So I wrote a post that was completely arbitrary, and realized once I got in the shower that I knew what I wanted to talk about.

This has been a crazy week. It's been awesome, but crazy.

I don't think I wrote about the engagement party on Saturday for Christi. That was so much fun. Both the engagement and the party were a surprise, and getting Christi to be surprised is about the hardest thing to do. It was so good to see her so happy. And it was good to see Cyndi again. And Christi's family, who in a very short period of time years ago, became my second family. I missed them more than I realized, and it took seeing them to remind me just how much I care about them. So that was just awesome all around.

I've been riding my bike all over the city, weather permitting. I got stuck on the road when it started raining on Tuesday night, and it's amazing how raindrops feel like bullets when they hit your face at 40 mph. But I love the bike.

And I love rain, and it sucks that I'm starting to get angry at the rain, because it keeps me from riding more. I know once this summer hits, I will be on it non-stop (and I'm sure praying for a cool rain because it will get so DAMN HOT!).

I am closer every day to becoming vegan. I just feel that change in the wind. Today, I ordered cucumber sushi, and I couldn't eat it. It smelled like fish, and the smell made me sick. I've never been sick over the smell of fish before. When I first stopped eating meat, tasting it made me sick. But the smell...it was very interesting. And sad, in a way. I really wanted to eat that sushi!

Today, a woman who is in a couple of classes with me said a wonderful thing. I have been talking to her about my volunteering at the shelter and how I'm working with special needs cats. And I talk about my own cat and her behavior program. She has never been a big animal person...she doesn't dislike them, but she hasn't ever had a real connection with animals before.

Today at lunch, she told me that I have challenged her way of thinking. She said that she and some friend were talking about animals and someone made a comment that if a cat had problems, just put it down. She said that normally she wouldn't have much of an opinion on the topic, but because of our talks, she stood up to the woman and talked about how there are ways to help animals that have those issues and putting them down was a last resort when all else failed. She said her response shocked her friends, and even more so, herself.

That was just really wonderful, hearing how I have challenged someone in their ways of thinking. It gives me hope that, when I'm a professor, I will have the same impact on my students. And in general...what a beautiful feeling to know that something I've said, in casual conversation, has changed someone's way of thinking.

Along with that, there is also a real sense of power, and that's scary. It makes me even more aware that the things we say and do impact others in ways we don't know. How many casual conversations have I had where I left someone thinking something negative? How many conversations have I had where I left someone thinking something positive?

It's nice to be made aware of the power we all have when we communicate with others. We make an impact every day, and it's up to us to determine whether that impact will forward thinking and positive change, or dampen learning and create negative change.

We all leave a mark. The responsibility lies within each of us to determine just what that mark will be.