My mind is whirring. Distracted. A glimpse.

Oh man.  I have a paper due on Monday morning.  Due to me trying to observe the Sabbath in 2011, and also being such a procrastinator, I only have 7 more hours to start and finish said paper.  I have all of my resources within arms' length (or on various tabs and windows on the computer). I have my margins and font size set. I have a ridiculous and unnecessary title figured out.  I have an idea (obviously, because I have a title to work off of) of what the overall theme of the paper will be.  I am inspired, even, by the content that the paper has potential to have.  I am just so. distracted.

For instance, I am listening to this station, which means every 3-4 minutes I have to check off that I like the song playing.  Sometimes I find that I've already checked it off.

I've been working on this paper since last night, so in the time it's taken to get as far as I am in the paper-writing process, I've watched the Twins lose twice, and the Pirates win once.  What is wrong with this picture?!?  Some who have known me for a long time might say that I am opting to watch baseball on tv instead of doing something academic, and that is what's wrong.  Others who know baseball better might have a different take.

In other news, we decided that we are going to go to Niagara Falls for Easter!! WOO!  Check and check.  So of course I've spent the morning looking up the pros and cons of visiting the Canada side or the U.S. side, the pros and cons of going to the Falls at the end of April, and the pros and cons of visiting over Easter.  And I spent a significant amount of time looking through many, many google images of the Falls in every season, and every year.  Granted, we have three more weeks until we will be there, but it is never to soon to start learning about Niagara Falls!  Especially when you have a  paper deadline looming.  Pray that it will be warm enough for them to be running the Maid of the Mist.

Last night while watching the game and trying to get my thoughts together, I decided I want to know how to make soap.  Let me tell you, it is very interesting.  I also am short on time, supplies, and skills, so it might be something I will have to bookmark until summer.  Or 2012's New Year's resolution list.

Also in the news, I started exercising this week.  At first, I thought I might just start out with some gentle exercise, like yoga.  But after watching some examples of yoga on youtube, I decided that I would be highly bored by yoga.  I know it's probably more than just stretching and posing, but I felt like I would need something a little more stimulating, and something that would remind me that I worked out the next day (ie, pain in my non-existent muscles). So of course I chose Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred (which I think is the exact opposite of yoga....in many ways).  I had read many good reviews on it, and it was less than $10, so I figured what the heck?  I am not a morning person by nature, so I figured that I would be more likely to stick with it if I worked out at night.  So far, I've done it Monday-last night.  Let me tell you....the first couple mornings I knew what it must be like to be 100 years old.  Stiff, hurt to walk or lift anything more than 3 ounces, etc.  BUT, it gets better!  Sitting here right now, there is little to no muscular aches at all.  And the workouts are getting a little better too.  I have learned been reminded of the fact that I really, really do not like jumping jacks.  I feel very ungraceful and tired while doing them.  But it's a small price to pay for less snug pants.  I don't really have any measurable goals for this workout.  We don't really have any measuring devices in our apartment, so that's probably why I won't know my starting or ending weight, or my starting or ending hip (or whatever people measure when they workout) measurements.  And that's ok.  I really don't care.  Just would like to be in better shape.

Well, I should get to that paper.  It is a church history paper.  Last semester the class was like jumping jacks for me.  This semester it is getting better.  We are split into groups based on whatever topic we choose between worship, catechesis, and theology.  I am in one of the catechesis (disciple-making and spiritual formation) groups. So this semester I am learning about church history through the lens of how catechesis was viewed in the medieval and reformation times.  It is very inspirational.  The first paper of the semester, I wrote about the value of holistic teaching (based on how it was viewed from the likes of Alcuin, Anselm, and Walter Hilton in the 700-1300s, and then how we can apply it to today)...and for this paper I plan on writing about the responsibilities of the one teaching, and what needs of the student need to be taken into consideration (based on how it was viewed from the likes of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin in the 1500s, and how we can apply it today).  I wonder how it will look specifically for me in the future.

Man though.  I wish I wasn't so distracted.  I mean, it is almost dinner time.  I wonder if it is acceptable to put avocado on a pizza?