Remember.

The month of October went by quickly. I do not know if I can remember all of the verbs that this month contained, but I certainly feel that my living-to-reflecting ratio is disproportionately tipped towards living. I could stand some downtime for just reflecting and remembering.

Instruct: This month began with a long Saturday of debate instruction that my little sister and I put together for students in South Bay. We hosted 25 students for our "Saturday debate day," of which 20 came from different schools.

Listen: I managed to finish my Seasons' mix for the craziness of my Winter slash Summer that occurred below the hemisphere in South Africa. It is amazing.

Fly: I flew to Florida -- on a horrible red-eye that meant I basically didn't sleep for two days.

Witness: I had the opportunity to attend the wedding of my dear friend, Caleb Winn. Everything was decorated and arranged beautifully, and felt like a night of fairies dancing, and of course, contained the quirkiness that I have come to expect and accept in Caleb. They walked away from their vows to the ending theme song of Empire Strikes Back.

Kayak: After a fairly involved argument regarding this verb, PY and I did spend the afternoon kayaking in the mangroves in Florida. We saw a manatee! This was exciting, and also, more difficult that I anticipated.

Golf: I went mini-golfing for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long. I beat PY the first time, and the second time, he beat me. We are both pretty terrible at it.

Exchange: There is no better verb for how Lina and I share our lives together than exchange, because every meeting is full of the stuff of accumulated treasures that we have for one another. This time, we both exchanged music and trinkets that we've picked up along the way, as well as so, very, many stories.

Prep: I have learned how to prep my college debaters to face their doom in their parli rounds, and I must say, it's very satisfying. I enjoy counseling them through new argumentation, and also, through difficult emotions. I feel like Deanna Troi a lot.

Learn: I started going to RCIA classes at St. Gregory's parish with the intention of inquiring into the Catholic faith. I have various reasons for doing so. In the process, I have enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about how different people practice their faith.

Receive: At the end of the month, I participated in the Rite of Welcome that occurs as adults enter the process of inquiring into Catholicism. This involved an elaborate ritual of blessing, and I received a crucifix from my sponsor. It was very neat, and made me giggle.

Exhibit: My students put together a massive and amazing haunted house during the month of October. They exhibited it on October 27, 2011 and they were fabulous. I wish I'd gotten better video footage!

Direct: After spending the entire day cleaning with my students, I drove up to Helix High School with my high school debate team for the novice debate tournament. I still don't think it was a good idea to agree to be vice president of SDIVSL, but directing a tournament is also something I did today. Until MIDNIGHT. Eish.

Create: I don't remember which of these past Saturdays it was -- it must have been early in the month -- but the only empty October weekend I had, I spent drawing with charcoal, painting with watercolor, and being generally whimsical with my little easel.

Read: I got into lots of different titles this month, including Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (gift from Lisa), The Mysterious Case of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco (gift from Naomi), We Make the Way By Walking by Paulo Friere & Myles Horton (a delightful stumbled-upon at the Adams Ave Bookstore), books 3-6 in The Spirit Flyer Series by John Bibee (a holla-back to my days of youth). I am feeling a little schizophrenic with my reading these days, but it's all good.

Teach: A typical verb, but this month not-so-typical subject matter. Many days were devoted to teaching students to scream, growl, and laugh maniacally. I laughed happily driving home, because my job is sometimes really weird and fun.

There were other verbs. So many other verbs. This verb project is only a failure in form, but not in practice. In practice, I am living so many verbs that Write seems something I always have not-enough-time to do.