Day 98

Happy 1: My brother is in the military and is currently stationed in Germany with his wife and daughter. When they moved in August I thought I wouldn't see them for a very long time. But alas, due to many potential employers not hiring until the first of the year, my schedule momentarily opened up. It more than opened up, it presented the perfect time for an adventure. I will be done with college in five days and as a little graduation present to myself...I bought a plane ticket to Germany! Sure it cost a small fortune but it is totally worth it. I will be spending two weeks with them, from December 15-29. Never before have I been away from home for Christmas, but I still get to spend it with my family . Apparently this trip will be full of firsts and never befores and boy, I should remember to tell this to the grandkiddies.

Happy 2: My roommates and I attended our very last church service of the semester; "A Chicago Christmas" program at Willow Creek. This particular service was meant for families so there were tons of cute little kids running around. The band was rocking the Christmas music and everyone was jamming out. There was a short message but the main attraction was "The Clown of God," a ten-minute performance about a juggler. A story was read aloud and one man mimed the part of the juggling clown. The kids loved it. I may or may not include myself in that category. What a great way to end the semester.

Happy 3: In celebration of the Prison Break series finale, the roommates and I made a delicious dessert. Homemade chocolate sauce, chocolate brownies, vanilla ice cream, and whip cream on top. In order to earn such a high calorie, sugar-loaded, delicious-infused dessert, I worked out first. I'm not sure they cancelled each other out, but it was worth a shot.

Crappy: Practicum Group Retreat. All of the general Chicago Semester students got together for four hours to reflect and meditate on our time in Chicago. This was a nice idea, but it was not so nicely executed. Instead of treating us like big kids, we were treated like we were in grade school. For instance, they wanted us to form a line based on birthday, going from youngest to oldest. The trick was that we weren't allowed to talk. Before we started the process, they informed us that we should use our fingers to tell others our birthday month and date. Really? Then, we made a collage of "wonder, heartbreak, and hope," cutting and pasting pictures and words from magazines. When we got done they told us to pick everything up and put it away nicely. I swear I heard someone singing Barney's "Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere. Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share." So, the retreat was...well, it could use some work. There were some good and bad things about the evening. Since it was the first year they did anything like this, it can only get better from here.