Leaves falling on Rocky ground....

There's a wicked awesome lightning storm going on right now, and the rain is just about to start (I can feel it in my old bones). Flood advisories are for squares.

I'm saving my "first day of school" blog so it can be a "first week of school" blog instead. The release is set for roughly 11:30 pm on Friday, Sept. 7 (word on the street is that it'll be formatted somewhat like Shayla's school post). I will say today's pot conversation in Challenge Government was the greatest thing ever, and it will definitely be the reoccurring joke this semester.

Now, onto tonight's real post.


I want to start off by saying how much I love Kelly Castle. She is definitely my favorite Rocky of all time (Rocky I-V don't even come close). Somehow I came up with that nickname for her, and hers for me is Pond. And so, she told me this short story tonight on MSN:

"You know those little Dove chocolates and how the wrappers say weird 'inspiring' things? Well, someone gave me one today, and the wrapper said, 'Look at the reflections of leaves on your favorite pond.' And I thought of you because you are by far my favorite Pond. So I'm going to have to stick some leaves on you sometime and look at their reflection because it will be inspiring."

I decided to blog about this because it totally tied in to some things I've been thinking about involving the upcoming TEC, let alone my life as a whole.

Fall is by far my favorite season, and I've been working on getting rid of some bad habits (i.e. procrastination) and worries (e.g. TEC complications) at the start of this fall. When Rocky (still talking about Kelly here) told me that story, I thought of how metaphorical that Dove wrapper was. My worries and habits are my leaves, and if I'm ever struggling to work through them I have many places to look for help. I don't know why I have to keep realizing this over and over (especially since this was what my last talk was about), but this summer wasn't much of a summer full of community and bonding for me. My procrastination is somewhat better thanks to a really nice first quarter schedule (more on that tomorrow). Then, after a Facebook wall post from Hannah today, I realized I have a great Rectora right beside me in that conference room, and where one of us lacks, the other will surely pick up the slack. I'm very excited to work with Hannah, Sarah, and Bill (who apparently has a personality that will click with mine), and the team list looks great. My mom is working in the conference room, too, and I'm confident having some seasoned veterans (ex: Janet) there with her will calm any fears she has and help her do well as a first-time ATL. I'll miss Tim, but a book of bedtime stories in my Wheat bag on Sunday will definitely help ease that pain. I'm also excited to work with Cooper for the first time ever!

I'm going to do my best to ask for help when I start raking these leaves up, and I know exactly who to call first.........Ghostbusters........or you crazy TEC folks......


To extend this post a little bit, I'm going to say that this torrential downpour (yes, it has officially come to that) reminds me of the chorus to a fantastic song by Melee called "Rhythm of Rain."

Oh you can find a way
Through the rain, the rhythm of the rain.
Songs from your past will play
Through the rain, the rhythm of the rain.


P.S. Hooray for parentheses tonight!