Rollercoaster

Wow, what a whirlwind weekend. I now know what they mean by "holiday depression," although my depression wasn't all holiday-related. And don't worry, I wasn't depressed all weekend by any means, either. Just feeling melancholy for a variety of reasons, some of which I mentioned in my previous entry. I went to church today, for the first time in ... a long time. That did a lot to lift the cloud that'd been hanging over my head for the past few days. I guess I'll do a reverse chronological play-by-play of the weekend.

I went to Crossroads Community Church in Hillsborough today. They're a PCA (Presbyterian Church of America) church. The sermon was on Psalm 107. It was entitled "The Healing Power of Hope," and the main idea was that God brings hope to his people in every situation--those who are in trouble because of natural limitations (lack of basic needs, dangerous situations) as well as problems they have brought upon themselves through bad choices. The sermon really spoke to me. I got a bit emotional & had to make a beeline for the bathroom at the end.

Anyway, I got a few other "signs" that this is the right place for me, for now. For one, this quote was at the beginning of the sermon notes:

"Hope has been, is, and always will be the heart of medicine and healing. We could not live without hope."
- Jerome Groopman, Harvard Medical School (of whose work I'm a big fan)

Second, my director from work (my boss's boss) greeted me when I walked through the door. Let's just say, "Whoa." I had no idea he was a Christian, let alone one of the founders of the church. Ordinarily a reserved, somewhat authoritarian figure at work, he was all smiles & very gracious to me, introducing me to the other young ppl at the church.

Finally (and this I knew going in), Henry, who was a few years ahead of me @ TAFPC, leads worship @ Crossroads. His wife is due to have their baby boy, Nathaniel, any day now. So they were very nice & invited me to lunch w/a bunch of the other young adults.

I've been getting home around midnight for the last 3 nights. After an afternoon of folding--folding clothes @ Aki's apartment, followed by folding linens @ the hospital, followed by folding my own laundry @ home, I went to TAFPC for the Thanksgiving program & Nanette's 21st birthday party @ Clydz lounge in New Brunswick afterwards. Aki, Peter & I rode from my place to church & we picked Zimmy up along the way. Unfortunately, we missed the entire Thanksgiving program (which started at 5 pm), including dinner. Aki & I grabbed a plate of leftovers in the church kitchen while I caught up w/a bunch of the parents, some of whom I haven't seen in 3-4 years. Then we headed over to the lounge w/Ellie, Grace, & Sandy. It was nice to hang out w/everyone (Janice, Nanette, Julie, Justin, Jenny, Jenny's friend John, Janice's friends Vivian & Allison, and I think that was everyone else). Being the "designated driver," I just had a coke, but other ppl had their fun. Poor Nanette was blasted by the end of the night, meaning she was seriously falling asleep. Ellie had half a pint of Guinness, but apparently she can hold her liquor b/c she was able to make it home fine w/Grace.

Friday night was Stephanie's wedding. Stephanie & her sisters looked great. The bridesmaids dresses were simple but pretty--strapless ruby cocktail dresses w/a tie around the waist. Got to catch up w/some of the old Monty crew, including Melissa & Michael & their mom, as well as Jackie, who's in med school. She told me Christina's an art dealer in Paris.

Thursday night was Turkey day, minus the turkey, @ Geiosee Froggie's clan in EB. Like I was telling GF, her family has character, & it was a lot of fun hanging out w/them & playing Cranium.

Note to self: don't eat shrimp before heavy physical exertion. Apparently I have a mild shellfish allergy, and I went running after I had linguine w/shrimp for lunch on Thanksgiving. I ended up breaking out in hives all over. There were huge raised bumps all over my face & I looked like Freddy Crueger. Fortunately, they mostly went away after an hour or two.

So that brings me to now. I'm going to go clean the oven.