Quick Takes (11)

Can't seem to find anything to write about lately, so I figured I'd get my quick takes done early for a change and actually link 'em up with Jen and all the Friday faithful.

1. Despite the fact that I've already done the whole graduation thing, I find myself feeling oddly nostalgic and senior-y this time of year. I blame it on the fact that some of my closest friends are a couple years younger so they're in the midst of finishing up school right now. It's not fun to think about all of us being in different cities next year with completely different schedules. It was hard enough coordinating schedules this year when they were all still in school. It's definitely going to take a lot more intentional acts, like scheduling times to talk and finding times to visit.

2. In an attempt to become a better friend, I've been trying to spend less time "liking" things on Facebook and more time emailing/texting/calling my friends. As much as I enjoy being able to keep up with the people I care about via their status updates and pictures, I started to notice I was using it as an excuse for not actually communicating. I'd see pictures of their vacations or read their statuses about plans after graduation and think I knew what was going on in their lives. And I guess in a way I did...but there's so much more to our lives than what we post on Facebook. I wanted more than that false sense of connection, so I cut my brain's vacation short and made plans to reconnect with friends I've lost touch with. I read an article today that brought up some of the same points but in a much better way--here ya go!

3. Confession--I started watching Revenge last week and I'm already caught up on the most recent episode...I would feel more guilty about this if the show weren't only in its second season. But still...I can't say I'm proud. Haha

4. I was walking through town the other day and spotted this little guy. Gotta love the country :)

5. Super intrigued by what can only be described as the newest addition to our grocer's produce aisle.

6. Last weekend six of my friends came to visit!! I don't think I need to explain how needed that was...One of the interesting things that came up was a conversation one of the girls had with a Jewish rabbi who was speaking at an interfaith gathering. Apparently during the event, the Christian representative mentioned something about Catholics praying for the conversion of Jews on Holy Thursday (or is it Good Friday...?). Anyway, the rabbi said that he insulted by that. My friend explained to him that we do it because we believe we have the fullness of the truth and we want others to have it as well. She said it's like parents praying that their children grow up to embrace their faith, too. And then he shared something we were all a little confused by. He said that he wouldn't want to encourage his kids to practice Judaism if they didn't want to, even though he wholeheartedly believed it was the right religion. Hmmm...

7. Despite the fact that I haven't been helping out with Religious Ed classes since December (so many things I slacked on due to my internship... :-/), I like to think I made up for it by making it to our last class. Haha wishful thinking I'm sure. Though my guilt lessened slightly when I found out that my co-teacher's mom ended up taking over the class because M didn't have time to teach either...but she was there Wednesday too! Two of the kids acknowledged my re-appearance with a hug, while the rest didn't seem to remember me every being there in the first place. Perhaps that's why none of them listened to a word either of us said the entire time. They make look cute but they sure know how to push buttons.