Jacquelyn's Space

I love that my stepson is staying with us. I can’t really say living with us because he will be gone in a little over a month but I am glad that he is here. No, he isn’t perfect but he is a good kid — still a kid too, even though he is 18. While he does have some things he needs to work on (don’t we all?), he is not terribly disrespectful, at least not in ways that my husband and I can’t handle and he is not always gone;  he has actually been home quite a bit since he has been with us… weird.

Therein lies the problem. With my stepson home I can’t be free — I can’t walk around the house naked like I like to do.

Yesterday a walking tour of Applewood Estate, today a walking tour of the campus. I met up with my friend Amanda on her lunch hour and we walked a figure eight through campus and talked. It was nice… another lovely day for a walk and it was good to be on campus — I love my school! I will definitely have to go walking more often because I sure do need the exercise. Amanda walks everyday on her lunch hour. I wish I was that disciplined. I am going to have to work on it. I have a couple of new school year resolutions and getting regular exercise is one of them.

Here are the lovely picture I took at Applewood. I cannot believe this beautiful place is in the middle of one of America’s most run down cities. I also can’t believe that I had not visited the place before now.

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It felt good to go walking in the gardens…made me think of Mackinac Island…and Greenfield Village. Made me wish I wasn’t so damn lazy and loved working in the garden. Made me wish I had a nice farm with a brick barn and tons of flowers. Made me want to turn my yard into a paradise like Applewood. But that brings me back to my damn laziness.

Well anyway, a walk in nature was exactly what I needed and what I need to do more often. I ooohed and aaaaahed over my pictures when I got home. Then I checked my message from God on Facebook, haha. This is what it said:

On this day, God wants you to know…

… that nature is the best cure.

Whenever you are stressed or worried or uneasy, take a nice long walk in the nature, touch the ground with your feet, touch the trees with your hands, and the Divine nature of life will flow into you to ease your pain.

See, I knew God was talking to me today!

I have been so excited about school but it hadn’t really sunk in yet that I am a student in graduate school. Yesterday there was a get together for the new M.A. English Language and Literature students — we went on a walking tour of the Applewood Estate in Flint, Michigan and had a reception at school afterwards. There was also a grad student orientation that I didn’t really need to attend but I decided to go because I had a chance to win an iPad. I am so glad I went to both events…the Applewood Estate is gorgeous and I took some fabulous pictures. Of course it gave me a chance to meet up with friends and former professors from school, and to become acquainted with some of my new classmates and faculty I hadn’t met yet. My friend Nancy’s enthusiasm is catching — she kept saying “We are in grad school!” It wasn’t in her plan to go and she couldn’t believe she was attending graduate school. Tired old me just kept saying, “Yep, we are in grad school.” Of course I was and am happy and excited but like I said, it hadn’t hit me yet. Nancy’s wondering statements helped everything kind of sink in…

I went on to the orientation after are departmental event. Unfortunately I did not when the iPad but all incoming graduate students receive a messenger bag. That is awesome because earlier in the week I was thinking about looking for a messenger bad and now I don’t have to buy one. After I signed in and was sitting among my new classmates, I sat my messenger bag on my lap and looked at the UM-Flint logo and “Graduate Programs” embroidered on it…I ran my fingers over the lettering and only then did it really sink in and I got a little emotional. Of course the words “I can’t believe it” ran through my brain. But then there was Nancy to remind me, “We are in grad school!”

And of course the 87+ pages of academic articles I need to read for a class by next Wednesday. Gah!

It is so awesome, too, when you are around people who are into the same things as you. To be around other English scholars — people that like to read and write is nourishment to my soul. Nancy and I didn’t want to leave school last night — having too much fun chatting and laughing with our super nice advising professor, Kazuko ; we were also laughing about how we are such big nerds.

So today I think it would be fair to say it is finally sinking in. I was looking at my messenger bag again today and I got really emotional — I actually hugged my bag. I am just extremely thankful that I am going to graduate school, that I have a plan that encompasses utilizing both my degrees and passions, and that I am going to be able to study writing. I am so happy.