Getting Started...(whew, there's a lot to do!)

Well, here goes. I've always resisted writing in journals and diaries because they might be found and READ and found to be boring, lame and neurotic. Or I might go back and read them sometime and find it boring, lame and neurotic. But now, crazy as it sounds, I am embarking on a plan to publish for the WHOLE WORLD to see, my wandering commentary pertaining to an upcoming adventure -- namely a trip to Rome, Italy. Perhaps there will be something entertaining on occasion...at the very least you can use this as a sleep aid with few side effects!

The back story goes something like this:

I'm a 40 something woman with a husband and three daughters.  The middle child is finishing up a music degree at the University of MN Morris and wanted to use her study abroad stipend before it was too late.  She decided to look for opportunities in the May term following her final semester. Of the courses offered, the most intriguing one was "All Roads Lead to Rome: Art and Architecture of the Baroque Period." As she talked to me about it I found myself getting more excited about the idea and began to wonder if I might be able to do it too.  My husband (who has to foot the bill) graciously consented to the idea and we began the application process. 

We were a little late to the game.  She went through the application online and gave me instructions on where to go to do the same.  I waited until a convenient time and filled out the information, only to be informed that the course was full.  She was number 2 on the waiting list and I was number 5.  It didn't look promising. After dealing with the initial disappointment we began talking about a plan B.  She needed the 4 credits toward graduation.  "Maybe we could go somewhere else," she said.  I had my heart set on studying art history in Rome.  "You can go somewhere else" I said. "But I'm not going to."

Before she had seriously looked into something else, however, she got the call that she was in!  There had been enough people dropping the class to move her up into place.  What good news! If only there were a chance for me to go too.  I was disappointed of course, but realized that it was likely God's way of telling me it was not my time to fulfill this lifelong dream of seeing Italy.  After a long conversation with the instructor, it seemed even more unlikely that I'd go.  I was still number 3 on the waiting list and in his experience that many people hadn't happened to drop the class at this late stage of the process.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I got the call just two days later!  I was in! Thank you, God for this marvelous gift! Hurry and get a passport! Hurry and send in the paperwork! ROMA here we come!