Yesterday was an interesting day.  In the middle of an interesting week.  Mostly because it’s been an insanely hectic week, and yesterday was easily the most hectic day.  My co-worker, Lovell, insisted that I blog about the insanity.  But…I’m kind of at a loss as to how to explain things.  I guess I’ll just take you through the course of my day yesterday.  Soooo hold on.

Well I woke up bright & early at 7:45am…which, if you know me, is actually a ridiculously early time.  I swear I felt like I only slept for one hour (even tho, don’t worry, I got seven hours or something close to that).  Anyway, I made some breakfast, read the news (aka effed around on the computer).  And got dressed and packed my bag to be ready to survive the LONGEST DAY EVER.  Also, since yesterday was payday, I engaged in the absurdly depressing task of paying bills.  (I had mailed in my taxes the day before, for those of you concerned, which was a ridiculously depressing task).

Then I went and got gas (more $) and headed in to Job #1: Nursery Assistant at First Presbyterian.  I was, predictably, late (despite waking up wayyyy earlier than normal).  So I got some coffee (2 cups…) and began the incredibly demanding task of coloring.  I had 4 kids, all regulars, and we had a lot of fun.  We colored, played with a whole bunch of toys, ate snack, had our Bible lesson, danced around, cleaned up, went outside, and came back and played some more.  I have discovered that the majority of children’s games are really just elaborate versions of tag…but still involves the basic concepts of running and tagging someone.  I hate tag.  But 4-5yr olds love it.  Which means a lot of tag happens no matter what I do.  But, luckily, it’s Amasa’s forte.  And he so happened to stop by to visit me at the end of job #1…and proceeded to tell me my life is crazy hectic.  Which is true.  He also got my kids to take a quick “nap”, which was a nice break from all the tag.

But, alas, I had to head out pretty quickly.  I only had a half hour between leaving 1st Pres and having to be at my second job.  So, I ran to Jimmy John’s, because it’s unquestionably wonderful AND quite speedy.  I got some more caffeine in the form of sweet tea, and sped off to Texas Land & Cattle, my new workplace, for training.  I ate my sandwich while driving (so dangerous) and changed and put on my make-up in the parking lot before heading in.  This was my second day of training to be a server, and it was just as interesting as the last.  This job will be…entertaining.  At least half of the future co-workers I’ve met so far have absolutely no boundaries.  Plus, as someone who has always worked in predominately female environments, suddenly entering one that is so overrun with the male species is completely overwhelming, esp when combined with the lack of boundaries.  My training as an RC has made me want to keep yelling out “Boundaries!” and “Inappropriate!” as their conversation is not that much different from that of my teenage boys.  Also, I have a loooooottttttttttt of appetizers to remember.  And drinks to learn.  Is it bad if on both days of your training two different trainers have told you the job will be easier for you if you are a raging alcoholic?  Again, this will be entertaining.  Unfortunately, I might gain like 50lbs.  They made me sample all of the appetizers yesterday – most of which are fried beyond belief.  So, having learned from the mistake of eating lunch before training, Saturday I will be sure to “come hungry” as I have to try some steak and side items.  Mmm.

As I was leaving this job (already late for Job #3) I had a call from one of my best friends of all time, Jessica, relaying some absolutely psychotic news about her love life.  Dear God, the drama.  But I told Jess not to worry, if she needed anyone to orchestrate a quick crazy intervention to terrify a certain man, myself & my co-workers could easily help as we are experts in the study crazy.  And we can bring it.

Then I arrived at Job #3, which is the primary job, at TCH.  By this point, I have had 2 coffees, 1 sweet tea, 2 diet pepsis (after not really drinking soda very much at all in the past 7 months), and 1 lemonade.  I’ve also worked 2 jobs already, and heard some absurdly crazy news and conversation.  So it’s not really an exaggeration to say that I was completely jacked-up and off the wall.  Lovell grew concerned and made me promise that even tho I was joining the restaurant industry I would not develop a coke habit, as it kind of seemed like I was already a bit cracked out.  She also made me promise not to get attached to my new co-workers because my TCH ones need to come first in my heart, lol.  And then we all proceeded to have a wonderfully hilarious shift.  It was my first day of the week working with Lauren, easily my favorite person that I currently work on shift with, and my kids have miraculously been borderline angelic alllllll week.  Which means we can have so much more fun with them than we can when they’re acting a fool.

The shift ran really smoothly, and the highlights include: 1) Running into a 5.5ft black snake on the walk to the farm, at which point Lauren and I bravely provided safety for the kids by literally running away and leaving them with the snake…in front of 2 of our supervisors…  2)  Using our rings as walkie-talkies, and since Lauren & Keegan didn’t have rings, creating rings for them out of tape and post-it notes  3) Basking in the glow of our fabulous inter-office mojo  4) The Living Parables performance during Youth Church!!!  I was so nervous, because I was afraid my kids were either going to be absurdly disrespectful or else hate the show and mock LP, which my poor heart would not be able to handle professionally.  However, the performance was WONDERFUL, and I’ve seriously never seen the kids that engaged in youth church.  I really enjoyed the writing and the acting.  Also, my co-workers provide excellent support & feedback and irrationally take my side on absolutely everything and I love them   It was great to see the beautiful faces of those magical people in the troupe, and to catch up with at least a few of them after the show…and potentially scare them by doing ghetto impressions of my job and all my new adventures in life.

After work, Lovell came over for some Cookout & beer, which was tasty.  We researched esophagus bruising (I swear that stupid sinus pill I took on Tuesday without water at team did something horrible to my throat) and talked about some pengjanga (which are penguin pajamas, abbreviated).  And that, exhaustingly, wrapped up my day.  In Jesus’ name.  Bearded Jesus, that is.   Thanks for letting me share.

However, there are a couple other things from the week not included in yesterday that, nevertheless, are of note: Firstly, please pray for a former client of mine…she is 14 and was recently moved to Hospice.  They’ve estimated that she has two weeks to live.  It’s complicated to explain, and I don’t really understand it all as well as I’d like to myself, but essentially her heart is extremely weak and her body cannot fight off any kind of infection.  Secondly, I have had 2 exceptionally tender contacts from my other best friend, Kevin, via email & phone, and consequently miss him desperately.  He is easily the greatest supporter of my writing (specifically my silly little poems) and his encouragement is ceaselessly appreciated.  Oh and one more little tidbit: just bought Laura Marling’s new CD, I Speak Because I Can.  SO excited.

Oh, AND Glee debuted this week.  Enjoyable, but hoping for more in the next episode.

Thanks for reading

family -noun, plural -lies, adjective

1.  any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins
2.  two or more people who share goals and values, have long-term commitments to one another, and reside usually in the same dwelling place.

So these are just two of about umpteen definitions for “family” @ dictionary.com.  And I feel strongly about both kinds of family.  And I have a confession: I have been absurdly, just ABSURDLY blessed with my family(ies).  And I don’t say that enough.  Obviously there’s this incredible group of people:

Beth's Wedding 2008

I don’t even have time in this post to go into how incredible they are…suffice it to say that they are the most beautiful, talented, intelligent, hilarious, and caring groups of people I know…aside from myself obviously (and we know they get it from me).  But that’s a whole other story.

And I do not want to omit my LP or MOGH or Spain families who are also definitely amazing:

LP Family #1

LP Family #2

Spain Family

Mission of Good Hope Family

Nor do I want to dismiss some pretty incredible individual friends who mean the world to me, and others who are quickly becoming very important. (I’m sorry for not calling out names, but I don’t want to make others too jealous right this second )

But today, in honor of Wake Forest’s Homecoming Weekend, I specifically want to talk about how FABULOUS, and INCREDIBLE my group of Polo 312 Girls is (even tho 2 of us did not live in Polo 312, lol).

WFU Ladies

Aren’t they a gorgeous sight for sore eyes?  These girls are just…wow.  They blow me away every single time.  Each one individually is pretty awesome and I love spending time with them, but something about when the five of us get together is just so delightful.  The rest of the world seems at once to be both irrelevant and included.  They have been there with me through various ups & downs & crazy stories, they have taken care of me at all sorts of ridiculous personal lows, and they always, always, ALWAYS can make me laugh   This weekend was simply too short an amount of time (isn’t it always too short?) to spend with them, but I am thankful for it none the less.  I look forward to the day when we can have a for real “family reunion” that lasts longer than a day or two and when we can spend as much time as we would like in each other’s company…or at least a week So thanks to this family of mine who make me feel beautiful and loved and like I can kick-ass and take names.  And thanks for the countless, countless laughs and good conversations and wonderful memories   I love you!

The family is one of nature’s masterpieces. – George Santayana

Well, never have I ever had such a clamoring for a blog update; not that much is even going on to write about.  Well, yes, stuff is happening.  Let’s see…I might do a list to try to include everything…

1.  I seem to have abandoned my cooking attempts, at least temporarily.  Which is bad, because it definitely is healthier/cheaper to eat at home.  But since all I ever seem to cook at home is my endless supply of eggs (thanks padres), I do tend to lean towards eating out.  So, I should go to the grocery store tonight.  I will go to the grocery store tonight.  Check.

2.  However, eating out is also fun for the socialization purposes.  And the exploration within Winston Salem.  The Millers took me to Skippy’s yesterday actually for hot dogs.  Delicious, and under $5.  Not sure about that healthy part tho…the buns are made from pretzel dough.

3.  Work is going pretty well, actually.  I seem to have found my confidence.  It’s still frustrating and exhausting and I still am…looking for other opportunities…but I am making it.  I do continue to absolutely ADORE my co-workers, and we manage to have a pretty fun (if inappropriate) time when we’re not at work…or after working 14 hours lol.

4.  I have joined a) a community choir (haven’t gone yet tho)  b) a women’s bible study for the summer, studying Meditative Prayer by Richard Peace  c) a book club, to read Atonement for June.  I’ve only actually been to the Bible study so far, but I really enjoyed that.  We’ll see how the rest of it goes.

5.  A few weekends ago I went to the Salute NC Wine Festival in the Dash with some friends – wonderful time!!!!

6.  To the wine festival I wore an SATC inspired sundress…this brings me to my confession of my retail therapy.  It’s shameful.

7.  Speaking of retail therapy, I bought another sundress to wear to the Wake Forest University Class of 2009′s graduation!  It was quite the time.  I mainly went to see the incomparable Rachel Adams Miller, but it was good to see other friends as well.  Also we saw Joe Biden (or Joey B. as Matt Gutschick refers to him).  I’m sorry, I was less than impressed with him, and frankly don’t think hearing him speak was worth the trouble of all the security.

8.  I am still trying not to plan past July; however, I do have some wonderful plans for May, June, July, and even some for August.  So those are exciting.

9.  I am rearranging my apartment!  I already did the bedroom…now I have to figure out how to rearrange the living room.  …there’s not really much else I can do lol.  But still, it is fun and therapeutic.  Books everywhere tho.

10.  I love books.  This probably goes without saying but probably should be on every list about my life ever.  But going along with retail therapy, today I bought a new book that I am incredibly excited about: It’s a Wonderful LiE:  26 Truths About Life in Your Twenties.  It’s a collection of essays by women authors reflecting on their 20s.  There are 5 lies and then each lie has a section of essays.  The lies are a) “I’ll have an amazing apartment and love my job”  b) “I’ll have everything I need to live the life I’ve always wanted”  c) “I’ll know myself – and what I want”  d) “I’ll have satisfying relationships, great sex, and fabulous friends”  e) “I’ll be where I’m supposed to be, doing what I’m meant to be doing”.  I just hope this book lives up to my expectations lol.  Looks hilarious.

11.  Cat and I have a delightful plan for August…hopefully more details to come in the future!

12.  The people in my life are pretty much the most incredible people on the planet and make me laugh an absurd amount.  Life is always entertaining!

13.  I had been doing a wonderful job with running/yoga and have slightly lost steam this week.  Hopefully I can get back on the bandwagon ASAP.

14.  I am mildly obsessed with Sex and the City, but hopefully now that I’ve finished watching the entire series AND the movie, I can move onto other forms of media entertainment.  We’ll see!

15.  Had lunch with Mr. Marcus Keely today, and we had some excellent (albeit long) discussion.  We spent a good deal of time reflecting on Living Parables, and I was again reminded of what a special community that is.  So, all Parables, current and former…I heart you.  And even without an hour of prayer requests, you are still in my prayers.

So, this is quite the change from the last post, but I just had to share.  I (attempt) to read the daily devotional, My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.  While it is always infallibly brilliant, I had to share what I read tonight; the past week has been pretty much on point with what I’ve been thinking/feeling, but tonight just pin-pointed everything.  So, without further ado, from Mr. Chambers:

“‘…in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses.‘ – 2 Corinthians 6:4

It takes Almighty grace to take the next step when there is no vision and no spectator – the next step in devotion, the next step in your study, in your reading, in your kitchen; the next step in your duty, when there is no vision from God, no enthusiasm and no spectator.  It takes far more of the grace of God, far more conscious drawing upon God to take that step, than it does to preach the Gospel.

Every Christin has to partake of what was the essence of the Incarnation, he must bring the thing down into flesh and blood actualities and work it out through the finger tips.  We flag when there is no vision, no uplift, but just the common round, the trivial task.  The thing that tells in the long run for God and for men is the steady persevering work in the unseen, and the only way to keep the life uncrushed is to live looking to God.  Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the Risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to damp you. Continually get away from pettiness and paltriness of mind and thought out into the thirteenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel”. – Oswald Chambers

A cross-reference of part of the 13th Chapter of John for those interested (v. 1-17):

“It was just before the Passover Feast.  Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.  Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.  Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.  He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’  Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’  ‘No,’ said Peter, ‘you shall never wash my feet.’  Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.’  ‘Then, Lord,’ Simon Peter replied, ‘not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!’  Jesus answered, ‘A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean.  And you are clean, though not every one of you.’  For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place.  ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them.  ‘You call me “Teacher” and “Lord” and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.  I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.‘”

The rest of the chapter goes on to talk about Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and how that was a key part of the plan; I think that bears significance in addition to the devotional written by Oswald, but I’m tired of typing and I think this part is more important.  Anyway, that just cheered me up a little.  So, if you’re caught up in the drudgery of life or feel overwhelmed by all of the vanity or endless cycles in the world (which probably isn’t hard given the economic and political states in our world right now) hopefully this will give you a little inspiration to keep working and doing what you are called to do.  And if you are a former Parable, hopefully it will at least spark some good quality memories about having your feet washed

but to be fair, there has been a LOT going on. I’ve been too busy to even update my journal adequately, so you can imagine that this has kind of taken a backseat to all other forms of communication. But now that I have a bit of a break for a bit, it’s time to fill you in on everything!

Exams were…whatever. Last exams of college…the effort I put in was minimal, to say the least. But my grades turned out fine! And, most importantly, I GRADUATED!!!!!!!!! Yes, I am now officially a college graduate of Work Forest. Thank goodness. I can hardly process that it’s over…an amazing 4 years to be sure, with so many outrageous opportunities and wonderfully delightful people. So graduation was a nice culmination to that…I actually really loved the speaker and thought he said some very challenging and cool things. He did kind of ramble, but when he finally made his point I was totally with him. Graduation was also great because all of my immediate family (altho sadly sans spouses) made it, and we were able to have some meals and funtimes together.

After exams were over, but before graduation, I had my final Living Parables tour at Hilton Head, South Carolina…once again, amazing people. Love those folks. Wake Forest would not have been half as great as it was without them. I had the opportunity to kind of explain and brag about LP for awhile to others in my South Africa group and I was once again struck by how unique, awesome, and absolutely nourishing that group is. I’m very excited to see it continue growing, and I know the people in it now are going to make it even more wonderful than it already has been. And I am so so so thankful for all the people in it.

So. This brings me to South Africa. I know I’m never one to be at a loss for words, but really, I draw blanks when trying to articulate this experience. On one hand I could objectively and calmly tell you all that we did – the people I was with, the chronology of our days, the food I tried, the people we met, the places we visited, the jokes we made, the movies we watched, the pictures we took, the reflections and conversations we had…and it still wouldn’t really capture it for you. No matter how much effort I could put into that (and it would be considerable) I’d miss things. Language fails things like this; pictures only serve as reminders of how little they capture. Needless to say, I had a wonderful time. The group I went with was…amazing (see I’m already running out of positive adjectives in this post). I really wish you could meet each person; so cool. So smart. So loving. And we all really clicked together. Our faculty adviser is also one of the more remarkable women I’ve ever had a chance to meet or work with. The people in the Kayamandi Township were wonderful, and did amazingly in the computer program; they learned so much so quickly and were so dedicated…and taught us quite a bit as well. Everyone we met and talked with taught us something. Once again I was blessed with even phenomenal tour guides. I learned SO much…there is so much interesting history in South Africa – just like everywhere. But for some reason, everything seems so present and immediate there, like everything really matters a lot. Perhaps because you can feel that it is, as Alet said, “volatile”. But I kind of felt like I was as close as I imagine the 60s in the US would have been like. People talk about the racial issues, the economic issues, the political issues, and they sound different than we do here. Maybe because they’re a younger democracy and less jaded with the process, but they are in no way unwise. Just more honest, it seems. Aside from all of that, the actual landscape of South Africa is just breathtaking. Mountains and beaches, and animals and trees…I loved it. Pictures will do this more justice than I can, altho believe me when I say they come a long, far way from doing the countryside justice…pictures here.

I do not mean to imply the trip was always serious or full or reflection or somberness – far far from it. We were constantly laughing and joking and having a good time. Music was everywhere, movies were everywhere, shopping was everywhere, wine was…literally, everywhere. Everyone we met was smiling and friendly. Xenophobia seemed so far removed from our experience, that it was always a bit disorienting to read or hear about it from concerned friends/family at home. Luckily we were kept very safe and the problems didn’t interfere too much with our program or ability to work with the people in the township – altho we did have to change locations. All in all it was an incredible, incredible opportunity, and I cannot thank you all enough for your thoughts, prayers, support, and well-wishes.

Return Stateside was definitely good tho; and it was time. I missed my family & the boy quite a bit (I may have neglected to tell you there is, in fact, a boy at the moment. He’s kind of wonderful). I also was anxious to get back and try to figure out my life. You know that bit about graduating? Turns out there’s life after college. And it’s like…real. Thankfully, I had an interview at the Children’s Home two days after I returned, and it went really well I am 95% sure I am going to accept the position of residential counselor, and have decided to move to Winston-Salem (either way the ish goes down). So currently I am in Pittsburgh, babysitting the boys for a last couple of weeks and bonding with my brother & sister-in-law & basking in the free wireless while trying to solve life before moving into an apartment down there. I’m hoping to move down by the beginning of July, and assuming I take the job, training begins July 14th. I am pretty excited to be living in an apartment (aka NOT being a nomad), especially with Cat, and especially in Winston-Salem. All in all, I’m feeling extremely blessed at the moment, and am very excited about the way things are going