Can't Sleep

I can't sleep. I tried going to bed at 12am. I opened one of my skylights because it was warm in my room - bad idea. Within a few minutes my room smelled like sewer. So I closed the skylight and lit my candle to try to get rid of the smell. I then laid in bed for over an hour with no luck. I decided to try the traditional remedy of drinking warm milk, so I thought I'd post while I'm drinking it.

Tonight was a great night. Billy Stevenson called me at 6pm to see if I wanted to join him, Mindi, Rick Ostrander, Lonnie Ostrander, John Lenschow, and the Knox's at Villa Italia for dinner at 6:30pm. Of course I said yes and it was a great time. So much fun to see Lonnie who I worked with all summer. It was great to get caught up on the Fall musical, her kids, and the Admissions office. Good to see Rick too. He's always a blessing as I'm able to pick his brain on future direction. As the Dean of Undergraduate Studies at JBU, Rick's responsible for all faculty hires, so his advice comes from what JBU is looking for in candidates - which is really helpful.

As always, great to see Billy and Mindi. So full of life and laughter. It was a blast! I hadn't seen Johny Knox or his family in years, so really fun to see them too. His younger brother, Gregory, is hilarious. Johnny's wife, Rebekah, is really great. As well, I got to see Rachel Cureton, which was really fun. I don't know her very well, but was a suite mate of her brother's - Michael - at JBU (he just got married at the beginning of Nov!!), so it was fun to hear about him. She's living with the Knox's and doing her student teaching over here for a master's degree in education.

Tomorrow morning I'm off to see Lakeside Manor with John Lenschow, Billy, Mindi, Rick, and Lonnie. Rick, Lonnie, Mindi, and Billy are staying there right now, but the trustees are coming for a walk through tomorrow. Billy needs someone there as soon as possible, so I think I'll likely move in this next weekend. The sewer smell in my room tonight was a reminder that it's somewhat frustrating to never get fresh air in the room. My thought is that this room - since I've paid for it through the end of July - will be like my office near the school and Lakeside Manor will be home. They do have internet there, which is great. It's going to cost me a little more in bus expenses to move out there now, but my rent is free for the rest of the year starting Feb - since I'll no longer have a room with Queen's - so it seems worth it. I've already started thinking about how I can have friends at to the Manor for dinner or invite friends out if they ever want to get away from Belfast. It's really a pretty 4-acre place that would be great for a spiritual retreat or just to get a break from the same old, same old.

Anyways, I should probably see if I can fall back asleep. I'll try to post pictures of Lakeside Manor inside as soon as I'm able.