high of 75

listening to relient k this morning is great because there's a song about the weather. it's perfect because i'm at a point where it's rainy and cold, but it also talks about being happy in Jesus since he "took my heavy heart and made it light." that's just a great reminder for me today as i'm gearing up for revisions of papers and midterms.

and now there's the song "my girl's ex-boyfriend". "who would believe my life would be so blessed?" yeah, that's just great! kelly & i just celebrated our month-iversary on valentine's day. of course, i had to be reminded to plan something for valentine's day. despite the fact that i have a calendar right next to my desk where valentine's day is plainly marked on the 14th, i, apparently, had not figured that thursday, the 14th was just two days away from tuesday, the 12th and had invited a friend, vivi (yes, another girl), over for dinner that night and was also inviting my girlfriend over. in recounting this to kelly on tuesday the 12th, she was surprised and insisted that i verify that i had invited vivi over for thursday. here's how it went down:

"so, i invited vivi over for dinner on thursday. i know you've wanted to meet her, and she's wanted to meet you," i say nonchalantly while videochatting.

"thursday?" she asks, turning her head towards her webcam as if she hadn't heard me clearly the first time.

"yes, thursday. this thursday, around 9." i figured it would have been perfect since the three of us had off, and it was nate's (my roommate) last day of class for the week.

"really, paul? this thursday?" she asks, leading me water, but trying not to force my head down until the bubbles stop.

"what's wrong with thursday?" i ask, throwing my hands up in the air, not able to grasp the fact that my girlfriend was questioning my dinner party planning.

"it's valentine's, day, paul," she bluntly states. yes, folks, my dear girlfriend has now learned that subtletly is not my strongsuit and that i may need some gentle prodding here and there, especially in the realm of heart-themed holidays.

not quite convinced, i say: "no, really? already?" and i look on my wall to check the calendar for the box that has "14" and "valentine's day" clearly marked on it.

"oh," i say, somewhat sheepishly. (yes, i know i've mixed my animal metaphors: horse, cattle, sheep. i'm studying spanish art, not english blog narrative.) "perhaps, we'll postpone dinner until friday."

no day but today

over the past week, i've been in a physical topsy-turvy, back to my 3/1 operating system: 3 limbs working, 1 not at any given time. i've bounced back and forth between pain, strong muscle contractions, weakness and numbness, and asthma attacks. i hate this kind of uncertainty, but realize this is life is not my own. i don't have to have a perfectly-functioning body in order to be a valued person. i'm valuable because i'm created and loved by God.

there's no day but today.

the fishbowl

"welcome to the fishbowl", kelly said to me when we started dating. the "fishbowl" is our church community, and since she's on staff & we have a good number of mutual friends who got to know me separately while she was in the states last fall, people were waiting and watching. when she came back to madrid, apparently, there was a pool to see how long it would take for us to get together. whoever guessed "one week" won.

going in to week three, i guess we're still in the fishbowl as everyone's seeing the progression of our relationship, but it doesn't feel as much like we're on display. we're more of a fixture now.