Pauline Ball

My grandma is in the hospital. It's been a super rough week... and continues to be... hard.

I don't want this to be a sap story. Just a request for prayer. And an ode to one of the incredible women in my life who made me into what I am today.

I love you Grammy.

Farewell good friend!

I had to scrape my windshield this morning. This can only mean one thing... I'm getting older. In high school I would simply turn defrost on full blast and the moment a dime's size of clarity would appear, I'd blazenly peel out of my driveway. No more. Now I actually keep an ice scraper in my vehicle... one with an extendable handle at that.

There's also another thing scraping my windshield alerts me of... summer is over. Up in a puff of smoke (literally in Missoula's case) So as I careen towards a season of chaotic activity, I bid it all adieu.

Reflecting on these last three months, I realize I've said good bye to a lot of things: my aspirations of getting to the gym, my pasty white skin, my beautiful youth students, hot tea, my best friend Ruthie, the original glass on my vehicle, my teaching job, my JusChill'n work shirts, my parent's house...

In the process of letting it all go, I've actually gotten to say lots of hellos as well: hello Chi Alpha, hello girls who I missed so much, hello hobo spiders, hello close proximity to campus, hello 40 hours a week, hello brisk morning air, hello awkward reference to a Japanese feline.

It's all a circle I guess, one says hello, another says goodbye... good think Jesus likes the former!