I've passed the one-week mark until I start driving back to school. I leave next Tuesday. This means I am actually allowed to start thinking about it. I've been counting down to a mild extent all summer long, but now I'm really counting. I have many things to buy and do before then, though I'm not worrying about the packing itself until next Monday. I ought to purchase some new sneakers, for example, esp. if I'm beginning a new running regimen with some of the freshmen girls this fall. Good running sneakers can be expensive - $60-100 - but I always regret it when I buy cheap sneakers, because they fall apart very quickly and they don't provide support for my flat feet.

I'm looking at my schedule and actually beginning to plan what will fit in where. I love the fact that I have my entire mornings free MWF, except for chapel. This means I can do my quiet time and exercise in the mornings on those days, so long as I've finished my readings for the three lit classes the evening before. Of course my three-hour Modern Middle East class in the evening on Tuesday may mess that up, but I can always read ahead on the weekends. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons look like the best times for tutoring.

I'll probably be taking TKD classes too. I'm checking out the Loudoun Academy of Martial Arts. Looks like they have classes 7-8pm MWF, 8-9pm TuTh, and 11am-12pm Sat that are for adults, all levels. They seem to be my best bet, because they're a member of the WTF (World TKD Federation), the same as my school back here in MO, and they offer monthly contracts and day passes, so that I wouldn't have to commit myself for an entire year. The main advantage of this school over the other I was checking out (the one near Starbucks) is that all levels of adults practice in the same class, so if anyone wanted to come along with me and learn also, we could be in the same class. ;) If I do TKD 2-3x/wk, play a little Ultimate, do a little running, go hiking on the weekends, and do weights 2-3x/wk as well, I should be all set on exercise. :D In fact, if I did all that I would get into my best shape ever.

Sleep is also a priority. I almost killed myself this past year. Any time I get sick twice in two weeks I know I am doing something bad to myself. It took me two months of 10-hour summer sleeping to recover. :) So I must be more diligent about my studying, especially on the weekends, so that I can save myself weeknight sleep. I will use Saturday mornings to sleep a little more and to plan for my next week's tutoring and teaching at the homeschool co-op, but then Saturday afternoons must be diligent. I need at least 8 hours of sleep a night to function at top level, but I can handle 7 for a while. It is only when I get down to 6 or less that I really start to crumble.

I am cutting back the unnecessary extracurriculars. I will not do the play, no matter how tempted I am. I will do Chorale, student gov't, and probably CIC. I will also help with Ecce and do Smudge and Tympan, but those latter are more essential "friend time" and important development of my one main focus - writing - than anything else. I also want to help at church, now that I am a member. I will join the choir, at least.

I haven't given myself scads of free time, have I? That's 'cause, if I do all the things I mention here, I ought to be happy. Life is work, so I might as well enjoy it in the process. :) Not all these items will happen every week, and heart-to-heart friend conversations are capable of trumping almost anything, even sleep and exercise. :) Often, even, they count as part of my devotional time.

I have one main "people" goal for this semester - unity among fellow Christians. So I am going to go out of my normal habits and out of my comfort zone to talk to groups on campus whom I normally don't find time to speak to. This struck me like a hammer blow this past Sunday when pastor was talking about the communion we were about to have. As I stared at the patterns on the cloths covering the communion bread, I realized, that bread symbolizes the invisible connection between every person at PHC, whether we talk to each other or not. And how much I could learn about people and God's image by talking to those persons who are different from myself! I do it all the time at home, but not at school. Why?

We really are children, all of us, in terms of spiritual maturity. Do y'all ever wonder what the professors must think as they watch us go about our daily lives, struggling through the places where they were themselves ten or more years before? I know I feel amazed, even looking at high schoolers, to think of how much I can share with them now.  ¶ 8:28 AM