squeezing out the last bit of paper juice

paper...is...not...coming...out

last paper of my westminster career. will be done by 4pm tomorrow. if my computer doesn't blow up (it's overheating).

happy thanksgiving!

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Ps 27:13-14

This morning:
Tiff: Hey, can you take 2 bags of paper recycle to your mom's?
me: Sure, can you help me load them up?
Tiff: They're in your car already.

on pets and torture

Well, Mr. Spivey is doing MUCH better...thank you for your prayers! He's back to his usual crazy self, but he's not too happy with me these days because I still have to keep him in his cage for the better part of the day and, oh, does he hate his medicine! You would think there was some kind of cruel and unusual punishment going on in my room if you heard the way he squawks when I hold him and squeeze the medicine into his mouth. And that's exactly what Charis thought the other night when she heard Spivey screaming bloody murder...I heard her outside my room saying something to the effect of, "No, no, that's not right!" and the next thing I knew, she was busting into my room, demanding who was in there!

I actually heard a pretty horrid story of animal torture the other day. A friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) apparently killed his mom's two parakeets when he, at 6 years old, along with his 9 year old brother, thought it would be fun to shoot them with water guns. I can't imagine to what extent they had to squirt the birds to make them fall over dead, but then they had the bright idea to put them in ziplock bags, fill the bags with water and freeze them! When their mom returned home, they proudly showed her their trophies saying, "Look Mom, we made parakeet popsicles!" She did not waste any time showing them how she felt about that. Of course, he has reformed his ways and loves animals today, but apparently will never live this down at family gatherings.

When I was relaying this story to Charis and Tiff, Charis, with a look of horror said, "What kind of 6 year old boy would think to do such a thing?" and then, more soberly, "Actually, I killed a pet once." The pet? "A worm. I felt so horrible after that." A worm? "Yes, a silk worm." Which apparently is a common pet in Chinese culture. The murder weapon of choice? "A BB gun." A BB gun? Don't you think that's a bit more power than you need to kill a worm? "I just wanted to see what would happen."

Well, I guess all kids of all cultures and dispositions towards animals wind up torturing animals even if they don't mean to. I know our poor cats went through all sorts of trials at the hand of my brother and I...and even I, who wanted to be a veterinarian when I was growing up, enjoyed the holiday tradition of tossing our hampsters onto the Christmas tree and watching them try to climb down.

Spivey, however, doesn't know how good he has it! Aside from a few overgrown boys who live on the 2nd floor, there are no kids poking at him or shooting him with water guns or BB guns. And fruit flavored medicine! Little does he know, we still have 3 weeks of medication ahead of us...

I think my blog may soon be flagged by the SPCA.

oh the irony

Yesterday Spivey was fine, his usual crazy self, except that when I came home late I noticed he was a bit cranky. No big deal, probably just tired. Well this morning I uncovered his cage to discover one sick little bird. Oh poor Spivey! All puffed up, eyes half mast, not singing, difficulty flying. My heart just broke. So of course then I think, what can I do? I can't afford the vet and I have to go to work. sigh...how can I not take him?

The irony is that I have been having my own health issues, not a cold or flu, but some chronic issues which came to the point of needing medical attention. Thankfully, I recently discovered a great clinic nearby which exists to help those on a tight budget. There is no such thing for animals. At least not that I know of. The vet was very helpful in explaining everything which could be done to figure out what was wrong with Spivey, and broke it down for me financially, explaining which were the priorities. If I had wanted to go for the whole deal, it would have been nearly $600! That wasn't exactly in my budget, but still, Spivey's visit to the doctor cost me $70 plus $22 for medication. Yes, this is more than I paid for my own visit to the doctor.

So of course everyone had their different takes on the whole situation. 'Oh poor Spivey!' 'You paid HOW MUCH for a BIRD? I would have just eaten him.' 'Maybe the Lord is preparing a place for him in heaven.' And my manager was not happy that I was an hour late for work, even though I had called them ahead of time. What can you do? Well, it was worth it if only to meet some really great people at the vet's office, and the vet himself was this sweet little man who obviously cared much for animals, and especially for birds. I even told him about how Spivey was antagonistic toward people when he had the mirror in his cage. "Yes," he responded, "well, that was his girlfriend."

So please pray for little Spivey. He is in recovery and taking medicine twice a day (though he's not too happy about that).

wedding festivities

Well, this past weekend was quite the whirlwind, a most needed festive break from the WTS bubble. Curled up on the Chinatown bus Friday morning, furiously typing away on my Revelation paper which was due that day at 5pm, I managed to turn my head from the monstrosity that it turned out to be and email it in from a Barnes where I crashed at on the outskirts of DC in Northern Virginia, just before using the public restroom as my dressing room while waiting for my father to pick me up on our way to the rehearsal and following dinner, the beginning of the festivities surrounding my brother's wedding. On the Chinatown bus back to Philly on Sunday I slept nearly the whole way, despite multiple efforts to get more work done, and despite the kid kicking/yelling in a foreign language/crying behind me. In between the two trips, I spent my time at the salon with the other bridesmaids, riding around in the limo mostly with people I never met but whom I came to quickly enjoy, miraculously making it down the aisle and back precariously balanced on my pointy shoes, consuming more alcohol than is normally my practice, and thereby dancing a bit more than normal as well. But it was fun. And I got to visit with Joo Won just a tiny bit in between the festivities.



I don't think I've ever seen my entire family together in one place! It was so strange for me to realize that some of them didn't even know each other.
2 parents
2 step-parents
2 remaining grandparents (isn't my grandpa so cute?)
2 aunts/2 uncles/4 cousins
1 brother
and one new sister-in-law!


My little brother is a married man!