Panegyric Dissertation

Quite the word, eh?
Here we are again, posting my post to tell tales of the days of yore. This time, it's not five minutes before I have to work, though ;). 20, actually.

Yesterday, Lyd and I made a day of it (we both had the day off). I went up to her place, she payed her rent, got a phone call about her car, and we headed down to Aurora Village. As we were heading down there, we started to get some good snow! It didn't stick on the pavement, but it stuck a little in the landscape areas on the dirt.
We parked at the P&R (great spot too) and headed over to the bus bays to figure out how we were going to get ourselves to Seattle. We found the perfect bus (358) which ran from Aurora PR straight down to Seattle, made a pass on 5th, back up 3rd and came back to APR. After we saw our bus of choice, we went over to Costco (buses require exact change), used the restroom, partook of some samples and headed back to the bus, which we got on, sat down, and we left! The bus was waiting for us!
The ride down was mostly nice and quiet. There was only one small portion when a couple guys got on (one was Very talkative). They talked a lot about thrift-type stores all over. Now, the ride back is a different story. There were definitely some...interesting people on our ride back up. Funny thing is, they didn't get on in Seattle! Anyways, this one guy was throwing around all kinds of stuff. He was talking about born again Christians, Napoleon, the President compared to Hitler and all sorts of other daft things.
When we made it to Seattle, we decided to get off on 5th and make our way to Westlake. We got off, started on our way, and watched our bus make more stops on the same road...closer to Westlake... But no worry, we had more than time to spare and were enjoying the walk. We stopped at the Icon Grill and checked out the menu they had outside. They are expensive. I don't think any of their main dishes came with any sort of sides, and the sides were a variety of prices. Mac and cheese side? Like $11.50. Baked potato? Like $3.50 (so Mel can go ;).
We continued on our merry little way, enjoying the beautiful snow we were so blessed to have down there. There wasn't much of interest inside Westlake, so we headed out the far end and up the street to Gap. Gap has...employees... There was this guy (and I use the term loosely) named Oscar (sorry Jenny!). I definitely gave him more than just a double take to figure out what I was seeing. This 'man' was wearing a button-up shirt with a tight sweater over (women's?), Women's dress slacks and, get this, High Heels! For real! And this guy introduced himself to Lyd and helped her get a dressing room...Twice! If you could all see my Robatussin head shiver, this would be the time for it.
Anyways, no luck for Lyd's endeavor. I ended up with a christmas gift from my mom (teehee :D) and three pairs of socks.
After the Gap we headed up the road to Old Navy. Again, to no avail for Lyd. Though she did try on an army's worth of pants there. I ended up getting a long sleeve shirt for $4, and that was that for clo for the day.
By that time we were hungry enough for our usual fare of breadbowls and soup. On the menu of the place, you can get the regular combo, or the big combo (those are the only options). The regular is a bowl/cup of soup, caesar salad and a drink. The big combo is the same, with the addition of a peace of bread. This is exactly as the menu read. And this menu isn't like a chalkboard that gets erased regularly, this is their for real, painted on sign that isn't changing... So sad...
Breadbowls were good. Nobody too weird inside. There was a bird inside though, that was different.
After lunch was the hike down to Pike (rhymey!). We strolled through the market, I picked up something for my sister's birthday (I have to get her address!) from a bookstore that's in the under-part of the market (right down the ramp just past those bathrooms). The guy running the place was totally cool. We walked in and started browsing and then he announced the sale of a lifetime! "Everything double price next five minutes!" I was thril...oh wait. Hey! He was so great. Then I got my thingy, and he offered us this coupon for free parking saturday (but neither of us would be around, so he saved it for the next nice person to purchase something :).
Back up to 3rd to catch our bus back home. That's when we found President Napoleon, Etc. By the time we got back, snow had stuck! We had to crunch through the snow and slush back to the car.
We went over to Sbux to pick up the Seattle P-I, in case Lyd's internet didn't work at home we would still have a crossword to do. I ran in to buy the paper, and I ended up coming out with it plus the Charlie Brown christmas cd. Good stuff.
Summary time, since I have no time left:
Crosswords, Sbux winter celebration "party," Chad and Cindy's for dinner, dessert and Survivor. Another crossword, talking, almost died on the drive home.

Have a great day everyone! Happy birthday Rutter (like you'll ever see this...).
Time for work! My how 20 minutes flies...

Flabbergastery

I thought I'd update you all on my day, because I can and I know you want to know.
This morning was trench digging day. It was pretty fun, some good, hard physical labor. We busted out a pickax to help the task move along.
Danny and I did most of the first portion, then Brad came, then Ryan came. We have to go along the entire long side of the dining hall for this thing. I went to town with the pickax, first picking all the way down, then using the flat side all the way down. It was pretty fun.
I was swinging and working as hard as I could push myself. It gets tiring lifting that thing above your head over and over again... After the first however long, I began grunting nice and loud at every swing. I think it was due to the effort I was exerting, I couldn't help but do it (like when you have a cough/asthma and if you breathe out too hard, you just cough whether you like it or not). I enjoyed all the physical activity I got.
So after I had killed myself with the pickaxing, I went and layed on a bench for a few minutes. The girls were using a pressure washer and the leaf blower, putting exhaust in the air. Naturally, when I opened my eyes and saw gray gas hovering above my head, I assumed it was exhaust. Shortly thereafter, I realized that this was not what it was, but rather that my head was Steaming! Because the air was so cold and my noggin was so warm, steam was rising off of my resting skull! It was quite entertaining (have you ever literally steamed!?).

After that, the four boys took a break to move to another task. We have this big junk pile over by the dumpster and it pretty much needs to go away, so we all took part in the best part of construction: destruction! I chooped some wooden chairs with an axe/sledge. Then I moved on to bigger and better things. Brad and I were violating a pommel horse (sp?) with our axes. We were both channeling ESPN while we did it. We used to watch (in our respective homes) these lumberjack challenge shows on ESPN, and I know they used to have similar ones at the fairs some times. Anyways, we were totally axing that thing into oblivion. Meanwhile, Ryand and Danny were tag-teaming some steel chairs with a sawzall.
After the PH, Brad and I moved on to beheading a wind surfing board (yeah, the one I found back in the day and I wanted to see if it would work :D). That thing gave so easy (which made it fun to whack). Fiberglass + Styrofoam v Axes, you do the math.
By the end of it, I had broken the handles of one sledge and one axe/sledge. The handles were pretty much doomed from the start. They were both weak with duct tape all over. I just helped finish their lifespan :).
Part of the way through, Brad started sharpening our axes in the shop, and that made it all the more fun :). I wanted to bust out the chainsaw for the PH, but Ryan deemed it too unsafe, and he didn't know how Mike (the big man) would feel about it. So, when Mike gets back from the CCCA conference, we're going to tell him we did and see how he feels about it >:D.

My gloves worked wonderfully for the day. They kept my hands moderately warm and entirely blister-free. After hours of shoveling and axe/sledge swinging, the worst I got was the slightest soreness on my right hand near the end of it all. Oh how I do enjoy my CLCs :).
Tonight I'm babysitting for the Guinn boys again from 5:30-10. I thought I posted about them when I last sat them, but I can't seem to find it in my blasts from the past... Anyways, I babysat for them back in the day and their mom has some business hoopla tonight, so I'll be taking care of them (dinner, entertainment, bed). Last time I left my origami paper there, perhaps I'll remember to bring it home with me :).

I feel very scatter-brained in this post, so hopefully it all makes sense to you reader types. My brain is running on autopilot right now for some reason. Not particularly tired or anything, just kind of zoning a little :). Now my battery is nice and low (21% and dropping), so I shall now plug in my computer and bid my farewell.

Hope this wasn't too long for you...I was on a roll...

One And The Same

So as to not be a rebel in any sort of way and to comform to the normal, I am posting a picture just like everyone else :). I did want to post it yesterday, but I had already posted and wanted to save it for another time, and here it is!
This is a pic from Lyd's 'scavenger series' photos, more can be seen on her blog. Look at us being so nonchalant... It was a very fun day for the fearsome foursome. We'll definitely have to have another, though slightly different.
As you can see, I've added a little holiday cheer to my blog with these nice green links :). I mostly just wanted to change the color my links were, and this is how it came out.
Our wireless internet out here has gone out. The power cable on our wireless router because...damaged. So now we need a new one to get our normal connection back up. Luckily, the neighbors have a connection (but I can't get it from our place, I'm in the girls' house now...). Hopefully that gets fixed soon so I can be back to my regular skyping self.
In other news, I got to use my CLC gloves today blowing leaves and doing a little shoveling. They were great to have for both. For blowing they kept my hands a Lot warmer than doing it in the open air. For shoveling, they just made the task much more comfortable. We four guys are going to be digging an 8" wide and 1' deep trench along one side of the dining hall tomorrow, and that will be the true test to see if these gloves are all I've cracked them up to be.
For now, I'm off for some quality time watching some old school Muppet Show.

Go in peace and be blessed.

Troc-a-tron

Yes, Troc-a-tron. It's a Czech song. It was the best song.
Yesterday afternoon Lyd and I went down to Benaroya Hall for SPU presents the Sacred Sounds of Christmas. If I had my program with me right now, I'd post the song list, but I don't, so I won't. Anyways, they sang a song called Troc-a-tron (which I thought was odd sounding from the start when I glanced through the program to see what we were to hear). This is totally one of the best songs ever. Mostly because it was so ridiculous and oddball in the mix with a program with the likes of Silent Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem and that sort.
Also, as a bit of a surprise, there were three or four or five songs where the audience all stood to sing along! That was way cool. They had the music printed in the program, but it was only melodies :(. It's ok though. We got to sing Joy to the World and Silent Night, and I'm pretty sure I was the only one singing the echo on Joy :D. But it was so much fun. The conductor during Joy was going nuts and having a blast and that made it more fun for the audience as well. The last song was Silent Night, and as the conductor was approaching the podium the organ started playing pretty loud...then stopped. Everyone was like 'wha?', even the conductor. I really enjoyed that little mishap because it made everyone kind of chuckle (like a live blooper in such an immaculate show) then we carried on with the song normally.
Afterwards we got some Papa Murphy's for dinner (grilled chicken and bacon stuffed pizza? or something like that) and we actually ate half the thing between the two of us. We also watched the BBC Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. That was...fun? Yes, fun. Not good; fun. It's ok though, now the new one can be looked forward to with more anticipation (lots more). Poor Lucy! Rawrr!

That about sums up my Sunday, I think easily the most enjoyable day I've had in a very long time (not that I've been having bad days, this one was just especially good). Oh yeah! And Saturday? when the fearsome foursome were at Lyd's, Jason did something funny and I laughed hard out loud. But that's just it! I Laughed! I didn't hack! Oh it was the best! I haven't been able to laugh a good hardy laugh in so long.

I think that's all for now. I'm not scheduled to work until 9:30, but my schedule this week is such ridiculousness, so I'm modifying it (of course I'll be showing my bosses how I would like it to look so they know and consent).

Signed by me, Bruce, captain of the secret police. Long live...something! Rawrr!

Pomp and Circumstance

I have drawn a blank as to a title, so I had to resort to Wik. Wik gave me nothing good, but this came into my head, so Wik'd it, and there it was. And that's how the title came about.
Good weekend so far. It's been really nice to have this break from work. I spent Thanksgiving with Marlae's family (friend from camp) which was fun. It was out on a farm and they had a full-on brick oven in the kitchen (coolest Ever)!
Yesterday I returned Rob to his Canuckian home and enjoyed the company of friends. Today, not much to happen. I just went and got a two-button mouse for use with my lappy. Apple makes a two-button mouse (Mighty Mouse), but I've heard less than great reviews and it's like $50. Instead, I got a mouse from another brand (MacMice) and found The Mouse (two buttons and scroll wheel). It has all I need, plus it only cost as much as a regular Apple Pro Mouse. Totally cool.

That's all for now. My sister says I'm supposed to call me mum. Off I go.
Oh yeah, I was going to post a picture. Oh well, another time...

Snuggle1

Ok, back to blog land now that I have a little more time :).
Robb, thank you for indulging me in my comment lust (I like your blog). Everyone else feel free to follow suit :D. Oh, and my response to a post a while back, Roll Call. I thank you all for actually dropping a line on it. The idea was that everyone would comment in the order in the post (like a roll call), but so many comments is better than only a few in order- so again, thank you.
I don't really feel like I have much to say now. I kind of used the good stuff down below. Oh well, the reason I wanted to post again was so I could put a footnote on my title :D.
There you have it folks, I think I'm blogged for the day. After work is out to UCU (for the weekend?), Nasai for dinner and who knows what else. I'll take my lappy, but I'm not sure how much I'll use it. Everyone have an enjoyable thanksgiving and travel safe.


¹To settle or move into a warm, comfortable position.

Snaggletooth

Here I go again, posting with minutes before I need to be at work. What ever will I do with myself. That's ok though, because I'll have to post later when I have more time to do what I want to do and have fun with it :).
Last night, I got my new gloves from Home Depot for working out here at Sambica. I don't like blisters or hands that freeze off, so these are for preventing the both of them! Chris Bova (previous handy man) had a couple pairs and I got to wear one of them when we were replumbing a house, they're very comfortable and have good movement to allow you to work on small things with them on. I just want hand protection, but better is good :).
Rest home was fun. Paul was in E-wing, they set him up his own chair and all. He looked kind of...crazy (his hair was ruffled and his eyes were reddish, I'm guessing from the pain) but he sat and mouthed the words to songs with us (don't think he's allowed to sing). We sang Stay Still and he really liked that (choked me up a bit).
And that's all she wrote for now...(he?).

PS- Men's One-a-day tablets say "take with food", but I'd eaten mine. Let me tell you, they are NOT joking. These are one of the most disgusting things I've ever tasted. Won't make that mistake twice...

At Last, Skullduggery!

So, the other day, Lyd and I were driving past the new end of the mall, and what do you suppose we should happen to see, but our very own, brand spankin' new Panera Bread!!! For those of you who have never visited this wonderful establishment, you should! It's like the Starbucks of bread... They have amazing bagels, wonderful soups and sandwiches, and superb warm drinks like hot chocolate piled with whipped cream (and it's the perfect temperature), all prepared in minutes! Hmm, Lyd should be on their marketing team or something... I'm super excited because Panera was one of those places I was quite sad to leave behind me when I left Covenant. Until now, they hadn't even come close to the west coast. But now- Panera is here, and I've already eaten there twice! : )

PS- See next post for things that I composed myself : )

Must...Post...Quick!

Not much time for this, but I'll try to make it snappy.
Saturday was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, quite good. They turn the book visual so well (Quidditch World Cup totally looked like Creation) and the maturity that comes with each new book has been reflected in the films. I very much look forward to Order of the Phoenix (I would probably look forward to Half-Blood Prince if I'd read it yet).
Up top is Lyd and I at the ice rink (what fun it was!). It was the most fun skating I've had in a long while (but I'm sure it will be trumped when we get a nice big group of people). I certainly felt I looked better on the screen of my phone... Oh well, such is life.
Next one down is Jason and Mel skating, and it's a great picture. They aren't exactly the traditional 'cheese' and smile types, as you can see. But that's ok, none of us are any sort of normal anyhow. Third down is Lyd by her onesies (duh, I'm taking the picture). This was one of the first pictures of the night when I was seeing how photos would look on my phone (not so bad).
For now, I must bid a hurried farewell, as it's time for work! I looked at my schedule last night, and I'm opening all three of my days this week! Yipee! Which means no sleep last night, but all day for (party)ing later!

Leave comments!

Malarky!

The title of my last post made me want to use this title in my next one, so here it is. Not much to update with. Got new socks and a hoodie (I've been looking for a good black zip-hoodie for Ever, and I found one on sale yesterday and when I bought it it was even $5 cheaper than the sale!) at Aeropostale. And right now, instead of posting, I'm going to go read the first two chapters of 1 John, because I think I forgot to read yesterday morning! For shame! Here I go before I f orget again...

Lyd said I'm more domesticated than she is!

Marwar

I decided to post just because I found this excellent Wik article.
Behold the link!
It goes to the Marwar entry.
Isn't it neat?
I'm tired!

Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady

Just to be sure that it is understood, I would like to point out that the whole fleece idea wasn't in the slightest my own (since my post probably alluded to the fact). It was all Mrs. H's idea and all credit is due her. Sorry for any misconstruery, I'll try to cite my references better in the future.

The field trip yesterday was lots of fun. At first it took a minute to get my rink-legs, but eventually I got confident and balanced and had fun with it. It turns out Andy (our boss) is a really good skater, so he was fun to be out there with. I was even doing cross-overs and whatnots (it's easy to balance on quads :) and being all fast-like. We counselors played some tag around the rink (it only got bad once, but nobody was hurt...physically...) which was fun.
One of the women there (not ours) requested an adult skate (so many kids, being that there was no school) for one song. I was hoping for something niiiice and long, like Thriller, Mr. Roboto, something like that. They at least played a decent length song. I was busy skating as hard as I could to notice how long it was. There's a lined area around the outside of the rink for the slow lane, but since there were no kids, I used it as the fast lane! It was wonderful! Along one of the long edges of the rink- the side where you can get in- all the kids were lined up on the wall. Every time I went around (skating as fast as I could), I would put out my hand and high-five them all and they loved it (oh it was fun!). By the end of it, they wouldn't let me get by without doing it.
That adventure reminded me of Chariots of Fire and Eric saying how he feels God's pleasure when he runs. You know, when you do something and do it well, and it just feels good. Well, I felt like I was skating well. There were lots of tricks and things I didn't know how to do, but I skated well.
This all made me wonder what it is that I can do for God's glory. I wish it were roller skating or ice skating, but it's not (far as I know...). But I want to find that one thing that I can do really well; that will entertain the masses, that will win hearts, that will put them on my side. And then I will say to them "Praise God! I skate for His glory! " O, if only! I so long for such a purpose in life. To know that God made me fast so that I could run for Him (or skate for Him, or anything for Him!). Perhaps I will find such a purpose in time, or perhaps God has something else in place for me.
For now, only time will tell...

Field Trippin'

Hooray!
First of all, I brought about this post to tell my tale of how I've felt about this field trip we have today, but now I have to bunny trail to Firefox!
The other day I decided to download Mozilla Firefox for my lappy here (since everyone says it's so good) and I've been discovering new things since. Sure, I had a couple fun things in Safari (like Apple+# got me to blogs of choice) but now I have so much more. One thing I am now discovering (this being my first post since the change) is that I have more options in Firefox. I'm back to good old fashioned compose mode for blogger (Safari doesn't have all these features supported). That's all for that.
Back to the field trip... I'm kind of looking forward to it. At least we get to go roller skating. But at the same time, we have to watch all of our kids while we're there, and that's going to be a mad house! In other news, we have to pack lunches for field trips. This morning I headed out to Fred's and Alby's (I only found fruit snacks and waffles at A's) and at Fred's found Airborne on sale (I want to try and take it weekly since we work with kids so much and they're icky) and took my first hit today (when they say 'zesty orange flavor' they mean it!). I also procured a Henry Weinhardt's root beer (my treat in my lunch) and fuji apples for 58¢/lb. I think I'll be taking two... I also packed myself some Wheat Thins (the Cadillac of crackers), a few Oreos and a PBH sammy. All in all, I'm looking forward to my lunch. Though I do wish I had some sort of 80's tin or plastic lunch pale to take it in, then my lunch would be complete!
Happy day everyone. I think I'll go discover more in my Firefox browser and finish packing my lunch. Yay!

Love

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
1 Cor 13:4-7

I've been reading out of the letters to the Corinthians recently. I'm in 2 right now, but finished 1 a little while ago. As I was reading through, I came across this section. Naturally, I remembered hearing/seeing it before. As I went through, I underlined how I felt I was loving (selfish? prideful? I was just trying to see how I felt about myself). I only underlined parts of this section that I thought I was. Give it a try, see how you view yourself as loving.
I didn't underline half of it. Of the 14 parts of love, I considered myself six and a half of them. I doubt I'm much of any of them, but it's how I perceive myself. Maybe I am those half of the time, or some of the time, but never all the time.
In at least one of the parts, I found that perhaps that part of my love was in fact a weakness in me. Not that love is a weakness. Hmm, maybe it's more that because of that love, evil has an easier time taking advantage of it.
Love is the first fruit of the Spirit. How can it go wrong? The fall is not in love itself, but that we fail in love. How can we be at all deprived, at all failing, at all undeserving if we simply love? Mark 12:30 says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Did not Jesus also say that the greatest commandments were this and to LOVE your neighbor as yourself?
[I'm no bible major (or minor), and I may have that wrong, but I am young still in my faith and am trying to be bold :). Correct me if I need it.]
Really, there is nothing new here. I am just reminding us all of our failures and just one way in which we do so. For lack of a better word or term- and after consulting my thesaurus- let us love until the cows come home. With love, we can not go wrong.

"And now these three remain; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
1 Cor 13:13

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah they'll know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah, they'll know we are Christians by our love.

- Jars of Clay - They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love

Blog-a-palooza!

Apparently I'm going post crazy today (is there more yet to come!?). This is at least because of something.
Today I asked Mama whereabouts a fabric store would be that would sell fleece by the yard (being that I want a fleece blanket, but it's cheaper to just get it like so) and she told me Pacific Fabrics was just out here in Issaquah over by Fred Meyer. And so there was! After the staff meeting finished (and all the non-plain donuts disappeared ;), I was basically free until 1:30, at which time I will have a bus run. I went over to PF to check it out, trying to figure out how much blanket to get and all.
I go in and meander around looking for the fleece section. I had apparently gone the wrong way around (I went all the way around the right side of the store, and fleece was in the back left corner), but eventually found my target. As I approached, I found a wonderful sign awaiting my arrival: "Fleece 25% off" Could this be? Surely they were expecting me!
After a somewhat long-winded perusal of their selection (and weighing prices), I finally decided on the fleece I was to have (two, in fact) and went and waited by a counter to get the attention of a sales woman (being that I didn't know how to go about getting this stuff). Of course, as I was choosing my fleece, it came upon me that- being as tall as I am- I would need more than two yards for a blanket. Drat! I figured two and a half yards of each would suffice my warming needs. Plus, if ever I entertain and there is a couch to be had, this blanket could easily take three persons!
The moral of the story is (there is no real moral, I just don't like always starting a new sentence with 'so,' or 'anyways' or any variation thereof), I got out of there with two 7.5'x5' fleece blankets, one a piano print, the other a light purple (lilac?). I went with the purple to get a little color instead of getting the black and white piano fleece and- what I was thinking at first- a gray fleece.
All in all, a fun trip to the fabric/craft store. It knocked my wallet a little harder than somewhat expected (with the whole extra half yard each), but I am still satisfied with my purchase. I remade my bed, now with Lyd's wonderful comforter, my clan tartan wool blanket and my piano fleece to top it off. Tonight will be the trial run to see if this is enough blankery to keep me comfy in the night, else I have another blanket from the house of L, my old school heavy-as-molasses (uuugh) afghan and another fleece. I think I'm set for the winter :).

As for potpurri, I also asked Mama about coming in laterish Sunday, and she had no problem with it. Which means I shall be able to stay for the potluck Sunday at EBC! Hooray! Let's make something for it! Maybe... I'm also (hopefully) switching shifts with Coley next week. Which will mean I'll be in kitchen next week (except for Friday dinner, as I have tentative plans for a certain film!) and Coley will take my kitch shift at the beginning of December (which means no working on concert day!). Quite good, quite good. Plus, Coley gets out with all she needs too. She doesn't like busing tables (which we'll be doing for next week's meals, because it's such a small group) so she gets her way, I get my way and everyone's happy! I love this part of the job :).

Victorie

Hooray for fixes! My survey post was just having some trouble remember how to behave itself, but after a quick copy and paste over from Moi's post code, all has been restored. Isn't that great?
In other news, I haven't been shopping for a couple weeks! Not sure if that's good or bad. No Alby's run last week, because Chris was weak. No Alby's run this week, because I'm a sicky And I have a program meeting (so no rest home). Oh, but on the upside of things, I've been getting great gas mileage on my car! I gased up today at 282 miles from 9.1 gallons, last week was 352 miles from 10.1 gallons. It's so great getting such good mileage (it happens when you only cruise up and down 405) and getting costco gas on top of it! Muahaha.
Staff meeting in a few minutes. I didn't have to work this morning, so I went out and got krispy kremes for the meeting again. I always like to do this (despite my poverty), just because it makes everyone happy and kind of makes the meeting feel more like a gathering than a...something? Not as forced, everyone loosens up. Plus, we have this auction this weekend, so this week is going to be Crazy, and I think everyone could use a good donut or two to get them off to a good start.
Ooh, I don't start until 11 on wednesday and thursday... :D That could be disastrously fun!
Have a good'n everyone. If you're in the Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland or Redmond area, feel free to take the extra time to come visit and see my humble abode. It's humble!

Fritz

Apparently my blog has cought whatever it is I've got!
At least on my computer running safari, it's gone for a loop-de-loop. Maybe other people aren't experiencing this? I'm hoping this post will return my blog to it's former self. This all came about when I was trying to put a new profile pick on.

Roll Call!

Let's see if everyone understands this and we can make it work, just for fun! Please represent when your name is called:
Moi?
Mel?
Lydia?
Grant?
Jacob?
Jake?
Mrs. A?
Mrs. H?
Robb?
Russ?
Em?
Kasey?
Sean?
Mr. A?
Adam?
Meg?
Rachel?
Heather?
Damien?

Firth of Forth

A quick update whilst I wait upon my impending doom at clubhouse (wednesday is always a half day, so we have the kids a couple hours longer, and they just Love being here in the first place...). Well, it won't be That bad.
I think (Think) that I'm on the tail of this bronchitis finally! Sunday was the last day that it wasn't so hot. The last couple days, it's been in submission most of the day and only throws a few weak swings at night.
So far I've been doing decent with my below-the-poverty-line budget. A couple weeks ago, I decided I was going to do the best I could to only spend money on gas and food and try to save the rest (what little it is). It's been going well to date. No new cd's, dvd's, clothes or other paraphernalia. There are, of course, liberties that must be taken ;). But those, me thinks, shall be only as often as is reasonable (especially when tickets aren't exactly...cheap). Of course, the season is upon us, and I must also be saving for the dreaded Christmas (just the part where I have to spend my life savings on my friends and family). I think I'll be going for thought over price this year.
Grant - I'm game for a Batman Begins showing. Perhaps a one Mancus may be so kind as to kindle our minds and get us thinking about the movie, rather than just watching for pleasure (I do love how he does that, pure genius).
As for me, I must quite be off to my duties. Children need to be picked up and told and shown how to behave proper in a loving manner (some times it's so hard...).
Thanks.

D-Day

Today is the day. The day! What day you may ask?
Why the Sabbath of course! Today is church and sunday school and Lyd coming home!
And lucky me, I'm still sick. Isn't that great [/Strongsad]! Didn't think so. This is totally the lamest kind of sick there ever were. I feel fine almost all the time. No upset stomach, no sore throat, no runny nose. I feel quite fun. Except for...it. I still hack and cough like the dickens, and it refuses to subside! Usually in the mornings it is better and at night it kicks up a notch. Perhaps it has to do with sleep? Maybe I'll nap this afternoon and that will help...
I steamed like a madman on wednesday, I think it was. The first try wasn't proper, I don't think. But the three times after that certainly were! I'm not sure it's exactly what I needed. I'm not saying it was negative, just not the positive effect I need to kick this. It did clear up my head a smidge, but it doesn't really help with bronchitis. I tried Hall's thursday and friday (no OD, which I don't have enough for anyway), and those did a little, but nothing spectacular. Took some Tussin friday and saturday night, which I can notice the help of both when I'm going to sleep and when I wake up. I'm hoping I really am near the end of this, because it's miserable being sick when you don't even feel sick!
On the reading front, I've finished all the Chronicles of Narnia as of yesterday. The Last Battle was quite good. I think it and Dawn Treader are my favorites (Silver Chair in close third). Last Battle stirred me up a little more than the others did. I was a little more attached to the characters or something. Speaking of which, I might try to get around to that last Harry Potter since I've been reading so much...oh wait, I probably won't any more :). But, I suppose I'll try. So far all I know about the newest HP is that...well, I suppose there's no use killing anyone elses fun, so I shan't speak. Ooh, ooh! There is a recent Goblet of Fire trailer out just a couple weeks ago. It's so good. It makes me want to see it such more (and perhaps re-read over Goblet). And of course there's the Narnia movie on December 9 (which I can understand so much more now that I've read the book).
While I'm on the movie tangent: Batman Begins has been out two weeks on Tuesday. Great movie to see in the theater (if you read this in the next couple hours, you can catch Batman Begins at the Imax today or tomorrow at like 7:30p) and I don't doubt it has some excellent features on the DVD. I do hope there are bloopers. Bloopers are the best special feature ever.
Hmm, I think Star Wars III comes out on DVD soon, and you know what that means... Muahahaha! That will be a day that shall live in infamy!

Ok, enough is enough. I've got to leave for church in a bit, and I'm going to get in my daily reading before I set sail. Have a great week everyone, and be sure to remember to have fun, have God and have sleep (not in this order).

In honor of her majesty: pip-pip, cheerio and all that!

Shift and Puzzle

Yesterday I finished The Silver Chair and started The Last Battle. I'm only just yet a couple chapters in. That Shift is so cruel, and poor Puzzle is so abused. I do hope Aslan saves the day, or at least Tirian and Jewel do something about it all.

Today there is no independent post, as I'm sure you all don't want to get excited over seeing a new post, and all it saying is Uno.
Because, we of course all know that one is the loneliest number that there ever was. Two? Almost as lonely as one, but the loneliest number is the number one. And with that in mind, I couldn't with a right conscience leave One out on it's own in this cold white background of mine and no company to keep. So here he is, bundled up with his friend Update, present and accounted for :).

Blast it all. I had composed this post down to this point, then some key got jarred on my computer and I lost everything I said. I've pretty well recreated everything I said up to this point, but I've quite forgotten what was to come next! I suppose next is health? I'm doing pretty well off (for being sick anyway). It quite stinks though, I don't feel sick, my throat isn't any sort of noticably sore, my head is a little stuffy, but that's it. But, I still have this rambunctious cough! I usually get away with being ok, but every now and then I get a hardy fit of it. Last night on the way to bed (at 9:30, got up at 7:30) I acquired some of Danny's Robatussin, which I think has helped so far. I slept really well, woke up not drowsy, and haven't been coughing too much yet today. It does usually get worse as the day goes on, however. We'll see how I do.
Oh, yes! There's a choir group staying here this weekend, and at every meal instead of praying, they sing a blessing with parts and all! It is Oh so good to hear such a nice sounding choir again. I do miss it. Well, I miss good choirs, anyway. Perhaps I'll have to look around for some sort of choral event to whisk to. Or maybe a symphony...
Well then! That's enough post, time for me to get searching on chorals and symphonics in my area!

Hasta luego.

Zwei

So close, yet so far...

Stribog

Question, peoples:
I am wondering how the multitude feels about my posting style. Not how I write, that shan't change (it couldn't without too much effort), but my paragraphical form.
Do you prefer reading
line after line
with only single hard enters before a
new subject?

Or do you prefer a line break
between topics?

Do you like your blog bold
...or italic

Please do comment, as if you are reading this and are of the living, breathing sort, you must have some opinion in there somewhere. I would like my blog to be as easily readable to as many as possible as can be. No reason to keep with something if nobody likes it (in this case, anyhow). So please, tell me how you feel about this. Should I center my posts? Should I line break between subjects? Should I bother blogging? Excellent title, eh?

Only you can decide!


Also, I want to try experimenting with reformatting my blog, so don't be surprised to see minor changes here and there. And further down the road, a complete overhaul may be seen.

Trois

I can count in many languages...

Montjuïc

I have officially decided to start titling all my posts by the name of a random article from the english Wikipedia, just for fun (unless I already have a good title to use).
Today I decided to break down and buy...TEA! DUM, Dum, dum! I'm trying what I can to get better. I may even steam later (boil some water in the kitchen).
Basically, I went to Sbux on my way back from my bus run this morning, picked up a box of Tazo passion tea and a Top Pot old fashioned donut (memorialis). When I got back, I had my first ever, self-made, voluntary cup of tea! Wowie, wowie, wow. At first, I was still really skeptical. After steeping (ooh, words!) for a couple minutes, it started to smell like what I knew from Sbux (which is somewhat pleasant), but after a couple sips, the flavours were still a bit much for me. Luckily, if I ate some donut and succeeded it with some tea, it was less strong. So, I induced that some sugar in my tea would help, added a couple packets, and it did a little. I'm just going to have to wait for my barista to get home and show me how to prepare a proper cup 'o tea, mayhap in the style of the Scots. Of course, I'll hopefully be better by then anyhow, in which case I wouldn't bother with tea >:).
Oh! Oh! So last night, at Albertson's, I Totally scored on canned food. I got Spaghetti O's (I know, most of you probably think them gross) for 50¢/can, Nalley original chili for $1/can and I cleaned them fresh out of chicken corn chowder at $8/10 (I got the last five). In addition, I searched for a can opener last night. A regular old can opener that works like it should is like $10-14! So, I settled for the ridiculously cheap one at around $1.29. Today, I tried opening a can to no avail. Took it next door, and Ryan figured it out! So now I have this wicked cheap, kinda cool can opener that works! Yay for saving $10 on convenience and vanity!
Next item: reading. I finished Dawn Treader last night waiting outside Crista. It was good imagery to put with the song stuck in my head at the time (On Jordan's Stormy Banks) as I stood outside in the light rain and heavy wind. It was nice being out there by me onesies (though, I did consider that it may not have been the best for my cold), I just wish it would've been raining a bit harder and my hair were considerably shorter (but since it isn't and wasn't, no matter). Tomorrow if I don't see any reasonable difference in my health, I may start the pectin OD, so as to expunge this from me and get on with being healthy. But, we'll see about that tomorrow...
As for now, I've a Silver Chair to read about, maybe some tortilla chips to eat, life to ponder and work to be had (later).

In closing: 4 days.

Expeditious

Update while my english muffin toasts.
Feeling a bit better, coughing subsiding (still here, though), easier breathing. I think I may be on the tail end of whatever this was (hooray!). I've decided to go to resthome tonight, but no hugs.
3/4 or so done with Dawn Treader, taking it with me now to read in Edmonds (so I beat the traffic) before resthome.
More later, if there's more to say and time to say it.

Fall Morn

Originally uploaded by bruceofjericho.

First, I shall explain the picture. This morning I got up at 7, went about my morning routine, then went outside to head over to the kitchen. After I stepped outside, I noticed some fog to my left. It looked really cool to see it all, so I took a nice mystic picture with my phone. Normally, I just go black and white, but I thought the color showed the misty morning best. Oh, it was great.

As for an update, yesterday I worked a nice long day. I wasn't supposed to start until 8:30, but I forgot about that detail and started at 7:30 :). I had gotten up at 6:30, showered, devo'd and ate, then headed out with Danny to get to work. Wasn't much left to do, so we worked a bit in the kitchen, then Danny, Coley and I went to momma's for orange cranberry muffins and hot chocolate (quite good, quite good). Anyways, long day with Clubhouse and all. The Mowrer brothers' dad was a little late, so I stayed after with them and threw some football.
Basically, I was up at 6:30 and worked until 6:30 (with a lunch). After clubhouse was dinner, then I went to my place and read some more Prince Caspian, which drained me the little extra bit I needed, and went to bed at 9! Oh yeah, nice and really early. But I slept Really well. Bronwyn called me at 9something (30ish?) and I didn't even here my phone in the slightest.
As for now, I'm doing my laundry (finally!) and watching Mythbusters on Discovery Channel. Surprisingly, though, doing laundry is actually kind of nice. Same for folding it. It's just kind of a good time when I get to chill and do something nice and repetitive and organizing.
I'm doing a little better on the health front. I've still got my throaty stuff, but I've done it before. The upside is that all it is is the throat phlegm, and not something worse. I had like half a Hall's this morning, but that pectin isn't as happy as it used to be... I don't have any Airborne or tea (nor would I drink tea), so those are out. I think the thing is, I need a family in order to stay healthy. I don't get sick often enough to warrant purchasing medicine on my own. I would have it for the one time I got sick, then it would be useless.

My laundry load is finished, so I'm going to go rotate it. Thanks for the Hitchman comments, I always enjoy comments :). Enjoy your weekends, kids.

Ailing

Of all the times to get sick. Blast it all!
Just this afternoon I've been feeling a bit of something coming up in my throat, and it's a feeling I've feeled before. I may have to go hit me up some Hall's fruit breezers tomorrow (pectin OD to the rescue!) to soothe this silliness. My current self prescription thus far is plenty of water, pectin and no running (I want to try and keep from exerting myself much). Any other suggestions? It's mostly a bit of a throat scratch or something of that sort. Maybe it's nothing and my gullet is just recovering from the New Rugged Cross and resthome last night. That would be nice.
That's the update as it stands for now.

Redux

Get it?

Thought so.

Joyous! (Or Smiley To The Nth)

There is no single smiley that can accurately portray how I felt, so just use your imagination.

More to come...

The Lady Of The Lake

Originally uploaded by bruceofjericho.

So my camera phone is coming in as handy as I was hoping it would. When you're out and about and don't bring a camera, it's always good to know you have one in your pocket!
Here we have everyone's favorite middle Hitchman at our schnappy dinner last Saturday (favorite little Hitchman below). At first I was really excited about it, but then P.F.Chang's couldn't seat all 11 of us! They had some lame homecoming group or something (I'm pretty sure on the phone they said prom...), so we switched it up and got an easy reservation at Buca di Beppo's. However, BdB's turned out extraordinarily good. PFC's was the utmost of schnappy atmosphere, but the food isn't really That great. I was pleasantly surprised at BdB's with their excellent service, wonderful food and our appropriate attire (I looked like some kind of mob boss in my striped suit). It was a much friendlier, upbeat atmosphere as well which helped ease my grumpery at not going to PFC's.
Anyways, that's the story from Saturday (or most of it). All that was left was some pumpkin carving as follows:
Moi- Winter theme pumpkin
Bruce- Spring theme pumpkin
Peter- Summer theme pumpkin
Lyd- Fall theme pumpkin
Mel- Homestar Runner outline
Chris- Strongbad head...kinda
Russ- Trogdor outline
Wink- UofW 'W'
Brianna- A goofy face thing
Jason- R.I.P. (chopped to death)
Jenny- Baked pumpkin seeds

Walk

Originally uploaded by bruceofjericho.

The second of a few pictures from our schnappy dinner night on Saturday. This is me taking shots behind me without looking as we were walking out. Quite fun. I like the motion blur effect that was achieved while we were walking.

Patagonia

How's about a little update action? I think I'm going to try to post every couple of days, if just to stave off some boredom.
This week almost all the full-time staff are on a retreat through Wednesday (only Chris Bova stayed), so my schedule this week is a wee bit crazy. I've got works and breaks and all manner of lunacy. I open (which I enjoy) every day at 6:30 (get up at 5:45), break for an hour or so at 9, do a van run close to 11, break for lunch, then accomodations and clubhouse. I do lots of driving, which is kind of fun.
Oh dear! My bank just called (the conveniently placed Bellevue branch) and my debit card is in, so I shall have to bid you adieu for now. I'll continue this later...

(And it had such a good title!)

A Beautiful Letdown

I don't have much to say, or much time to say it.
Basically, no David Crowder concert for me last night :(. I guess it was sold-out by the time Fugee's whoever got to buying the tickets (L- pet peeve?) and on top of it, they apparently changed venues to some church in Mill Creek of all places...
So instead, I went to Bellevue Square with Satchmo, Pookie and Danny (it was Satchmo's birthday). P, D and I got Panda Express while Satch did some perusing of stores. After we were done eating we went over to Helly Hansen (one of the kids' dads apparently works at HH corporate or something and dropped off coupons for 25% off your whole purchase). Satch got a fleece for himself, and one for his brother, and I got one for myself. Satch ended up getting the same one as mine for his brother (plus a size). I justified the expense by saying it's just a little more I would've payed for David Crowder. $19 for a solo ticket, ~$20 for a t-shirt, a few bucks for gas, and maybe some other souvenir and some food. Plus, Mindy made junior mint brownies for Satch's birthday and served with ice cream at her place when we were watching Lost on ABC.
That's about all for me, I need to finish my pop-tarts and get to work.
Be cool, stay in school, and don't get more sick.

The Phantom Of The Opera Is Here...

"...Inside my mind."
My instinal defect was as short lived as was hoped. The worst of it was Saturday (which was my busiest day of work- no good), then after a full night's rest, I was feeling considerably better Sunday morning. It turned out I only had to work Sunday breakfast and lunch, but not dinner! So I got to go have fun with the famous foursome (Mel, Lyd, Jason and I) watching Equilibrium (under Jenny's suggestion, though I'd already seen it) and eating my wonderful cookies (no names named... :D). Too bad I didn't have any white chocolate chips to put in my cookies, or they would've been the toppest of notches (and surprisingly so).
Today work was a slow start, but that's life. I at least get more rest each night to recover from this mad weekend (getting up at 8 instead of 7). All I ate Saturday dinner through lunch today was basically toast with toast for snack except for some chicken noodle soup Sunday lunch and a corndog at lunch today. Tonight we made cornbread- and bacon-stuffed porkchops for dinner with some herb & butter rice (-a-roni), a little salad with baby spinach for greens and french silk pie (kudos to the Tamm's for buying it) for dessert. It was quite the respite from all this toast I had to actually try and take care of myself (what with being all on me onesies).
Ah yes, as for those two letters I was going to send out, I only had time for one (so the other person is quite out of luck). However, I now have two more articles to post and shall be quite happy to get them on their way as their time comes. But enough of all that, it's time for sleepy. I even brought in the only blanket I hadn't yet from my car, a nice old afghan to try and keep me warm at night (L- your help is unspeakably immense).
For now, au revoir, and don't let ze bed bugs bite.
Ah yes, and everyone pray for Short-stack.

Les Misérables

Mmmmmmmk. So today was The longest day ever. I suppose it's payment due for the last week, even for when I worked yesterday. Yesterday was a great day at work, I was blasting music, dancing and singing and goin all over the place. I even got done at 8:20 (that's fast)!
After work yesterday, I go say hi to some friends, come back and go to bed. 4am rolls around and I awoke to the most unpleasant of conditions. I go to the bathroom. I come back, try to get back to sleep, then go to the bathroom again. After the second round, I decide to load up my Nalgene and drink some water, which actually helped and I was able to get to sleep. Then came the longest day ever. I worked from 7:30am-9pm, with an upset stomach, diarrhea, and a group of ~150 at lunch and only an hour and a half break from 3-4:30. Not fun. I think my title pretty well sums it up (though I have no idea what the play is about). Erica was kind enough to help me out with dishes, and when she left she instructed me to just leave when the dishes were finished (there were lots).
I had two pieces of toast for dinner, and I'll most likely have toast again for breakfast.
I want this weekend to be over...
On the upside, the kids come home next weekend (hooray!), and although diarrhea sucks (ironic?), it at least only lasts a couple of days (in theory). Hopefully I'll get better soon, because it doesn't get easier from here on out. No break after tomorrow, just straight back into the usual swing of things.
Hope everyone else is doing better off than I am. Speaking of, I heard the Tamm car returned home? Eh?

DC*B

So as to copy Jacob's post back in the day for Nickel Creek, I would like to cordially invite you all to learn that the new David Crowder*Band CD- A Collision- was released on Tuesday. I haven't gotten quite all the way through it, but so far it is a very good CD. They are still David Crowder holding to their worship roots, but within that they still manage a wide variety of genre sounds on a single disc (there are songs that sound like their usual fare, as well as a song that sounds like a Jesus ho-down). David Crowder Band pleases me, their music style is fresh and unlike any other. Their style inspires me to worship. They don't try to play to a particular emotion as it seems like some songs do by being really slow and sappy and trying to be so meaningful, but they just be themselves and that just happens to be the kind of music I like.
Basically, David Crowder*Band rocks, rolls, worships and praises, and if you be so inclined, pick up a disc or go check them out live at Overlake next Wednesday (I will be :D).
I'm swamped all weekend here in the kitchen (though I did get the week off, and I wouldn't trade Monday for the world, so it's worth it), but today it's just a few dozen people so it's pretty easy. Tomorrow is going to be crazy with over 100 people at (I think) every meal.

Kasey- when are we sailing?
R&D- how's the flat?
L- Thanks.
M- you don't go back to school after December :D.
J- you go back to school after December :(. But I still love you.
UCU-types- when shall I visit? Perhaps next weekend?
Mel- update your blog so we can all know how you're doing!
Etc.- thanks for visiting my blog.

Ah yes, and everyone RSVP for the 8th, I hope you can all make it (I'm So excited for it! bring your camera!).

Regalia

A post for update's sake.
Work is good. I traded shifts with Brad this week (because he wanted the weekend off), so I'm in the kitchen again. Lucky me, there have been miscommunications both times I've been on kitchen (first week and this week), resulting in a meal shift that I have to work some time during the week that didn't get put onto my schedule! So, I always make plans for whatever day that is because my schedule doesn't show me as working, then I come to find out there's a meal and- being that I'm intelligent- I know that I'm supposed to work at that time because I'm on kitchen, whether my schedule says so or not. So that kind of ruined my outlook on the week yesterday (today was going to be so fun!), but on the upside, I had a spectacular weekend with the canucks. I got to enjoy the ride up with Lydia, tickle Jenny, hang out with the Moira and the Robert and the Matt and the Jen, I got to see John and Tash (twice, very briefly), meet some of John and Rob's hallmates, attend Moi's Proverbs and Wisdom class (great prof, by the by) and enjoy the drive back down with some Edaleen's ice cream, one of my greatest friends, and some kettle corn and The Love Bug to top it off when we got back (with water that wasn't bottled!).
As for today, I have to work that unextpected lunch (instead of going to Seattle for lunch with Tamm's and Lydia and exploring Bellevue!) which kind of kills my day. I may go out to Boater's World, I may go to the library (and finally return this book and movie), I may just read more Chronicles. Oh, on a positive note, I get to go buy my new stamps tomorrow! Hooray! So far I only know two letters to send with such exciting stamps on them, but I'll see what else I can think of to send to people. And if you get your hopes up because you think you are one of these two but don't get anything, feel free to send me a letter telling me how much you miss me and that you feel like you should've gotten a letter, and I'll be sure to write back :D.
Tonight is the first RUF of the year. I want to go, but I'm kind of meh about it. I'll have to see how I'm feeling when the time rolls around. Ah yes, last night was our HIV/AIDS education class (and Heps A, B, C). Our teacher was nice and there were two women from the area taking the class with us. It was pretty fun. We laughed, we cried...
I suppose that's good for now. Oh, no it's not! No, it is. That'll come in time...
So long, farewell and all that jazz.
Toodles, poodles.

Just for kicks

A post just to say:
go to Sambica's website!
Why? Because if you scroll to the bottom, you can see the interns! Which happens to include me.
That's about it. M- send me that contentment picture when you get it computered ;).

Jibe!

Only the coolest of the cool know it! Ok, the rest of you are cool too. But you're just extra cool if you know your sailing terms :).
My new hobby-to-be is sailing! I'm so excited. Kasey, the second you get back here we're goingn sailing at UW...or whatever. But we're going! So far I read a book about the fundamentals of sailing that I got from the library Monday (now Wednesday). I can only have two items out until I prove my address is My address (I have Matchstick Men out as well, I hear it's good), so I'm returning fundamentals and picking up The Everything Sailing Book. I really Really want to go sailing! Anyways, that time will come.
As for life, Sambica is going well. Today I got to do more maintenance (my favorite!) with Magnum, installing new plumbing under 4022 (staff housing). We piped the tub, washer and bathroom sink. Tomorrow is the kitchen sink (bigger because we have to install a food disposal too) and whatever else.
I really want to sail...
I have been and will be opening all this week at Clubhouse, which means I get to be there at 6:30 for when parents drop kids. But it's cool, the morning is the chill part of the day (haha, CHILL!). The kids show, and just play games, color, whateva until they leave for school. I get up at 6 (three alarms: Cosmo that beeps, I hit sleep; three minutes later is Phantom of the Opera, which I turn off; last is Cosmo's sleep going off again, then I get on up :D), eat my poptarts for breakfast (not crackin good), drink a cup of water or so, and head out for Clubhouse. Next week I'm doing afternoon Clubhouse working with junior highers. I sat in the JH group a day or so ago, and there are two boys that are going to be a handful. Kristof Demands attention and Harley refuses to listen (he lives in his own little world). [catamaran...] It's going to be a handful, but I just hope I'm able to deal with them and help them see where I'm coming from rather than just getting frustrated with them and being their enemy (or it'll be a long nine months...).
Hope everyone's doing well. Everyone feel free to call me (if you have my number, otherwise call or email someone cool to get it). Oh yeah, and everyone who has a microphone should get Skype. It's an online talking service (telephone for the pootermobile!). You can talk to anyone else who has Skype over it, and Canadian borders don't restrict it! Woohoo! The days of phonecards are gone! Which is good, because [spinnaker...] I used half of the minutes I had left talking to Tash! Good to talk to, though.
Ah yes, I am reminded. Send me mason jars with baking ingredients. No, seriously though, that's not what I remembered. Thursday all of us interns are going in together to get wireless internet! I guess Ryan called already and we're supposed to be getting it tomorrow! That'll be cool. It will make my brain much more pleased to use the computer. Currently at camp I just use the junko computer that we're allowed to to check my email and blogs. It's hard to look at. The color on the monitor is so bad... And it has low resolution. 800x600? Welcome to the 50's. Psh, seriously. So yeah, I should be blogging, onlining and whatnots more often then.
For now I'm going to continue sailing, err I mean surfing the internet. Salud, and farewell for now dear friends.

(L)

Bellevue Hills 98008

Here I be at Sambica. So far my first two days have gone very well and the third is as well. Tuesday and Wednesday I was working with Chris "Magnum" in maintenance and that was a good experience. Chris is a general contractor outside of camp to help pay the bills. I like working with him. Good guy, good physical labor. Tuesday I mostly began painting the back side of Bethel, then Wednesday I painted in the morning and at the end of my shift, and in the middle Magnum and I were in and under 4022 (the house next to the office) chopping through pipes of various sorts with a sawzall to get them out of the house so we can replumb the whole thing (which I'm not sure I'll be a huge part of, since I'm in the kitchen the rest of the week). Oh yes, speaking of schedules. I do have to be out here on Saturday for the lunch shift, which hopefully won't go much past 2 or 3 (hopefully at the latest, 3:30).
As I'm sure so many know, it is traditional that most camps give staff "camp names." This is the case here at Sambica. However, since Lake Retreat didn't do such a thing the last two years, I didn't have one coming out here, so they decided they would give me one while I was here. Well, today Momma (the head chef/cook) unofficially camp named me Reach (because of my...reach). We'll see if it sticks.
I think that's about enough for now. This isn't the best keyboard to type on because of its position :). However, I might try to hit up the Issaquah library (a mere 5 miles away!) and see if they have wireless internet for me to laptop with (or I may just call first...). Hope everyone is having as much fun as I am :). M- where's my email :(?

Slow And Steady Wins The...Race...

Well, well, well. Look who's back. I had some fun turning my blog inside-out (color-wise) and fiddling with features in my template, and this is what came out. Life so far as a lonely old man is pretty good, I must say. I guess I overestimated how bad it was going to be, and many times in the past couple weeks I've been able to see that I'm still not so bad off (though still not in the best of positions...).
Last Tuesday, Tedrow and I went to QFC to get some food (and I decided I would get my own, since I would be needing some for Sam[bica]). Well, I got a few things, just $16 dollars of groceries or something to that effect. Over the next couple days, I came to realize that food in the store is WAY cheaper than any where else. I thought I was being cheap paying $3 for a meal at Dick's, then I had a PB&H sammich and a pickle for lunch, and the overall cost must've been no more than 75 cents! Brilliant! Anyways, on with business. Today, I was looking through the QFC ad for this week and saw some good deals. So I beckoned Chris and he and I went over there. Let me tell you, I made out like a bandit today! I got $67.91 worth of groceries for... $38.60! Bandito! My favorite part about shopping at QFC is that at the bottom of the receipt, it tells you your savings of the day and then tells you the percent of your savings (which is totally exciting). I saved $29.31 (43%)! I was so happy when I saw that. While I was shopping it looked like I was loading up for a family (but it's just me :D). I had three boxes of wheat thins, four 12-packs of soda (I know, naughty, but it was a good deal and I plan on making them last a long time...or giving them out as good-will offerings :D), some jello packs, a gallon of OJ, two loaves of bread, ketchup, Kroger brand pop-tarts, corn, chicken, and pork and beans. I'm so loaded up for the days to come! Plus- bonus points- Chris is giving me mustard, tater tots and corn dogs! So, I'm excited for my days to come, as they are not as bleak as I made them out to be. I even got a toaster oven (with toaster oven sized cookie sheet!) and brita pitcher today (thanks for the company ;). I'll have to have all you friends out for lunch or dinner some day (then Chris will see what a Real meager meal is!).
Ah yes, as long as I'm on the topic, I would like to cordially invite anyone who feels led to to send me mason jars! They would be handy for cups. And while you're at it, feel free to fill said jar with the appropriate measurements of dry ingredients to make things (cookies, brownies, whatever...) and I'll be sure they find their way to the ole Black & Decker T-O (I can find the wet stuff, I'm sure).
Anyways, I hope everyone else's life is looking up as well. I love you all and will miss you while I'm way out on Samm. I should be back before long, I do hope. We're even supposed to have weekends off...nudge, nudge.
Ah Yes! As long as I'm on the topic (in my mind), I would also like to cordially invite anyone who wants to be cordially invited to P.F.Chang's! It is a "shnappy" (Jenny's word) chinese restaurant (there's one in Alderwood Mall) with good food, good service, and- in theory- good company! I got some new pants at Old Navy yesterday, and they are just so shnappy that they must be worn there! Yes Jenny, shnappy pants (not snappy)! So we'll have to get a sturdy group together, make some reservations there (you don't have to, but wouldn't it be fun?) and head our dress-casual selves over there.
I think that's enough for now. Enjoy what God gives you, because it's on loan!

(L)

The Previously Unheard Of Americans...

Saturday, Russ and I attended the one and only Improvathon (details below). We got there around 3:15 and didn't leave until abut 9:30! It was a most delightful menagerie of amusement. And when I got there, one of the players was none other than Brian Macmillan himself! What a surprise to see him.
UP was usually changing the format, if you will, of the presentation of their improv about every hour, and the last presentation we were there for was Shakespeare! What a preformance it was! French, English, Greeks, Americans, cranberries, love, hate, snorkels and shoes! It was the most entertaining hour or so I've seen in a long time, and it was most enjoyed. I encourage all of you to try and get to the Improvathon next year if at all feasible (especially if you can make Shakespeare hour if they have it again!).
Also, check out my new links section. I have reupdated, reordered, and renewed it. See if you like any of the new additions.
Since everyone keeps asking (perhaps I officially forgot to put it on here), yes, I am an official Sambica intern for the next nine months. I'm not sure if my official mailing address will be the same as the one from below, but I will be sure to post whatever it is as soon as I find out (so I can get lots of mail from all my wonderful friends...or at least the two of you :D). Until then (even after then), feel free to give me a ringy-loo on my cell phone if you so desire. And send some emails while you're at it, too. Those are always good to get.

"I am so...cheesed off!"
Au revoir!

Long Shot.

Yes, it is. But who wants to go to Improvathon? Of course, I don't mean to see all of it. But I think it would be enjoyable to go see. But what do I know?

...I thought so. So would anyone like to attend? Friday night? Saturday day/night? What's up my friends? Why does nobody enjoy the theater...
Oh well, perhaps I can find someone to go.

Somebody More Like You. -Nickel Creek

I didn't hear you say you're sorry
The fault must be mine
I wish you all the best of luck
At finding somebody more like you

You said you'd love me always, truly
I must have changed
Cause you don't need me like you used to
I hope you find somebody more like you

I hope you finally find someone
Someone that you trust
And give him everything
I hope you meet someone your height
So you can see eye-to-eye
With someone as small as you

You came out of nowhere, made me smile
Then tore me in two
Saying, "We're very different people"
So dear, I hope you find somebody more like you

I hope you find somebody more like you




I would like to thank Jacob for introducing this band to me (and for giving me all of his music library...). Good song. No Moi, don't flatter yourself, the small part isn't because I was thinking of you ;).

God's Drive-in.

First, I would like to say God provides! Never before have I had such a quick turnaround in attitude than last night.
I posted the below post, most downtrodden. After a small bit, I hopped on my bike and headed to Dick's for dinner (it's cheap and good, and I need CHEAP). I got my food, sat down in front of my bike, and prayed for my food. I prayed that it nourish me and fill me but I also prayed that God help me.
Yesterday I was reading my Perspectives book, and in it was a story about the author's nephew (I think) mimmicking his actions and words. The boy was trying to open out a recliner chair and after not being able to do so in his own strength, turned to his uncle and said "Please help me." knowing that all he need do was ask. Faith like a child. So I did just so, I said to God "Please help me." He is my creator, my overseer and my God and he has his plan, though my capacity to comprehend it is miniscule. After I finished eating my single hamburger and french fries, I began to sip on my water. Then the woman in this car next to me rolls down her window and asks if I can eat another burger! And she throws me her Dick's Deluxe! Nothing could I think but "God provides!" Prayer answered, life changed, SO GOOD! I was nearly tearing with joy at this answer to prayer. The woman told me that her head was bigger than her stomach and she could eat no more. I assured her that I had a big head ;). Wow.

In response to all these comments about what I think about meaningless:
I understand what you all are saying, that life is meaningless without God and that this is what view Ecclesiastes comes from. I know this. My Ecclesiasticality is not that life itself is meaningless but- being that we are in this world, not of it- that worldly things are vastly meaningless. My new sight is only an understanding of where my treasures must lie.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
- Matthew 6:19-20

But yes, I am up for discussion of life, love, happiness and the meaning of it all (or meaningless of it all?...). Perhaps we shall some time have to summon together in a forum to discuss all our thoughts on such matters.
Until then, go and be for God.
Oh, and see you at resthome...I think...

Wow.

I would like to officially label this as the hardest time I've ever experienced in my life. I don't know what lies ahead of me, or even what I want to lie ahead of me. I've just got this big gaping hole before me, and I don't know what I'm doing with it. I have my Sambica training in a little bit, so that should help me get un...depressed? I hate this word. I refuse to believe I am depressed. Melancholy? We'll say I'm melancholy :).
Perhaps finding some goals for myself will help my brain figure this out. Perhaps this is just a time where I'm going to be going through hell and must simply press on toward God and remain in Him only. I don't know.
I'm scared, confused and without home. And I know not when home will again be...
Hopefully I'll see you all on the other side...

Wait.

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."

"Wait? You say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have You not heard?
By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

And Lord, You promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."

So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting...for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want-But, you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save...(for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for Thee.'
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And thought oft' may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, 'WAIT.'"

-Unknown Author

This Way...

This Way
Originally uploaded by bruceofjericho.

Henry V! A wonderful play is written by Bill Shakespeare his self. It happened to have been attended by Jacob, Chris, Robb and myself. Quite the enjoyable experience, let me tell you. Unfortunately, Greenstage's run for the summer is done this year. I'll just have to plan for next year when they will be showing A Midsummer Night's Dream and Henry VI - 1, 2, 3.
Discovery park was a nice little place. They have a good area set up for where they do their shows. Good shade, good view, though the hill was a little steep (but we'll just ignore that part). I look forward to attending more Greenstage next year, and to other companies perhaps this year.
For all you men who missed out, there shall be more Shakespeare to come (no more free Greenstage, but we'll find some cheap stuff) so you shall have thine chance.

"That's the humour of it."

Janitor

Janitor
Originally uploaded by bruceofjericho.

HMMMMM? Truly a masterpiece! One day such brilliance shall grace the walls af art galleries and museums! Just you wait and see. Wait and see...
Anyways, I had some spare one on one time between me and my camera phone in the car today while my mom and sister were in Mervyn's, so I decided to goof around (and boy did I!). I don't usually like pictures of myself (does anyone?) but this one I am somewhat fond of...

An Oldie But A Goodie.

Every now and then I like to go back through all my old blog posts (almost a full year old!) just to see how I've changed or grown, what my thoughts were (I'm not a journaler, so my blog is the best I've got). Since I'm on my new computer, I downloaded a few pictures while I was at it :). But, I ran into some old posts that speak more to me now than they did when I posted at the time. I give you a quote from my time reading through Ecclesiastes (now my official life book?):


"Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun - all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun."
- Ecclesiastes 9:9

Ladies and gentlekin! Folk and Shefolk! Hims, hers, hes and shes!
Welcome to ye olde official announcement of the first (hopefully a lot more than) annual meeting of RMRS (pronounced rimmers), the unofficially official group of real men going out and seeing real Shakespeare (reenactments). We shall go, we shall see, we shall recite! Well, maybe we'll just learn some good lines to use :). Girls like Shakespeare right?
The first meet shall be this Sunday, August 21 at 3pm. It is ye olde reenactment of Henry V as performed by Greenstage. On the NWSource website, the show is listed as being at Seward Park Amphitheater (5898 Lake Washington Blvd S) but the Greenstage website lists it at Discovery Park (3801 W. Government Way). I suppose I'll call someone to figure out what the official locale shall be.
So there you have it. It's official. Now you can't say nobody told you (whether or not you came here).
SHALOM!

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. - King Henry V

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig.

We've made it. We're at my mom's rental home (until she finds a real house to move into). My mom has two job interviews tomorrow and my sister has to go back to the MVD (Motor Vehicle Division) to get her WA plates switched to AZ plates.
Hey, did you check out this sweet new blog title? Man that things wicked... In the house we have cable tv and cable internet. So we have this crazy setup. The cable runs from the wall, to a splitter. One side of the splitter runs to the cable modem, which then runs to the Applie AirPort Express Base Station (which turns our single ethernet cable into a wireless signal so our house is wi-fi), the other side of the splitter runs from the splitter to the digital cable box, from the box to the VCR, and from the VCR to the TV. So many cords... But that's ok. And did you see this sweet fan we've got? Go check that out further down on the blog.
I miss home. Well, whatever home is... The Croziers are camping until Sunday, so I'll have two or three nights back with no bed! Anyone want to host me :D? It's like I'm a missionary! Except, you know, I'm just going "home." But that's ok. You know why? Because I'm an official Camp Sambica intern! Woohoo! I start September 1. bad news is that next week I'm swamped (22-26). Each day I'll be working from 7-3 at my mom's friend's company (easy work) then each night I'll be heading out to Lake Sammamish for intern training/orientation from 7-10! This of course means no resthome :(. But, the following week I believe that I shall be able to go! I do hope I have time to hang out with everyone before school starts for everyone.
Anyhow, see most of you Friday or this weekend or something (hopefully). Russ, did you ever get that banjo? I hope so. I'm sure you can pick that thing a bit better than I can ;). G'day y'all (southern Oz accent).

Edit: Hmm, well after further investigation (and the Sambica website being updated), I would like to make the offer of a life-time to all you blog fans! Here's how it goes:

"Raising Funds to serve at SAMBICA:

As a 501c3 non-profit SAMBICA can offer a means for your family and friends to support you and receive a tax deduction in the process. We did not have this set up in the past but will for the coming year. You can raise funds up to a designated limited. These funds, up to the limit, will be put aside to supplement your income. Any amount raised above and beyond that will go to assist other interns who could not raise the needed amount. Funds raised beyond the total will be used to assist in the purchase of training and discipleship materials used in the intern program. If this is an option you would like to pursue, then please contact Executive Director Mike McCorkle for more details.

Checks will be sent to:
SAMBICA CAMP AND CONFERENCE CENTER
4114 West Lake Sammamish Pkwy S.E.,
Bellevue, WA 98008

For more information call:
Executive Director Mike McCorkle at 206-730-3668 or 425-746-9110"

In summary, I'm doing this whole adult life thing. I'll be flying solo and I'm not sure how I'll fair. But, if you'd like to support me, then you'll get this wonderful tax deduction! I think I send out support letters so it's a little more formal, but there you have it...
:)

It's Alive!

Fan Move
Originally uploaded by bruceofjericho.

Ok, so this is the closest you'll get to seeing The Fan in motion. But hey, I think this picture is a much better one than the still. Yay for The Fan!
Oh yeah, and be sure you look down to read the important stuff on my blog past all the aesthetic beauty of these pictures...

The Fan

The Fan
Originally uploaded by bruceofjericho.

So we get to our house. It turns out the "garage" is more like a big automatic door. It's not enclosed. It's basically a wall with a really big door. But it's ok, because it's like a free back patio with lots of shade (and this is Arizona...).
Anyways, most of our house fans are just regular type, but our living room fan is so sweet! Check it out, yo. It's all got leaf-type blades and whatnot. It' looks really cool when you see it spin (which you probably won't ever).
Unloading the truck was a Lot easier than loading it up. It hardly took any time to get the thing empty. Maybe two hours or something. We had to take the door off again to get the couch in (but this time we took out the pins instead of the whole hinges). All in all, a pretty good move. Oh, except that I have to be away from all my friends for over a week! But we don't count that...right?

Fixed.

Ok, I finally figured out a few important things about this mac-amajig of mine. Important things.
Time for lunch. I can post pictures now. Go read my serious post then czech out the pics. BYE!

Bridge Over Calm Waters.

BridgeView
Originally uploaded by bruceofjericho.

I had a really nice view out of my window when I was approaching and passing over this random bridge in CA. So, while I was driving I got out my camera phone and snapped a couple shots. The first one didn't turn out so hot, but I'm actually surprised and how good this one did. Yay for views!

Covenant Transport.

CovenantTransport
Originally uploaded by bruceofjericho.

I only saw two of these trucks the whole trip, but I was happy when I saw the first one at a gas stop. Did we ever figure it out?
Classic.

Just Czechin!

Czechin
Originally uploaded by bruceofjericho.

Saturday during our stop for dinner (where I picked up the Mulan soundtrack on tape for listening to in the truck!) our stop was next door to the General Patton museum )or something to that effect). Outside they had this here assault vehicle from the Czech Republic, and so I decided to take a picture of it and post it with an appropriate title.

A Girl Worth Fighting For!

First, the serious part. After my Ecclesiastical rampage last Wednesday (packing up the odds and ends of our house into the truck we were running out of time, so I just started throwing everything into a pile for goodwill, all the time my brain screaming "meaningless! meaningless! everything is meaningless!") my brain kind of got into that mind set. Let me tell you all, it is not a fun way to have your brain but at the same time, it's exactly how we should think (it gets a lot better after the first day). I suppose this is where the title makes a little more sense (besides the fact that I got the Mulan soundtrack on cassette and have been listening to it in the truck) because this same view got into the - for lack of a better term - sex-drive in my brain :S. Sounds weird, yes, but still very relevant. You see, it has gotten through my thick skull that although I really, really want a girlfriend (so as to have a place to vent my romantic lunacies) that it's, well, Meaningless! I have come to the conclusion that since I intend on 'dating' with the intent of marriage, no manner or extent of worrying, struggling or otherwise making a fuss with myself will matter. It's all Meaningless (my new favorite word)! Since I'm not there yet, none of this matters a bit (except for my own sanity) until the very day that I am ready to ask Ashley (as Em has dubbed her) to marry me. So that front is quite taken care of for the moment (hoorah!). M- feel free to remind me of anything important I forgot to mention :).
Now for the rest.
I was going to download Hello so as to post pictures I've been taking onto my blog, but they haven't made Hello for Macs yet! So unless I can find another way to get them up, you'll just have to wait! Today we made it to Phoenix! I'm in our hotel room now typing all this. Day one was home down to Tigard, OR. Day two was computers, Rob and driving from Tigard down to Yreka, CA. Day three was Yreka, In'n'Out for lunch in Redding and on down to Kettleman, CA. Today was Kettleman all the way to Phoenix, AZ! Thus endeth our road trip! Tomorrow we're going to meet up with my mom's cousins somewhere around. Monday or Tuesday we move my mom into her place and Thursday we move my sister into her dorm and then I fly home! Speaking of home, apparently my mom's friend's company desperately wants me to work for them! So after I get back, I'll have an easy breezy steady job for the two weeks before I (almost 100%!) head to Sambica on Sept. 1. God provides (and abundantly)! I'm going to see if I can convince my mom to rent a convertible some time this week (Meaningless!)...Or perhaps one of her cousins has one (that would be too handy)...
Ok next is towns that I've driven past! Hopefully I can remember all the really important ones. Such as:
[Darth] Vader, Los Banos [The Bathrooms], Battle Ground [I'm sure someone during camp was from there...], Palm Springs, and a few others that I totally knew I wouldn't remember long enough to get to my computer! Anyways, it was fun seeing some places I'd only heard of on signs as I drove by.
Oh, to whom it applies: I think we're getting my plane ticket some time tomorrow or something to that effect, so I should know when I'm flying home soon enough. Who's ready for a house-warming party!? For some reason I feel like it's already a lot later in the week than it is (it's not even Sunday yet!). But that's ok, it shall be as so soon enough! See you all when I see you, if not sooner or later.

Ecclesliasticles.

Hooray! Here I sit, in room 116 of the Best Western Miner's Inn in Yreka, CA. How might I be posting from there, you may ask? Well, well, let me tell you. Whilst in Tigard, OR visiting my man Rob, we went to the Apple Store in the mall and my mom got herself a 14" iBook for her computer at her home-to-be, my sister got a 14" iBook for school at ASU and I myself recieved a 12" iBook for keeping in touch for the next however long. In my case, I asked if they sold the display models of computers and they do (some times). But, our helper informed me that the 12" iBook just got revamped two weeks prior with bluetooth and touchpad scrolling and that I could get the "older" model if I could do without those two options (which I most certainly can!) and got a discount on it.
So as it happens, I shall be posting periodically on this road trip of ours to update everyone on life and whatnot. Oh yeah! Major update to boot: I called Mike McCorkle (of Sambica) today and guess what! He said he has a few things left to finalize and then I'll be an intern! Woohooooooo! I have to call him back Monday to get final word on it, but yippy-skippy I say! So in theory, I may go stay with a certain Crozier clan for a few days or some, then head my little self on over to Lake Sammamish for nine months! I'm so excited!
Everyone please feel free to email with whatever you feel the need to tell me (mycityofpalms@hotmail.com) no matter how big or small. I'll be checking when I can.

Good night, friends!

Detroit, What A Silly Place

Welp kids, this is my last post until who-knows-when. Tomorrow we leave for Oregon to go visit my good man Rob! That's a super bonus prize. Unfortunately, that's the only one. Packing the truck was completely not fun to start. It was cloudy, boring and like I was digging my own grave. Then Scott showed up! Then Marlae came! And moments later drove Mel! So that made everything automatically fun. Plus the sun came out to join us! If you haven't heard, I'm like Superman and I get my powers from the sun (powers? chyeah). So packing the truck turned from depressing to fun, which is good. We all went for Taco Del Mar for lunch, and after we were done for the day we went out for some Jamba Juice.
Life is entirely confusing. On one side, nothing makes sense and it seems like everything is going downhill. But on the other end I always come back to remembering that my god is for me not against me (Happy Song). It's quite the cycle and I am quite tired of it. It stinks, because when I'm all by me onesies is when I start thinking downhill and can't get out of it, but then when I get around all my good friends I forget about all that and am reminded of God's goodness and plan for me. If you want to hear more about my messed up life, please feel free to call (you never know when both of us will have a couple hours to kill at the same time), I'll have my phone on during the trip (we have good coverage).
Adios mi amigos, yo quiero dormir! ö
Some day I shall post again. When that day comes is something else...

This is the mighty stained glass window in the chapel of Covenant College! It's great. This post isn't very important, it's just putting up this picture. Scroll down for the good stuff. This post size doesn't do it justice, so you have to click on it to get a little closer to full size (but even that isn't the real deal. email me if you want the real deal).

Ladder Of Life.

I figured I would post an update of life while I still had the chance.
As far as camps go, I'm done at Lake Retreat (did I already say that?). I applied at Qwanoes, but the staff assistant they had last year is coming back this year, so no Canada for me. I turned in my application at Sambica yesterday and got to sit down with Mike McCorkle for a quick interview of sorts. It sounds like a really good way to learn about camping (it's a way to get a look at what the off-season offers without going in all the way and regretting it). I'm optimistic about getting this intern position and from what I got talking with Mike, there's a good chance for it! I'm really, really, Really, really, really, hoping I get this internship there. I found out one of the guys that came to Lake Retreat last year is also doing this internship, so I'm glad if I do it that I already know somebody.
I also sent an email to Craig Piefer at Black Lacke Bible Camp (down south of Olympia on Black Lake), but no word back from him yet. But I don't care, I'm just praying that I get to go to Sambica. I'm so pumped up for it I can't contain myself! Perhaps that just means I'm setting myself up for a big letdown but meh, I think I have a good possibility of getting it.
Tomorrow morning we're packing up our truck for the move to AZ. Speaking of, if any of you aren't busy tomorrow morning, please come help! I'm the only guy here, and we need a few more strong arms to help lift big things (like the couch and such), so I hope some of you read this soon enough and can make it (Jacob?...). We're leaving Wednesday morning and stopping down in OR to visit Rob for a bit. I guess I'm staying down there until about next thursday or friday? My sister moves into her dorm on the 18th, and hopefully I can get a late flight out on that night so I can be back for the weekend!
I need lots of prayer for my life coming ahead. Travel, work, home, life...everything really. This is the craziest thing ever, and I'm really not looking forward to it. Well, I'm looking forward to Sambica (hopefully) but none of the rest. Hopefully I won't die... Or lose my funny ;).
Catch y'all on the other side...some time...ever...I think...yeah...

Prayer Is The Key In...

First, I would like to apologize to everyone I've hurt this summer. I've been thoroughly informed of (and have thoroughly regretted) things I've said or done. Don't you hate it when you turn into exactly what you don't want to be, but don't even notice? Let me tell you, it sucks (hindsight is 20/20). I love you all and I've realized things I should've figured out a long time ago (on my own or with the help of another...). For example, I value my friendships too much to let camp get in the way (I've been waiting and waiting for the end of this week when I could come home. I didn't want to go back after Creation). I suppose in ways camp was an answer to a prayer or two, but now that the end has come, I have realized that it may have only been an answer to prayer so that God could say to me "see what you wanted? sucks doesn't it?". Yes, it does. It seems that happens each summer from camp. Some big prayer is answered, but only so God can say "there you go. Now come my way." A wise man once told me "you can be who you want to be at camp, because nobody really Knows you. But here, you're Bruce." I'm Bruce, not camp. If I'm going full-time camp, I need to put Bruce in camp, not put camp in Bruce.
Anyways, on with the rest of business.
I have been blinded recently by camp and my circumstances (crazy as they are) and I've been trying too hard to accomplish things on my own and take care of myself (forgetting who is in control). Basically, I'm realizing I need to turn to God rather than rely on myself (or anyone for that matter). So I'm asking for prayer. Just today I discovered a possible opportunity at Sambica (on Lake Sammamish) for an internship team! A team! That makes me so much more excited than the Staff Assistant position at Qwanoes (sorry, Canada). So I ask for prayer that this might be the opportunity I'm looking for, that I can figure things out for my life (in many areas) and see God's plan for me (but who doesn't want that one?).
For now I need to get to packing and go drop off this Sambica application!