Update

5 year old niece: Let’s tell funny jokes!
Me: OK! You start.
Niece: *giggles* How many mice does it take to rake?
Me: Um…eight?
Niece: No. Twenty-four!! *hysterical laughter*
Me: *chuckle* Did you make that joke up yourself?
Niece: *proudly* Yes, I did.

How’d I guess?

Let’s see, what have I been up to besides listening to a five-year-old telling jokes? A lot! Ha! Hence the reason I haven’t posted in ages. In the writing world, I got my first paid short story published!! Yay! I’ve also been placing regularly in the FaithWriters’ weekly challenge, so I’ve been getting a short story published that way almost every week, plus a random one now and then in internet magazines.

I think I mentioned a few posts ago that I’m one of the coordinators of the 1st Annual FaithWriters writing conference next summer in Detroit. It’s a lot of fun and a lot of work! Things are coming together really nicely. I’ve also recently been named one of the “key influential members of FaithWriters.”

OK, now I feel like I’m boasting, though that isn‘t my intention, heh. On to school. Uhhh, school. Sooo much work, but I’m learning great things and getting along well with my classmates (which is good since I’m stuck with them for two years ;-) ).

Homework is crazy, especially when you add the fact that I’ve had a conference every single weekend for three in a row (one interpreter’s conference, one Christian writing conference, and another interp. conference). One weekend I had some 17 chapters of text books to read and had to memorize a speech, short presentation, and poem.

Let’s see, on the home front… My middle sister at college in South Carolina has been struggling with almost constant migraines and some other health problems. Mom flew there last week to drive her to Atlanta for a cat scan. Thankfully the scan came back normal. However, they still need to figure out what the problem is, so prayers would be much appreciated.

The Rocket's Red Hands

Today I was sitting in my sign language class during a break, trying to absorb everything and wondering how to explain it to you all. The class of 21 of us (two were missing today) were sitting in desks along the wall in a semi-circle. Each person was focused on practicing for a presentation. A man passed by the open door of the classroom, and I pictured the scene as he would--twenty-one people staring vacantly, hands waving wildly in random patterns. To me, things made a little more sense. All around me “rockets” soared and exploded in the air with the noise of fists striking each other and air escaping puffed cheeks.

Our assignment was to translate The Star Spangled Banner into ASL grammar. We spent hours last week in groups, discussing the meaning of the song, what parts were important to the point, and what proper grammar would be.

Yesterday we performed our version of the song. It was neat to see all the different translations--every single one distinctly unique. Our teacher told us we did well, but asked us to try something different. He told us to forget about it being a song, and instead to think about the story behind the poem.

So today we tried again. This time we had the story and emotions in our hearts, and let them flow out our hands. This time, instead of performing a song, we told a story. We felt emotion.

It was awesome. But I think the best part was the pride shining from our teacher’s face.