First, Love Yourself

This past week has been a week of breaking down, and building back up. I began the Student Leadership Institute on Wednesday with the idea that it would be good for me to learn some new leadership skills and to learn more about the people around me. I got far more out of it than I ever imagined I might.   Wednesday began normally enough. I went to school, sat through the opening of SLI, and had a good first half of the day. But then we went to lunch, and I just couldn't shake this feeling I was having, and three words kept beating time through my head..."learn, unlearn, relearn." We came back to the session after lunch, and I found myself having a harder time with each new activity we began. I wanted to participate, but having been inside myself and insular for so long, I was uncomfortable in the space, and I really just wanted to go somewhere a little less populated. I wanted to be able to compose myself and come bak to things. But there was no opportunity to do so. And ...

Today was such a lovely specimen of a day! First, my children went to my sister's (which NEVER happens, btw) and spent the night there. Then, Toby and I made the drive up to Seattle, where he was to be playing with the Smilin Scandinavians (check them out, they have myspace). We got to the Odd Fellows hall a bit late, but still in time to be on time to play. Shawn & Cate Roller were there, Shawn plays with Toby occasionally. There were others there, but not terribly many. The gig was a charity benefit for the SOS Children's Fund. But, I digress. Cate and I didn't want to just sit there for several hours, and we were hungry, so we made our way a few blocks down to the local Pho restaurant, Than Brothers (Pho+Cream Puff=Happiness!). We had a great lunch there, and walked back to the hall just in time for the boys to be ending their first set. The Bavarian band that was switching turns with them were on next, and they were ok. Toby's better...maybe I'm biased. Prob...

So, school starts in about a week (ish). I have to say I am not terribly ready for it, and I am starting to get a bit nervous about everything I have to do before it does start. The kids go back a week before me (Sept 2), which makes things a bit easier, but not that much.  I noticed it's actually been a while since I've blogged in here, but it's not as if anyone reads this anyway. I did eventually get enough in financial aid to cover tuition and books for this year. I won't be able to get a meal plan, but it was always something secondary anyway.  Summer is coming to a close, and I feel like it's barely begun. It's kind of strange. I don't usually work in the summer, so it's felt as if there has been no real break between classes and work. I have loved having the job that I do this summer, though. Planning On The Road has been a great experience for me, and I know that if I chose I could fall back on event planning as a career if I truly dislike teachin...