“Point of Parliamentary Procedure!”

First Week Of College: By The Numbers.

Hours I’m taking: 15
Classes I’m taking: 5
Classes attended: 12
Times I’ve inadvertently attended the wrong class: 2
Cups of coffee consumed: countless
Roommates: 1
Times Roommate has moved my things: 3
Times Roommate has left door wide open upon leaving dorm: 1
Times Roommate has let stranger sleep in her bed whilst not in the room: 2
Times Roommate has been the cause of a minor hissy fit: a few
People I’ve met: like, a bajillion (technical, I know)
Facebook Friend increase since arriving on campus: roughly 130
Amount spent in the Parking Office (thus far): $25
Times I’ve been late for class: 1
Meals consumed in TigerDen: 5
Meals that have been chicken nuggets from Chik Fil A: 4
Real, live college parties attended: 2 (Lovvve being the Tipsy Taxi — “Anyone need a sober ride back to Richardson?”)
100 Calorie Packs consumed: Lots and lots
Hershey Bars consumed: 3
Hershey Bars consumed after midnight, in bed: 3
Words out of my Math teacher’s mouth I’ve understood: ZERO
Times I’ve been terrified of my Pysch teacher: All of them
Average time it takes me to get to class: 9 minutes
Nights I’ve woken up drenched in sweat: ALL OF THEM
Nights I’ve regretted choosing the one dormitory on campus without A/C: ALL OF THEM
Loads of laundry since moving in: 0
Times someone has uttered the phrase “OMG, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOUR FOOT/FEET?!”: a few
Times I’ve vaccuumed my dorm floor in a vain attempt to beautify the place: 4
Hugs given/received: Lots and lots
Calls made to mom/dad: at least 20, probably more
Tweets since starting classes: 7
Average hours of sleep per night: 6
Days of class attended before acquiring textbooks: 3
Bread sticks consumed at CiCi’s on Friday: 5
Batches of brownies made: 1
Days I’ve remembered to take my vitamins: 9
Hours spent in Gibson’s Donuts: 15
Stuffed animals I brought with me to the dorm: 4
Stuffed animals that are Yo Gabba Gabba! characters: 2

Playlist For The First Week Of College.

The General Specific – Band of Horses
Miss Magnolia – Matt Costa
My Hands Are Shaking – Sondre Lerche
Definition – Mos Def & Talib Kweli
Every Thought A Thought of You – mewithoutYou
Die Die Die – Avett Brothers
It Will Follow The Rain – The Tallest Man On Earth
So Comfortable – Orba Squara
Drinking, Thinking, Sinking, Feeling – Slow Club
Sunlight – Harlem Shakes
Not Tonight - Tegan and Sarah
Chelsea Hotel No 2 - Leonard Cohen
Love Song – Tilly and The Wall
I’d Rather Dance With You – Kings of Convenience
She’s The One – The Beta Band
Saint John – Cold War Kids
After Hours - The Velvet Underground
How Can I Love You If You Won’t Lie Down? – The Silver Jews
These Days – Nico
Did I Step On Your Trumpet? – Danielson Famile
Navy Nurse – The Fiery Furnaces

Whoa whoa whoa.

After 70 years of playing the field, Arch?  Consider my universe shattered.

How To.

Wow, wow, wow.

I am losing my mind reading this young woman’s blog.

Her name is Katie Davis.  She’s a 20-year-old girl from Brentwood, TN living in Uganda with her 13 beautiful daughters.

Yes, I said 20-years-old… and 13 daughters.

Holy moly.

Katie traded in ordinary for radical, complacency for fierce passion, a normal 20-year-old life (college, boyfriend, car) for absolutely the most extreme reality I have ever heard of.   I dare you to try and make it through one of her posts without welling up with tears.  How is it possible that someone my age could be so effective?  The things she’s doing are so much more intense than I have ever imagined myself doing.  Gee whiz.  Propelled by the insane love that Jesus has for us, the immense care God has for his children, Katie is impacting Uganda in a wildly real way.

Please stop by her blog and consider praying for her or even taking it a step further and supporting her ministry, Amazima Ministries, financially.  There are so many ways to help.  Start with her blog, though.  It’s hard to remain complacent when hunger and sickness has a human face.

Z Boys.

Rough day. Won’t elaborate. Mostly, I’m havin’ date night with a couple of my boys — GrayBoy and Luke. We grabbed a few movies and pizza… it’s turning out to be a nice night. Watching Dogtown and the Z Boys next… always makes me smile.

More later, maybe.

Thursday Thursday Thursday.

Sometimes I pronounce it ‘Thurz-dee” because I can.

So this made me giggle in a sick sort of way.  Some of my favorite floats in the Spanish Town Mardi Gras parade that year were Jefferson/Freezergate-themed.   Bless his heart.  $90,000 in the freezer?  You have to admit, that’s pretty impressive.  But c’mon, Willie… you had to know that was against the ruuuuules.  Shame, shame.  Go ahead and add him to the list of Louisiana’s finest politicos.  Tough break, Congressman.  Tough break.

Also, it’s my little sister Ryan (affectionately known as Baby Ryan since conception)’s 17th birthday.  Holy moly, we’re getting old.  The Gwaltney girls are growin’ into little Gwaltney ladies.  It’s killin’ me, buddies.  I’m taking her to get her nails done and then to have lunch at Owen Brennan’s.  (Yes, the same Brennan family that has all the restaurants in Louisiana.)  Homegirl is gettin’ movie star treatment tonight — her boyfriend John is taking her to Texas de Brazil in downtown Memphis tonight.  Hopefully she has an amazing day… I’m not gonna lie, I’m really lookin’ forward to spendin’ some one on one time with her.  I can’t remember the last time I had a date with her.  She’s so gorgeous.  Always knew she would be — she had these curls and this brown sugar colored skin from the day she was born, eyelashes for miles, these tiny little freckles surrounding the corners of her eyes… ladygirl is magic.  So date today will be much appreciated and wildly enjoyable.  Party hard, Gwaltney girl.

Right then, must attend to a few bits of minor house cleaning (figuratively speaking, of course) pre-celebration.

Be lovely.

Rain.

It’s 5:37 in the morning and it’s been raining since 2.  There’s nothing I love more than a bit of late night heat lightning that gradually accelerates into full on thunder and rain.  It’s so peaceful… the perfect beginning to the end of summer.

Whilst laid up post-op, I’ve been steadily working my way through the On Demand offerings on Comcast.  Tonight’s discovery was Showtime’s Nurse Jackie.  Wow, wow, wow.  Edie Falco is electric.  The entire cast is genius, the format is perfect, the writing is brilliant… holy moly.  I know I’m late on this one, but this is definitely my new favorite medical drama.  Plus that goooooodlookin’ young man from Twilight, the dad one, is a doofus semi-likeable doctor man.  Yes, please.

Enjoying my third cup of coffee since 4:30.  My nights and days are ruined, thanks to pain relievers.  I’m in the process of phasing those out completely, though, so I’ll hopefully be back on a somewhat normal sleep schedule after this weekend.  Feet are healing really well, got the initial dressings taken off and saw what they looked like — I’m so excited and amazed at what surgeons are capable of.  Wow.  They’re actually feet-shaped.  They were hella swollen and slightly bruised, but within a few more weeks I should be able to debut my new feet to the Memphis-area, hooray.

Okay, back to Nurse Jackie.  (I’m on my 8th episode.)

Be good, smile pretty.

My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now.