my math final would have been slightly improved without the blaring, blinding fire alarm system being tested. three times. campus security came and told my teacher (AFTER the first one had gone off) not to evacuate unless she saw smoke or flames. she got this, “why me?!?” look on her face. after the campus security guy left, she said, “yeah, if any of you see smoke, we’re leaving.” in a “no duh” tone. the test itself went okay, I think.

just a little more to finish before poetry now then a two week break!

Today is the last day of precal, with our cumulative final.

I’m not ready to face this.

One more breath and it’s over. Yay.

Another earthquake in China, same area (Sichuan), 6.0.

The Chinese government has reassured people that there will be neither earthquakes nor rain during the Beijing Olympics. *Looks remarkably unconvinced*

I’m just hoping that Jonathan is sick enough to still be in bed, or is well but is spending time with family, and not out being a missionary (which is where I know he would far rather be).

Good News:

= Jonathan is getting better. Horray!

= Jonathan’s dad is out of the hospital. Horray!

= I have a new laptop (for getting my first college degree, as a gift from my parents) and a new mp3 (which I bought for myself because I can).

= The bugs in the bathroom have stopped showing up. (That is, besides the dead ones on the floor, there are no more of them).

= I have a nice check for my tutoring job.

= I am going to end up with two A’s, one in essay writing english and one in poetry.

Bad News

= My younger brother Jacob has allergies.

= I have to tutor math today to an ADD kid who doesn’t want to learn algebra (I can’t blame him. I got a C- in it myself. Of course, I had other issues at the time . . .) with one of the worst curriculums to teach it with.

= My mom is having a difficult time transferring her stuff from one room to another as she moves from teaching 5th grade to teaching 7th.

= The bugs in the bathroom are almost definitely termites.

= I think I may have developed an ant infestation in my room.

= The copying of files from my old computer to the new is proving to be vastly more difficult than I imagined.

= My friend Ann confided that she is struggling in her purity and in her Christian walk.

= My friend Niki who was rear-ended had the guy in back of her take off, and so will probably be at fault for an accident she did not cause.

= Kristina needs guidance about her job and about her role in the church.

= I think I may have offended both my mother and one of my best friends, Carmen.

Confused

= I have no idea what my precal grade is going to end up as.

= Alisha is struggling to get along with her parents.

= The flying bugs are probably termites.

LOVELY.

Perhaps I should retitle my blog to the title of this post.

Not more than 72 hours ago, I wrote this:

Pray

for my friend Kimberly. Something’s wrong with her eye she doesn’t know what. It may be glaucoma.

for my tutoring math tomorrow. I really don’t like math at the moment (thanks precal teacher), I know the people teaching it aren’t good at teaching it, and I have to teach someone who isn’t interested in learning it.

for my precal grade. but i’m hardly the only one in the predicament! but seriously, on the test today, about the only way she could have made it tougher was to ask us to derive Einstein’s theory of relativity given the pythagoream theorem. Just . . . what? addmittedly, i did not study as hard as i could have, so i’m nervous.

for my obsession on a guy in hong kong. i want to get OVER it. argh. >.

~~~~

And now, I am writing this:

Good News:
= Kimberly is suffering from multiple effanevsence (sp?) white dot syndrome that will go away in its own in three weeks.

= I got a book award for up to $300 to use at Chabot.

= I didn’t have to tutor math after all.

= I saw a good friend on Thursday who cheered me up. Thanks Kristy (not that you read this, but thanks anyway).

= I talked to Ann today and that made me feel better too.

= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_M33GcJAmU

Bad News:
= Jonathan (the guy I like) is ill in Hong Kong. He has a fever of 102 and coughing. Several other members of the mission team have the same illness. He’s about to go to his sister’s house (who is a permanent missionary in Hong Kong with her husband) who just found out she’s expecting her second child.

= Jonathan’s dad is in the hospital with massive internal bleeding. Turns out he has an ulcer and his wife (Jonathan’s mother) is prediabetic (along with a host of other conditions she has suffered from all her life, including but not limited to fibromyalga and multiple sclerosis).

= Niki, a friend of mine, was rear-ended, rear-ended another car, but was worried by a statement made by the police that she might be put as the one at fault.

= Kimberly will still have to be tested for glaucoma in three weeks.

= A family friend, Cheri, is suffering from diverticulitis.

= There are flying BUGS in my bathroom! =( I can’t figure out where they’re coming from!

~~~~~~

It never rains but it POURS.

This stuff about Manichees and Donatists is NOT making it easier to stay awake today after pulling nearly an all nighter.

I wish I could wave a magic wand and have it all be done.

I also wish I could get my mind off Hong Kong and into the paper.

To do list:

- Make photo album in facebook of friends and family

- Collect all poetry in one spot

- Arrange for a picnic or a walk with Carmen

- Try to arrange a meeting with Gina

- Get this St. Augustine paper done, at least well enough for a very rough draft.

- Call Alisha.

- Call Susanna.

You know, sometimes being a female can really really bite. Like during that time of the month. And like when guys stare below your eyes and cannot be made to realize that you have and use a mind.

But sometimes, being female is a wonderful thing. There’s a closeness in community and compassion that’s very different from guys.

I’m certainly not one to argue for a throw back to ankle-length dresses or constantly coiffed hair, but I think we give away the power of being female too easily when we compromise our modesty. Those low-cut shirts, the clinging clothes, the shorts that are far above the knee all, in my opinion, eat away at our power instead of adding to it. They say, “I am only flesh! Look at the outward appearance!”

But it’s always been my opinion that the power of a female though certainly apparent in the outward appearance is most exrpressed in the attitude of the heart: through compassion, mercy, and gentleness.

You can disagree if you like, but I think a soft word of humility still gets you farther than a strident yell of rebelliousness.

My heart was black with the sin,

until the Savior came in

His precious blood I know

Has washed me white as snow

And in God’s word, I’m told

We’ll walk the streets of gold

and now to grow every day

I’ll read my Bible and pray.

What would I do without Carmen’s deviousness? Or the love of Susanna? Or the critical analysis of Allison? Or the political passion of Niki? Or the accountability of Kristina and Kristy.

He is a loving Father, and all good gifts come from Him.