In Which Bridget Gets Hit By A Van

I volunteered for Tech again last week, which got me the perk of free tickets to DCI quarterfinals Thursday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.  I'd been to a DCI contest before (though outdoors) and I'd been to marching band contests in the RCA dome (though, admittedly, not the new stadium), both of which led me to believe ear plugs might be a worthwhile investment.  I also had the joy of watching the Madison Scouts rehearse all week on Tech's campus, including a nice hour or so of spot checks and then a full run-through of their show on Wednesday... which definitely also encouraged my want for earplugs.  

Anyway.

So Thursday, I went to CVS to buy ear plugs on the way to Melissa's.  And while walking through the parking lot back to my car, a woman backed her van into me.  Specifically, into my left shoulder.  Seriously?!  I'm fine, but still... the weirdest things happen to me.  

What's the strangest thing that's happened to you this summer?

Not Me Monday

I am definitely not joining in on the Not-Me-Monday craze after a week of outstanding stupidity, because I make good choices all the time and never do things I regret. Nope.  Also, I clearly don't even know what Not Me Monday is, since I am single and only 22 and have no reason to be reading Mommy Blogs. 

Oops.

Anyway.  While at the dunes for the first half of the week, I most certainly did not get a preposterous sunburn from trying the hardest to sunscreen the parts of me that I knew would be showing in my interview outfit for Thursday, leaving big red splotches basically everywhere that was covered by clothing.  Nope. Not me!

I definitely did not use double-stick tape to make sure there were no awkward gaps in my button-up shirt when I went in for a job interview Thursday morning.  And I clearly didn't have to wake up my sister before leaving to ask if I could borrow a "grown-up" purse, because I am an adult and own plenty of responsible, professional-looking purses that are not large and covered in vegetarian buttons.

On Friday, I definitely did not take my neice to the playground with the size sticker still stuck on my new jeans.  Nope.  Not me.  I also definitely did not call a number of people, panicking from the Target parking lot about how my car wouldn't start because I hadn't put it in park.  No way.  I'm a responsible driver who knows how to turn her car off.  Really.  Not me!

I guess I could blog, hmm?

It's strange being home with no job, no car, and no plans for my life.  I mean, I have big life plans--find a car, find a job, get a dog... I suppose the rest are really more of big life ideas, getting married and having kids and eventually being a college professor or classical radio host.  I mean, I have to have a normal job before I can retire to university or radio, and I have to convince someone else to deal with me before I can get married and have kids.  So it's not like I'm really working on those plans.  And while I may compulsively check the indiana department of education job bank (once a day) and the IPS job bank even more compulsively (three or four times a day, yes I know that can't be healthy), so far, no dice on getting a real, grown-up job.  So for now I'm just hunting, and tiring of the "So when do you go back to school? ... Oh, so you're looking for a job?" conversations.  And there is, of course, the occasional volunteer gig with IPS that really only succeeds in making me more miserable because I love everything about it and I want it to be my forever job, not my "hey I could do this for three days as a reason to get out of my jammies some time this week" job.  

It's hard to maintain professional momentum when my pjs are so darn comfy.

My Shepherd will supply my need:
Jehovah is His Name
In pastures fresh
He makes me feed,
Beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back
When I forsake His ways,
And leads me, for His mercy’s sake,
In paths of truth and grace.

When I walk through the shades of death
Thy presence is my stay;
One word of Thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,
Doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Thine oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be my abode,
And all my work be praise.
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, nor a guest,
But like a child at home.

Blogging is such a silly thing to do but I still sometimes get the urge. But we like things more when there are pictures, right?My recital was last month. It's really weird to have it be over. I've spent the last five or six years of my life worrying about it, and the last year preparing for it... and now it's over. I sort of wish I could do it again, but not enough to go to grad school. Look! More pictures!My recital started with the Devienne Quartet no 1 in C. I love everything about these people. Seriously. I had sooo much fun playing with them, and they were so wonderfully reassuring to have on stage with me.I spent a lot of time backstage worrying while Bekah was playing, both for myself and for her. She did so wonderfully, though! It was amazing.The time I spent backstage not worrying I spent staring at my music and trying not to think about the fact that there was an audience. But Bekah and I played Elephant....... And then it was done!Afterwords, naturally, we went to the Truck Stop. Going to Houghton is kind of lame... Steak n Shake is so much cooler than a truck stop. But anything is fun when you're surrounded by wonderful people, right? Right :)

Other things that have been wondeful since the last time I blogged include...The fabulous Stone Soup party, where everyone brought a picture book (or two, or three, or a whole stack... I have a problem) and something to contribute to soup. It was wonderful.Hillary bought me a fish! She has the misfortune of being the orchestra president this year and our director decided that flowers for the seniors at the last concert is too... um... cliche? not special enough because that's what band does? Anyway, Hillary kept asking me what I wanted for having been in orchestra and one time my answer was "a fish!" So, this little fellow is named Maurice. I love everything about my church. Palm Sunday was wonderful.

I also spent Easter Break at Bekah B's, but I was so content that I never broke out my camera. Oops.

How have you been?

Things I Have Accidentally Typed Into My Program Notes So Far

• Devienne was a frequent performer and composter at the Concert Spirituel
• The second movement, slowly and stingingly
• I've been spelling the composor Eugene Bourdeau wrong for, um, two years.  Including ON MY JURY SHEET in the fall of my Junior year.  No one caught that....
• I also switched the words "quite" and "quiet" like seven times.  Seriously.

A quick succession of thoughts led to a rather sporadic decision. Quick recap? Sure:

Despite near-constant whining about how I'm always tired (yes, only two days after break), right as I finished the last paragraph of my American Lit reading LastFM started playing the song I really wanted to listen to but am too cheap to download (yes, 99 cents seems like a lot right now). So of course I had to listen to all of it, so naturally I putzed on the internet.  Today's Stuff Christians Like is about Lent, which I have never in my life given anything up for.  But the repetitive comments of "maybe next year..." caught my attention, because I'm pretty sure I've said that every single Thursday after Ash Wednesday for about the last seven years.  Reading other people repeat it made me grouchy (read: convicted me hardcore) because it's ridiculous to confine God's call for us to abandon things that keep us from him to just a handful of weeks, minus sundays.  But I moved on in the blog world, and Kate's new post A) talked about happy lists and B) made me decide to give up whining.

Yes.

Whining.

Because I am a grown up and I need to suck it up and be grateful for all the amazing wonderful things God does for me.  I'm still going to allow myself complaining, but whining and wallowing in self-pity are out, as are temper tantrums, hiding under desks or burying my head in the sand.

Also, Kate made me feel guilty about having not posted in, um, almost two months. So! To kick off my new season of sucking it up:

A Happy List, a la Jacqui Sheehan! Reviewing the good things that have happened in the last two months:

• Verizon's "New Every Two Years" actually means new every twenty months, meaning a free new cell phone when I lost mine
• My room in the Danners' has skylights. Plural. Hecks yes.
• On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I don't have class until 1.
• I'm taking real classes that aren't music. Awesome.
• Almost half my 8 AM El Comp class, as well as assorted other music majors, went for pancakes when Dennys had free Grand Slams.  We were half an hour late for our 50 minute class, beginning the tradition of latecomers bringing in breakfast for everyone.  It's pretty great.
• I went to Jubilee in Pittsburgh, and I got four new books, and I ate in the super-sketchy basement of a fantastic greek restaurant, and I got to see Erin, and I got to spend lots of time with Nicholette and meet her friends from the summer. And, Jamie Tworkowski, one of the founders of To Write Love On Her Arms--the one who wrote the story--said he wanted to be my friend.  
• I love my church. Always.  The last two weekends there were hardly any people there because of break, but it was still great. 
• Despite how terrified I am of my recital, and despite how much I still have to do... I had some really, ridiculously good practice sessions today.  And, I'm pretty sure I secured a Special Guest.... outstanding.
• Jeff got drunk and mailed me flowers for valentines day.  It was ridiculous, but it made my room smell lovely and makes a fantastic story.

I know there's been more.  I'm going to try to do this more often, friends.  <3!