Uncle Tim

I skipped class this Wednesday morning and went to Grand Rounds at Maine Medical Center. My teachers were in full support, though I would've gone regardless. If it had been Dr. G's physics class that I was missing I still would've gone...

Here's why: Grand Rounds were superbly given by Uncle Tim, and as nearly anyone who knows me is aware, he is one of my all-time heroes. I was so excited and proud to go hear him speak, after knowing Uncle Tim for longer than I can remember I knew that every person in that auditorium was about to hear something more valuable than they imagined. We all know Uncle Tim does not mince words. Right off the bat, opening sentence, he hit the crowd with Ellen White, and when advising on meat preparation that would minimize the presence of advanced glycation end products he suggested those who wanted to eat fish catch one quick and eat it right out of the stream. Even speaking to a crowd of medical professionals, he was clearly the same Uncle Tim who taught us all to carve spoons and study the Bible, who understands that the most important things in life have nothing to do with fancy degrees and high-paying jobs.

The rest of the talk was informative and finely presented, I enjoyed it immensely even without a medical degree with which to better comprehend it. It was inspiring to hear a doctor advising preventative, lifestyle-based changes rather than a list of medications- it made me start plotting how I could weave nutrition into my future career as a teacher/writer/semi-professional knife-thrower/event planner/business consultant/gardener/domestic goddess/evangelist. I look forward to the challenge...

It is an honor to have grown up with heroes such as Uncle Tim, and I know that I will continue to learn an immeasurable amount from them in years to come. God has richly blessed me.

too many to count

I'm thankful:

-for my down comforter, which I don't even like to store in the summer

-for my adorable and hilarious brother who turned 29 on Sabbath

-to not have any 7 AM classes this semester

-that God knows what I need more than I do and finds ways to patiently get through to me

-for the fresh peach cobbler we ate yesterday

-that the turf war between my teacher and his colleague has ended, making my mornings less stressful

-for JOY

-for an understanding of the wonder of creation amidst classrooms full of evolution

-for a hope and a future in times of global uncertainty, and the ability to share them

-for surprise packages in the mail :-)

-for tomatoes from our own garden

-for all the gorgeous varieties of trees I'm enjoying studying

-for a wise, Godly mother

-for an inability to see the end of this list anywhere in sight...

Don't buy it!

Today, after a very long hike with my plant ecology class I was thinking how nice it would be to have an ice cream cone. My dear red truck hadn't yet cooled down, and I had forgotten to eat that day, so my musings quickly went from contemplating the delight of one ice cream cone to thinking how much fun it would be to have a periodic summer job advertising for a local ice cream shop. You know the way people look at you when they see you licking an ice cream cone on a hot day? A bit jealously, and as though they would like to know where you got it from. So, if I was hired to walk around town during prime business hours rapturously enjoying an ice cream cone, chances are the shop might get a little bit more business. But the idea died a swift and decided death once I realized that, apart from the fact that in order to stay healthy my other day job would have to be as a mountain bike tester, I just didn't have the conscience to do it. If anyone who looked as though they didn't regularly participate in vigorous exercise tried to enter the shop I would feel obligated to discourage them from ice cream and try interesting them in a carrot. And since that would swiftly get me either fired or squashed [or both], I'd better just stick to a [very occasional] indulgence for myself...accompanied by much strenuous physical activity, of course. :-)

I worked at Banana Republic two years ago, and my foray into the world of retail was as unsatisfactory as it was brief-- i.e. very. Soon after orientation it became clear that a large part of my job there was to get people to buy large amounts of merchandise...whether or not they wanted or needed it. When working in fitting rooms I was expected to praise the articles girls chose to wedge themselves into and suggest many coordinating pieces which they might also enjoy maxing out their credit cards on. Helpful hints such as, "If you don't want to try that in a larger size I can show you a great exercise program I've been trying", or "Don't feel like you need to buy anything you don't really love, there are great second-hand stores in the area that would be easier on your budget", or "You really don't want to date the kind of guys who are going to care for that shirt you're trying on" were generally frowned upon by management and it was impossible to spend all my time folding shirts. So, after a while I asked them to cut my hours back until they just stopped putting me on the schedule at all.

This experience caused me to realize that I wasn't cut out for almost any line of work that involved cajoling the general population into, or even allowing them to buy anything that could harm their bodies, bank accounts, or reputations- thus ruling out almost all restaurants, most clothing stores, and all of those confusing stores for teen girls that encourage them to parade around in postage stamps whose price tags are of comparable size to the actual piece of "clothing".

Ok, back to biochemistry. Let's just hope this science thing retains its popularity, because if it doesn't pan out I think I'm going to have a hard time finding a job...

sick little sis

My little sis is sick, and she's so far away that I can't do anything about it. I know that she's 18, but she's my baby and I wish I could tend her and tell her funny stories until she gets better. In the end, I had to content myself with skype and let her new roommate get her sugar water.

Get well soon, Lu!

Highlights of Summer 2010

Barry & Christy's beautiful and touching wedding,
Singing with my dear sisters,
Taking walks with Mum near Metallak island,
A week of natural beauty on the Richardson lakes,
Attempting to slack-line,

Meeting the lovely Kyle sisters at:
my darling Elizabeth's wedding to Claudio,
Camping on Whaleboat,
Rehearsal and performance of Prokofiev's piano concerto No. 1 with Michal at the piano [amazing],
Hanging out with Matthew and his extended family and an unfortunate farewell as he's off to Hartland,
Touring Boston with little sis and our two adopted brothers,
cont.,
Getting to see MIT!
Spending many hours sailing with our able captain, Jonas :-)
Kristina's road trip up to Maine,

The Gelato Fiasco :-),
David & Brittany's emotional wedding AND med school graduation weekend,
Sleeping outside on Maine's wonderful coast,

Getting to talk to rarely-seen friends,
Hanging out at the Howe's house [far too infrequently],

Caring for many lovable and VERY energetic children for 17 weeks,

Getting to see some of the BEST FRIENDS ever after far too long,
Meeting new friends in Colorado,
Getting our exercise each Sabbath afternoon,
cont.,
Playing in the concert!!
Taking a boat tour in Camden,
Meeting so many lovely people who came out to support and play for the concert weekend,
Cont.,

Taking walks in the rain,

Being with my absolute best friends ever... ♥

Happy Sabbath

I miss Metallak.

Things are peaceful and calm there, the pace is slower. While we were there, we used the minds and hands and voices that God gave us. We sang songs, carved things, took long walks, and spent time contemplating the enormity of God's mercy. This year I was personally challenged and comforted; prayers were directly and perceptibly answered. There were no cell phones or computers, and all the voices around me loved the Lord and only served to further direct my heart towards hearing His voice.

When I left for the island last week my facebook status simply read: "METALLAK". A friend of mine told me that they'd tried googling the word in order to understand what I was talking about but couldn't find anything helpful.

Exactly. It's the anti-google. Isn't that the point?

Someone asked me on Formspring:

FUNNY:

James Herriot books,
David Penner,
Uncle Tim,
Witty, dry humor,
Really odd writers like Ogden Nash,
Bill Hader as James Carville,
The last page of Smithsonian Magazine,
Certain commercials [like this one]
My family.



NOT FUNNY:

Movies that are alleged "comedies" but are actually just degrading and inappropriate,
Silliness,
People hurting themselves,
Youtube videos of cats heads getting cut off even if they're fake,
People who act air-headed because they think it's funny,
Sitcom-type humor that preys on the insecurities and dysfunctions of others in order to get a cheap laugh,
People who think they're funny,
Jim Carrey.

melting

It's so hot here. At least by my standards- which, admittedly, do favor cold weather. And snow. And ice cream. :-)

I have spent far too many hours this week wedged into an over-filled 5th floor biochemistry classroom with no air conditioning or fans watching our teacher merrily walk back and forth in front of us rattling his ice water.

Biochemistry is a lovely class, and I know I will enjoy it greatly- but I'm ready for them to just cancel classes until the weather cools down...

The same goes for biostatistics, which is just about as hot, except that the classroom is on the 3rd floor and slightly less crowded. In that class there is a power struggle going on between my biostats teacher and the professor who teaches directly after him. Neither will yield a single minute of class time, and the other teacher will stand in the hall with his students at the end of our class waiting to get in and declare loudly and sarcastically that they 'shouldn't bother us because we still have 2 whole minutes of class time left.' This makes the already-meager 5 minutes in which I must run down 3 flights, across campus, and up 5 flights even shorter... My enjoyment of this class is not aided by the fact that I can barely understand a single word the professor says. He seems to be a nice man, and frequently sits on his desk and flashes us a knowing smile, but his accent is so thick that I have no idea what he's trying to tell us, he could be quoting poetry in Arabic and we'd be none the wiser... I thought I heard him say a few times [this is pure conjecture] that he's been teaching here for 20 years, but that just makes the current situation even more alarming... :-)

Oh well, life wouldn't be interesting if we were all the same, would it? And at least he doesn't holler at us.

Yet.