opus.

Ah...Friday. And the crisp cool of autumn in the air.

It's a great day.

Yesterday was also good--I didn't do all that much, but it was just nice to have fun with people.

I had classes all morning and afternoon (and managed to turn in my midterm and give a little presentation in Doctrine), then I went home for a few minutes to change clothes, but ended up sitting on the grass with Mike Beckstrom and Dan Thayer for awhile, then finally left and worked out for awhile. I did the bike and treadmill. My knee was bugging me though, so I cut things slightly short...but a little bit is better than nothing.

I went home, showered, and my sister called. We talked for awhile--mostly we were just big dorks though. Everything from the "Miracle Mile" (I meant the "Magnificent Mile" in Chicago) to "themed wardrobes" to haircuts and colors to my attempts at explaining who the Bens and Brians are in my life. Also, I became the middleman in a conversation between Tom and J...mostly consisting of "Oh, Tom--he's the one who wears girly lotion, right?" and Tom responding, "It's not girly lotion!" (Secretly, it is girly lotion). I hope they get a chance to meet next weekend.

Anyway, then Tom, Nick, and I went out to dinner and caught up--almost a year to the day from when the three of us first went out and I laughed too hard to contain my cranberry juice, so it landed on Nick The Germaphobe's hand. Shoot.

We had a good time though--it's always nice to just sit back and talk about life and be weird. I was just making my way through the gate from campus to "The World Beyond" (read: my apartment), when my phone rang, and it was Ben! He was driving down 28, having just made a return at H&M, and we concluded that it was a good night for him to come hang out...so, 10 minutes later, he showed up...Fortunately, I had almost enough time to throw the ridiculous piles of clothes from their happy homes on my couches and dining room chairs, and managed to get them into my bedroom, where they could be safely enclosed until later when I was forced to deal with the terror on my own. Ben and I decided to get some ice cream, so we headed out to the Eagle, then, as we were getting back (I was at the gate again...what is it about that spot?), I got a phone call from Ashley, one of my college roommates. We hadn't gotten to talk in a couple of months, so we spent a few minutes getting each other back on track with our respective lives. Not wanting to be rude to Ben, nor wanting to miss out on any of the intricacies of Ashley's life (like her brother, Aaron, marrying Mildred the Mexican in February), I requested that we take a raincheck on further discussion. Ben and I talked some more, then decided to watch a movie. He picked Mr. Holland's Opus, which, in my mind, was a fantastic choice, as I simply love that film. Though I proceeded to cry...again...while watching.

Debbie and Brian called on their way home from seeing Wallace and Grommit... and stopped up at my place upon their return. The four of us are supposed to do something tonight, and we sought to make plans accordingly...we're still trying to make those plans today.

The movie ended at about 12:45, and everyone left. Being that I was wide awake, I opted to fall asleep to the "soothing" Ethics reading for my paper due next Thursday. It's not actually soothing--when I couldn't handle reading the UMC stance on the Juvenile Death Penalty, I switched to the reading on the global predicament of children...not light reading by any stretch. Despite that, I eventually was off to sleep, and I dreamt about taking an extended trip to England--but I was only at the airport saying goodbye to my family, making sure that I had everything, and wondering whether or not I was in the group that got to take a train in from the airport, or if I was in the boat group. Also, I (for some reason) saw on my boarding pass that, in fact, I had won a free eraser from Euston Station in London. Much celebration.

I have strange dreams.

Anyway, I was so sad at the thought of saying goodbye to all of my family (though it was nice of my sister and her family to fly in and surprise me!) that I woke up...So far today, I have reviewed about 75% of the reading I need for next Wednesday's NT01 quiz, I have read about half the Ethics reading I need for my papers (both due Thursday), I had some lunch, I ran out to the bank to make a big old deposit, and, upon completion of this blog, I will venture to define all the NT01 terms, read 100+ pages of my Education book (for a paper due Tuesday), figure out stuff for Sunday, work on my sermon, and begin to write my Ethics paper...all in 4ish hours. Hurray!

Tomorrow, I will head to Morgantown to hang out with Mom, Dad, and a slew of Dad's Delta Tau Delta buddies. We're going to see the WVU/Louisville game too...and Uncle Charles again! I'm driving back here Saturday night, then Ben and I discussed possibly hanging out, though I'm not sure if that will happen or not. Sunday, I'll have church, of course, then the Browns game, of course, then I will seek to finish everything that I don't get to today (i.e. writing my papers that are all due next week+ a sermon)