I found my quote for the day... "Peace begins with a smile." (Bl Mother Teresa)
The next few days are going to be really hard -- a lot of work to do, not a lot of time to do it in. It's totally my own fault for procrastinating, but hey -- such is life. :) I'll take the two days of craziness for a relatively laid back term. Hopefully my work ethic will perk back up over the summer in time for being Brewerized again in the fall!
I'm excited about getting a few days at home before camp starts, too... Pat's graduating, mom's getting surgery, Eric is in love, Nolan's growing, dad is making fun of me as always... he asked me the other day if I met my formal date online. ha.
Speaking of which... yesterday was THE most awkward day of my life.
Midnight: formal. enough said
Morning: aftermath of formal. enough said.
Afternoon: phone rings. I don't recognize the number, so being a dumb-behind, I answer:
"Hello?"
"Hi, Bridgette?"
"um.. yes? Who is this?"
"This is Alex."
"Alex...?"
"Alex [enter boob gazer's last name here]."
"OH. Um.. hi? What's up?"
"Oh, I was just driving to Pennsylvania, and I was thinking... hm... WHAT HAPPENED?"
::totally playing dumb:: "What do you mean.. what happened?"
"I mean.. what happened? We hang out and then you block me on facebook.. I mean, it's fine. Whatever. But would you tell me what happened?"
--
at this point, the following responses pop into my head:
1) You stared at my chest the entire date. Do you even remember what my face looks like?
2) You told me that your mom bought you fishnets so that you could cross dress for a frat party. I'm just not... into that.
3) I'm pregnant. (totally a lie.. just to throw him)
4) I canceled my facebook account?
5) I'm sorry.. I think you called the wrong Bridgette.
... but instead...
--
"I mean.. it just didn't work out. Sorry."
"I mean.. it's FINE. I just, you know, was WONDERING."
"Yeaaah.. okay.. I'm going to go now."
"Alright, I mean, thats fine! Juuust wondering."
"Okay, take care, bye.."
... okay, so it's been how long since I saw the kid? Back before Easter some time... because I had asked Blake to formal that day and we all asked before break. So yeah.. it's been a long time. At first I thought he was calling from a friends phone, but then I realized that I must have dumbly deleted his number last week during my emotional spring cleaning rampage, so it was probably his. Which probably confused him. So.. yeah..
Alright, so about 2 minutes after I hang up, the phone rings again. It's Hannah.
"Bridgette!! Guess who I just saw?"
"Who?"
"The nuns! The nuns are here!"
"Here here? Like.. Furman here?"
"Yeah! They're outside the DH heading towards South Housing. You should go say hi!"
Now, normally I would flock. And I kind of did because I'm kind of obsessed with Dominicans. But I missed a call from the Motherhouse this week (nothing like "St. Cecelia's Motherhouse" popping up on your caller ID...) but they didn't leave a message.. so I was a tad scared. Which is dumb. But yeah.. I missed the Dominicans :(
After I got off the phone with Hannah, Al just looked at me and we literally laughed for 10 minutes. Like... I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Life is just way too ironic for me to even function. A ridiculous formal, a call from boob-gazer, and "the nuns are here!" ... all in 24 hours. Granted, I should have probably told boob-gazer what really happened, but I was on the spot and, to be quite honest, worse things have happened since.
My roommates' take on the whole ordeal?
"Bridge.. let's be honest. God is sitting up in Heaven, pointing and laughing at you and saying 'Hey.. let's try this now!"
Sometimes I think that life has gotten a little petty. I think of the kids starving in Africa, genocide, abortion, what not.. and it's like "Seriously? Is this it? Are these ridiculous situations the real problems in my life?" But then I look at the rest of the stuff going on, and I recognize that there really are big things, too. The little things are just practice. I joked this year that I was going to use my free time to "save the world"... granted, I didn't end up having a whole lot of free time, and I definately didn't save the world. I feel like God has gently formed me into a much stronger person in the past 5 months, though. So maybe... one day... I could?
The little ridiculous experiences and adventures form character.. the daily hassles and struggles and conversations slowly shape who we become. God knows me better than I know myself. One of the younger Deltas asked me at informal which was better -- freshman year or sophomore year. The answer was complicated but really easy to come to: sophomore year was filled with the greatest pain and the greatest joy I've experienced in my meager little 20 years of life. I'd never cried so hard or laughed so much before. Yeah -- it hasn't always been fun. But the little bumps (or giant mountains) really do build character. If it came down to it, I'd do it 20 times over. And all things considered, that's saying a lot.
I guess that's why I'm a little confused. When is God going to beam me down a holy crusade to embark on with all of this pent up growth? The only answer I've come to is that He already has -- and right now, meeting these little daily hassles and struggles with purity and grace is my vocation.
As for the irony and ridiculousness of the last few weeks? I imagine God would agree with the great Jimmy Buffet: "If we couldn't laugh, we'd all go insane."
Amen, brother.
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