Rest, Relaxation and. . . Scheduling?!

I just got off the phone with my mom. Of course, she had the requisite motherly advice and admonitions about my impending college career (mainly, reminding me to call my roommate sometime). Once we got all of that out of the way, she began rattling off the litany of appointments I need to keep during my almost-two-weeks at home, "resting" from my summer of nannying. Rest? Yeah, right. My time at home looks something like this:

August 7th-- arrive home

August 8th-- meet a friend in Rapid City

August 9th-- come home from Rapid

August 10th-- go to Medora Musical with parents & their friends; possibly meet up with boyfriend's family to spend rest of week, returning the 12th or 13th

August 15th-- Dr. appointment in Dickinson

August 16th-- meet friend in Bowman

August 17th-- hair appointment

August 18th-- leave for college

Somewhere in there I need to fit in working at the radio station so I can (a) get a couple of hours in and (b) tape myself for a station I am applying to. Suffice it to say that I am going to have little time for relaxation of any type. Not that there's anything wrong with that; it's just that being with my family stresses me out majorly. Being gone all summer will make it even worse: Mom will want every little detail I forgot to tell her in my calls home; my sisters will want to catch me up on their lives; my brother will want to bond; Dad will want to talk about, well, whatever Dad and I talk about. Not to mention that some of my other friends want to get together.

Whew! Maybe it would have been easier to just stay home all summer. On second thought, how about not. At least here I get to relax.

Taboo Topics

My aunt and I had a discussion today. I guess it was inevitable; we have talked about everything else: money, politics, music, sex, relationships. Really, it's amazing we didn't have this chat sooner. The topic was the most volatile of all: religion.

I'm not entirely sure how the subject came up, but I distinctly remember how the conversation twisted and turned, touching on issues most people wouldn't dare approach. One of the major subjects we talked about was the infamous legend of The Da Vinci Code. I related my mother's reaction when I enlightened her about the story; she was outraged I could even fathom such a thing! My aunt and I, however, find nothing wrong with the thought of Jesus having a family. How is that supposed to affect my faith? Yes, it makes Him more human, but in a good way. I like the thought of God marrying and having children; it makes Him seem less intimidating and more approachable. I find it much easier to relate to a man who loved a woman wholeheartedly than someone who wandered this earth all alone before sacrificing Himself for a multitude of people whom he loved (in my thinking) on principle.

Another issue of contention among Christians is exactly how literally the Bible is to be interpreted. Did God create the world in precisely 6 days, or did He "use" evolution as a tool to accomplish His ultimate goal? Did Jonah really live in the belly of a fish for a period of time? What about all of those prophecies in Daniel and Revelations? Are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse literal, or figurative? And who are the churches singled out for loving rebuke?

I read an article stating that Jesus' may not have been the "virgin birth" we have all been led to believe. What if Mary and Joseph had been "together" as the Bible puts it? Does that make the concept of a child "conceived of the Holy Spirit" any less likely? Is any of this important to my core beliefs? Not really.

I was raised to accept all of the traditional "Christian" beliefs unquestioningly. If I told my mother that I don't care whether or not Mary was a virgin, she would probably tell me to talk to her when I had my head on straight. Knowing this, I am not planning on discussing my personal beliefs with her any time soon. Her rigidity is one thing I find both extremely admirable and excruciatingly frustrating. How does she know how things were? Was she there? (No, because reincarnation is certainly out of the question, at least in her mind.) She knows as much as I know, which is not much.

In First Corinthians 13, better known as "the love chapter", Paul states that "now we see incompletely, as in a mirror. Then [in Heaven], we will know fully." Until we are there, however, there is no point in arguing the minor points of Christianity. Did marching in circles and playing trumpets truly cause the walls of Jericho to collapse? Who knows? And, more importantly, who cares? Although it does make for a fascinating discussion.

Mo' Money, Mo' Problems. . .

I have a book of nursery rhymes called the Rock-a-bye Bible. In it, there is a verse about children born different days. I was born on a Thursday. According to the book, "Thursday's child has far to go". If 'going far' means hitting the local mall, I'm so there.

On Monday, my baby cousins had to go to the doctor for their four-month check-up. My aunt asked me if I would rather stay at the house alone, go to the clinic with everyone or wander the mall. It really wasn't that difficult of a decision.

Okay, you need to understand something about me: I come from an area where the nearest Wal-Mart is an hour and a half away. The closest decent mall? Three hours. So the thought of spending two hours in a nice mall with the stores I love (Hot Topic, Victoria's Secret, Barnes & Noble, and, of course, Target, to name a few) all alone was irresistible. Besides, I actually have money in my checkbook now -- I'd become so used to my minimum-wage job that I always cashed my paychecks, never deposited them.

Upon entering the building, I decided I would only buy things I really needed; namely, a decent purse and a card for my boyfriend, who is stuck at camp without me *pout*. Simple enough, right? It was. . . Until I saw Hot Topic. I stepped in -- just to look -- and came out with a shirt, underwear and lipstick. This is how it worked: the shirt was on sale and super-cute, so I had to buy it. Then I saw its matching underwear; how could I pass them up? And the lipstick was on sale, too! Only a couple of problems with that: 1) I have about 20 other tubes of lipstick and 2) I never wear it.

Satisfied with my purchases, I headed off to Barnes and Noble, where I discovered two books I had never heard of on a "Sale" rack. Of course, I had to buy them. From there I trekked to the Hallmark Store, where I bought three (3!) cards for my boyfriend, using my "frequent buyer" card. Finally, I went to Target.

I had been browsing random stores throughout the afternoon, but none had the purse I wanted. There were a couple of close calls, but nothing was black -- my one unalterable rule. In Target, I was beseiged by hundreds of purses of every shape, size, style and color. None of them were what I wanted, but one was close enough to buy. Besides, it was on sale. From there, it was on to the music and movie section. I found "Anchorman" on sale for $10; how could I resist that?

By now I was ready to go home and transfer everything from one purse to the other, hang up my shirt, model my lipstick and read a book. However, my aunt was not at the mall yet so I ended up buying a $4 coffee before setting off to Sam Goody's -- just to look, of course. Once I got in, however, I found the old Jewel CD, "Pieces of You" and. . . you know the rest. Suffice it to say that when my aunt finally pulled up front, I had plenty of shopping bags.

When we got home, I unpacked my things and realized just what, exactly, I had purchased: clothing I will wear once; lipstick I will never wear; 3 cards, 2 of which will invariably be forgotten about within 3 days; 2 books I may or may not love; a DVD I previously bought for aforementioned boyfriend; a CD I will listen to only when I am depressed about my lack of money, etc.; and a purse I don't even like all that much. Which is a small price to pay for buying it all on sale. . . I think.