December 20, 2001
3:44pm

My social life may have been nonexistant during the semester, but I'm certainly making up for it this week. I've had some kind of social engagement every day so far.

Nick and Alan visited me on Monday night. Nick examined my DVD collection and saw Unbreakable, which he'd never heard of. Well, I couldn't allow that travesty to continue. We watched it and he loved it; as I knew he would. It's a great movie.

I also decided to use this occasion to make latkes for the first time. I used too many egg whites, so they came out mushier than I would have liked. Latkes are supposed to be crisp and crunchy, kind of like flattened french fries. I think I'll stop trying to be health-concious and just deep fry the suckers next time. Anyway, Nick seemed to like them a lot. He nearly consumed the whole plate by himself.

Tuesday night our church had an unexpected "congregational meeting." Those words sounded so ominous that I knew they could only bring bad news. We were told that the Caswells - the couple who leads our church - will be moved to the Cincinnati church. A couple named the Browns from the Cincinnati church will come here to lead. The next few weeks will be bittersweet. The Caswells were part of my conversion, so it's painful to see them go. I'm sure the Browns will do just as well, but the Caswells will be missed.

Yesterday we had the annual church Christmas party. It was nice, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. I always have a problem with big parties. I feel a tinge of anxiety when I'm trapped in a large room jam-packed with people. Not only were there a lot of adults, but kids were running around everywhere. It was loud and chaotic.

Everyone was smiling and passing out cards and gifts. It was kind of hard for me to watch. I'm too poor to give gifts this year. The only person I bought a gift for was my mother, and I nearly broke the bank doing that. I did manage to buy a box of Christmas cards, but there weren't enough for all my friends and family.

I felt like the big loser of the table. Everyone else I sat with had gifts and lots of cards. Even Alan (who was just recently baptized) received way more cards than I did and they were from people he didn't even know. Oh well. I suppose I'm being too shallow. I did get four cards. At least someone was thinking of me.

Tonight I'm supposed to go to a movie with Renae and some other people (I don't know who.). I still don't know what we're seeing, when we're seeing it, or where we're seeing it. I hope it will all be worked out soon. I don't want to travel an hour to Berea just to have the plans fall through.

To tell the truth, I wouldn't be that upset if I didn't go. I'd just go watch A Christmas Story with Darren and Jackie. I love that movie!