that scarf everywhere with me.  This is a point of great amusement for lots of people.  Expect to see the scarf-in-progress making guest appearances in pictures and anecdotes for a little while.  I may keep it up after I finish this project and move onto the next one.  Maybe I’ll make a name for myself as the girl who knits.  It apparently makes me very interesting.

6.  One of the places I brought the scarf was the first ever Milwaukee Moth Story Slam!  If you are not familiar with The Moth, you really need to be.  It’s a non-profit organization dedicated to story telling, specifically, live, first-person story telling.  No notes, no props, just you & an audience.

My boyfriend found The Moth many months ago, and has been listening to all of their podcasts.  They came to Milwaukee for a Mainstage show back in May, and we went and had a grand old time.  It was so fantastic.  Now, they have established a Story Slam in Milwaukee.  Story Slams involve 10 audience members being selected to tell their own five minute stories based on a unified theme.  I did not have a story for last night’s theme of NERVE, but the boyfriend did, and he rocked it.  So many nervy people with great stories made the night one to remember and just completely reinvigorated my spirit.

7.  These quick takes are going up pretty late tonight.  It has been an odd day, one part awesome, due to leftover Moth love and a fantastically extended coffee date with a friend, but one part good old-fashioned awful.  The downside to remembering how you are meant to live is realizing all the ways you are not there.  Keep me in your thoughts and prayers and good vibes.  It’s one heck of a ride.

 

As always, Jen has all the quick takes.  Let’s see if I actually remember to link up my own post this week…

The LAST Day!

This is it, folks!  This is the last day of my move.  Tomorrow, the keys to the Milwaukee apartment get turned in to the apartment manager, as does the parking pass and the move-out checklist.  Tonight, the last of the belongings go into my van (or the Dumpster) and I scrub every inch of the place.

And guys?  I am so ready to be gone from that place.  That apartment is where the mice live and where my phone got stolen and where the smell of cigarettes is everywhere.  And it’s an hour away from work and every single friend I have managed to make in this state.

My lovely new apartment is only 20 minutes from work.  It is almost three times the size of my old apartment.  It is in a friendly, quiet neighborhood that is a five minute walk from a small & cheerful downtown area.  The people in the building are friendly.  I have central AC!  And skylights!  I am so grateful that I get to live there.

There’s only one day of cleaning left…  Pray for me!

Lent

 

Rocking my ashes. Happy Lent!

There is too much busy in my life.

This is not the same thing as being overscheduled, or having too much to do, or even feeling overwhelmed by my to-do list, although the case for all of those can be made.

No, this has something more to do with sitting down to watch television, play Spider Solitaire and eat all at once.  It’s reading a book and listening to music at the same time.  It’s having a job where I sit at a computer with two e-mail accounts, a Facebook page and a Twitter feed are all going at once.  It’s the pile of books and schoolwork and DVD cases on my table.  It’s not being able to settle, to focus, to create an interior (or exterior) space.

I haven’t painted in months, and I haven’t written any poetry in even longer.  I struggle to complete my schoolwork and to keep up with my work work.

I am isolating myself inside all of my bustle.  I have not necessarily been quiet in my acknowledgement that I am finding life in Wisconsin challenging.  I miss my communities (PULSE, my ND friends of all varieties, my family) with a ferocity that surprises me.  I don’t have the network here that I am used to having (I am not making friends as easily as I am used to making them).  The noise, both aural and visual, that I surround myself with is becoming some sort of buffer between myself and the world.  It’s a weird sort of consolation/excuse for my lack of actual human interaction.  I spend all day surfing the Internet without even making the kind of Internet friends I had during my Mugglenet Fanfiction heyday.

I almost made all of that worse for Lent.

I’m giving up meat for Lent again, which was something of a foregone conclusion for me.  Yes, it’s becoming quite the pattern (habit?), but it really ties me into the liturgical cycle of the Church, something I’ve grown more and more appreciative of recently.  More specifically focused on this year, it forces me to PLAN OUT my lunch/dinner/whatever I’m eating at school/work this time rather than just running out to Starbucks/McDonald’s/Jimmy John’s to buy something.  That has been turning into too much of an expensive habit.

But I don’t like just giving up something negative… I wanted to do something positive.  So I decided I was going to post on this blog 40 times during Lent.  That translates to every day.  I’m posting on the Ladies of Our Lady blog each Friday from now on, so that would be my day off.  After all, this is a project of mine that I like a lot.  My mother still tries to use it to keep up with what I’m doing (Luckily, Mom also has my phone number and isn’t afraid to use it.  I’ve actually seen her in person three times—in three different states—since my last post).  I think we can all agree that this blog has been a pretty boring place since I moved to Wisconsin.

A very good friend of mine revitalized her blogging last week, and her decision made me acutely aware of some of my failures in communication.  Sitting at my table last night, finishing a letter to said friend I had started last week, I realized a few important but subtle points I may have neglected in my first epiphany.  The first was that in all of my busy-ness that day getting excited over some youth ministry projects and an exciting Ladies of Our Lady announcement, I had forgotten to post.  On the first day of my 40 day project.  OOPS.

The second was a re-evaluation of why I blog.  Is it to reach out to people that I know?  To create an Internet presence?  Because I like shouting at the top of my lungs into great empty voids to see if anyone can hear me?  Chances are it wasn’t the first, because if reaching out to my friends and family was really my goal, I would be content to finish hand-writing that letter instead of fussing about the blog.

So if the blog has turned itself into more noise than anything else, what am I doing to reach out to actual people?  WHY has it taken me this long to nicely write out the letter that I created in draft form last week (note:  I’m still not done)?  Have I called any of my friends or family members this week?  There are friends I haven’t spoken to since they got married last summer.  There are stacks of letters and goodies that I’ve been meaning to put in boxes and mail to my friends for months.  They’re on top of the canvas my boyfriend gave me to paint and the two scarves I’m knitting and the nice notebook I haven’t touched in as long as I can remember.

I’ve been watching a lot of old Criminal Minds episodes lately, and two characters had an exchange that caught my attention.  One, quoting Samuel Beckett, said “Ever tried.  Ever failed.  No matter.  Try again.  Fail again.  Fail better.”  The other retorted with a bit of well-placed Yoda.  “Do or do not.  There is no try.”

In all of my attempts, in all of my noise, I’ve stopped doing. 

So I still plan on reviving this blog during Lent.  I’m just not going to be posting every day.  It’s a good thing, but it’s not really being an effective way to reach out to the people I love.

I will be writing letters, though, and e-mails.  Every day, I am writing to someone, preferably in print form.  I have a lot of nice stationary and postcards that are just begging for some fountain pen action.

Beyond all of that, I will be clearing space in my life.  That’s what I’ll write about here.  This is going to be a Lent for prayer, fasting & almsgiving, but also for creating the space that allows God in.

Pray for me!

Oh, and if you want a letter, drop me a comment.  If I don’t already have your contact info, I’ll ask for it.  I’m looking forward to being in touch.

Come Holy Spirit

At some point in time, I am going to write out something a little more in depth about my retreat experience this weekend.  At this point in time, however, I am sitting in a Milwaukee Starbucks gathering myself before launching a series of Marquette-related errands and then interviewing for a job (reason #1 for the blog title!).

Suffice to say, the inaugural Ladies of Our Lady retreat in Denver was simply phenomenal.  The Spirit speaks, and the 12 of us there were lucky enough to hear this weekend.  There will be big things coming out of the community forged at the Mother Cabrini Shrine over the past few days.  Keep watching for more on that (reason #2).

Now that I’m reasonably settled for a little while (I’m not leaving until Notre Dame plays their home opener), I have to face a very daunting reality.  I need to unpack.

My boyfriend has been amazing, helping to haul stuff around and even assembling the last of my bookcases while I was on retreat.  My kitchen is set up enough so that I can cook, and my fridge and pantry are even stocked a little.  I’m still left with an apartment full of boxes, bins and piles, however.  So, for the third time, Come Holy Spirit, and get me through the disorganization of this week!

What Happens in Vegas…

Stays on Facebook and YouTube forever, according to the t-shirt in the kiosk I just passed. Or, you know, goes up on my blog immediately.

Yes folks, that’s right, I’m writing this quick note from Las Vegas. Specifically, I’m in the McCarron Airport. I’m not here for Las Vegas. I’ve just got a layover on my way to Denver.

My poor body is exhausted and way beyond confused. I’ve been awake since about 4:00am Eastern Standard Time this morning. I moved (as in relocated my life, not just propelled my physical self) to Milwaukee, which is on Central Time. Then, after a madcap jaunt to the airport in my boyfriend’s still-packed Honda, I boarded a plane and flew here to Las Vegas. The highlight of everything will happen in just a few hours when my overly-exhausted self deals with significant altitude for the first time. Mile-High City, here I come.

All this complaining aside, it’s been a pretty good day. Adventurous, at least. Every detail that went wrong was balanced by a Plan B that came through flawlessly. I’m going to be a little out of contact as I’m busy on the retreat & other Notre Dame events in Denver this weekend and transitioning into life in Wisconsin, but I do want to let you readers know that I’m still kicking. Which is a metaphor, and not insight into the frustration of moving and traveling on the same day.

Mostly.

🙂

“So, where are you from? Why are you laughing?”

It’s been a little while since I’ve written here, and I bet some of you are curious as to what I’ve been up to.  WELL.  Rather a lot, actually.

First of all, I got to go to Notre Dame for the 10 Year Celebration of ND Vision, the amazing, awesome youth program I was priveleged to be a small part of in the summer of 2009.  That weekend will be spawning its own post over the next few days.

As I write this tonight, I have just returned to Michigan from the wedding of one of my dearest friends in the entire world, James, to a lovely, caring woman named Michelle.  This couple was married in a beautiful ceremony in their native Houston.  I flew down for the weekend and met all kinds of new people, mostly family of the couple.  When these people found out I knew James from Notre Dame, they would inevitably ask, “So, where are you from?”  The first time this happened, I think I made a slightly hysterical noise in the back of my throat, prompting James’ uncle to say “Uh-oh… why are you laughing?”

The truth is, lovely readers, that is a very loaded question this week. 

On Wednesday, I worked my last half day at EECM.  I attended an end of the year lunch banquet with my fellow PULSErs.  I picked up my father from the Megabus drop-off.  Then I packed the entirety of my belongings into my minivan and a rented truck and left.

Dad and I went as far as the house in Michigan where I grew up.  The next morning, we put some more belongings into the truck and drove to Milwaukee.  I signed a lease there and deposited all of the collected belongings into various piles within my new apartment.  Then, Dad and I returned the truck and drove back to Michigan so I would be able to catch a 9:00am flight to Houston.

So yes.  Where am I from?  The apartment in Milwaukee with the boxes everywhere?  My parents’ house in Michigan where I’m in the process of moving out of as completely as possible?  Pittsburgh, the city with so much of my heart and so few of my belongings?  No doubt there will be much pondering of this issue this week while I spend some time with my family in Michigan and some time unpacking in Milwaukee.

In the meantime, to make a long story short:  Where am I from?  Definitely not Houston.

The Pieces Are Starting to Fall into Place

I heard back from the Milwaukee apartment to which I had applied.  They’ve accepted me!  I have a place to live in August.  🙂

Now all I need is a job and little detail stuff.  My family is already starting to help me out with all the furnishings I’ll need in my new place.  Major kudos to Mom, Dad & Grandma Phelan.

I think I might actually be ready for the move when it comes. 😀

There are some plans…

For a while, I’ve been sitting rather quietly on a mass of ideas that I hoped would congeal into a plan for life post-PULSE.  There are still a good deal of details remaining to be worked out.  However, I am pleased to announce that there are some plans for next year!

I am officially going to be pursuing my MA in Theology from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Hooray!

I’m still sorting out various details of housing and employment, so I can’t tell you exactly where I’ll be dwelling, but it is very likely that I will be moving into an unfurnished apartment sometime in August.  If any of you loyal readers are looking to get rid of furniture or cookingware in the next few months, do let me know.

Speaking of sometime in August, Notre Dame Alumnae might be interested in another something I’m planning: Ladies of our Lady Retreat- A Spiritual Journey (click here for the flier).  The retreat will be modeled after ND Campus Ministry’s Notre Dame Encounter with Christ retreat.  Haley Scott DeMaria ’95 will be speaking and mingling and if her story isn’t amazing, I don’t know what is.

Okay, that’s all for this Memorial Day.  Keep a look out this week for some photos… I owe you guys a bunch.  Thanks to anyone still checking in.  I know that at least Mom & Grandma will be happy.  Love you!