Apparently it's annual

As I've grown older (not old, just older), I have started to notice that I act in patterns. As much pride as I used to take in the hopes of being unique, original, and completely spontaneous, I've learned that, in fact I am quite a predictable person. My mother used to love to tell the story of how when I was 4 I had to take an aptitude test. During the test I got into an argument with the women administering the test over how "correct" I actually was over a question regarding fitting smaller squares into a larger square (I think my logic was pretty sound actually...). I'd love to say that a lot has changed in the 26 years since that argument, but those who know me see the comparison. I've always loved people and will always choose people over work, people over rest, people over exercise, people over... you get the point. I get restless. Every few years I think the answer must be to find something new, new friends, new places to live, new job, new dog. When I was in high school, I remember a trusted mentor asking me what I was running from, I wasn't sure what that meant then, but now as I realize the need to keep moving on might not be something "new" within in me, I have to ask myself that question again. Am I running? If so, then from what? From who? Is the answer always to move on and start over? These are questions that I ask, or at least questions that when I slow down enough to ask question, I ask.

When I was a teacher, we talked about course curriculum and development. As a religion teacher, the concept was to think of unit design based around questions. What central questions did you want your students to wrestle with throughout the year, what topics, what concerns, what questions would truly resonate with their experience and draw them deeper into themselves and the mystery of God. How to make their year motivated by questions. I've thought often on this, this realization that a life can be motivated on questions, not on answers. I have questions, I have so many questions, all across the spectrum of the basic and foundational who, what, when, why and then lastly... how? As I sit and write though, I am drawn into this notion that questions motivate, that questions guide and that questions have an effect. As I move through Holy Week, I want my prayers to be about questions, not about answers. This doesn't make much sense, I know. But as I realize the patterns in my life more deeply, the tendency to act upon answers I don't always trust, the feelings that every year I want to be a blog writer (notice the yearly posts), and the times where I skip over the questions and move straight to the conclusions, I hear a challenge to discover the questions, to appreciate the needs without assuming the answers. If God is mystery, then God must have a relationship with the question mark. This week, as Jesus keeps moving forward, I want to follow along in that manner, I want to pray, I want to ask, and I want to be content without knowing what is ahead....

What's in a name?

I'm starting a blog. That was what I wanted to call my new blog, but then I remembered that almost 5 years ago I actually had already started a blog... which would mean, starting a blog entitled would be a lie. Since I didn't want to start (again) my venture into the blogging world as a liar, I am instead reclaiming my former identity and simply making it more present. That was a long introduction for not a lot of purpose.

The point being: I'm back (or here, again). You get it.

I'm not sure what I am going to write about, or honestly if anyone will read, but as a young(er), single, Catholic female, professional, trying to make it in this midwestern world, I might have something to say. Or maybe not, I guess we shall all find out together. Perhaps I could write about my thoughts on faith and spirituality, what it means to me to be a young, Catholic woman today. Or maybe I will regale people with stories of my dog who consistently scares himself with his own farts and eats his own tail (along with my phone chargers and hair dryers). Regardless, I'm hopeful that this will give me something other to do than watch Bones, perpetually predict when Ted will actually meet "the mother," or stress about work. It will most certainly aid me in my practice of perpetually procrastinating picking up that book on my coffee table and could be a way that I could whine more publicly about the spinning class I just started doing. Like sands through the hour glass, these are the days of my life...

Anyway, this is a good thing. It's a new thing and it's something that I am going to commit myself to doing. So, if you are out there (which I'm pretty sure you aren't), thanks and please don't judge just yet. We can only go forward from here!

Equestrian Control

I learned a valuable lesson this past weekend (who knew grad school could be such an educational experience?). I went to a tailgate with some friends that were in town and saw quite the scene. To best understand the scene that unfolded one must be aware of two different facts:
1) The St. Joseph police department has started using mounted officers to monitor tailgates
and
2) People are idiots when they drink too much.

I digress...

So we were at this tailgate and two mounted officers rode by on horses. This act of riding by apparently upset one of the patrons of said tailgate and he began to yell at the police officers belligerently. Having now noticed the absurdly drunk male, the officers rode on over and instructed him to leave. He obviously refused and continued to scream his profanities, until all of a sudden we see the horse take a few steps forward and knock the guy on his tushy. At this point, drunk guy begins to yell even more violently about the assault he has just suffered and the instance of police brutality (or horse brutality). To make a longer story not as long, the next events included the horse guard calling for back up and the idiot being taken away in handcuffs (with his concerned friends taking pictures the entire time). My favorite part of the story however is that as the cop was calling for back up he said into his walkie talkie

"After the third time, I instructed my horse to take him down."


Awesome. Honestly, who knew that horses were used in that way? I must admit that I seriously thought that the only benefit of a horse guard was the fact that you could quickly chase people down, I had no idea that you could issue a "kill" command and they would respond so effectively. I guess it is okay now that the lasso is a thing of the past. I am viewing the world, much less acts against crime these days in a whole new way.
This definitely changes my entire outlook on the security system outside of the Buckingham Palace, pretty soon people will tell me that those fuzzy hats have a function as well.
What will they think of next?