Just a quiet Saturday night in

Now that things have calmed down somewhat, I need to get back to updating my blog. I've finally moved back to Gbg. No car yet, but I'm borrowing one of my parents' for now.

I've got a job! It's only temporary and part-time but it's something and I love it. I'm back in the costume shop at SHU, which means I'm technically on staff at my alma mater.

WEIRD.

I have a staff email.

WEIRDER.

My name shows up in the staff directory ... with the awful picture from my freshman year student ID.

WEIRDEST.

I'm back in the lovely Victorian house where I lived my senior year in school. It's quite a funny example of mi casa es su casa because after I rented the place my senior year, my good friend, Caitlyn, started renting it. Now, we are renting together. So.. my house is literally her house and now OUR house.

The car search isn't going too well. I've started a novena to St. Jude and hopefully he will intercede for me because heaven knows I need all the help I can get.

Last Day of School

What's better than the last day of school?

Getting out of the school at 9:30am and getting ice cream with friends before 10am.

That's exactly what happened today. Because information is at such a premium in my job, I didn't know anything about work today. Usually on Wednesdays I would have to come in for class at 9 or office hour at 10 depending on the week. Since I hadn't heard anything, I figured I should probably show up around 8 (time school starts) just in case there was something I needed to do. There wasn't. So I spent my last day at school (this year) drinking hot chocolate with Cassie and talking about flat hunting followed with some quality time on Facebook and reading blogs. Finally, around 9:30 we decided to skedaddle along with another friend, Deb.

Needing a victory treat, we stopped by Daubner - home of the world's best ice cream - on the way back from work and spent time just talking about the year and our plans for next year (Deb is leaving us for the American school :( although she will still be in Budapest :) I'll still be with this program but it's not certain where, Cassie will be teaching at one of the other schools). A really nice low-key way to end the school year.

Now, on to the rest of the next 2 weeks... I don't work tomorrow but I have a voice lesson :-D so excited! Friday, I'm at the kindy. Saturday is free. Sunday to Tuesday I'll be at camp with the upper school kids. I'm traveling to Prague via overnight bus on Tuesday for the Prague Quadrennial - an international theater convention - and then back on the overnight bus Thursday just in time for my last day at the kindy next Friday. Then, I've got Saturday to finish packing, cleaning, tying up any lose ends in Budapest before I peace out for a month. Sunday (June 26th) I fly home via Dusseldorf and Toronto. That leaves me with a few days to 1. get over jet-lag, 2. attempt to clean/somewhat organize the 'rents' house, and (probably most of all :-P) 3. run around like a headless chicken before a friend comes to visit for the weekend of the 4th.

With all that going on, I'm just hoping I end up in the right place at the right time and I remember to pack everything I need for each trip!

Absence makes the heart ...

... ache more when you have to say good-bye again?

The past few days have been crazy. Since I'm in the States for my Grandma's funeral, I had the chance to go back to SHU and see so many close friends and mentors. It was wonderful: the chance to celebrate Candice's birthday, spend time with Chris, Kaitlin, Kelly, Sam, Colleen, Brittany, et al., hang out with Caitlyn at "our" house, talk to teachers, sit in on a "Music in Secondary Education" class -- the topic for the day was middle school psychology: I don't think there could have been a more useful topic for me right now, sit in on a choral society rehearsal and then continue a tradition into its fourth year by getting cheesesticks and talking with Candice for hours.

It was such an unexpected gift. And yet, it had a dark side.

The realization of how much I have changed and how much my life has changed since graduation hit me like a ton of bricks. And, at the same time, so many of my friends are still where they were when we were in school together. If not the same mental, emotional, spiritual, or intellectual place then at least the same physical location. We've all grown... in different ways. It's been easy enough to accept that from across the ocean, but being confronted by the fact, in the place where I spent so many hours with these people who are so dear to me was really difficult. I'm happy where I am and there are things that I wouldn't trade just to go back to SHU but it still wasn't easy to see how firmly the door has closed on that chapter of my life.

That wasn't the only difficult part. I had the chance to participate in handbell rehearsal because a few people were absent. Later I went to choral society -- my first "real" choral/vocal anything since MAY. That's almost a year. Additionally, various people asked me where/if I'm singing these days. I hate the answers to those questions. Because, it's easy to ignore how much I'm not singing and how desperately I miss it when I'm not reminded what it's actually like. It's difficult to admit to someone else (particularly those who have been musical mentors to me) that I'm not doing anything with music outside of the little teaching I do. Singing is something my soul needs. And it has been starving for the past (almost) year. This must change. Now, it's just a matter of figuring out how.

Finally, along with missing music, I miss learning. Of course I'm learning much from teaching, but I miss being the receptive student not the constantly active teacher. Yet another reason to start looking at grad schools again.

On a completely unrelated note:
Have a blessed Triduum!

I'm Thankful

I'm thankful for the privilege of having known Mamma Sue.

I'm thankful for the way the Internet allows me to stay connected with people in the US.

I'm thankful that no one I talk to regularly lives in MST or PST.

I'm thankful for my dear friend and "twin," Jen, and for the many ways God has made her a blessing in my life.

I'm thankful for getting to see a long awaited flower begin to blossom... even from thousands of miles away.

I'm thankful that I have never had to deal with a serious injury or illness.

I'm thankful for the people in my life who make me want to be a better person.

I'm thankful for the ways I've grown this year (both the past 12 months and 2011 so far).

I'm thankful that I have a job.

I'm thankful that I live in a city I love.

I'm thankful that I have health insurance.

I'm thankful that I speak enough Hungarian to (usually) get by.

I'm thankful for my "commute" which provides Rosary time built into my day.

I'm thankful that it is so easy to get to daily Mass.

I'm thankful for my imagination and for my will and reason which help keep it in check when it tried to run wild.

I'm thankful for God's sense of humor... yes, even in those times when I feel I'm the punch line of His latest joke.

I'm thankful that it's been warmer this past week, especially since I turned my heat up because I'm sick.

I'm thankful that I was raised in a Catholic home but also that I've had the chance to choose it for myself.

I'm thankful for Skype.

I'm thankful that I decided to write this list rather than complaining about some corollaries of these statements.

I'm thankful for (and excited about!) my upcoming trip to Sweden with Deb :)

I'm thankful for my family and friends (yes, I know this is basically a "given" but still good to state).

I'm thankful for movies that are available online and for the work my Dad is doing on finding a proxy or filter so I can watch American TV.

I'm thankful for my Mom's health and that we have gotten closer in the past few years.

I'm thankful for the perspective Teresa often gives me when we talk (is she really three years younger?).

I'm thankful for fun "Watching Biggest Loser via Skype" times with Miriam.

I'm thankful for the colorful, funny letters Helen has sent... and that she hasn't complained when I've not responded :(

I'm thankful that John is being a pen pal with my Year 5 students.

I'm thankful for the girls I met in college who are still my closest friends: it's true what people say - I didn't go to college to meet my husband, I went to meet my bridesmaids.

But, most of all ...

I'm thankful for all that God has done and is doing in my life, for the way that He always provides what I need, and for the many ways He constantly reminds me how much He loves me.

**** Please pray for my friend's family as they mourn the loss of their amazing mother ****

Been a while... whoops

Lots going on in my life at the moment...so I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks. Sorry :(


CB2 came to visit last weekend. It was really wonderful to see some friends from school. I hadn't realized just how much I missed spending time with people from SHU until I had the chance. So many inside jokes and memories. It was also great showing them around "my" city. Their enthusiasm helped me appreciate many of the things I take for granted about living here. Every time they stopped to take a picture of some building or another I was struck with the thought "yes, that is a beautiful building." Because I live here, it can be hard to see the beauty around me because I hurry past these same buildings every day on my way to work, the store, Mass, etc. We also had the chance to see I Vespri Siciliani by Verdi at the Hungarian State Opera. I realized how spoiled I've gotten working at GGO because I found the production to be uninspired. It wasn't bad, just nothing spectacular, especially in terms of staging and costumes. Also, one of the leads was having a bad day... I can't call those sounds "cracks" they were more like earthquakes.

Work has been interesting - some issues with a co-teacher not taking the time to tell me what she was teaching, or that she wouldn't be in class. Thankfully, these seem to be working out. I've also started working at the foundation's first kindergarten. It's such a treat to be there. The children are so well-behaved and everything is very organized... but then, compared to the other, this has been open for many years so it's no surprise. Additionally, I've been working on writing the music curricula for Years 5-7. So far, that consists of translating the Hungarian curricula so that I know what they are supposed to be learning there before I decide what to teach in the English half. One thing I want to do for certain is add more creativity to the lessons. In their current form (which isn't the teacher's choice.. it's the national curriculum) the lessons aren't particularly engaging and I can't blame the kids for not being interested. Hopefully, I can help change that even if just a little.