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Day’s Verse:
I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:10-11
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Deborah and I have met a couple times this week to walk/jog our way through an hour of exercise. The first day (Tuesday) we met in downtown Kirkland, and it took me 20 minutes to drive from my home to there, when usually it would take ten. Then she picked me up on Wednesday, and we went to St. Edward’s State Park, one of my favorite parks in the area. After those excursions, I felt mildly lacking in my wardrobe and so betook myself to the Brooks Outlet to buy some shorts and such. Now I have enough clothes to not look totally stupid while working out…and also not freeze into an ice cube during the winter. The Brooks Outlet is up north of where I usually go: between Mill Creek and Bothell.

Bothell is a strange little town. I always think there ought to be more to it than I’ve ever seen. Yet it contains my favorite bakery in the whole world: the Hillcrest Bakery (although the bakery in London does give it a run for its money). We have bought dozens of hot-cross buns at Easter time from the Hillcrest Bakery, along with deliciously enormous fresh-baked doughnuts. This morning I bought a muffin, an apple fritter, and a loaf of still-warm wheat bread. Little perks me up like fresh-baked bread. Today I spent most of my day working on a Christmas present, but after I picked Mom up at BCS, we went to a matinee of Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit. This meant we saw lots of previews for new childrens’ movies (they don’t make ’em like they used to. Where are movies of the quality they used to make, like Bambi, Land Before Time, The Lion King?), and eventually did see Wallace and Gromit. It was very cute, struck me as rather British. Funny in parts and generally an entertaining film. I would not watch it twice in the theater, though.

I have enjoyed my days, walking up big hills and seeing leaves fall in pretty colors. Petting the rather smelly but always cuddly dog, taking baths in a big deep bathtub, talking in person with my parents so I can give them hugs and take pictures with them, not washing my own dishes or making my own dinners, driving a really cool car (a Prius), drinking delicious water, and most of all not worrying about school.

School. Hard to believe my time here has almost come to an end. This coming term will keep me busy enough: I will be working two jobs, leading one Bible Study and attending another; taking four classes – Geology, Principles of Ecology, Bioethics, and Creative Writing; trying to get the Social Psych study into a publishable state; and maintaining a strong relationship with my dear husband, who I despicably neglected last term. I suppose I will be keeping busy enough, although I never wanted busy. But I will fulfill my commitments, follow through on my responsibilities, and generally try to maintain some level of standards. As we like to say: Quality. But I never said what kind of quality.