What I Learned

Bleach will turn knee highs an interesting yellow/cream color.

I guess I'll only wear that pair with closed-toe shoes now.

What I Learned

When setting your alarm, it is of utmost importance to make sure you don't mess up the actual time otherwise the following conversation will take place.  

Knock on door.

Sr. B (my companion): Sr. Relish?

Me: Yes? (Half awake out of a dead sleep)

Sr. B: Um we were supposed to leave at 5:30.

Me (looking at clock): It's 4:37.

Sr. B: No. It's 5:30.

5 minutes later I was sitting in the van.  And that was after the Sr. in charge said we were leaving not a second after 5:30.... Whoops.  

They Call Me...

Sr. Relish.

Yep, as of last week I am officially called Sr.  It's taking some getting used to, but gradually it's becoming less weird to hear people put Sr. in front of my name.

August 2nd my companions and I entered deeper into our journey on the way to become Salesian Sisters.  We are now novices.  For the next two years we will be more completely living the life of a Sr. as we study the Constitutions of the Institute and the vows.  At the end of the two years, we will then make our first professions.

Oh and now we wear gray.  I've learned very quickly wearing an apron is critical.  Within 24 hours I managed to spill balsamic vinegar on it and then have to wipe it off immediately so it wouldn't stain.

Other fun things I've learned in my two weeks at the novitiate.

- Be careful when walking down hill. The rocks can move and you can almost sprain your ankle.
- I'm not allergic to poison ivy.  At least, I don't think so, but I don't want to test that theory.
- Double check your clock after setting your alarm to make sure it still has the correct time.

It's looking to be a very educational two years.

I Just Laughed

Our theme for camp this week is friendship and enjoying each other.  Father used pets as a model in the morning assembly because Don Bosco had a guardian angel that came in the form a dog.  Father encouraged us to talk about each others' pets during the day.  I sat down to lunch and was asking my table of 10 and 11 year old girls about their pets.  One looks at me and asked if I have any pets. My reply was of course no.  Another girl goes, "No she has 7 brothers and sisters. But that's kind of like having pets."

Never Say Never

People say all the time never say never because never is a long time.  Slowly but surely I'm beginning to see why.  You end up eating some humble pie.

As a child I said, "I'm never moving out." - I now live over 800 miles away from home...
In grade school I said, "I'm never going to be a teacher."  - I went to college as an education major and I entered an order where the primary ministry is teaching...
As an education major I said, "I never want to work with middle school, that'd be way too hard."  - Last year I taught 7th grade CCD and was in charge of the 13 year old boys for camp...
Prior to and after working with middle schoolers, I said, "I never want to work with any group younger than 1st or 2nd grade.  It takes a special type of person to handle those little ones."  - This summer I'm helping with the 4 and 5 year olds at camp...

I think God's just sitting up there waiting for me to say never again so He can laugh and say "Just wait."

Epiphany on the Epiphany

Today in his homily, our pastor was talking about how we are in a new year and we have to enter into it with new enthusiasm and energy, but sometimes we keep going and going and we run out of gas. In those times we have to keep praying even though we want to call it quits and throw in the towel.  Then he started singing a song from camp, "Give gas in my Ford, keep me trucking, trucking, trucking. Give me gas in my Ford I pray...." The song went on to relate to trucking along for God.

My mind however made a whole other connection.  Back in high school, I had a friend(s) who weren't exactly big Ford fans. (Disclaimer: For those of you who are big fans of Ford vehicles I am neither saying I am or am not against Ford here.  Simply using this for reflectional purposes.) They said that Ford actually stood for Fix On Road Daily.  Here's were my epiphany comes in.  In that moment of Father singing about giving gas in my Ford,  I pictured a truck on the side of the road in need of gas. Just like the Ford we all need fixed on the road on a daily basis by God, so in the car brands of life, we're all sort of Fords.

What I've Learned in the Last Few Days

1. Polyester melts.

2. Duct Tape doesn't actually fix everything.

3. Chaperoning 1st grade girls on a field trip to go Christmas caroling and then eat at McDonald's is tiring, but well worth it when they spontaneously lead the whole bus of 1st - 8th grade students in Christmas Carols.

4. Chocolate chips don't always melt like they should.

5. I prefer eating oatmeal raisin cookies to baking them. (Thank goodness Sister is very understanding and she said just try again after the first batch flopped.)

6. Don't forget you're shoes outside because that will be the one day it actually rains. 

I think that's everything.