Just Checking
February 3rd, 2010My dad works for AT&T, so by nature I support the company. Therefore, when I have no signal anywhere on campus, I blame the fact that, as far as telephone lines are concerned at least, Cedarville is located in the middle of nowhere. Except for various dead patches while road tripping through that place called Oklahoma, I have excellent service on my phone. Therefore, I blame Ohio for this problem. In Texas, in San Antonio, which by the way, is one of the ten biggest cities in America, my phone always works. But I probably need my phone more here at college, especially because my mother usually calls me at least twice a day. I’m not one prone to answer the phone every time it rings anyhow, but I get an even worse reputation for not answering because my phone simply doesn’t ring. I frequently get voicemails without ever receiving a phone call. Luckily for me, many of these phone calls are not urgent and the voicemail usually consists of my mom saying “I love you. Call back.” Actually, since I know she will read this, I might as well say, my mom usually sings her voicemails…..I get all sorts of tunes and melodies, but the bottom line is always the same: she is just checking in.
That’s what I’m doing in this blog: I’m just checking in. S0me noteworthy things have happened since I last was able to talk with my readers, so it’s time for an update. And if you have anything to update me on, just drop me a comment. First, let’s go all the way back to two Fridays ago, and I will recount just a funny little story. Actually, the reason I have to tell you about this, besides the fact that it was sort of amusing, is to clear someone’s name. You may remember my friend Hannah, one of the cruel people that looked on me as a freak for wearing my Christmas bell. She was worried about her image with my readers and wanted me to present her in a positive, if a bit silly, light this time. So here is the setting: We are all waiting for Dr. Mills to get to Honors class and there happens to be quite a few visitors on this day, because that weekend was a leadership conference, and so some of the high school students were attending class to see if they would be interested in applying to the Honors program. (Plug: do it!) Anyways, in the back of the classroom, there is one mischievous table that came up with the idea for everyone to turn around and face the back of the classroom, just to throw off Dr. Mills when he arrived. And it was when this happened, that the little incident occurred. Hannah sits right in front of me along with Justin and Taylor, while next to me a row back sits a girl named Allie. Well, while we were turned around, Hannah got confused, and she started going through Allie’s bookbag, which is pink with flowery designs on it. I was watching her, confused a little, because I knew that Hannah didn’t know Allie very well, just as she was commenting “aw this is cute” on her bag, and then pulling out her Bible, which has an orange cover and saying “oh, so is this.” Then Allie made an innocent statement that implied her ownership of the items, and Hannah was embarrassed. I don’t think she has really talked to Allie since then. But the point is, see, Hannah is really just a friendly person, who likes to analyze people, since she is a psych major. And that’s how I can excuse her for her judgments on my bell.
Last week literally flew by, with homework, classes, work, and in between, some enjoying of time with friends. And it’s on that last point that I will now dwell for a few words and reveal another aspect of the title of this blog. Being from a major city, I’m not used to outside of the classroom, still recognizing about half of the people I see. But here at Cedarville, it’s hard to walk anywhere (unless it’s at a dead time of day) without seeing someone you know. And anytime you see someone, they display the same attitude that my mom does when she calls me. They just want to check in with you, make sure those tear stains on your face are from laughing, or if they aren’t, what’s wrong. They will laugh with you and see what’s up with your life and all. A couple recent examples: I ran into Chuck’s last night to eat dinner, I just had ten minutes before I had to get to work, but my friend Sarah saw me, and even though she was ready to leave, stayed for the ten minutes just to keep me company. A few days ago, while playing pool with Amanda and Taylor, after the game was over (I won, by the way) instead or reracking the balls, we just sat there and had a good conversation. And one last example: my roommate and I frequently lose sleep from jsut talking to each other for like an hour after we’ve each already gotten in bed. These conversations always end with, “What are we doing up still?” but it’s worth it, even with the groggy feeling next morning.
And another thing that happened recently to me was that I was initiated to the sport of skiing. Well, for me it was more like the sport of falling. I actually went with the intention to gather some good material to write about in this blog here, but anything I wrote about that would just be pathetic, so I’ll just tell you that it was very obvious I am from the South. And that is me checking in, and just giving you a glimpse into what’s been going on with me for the last week or so. Until my next voicemail, then!
