It’s what you do that defines you.

what I did over winter break 2007
(from Thanksgiving to Epiphany…to be continued…)

• I finished reading Little Women, Dedication, Rebecca, and Mere Christianity (though to be fair, I started Mere Christianity four years ago).
• I took a bike ride in Central Ohio during the snowstorm a week ago.  It was a pretty stupid idea…yet exhilarating.
• I finished knitting two scarves, Christmas gifts for my nephews.
• I learned three new songs on the piano.
• I wrote copious entries in my journal.  On Wednesday of this week I typed 25 pages in one evening—single-spaced, size 12 Garamond font.  I guess I had a lot to say.
• I passed the 1,000 hits mark for my blog.  (But that’s total hits, not daily hits.)
• I learned a new knit stitch.
• I sent out 16 Christmas cards.  And none of this “Merry Christmas, have a nice break, see you in January” crap.  I wrote novels.  (That one’s for you, Brianna.  You took my writing virginity and didn’t call back.)
• I learned how to do a new hairstyle using only two chopsticks or two knitting needles.
• I tried Aztec chowder soup (with tortilla chips)…and liked it!
• I submitted three pieces to our college’s writing awards.  Hopefully nobody else submitted, so I’ll have a chance of winning.
• I helped my dad shave around the stitches from his operation, and I didn’t get queasy.
• I baked about 65 miniature cupcakes for a party, including frosting each.  (Okay, so it was from a cake mix.)
• I made a big decision about post-college plans.  My plans include travel.  (“Dear God, make me a bird, so I can fly far, far away…”)
• I got closer to God.  : )

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)

     What I didn’t do enough of, however, was work on my senior thesis, a collection of memoir-y essays about my religious development.  I only list out the above “accomplishments” to assuage my guilt about not following through on my writing project.  I told myself I should work on it daily, getting up at 5 a.m. if need be.  Instead I spent my time writing/reading e-mails, writing/reading blog posts….  Robby talks about this problem in his own blog.  (You remember Robby from my 11-12-07 entry, don’t you—and how he rescued me?  Well, for the record, I repaid the favor.  His blog also mentions when he got sick recently, and I rescued him at 3:30 in the morning after he was puking Christmas-colored vomit.  You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.)

*          *          *

     Today when we got home from church, we discovered that our dog Kate had ripped into two Christmas presents under the tree.  She got into a bag of pasta, then into a box of chocolates.  She ate all the chocolates.  I hope she doesn’t die.  I looked up chocolate poisoning in dogs, and so far she doesn’t show any symptoms.  But as I was typing this, Mom called out, “Kate just threw up.”
     Of course, Kate is a dog who also ate her own poop and seemed to fare pretty well.  So we’ll see.