I get a Job and Mr. Stinky gets in a Tight Spot

Here's a newsy post since philosophy has gone out the dormer aperture since school began.

Today I slept in to the positively sinful hour of 9am (during the last hour of which I was mostly lounging, not sleeping), then studied Pharm (acology) for a couple of hours. After lunch, I ran over to the college, delivered pecan rolls from Snap to a professor, turned in an overdue ILL movie which I hadn't had a chance to watch, paid for classes, and unsuccessfully checked "lost and found" for a jean jacket. (Parenthetical note: I am quite distressed by the loss. The jacket was one of my trusty prime pieces of wear, and I had developed an attachment to it.)

Then I drove like a maniac to a job appointment. Yes, it was "processing" day for me. In the space of three hours, I was sent to four different facilities. First I proved my identity, signed papers, and got fingerprinted at the recruitment office. Then I was sent to the hospital for review of my vaccination history and Tuberculosis skin test. Following this, I got slightly lost on my way to a physician's clinic for a nursing home physical, but I finally found the place. As if this weren't enough already, I zipped over to the medical system's outpatient facility to get blood drawn for a Hepatitis B immunity test.

When I got home I took Fenella for a walk/run/get-the-dog-wrapped-around-trees expedition. Then Daddy and Snap and I ate supper (the rest were awa') and cleaned up a bit. While clearing the table, I happened to look out the window at the pasture which is currently littered with log piles. Between two of the logs stood Mr. Stinky (alias "Lightening", our Boer sire), unmoving except for his head, his belly bulged up on top of the logs. I couldn't help laughing. He apparently had either jumped on top of the pile and slipped in between or had walked in at the wide end of the gap and, pinched at the narrow end, couldn't figure out how to back out. Snap and I called Dad and laughingly suggested that he try pushing Mr. Stinky out. Dad thought it would be better to loose Fenella in the pasture to, uh, stimulate Mr. Stinky's self-preserving instincts. At the end of the matter, all it took was Dad rolling the log half a turn to release the compressed bucky.
He didn't learn anything from the experience - 10 minutes later, Snap pointed out the window. Mr. Stinky was sitting atop another log.

Anyhoo...that's been my day. Let's see if I can find the momentum to study more Pharm. Nih.

Life is Beautiful

I just thought I'd remind you all.

Life is beautiful. It's a lovely gift and each tiny piece and moment was designed and crafted by hand - God's hand. Sometimes I forget.

"Each little flower that opens/ Each little bird that sings/ God made their glowing colors/ He made their tiny wings."

Just think about a breeze. Each uplift and surge and diminishing and sigh and swirl of a single moment's duration is a unique creation and fits together like notes in a song to make a melody. And that breeze plays over a field, a wood, a hill, a valley wherein each blade of each grass and every bud of every flower and every mossy nick in the bark of every tree is designed to harmonize or contrast in a glorious ensemble. What is all this beauty for? Is it not for man, for us, that God made this earth and it's glory? How wonderfully kind and surpassingly rich is the gift of the great Artist and Author not only to give us daily bread but to serve it up in style!

"For not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."

That's all for tonight. Two weeks left of school! Yeeehaaaw!

Cougar!

This morning on the way to school Snap and I saw a cougar. At least, we think we did.

We came up over a rise and an animal dashed across the road in front of us on four legs. It stood about 3 feet or so at the shoulder and had pointed ears and a long tail. At first I thought it was a deer - but it wasn't. Then I thought it was a coyote, but it was too big and ran like a cat.

There have been cougar prints sited in this area, but nobody has actually seen the cougar yet, so we feel very fortunate.

Cougar!

Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom.

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let them enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival.
If anyone is a grateful servant, let them, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord.
If anyone has wearied themselves in fasting, let them now receive recompense.
If anyone has labored from the first hour, let them today receive the just reward.
If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let them feast.
If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let them have no misgivings; for they shall suffer no loss.
If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let them draw near without hesitation.
If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let them not fear on account of tardiness.
For the Master is gracious and receives the last even as the first; he gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first.
He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one he gives, and to the other he is gracious.
He both honors the work and praises the intention.
Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward.
O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy!
O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day!
You that have fasted and you that have disregarded the fast, rejoice today!
The table is rich-laden; feast royally, all of you!
The calf is fatted; let no one go forth hungry!
Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness.
Let no one lament their poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn their transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Saviour's death has set us free.
He that was taken by death has annihilated it!
He descended into Hades and took Hades captive!
He embittered it when it tasted his flesh! And anticipating this Isaiah exclaimed: "Hades was embittered when it encountered thee in the lower regions".
It was embittered, for it was abolished!
It was embittered, for it was mocked!
It was embittered, for it was purged!
It was embittered, for it was despoiled!
It was embittered, for it was bound in chains!
It took a body and came upon God!
It took earth and encountered heaven!
It took what it saw but crumbled before what it had not seen!
O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?
Christ is risen, and you are overthrown!
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!
Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen, and life reigns!
Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb!
For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that slept.
To him be glory and might unto ages of ages. Amen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_Homily