From the flight

I wrote the following on the flight to O'ahu:

Everything has gone pretty smoothly thus far: take-off was pretty smooth, and even the baby is pretty good considering how young she appears to be. There are a couple of children on board. There was an interesting incident in the boarding gate area with one of them. As I’m approaching the boarding agents, a woman came up beside me, and asked a different attendant if getting something that was left outside of the terminal was possible (I don’t know where exactly). She was with a little girl who appeared to be about six or seven years of age, and the girl was clearly crying: hiccoughs, red face, tears and hugging her arms to her body. I had to board, so I couldn’t find out exactly what was happening or what was lost. Then, as almost everyone has been seated, a PA announcement occurs: “We have a beige teddy bear named Theodore here who is looking for his mommy,” and an arm slowly appears with a teddy bear from the front exit door, and the bear waves a paw. There was a chorus of “Aww” and the little girl from before came running up the aisle with a face of longing to be reunited with her dear toy. Her face on the way back was a mixture of joy (what a beautiful smile) and regret for ever having lost him.

This little event will no doubt be remembered by the girl, and her family for a while. For the rest of the passengers, they probably won’t remember this by the end of their vacation. I however, hope I remember it for a long time, because I learned something from it. I found myself thinking about how we long to be reunited with people who we love, or loved and lost, or people we care about who we have never met. In the same way, our soul longs for our Father and Creator, whether we already know and love Him; whether we once knew Him; and whether we never knew Him. Our soul has always known Him, for He created us, and our soul loves Him because He loves us. I long to be in His Presence, and to Know Him personally.

Procrastinating...

I am a student, therefore I procrastinate. I procrastinate, therefore I experience high stress. I experience high stress, therefore I try to avoid getting stressed, which then leads me back to procrastination.

A vicious semi-cycle, one that will only end if I could stop being a student, which I can't.

My geography final is at 7pm tonight, and wouldn't you know it, I started studying yesterday. And I hadn't read anything from the textbook since the midterm (that would be eleven chapters ago). I still haven't finished studying, but I'm using the excuse that I don't want a fried brain for the final, to take the time to post.

It also doesn't help that in approximately forty-four hours, I will be on a plane to Hawai'i. And that because the flight leaves in the morning (and none of my fellow travellers are morning people, I'm probably the closest thing to it), we will be staying overnight at the Fairmont Hotel located in the airport, which leaves me even less time to pack, and begins our trip fifteen hours earlier than if we didn't. I still have yet to buy shorts, tank tops, some unmentionables, bobby pins and a movie to watch on the plane (thank goodness for laptops!- Juno perhaps?). On the bright side, I DO have a bathing suit that I love, a make-up travel bag almost packed except for the everyday stuff, money converted into USD, the more dressy of my clothes laid out, manicure/pedicure and waxing done. Knowing that the trip will happen whether or not I study, and whether or not I fail is not much of an incentive to do anything but think about Hawai'i.

Hawai'i: must take surf lessons, must not drown, must tandem skydive, must not get a faulty parachute, must visit Polynesian Cultural Centre, must not act like a stupid tourist (I hate that!), must get a tan, must not burn, must relax, must not think about school, must get along with other travellers, must not trust everyone, must enjoy the delicious local food, must not gain weight.

Currently, I'm down 12.6 lbs.

Have you noticed, O reader, that this post is losing its cohesiveness, just because I don't really want to get back to studying? Ugh. I think every student who blogs, must have at least one post that is considering and lamenting the fallacies of and procrastination.

One more paragraph before I return to studying: it's a beautiful day, and I wish I could focus enough to allow myself to study outside. It's the first purely sunny day in a while, and I'm stuck inside the university library studying. There's about ten people in my line of sight from the window that are basking and studying in the sun. I am so jealous. It had better be sunny for the entire trip.

Explanations

Upon reflection, I decided that I ought to explain the reasoning behind this blog's name. The insipiration came from the title of a music album: "Roadmaps and Revelations."

Roadmaps: Life is a journey that has been set before us. We pick our direction and how we travel, but we need a map. My map: the Bible. This relates to events in my life as I seek to live according to my roadmap.

Revelations: As we live our lives, we are constantly realising things about ourselves, others and for me, about God. These revelations are important, and I plan to share some of them; others are so personal, that despite the anonymity of the internet, I won't share them here.

Raindrops: Drops of news, stories, thoughts that I wish to share. I like the rain in general, so don't think that these will be 'sad' drops. Think rather of raindrops that fall on a sunny day in spring or summer; isn't such rain refreshing and cheering? And as the last raindrops fall: a rainbow, which serves to remind us that God has promised to protect us.

The First

The First is always a bit of a conundrum. The First Child causes parents unparalleled confusion and joy. The First Day of School is exciting and scary (for child and parent). The First Day on the Job is full of questions, mishaps and raised eyebrows. The First Goal for a team is the most memorable experience, but only when the team isn't losing disastrously. The First Visit to a Foreign Place is marked by wonder, disorientation and newness. The First Chapter must be fun and intriguing.

And just as The Firsts listed above, for The First Entry, I feel torn between two possible styles: a dedication, or something clever. The former style feels so cliche, but also appropriate. The latter feels more fashionable, but I don't feel quite clever enough to come up with one with less than four days to think about it.

I therefore take the opportunity of The First Entry, to dedicate this website to what I find important or funny, as well as my opinions on certain subjects and narrations of my adventures in the Life that has been given to me by the Creator who is great, and awesome.