... Humor me ...
I must begin by saying that this summer's weather has been unlike anything I can remember. Ohio weather is ridiculously unpredictable (at best) most of the time-- but this summer has really been something else. Of course, I don't have any weather channel numbers to back this up -- but I believe that this may be one of the driest, hottest summers in a long time. And, as we Ohioans have been sweltering away (not to mention our poor plants and grass!), there has been nothing sweeter than the occasional summer storm. ... Even if it does require you to re-set all the clocks in your house after a mili-second "blip"...
Last night, at about 2 am, we had one of those fabulous storms. Thunder, lightening, pounding rain -- the works. A true masterpiece. (And, BONUS, we didn't lose our power :) And, while most times I curse the fact that I am a light sleeper (and, honestly, I keep hoping against hope that my "survival of the fittest "skill might kick in and I will learn to become a harder/deeper sleeper), I felt incredibly blessed that last night I was able to awaken and listen to the rain. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before (or if you might have seen it in the pictures I've posted), but we've got a sky-light in our master bathroom. And while most of the time I think this is a nice thing (of course, this is when I am not feeling particularly energy conscious), on rainy nights it is absolutely wonderful. I think there is nothing better than lying in bed and listening to the pitter-pat of rain against that sky light...
...But last night, I was distracted from experiencing the complete wonder of the storm by some other, rather more pressing, thoughts. You see, as I lay in the darkness, listening to the rain and slowly emerging from the depths of sleep, I realized something disturbing. Somehow, between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am, I had lost an ear plug (see, light sleeper!) And for the life of me, I couldn't find it. I felt all around in bed (under the pillows, in the pillow cases, under sheets and comforter), and crawled around on the floor, but to no avail. Which wouldn't really be a big deal, except that I had convinced myself that a cat* would find it and try to eat it (ewww... I know, but I wouldn't put it past them.) And, yeah, yeah... I'm sure they've probably eaten worse (I mean, Gracie eats bugs for goodness sake...)but I was just convinced that a cat would attempt to eat the small, foamy piece and choke.
Which begs the question: "Can you give cats the heimlich manuver?"** And that was right about the point (compassionate, concerned fur mama that I am) that I fell asleep. J, of course, slept through the whole thing, and got a good laugh this morning when I tried to expain the midnight debachle to him.
* For those of you who might worry that this is becoming a "cat blog" -- fear not. It is still very much and Amy blog... and always will be :)
** Curious minds want to know: It is indeed possible to give the heimlich manuver to a cat. Good to know. (It is also possible to do this for your dog )
But, I digress.
So how are you, friends?! Things have been pretty peachy over here in Amy-ville. Even though for the life of me I can't remember what I did last week, other than work (last week ended up being a lot busier than I had anticipated. It was a blessing to stay busy, but, on the other hand, it was an even greater blessing to sleep in on Sunday morning...)-- but last weekend was really nice :)
I spent the majority of Saturday at the State Fair with my family, delighting in massive pumpkins (700+ pounds?! Incredible!), beautiful cakes, soft puppies, stunning quilts, rows of gemstone colored canned goods, and, of course fair food (corndogs, funnel cakes, ice cream... mmm. It's probably a good thing the Fair is only once a year:). I love the fair. It doesn't seem to matter how old I get, there is always some new aspect of it that completely captures me, and makes me fall in love all over again. I love the people watching, the smells (the sweet hay of the animal buildings, the salty-sweetness of the kettle corn, the damp, dusty heat of the middle of the day), the sounds and the colors. And all this culminates into something bigger; something that I struggle to find the right words to explain. (But I'll try!) I believe that there is some part of me that simply les dormant each year, and comes alive every August, seduced by the "bigness" and "brightness" that is our Ohio State Fair. The fair has always carried with it an inate sense of romance for me -- and it calls to me. What started out as a fun tradition has now become something of a necessity to me, and I feel that my summers would not be complete without a trip to the Fair.
Sunday and Monday also brought with them some pretty powerful (spiritual) "mountain top" experiences. Events and opportunities transpired to give me peace, motivation, and a direction to move in. I feel like I've been asking for a long time to find a way to get involved that will fulfill me (without being explicit, I need more than I am getting right now)-- and over the weekend I was presented with not 1 but 3 opportunities to serve. The one that I'm most excited about isgetting the chance to work with the church youth group in several capacities.
Now, (unless you are my father or Laurie-- hi, guys!) I know I've never shared this with you before, but for a long time in highschool I was convinced that I was going to go into youth ministry. Even to the point that when I started my college search during my junior year, I was looking primarily at small liberal arts colleges that would offer a degree in youth ministry. ... But then somewhere along the line, that changed. I can't pinpoint a specific trigger, or the turning point when I began to doubt my initial decision, but before Christmas 2007, I had accepted a scholarship to The University of Toledo. In engineering.
And here's where it's getting a little bit tricky to write about this. I in no way regret my decision to pursue (& complete!) a degree in Chemical Engineering. The subject fascinated me, and I met some really, really good people because of it. My co-op experiences (for those not familliar with co-op, it's a required, paid internship which earns-- I believe-- 1 class credit per semester of work) are ones I wouldn't trade for anything. I think I made the decision I was supposed to make at that time. But now? Well, as I'm sure you may have ascertained from some of my
And I think this is it. This is what I've been waiting for. ...Woah... Am I nervous? Oh, heavens yes-- I'm quite anxious just putting this in "print", because there's always a chance that I am completely wrong, and something won't work out. (And, oh, something I never expected -- blogging gives me a huge feeling of accountability & responsibility to you, my dear
But I think this is something more :) I'm totally on fire for this right now, and I'm so excited to keep you updated.
Here's to the future, and all its exciting (if yet unknown :) possibilities!
(more later... I've got some exciting new "blog-related things to share with you soon, as well!)
