I'm feeling a rant coming on. I know, I know, I'm taking advantage of the fact that my blog is dirt related, but I have to get this off my chest. Hating the opposite sex.............what a ridiculous and immature waste of time! It is my firm belief that those who indulge in this ludicrous emotion are either terrible judges of character (i.e. it's your own fault you're associating with lousy persons) or incredibly self-centered and narrow-minded. Granted, some of these emotions come from abuse--yet, in no way is that justification for labeling an entire gender. It occurs to me that the same lack of character which leads to the association and subsequent judgment of either gender is often a primary factor in the initiation of said relationships. Just in case anyone missed these important details: men and women are different--but everyone acts like they need a midol once in a while.

Hmmmmmmmmm..........when I changed my blog over it didn't keep any of my previous blog--save the first post. Now while I actually understand WHY it did that--there is no way I'm going to try to explain it or I would just sound even more like an idiot so..........here's a link to my previous archives until I can figure out how to copy it onto this new blog, haha.

http://virtualdig.org/blogs/tabithacook/

Wow, I believe it's been almost two years since I last posted.........lol, and yet for some reason here I am again.

I've graduated, no doubt my profile badly needs an update--not that I'm going to get anyone to read this anyway. But just in case some lost soul realizes that I hold the key to oxygen generated nuclear power as well as the location of the Ark of the Covenant, I'm in.

So, here's to putting off Grad. School to let my brain rest. Currently I am pursuing any type of career in editing/copywriting because I'm that much of a nerd. I have no idea how it happened but somehow in the span of about four years I grew from associating Grammar with Mad Cow Disease and the Bubonic Plague to an exercise which I find both relaxing and challenging at the same time. Linguistics has suddenly become much more fascinating.

No, I have not put aside my love for playing in the dirt--if anything I'm more obsessed than ever. Unfortunately however, graduating caught up with me--bummer. But oh well, I think I might even live through it. You can be sure however, that the recent future (so in archaeological terms like within the next hundred years) I will again find myself somewhere in the Near East digging something or someone out of hundreds or thousands of years of boulders, pillars, and yes lovely lovely dirt.

General Hospital.........our House?

Which one should it be, hmmmmmmm............ I'm doing my best to joke about this, though I really feel like crying. I've come to the conclusion that a network really should pick up on my family's story. Injuries galore; it could make a great show! Since coming home my Dad has recovered from his bicycle injury quite nicely, though he still can't chew the tough stuff. Tirzah is on the mend from tearing her ACL and ripping her miniscus the day after I got home, and today the neighbor kid smacked Theodore with a two-by-four and broke his arm! While we we're in Israel Malachi visited the emergency room for some kind of cut.............who's next?! I'm not about to volunteer, my family has had enough of the emergency room, and I hope it's sick of us too!

The Lutheran Vatican

If you're lucky, you'll read this on a Thursday and thus have no reason to be offended-- if such ridiculous humor offends you. Yes, I am in St. Louis Missouri, known by some as: The Lutheran Vatican. What am I doing here? Um, taking a mini-vacation I suppose.......why am I writing about it in this blog? Dad and I stopped by KFUO today after chapel, and before attending Greek with the illustrious Dr. Voelz. To make a short story even shorter: Paul Clayton is going to interview me tomorrow morning at about 8:40. Therefore, disregard what I typed earlier about reading this on Thursday; if any of you are crazy enough to be up at this hour, surf over to www.kfuo.org and listen to me make a fool of myself live. For the sane, it will show up in the archives later; if I have a particularly vain moment I may even post the link on this blog.

I have no more complete thoughts left in my head this morning; everything is too busy. I plan to blame the very strong, but very delicious coffee I had this morning. In light of this dillemma I am going to take this opportunity to type a paragraph that doesn't make sense at all. As a writing consultant I often have nightmares about students who bring me entire papers in this style; especially when the paper is thirty pages long and submitted by a graduate student. My next thought amuses itself in recollection of Dr. Voelz sporting a combat helmet in his summer Greek class this morning. His stuffed weasel was also highly amusing. And speaking of the Seminary, my Dad was looking through his fourth year student directory and found a picture of Dr. Chambers in his second year; he looks exactly the same but with less hair, which is saying a lot since he doesn't seem to be balding yet. To end this highly disorganized paragraph, my thoughts turn toward Kristina's latest post and hippos in tutus rolling down hills chased by....was it alligators? This sounds fascinating, I'd love to hear more.

P.S. Ted Drewe's here I come!

There's no place like home, There's no place like home...

I found my way home without the magic red shoes, but unlike Dorothy I came home to the aftermath of a different type of storm. A tornado was not what blew my Dad off his bicycle that fated Saturday as we were evacuated. He claims it was the shockwave from a ketyusha rocket that found itself into an interterrestrial wormhole that led to the highway he was biking on. By the time I saw him he looked much better, and that was all the cue my sister needed. Wednesday morning, the day after I arrived home, I awoke to the doorbell. There on our porch lay my dingbat sister, after driving herself home from gymnastics at the Y (the idiots actually had her drive home!) Following an MRI yesterday we learned that she had completely severed her ACL and ripped her miniscus, but she's still begging to go to the Exploring Church Careers Event in St. Louis this weekend, so we're still going, she can't have surgery for another two weeks anyway. I always knew my family was abnormal, but the injuries of the past two years are really beginning to define us ( my mom crushed her elbow in a biking accident and injured her knee the same way my sister did in a trench last year, and those two injuries followed crushing her hand in a car trunk). I'm proud of myself, all I did was get evacuated from a potentially dangerous warzone in a foreign country.

If injuries aren't enough for me to contend with, Vacation Bible School was the straw that broke the camel's back, or how about it's knees, or shoulder, or face, as my family likes to do it. I was just incredibly thrilled to be back in time for VBS, especially upon learning that I would be teaching the 3rd-5th grade class; what a treat. It's over now, I can breathe, and not have nightmares about four foot tall monsters with kool-aid mustaches. All right, I must admit, all in all, it's great experience, and I remember back to my vbs days; if my teachers had felt as I did, and thereby hid under their covers, I wouldn't be where I am today.I still would rather be digging back on Hippos. As some of my other team members have written; I'm angry. After much time to think about events, I know that I'm not angry AT anyone. This was out of our control; it's part of life, sometimes bad things happen. But then again, on a base scale, yes, I know exactly who I'm angry with. I'm angry with anyone who had a hand in the aggression, forget sides, forget justification, I'm selfish and I wanted to stay and keep digging. Don't be alarmed, my logical side heavily outweighs thoughts like these, but I find that acknowledging exactly how I feel helps me to process my frustration and get on with life. Ultimately, I have decided that the experience leaves me more with a sense of respect for both sides, odd as that sounds. The Israeli/Palestinian question in no way presents a clear solution, and how can it- when every decision will affect the lives and homes of two very different peoples?

Stuck!!! The Greatest Adventure of My Life!

I am socially anxious. People, especially lots of people make me nervous. I suppose it's not a big deal, and really kind of dumb--but I accept it, and I'm moving on. For as long as I can remember I have avoided people--in recognition of this, and in an attempt to remedy my anxiety, I often shove myself out of my figurative "nest," and attempt to fly. Well, here I am, at Ben Gurion airport in the midst of hundreds of people, only some of whom I know and feel comfortable with. For the time being I'm not "flying" anywhere, literally, or figuratively speaking. I dive-bombed from my nest, and landed flat on my rear. From this vantage point, and having nothing else to do, I write about being stuck; the one time in my life when being stuck is probably the best thing for me. I am not stuck in my house, my hometown, or even my dorm room 3 states away. I am not comfortable with where I am--in fact, my rear is quite sore from the rough landing I had. Or maybe it's the rock-hard mattresses, the googleplex of bus seats, or hard plastic chairs at bus and airport terminals. In any case, here I am at rock-bottom--and determined to learn from the experience. After all, the only the direction I can go from here is up.

Lesson number one, and I say this grudgingly--Travelers insurance is a good idea, at least it is if you plan on spending several grand to go to Israel and while you're there war breaks out and evacuation is necessary. Ah, c'est la vie, I've been exposed to archaeology and now I'm hooked--the real challenge is finding the funding--hence do purchase travelers insurance--adventures are expensive. And then of course if you have insurance, sometimes you can get a flight right away......or you can be on stand-by forever like me.........part of an adventure, I am part of an adventure!

So yay for my first serious flight experience! If one bad cliche wasn't enough, I'd like you all to know that, yes, I'm ready to get right back on the horse, (or in this case a camel or donkey might be more appropriate) and start digging again. Hippos was amazing--I've been looking forward to this since fifth grade when I read Paul Meier's, "Skeleton in God's Closet." History, connections to the past, and a desire to bridge the vast stores of wisdom and culture across time; these things drive me to travel across oceans and continents- in search of a buried city. While there, I found more than just a buried city, and I don't just mean a manical desire to pick rocks and boulders Dr. Anders. I found more than enough potsherds to build several pots, which inspires a newfound appreciation for the durability of plastic--except when it's a plastic pottery bucket and it's cracked and won't hold water to soak potsherds in. The world still holds it's conundrums today. I found friends; wonderful friends--just another reason to keep shoving myself out of the "nest." I do so appreciate those who can handle my socially awkward ways-thanks friends! I found dirt-and lots of it, everywhere! Good thing I'm somewhat fond of dirt. Speaking of dirt, I found renewed humility. I spent time with 7, or was it 8 doctors, and those who weren't--might as well have been, for the knowledge and experiences each brought to our group could have filled several thesis over. I am truly blessed to have spent time with such wonderful people.Sitting in this airport I have not found patience, but instead grasp it desperately, as slowly it begins to slip away and is replaced by a soreback and tired eyes. They say whatever doesn't kill you-only makes you stronger--at this rate, if I live, I should be able to lift large trucks with my gluteal muscles!