What's new?

 Okay, it has been almost five years since I wrote anything for this blog. Oh well. No time like the present to change that.

Quite a lot has changed for me in the last five years,

especially in the last year and a half or so. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, much has changed for the whole world since the spring of 2020.

But let me just catalog some of the biggest changes for me. When the world shut down in March 2020, I was visiting some friends of mine, a married couple. It was not uncommon for me to stay overnight at their apartment, crashing on their couch, prior to the coronavirus changing everything. The first few days of the shutdown, I just hung out at their place, and as the pandemic continued, I just never left. We all decided very quickly that I was where I was supposed to be. And I discovered in no time that I function much better living with other people as opposed to living alone. While I still had my ups and downs due to the bipolar disorder, my mental health has been considerably stabler since March 2020, in spite of the stresses of a worldwide pandemic.

So, long story short (I know! It's too late!), I sold my house in Oak Cliff. Whatever I still have that I don't use everyday is in a storage unit. And here we are, three adults and two small dogs, crammed into a one-bedroom apartment for the time being. We have looked at a larger, two-bedroom apartment and will likely move in the next few months.

Having sold Abbaye and thereby earned a significant amount of money, I also decided it was time to pursue a dream I've had for over two decades. Something I've talked to others about, especially therapists. But it was only ever a dream and a topic of conversation, never action. The dream? Finish my bachelor's degree. Become a college graduate.

This week, I submitted my application for admission as a transfer undergraduate to the University of Dallas. I've scheduled a campus tour for a week from today. I can barely contain my excitement. Don't get me wrong, I know there's going to be a ton of hard work ahead of me. But I'm finally ready to face it. I can and will do this!

When I started my collegiate career in 1995 at Austin College, I knew I was interested in languages, especially German. But how to turn that into a career escaped me, even after I declared German as my major my junior year. In the ensuing years, my passion for languages has not diminished an inkling. If anything it has grown exponentially. Besides my fluency in English, German, and French, I've become convinced speaking Spanish will be vital to my future career in this region of the country. And I've developed a love for the language God speaks: Latin. Learned quite a lot of Latin through sacred music since I sing in the English choir at Christ Church. I'd also love to learn biblical Greek.

You see, I've begun once again discerning a possible vocation to ordained ministry. One of the reasons I chose UD for my return to undergraduate studies is its religious affiliation. I'm thinking now that I want to double-major in German and theology. And once I have that Bachelor of Arts in German and Theology in my hands, I want to attend seminary. Specifically, Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Why SMU-Perkins? History and tradition. You see, my father and his father both received their divinity degrees from Perkins. It would be a completion of the trilogy. But I may be getting ahead of myself.

Let me just get admitted to UD and start classes first!