themes

this week’s theme has been: 

a.) scrambled eggs.

b.) couch.

c.) wedding invitations for every weekend this summer (almost).

d.) check email.

e.) research/write/research/write/research/cite/watchoffice/research/email

f.) drink grapefruit soda

g.) worry my voice is not ok.

h.) wonder when people will get to hear my new voicemail.

i.) chat with people who have lives.

j.) not leave my house for anything.

h.) think about cleaning my room.

i.) watch hannah dance around about arthur coming on.

therefore this is not summer. it is “lie on the couch silently, work hard and go to other peoples weddings…” uh, season.

😦  i need to stop posting about my life until it is worth reading.

bad news day

First bad news today:

Word Count: 2,700 (needed 5000)

Second:

You dad needs to complete a new Tuition waiver form with HR to get the benefit for the summer quarter.  Once this is completed, you will owe $2560.00.

Third:

Pain after surgery is not severe, and rarely requires more than over the counter pain relievers. Complications include temporary numbness or tingling of the tongue, and damage to teeth, especially if there are crowns or if the teeth are in poor condition to begin with. The most challenging complication is vocal fold scar.

Good news of the day:

I am in school and working and able to access medical care.  God blesses me and reminds me the hard way sometimes.

souper!

i have no idea why i can’t get “lets make the rudder out of my guitar.” out of my head.

update on current me: im very sick  it’s ridiculous because i think i have a dangerously high pain tolerance and yet ive been basically couchridden for 2 days.  maybe throat and all-around ickiness is one of those types i cant handle, but i think im actually just pretty ill.

update on past me: in the hospital, the nurse said it was okay to cough (i dont remember this but my parents told me the entire first day that she okayed it.)  turns out its not okay, i might as well have been singing “LETS MAKE THE RUDDER OUT OF MY GUITAR” loudly for the first 13 hrs.  Called the doctor cause i now can’t stop coughing and they said don’t you dare cough.

also, in the hospital, i tried to suck ice and water up a spoon thinking it was a straw.  the man nurse’s reaction was priceless and i just went back to sleep.

current me again: i do work all day for hours, then watch one episode of the office, then do more work.  there’s praying sure, but no running.  i can barely breathe through my throat when im NOT running outside

future me: i have the world’s most difficult paper ever due on sunday, work to do for VA, a huge groups assignment, and two other papers to work on.  i am a bit concerned.

update on my amazing friends:

Becca hyland wins the booby prize (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booby_prize) not the booby for my AMAZING GIFT BASKET.  it has:

• a loofah that looks like a monkey (hugging me)
• 10 flavors (yes flavors) of playdoh.
• a LUCKY magazine.
• tissue paper.
• pedicure stuff!
• post its.
• an amazing giant black sharpie.
• a hug.
• a delicious sobe.
• shiny pinwheels.

Dan: came on day 1 and brought me a pen connected by shiny bling to a sweet pad of paper.

Chris: left mystery raspberry sherbet on the porch.  I sent hannah (my minion) to fetch it.

Brenna Cammeron!: sent me a sweet notecard that made me smile.

Jason Barber: brought me all sorts of DVDs and CDs!  to be returned.

oh wait, 1st runner up to the booby prize: iris wilcox and her family brought my mom a cake that looks like it should be at a wedding, not my house. and they brought once (the irish musical).

second runner up: VanDamme sent flowers!  amazing!  i’ve never recieved flowers from a van delivering directly to me!  they’re GORGEOUS and the little man who dropped them off said i would sing like a bird soon.

mom: has been doting on me and giving me ginger ale, rice pudding (its gone..noooooo) and today new clothes to cheer me up.  i feel especially loved and quite annoying.

oh and bec brought scrabble and wouldve won if i hadnt quit. and she brought the office (whose season 1 i’ve finished)

i feel as though i am missing something.  God blessed me with great friends and a great dad who got me a new charger for my laptop last night (it died with very bad timing.)  it had fried itself.  he had to go all the way to VICTOR for the new one. 🙂  okay, rambling. thanks for the prayers!

for crying out not loud!

Today i woke up feeling worse throat-wise, and even a little scared. My throat wasnt supposed to hurt this much, and I’m not allowed to cough or clear my throat but can’t help it and do it anyways. Basically, I think my voice is doomed.

Also found out yesterday that the thing they took off wasn’t a polyp, but rather part of some weird virus that “likely returns” but can be treated with a laser next time. so i’m more down in the dumps today than you’d normally ever encounter in terms of Becca-relations.

other items of note:

a.) my room is a shambles. its so messy and i dont feel up to cleaning it at all.

b.) i emailed my professor about my hardest class ever. he is an amazing instructor, (if we were at a phd level) but gives us more intensive assignments per week than i’ve ever HEARD of. It’s a class way above my level in general and this surgery has made me think i’d like to try an “incomplete” and finish next quarter when i can fully participate.

the problem is: i already missed the entire jazz festival and all last weekend and other summer weekends because i was doing work for the course. it makes me not want to drop it now. i still feel better already after emailing him. but its humbling. quite humbling.

c.) im probably not getting a phd. not 100 percent sure, but likely not.

d.) my laptop charger died. bad bad timing.

e.) visit me?

I like vandamme cause theyre letting me work from home this week. and having office luncheons while im not around. how dare they have fun without me. 🙂

miserable.

well: things i’ve figured out

a.) walk around = throw up(ish).

b.) tastes good = nothing.

c.) throat = kills.

d.) ability to not make any sound = impossible. ive already messed up.

e.) sign language = wont work, my hands are still screwy from earlier today.

f.) siblings = caleb is adorable and sweet (first day anyway) and answers my cowbell ringing.  hopefully wont need that for more than a day or two.

so seriously, i cant do this. and it hurts. ah..

lack of posts/request

i am ridiculously busy.

im sorry i rarely post.

i need music with no words so that when i am post-surgery, unable to sing along, i wont forget and try and wreck my voice.  so, will you recommend songs/make me a new cd?  thanks!

everyone likes exotic coasters.

just a point ive been making recently to friends traveling abroad and wanting practical gifts  you can’t go wrong with exotic coasters.  i bought two sets (one for papa and one for my ceo.)  I wish id gotten more, but uh, i do have 3-4 suitcases of merchandise for sale on saturday-see craigslist:

http://rochester.craigslist.org/clt/717212253.html

anyway, my house is loud and filled with extra teenagers.  they consume all the food and beverages, leaving me with water and old mushrooms in the fridge.  They’re here for the celtics game and im starting to want the series to be finished.  series?  championship. finals. whatever.

im very tired.  i realized in the beginning of the week (monday!) that if i dont stay on top of my 25 hours of classwork per week, i will fall behind.  so i attempted to stay on top of it (and did!) but i miss people already and there’ll be more of this where all that came from.  schedule: work 8-5, dinner, work on hw til 12.

😦

when possible, i combine dinner with jeoprady.  Concerning me today: i’ve gotten most questions right the past several times ive watched it (unless i was with rachel metzger because she is intimidating).  It scares me how i get the final jeoprady question right every night, from “colonial pennames” to “numbers”.  NUMBERS?!  how could i get it right!?  every contestant got it wrong.  it’s terrifying.  if i had time, i’d go whoop up all over.  hurrah for trivial matters and pointless knowledge!

more bragging about my skills in english and humanities.  someone spank me with words in the comments section.  that is, if you think you can use them as well as i can.

have i ever posted about the sermon i heard by tim keller concerning prayer?  the one that says it’s harder to pray for 30 minutes than preach for 30 minutes?  he says he’s had a few bad sermons, rambled, etc. but NEVER NEVER so bad that he FORGOT he was PREACHING!  thats how hard it is to pray. i do it often (get really distracted) and frankly, i’m sick of it.  all we are as christians is how we are in prayer cause anything else could be a show.  but prayer is between you and God and no one knows how much you do it.

this weekend is a long one.  making bracelets for a mission trip friday night, then selling african crafts at church saturday then fathers day!  workend weather is partly funny with a chance of scattered homework.

p.s. i really hope you all know i’m joking about my skills.  sometimes i trouble use words and soon not speak all.

522

I got 522 points in Scrabble today vs. Becca 2, a g-r-e-a-t p-l-a-y-e-r.

3 different bingos. mom read this article about me in associations now, (which is a BIG deal publication for associations and companies like mine who work WITH nonprofits/associations).  The only thing she mentioned?  “I love how you say you WON at Scrabble.  You’re bragging.  Couldnt you have left that out? it says a lot about who you REALLY are.”

I feel i ought to explain  Monopoly and Scrabble are my talents.  I am also a remarkable thumb wrestler.  I dont feel bad about a.) not being good at games like halo and b.) bragging about board games (since theyre all im really good at and you cant take that away!)

My new online courses are extremely overwhelming. Last quarter, i took the worst online course of my life.  the teacher communicated with us about 7 times and it was the easiest (but scariest) A i’ve gotten in a while

THIS quarter, i expect to spend 12 hours a week on each course.  They have streaming lectures, group assignments, and people actually discuss!  i logged in for my first time and there were already 100 unread discussion messages. terrifying.  i think i’ll learn a lot but have no life (and it is summer too!)

I get daily emails from Africa. These include the following stories:

a.) Henry: the program is going well and only the perseverent guardians and single moms are still around.  They’re meeting and trying to grow the field, which is too dry and without a waterpump, won’t grow a thing for all their hard work.  I think soap-making is going to be the way to go.  They want candy and prayers for the days spent teaching kids and praying together.  Praise: it’s going well.  Prayer: Money and wisdom concerning registering the nonprofit and getting a pump.

b.)  Mathias (who sent back african products for me to sell) is quite desperate for me to sell them ASAP.  He is a pastor who only is paid through selling crafts.  It appears his family (with several smal children) may be kicked out of their house (no rent money) and his church thinks i’ve sent money but i havent sent a penny yet.  Praise: He can email cause he learned computers. Prayer request: basically, theyre losing everything.

c.) Samuel is our headmaster of the school, teacher/admin/pastor. He writes me to let me know about the kids at the school.  I guess they’re doing great and additional kids have been coming.  Then he said his wife (10 hrs away) was in an accident and he has no money to go see her.  😦  She is probably going to die because the medical bill is 35k shillings and he has 10k.

Theres a theme here. Everyone needs money for something.  And i have it too, some, but i dont know to whom or how to send it!

I am overwhelmed about how to sell these things.  Today i talked about it in church and the members offered to help me sell them on saturday (at our chicken bbq!) and promised prayers.

Then an older woman, one so poor she borders on homeless, came over to me and handed me two envelopes.  She said it was for africa.  she kept shrugging and saying “its just, for africa”.  I had specifically said i didnt need more money immediately, but that i needed prayers and help (which she offered to do, door to door).  When i opened the envelopes i found change and another envelope, that said, “Emergency Money Only.”

People surprise me sometimes and make  me want to be so surprising.  I’m working on learning what true beauty is (in our girls’ bible study).  I want to be remembered for being a gorgeous person filled with grace inside.  Unfortunately, i’m the farthest i know from it now–loud, intimidating, boisterous and annoying, rash, and quick.  I think not being able to talk for a month is going to be a really, really great thing (especially for others around me too).

Saturday I managed to clean my room, clean my car, do about 10 assignments (seriously), go to two free cone day friendly’s, get kicked out of the mall (hadnt been in one yet so far this year and dont plan to return anytime in the near future), go to the beach, build a BIG sandcastle for a hedgehog, and see kung fu panda/indiana jones at the drive-in.  Please pray i can stop feeling guilty whenever i have a good day?  You dont need to comment/write and say it’s wrong to and everyone needs a break sometimes–i know.  I just cant seem to make myself believe in it.

Update

This won’t be long, but it will be informative.

Past:

Saw Hutton marry his love in Baltimore last weekend.  wedding was beautiful and his new family is awesome.

Weekend involved:

1. Country music in the punchtatorship mobile down and back.
2. seeing old old friends and dancing in the non airconditioned little italy place.
3. asking arricka TWICE to do my hair and feeling pretty.
4. red sox game at camden yards.  awesome seats and stimulating conversation.
5. saying bye to friends.
6. experiencing SHEETZ.

Present:

Back at VanDamme, working on stuff for the school and foundation in Kenya, back in grad courses.  Too busy.  overwhelmed.  happy my friends are around but trying to manage hanging out with many of em every night.  If i’ve invited you somewhere then invited six other people, im sorry.  im not sure what to do yet. i love you all.

Future:

Surgery in July on my vocal cords.  they put me under, remove the nasty thing, i go home from the hospital and cant speak (or mouth words) for a week.  then i can speak 5 minutes an hour for the next week.  then 10. so three weeks of not talking.  funny, right?

stop laughing now i mean it.

anybody wanna peanut?