Down in my heart

What a good weekend. I suppose I should start at the beginning. On Friday Brittany and I managed to get out of work an hour early which was fantastic because the kids were acting up that afternoon. She was on her way to Ocean City, MD to visit her little for the weekend and I was getting primed for my weekend alone. I got to the gym which has been an all too infrequent occurrence. It’s a little disappointing because I had finally gotten to my goal as far as weight and health issues. Being here has brought on all kinds of chocolate cravings and I’ve pretty much given up the battle! But in any case working out always feels good so that was a good way to start off the weekend.

On Saturday as I was sitting on the empty subway car waiting for it to leave a shady looking man came in and sat fairly close to me. He motioned a hello and in order not to be rude I said hello back. I guess I probably shouldn’t have done that because then he moved over and sat in the seat right next to me. He started showing me this paperwork about how he was getting a drug screening for a job and asked my opinion about something that the letter said. He ended the conversation by saying that he could have sat somewhere else but when he saw me he decided to sit over here. I pretty much just looked at him and he told me that he would go sit somewhere else and leave me be and after a handshake I said goodbye to this man who introduced himself as Stan.

I went into Center City to get a haircut from a salon called Nova. I had simply done a google search for hair salons in Philadelphia and picked the one closest to a subway stop. It was a cute little place and the girl did a fantastic job in my opinion. It was nice to have someone close to my own age cutting my hair because I was able to tell her that I wanted my bangs to look just like hers and by the end the whole cut was fairly similar. The only low point was when I went to pay. $55 went into this haircut. That’s the price I would typically pay for 5 haircuts. It’s a good thing I went on the shorter side. Make it more worthwhile. But after the haircut I was ready to hit the town. I walked down S. Broad St in the Avenue of the Arts area. There were all kinds of theaters and art shops. Not to mention all the art school kids hanging around the streets. I fit right in of course with my new metropolitan hair. Then I circled back around and walked down Walnut Street which is known for its shopping opportunities. I passed a few stores I would have gone into if I hadn’t just wasted $40 but when I saw Urban Outfitters I had to go in. Ended up buying a T-shirt but passing on really cute flats that would have matched the shirt and the hair. I found a closer subway station and made my way back home. It was a good end to a very urban day.

That night I watched Monsters Inc. on ABC from my bed and did more research about nursing programs and fields of study. I really think that this is it for me. I have never been as excited about any career choice as I am now. I’ve been telling people that it’s what I’m majoring in and it feels really good. (So that’s a method I use to decide if a major is really something I want: tell someone that’s what you’re doing and see how it feels) I am probably going overboard but I also looked into master’s degree programs and it turns out that UPenn has a really great program for Acute Care Nursing and also one in Oncology Nursing which would be very interesting. So if there is time I’ll try to go down to the campus just to see what it’s like. I mean, I’m here, might as well.

There was a wedding during worship this morning at St. Paul’s. It was very touching. George and Tonya are an older couple that have been going to the church for a while. George is blind and both are recovering alcoholics that are in charge of weekly AA meetings at the church. They have both overcome many challenges in their lives but both are firmly rooted in their faith. I feel honored that I was able to attend their service and reception. You can always feel when you’re in the presence of true love and it’s comforting to know that it can be found at any age.

The sermon today was about rejoicing and doing it for the right reasons. I think that in some weird way I’ve learned a lot about joy this summer. For the first time in a long time I am rejoicing in the blessings of God everyday. In the past I’ve neglected that portion of prayer and have only turned to my faith in times of hardship. This summer I’m learning to recognize that God has a hand in all happiness and that’s what joy truly is. It’s not just being happy; it’s a happiness that comes from the Lord.

Another interesting question that came to mind today was this: Do you like your job? I would say that the answer to that is no. I don’t really like my job and I wouldn’t ever sign up to work at a camp again. But a better question is this: Have you liked your experience in Philadelphia? The answer to that is an excited yes! The job itself is very challenging but challenges are not always bad. I’ve learned a whole lot in just two weeks and that experience I wouldn’t change. So while I wouldn’t sign up for camp in the future, if I could go back and do it again I wouldn’t change a thing.