First days of school

YAY! I had forgotten how much I loved being here. My summer wasn't the best, but the first few days back have really made up for it.

Some highlights:

- Stephanie got me the most beautiful necklace on behalf of the class, as a "happy pregnancy" present! It's gorgeous.



- While looking for a pen in class yesterday, I fumbled in my backpack and pull out a small Thomas the Train model instead. The people around me smirked, it was cute.

- Laurel marked 30 years of being at HUC today! I was privy to the celebratory bagels. :)

- President Ellenson and the president of the Board of Governors came to visit the campus. I sat in on a lunch with them. Lots of talks about money, but they were very willing to hear our suggestions on how to improve some things.

- Class-wise I'm taking "Laws of Prayer," "American Jewish History," "Leadership," "Converts in Jewish Literature," and "World of the Talmud." I'm not particularly fascinated by the subjects of the first two classes, but Leadership looks great! We learn about budgets and organizational management and our role in a board meeting, that kind of thing. The literature class looks like a real literature class - there are only four of us in it, so we know all of us want to be there (me, Jessica, and two grad students). And then World of the Talmud is the class I asked for, and the prof went over the syllabus with me today. Stuff on gnosticism, Roman Christianity, women and gender, philosophy - it looks amazing. I'm really jazzed.

- High Holiday prep is going. Slowly. I have one sermon idea, and I've reviewed the Rosh Hashanah Torah portion. Does that count?

And last but certainly not least, I've reclaimed my library table. Ahh the joy!