Sweet Summertime

It’s Monday, the most dreaded day of the week…but I am able to manage this one because this weekend was such a sweet launch into summertime!

Even though I’ve been carefully counting my calories lately, I have decided to give myself a break on the weekends.  A day or two of going over my count is surely not going to break me of my cycle and scale even provided proof on Saturday, with another pound lost!  High five to me!

Actually the number on the scale was a shock because I consumed way too many calories on Friday night as I spent some quality time hanging out with my cousin, Olivia.  Popcorn, pizza and a movie.  It was the first time she’s been to my apartment since I moved in last March, so it was about time.  We had fun laughing at our goofy selves and texting each other funny lines from the movie, from only feet away from one another.  Oh technology, how you have spoiled us!

Saturday morning included a webinar on Legal Interpreting, which provided such a wealth of information.  It shows how much I have yet to learn, but also provided some great pointers of where to start and how to better myself in preparation for the type of interpreting that I hope to do one day.  My friend, Nicci, came over to go over some ideas of how we’re going to continue working on our skills in interpreting.  I think we’re on the right track and pulled together quite a few resources, so now we just need to buckle down and do it!

After some skills practice in fingerspelling, receptive skills and a bit of voicing (wow – that’s not easy!) we headed out to the new local restaurant, Avenue Eats on Washington Avenue.  It’s a tiny little place, but with great menu full of big flavors!  I had the black bean sliders (don’t they look yummy – picture above) with a fresh side salad.  Nicci had the chicken caesar sandwich and fries and our water came in this adorable bottle.  We sat out on the porch to enjoy to beautiful weather.  I must apologize to the people that say behind us for all of the laughter that took place coming from our table.  Our conversations can get out of control sometimes! Hehe!

Some shopping at Target took place and then an evening of more crazy, laughter-filled conversating took place back at my house.  It was really nice to not worry about the clock and just enjoy some girl time.  Thanks for lunch too, Nicci!

Sunday included an early morning at church practicing with the praise band before the service, then signing 3 out of 4 songs, as well as 15 minutes of the sermon.  I think I did pretty well keeping up with Pastor Tim’s message, though there were a few points that his speed increased and I was sure my arms were going to dislocate from my shoulders.  Oh interpreting fun!

The afternoon was spent hanging out with the family and enjoying some burgers and hotdogs from the grill, poolside, before I went to Bible study at Pastor Adam’s.  I picked up Bobby and as we pulled up at Adam’s, he said that he saw Denise, a former teacher of ours.  Luckily we were early and so we had a few minutes to talk with her.  I got some answers to questions that I’ve been wanting to ask and she invited me back to visit and sign with her sometime. I intend to take her up on that!

Bible study was amazing, with a whole new twist of looking at scripture – an English-language lover’s dream.  We focused on 18 points of content contained within the 9 verses (Matthew 14:13-21), picking out repetitive phrases, contrasting terms, symbolism, analogies and phrases that portrayed foreshadowing of events.  It was a foreign concept to me, but it really helped to capture the heart of the passage through each of us sharing portions that stood out to us.

The scripture talks about the feeding of the 5,000 that took place shortly after Jesus’ hearing of the beheading of John the Baptist.  Despite His grief, Jesus had compassion for His followers, that He took the time to heal the sick. He didn’t send them away, demanding to leave Him alone to grieve, He walked amongst them and tended to their needs, just like we put aside our plans and tend to the needs of others when the situation arises.

I also took away that the disciples approached Jesus with a task that they felt to be impossible, feeding a crowd of 5,000 with only 5 loaves and 2 fishes, and so they demanded that the crowd be sent away to fend for themselves.  But Jesus instructs them that they will feed these people, but to bring the loaves and fish to him, in which he breaks before sending out the disciples to dispense of the food within the crowd.  Jesus asks us to do the same thing with tasks that we deem to be impossible.  He tells us that we can do it, but that it is only by coming to Him and by His power, that we’re able to go out and complete the task before us.

5 loaves, 2 fish = With God all things are possible.