Fall break

I'm home for fall break - yay! - and just arrived back at my house 20 minutes ago.

I was greeted by the crisp OCTOBER weather - oh, it's glorious - and a pumpkin and an arrangement of autumn colored flowers (yellow, orange, brown)on the brick wall where we park. The two snort face black pugs gave me a sweet greeting as well - wagging their tails, pushing each other to be close to me, giving me some kisses. I made some coffee, ate some pumpkins out of an opened bag of candy corn (ah, the taste of fall if there every was one, the sure harbinger of Halloween), and discovered a cd of pictures "Mike & Natalie" - their engagement photos!!! - so I took my mug of coffee and had a look. Beautiful, simply beautiful.

Fall break for me actually began on Tuesday at noon, but that night I went to visit Clint and didn't leave Murfreesboro until this morning. It was very restful, very relaxing. While Clint was in class I studied and rested and stayed in my pajamas all day. We watched Mr. Deeds and got carry out from Chilis (we both ordered the same meal we got on our first date awww) and Clint smoked a pipe that smelled like my grandfather's pipes and we had some wine (which we could not open with a cork so here's a trick we learned from youtube -- if all else fails, push the cork down into the bottle, the cork stays intact and though it's floating around you can get to the wine - true story) and candy corn (or I had some candy corn? I kind of ate most of it haha sorry Clint).

Yesterday I took a practice test but I want to do another today and have some time to spend with my family tonight because we aren't going to be able to do a family dinner tomorrow. I had kind of a panicky feeling when I arrived - thinking, did I really have to leave him so early today, couldn't I have stayed a few more hours - but I know I will feel better knowing I took this afternoon to do some more test prep and the assurance of knowing I've worked/studied hard, done all I could, even in the final days, will hopefully provide the assurance I need.

No one is here, but I am going to the public library for optimal peace and quiet. That way, I'll finish a practice test by early afternoon and can come back, have some time to play with Lucy and relax before the peeps get home, hopefully spend some time with the fam, and once they go to sleep (between 9-10, no joke haha) study some more? Maybe? One of my friends said the key is keeping yourself occupied so you don't just sit around thinking about the test and stressing about it.

Once sufficient studying is out of the way and without no homework to worry about, I can think of many pleasant things that will keep my mind occupied and at ease. Got it. Done. No problemo dude. Hakuna matata.

And a few more wonderful prayers T.J. sent my way:

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.