This trip? Not for the faint of heart.

So, after an exciting day and late night, we had to pack up, load up, and say good-bye on Friday.

It's a long drive from Indianapolis to Lubbock. A long drive. I'm really happy we're not going to be doing it again.

Playing with the kittens. It was their first time outside. I had itty bitty scratches on my arms afer this.

Playing with the dog. He's not the smartest dog on the street, but the upside is that he will play with anything that moves.

Yeah, that's me, stuck in a tree. I did manage to get down again.

So did Chad.

Passing through St. Louis. Chad took the wrong off-ramp because I was busy taking pictures.

So, we passed this truck which was carrying this race car, and I asked Chad to slow down so that I could take a picture. I'm sure the driver experiences that multiple times a day.

This is a rest area-- couldn't really tell you what town it's near, but it's right on a canyon and has a great display about wind power inside, as well as being aesthetically pleasing in other ways. And it is a severe weather shelter as well. Clearly it was designed by someone with lots of imagination and a large budget.

The canyon.

This would be the "large budget" thing.

And a leaning water tower. Nice.

This trip was probably the happiest I've ever been to see Lubbock. The sight of one's own bed is absolutely fabulous.

Holiday World, Part 3

After the log flume, we were already wet, so we headed for the waterpark, where we found a sunscreen station. Wow, Holiday World; you rock. I put on so much of that stuff that I was even whiter than usual. I also layered it pretty thickly on Chad & Becca (everyone else was unwilling to let the crazed sunscreen wielder near them) as well.

I have never been a fan of waterparks; I expected to hit a couple of slides, get bored, and head back to the "real" rides. After getting agreement from my brother that we need not escort the children round the park personally, Chad & I headed to the nearest slide. One trip down-- and I was hooked. (Pics are taken from the Holiday World website; since I'm raving about how great it was, I doubt they will mind the free advertising.)

So, we moved on to the next set of slides. The first time, we had gone individually; for the remaining slides, we got those tandem inner tubes & went down together. It got more fun as we went along, and I knew I wouldn't be ready to go until we had tried them all.

We met up with the rest of the gang after a couple of hours, and decided to go as a group to the remaining slides-- the first one we went to was the Wildebeest, which is new this year and is billed as the world's longest water coaster. We started to get in line with everyone else, but Chris noticed that there was a shorter line on one side, so we went there instead. Jennie & I wondered why 1) there was a shortcut line at all, and 2) more people weren't in it. Mystery was solved when a young man got in line behind us & we asked him; we were in the single riders line. Oops.

Turns out it worked fine; we all rode separately with strangers, but it was a much shorter wait. And totally fun, although the water was fre-e-e-e-ezing. That was the coldest water I was in all day.

The rest of the slides had inner tubes for four people, so we split into boys' team and girls' team for the descents. On the final one, I was riding backwards, and knew that there was quite a drop at the very end before entering the giant funnel. And I also knew that we were coming up on it, because Becca looked ahead and shouted, "Oh, no!" And I yelled back, "Don't say 'oh no'--aaaaaah!" Yeah, we went down the drop right then.

So, after getting wet (and cool-- it was really hot that day) and having sore feet from walking around on hot concrete with no shoes on, we finally had to leave the water behind and go see the rest of the rides. Chad, Jennie and the boys went to the final roller coaster-- The Voyage-- while the rest of us went back to the swings and the Scrambler.

Amanda also wanted to try the vertical drop, but I was unwilling. I wanted to ride the Spider and the giant spinny thing that doesn't require much safety equipment because the centrifugal force keeps you in place, but Amanda & Becca were unwilling.

So, we puttered around until the return of the brave Voyagers, all of whom wanted to try the vertical drop, so they & Amanda went that way. The rest of the rides were shutting down, so the only thing left was the spinny thing. Becca & I tried that.

I've wanted to ride this ride since I was little & they brought it to the fair, but at the time I was too small, and by the time I was no longer too small, the carnival company had left the old-school spinny thing behind for the Gravitron.

The centrifugal force required to keep grown humans in place on a ride that starts up horizontal and ends up vertical is pretty strong, as it happens, so this thing spun around fast. I could feel my roller-coaster panic rising, but a couple of deep breaths later & it was all good. I think I'll try that the next time I'm on a roller coaster. I could feel my head bobbing as we went round and round. Altogether, it was a fun, fun ride, and I intend to try it again when next I have the chance.

The aftermath.

We headed to the cars, discovered that the nearest food available was about 40 miles away (some entrepreneur who decides to open any fast-food restaurant in Santa Clause, Indiana, will make some serious money), so we headed for the Tell City Taco Bell.

I was exhausted, but still had to drive home, so I loaded up on all the caffeine I could find. We got back in the car (Denise & I had the kids with us) and I told the kids they could talk until we got to the interstate, and then they had to be quiet for half an hour to see if they could sleep. They all assured me that they were not tired at all and couldn't possibly fall asleep. (No prizes for guessing how long that lasted!)

I told Denise it was her job to keep me awake. She did not do this job well. Apparently I was swerving enough to scare Chad & Amanda in the car behind me, and I was certainly swerving enough to scare myself (particularly when I could feel myself starting to doze while passing an 18-wheeler). I told Denise to consult her navigator & find out where the nearest Starbucks was; 12 miles, she said, and it's already past midnight so they might not be open. So, Denise directed me to a gas station instead, where I purchased a nasty Red Bull and did a considerable amount of jumping up & down and running laps around the car to wake up.

It worked, really well, and we all arrived at home safely and then I delivered Chris to his house. He woke up long enough to get himself inside, then (reportedly) collapsed into bed where he stayed until noon the next day.

I, on the other hand, was wide awake due to the taking of Red Bull at midnight. Dang.

Stop the Madness!

Just ran across this quote while researching moving suggestions on Unclutterer:

The Self Storage Association notes that, with more than seven square feet for every man, woman and child, it’s now "physically possible that every American could stand — all at the same time — under the total canopy of self-storage roofing."

Oh, my goodness. When I was in Indiana last November, my nephew pointed out some storage units we passed, and I seized the opportunity to pass on a little life lesson by explaining why they should never use storage as a long-term option (I'm pretty sure the saying "more money than sense" came up here) and that it should be used for short-term circumstances only. They both nodded in agreement, but of course there is no telling how much they took in.

Chad & I have decided to take the "rip off the band-aid" approach to moving-- we aren't getting a storage unit, not even for a little while; everything is going on the moving truck in Lubbock, then coming straight off again in Austin. This serves many purposes, not the least of which is that we have to keep our possessions to a minimum.

Sigh. I wish that the US could break free from our collective consumer-driven, "need-need-need-want-want-want" lifestyle. The storage companies might go out of business, but we would all have a lot fewer stuff-induced headaches.

Also on Unclutter is this great purchasing guide flowchart, for the prefer-less-stuff-minded among us. (Click the link & scroll down the page a bit to find it; this pic does not enlarge.)

Holiday World, Part 2

So. We went for another drink, because it was hot out and also because free soft drinks (including water & Gatorade, thank goodness) were included in our ticket prices and by gum, I was going to get every cent out of it that I could. THEN it was time to introduce my niece and nephew to the Scrambler.

It has always been one of my favourite fair rides, and I'm pretty sure they keep it at amusement parks for people like me who don't really have a great love of roller coasters but do possess some nostalgia. Becca wanted to get round to all the adults she doesn't often see, apparently, because after claiming Amanda for The Raven she wanted to be with me on the Scrambler.

I thought Denise might join us on this one, but no, she stayed outside to wave at us as we went by. And once the ride got going (and we had already had a good laugh at the safety drawing inside) I amused myself, and my sweet little niece, by panicking at every direction change: "Oh, no, we're going to crash into the fence!" Oh, no, we're going to crash into the fire extinguisher!" "Oh, no, we're going to crash into Neesee!"

So, once that little diversion got old (didn't take long, as it happened), Becca discovered that the ride was more fun if she raised her hands in the air, so of course, I had to do it, too.

After a go on the scrambler, Chad, Billy & I headed for the swings with Chris & Jakob. Once the swings are up in the air, they tilt, which surprised Chad & Billy. I thought their reaction was funny, mostly because I didn't even notice the tilt.

Then, they boys wanted to move on to the next roller coaster: The Legend. Amanda, Becca & I were not interested, so the rest of the gang headed on while we helped Denise hold the bags.

After The Legend had sufficiently shaken up everyone but the boys (of course!), we headed for a log flume, which we got to have a few turns at, because no one else was in line. I closed my eyes on the drop the first time round, but since it was a short drop, I managed to keep them open the second time.

Much, much later in the day, we passed near the log flume again & Amanda noticed the man who was checking the boats at the top to be sure they were spaced adequately far apart to avoid crashes.

Amanda: There's a guy at the top of the log flume.

Me: Yeah.

Amanda: Was he there when we went down?

Me: Yeah.

Amanda: Are you sure?

Me: Yeah. Both times.

Amanda: I guess I wasn't paying attention.

Me: You were very busy pointing out the "Do not duck" sign.

Amanda: Oh, yeah.

Yep. We have the same genes.

Guess this story will have a part 3.

Holiday World, Part 1

I first broached the idea of an amusement park several months ago. At the beginning, the choice was between Indiana Beach & King's Island. Back and forth, back and forth... we finally settled on King's Island, only to change our minds on graduation day to a option not previously discussed: Holiday World.

So, we got up on Thursday morning to pouring rain. We got ourselves up, got the kids up, then Denise scrambled to check the weather in the various cities we could go to. Meanwhile, I dashed out the door to collect the only member of our trek who couldn't drive himself to Grandma's house.

Once we got everyone all together, we decided to brave the 50% chance of rain forecast in Santa Clause and stick to the Holiday World plan. We loaded up & headed out, with me leading & Chad following. Note: When on a trip, it is important that I not be driving the lead car. I went through a lot of yellow lights, the result of which was that Chad went the wrong way in Shelbyville. (Never mind that he had three adults in his car, all of whom live in Indiana; this managed to be my fault.)

While waiting in a parking lot for Chad to catch up, I taught the kids one important life skill: the Chinese Fire Drill. I wish it had a better name; sorry.

We carried on & then I ended up going the wrong way; yeah, never mind the drive. Suffice to say, we arrived at Holiday World eventually, ate our sandwiches & headed in.

The two boys were anxious to try The Raven, the original HW roller coaster, so that's where we headed first. Well, second. First, we headed to get the first of our free drinks of the day. Then, we got in line for The Raven.

Oddly enough, I wasn't nervous while standing in line for this roller coaster. That's a bit of a departure for me, who has been known to stand in line for over an hour only to chicken out at the last minute. The two boys wanted to ride in the very front, so that's the direction they went; no surprises that they had the longest wait. Billy & Jennie headed to a corral with a short line, and Amanda & Becca went in beside them, so we followed Amanda & Becca. (Denise, who is not a fan of anything that goes up, down, around, or at speeds exceeding what she can do on her own feet, stayed outside to hold the bags and take pictures.)

The look on my sister-in-law's face when she got off the coaster was not encouraging. Apparently Becca spotted it, too, because she was getting pretty nervous as she got fastened in. We assured her that even if she was scared, it would be a short ride and in any case she could hang on to Amanda. (Who, by the way, was a real trooper for taking on a nervous kid she doesn't know well.)

Their turn over, we were up next! We climbed in, got all fastened down, and that's when I told Chad, "I really, really hate roller coasters." He was all, "What??" But it was a little too late to be bothering about that when the ride was already moving.

Here's my problem with coasters: the first hill. I have to close my eyes & hold my breath. I've tried not doing that, with no success. If I ever go on a coaster that's too high, I'll probably suffocate. Once we got past that first bit, it was all good. Except, of course, that I was a bit of a nut loose inside a shell in the seat & ended up getting banged up a bit by bouncing from side to side every time we went round a corner.

We got off & had to wait for the boys, who still had a few people in front of them in line before they could go. Chad was still trying to work out why I do the eyes-closed-hold-breath routine while hurtling down a narrow wooden track in a plastic car, Becca was exuberant about how it was fun but scary, and I just wanted to ride something calmer. Like, say, my feet.

Coming tomorrow: The Scrambler, the Swings, the Legend, and my new favourite water park.

Tuesday, Wednesday

Yep, still in Indiana.

So, in those two days...

We went to Mozzi's.

We went shopping. A lot of shopping.

Amanda & I walked to the nearest elementary school to play on the playground.

I went running on Pennsy Trail for the first time.

We saw Becca's softball game, where she got the final out.

I watched Roger Federer go crashing out of the French Open. Sigh.

Jennie hosted a Mary Kay party.

We went out to dinner at Cracker Barrel, which I have never done on purpose.

We bought, and drank, some Snapple.

Some other things probably happened, too.

Memorial Day

The phrase "herding cats" came to mind many times on Memorial Day.

I thought it would be nice to go to a state park-- we have a couple of them in Indianapolis-- have a picnic, do some hiking, etc. I ran this idea past at least one representative of every family unit, and they all agreed, so I started researching which park would be easiest to get to & planning the menu with Grandma.

It took a few more rounds of phone calls to get everyone on the same page, but by the time we got everyone in agreement, Chad & Denise & I had bought all the necessary food and were headed back to Grandma's to get the cooler ready.

We chose Ft. Harrison Park by virtue of its being closer than Eagle Creek park. And then we took a wrong turn getting of the interstate, making the drive to Ft. Harrison even longer than the drive to Eagle Creek would have been (although there is no guarantee that we would have gone the correct direction getting to Eagle Creek, either).

Lots of laughs while getting the tablecloth out, but that's partly because five adults (I let go long enough to take a picture) were having a hard time between us working out which way it should go. It's impressive we all managed to live to adulthood, really.

So after a very enjoyable lunch (great potato salad & baked beans, Grandma!), we started looking for a trail to hike on. Now, there is one in the woods behind us in the above pic, but Billy didn't like that one. Yeah, I don't know. So, we drove to another trail head for our hike, and it turns out Billy chose a good one. Yep, I have a smart brother, even if I do make fun of him incessantly. (Hey, someone has to do it.)

We all had a go at the rope swing thing, although I did not have much luck with it.

Walking in the woods-- it still amazes me that we manage to tuck parks this size into cities. Good job, city planners.

I didn't take my bike. But I took pics of the shared-use path anyway.

Water. Muddy. Chad wanted to throw me in.

Taking a rest.

Yep, we went up those stairs. And down them. And a bunch more just like them.

Watching a birthday party, complete with piñata.

Relaxing after a long day of hiking. Grandma doesn't do the "point at your nose" thing for which my sister is famous.

Sunday Drivers

I'm up to Sunday, yes?

We got up bright & early (okay, bright & normal time) to make the trek to Bloomington for church. Yep, we really did turn this trip into the Wilcox world tour. In this instance, we went to see Kyle & Cheryl, some friends of Denise & I from our Spring Mill days (which are much closer for her than for me-- she's been a counselor in recent years, while I've only set foot on the grounds once since 1998).

We left with plenty to time to arrive in Bloomington, find the church, and then go find a coffee shop. The church we were visiting is just east of the Indiana University campus, and thanks to the navigator app on my sister's phone, we saw a great deal of it while looking for the nearest Starbucks. It turned out that if we had just gone left instead of right, we'd have found one more easily, but it was nice to have a little tour of IU. And the guy at the Starbucks was pretty fun-- Chad wasn't sure what he wanted, but our server was paying attention during the training about suggestive selling (at least, that's what we called it at Chick-fil-A). Chad ended up with a delightful chocolate drink that was much better than the minty herbal tea I got instead of the black tea I wanted.

So, back to the church we went, and inside the door was a woman who I thought looked familiar, but I had the wrong name in my head. So when she introduced herself as "Amber", I merely introduced myself & then moved on for Chad & Denise to likewise meet her. We got about three steps past her & Denise said, "Isn't that--?" Yeah, it was. We grew up with Amber; she was graduating when I was still in middle school, but her parents' house is about a mile up the road from my parents'. So we turned back & said hello for real. I'm so glad my sister is on top of things.

The service was great; Kyle led the singing, and after a couple of songs Chad leaned over to ask me if he conducts a choir or something along those lines. I told him, "Not that I know of-- he's always been this good," and of course that gave Chad & Kyle something to talk about at lunch.

We went to McAllisters, where neither Chad nor Denise have ever eaten, Denise because there isn't one in Greenfield, and Chad because the Lubbock version is near Tech, where we never go. We sat for about an hour and a half talking and watching the kids keep us entertained. It was nice to have such a long conversation with friends we haven't seen in ages, but all things must come to an end, and so it is with lunch. We hopped back in the car & still managed to miss race day traffic going back to Greenfield, thank goodness.

The kids were at Grandma's house; apparently they had been waiting for us all afternoon. Such patience from little ones! We played a few rounds of Old Maid & Upwords to make our day complete.

She Graduated!

Yep, my little cousin-- who I held when she was less than a day old, who I learned Barney songs for, who inspired me to scour every gift shop in Scotland for a perfect school-age memento, who has blogged her teen ups and downs so well that I felt that I wasn't missing too much-- that cousin, she has graduated.

I will pause for you to ooh and aah over how gorgeous she is, even while taking a picture.

We got up on Saturday morning and found Grandma all dressed and ready to go at 8:30 for an event that didn't start until 10. I could probably learn something about punctuality from my grandmother-- but I won't. I was in desperate need for caffeine, but Grandma only stocks tea for me & I'm usually a decaf girl. So, a quick run to Starbucks (gotta love small towns, where everything is five minutes away) and a pickup of my mum later, and we got to the high school in time to see the seniors march in. Yep, we almost missed Pomp & Circumstance. Almost. I sang along as we climbed stairs to find a seat. And got all teared up, of course-- did you see the bit about how Amanda was a baby last week??

I don't think this is technically Amanda's gown. But this is what it looked like.

The speeches were enjoyable and the reading of the names was speedy-- I don't think I've ever been to a graduation where the list went by that fast. Or perhaps time is just on fast-forward now that I'm getting older.

Amanda's favourite teacher read out her name, which I think is pretty cool. And he read it sooooo slowly-- apparently he pronounces the silent "e" at the end of her last name as a general rule, and was worried lest he should do so at graduation. He did not. And that was it! Thirteen years of school for the two seconds it takes to cross a stage. For some reason, it felt longer when it was me.

At this point, Chad began to motion to ask me if we were leaving (we had some errands to run & didn't intend to stay for the entire thing). I signed back that we were waiting to see Paula & it only took five tries before the message was received. Or-- more likely-- he was feigning misunderstanding to see me repeat myself four times.

Paula. I've known of her existence pretty much since Amanda started school, although I think I first met her officially at our Grandpa's funeral, when some of Amanda's friends were kind enough to come to the viewing. She is a lovely young woman, and I think it would be hard to dislike her even if I didn't already like her for being Amanda's friend!

So, once we got Paula safely across the stage, we left as quietly as possible (heels + bleachers = bad) to get out of our dress clothes, buy graduation cards, and head to the open house. And what a party it was.

We took a couple of lookalike pics-- this isn't one of them, because in the lookalike pics I have my hair down & glasses off. But I think the resemblance is there, even if Amanda did get all the tall, pretty and non-pink genes. I frequently think that various family members are crazy for pointing out our similarities, but I can't deny it-- we have far too many mannerisms in common to be anything but relatives. Scary what genetics will do to you!

The rest of the road

We got a very predictable late start on Friday morning, so we were late at our stop in Tulsa to see a friend. And then we stayed for a while to chat & catch up, so we left Tulsa late.

There is not a lot to look at between Tulsa and St. Louis. And I know this for sure, because I've looked at all that nothing a few times. We hit a traffic snarl outside St. Louis, so we got off the interstate and drove through the city. Chad was concerned about getting lost, so we drove toward the arch, since I-70 goes right past it & we thought-- correctly, as it turns out-- that we'd find some signs & an on-ramp.

There is nothing to look at again between St. Louis & Indianapolis, even if it hadn't been dark. We arrived in the wee hours, again, and my poor sister had stayed awake to let us in.

Thought this sign was fun.

We didn't try.

Bridge.

I really liked these buildings.

This is probably the best picture I got of the arch, but it also captures some of the city, so I'm pretty happy with it.

And the very next day...

After finishing up Journeyland, we took off the next day for our annual pilgrimage to Indiana.

We don't go to Indiana in May on purpose, but for some reason, that's the only time of year that my family can graduate, turn 50, get married, or check into the hospital. This particular trek was to celebrate the graduation of my youngest cousin on my mum's side of the family.

Plane tickets were extortionate this time around, so we rented a car & decided to stop & see people along the way. As soon as Chad got the last child home on the last day of school, we collected & loaded up the car and were on our way to Wichita Falls, where we had dinner with the Stambaughs. We haven't seen them since they moved away two years ago, and the couple of hours we spent with them were entirely too short.

And then we carried on to Oklahoma City, where a blessedly comfortable bed awaited us, even though we arrived in the very small hours.

Journey(land)'s End... Forever

This place is getting so soppy, I'm about to give myself a cavity. I do hope to find a slightly more upbeat tone once I'm back in the land of learning and surrounded by even nuttier people than I currently hang about with.

But until then... the end of May saw us at the end of Journeyland. Forever. (You know, unless we find a church in Austin that does Journeyland; then I'll feel pretty silly for posting this at all.) For our final rotation, we made socks:

And also key chains, but I don't have any pics of those.

We think Journeyland is a fantastic program, and if I remember to take my camera to SP this Sunday, I'll post more about it later. The biggest reason it is so wonderful, IMO, is not what it has done for the children; it's what it has done for the adults. Each rotation requires 16 teachers and 16 Journeymen, in addition to the faithful volunteers who keep the Journeyman's room stocked, get the kids checked in, and patrol the hallways (probably while very bored) during class to help lost children or teachers who urgently need something. Forty different adults, every rotation, for the entire school year, and I'm pretty sure we all love it.

Thanks for the memories.

In the Merry Merry Month of May

Let's see.... birthday, check. Race, check. Youth weekend, check.

Oh, yeah. Slumber party.

Chad & I began doing stuff in the children's ministry at South Plains within a year of our arrival there 8 1/2 years ago. More accurately, I said, "Hey, I'm going to work with Bible bowl," and he came along for the ride. Since then, we've done a few rounds of Bible bowl, several quarters of Sunday school, and most recently, we've Journeylanded for a few rotations.

All told, we've met-- in some form or fashion-- almost every kid at South Plains between six and 19 years old. We love the South Plains kids. Some of them like us in return (and we're still surprised at the ones who like us the most!).

So, before skipping town I wanted to have some of the girls over for a slumber party. It took some doing to choose a weekend when most of us were in town and not running in a race, because today's youth are ridiculously over-scheduled (although that may be a topic for another post).

We played Concentration. We played Skip-Bo (I think). We played "Let's all go outside & flag down Mrs. Parrish because she can't find my apartment." I did a bunch of hair wraps (no word on how long any of them stayed in). We played Mad Gab. We played "Take pictures of Ruth because she's the first one asleep." We watched a couple of movies with the same actress-- I cannot remember which actress nor the names of her movies. (Told you I'm not a movie person.) We had popcorn & stopped all movie-watching long enough to make no-bake cookies at 1 AM (which Ruth managed to sleep through).

I'm told Anna Beth & Annie stayed up until 4:30 AM. I know for sure that everyone woke up when Gabby had to leave for work at 9. We had no-bakes and pancakes for breakfast, played some more Mad Gab, and one by one, they all went home. And they didn't completely wreck my apartment. Nor, as far as I know, did we keep the neighbours up too late.

I was sad for the night to end, because it's another sign that this era in our lives in coming to a close. Soon, so very soon, this

apartment that was filled with giggling girls will be filled with packed boxes. And then it will be emptied... and we'll be gone. The church that we have loved has not agreed to move with us to Austin en masse. Someone else will host the slumber parties and do the hair wraps. Someone else will make Saturday morning pancakes for other people's children.

Someone else will stay up to make cookies at 1 AM. I hope that one day it's these same girls, paying it forward in the same way I pay it forward now. I hope that it's at least a little bit due to our example.

And I know for sure there are girls in Austin who will want to stay up late, make hair wraps and eat cookies. I look forward to meeting them.

Youth Weekend!

Chad & I were graciously invited to be responsible adults at a retreat that our friend Jason (& the youth ministers from a few other churches in the Amarillo area) conducted in mid-May. And we agreed.

The day the retreat was scheduled to begin, it rained. And rained. And a little more rain, with some thunder & lightning thrown in for good measure. The campground where the retreat was meant to take place cancelled on Jason & the rest of the gang. Rather than postpone this retreat for a second time, they opted to use a church building in Amarillo, for which I was very grateful.

Unfortunately, this last-minute change of plans really cut into our numbers; some kids decided not to come when they saw the rain, and others just didn't turn up for one reason or another, leaving us with 36 teens for the weekend. And did I mention that there were six sponsors, and only one of us was a woman?

The first night, we played "Minute to Win It" and Capture the Flag. In the dark, with glow bracelets. It was fun, but eventually the kids started getting too rough in their quest to conquer the game, so we called a halt at around 2 PM. A bunch of the girls were complaining about not being sleepy, so I laid down my usual rule: I don't care if you stay awake, as long as you are quiet. No prizes for guessing how many of them fell asleep in five minutes.

The next morning, Jason told me about some of the girls asking him one favor or another, and that he directed them to ask me. Apparently, they were reluctant to do so because I seemed unapproachable. Yep, scare 'em before they can ask any questions, that's me.

Anyway, the next day was filled with more games, more free time, more fun, more getting to know each other, and... an injury. Yep, there was a head-on collision-- quite literally-- during a game of freeze tag. One girl went to the emergency room, the other went home early. (Both girls are fine, although one of them is now minus a couple of teeth.)

These two dressing alike did not work out well for me. I just decided to assume whichever one I could see out of the corner of my eye was Jason so I didn't do one of those "hugging-the-wrong-twin" kind of things.

And, we got to see all the Kites on Sunday. It was a fun weekend.

Still getting older

So, in a continuation of catching up on my life, I start by telling you I am one of the lucky May babies.

My birth story is a rather amusing one, although I try not to remember all the details. My mother was due at the end of May, but two weeks before his birthday, my grandfather ordered my mum to have the baby on his birthday. Apparently, I was listening.

After the doc informed my dad that he had a daughter, my dad tried to trade me in for a boy. I do not find that part of the story as funny as my dad does, oddly enough.

So! To celebrate the 32nd anniversary of said occasion, we had Ruth, Sharlan and Mike over for some chicken korma and brownies. (Not on the same plate.) I haven't had korma in ages; hence that being my choice for my birthday dinner.

Chad got me some flowers that were the envy of my office, and The Peanuts Guide to Life. Good stuff.

My coworkers in the HBO department bought lunch for Chad & I (Raising Cane's! I love that place!), and also a really good cake:

And in anticipation of the already oft-repeated joke, yes, it did taste better than it looked for the Raider fans. I noticed that none of them refused to have a slice.

Confessions of a non-watcher

I don't watch movies. I shall now pause for all of you to finish reeling in shock.

Of all the counter-cultural things I do with my life, and I certainly have a list, this is probably the biggest. Every under-25 I know thinks there is something seriously wrong with me.

And of course, this isn't entirely accurate; I do watch some movies. We rent them from time to time, or go to someone's house who is watching, or run across something we like while channel-flipping. So I do not live my life entirely in ignorance of the silver screen. (But I am a proud member of Team I Couldn't Care Less.)

So, here you are! I no particular order, the reasons I don't watch movies:

1. I read & write for entertainment and really have no need for any other storytelling in my life.

2. Even if we go to a matinée, the movie theatre is an expensive place.

3. I work on weekdays, run on Saturdays, and go to church on Sundays. Matinées are difficult to manage.

4. The screen in a movie theatre is so large that watching any movie is likely to give me 1) a headache, 2) motion sickness, or 3) both. And I hate to leave the theatre for a break, because I would miss something & we already spent the money to be sitting there. Not kidding: After watching the 3rd Bourne movie in the theatre, I had to request that Chad drive slowly via the shortest route home so I could lie down for a couple of hours. Only then was my stomach convinced that it was safe to stop jumping around.

5. I hear of a movie, put it on my mental list to rent it once it is on DVD, then promptly forget about it for 5 or 6 years.

6. Meanwhile, Chad always has a list of action and/or scifi flicks on his mental list, few of which ever interest me. (He rents them anyway, and more often than not (Avatar) I retreat to the other room with a book after about 10 minutes.)

7. I feel like I'm wasting time to just sit & watch a movie. I want to be crocheting or cross-stitching something, so that my time is at least a bit productive. And of course, this hobbyist-ness of me leads to me not actually watching the movie.

8. If I'm going to spend $3, I'd rather get a very large drink at Sonic than rent a DVD.

9. If we must rent a DVD, I prefer to get a TV series, because it has shorter segments (see #7) that can be enjoyed over a few days. Plus, we get the added benefit of the story continuing on afterwards, instead of being 1) neatly wrapped up in 3 hours or less, or 2) waiting years for a sequel.

10. And the biggest reason: Most of the movies that interest me are based on books that I like. And there is no way to adapt a book for the big screen satisfactorily. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was probably the closest I've seen, and even it missed the mark by a large margin. Prince Caspian appeared to be written by people who'd only been told about the book. (Not that it wasn't a fantastic movie; both of the recent Narnia movies brought me much delight. But I had to like them separately from the books that I love.)

I don't expect anyone else to agree with me. I will not sit & cry when you disagree. But there is one thing that our movie-centric culture has led me to lament: your average kid doesn't really read any longer. There are some readers out there, and there are some books (good job, J.K. Rowling) that are read and loved by the masses. But most kids don't read for entertainment as a general rule, and I feel like the last couple of generations (including my own, I suppose) have really missed out on something.

I suppose my only hope here is that if we are to increasingly rely upon movies to be our culture's form of storytelling, that those who write the stories will pay more attention to creating gripping plots and interesting characters. In a world that loves our special effects-- and my goodness, can the effects artists do some crazy-amazing things-- I hope we can still see that the writers' craft is just as important. Please, please, as our modern storytellers, give us stories worth telling.

Hills, Or: The course that goes up must also go down.

I ran a new course on May 8th.

As with all (but one) races that I've run, it was actually a new-to-me course, since this race has been run for about 20 years or something. It was also a new-to-me distance; I got an automatic PR for the 11 mile. Excellent. Really, this race was my idea of the perfect half-marathon: one that ended when I wanted it to end, and not 2.1 miles later.

So! Mile 1 was the pace I was going for, Mile 2 was about 2 1/2 minutes slower. No prizes for guessing where all the hills were. Yep, mile 2 was straight up out of the canyon. I kept moving, but only barely. Mile 3 was a bit faster than mile 2 (I was still recovering), but every mile after that kept getting a teensy bit faster. I wish I could do that at every race!

I had no real goal for this race except to keep a sub-12 minute pace. I verified with a board member before we started that there was no cutoff time for this race (I was a bit worried about that), so I knew that all I had to do was keep going.

Race highlight: There was a woman who goes to South Plains who was out with her son watching; apparently, there were enough people she knew running to make it worthwhile to come out & cheer everyone on! It delighted me to get high-fives from Cathy & Eli.

And then, the downhill came. I love that downhill. It was fantastic to run down as fast as I could, and also to get a break from the crazy wind, thanks to high canyon walls.

I beat my office manager by about two minutes! That was kind of exciting. We totally should have had an office pool.

We can be heroes!

So, that was April. One of the most exciting months of my life, and yet hardly anything happened. Cool.

We started teaching in Journeyland for the first time at the end of April. Up until now, we've been Journeymen-- that is, we go from room to room with the same set of children for the entire rotation (8 weeks). This time around, we are staying in the same room and all the children come to us.

And that room iiiiiiiiis-- the craft room! What other room could we possibly do? Okay, Chad would like to do the Geography room, but he would be doing it without me, because I am a crafty woman. Geography, not so much.

We are studying Heroes of Faith, and our section is women of Acts. So on Sundays, we talk about how we usually can't think of many women in the Bible, and we go over some of the reasons for that, with an emphasis on how much women were serving behind the scenes. And then we make slipper socks, as a reminder of the women of the Bible making their own clothes.

Wednesday night is when we get specific about Lydia, Priscilla and Tabitha. We talk about their faith. We talk about their hospitality. We talk about their service. And then we make key chains, which the kids have to give away in the same way that Tabitha gave her creations away.

We're now in the last week, because this is a short rotation. We've loved it, but Journeyland is nearly at an end for us forever. And I'm pretty sad about that.

Sock and key chain pics to follow!

I knew him well

While channel-flipping a few weeks ago, we ran across a scene with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart both in it. Of course, we stopped.

Said scene was the end of Hamlet, a brand-new version starring the aforementioned fantabulous actors, as well as a bunch of other equally talented people. It was only just released in the US, and it is won-der-ful. Even if you aren't all that into Shakespeare, it would still be worth watching just for the joy of seeing David Tennant really, really get into this part.

So, we borrowed the DVD from Hastings the moment it came available, and I had an enjoyable evening with a couple of friends watching. And then an even more enjoyable time watching it with Chad.

There's an advert on the DVD for more Shakespeare by this group. I think I'm a fan.

Run for the Legos!

I believe I left off, intrepid readers, with what was one of the most exciting weeks of my recent life. Most exciting, in fact, since... um... mumblemumblemumble.

So I capped off my week o' collegiate glory by taking a day off. Sorta. I already had a day off planned for after the OKC marathon, ended up not doing the OKC marathon (sniff!), so I moved my day off to the day before the monthly local race: The Race for the Arts.

This race coincides with the Lubbock Arts Festival. I would like to point out that I love that Lubbock has an Arts Festival. I think everywhere should have an Arts Festival. I really, really like the idea of an Arts Festival... but I personally have had very little to do with its practise.

You see, I am an Arts Festival nightmare. I go, I peruse every booth, I talk to the artist, I ooh and aah over the really cool stuff that is produced... and then I walk away. Without handing over any cash. Not what the good Arts Festival folks were looking for. Sorry, Good Arts Festival Folks!

So, this year's theme was "Life. Lego Art. And the pursuit of happiness." I love Legos. I think most kids would be better off if their toyboxes were filled to the brim with Legos and nothing else. And, wow, did the Lego artists outdo themselves in the stuff they produced. Unfortunately, I have no pics, but there were life-size people, a bicycle (half a bicycle, to be exact; the other half was an actual bike), various buildings... I can't even remember them all. I was totally wowed. Also on display was a tremendous Star Wars Lego scene, and a model railroad, complete with Lego village. It was brilliant.

The race... was less brilliant. It was cold. It was raining. It was windy. There were not enough layers of clothes in the known universe, and certainly not in my closet, to keep me warm that day. But I survived, and even managed to have a little fun.

I skipped a day, though, didn't I? I took Friday off work to help woman the running club packet pickup at the Festival. It was raining & cold on Friday, too. And I think I managed to cement in the minds of many that the only job I am truly capable of doing for the running club is handing out water. I have managed to completely screw up every other job I have ever undertaken. Oh, and cut up fruit & bagels. I'm pretty good at that, too. Registering people, taking money, clicking the finish line clicker, collecting tags-- I can't do any of those. And I'm not all that great at handing out awards, either.

The running club may be happy to see me go.

My, how time flies.

I knew it had been far too long since I'd updated my adoring public on my uber-exciting life, but the fact that it's been a month is news even to me. My apologies to all, and especially to Ruth, who apparently has lost some of her will to live since she hasn't heard all the interesting bits of my life lately. Never mind that she was there for most of them.

Anyway! I'm sure there is someone out there who is dying to hear all the details about my acceptance to the University of Texas... oh, you haven't heard? You are reading the uncharted rantings of an almost-university student at this very moment.

So, I applied in December, had all my paperwork in (including the transcript from my reluctant previous college) by January, and then had a couple of months of sitting around being anxious before the application deadline on March 31st. And then the anxiety level kicked up several notches, since the UT website promised that "outstanding" applicants would be notified early on, and the general public could expect to hear back by mid-May. Since I was with me all through high school, and I graduated from a community college, I didn't expect to be in the "outstanding" category.

In the meantime, I got a courtesy email from the financial aid office at UT letting me know that they had received all my paperwork and would begin processing my application once I was accepted. Good to know, thanks.

I checked the website about six times a day the first weekend in April, then decided that was a bit over the top, so restricted myself to checking every Friday, which I did the following week, followed by a little anxiety-relieving dance around my living room when I saw that I was still being reviewed.

On the following Tuesday, I innocently checked my email in the morning & found a message from the financial office that they were about to begin processing my file. The speed at which I put two & two together will probably stand for the rest of my life as the fastest time I ever managed to do maths. I'm not exaggerating when I say that my entire body went numb and I sat there for a minute starting at my screen after I closed the email.

Then I decided that I couldn't wait until the evening to find out-- I had to know then. So, I raced to the back of the office (this was still all unknown to most of my coworkers) to check my status. And it was probably the longest three minutes of my life while I located my login credentials, navigated away from the page by mistake, located my credentials again, and then finally found my status check page, where I saw the magical words: "Congratulations! You have been accepted into your first-choice major..."

And that's all I saw, because that's when I began shrieking, jumping up & down, and hugging everyone within reach. And smiling so hugely my face almost cracked.

It was Friday before I got my letter in the mail, and finally got to take the picture I'd been planning since last summer:

So, we're moving to Austin. Wish me luck!