The Most Wonderful Time

It's nice to be home after a whirl-wind Christmas. Our adventures began on Christmas Eve when we left Mt. Pleasant after Mitch finished work. Once we got to my parents' house, we had time to wrap my mom's gift and the computer we bought for Mitch's parents before getting decked out in our Christmas best (full suits for the boys!) and heading out to see Grandpa and Grandma Eccles, my Aunt Linda and Uncle Beau, and my cousins Todd, Ryan, Alex and Eric. We only get to see Todd and Ryan at CHristmas because they live in Arizona, so I'm always excited. Both are doing great, and Ryan's preparing to be a dad. I spent a lot of time talking to him about it and he said even though it didn't happen exactly as he'd envisioned, (mom is his best friend and they aren't looking to get married right now, though they are buying a house together so they can both raise their son) it's given him a whole new outlook on life. He said he's been selfish his whole life and never really had any direction, but now he goes to work for a whole new reason. I think he'll be a wonderful dad.

Thanks to Mom's willingness to pick up gifts for my grandparents to give us, Mitch and I got started on our rack of quickdraws that night. And thanks to the White Elephant gift exchange, I came home with a new recipe book...yay organization! Mitch got a football that smells like BO...great. After coffee, dessert, brandy (Grandpa got Bobby and Todd to try it, but Bobby couldn't stand it so he took it like a shot), good conversations and hymns on the piano, we left for church. Mom gave us three choices for service: Mass, two Methodist churches or the Presbyterian in South Lyon. Dad chose the Presbyterian church, so we suffered through a slow, hour and a half-long service. It was not exactly what I had in mind, so next year I think we'll opt for the "quiet, meditative candlelight service" at the Methodist church where Mitch and I got married.

We were on a tight schedule on Christmas morning. At 8 am sharp, Mom calls up the stairs, "Merry Christmas, get out of bed!" We had an hour for presents and an hour for breakfast, but it turned into much long under the tree and a speedy trip to the breakfast table. Mom is way too generous with Christmas gifts - actually, she's incredibly generous all the time, but Christmas is her time to shine. Among other things, she and Dad gave me a nice outfit from Express, a beautiful sweater and a velvet blazer. Mitch got a new backpacking tent, biking shorts, some UnderArmor and other stuff. One of my favorite gifts, though, came from Mitch: a new sleeping bag! I think I will be warm in this one! He also got me a pair of Spyder mittens - "The perfect gift," he says - and a fuzzy hooded thing from Mountain Hardware. I got him a new jacket for hiking/camping (waterproof, breathable shell), new ski pants and a zip-up sweatshirt thing from Prana. Dad loved his biking shorts from us, mom was so excited about her new ski vest and Bobby was pumped about his mountain biking gloves. All in all, a wonderful Christmas morning, part one.

Part two started with a drive to Carson City to spend a few hours with Mitch's family. His parents had great looks on their faces when they opened their new computer, from all their kids! Thankfully, his dad agreed to get rid of the other computers upstairs now! His parents are also too generous. My favorite gifts are cute Christmas dishes, comfy pajamas and some new cookbooks. Mitch, I'm sure, loves his new Carhart jacket and his Garth Brooks boxset best. Dave and Mariah, who had our names, gave us cast iron cookware for camping and a new game that will be making its debut at New Years Eve. The kids were so excited and crazy, but I think they'll like the books we got them.

And then part three: the drive back to South Lyon for McGrath family Christmas at my Aunt Shari's. Everyone was there except my cousin Joe, his wife Jessica and their son, Giovanni, so it was a full house. (There are over 30 of us!) We did another White Elephant gift exchange...don't be surprised if Mitch tries to serenade you with his harmonica next time you visit us! I got a toothpick holder...functional but cute. Mitch's gift from my cousin Jonathon was funny: it was a huge, heavy box that ended up being full of weights with a Dick's gift card taped inside! I got a pretty sweater from my cousin Rosie. You know, it's great to see everyone at Christmas but I don't feel like I got enough time to chat with my cousins and hear about their new jobs, new houses, etc. Maybe someday, if we move closer to home, we'll get together more often...

Obviously, we were beat by the time we got back to my parents'. After a much-needed shower, I spent the rest of the evening curled up in my new sleeping bag watching TV. So wonderful. What a Merry Christmas.

Over the next few days, we basically relaxed in South Lyon. I made one exchange at the store and picked out my birthday present from Mitch - Oakley sunglasses, because I've never, ever had good glasses. We played a ton of Scrabble, and my brother, who always hated reading and spelling in school, was rockin'. We made plans to go out three nights in a row and got shot down every single time...jerks. We cleaned out our old toys in the basement, waxed our skis in preparation for what hopes to be a great ski season and did a lot of reading. OK, I was the one doing a lot of reading, but it was soooo nice! Now we're home and looking forward to New Years Eve at Matt and Jon's.

I hope everyone has a blessed New Year...I know I'm so thankful for all the challenges and joys we've had this year!

Christmas Eve

It was so nice to have a day off yesterday. I wrapped Mitch's presents and finished the photo album for his grandpa, made a pumpkin roll for Christmas Day dessert and was ready to meet Santa when he came by early to fill our stockings. (We decided it would be fun to do stockings for each other before we left our apartment for the holidays.) I also caught an old episode of Trading Spaces where one of the designers covered the walls and ceiling of a room with cardboard. Ugh. I'd be pissed.

When Mitch got home from work, we did opened our stockings and headed down to Matt's for a fancy seafood dinner with him and Becky. Mmm mmm, crab and shrimp! We played a little poker, did a little smoochin' under the mistletoe and planned for their New Years Eve bash.

Mitch is working this morning so I've spent my time getting everything packed up and ready to go. The presents are all loaded up and the apartment is clean, but I still need to get together some clothes for the weekend. It's going to be so crazy for the next few days...Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family, opening presents on Christmas morning with my parents and brother, Christmas brunch-thing with Mitch's family in Carson City and Christmas dinner/festivities with my mom's side of the family that evening. We're fortunate to be able to spend so much time with so many different members of our families...I just wish there wasn't three hours of drive time in there! After Christmas, though, we get to relax for at least a day, and then things are pretty up in the air and kind of dependant on Mr. Bruce Lack, so if you're reading this, Bruce, call me!

With all the activity, I probably won't post tomorrow, so I'll wish you all a very Merry Christmas right now. God bless you and your families!

Evotional

Each week, I receive "evotionals" through the mail from Christine Vogel, former Alma College Chaplain. I really liked this one:

Psalm 126:1-2
1When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."

Only three more shopping days until Christmas and the fortunes of countless retailers rise and fall on the amount of purchasing we will cram into these last few hours (and that doesn’t even include the day after Christmas when millions of us will bookend the season that began on “Black Friday” by madly rushing to the malls for the deep discounts of post “holiday” sales). Surely the shopping “gods” will restore the fortunes of the retail industry and fulfill their dreams of a banner year. And their mouths will be filled with laughter and they will shout with joy as they realize that the bottom line is very good.

But Christmas is not about shopping, as columnist Anna Quindlen points out in the most recent issue of Newsweek; and it is most definitely not about the whether a store’s advertising has acknowledged the birth of the baby born in a manger. She decries the silliness of the religious right in raising this argument. “O ye of little faith,” she says, “who believe that somehow the birth of Christ is dependent upon acknowledgement in a circular from OfficeMax!”

More important, she lays bare the consumer mentality that annually threatens to eclipse the “reason for the season” and our anticipation and celebration of this holy day. As Christians, our fortunes and our dreams are centered on the good news of Christ’s birth. Yes, we will share the gifts we have purchased with one another, but we ought to remember that the true gifts we share lie in our love and presence to and with one another; in our dreams of family and home; and in our joyous appreciation and reverence for the truly great thing God has done for us though the incarnation of Jesus, who is the Christ.

The Effects of Pseudophedrine

So I've been battling this cold for about a week. It's mainly congestion, so I've been taking a lot of Sudafed, both with and without pseudophedrine. Apparently the plethora of meth labs have made it so you have to specifically ask for the real stuff. I think, though, that I should stick with the fakies because yesterday evening I took some Aleve cold medicine with about four times as much pseudophedrine as normal (it's a 12 hour pill) and thought, by taking it relatively early, that I would actually be able to sleep. Funny, I can't sleep without it because my nose is all plugged and I can't sleep with it because it keeps me awake!

The point is that I had a pretty sleepless (though clear-breathing) night and I had a lot of time to think random thoughts. With it being almost Christmas and all, I started pondering what life must have been like for Mary at this time years and years ago. It can't be all that fun during your last few weeks of pregnancy anyway, but she had no idea where she was going to be when she had this baby and who was going to be able to help her. Oh yeah, and she's carrying the son of God, but to many people she was probably just the unmarried pregnant girl. How many people believed her? Were there moments even Joseph doubted? How would it feel to insist something so unbelievable and face the doubts of others every day? I have a hard time believing she was always the picture of peace and contentment we see in paintings and sculptures.

And once she had Jesus, how would it feel to raise the son of God? Undoubtedly there were still people who didn't know or believe who he was, and it was also probably scary and dangerous at times, for there were those in power who were desperate to keep their reign. Did Mary always look upon her son as the son of God or were there times when she kissed a scraped knee and just cradled him as her child, forgotting his blood was holy?

It would take a unique woman to accept the fact that her son did not belong to her but to the world, and that his life was not going to be easy. Did she battle in her heart, wanting to protect her son and not wanting God to put Jesus through hardship? I'm sure she did...after all, she was a mother. Anyway, those were my rambling, semi-drug-induced medititations last night. They must not have been that odd, though, because I'm still thinking about them today.

Less than a week!

"Old man, get back in your truck before I break your hip."
-My brother, to a dude road-ragin' at him near Grand Rapids

This weekend was the first one in a long time that Mitch and I had no real plans. I asked Adrienne if she and Kyle (her boyfriend) wanted to meet up in Lansing on Saturday, but I got no real response so obviously that didn't happen. Am I allowed to feel miffed that she'll drive down to Southern Indiana to see our other close friend from high school but hasn't been up to see me since before we moved?

Everything worked out great, though. Jerry came down from Tech to hang out with Gabe and Andrea, so we ended up going over there Friday evening and then having all of them over for turkey dinner on Saturday evening. I even think my first attempt at cooking a real turkey was semi-successful...the guys sure ate a lot! After dinner we went to see Narnia - really good movie. In general, it stuck pretty close to the book and the cinematography (did I spell that right?) was amazing. It made me want to go back and read the book again, even though I read it just a few months ago.

I also got all my Christmas presents wrapped on Saturday while Mitch snoozed on the couch and watched pieces of the first Lord of the Rings movie. On Sunday we went to church in the morning (for the first time, I felt like it was just an alright service) and spent the rest of the day at Mitch's parents' house. The kids were treating Mitch like a human jungle gym and he was so good with them. I think he's going to be a great Dad someday. Someday in the reasonably distant future, don't worry!

Now it's back to work, but only for four days this week. I didn't know 'til last Friday that I get the day off this Friday, and I'm pumped! I can make the dessert I'm taking to our family Christmas, wrap all Mitch's presents, buy some stocking stuffers, pack for the weekend...it's like getting an early present!

Good counterargument!

Generally, I don't debate politics/religion (unfortunately, the line between them is monstrously blurred), especially at work. When I talk about politics/religion with my friends, even those who hold different beliefs than me, we can usually have an interesting, challenging debate in which both sides effectively acknowledge the value of the other's argument and are not afraid to agree with well-developed points. We may not (and rarely do) change each other's minds but we listen to and consider each other's viewpoints.

So today we're on our way to lunch and I mention my weekend plans to see "The Chronicles of Narnia" and how I'm very excited after viewing the trailer at the church Mitch and I have been attending. She proceeds to go off on how she thinks it ridiculous how many churches are all excited about this movie, because it's just a fantasy story. I replied that I agree that you can completely enjoy this story just for the story and it's still wonderful, but that there's no denying the Christian allegories in the text. C.S. Lewis, I tell her, is one of the foremost Christian authors of our time and even though he says he didn't set out to write a Christian allegory, even he couldn't keep parellels to the Bible out of his stories. At this point, I'm expecting something intelligent back, some sort of response, but all I get is the stubborn, "But it's just a movie!" *Sigh.* So I change the subject, because it's not worth debating anything with someone who is so entrenched in her opinions that she doesn't hear what others say and can't respond any way other than restating her position without support.

This coworker happens to be a great friend of mine at work, by the way, but she reinforced my decision not to debate anything with her.

Experimental Dinner: Failed

Note to all: you can't cook chicken breasts in a crock pot. They get dry and stringy and you'll be forces to eat baked potatoes, cheese and Christmas cookies for dinner. Hopefully the bean soup I'm planning to attempt on Friday will be better. Sheesh.

Let's see, what has been going on this week. Well, work's been busy...that's becoming the norm nowadays and I'm so thankful for my full days. Over the weekend, my parents came up and brought us our Christmas tree. Just for the record, if I had to pick my #1 family tradition, it would be decorating our beautiful live tree each year. Every year we go the day after Thanksgiving and cut our tree. It's an adventure, sometimes an all-day one, but my parents always made sure we came home with a huge, gorgeous fir. (Of course, Mitch and I have to scale back the size for our apartment, but the spirit's still in it.) Then, about two weeks before Christmas, we'd bring the tree inside and spend an entire afternoon putting up the lights and all our "special" ornaments. See, we never had one of those "pretty" trees, with matching ornaments and all that. Every year, my mom bought us each a new ornament for Christmas. As we got older, a pattern emerged: I got Precious Moment ones, Bobby got Tonka trucks and my dad got lighthouses. Suffice to say, by the time I got married I had enough ornaments to decorate a tree of my own. We're working on catching Mitch up, and we got some awesome ornaments as wedding gifts, but our tree still has mostly "Laurie" ornaments. Mitch calles it eclectic, because his trees growing up were always "pretty" ones. I love our tree, though. If I think if it, I'll post a picture this weekend. Chip loves the tree, too. It's his new hiding/sleeping place and also where he gets drinks. Goofy cat.

I am officially done with my Christmas shopping now. My cousin, Dayna, says she wants Orlando Bloom for Christmas...well, me and her both (not really, Mitch is the only guy for me!), but since I don't think he'd consent to moving to Michigan to live with her and my aunt, I bought her "Pirates of the Caribbean" instead. My dad has a hard time accepting the fact that she's into movie stars and not whales anymore (her favorite mnovie used to be "Free Willy"), but that's just what happens.

Well, I have a lot of work to do and almost all of it requires writing, so I better not burn myself out on a lengthy blog entry. Oh, real quick, I can't comment on your blog, Jess, because I'm not on your "team." That makes me sad. I wanna be on your team! Please! :)

Just Bits

I'm thankful for my icky cold because it means I've spent lots of time with my nieces and nephew.

A new friend of mine could really use some prayers for strength and faith because she's having a rough time right now.

Sometimes Mitch picks up the cat and walks toward the door saying, "Chip and I are going to B-Dubs for some wings. It's Boys' Night." Too cute.

Working out with my sister-in-law, Minda, really kicked my butt last night. My arms are killing me!

Anyone who cooks in crockpots: I'd love new recipes, particularly if they involve meat. You know Mitch.

Work Stuff

I have lots to do right now, but I wanted to update you on my fun new assignments at work. And no, I'm not being sarcastic. Ever since one of our reps took a new job, I've gotten to do loads and loads of fun stuff:

Website - I'm now responsible for maintaining the Admissions and Financial Aid portions of the Alma College website. If you see typos, let me know. I don't have to learn HTML to do this, but I fully intend to and will be breaking out the "HTML for Dummies" book whenever I have a chunk of spare time.

Publications - I'm the official second set of Admissions Office eyes on all publications PR does for our office. I get to give my input on design, copy, photos, etc., and the main liason, the crazy lady I rant about every so often, actually listens to me. I also edit letters for her. Yeah English minor!

Church Relations - This one is not a result of Danni leaving, but I have a huge hand in organizing church outreach endeavors and am the main contact for the redesign of the religious and spiritual life brochure. I am writing all the new copy and revising the current copy, as well as choosing the photos with the Chaplain and giving my input on overall design.

Other than that, I'm just keeping in contact with students and hoping that next year, for travel season, I'll be able to get Danni's old territory, which is the are around my hometown, instead of Northern Michigan. And I'm hoping the College decides to pay for grad school, which is a proposal in the works, I've heard.

Tonight, we're having dinner at the in-laws' to celebrate Dad DeYoung and Mariah's birthdays. Then my parents are coming up on Saturday with our Christmas tree and we're taking them to the AC Kiltie Band's Indoor Marching Show. Fun times!

Late Update

I realized this morning I never posted the stories that made my weekend so intresting and awesome, so here's a quick rundown:

Friday - I took half a day off work so I could make food and such for our upcoming Christmas party. My first attempt at my grandpa's homemade chip dip recipe was very successful and my Jello shots had perfect proporations of Bacardi Razz and water, but my Snickerdoodles were having a few issues. The recipe was very simple, but when I finished the dough and went to chill it, it was all crumbly - not like I would expect dough to be at all. I thought maybe chilling it would help and I decided to tackle that project in the morning. After he got home from work, Mitch and I drove down to East Lansing for Warren Miller but we never got there. Instead, we spent an hour driving around East Lansing trying to find the high school even though the road MapQuest told us to turn right on was blocked off. MapQuest lies. We were supposed to turn left, not right. Instead of watching badass skiers throw themselves off cliffs, we watched Harry Potter and ate movie theater popcorn. Though the movie left out a great deal, I thought it was very good, especially the scenes from the three challenges in the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Saturday - We did some party preparation in the morning, including an attempt to finish the Snickerdoodles. Unfortunately, the first batch I baked was awful, so I threw everything away, called my mom, and got a new recipe. We made some more Jello shots and brought the total to six boxes of Jello and an entire fifth of rum. Then we got all our stuff around, drove to Alma, picked up Mel, Chris and Reese (two freshman climbers) and headed to Higher Ground in Grand Rapids. It was so sweet! We were literally like kids in a giant candy store. There was no pacing ourselves - we bouldered like mad for two hours with very little rest time. All the routes from the previous ABS Comp were still up but there were no ratings on them, so it was all guesswork as to whether or not I could climb them. My accomplishment of the day was this yellow route with a rather tricky move. About 3 moves into the route, your left hand is on a blue hold with one flat side, tilted at 45 degree angle so you had to lean to the right to use it effectively. Just to the right of that hold was a bulbous white hold, which was oh-so-tempting for your right hand. Above those holds was a long, bumpy blue and white hold obviously designed for your right hand. So the first time I tried this route, I went up to the blue with my left hand, the white with my right, and then tried to move my right up to the blue and white hold. Bad move. As soon as I moved, I blew right off the angled blue hold and fell about four feet right on my ass. In actuality, the proper way to do the sequence is to put your left hand on blue, bump your feet up as high as possible, and power up to the blue and white hold, completely skipping the white hold. It took me about four or five more tries, but I got it and successfully finished the route. (Tim, you're probably the only one who really cares about that explanation.) Once our forearms were pumped and we couldn't move our fingers anymore, we went back up to Mt. P to finish getting ready for our guests. We had this whole strategy: I was going to make the new Snickedoodle dough while Mitch was in the shower, and once he got out he was going to bake the cookies while I was getting clean. I gave him very specific instructions about baking time, but he didn't follow them and the cookies were crunchy instead of soft. Oh well, most of them got eaten, along with all the other food we had. About 16 people showed up and had a roaring good time, from what I could tell. We played the Grinch game, Cranium, poker (I actually learned and didn't do too bad, despite the influence of a couple of run amd Cokes), and just had a generally great time. Everything started to wind down around 1 pm, and conversation turned from the usual party stuff to (1) why art has to have some meaning beyond aesthetic value; (2) why Caleb's background in biochemistry makes him perfectly suited to brew beer in his closet in Wright Hall; and (3) quantum theory/mechanics/computing. When the last topic started, I puy on my PJs and went to bed. This was at 2 am.

Sunday - We got up in time for church at 10:30 am and left for Lansing by noon to work on some Christmas shopping. By 3:30 pm we were back in Alma heading to a Venture Crew meeting with Matt. I think this is going to be a fun group. There were about 10 kids at the meeting and some of them are already involved in Boy Scouts so they know what they are doing. One of the girls seems pretty ditsy but the others are normal. Our first trip is going to be in January...we'll be winter camping, which I'm not so sure about. I'll keep you posted. After Venturing we grabbed dinner at Mancino's, played some poker at Matt and Jon's, and then went to Chapel so I could do some Admissions work. I'm so glad we went. Chapel was definitely my first real church home and the first place where I started to learn what faith really meant. Obviously it holds a very special place in my heart.

So that was the weekend. Work has been crazy busy, and I have to go back and read my other blog entries to see what I've already written about before I go into that too much. I'd hate to be terribly repetetive.

Thanks Ryan!

Here are two articles Ryan had in his journal that I truly enjoyed this morning:

Goodbye Christmas?

It's Spelled C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S

Two Great Messages

Mitch and I got a double-dose of church this weekend - morning service at the Mt. Pleasant Community Church and evening service at the ever-wonderful Alma College Chapel. We don't usually go to Chapel because it's too late for us old folks, but I had an admissions announcement to make. Anyway, both services were great and I thought I'd tell you a little about them.

The Community Church is doing a whole series of sermons using The Chronicles of Narnia as a focal point. This first message was just kind of an introduction to the things we're going to be talking about over the course of the next month, but one of the main messages was that, like Lucy did in the wardrobe, we first need to open the door if we're seeking God. Then, once we've started on the journey, we just need to keep going further in, just like the children ventured further and further into Narnia.

Greg, the interim chaplain, gave the message at Alma and it was, appropriately, about Christmas. He pointed out that we as a society have taken all the things about Christmas that are supposed to be peripheral - gifts, decorations, etc. - and made them central to our celebration of Christmas when there is really one and only one thing that should be central in our minds during the Christmas season. That really made me think, because I LOVE the holidays. I love decorating and cooking and having people over and choosing gifts for my family and friends and celebrating all our traditions...but I need to remember that, when I really stop to contemplate the reason for our celebration, I don't need ANY of that to be full of joy this season. I need to cultivate a feeling of anticipation not for the gifts on Christmas morning but for the celebration of the birth of our Savior.

Swing Shift

Well, it's 6:30 pm and I'm in the office working a lovely thing called a swing shift. It's where we come in at 11 am and work until 8 pm, supposedly so we can call more students. I hate calling students. I already called everyone who was accepted yesterday and today. I followed up with a the few inquiries I couldn't take care of via email. I tried to get ahold of Micaela so I could pick up my new AC3 t-shirt. It's bright pink and says "I Kissed the Bar" on the front. The tagline under the back logo is "Taking Romance to New Heights Since 2001." One can never have too many climbing t-shirts.

Today was super busy. It seemed like as soon as I walked in the door, three people wanted something from me. Hmmm, maybe they're learning that I am indeed competent. I worked on our new church relations project all afternoon and covered a meeting with a student and her mom for a rep whose lunch break took a little too long. Oops! After running around like a chicken with my head cut off earlier, I'm now bored enough to write a blog entry that's not ever the slightest bit entertaining. Sorry, dedicated readers.

Half day off tomorrow...woo-hoo!

Revelations

Sometimes I come to these great revelations about myself, but then I get the impression that everyone else already knew that about me, or that everyone else already knew that about themselves. Funny.

It's only Wednesday, but I'm ready for the weekend.

Friday night: Warren Miller film
Saturday afternoon: Climbing at Higher Ground
Saturday night: Christmas party for all the Alma kids, before exams suck their souls out
Sunday: Church, Venturing meeting with Matt Baleja

Time to decide who in my stack of files is going to be admitted to Alma! Y'know, it's really not that hard to get in here, but if you're smart you get a heck of a scholarship under their new financial aid packaging. Still, I better have about $200,000 per kid saved up if I want to put them through a private school someday.

Planet Rock Sucks

$45 to climb in ABS Regionals. What a crock of crap. It's their loss, though, that none of the Alma climbers can afford to compete! Screw you guys, we're going to High Ground to climb for fun (hopefully).

And I love the volcano hold. It's way better than the brain hold.

My Thanksgiving

As always, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Part of me doesn't want to be back at work and part of me is excited for all the stuff I have to do here. Some new stuff is happening on campus that I can fill some of my students in on and one of my schools is the Division 3 or 4 state football champions. I watched them play on Friday and I'm excited to get in touch with them.

I ate way too much this weekend. Wednesday night was deep-fried turkey dinner with the DeYoungs, Thursday night was regular turkey with the Eccles side, Friday night was spaghetti with Papa and Gramma Carol (mom's side), Saturday was Jillian and Chelsey's reception and last night was grilled up a slab of the most tender ribs ever. Mmmm. Besides eating, we also cut our Christmas tree with my family, did a little shopping (the only reason I braved the malls was because we were already out and about for Mitch's early MRI, which he didn't even get to have because we forgot his script) and celebrated our one year anniversary. That's right, we've been married a whole year! It's really flown by but at the same time I can't imagine life without my wonderful husband.

And now, it's time to turn my attention to the Christmas season. The decorations are up (minus the tree - Mom and Dad are bringing it up in about two weeks) and I'm dreaming of a white Christmas every moment of the day. I'm also looking forward to attending church for the next three Sundays! That's right, consecutive attendance! Amazing! The sermons for the next month will all use elements of The Chronicles of Narnia to illustrate different points, so it should be interesting.

We went to church yesterday, too. Side note: we finally figured out that the Community Church is Evangelical Presbyterian. Anyone who can tell me the difference between that and the straight-up Presbies is my hero. Anyway, the sermon was great. The minister asked one question that really got me thinking: what stands between me and my relationship with God? Though there are probably tons more, I came up with three things:

(1) A desire for control. I look at the future and rather than praying about what God's will may be for me and trying to figure that out, I make plans based on what I want.

(2) Materialism. I want nice things often for the sake of having nice things, giving in to our materialistic culture instead of valuing my relationship with God and all his people above all else.

(3) Selfishness. This ties into a desire for control, but it also applies to me wanting to do what I want to with my time rather than giving it up for God. Church on Sundays has not been a priority, though I'm working on it. Instead of doing a devotional with Mitch, I'd rather drop right off to sleep. Instead of setting aside a time to pray, I just do it when it's convenient. That's my selfishness.

I suppose the first step in moving these idols aside and trying to keep them from itnerfering with my relationship with God is to recognize them. So there they are. I'm hoping when they rear their heads today that I can see them for what they are and battle them back.

Team Sugar, 3-1

We played much better last night, though the game wasn't much of a challenge. The other team got away with a lot of carries just because we wanted to actually volley. Still, the games were closer than they should have been, because we made quite a few mistakes on our side of the net. Overall, though, I'd give us a silver star for improvement. Afterwards, we played a pick-up game: me, Sam and Pete vs. Mitch, Gabe and a new gal named Christina who is very good. Mitch took a monster spill...he went up for a hit and somehow his foot slipped out from underneath him and he landed flat on his back. Actually, he said his shoulder hit and then his butt, but he was smart enough not to try to catch himself with his hands and to tuck his head so he didn't crack that on the floor. Thank goodness for quick reflexes!

I work news, I just got back from a long meeting about church relations. I'm excited to be working on this new project and I'm also excited that I'm now going to be in charge of keeping the admissions page on the website updated. Yay!

And it's SNOWING! I'm sure the roads won't be as bad as last year, when everyone from up in the Alma area missed our wedding rehearsal because they were stuck in traffic, so I'll just give thanks for snow and pray for safe travels for all my family and friends.

Yes, we're coming up on the one-year mark! I can't believe we've already been married a year. It's been the best year of my life - at times it's been one of the most challenging but it was Mitch who brought me through tough times and I'm so very, very thankful for my Favorite.

Evaluation

I just had my final evaluation with my boss, who is leaving for a new job after tomorrow. She said I had great potential and could make a great director some day if I stuck with admissions. Not that admissions is really in my long-term plans but it's a nice little boost.

In other news, love is when he puts toothpaste on my toothbrush while I'm in the shower.

Bronner's and Bucks

Actually, Mitch got a doe this weekend, not a buck, but "doe" would have eliminated the alliteration in my blog title. Maybe the buck will come next weekend.

Mitch got his deer on Sunday evening and I went out with his dad to pick it up. I don't really think I could kill anything like that. And I wouldn't want Mitch to, either, if we weren't going to eat it. When he didn't get one Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning, I told his mom it was a good thing we didn't have to rely on Mitch's hunting to put food on the table...otherwise, we'd probably have to go live with Dave and Mariah (he's gotten a few deer between bow and rifle season) since Dave apparently knows how to hunt. Haha, now we'll have food for the winter. :)

While Mitch was out toting his gun around, I took my first-ever trip to Bronner's, the world's largest CHRISTmas store. It was overwhelming - if I hadn't gone in there with somewhat of a mission, I would've been lost. As it turns out, I bought ornaments for Jillian and Chelsey's wedding gift, some glass icicles for our tree and some fun lights to break up all the white lights we have for our tree. Being there definitely made me even more excited for Christmas, if that's even possible. My grandma is giving me one of her Christmas villages to put up and I have some beautiful nativity scenes to put up. The Precious Moments one is my favorite because my mom has one and Bobby and I used to set it up together every year. We'd even alternate who got to set up Baby Jesus every year.

One thing for which I am thankful: a short work week! The group visit on Saturday ended up going fine and I got to air my frustrations with Deedee this morning. She didn't know the crazy one was probably applying for the director's position, but I got a little inside info from another coworker and I noticed Crazy is not on the search committee though she was initially listed. Deedee quickly pointed out that after oneof our other reps leaves in early December, she will have the most seniority of any rep, other than the co-directors. She'll be pretty vocal during the search process, she assured me.

Well, it's now late enough for me to call Mitch's orthopedic surgeon and get a pre-authorization for his MRI, which is scheduled for Friday at 6:40 am in Royal Oak. That's going to be an early morning!

She's crazy

She's driving me absolutely crazy! I'm at work, getting ready for a group presentation that I have to do with one of my least favorite coworkers and she's driving me up the wall. She doesn't explain herself clearly and has a tendency to say things that border on insults...but then she plays them off as if she wasn't really saying what you think she's saying. I think she's also applying for our recently-vacated director position. Please, oh please, not that.

Team Sugar, 2-1

We didn't really deserve the win last night. It was jungle ball to the max. At least my serving is back on the ball.

Work has been busy, as evidenced by the fact that I started this blog entry at 1 pm and it's now after 4 pm. I would be all excited that it's Friday, but I have to work tomorrow. I'll only be here 'til noonish, but I'd still rather stay cuddled in my warm bed rather than being forced out of bed by an alarm clock too early.

What I appreciate most today: Band-Aids specially designed for knuckles. I scraped the knuckles on my right hand pretty hard on Tuesday and they were still sore today. I tried ointment and regular bandages but those seemed to make my hand hurt worse. Eventually, I got fed up, braved the cold and trekked through the cold to Evan's (I didn't want to lose my parking spot by driving) where I found the answer to my prayers. Thank you, Band-Aid.

Frustration

I have this need to grab a project by the horns and run with it. I like being in charge and I really think I can get things done. I know I need to prove myself around here but it sucks when I have to take a back seat on projects that excite me and for which I'm truly qualified to lead. Don't tell me how valuable I am and then sit silent when I ask what my responsibilities should be.

TGIS!

Thank goodness it's snowing! When the sun started to come up, I looked out the window and couldn't help smiling at the sight of a little snow on the ground. Now it's nice and sunny, flakes are drifting down and I'm happy to see winter is really here.

No climbing or working out last night...I was pretty beat and since we're going to be at the rec late tonight for my volleyball game, we decided to stay home. Gabe came over to do a hangboard with Mitch and show me a little bit of HTML. I also got my plans set for Sunday, when my mother-in-law and I will be taking a trip to Bronner's and meeting my mom there. I've never been there before, but who can resist the world's largest Christmas store forever?

Not the winner

Last night Mitch, Gabe and I stopped at a gas station and bought two Lotto tickets for the big game. We were a riot in the store - none of us had ever bought Lotto tickets before, so we didn't know how to do it. But we figured it out and I made a deal with Gabe: I would buy him a ticket, but if he won we had to split the winnings. Let me tell you, we had lots of fun on the way home talking about what we'd do with that much money - something to the tune of $315 million. There was a lot of house-building going on in our imaginations (for ourselves and our parents) along with lots of fun trips for family and friends and some charity work, too.

But we didn't win. Alas, the Access Fund will have to convince the new winners to donate big, since we can't.

Team Sugar, 1-1

We had our first real IM game last night (last week the other team didn't show up) and it did not go well. First, you can tell that none of us are used to playing together. We don't know how to move as a team to cover the court and we make silly mistakes like sending the setter and a hitter up for a block on a short girl who's just going to tip over their heads where no one is covering because they're both blocking. Argh. The one positive thing I can say is that our serving (mine in particluar) vastly improved from last week's pick-up game and we had some good volleys. Still, there's no reason we should have lost to this team. Hopefully tomorrow's game, though we'll be short-handed, will go better.

I also got to do a bit of climbing yesterday, but the wall attacked my knuckles and not I have two sore scrapes on the first and second knuckles of my right hand. Ouch. I think we're going back down to the wall tonight and hopefully there will be some vball going on so I can keep my skills from getting any more rusty than they already are. I wouldn't mind a nice weight workout, either.

Happy Opening Day!

I swear traffic was lighter going in to work this morning, and I'll chalk it up to so many people being out in the woods with their rifles. Mitch, unfortuately, won't get to hunt until Saturday afternoon, but I hope he has more luck this year than he's had since I met him. I really like venison and would love to see our freezer stocked with meat for the rest of the winter.

This weekend was nice and long. Mitch had Friday off because it was Veteran's Day so I took the day off, too. We spent the morning putting up shelves and unpacking our china and crystal, running errands and finishing off Tim's new workout regime. Then we had Gabe and Andrea over for a spaghetti dinner (yes, we used the china and crystal!) before heading down to Alma for the dance show. I loved seeing Jen, Michaela and Caleb onstage, but I hated the first act. The anti-war message made no sense at all. I've heard some very good anti-war arguments, so I'm not saying this just because I do happen to believe we should currently be in Iraq, but when you're going to put your opinions in a public forum like a dance show, they should really have more substance than simply showing battle footage and having your students chant something about the poor children of Iraq (who, by the way, will now not have to grow up under Saddam's oppressive and dangerous regime). Oh, and there was barely any dancing! Even if the message confounded me, I could still enjoy true artistic impression, but there was just a lot of walking around on stage and setting up chairs. The second and third acts, though, were great. Jen made a super Swanilda, Michaela was so graceful and Caleb was a stud in his tuxedo, never dropping Jen or tripping anyone. If any of you guys are reading this, congrats on a great performance!

On Saturday we headed down to Grand Rapids for an ABS climbing comp. Joe and his little brother, Tyler, met us there and I was very impressed by Tyler's climbing. He's only been a few times, but he was keeping up with the guys pretty well. The point values on the routes went from 1,000 to over 50,000, and I was climbing mostly in the teens and low twenties. One route was very frustrating. It was worth 21,000 and I should have been able to climb it no problem, but I didn't start working on it 'til the end of the afternoon and after three tries, I simply could not hold on any more. Grrr. But I got second in the beginner category. Joe got second or third in men's beginner and Mitch got bumped up to intermediate. I think you can check out how Mitch and I are doing in the standings by visiting www.rockcomps.com. The stats from Saturdya may not be up yet, though.

After the comp, we satisfied our craving for McDonald's fries and went to Dave and Mariah's for dinner. It was so fun to hang out with them...we haven't seem them since the summer, when we stayed with them at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. After pizza, we played five games of Sequence (boys won 3, girls won 2) and three more games of Euchre (girls won 2, boys won 1). Mariah promised to teach me how to play poker next time. Apparently, even though she can't bluff in Euchre, she's a pretty darn good poker player.

We left Dave and Mariah's around 9 pm and were supposed to meet up with Adrienne and Lindsay, but it was too late for us to drive into Rochester, or wherever they were. We crashed hard at my parents' house...they were out in Rhode Island watching our old neighbor, Jamie, play his last home football game for Brown University. Sometime in the middle of the night, there was a big crash downstairs and it scared the living daylights out of me! In my half-asleep stupor, I was sure someone was breaking into our house, but it was just one of my mom's wreaths falling off the door. I think watching so many episodes of Rescue 911 as a kid must have scarred me a bit.

Sunday was a nice day of rest, mostly. We straightened out a mistake with some of our wedding crystal at Marshall Fields, did our laundry (the dryers are STILL broken in our apartment complex!) and played Scrabble. I love Scrabble. If anyone ever wants to play, I'm all for it. We also made dinner so that when my family got home, they could just relax and enjoy some awesome ribs. Mmm, ribs.

We stayed with my parents again on Sunday night so we could be in Southfield for Mitch's 7:15 am appointment with a new orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Anderson. The basic consensus is that Mitch needs to get an MRI so Dr. Anderson can see whether or not the microfracture performed in Mitch's last operation has been successful. He would also like to determine if there is anything structurally that can be fixed with surgery or if there is another way to help Mitch. For the moment, he has Mitch taking glucosamine chondriton (I think I spelled that wrong), which is supposed to help promote cartilage growth and "promote healthy joints."

I took the whole day off on Monday, which was nice because after the appointment, we drove back to Mt. Pleasant and I actually got to relax instead of rushing back to work like Mitch. I did some grocery shopping and picked up a few other things, worked on my scrapbook and spent some quality time with my kitty-cat. That evening, Mitch and I were both studying - he for a work-related exam he's taking this morning and me for the GMAT, which I hope to take this winter.

So now it's back to work. I've had a great morning so far...the student who visited me was great and had just as many questions as when I met her at her high school. Now it's time for lunch...it's tomato and fresh mozzerella (did I spell that wrong, too?) day!

SOLD!

"...to the lady in the second row,
She's an eight, she's a nine, she's a ten I know,
She's got ruby red lips, blond hair, blue eyes,
And I'm about to bid my heart goodbye..."

Silly country song.

I SOLD MY CAR! Finally! A family from Mitch's church bought it last night, so after today we'll be done with loan payments. Granted, we have to pick up just over a thousand bucks to pay off the loan, but with not having to make car or insurance payments, we can put that money back in our savings accounts in almost no time! We celebrated with a trip to the wall, a shoulder/chest workout and a steak dinner this evening. Mmm.

On the radio this morning...

...they said the "s" word. That's right: s...s...snow! Not much, maybe just mixed in with some of this rain later on tonight. I apologize to everyone who keeps saying how great this warm weather is, but YES! I want a cold, snowy winter that begins this month!

I was going to post a link to redeem Victoria's Secret, because I found some very pretty, feminine, non-scandalous underwear at their Midland store, but the photo on the website makes them look less cute. Instead, anyone who knows anything about quickdraws can feel free to tell me what he/she thinks about these:

http://www.moosejaw.com/moosejaw/product.asp?s%5Fid=0&dept%5Fid=10228&pf%5Fid=10019337

Also, for Mr. Timothy Slade, here's a link to help you get started in your search for a lead rope. REI's Outlet site doesn't have any ropes on there right now, but you should keep checking.

http://www.rei.com/outlet/learn/climb/chropes.html?vcat=OUTLET_SSHP_CLIMBING_LD

Finally, I've got news to make you drool, Tim. I'm playing IM volleyball this semester! John Jruse, Sam Sugar, Kohn, Pete and some others invited me to join them, and I'm pumped for our first game tomorrow. Nervous, too, though. I haven't played since the summer so I hope I don't screw up too many times.

It's official

I'm truly, truly done with travel season now. Yesterday I took my final high school recruiting trip, driving to Elk Rapids and then to Gaylord. I finished up my day with a trip to Alma's Hallmark store, which is closing. While talking to the owner, I learned fifteen Hallmark stores in Michigan are going out of business at this very moment because Hallmark brand merchandise is now sold in stores like the ever-evil Wal-Mart. Hallmark stores are always run by independent owners - usually sweet women in a local community - who can't make any money when customers can go elsewhere and get Hallmark products for cheaper. It makes me sad, because my mom and I have always gotten certain items at Hallmark stores and soon there won't be any left to visit. But I did find good deals on a frame for another wedding photo I just ordered, a small album to give Mitch's grandpa for Christmas, holiday wrapping paper and maybe a little gift for someone special. :)

The weekend was wonderful, as usual. Mitch and Gabe went golfing on Saturday while I hit up the Midland mall for some new khaki pants (I shrunk mine while doing laundry last week) and a bit of Christmas shopping. Victoria's Secret may be a little weird right now - they're using a little pink dog as a marketing tool - but there are still some very pretty things there! On Sunday we went to the Mt. Pleasant Commnunity Church. We hope to begin regular attendance so we can learn more about the church and hopefully, finally, find a real church home. Then we took Gabe out to Mitch's parents' house where we cleared Mitch's shooting lanes in preparation for hunting season. It was a pretty relaxing Sunday...just what I needed to gear up for the week. Not that this week is going to be very tough: Mitch and I both have Friday off! Yay for bank holidays like Veteran's Day and for the crazy amount of vacation days I receive!

For Gabe

Today I looked at that quiz I placed in my blog and thought, "I wonder if they do that with tables." I may have opted out on HTML lessons in favor of sleeping on your couch last night, but I do listen to what you say. I even used bracket-things to make do bold right there. Proud?

November?!?

OK, it should not be 70 degrees in November! This is just crazy. I was getting ready this morning, comtemplating what cute winter hat to wear to work, when it turns out I barely even need a jacket. Yesterday the two ladies who walk by my window every morning were wearing earmuffs...today I don't even think they had jackets on. Don't get me wrong, I love these beautiful, sunny days, but it's NOVEMBER! We can have sun and forty degree temps at the same time and still enjoy ourselves.

Last night Mitch and I went over to Gabe and Andrea's to start making a dent in our mounds of laundry. The guys played video games and since Andrea was out, I pretty much read my book, folded laundry and slept on the couch (or the floor, at one point). I was exhausted and I have no idea why. Then I kept waking up during the middle of the night, once because Chip was doing his whiny meow-type thing. Cute, but not appropriate for 2 am. Now I'm at work, kind of bored, and hoping the day goes pretty quickly...because I'm getting my hair cut this evening! I just made the appointment and I hope I can actually come away with a cut I like this time.

The Life Quiz

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	9
Mind:	7.8
Body:	8.9
Spirit:	8.8
Friends/Family:	7.9
Love:	9.1
Finance:	8.4
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Well, I really don't know what this means. But Ryan took it, and Tim took it, and they both posted their results, so I thought I should go along with it.

I have smart friends.

Last night at the climbing wall, we discussed the following topics:

(1) The aerodynamic-ness of males as opposed to females, with a focus on the shape of their sexual organs

(2) The process by which one could determine the alcohol content of Caleb's home-brewed beer in the chemistry lab

(3) How to write HTML code, without the aid of actually writing it

(4) Caleb's sensitive nipples

As you can see, our Alma education pays off every day.

When I was eighteen...

...I got my belly button pierced with one of my friends. It hurt. A lot. For a long time. Last night I decided I was too old for a belly button ring and I took it out.

Happy Halloween!

Nothing "Halloween-ish" is going on tonight, but I still love this holiday. I'll be tacking the mounds of laundry that have been piling up for about two weeks and still trying to get down to the wall. Mitch's new shoes are supposed to come in today, so I doubt he'll let me go through the evening without a trip to Alma.

We spent this weekend (well, once I got off work on Saturday) down at my parents' house, celebrating their birthdays. Dad's is Oct. 30 (Devil's Night - which explains a lot about him) and Mom's is Nov. 3. On Saturday afternoon, I went on a 13+ mile mountain bike excursion with Dad, Bobby and Mitch. I had no idea (1) that my legs could get so weak and still function on (2) that my buttbones could hurt so much a day later.

Back to the wall

Now that I'm home more or less for good, I've renewed my commitment to the climbing wall. Mitch and I went on Monday and I climbed like crrrrrap. I'll chalk it up to essentially taking three weeks off yet still expecting to be able to fly though boulder problems like before. Humbling experience, that's what it was. I couldn't start routes, I missed critical holds, all my sequences were off, etc. Tuesday, though, I felt a lot better. I got back in the groove on all my favorite routes and though I couldn't snag the finish on the brain hold for two of them, I know it's just a matter of re-teaching my hands how to hold it. I plan to climb a bit after work on Thursday and then again on Friday with Mitch.

Yesterday, however, was not a good climbing day for Mitch. He forgot his shorts and had to climb in windpants, and he also discovered a tear in his well-loved climbing shoes. Most of his evening consisted of talking about shoes with Caleb, Joe and some freshmen guys. We left after less than an hour because he wanted to go home and buy new shoes online. For those interested, here's what he got:

http://www.sportiva.com/products/prod/255

I swear, there are very few times I've seen him this excited. He even had them shipped to the bank so he could open them as soon as they came off the truck. He thinks they'll be here by Friday!

Pretty much done

I'm basically done travelling for the year! It was so nice this morning to wake up wedged between Mitch and Chip (the cat), in my own bed, without thinking, "I have to leave today."

I screw up Mitch's schedule when I come home, though. He and Matt have been working out two days a week, and this week they have to skip a day because I invited Mitch's parents over for dinner and planned an evening for pumpkin carving. Oh well, I don't think it bothers him! :)

Being out on the road taught me a lot about doing things alone. At first it was weird to walk into a restaurant and ask for a table for one; I got used to it very quickly, though. I even went to a movie by myself - literally. I was the only person in the entire theatre for the Wednesday matinee of "In Her Shoes." By the way, it wasn't all that good. I read the book earlier and thought it might be OK, but it wasn't.

Tim, you should be so proud: not only did I finally get around to reading Mitch's copy of "The Screwtape Letters," I also picked up "Mere Christianity" by Lewis while I was out on the road, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm sure you have other books of his to recommend - hit me!

Creepy Parking Lot Dude

I hope I don't have to go out to my car again tonight, 'cause there's this creepy dude that was just staring out his window over the parking lot when I went out to get my cell phone earlier. Gives me the willies.

Anyway, I'm halfway through my last full week of travel. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but there's even the possibility of coming home early. Since I'm driving all over the state (it seems) for only a few schools, I've decided to call my last three ahead of time to make sure they have students signed up to see me before I trek all the way out there. One will surely reschedule: they had a student commit suicide recently, according to my faithful intern who makes contact with prospective students ahead of time. The others are both small schools who may or may not even have students interested in Alma. So while it would not be good in a professional sense to not have students to visit at these schools, it would be very nice from a personal standpoint. Yes, I would really like a little more time with Mitch before he goes off to climb big rocks in Kentucky.

I forgot to add that the climber's party last Saturday was lots of fun. At least I had fun and I think everyone else did, too. We played a mini game of Ultimate Frisbee, because only six people wanted to come out, but the whole group joined in for Catch Phrase after dinner. It was hilarious...Caleb has the most obscure knowledge possible and he thinks everyone else should know it, too, so when he uses it to give clues we're all, well, clueless. Nothing can ever beat the time my brother and I were playing on the same team and I started yelling, "Off like a - off like a - " and Bobby actualy got "prom dress" as the answer. Get it? Off like a prom dress? Maybe it's an Eccles thing.

Friendship

Why do some friendships flourish and others struggle? Why have I had the same best friend since third grade, despite differences and disagreements and distance? We talk on the phoen once every week or so, but neither of us keeps track who called whom and when and for how long. We see each other when we get the chance, making it a priority when possible and understanding when it just doesn't work out. We know how each other likes her pizza and how to make the pizza place understand our interesting half-and-half order.

How can I have this wonderful relationship with her and similar ones with a handful of other people, yet be incapable of making many of my "friendships" last? Why is it that I doggedly hold on and hurt myself and others when eventually, if I would just trust in God, everything would work itself out? One friendship, which I now hold very dear, was all but shattered by misunderstandings and anger yet now has new life for no reason but time and God's will. Why can't I turn all my relationships over to God - thank him for the ones that go well and ask for his guiding hand in those that struggle?

Happy Saturday!

This morning I willing got out of bed when Mitch got up for work...what's wrong with me? I have lots of fun stuff to do today, though, and I was kind of itching to get moving. There's the standard stuff like laundry, straightening up the apartment and packing for next week - and by the way, next week will be my last week of travel! But then I also get to go shopping for groceries and hopefully a pair of hot brown boots. My brown shoes are dying and I can't wear them with skirts, anyway. And I think I'll need to get a skirt, too, to go with my new boots. Sometimes I really like shopping.

Tonight we're having a bunch of climbers over, so I have lots of food to make. A family in the Traverse area sent me back with a ton of apples and even though I took them to the office to share, I came home with enough to fill the fruit drawer in our fridge. Needless to say, dessert tonight will be some sort of apple dish.

Gone again

I'm back in my old, temporary stomping grounds...that's right, Cadillac. There's a college fair at the high school tonight but since I'm not staying at a hotel here, I'm currently hanging out at the library 'til it's time to head over in an hour and a half. Thank goodness for wireless. I don't think I'll ever buy a laptop without wireless capabilities, because I seem to be able to connect to the Internet almost anywhere now.

I stopped in at the hospital to say hi to my old coworkers and found that not much had changed. I get the impression that they are not really that happy with the new person they've hired for communications/grants, but they were spoiled by Lauren, the last communications specialist. She would be a hard act for anyone to follow. They seemed happy to see me, though. When I didn't get responses to the emails I sent them earlier, I kind of thought they were blowing me off, but now I know they were just busy.

This week of travel hasn't been bad. Staying at the same hotel the whole time is very nice, even though I have to drive back to TC after the fair and post-fair festivities this evening. On Monday night I went biking with Adrienne, which was a great way to catch up. She's basically been offered a job as a floating physical therapist at Munson, and if she accepts, they're going to pay for her last semeseter's tuition. Plus, she's always wanted to live and work in Traverse. The biggest sticking point is her Indiana-based boyfriend, who is understandably sad that she's going to be so far away from him next year. The thing is, he has made a commitment to work for this engineering company for at least one more year, and he definitely does not expect her to move to IN for him. He doesn't even want to settle there in the long run. So this whole conversation they're having is pretty much unneeded, because no matter where she is, she'll be away from him. The compliating factor is that he wants to get married. She wants to marry him, too...eventually. Like in a few years. After she's had her time in TC and Colorado, where another job opportunity awaits her. I'm not quite sure why I just went over all that...I don't think most people reading this even know Adrienne or would care, but oh well.

On Tuesday night, I got to hang out with Adrienne and some of the girls she's met up there. We watched "The Other Sister," which was actually a very good movie. Still kind of chick-flickish, like I figured, but kind of touching as well.

I know I've neglected to post anything about the Jars of Clay concert I attended on Friday night. This is dorky, but I had this whole blog idea in my head: my reaction to this concert along with something I wrote after seeing the first one a few years back. I'm just going to shorten it, for now, to saying that the concert was great and I had a wonderful time seeing Marc, Sarah and Ryan.

Here's something I'm struggling with, faith-wise: I know many people, all equally dedicated to their faith, who feel it's a priority to find a church family. I know others who feel that's not so important. Whatever category you fall into, I'd really like to hear your reasons for making the decision you have. Jenn, your email about this was very helpful and inspiring...thank you so much for your prayers!

Well, it's time for me to actually catch up on some of the work I've been neglecting in favor of spending much-needed time with Adrienne. Goodbye!

New laptops rock

I just have a few minutes, so I want to say that my new laptop from Alma rocks. I love that it's equipped for wireless because most of my hotels have wireless connections. Very nice, very nice.

I have tons to look forward to this weekend. I'm going to a Jars of Clay concert on Friday with Mitch, Marc, Sarah and Ryan, and then Saturday afternoon - after Mitch gets off work - we're going up to Jon's for the remainder of the weekend.

But for now, it's off to another series of high schools. Maybe the sun will come out today and show the fall colors in a better light than this grey, foggy weather.

Missin' him

I'm on the road again...the completion of today's high school visits marks the "over half-way" point in this travel season and I can't be happier. Being away from home so much didn't really bother me until I left yesterday. What kind of a girl cries in the Dairy Queen parking lot after just having one of her new favorite Blizzards (mint Oreo)? I'll tell you what kind of girl: one who has already been away from her husband more than she's seen him for the past three weeks and one who spent the busy Homecoming weekend doing everything but cuddling with him. It's not so bad now that I'm here but I'm afraid it might be a long, lonely week.

On a brighter note, I have a great hotel room today. It overlooks Lake Huron and I laid out on the beach, reading, for two hours this afternoon. Adrienne lent me "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson and I'm hooked. It's about his experiences hiking the Appalachian Trail and he does a good job of mixing comic ancedotes with history. I highly recommend it for the "outdoor inclined." Also on my list of book recommendations is "The Turtle Warrior" by an author I can't remember at the moment, but this is her debut novel. It's an incredibly emotional book, dealing with abuse, alcoholism, the Vietnam War, rural life...Bruce, I think you'd really like this one. I'll be on the lookout for the book you recommended as well.

Well, I've been trying to wait until the sun goes down before I walk over to dinner, because it's HOT. I should NOT be able to lay around in my bathing suit in October, that's for sure. I walked downtown (I'm in Mackinaw City, by the way) and thought I was going to sweat to death in jeans and a t-shirt. The sun is not down, but my stomach is grumbling. And I got a deposit today. That means one of the students in my area (one I actuall saw this afternoon) sent in a commitment deposit and is coming to Alma in the fall. That's reason to celebrate right there. That's a reason for spinach-artichoke dip right there. Mmmm.

Sorry, guys

I feel like my entries have been lame lately. Sorry about that, there just doesn't seem to be much time to be profound lately.

Here's some food for thought, though. When does "turning the other cheek" become being a pushover? When does holding your tongue stop being a virtue and start being cowardice?

Caffeine, yikes!

So this morning I had to be on the road by 6 am to make it to Roscommon High School for a visit at 8 am. I thought a travel mug full of coffee would make the drive more bearable - it's about an hour and a half - but it actually made my day seem like one giant stimulant trip.

(I never drink coffee. It makes me very jittery, yet still I forget and think drinking some woul dbe oh-so-nice.)

I stopped to pee after an hour on the road. Seriously. And it was an aching bladder, oh-my-gosh-I-have-to-go situation. Half an hour later I'm at the high school, peeing again. Then I'm all shaky by the time I leave, an hour later. I eat an apple, chug some water, and once I get off 127 in Mt. P, the seatbelt gets loosened because I HAVE TO GO AGAIN! Good God, y'all. Still shaky. Eat peanut butter. Doesn't help. Go to the office, work some, eat another apple. Doesn't help. Finish the day, get home, scarf homemade garlic bagel chips from Mom. Still dizzy. Mitch makes chicken for dinner. THAT helps. But I lost two pounds today and I'm pretty sure the coffee is the culprit. Not that I mind missing two pounds, but the shaky, dizzy, hyper feeling I'm still nursing was not worth it at all.

Tomorrow I'm back on the road for the next two days, visiting high schools on the east side of the state. Then it's Homecoming! Friends, football, climbing...how could it be any better?

Ouchies

Awesome night of bouldering. Fingers too sore to type more.

Home

I'm home. I barely have a voice, and I need about a day to sleep, but I'm home. The trip went well...one word of advice, though: don't ever stay at the Days Inn in Petoskey. My list of complaints follows:

(1) Rude staff members, meaning I had to interrupt the two young ladies at the front desk because they insisted on continuing their conversation about their after-work plans instead of checking me in.

(2) Sketchy setup. I was told, since I'm a female traveling alone, to avoid hotels with exterior room doors, which this place had.

(3) Poor housekeeping. Nothing like finding strands of hair on the countertop as you are getting ready to brush your teeth, and noticing more on the bathroom floor the next morning.

(4) Nasty 24-hour buffet. The waffle-maker was so dirty that even not having food for over 12 hours isn't enough to get over it. And with fruit flies buzzing around the juice dispenser, I was not about to chance the bowl of bananas.

So, I spent one night instead of two there and shacked up at the cottage on Wednesday night. Adrienne came down from TC for the evening, so we went to dinner with the other admissions reps, chatted for awhile and crashed. Morning came way too early, but I had two great high school visits before I made my way home. I didn't get too lost at any point, thanks to my willingness to pull over and consult my map regularly.

Whew!

I have seven minutes to post, so this probably won't be all that great. Last week's travel was a combination of boring driving, breathtaking scenery, too much talking (my voice is not used to this at all) and fun times with new people. Pull out your Michigan maps, folks, and see how I logged over 1,000 miles with my coworkers driving from Mt. Pleasant to Ironwood to Marquette to Escanaba to Menominee to Iron Mountain to Houghton and back to Mt. P in five days. And I'll have you know that I did drive the entire way (minus about an hour at the beginning of the trip) home from Houghton because my coworkers were too tired and hungover from the party on Wednesday night to do more than sleep and read. Talk about a driving marathon!

Today I'm heading out at noon and driving up to the Soo, this time by myself. :( Actually, it will be OK. I can bring more of my own food and pack better, since I don't have to cram everything into two bags. I will be doing four college fairs this week and visiting 3-4 high schools as well. The nice thing is that after a whole heck of a lot of dricing on Tuesday, I will be in Petoskey for two full days. That means I get to stay in the same hotel for more than 12 hours, and I might even get to see Adrienne if she has time to drive up from Traverse City, where she is doing her final physical therapy clinical. By the way, she's going to be a great physical therapist, according to one of her patients who also sails with my dad on Kokomo.

Backtracking a bit...I had an awesome weekend. I got most of my packing for this week done on Friday night, so besides having to work an open house from 7 am to 1 pm on Saturday, all I had to do was have fun! Mitch came down to Alma and we watched the football game with Pete and his family (Go Scots!) and then we did some awesome climbing, despite what felt like gallons of Slurpee in my stomach. The brain hold is my bitch, Tim. Jeremy set this new boulder route that comes up from the opposite side and finishes on it, and I kicked its butt. You have to wedge yourself up in the corner under the overhang, buto nce you do that you can hold that thing all day long. (Side note: We finally hung our hangboard, so I'm going to resurrect the razorback!) After a rousing game of add-on - too many twisting moves, though - we headed back to Mt. P for dinner, than met up with Pete & Co. at the Braveheart to celebrate his 22nd birthday. That guy is a riot...he was the leader of all dancing efforts! It was an early night (relatively) for us, though, because the college kids wanted to go to the frats and well, that's just not for us.

Yesterday Mitch and I went apple picking in Stanton, which is one of my favorite fall activities. Apples, donuts, cider...it may not be Erwin's Orchard, my hometown orchard, but it wasn't bad, either. Then we cleaned both my cars (Anyone looking to buy a car? I have to sell the Taurus since Alma gave me a car.) and went on a picnic at this county park with the in-laws. There were some nice, easy hiking trails that we will probably use for mountain biking later. It will be a good speed workout, because the trails to not seem to be challenging or technical in the least, but it will get us off the paved trails!

After my week of travel, I have a camping trip with my parents to look forward to. Yay! OK, that was 14 minutes of writing. I have to run some errands and get ready to leave for the UP. Leave me some love, and I'll try to post on the road. Bruce, if you're reading this, I need some new entertainment on your blog. And Tim and Ryan, keep up the good entries! They make me smile. :) Gabe, you better do some hangboard workouts with Mitch while I'm gone. And Jenn, I'll blow some kisses to your hometown while I'm there. Charlotte, I'm praying for you. Love you all!

Travel Begins

Yesterday I drove with my coworkers, Brandan and Karen, all the way up to Iron Mountain for our first college fair of the "UP Swing." Our adventures along the way included me pulling over and refusing to go anywhere until Brandan put his seatbelt on (I finally convinced him by complaining about the possibility of his head slamming against the windshield and him getting blood all over my shirt) and me missing a turn on US 2 and ending up halfway to Menominee. Oops.

The college fair went well, and afterwards we ordered pizza and hung out with the rep from Albion. I'm kind of surprised at the lack of institutional rivalry out here.

Today we're heading up to Marquette for a fair around noon and then we have to come back down here for an evening fair in Escanaba. That's kind of a lot of driving, but not as much as yesterday, I suppose. I'll try to update at the next hotel, but I'm not sure if that will happen or not.

Rants on Pause

I had a two things over the past few days that I've wanted to rant about:

(1) How a disaster like Hurricane Katrina can bring out the best in some people and the worst in others, like those who choose to point irrational fingers of blame instead of giving their whole hearts to the relief effort

(2) How it drives me crazy when people think diversity only means having lots of different skin tones in one place, or when they think that the only thing that makes one a minority is the color of his or her skin

But you know what, I'm not in the mood to do that right now. I vented with Mitch and Matt last night, so I'm good for now. Maybe I'll pick these up later, when I'm on the road.

On the road. Yes, that begins tomorrow morning at 8 am. If I don't update until Friday, you'll know why. UP college fairs, here I come.

I found a wonderful quote buried in the pages of Skiing Magazine. It's from Kirsty Exner, a freeskier:

"Girl power is lame and overrated. Challenge yourself in the sport you love. You'll be empowered."

A think that's going to be my competitive spirit's motto from now on. Maybe I'll even put in on Facebook.

Belay Patrol

My dad is the enforcer on the lake during the summer. If he sees a boat without a spotter, someone going the wrong way around the lake, or any violation of boater's safety regulations, he's on them without hesitation. Sometimes he's pissed and yells like a madman, as was the case when a boat was following way too close behind him while he was pulling some of my friends on kneeboards. I believe his exact words were, "If you ever get that close to my boat again, I will hunt you down like a dog!" or something along those lines.

Some days I feel like the enforcer at the climbing wall. Just yesterday I not-so-nicely corrected some very dangerous belaying with the sharp words, "I need you to stop letting go of the rope right now." Rather than a nice, smooth belay stroke where your right hand never leaves the rope, this gal was doing the "pull, skip your hand up the rope" thing, which is completely unsafe. And she should have known better, since she's been climbing for at least two years now.

Rest assured, fellow climbers; if you are on the wall and I see your belayer being unsafe, he/she's gonna feel the carefully controlled wrath of the enforcer.

Sailors and such

I could rehash my Labor Day Weekend adventures, but you probably don't want to hear it, so I'll just be brief. Drunken sailors. Biking. Rollerblading. Bay View. Beautiful weather. Bang, that about sums it up.

I should be in a really good mood today as I sit in my new office, looking out the window, thinking about the mere day and a half I have left in the office this week. For reasons I won't get into, though, I had kind of a rough evening followed by a very restless night. I can never thank God enough for Mitch. His patience is amazing, his ability to comfort and understand is more than I deserve.

Starting Sunday, I begin my travel season. I'll leave Sunday night (usually) for points North and return home on Thursday afternoon. Honestly, I'm not looking forward to it. I'm slightly excited for the challenges being on my own will pose, but mostly I'm already tired from the thought of logging so many miles and hours on the road.

Someone is really trying to get ahold of my coworker in the next-door office. Her work phone has rung a bazillion times and now her cell phone is screaming. I have work to do, so I better hop to it.

Blah

Nothing exciting happening here, folks. It's Tuesday and I've spent the last two days training student admissions reps at the office. At home, Mitch got his wisdom teeth removed on Friday and spend most of the weekend affixed to the couch. I take that back: Saturday he went shopping and out for a bike ride, but that knocked him out for Sunday, so we didn't even make it to church as planned. His jaw (not his teeth) is still pretty sore and I'm wondering if that's a result of the breakage a couple of years back. I'm getting antsy waiting for him to feel better so we can go back to having fun!

This weekend we're going up to Bayview for the annual Red Fox Regatta weekend on Lake Charlevoix. Every year, my dad and sometimes brother sail in a race over Labor Day weekend. On Saturday they race from Charlevoix to Boyne City, then on Sunday they race back. We stay in Bayview, a historic community in the middle of Petoskey, and spend the days playing by the water, biking, rollerblading, shopping a bit, and driving cars back and forth between the two harbors. There's also a picnic and a classic car show in Boyne City that we usually attend. Some people have big Fourth of July plans - for us, it's always been Labor Day. I have random memories surrounding that holiday. One year I found a dollar buried in the sand around the old maypole at the Boyne City park. I thought I was rich. And since we always stay in Bayview (or as I used to call it, the Bayview Rainbow Bright Cottage...don't ask me why), I have all those memories, too. Climbing down the "cliff" when we were little...putting round rocks on the electric heater to warm up our hands...going to the parks across the street...I wish I were more of a writer. I wish I could capture everything about Bayview and other special places on a page so everyone who read it would understand.

Freeze Tag Safe Zone

Can I tell you there's nothing better than walking by a group of RAs playing Freeze Tag on the Chapel Lawn and having four of them run out at you for hugs? Thanks Jen, Marc, Pete and Kristy!

Finally, I'm rested!

This past weekened was awesome. I did...NOTHING. I stayed home, went grocery shopping (Meijer on a Saturday is a zoo!), cleaned out the guest room closet, did some more laundry, read a book...it was a great, productive, not-at-all-busy weekend. The biggest excitement was Jillian's bachelor party on Friday night. We took her to the Braveheart and proceeded to get her happily inebriated. There is something inherently beautiful about a bride or bride-to-be. She was like a pink butterfly, flitting all around the bar, talking to everyone. And everyone loved it and did anything she asked of them, because how can you say no to a bride? It was like that at my wedding - I danced with everyone with whom I wanted to dance, because there's some unwritten law that you cannot deny a bride almost anything on her wedding day...or in Jillian's case, at her bachelorette party, too.

Today is the continuation of new administrator/faculty orientation. I'm supposed to go to some HR session that will reiterate everything the mean old HR lady told me when I was first hired. She doesn't like me much. When I first met with her, I told her I wanted my tax deducations to be taken out as if I were single instead of married. She took this to mean that I did not trust myself with money, which I took large offense to. I explained that, no, I just did not want to have to pay in during tax time and would rather receive a check back. She took this to mean I wanted to go on a big shopping spree with my tax return and told me I should instead put that money in my Alma College pension fund. I took offense to that, too, because Mitch and I put away a lot of money from our paychecks into savings and investment accounts, which I explained to her, and probably offended her by saying I would rather contribute to a Roth IRA for retirement (the plan, once our expenses even out again) instead of Alma's pension fund. Bottom line: I hate that she made assumptions about my financial responsibility, probably due to my age, and I probably spent a bit too much time on the defensive, trying to explain to her that yes, I know what I am doing when it comes to money.

So I have to hang out with her for another two hours. Joy.

But for lunch, I get to hang out with the Discovering Vocation crew. I like them.

All right, time to work on my territory management plan for work. This could be interesting...

Time well spent

I definitely spent a good deal of my morning at work on this, but I think many of you might enjoy reading some thoughts on Christian music:

www.andrewosenga.com

By the way, his blog and the one he links up to are great reads, but I also recommend checking out his "Drawing Board" and "Free Single" pages for some neat music.

The Second Annual Long-Slade Wedding

Finally, I'm getting around to posting about the highlight of my summer - Tim and Anna's wedding! Well, it was more like a weekend-long party combined with a renewal of vows, since they were already technically married. So Mitch and I got done with work on Friday, grabbed Gabe, and headed downstate. We stopped at my parents' house for a little bit but were soon comfortably settled into the cottage. Grant, Robin, Jerry and Darby met us there later on that night, and Tim and Anna came by for a quick visit, too. The guys were rocking out on their guitars...by the way, see the pictures from all the festivities at http://photos.yahoo.com/skibunny11282.

On Saturday morning, we were up bright and early so Mitch could take his motorcycle road test with Bobby. By 11:00 am, I was hanging out with everyone at McHattie Park, playing some kick-ass volleyball games. Tim's brothers, and two "brothers from other mothers," Jesse and Sebastian, were awesome players, but they couldn't handle the Alma team of Tim, Gabe, Jerry and (briefly, 'cause he got there very late) Mitch. Yay for my guys! After volleyball, it was a mad dash to get showered, dressed, and off to the rehearsal in Howell. The rehearsal dinner was a yummy, Mexican-themed event complete with a Mexican hat dance performed by Anna's younger brother, Daniel. Afterwards, the guys went off to their bachelor festivities (Ultimate Frisbee) and the gals headed to the bridal shower. Anna got so many awesome gifts and we played the coolest shower games ever. My favorite was the ring game: everyone got a fake, gaudy ring, but if you crossed your legs or uttered the words "Anna, Tim or wedding," whoever caught you got to take your ring. The object of the game was to have the most rings. I think I'm going to use that for the next shower I have to throw!

Around 10 pm, maybe, I headed back to the cottage along with Robin and Darby, only to find the living room overtake by 10-12 beer-drinking guys. Apparently my dad told them they could help him and his buddies finish off a keg of Bass, so they forewent (is that a word? the past tense of forego?) a trip to Hooter's or Buffalo Wildwings in favor of free beer. Well, there was only a little left in the keg when they got there, but they quickly remedied that situation with a trip to the party store. Around the time I got to the cottage, they were getting ready to go out on the pontoon, and I think they were out for a good 2-3 hours or so. Everyone had a great time, from what I heard!

On Sunday morning, Jon D., dad and Bobby came out to the cottage for some waterskiing. It was lots of fun, though I'd forgotten how to handle the sharp, whipping turns my dad uses in order to get the most out of the length of the lake. I was way more used to Jon's wide, sweeping turns on Lake Missaukee! Anyway, that was followed by yet another mad dash to shower, change, collect the gifts (we went in with Matt and Becky to get them a tent and some camping chairs) and make it to the church on time. We were a little late, but it was OK. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful...I thought Anna looked like a princess, but Daniel disagreed and said she looked like an angel. That's fitting, too. Tim and the groomsmen were so handsome, the music was lovely, and their dads, who performed the ceremony, had just the right combination of humor and seriousness.

Since there was some downtime between the ceremony and reception, a bunch of us went to Mr. B's in Howell for appetizers. On the way to the reception, we passed Tim and Anna in their horsedrawn carriage...aww! Just like a fairytale. Dinner was tasty and we were all kept very entertained by the "copy kisses." Couples were called to kiss anytime people clinked their glasses, and then Tim and Anna had to kiss however that particular couple kissed. Mitch swooped my up into his arms, but the two most creative couples were Dan and Vicky (he flipped her over his shoulder) and Ed and Shannon, two dancers from Alma who executed a perfect parntering lift on the dance floor.

We ate, drank, danced, laughed and shared stories all night long. For me, one of the best parts of the wedding was the chance to reconnect with an old friend, Bruce. Bruce went to Alma for two years, then left and eventually joined the Marines. We didn't part on particularly good terms, but time and God's love can heal just about anything, and by the time I hugged Bruce before the wedding ceremony, I felt nothing but joy and relief that he made it through his first tour in Iraq. Throughout the evening, he told us stories of boot camp and being overseas...I had forgotten what a good storyteller he is! If I ever have a son who wants to join the Marines, I'll make sure he talks to Bruce first so he has the whole picture before he makes a commitment! Anyway, I'm thankful that we are blessed with Bruce's renewed presence in our lives.

After the reception, I went out on the pontoon with Mitch, Jen, Bruce, Jerry and Darby. Unfortunately, we ended up stuck in the middle of the lake with a dead battery, so Mitch and I had to swim in to shore (yes, we had floatation devices) and get the Malibu to tow them back in. Nothing like cutting through a stranger's yard, dripping wet, at 2 am!

On Monday, we had kind of a "last hurrah" and met at Cracker Barrell for brunch. Mitch took Tim on a motorcycle ride - "I want one," were Tim's first words when they got back! Then we all kind of went our separate ways, with promises from Tim and Bruce to come up to Alma later in the week for volleyball and climbing, respectively. They did, too...Tim on Tuesday, Bruce last night. This event brought together many of us who have been at very different places for a long time and I'm so eternally grateful. We now have plans to reunite at Thanksgiving (it will be a truly "thank-full" holiday) and possibly New Year's Eve. What a wonderful, wonderful time!

A Tim Slade Original

Playing volleyball this evening...

Ball flies over the net. Hits me in the chest.

Tim: Oh my gosh, you hit Laurie's boobs! What are the chances of that?!?!

Burst of uncontrollable laughter from me and the five guys on the court.

(Get it?)

Wedding Weekend

I sure hope this day goes by quickly. This evening we're heading home for Tim and Anna's wedding, and while I don't think it's going to be a relaxing weekend (when are our weekends ever realxing, though?), it's sure going to be a fun one. We staying out at the lake with a bunch of other people from Alma, but I think we're going to do most of the getting ready and all that at my parents' house. The Chipper will be staying with Mom and Dad, too, so I'll have to visit my little kitty. Maybe he won't hiss at my dad this weekend.

I'm not particularly motivated to do much of anything at work. I have a few things I could be doing, but they mainly involve handwriting a bunch of postcards to kids who have sent us their ACT scores. Maybe Deedee will let me go do that in her office, so at least there is another presence around me. I think her and I need to chat for awhile anyway. Yeah, that sounds good.

Not a replacement

Does anyone else ever hate their blog? I've always tried to keep a journal and never been successful at it until this nice invention. Or at least it's been a long time since I was this good about putting things down in writing. But I've definitely discovered this is not a replacement for a good old private, handwritten journal. Here, since this thing is up for the entire world to see, I often find myself censoring my thoughts and feelings because I never really know who is reading and if they will be offended, or think less of me, or whatever because of what I write. So I recently resurrected my journal - one I bought for the climbing trip and wrote in only once. Blog, I'm not replacing you. I won't neglect you. But I can't tell you everything and I need a more private outlet. I knew you'd understand. And I don't really hate you, Blog. I kind of like you, a little. :)

Canoeing, Camping and the Michigan Militia

It's not really as interesting as you think: as part of our two-tracking adventure after an afternoon of canoeing and some great campfire food, Mitch, Grant, Robin and I think we found a huge Michigan Militia training area. That's all. I just found it entertaining.

Canoeing was probably the most fun its ever been. Generally, it's a bit slow for Mitch and me, and it's also frustrating because we both want to be in control. This time, though, the river was moving quicker (with some Class I rapids, even!) and Mitch and I were working well together. He was a lot better at steering, which meant I was more willing to let him control our direction because there were not as many times we got hung up on rocks, ended up in trees, etc. Grant and Robin had fun, too, I think, even though they said the drunks on the river kind of ruined the first afternoon for them. They just got back from a 10 day hiking trip where they were pretty much the only human presence for miles, so I can understand how they would have a hard time with rowdy groups. Actually, it didn't bother me too much, because they were all mostly just hanging out on the banks and not in my canoe's path.

We were on the river probably a total of five hours between Saturday and Sunday, which is a pretty short trip but much more enjoyable for me than, say, the all-day excursion down the Muskegon River with my fellow OCs, or last year's Fourth of July weekend nine hour paddle. If I'm going to be on a river all day, it better be full of rapids and I better be in a raft with a Southern-accented river guide who tells funny jokes. On Saturday night, we stayed at the Peterson Bridge Campground, just a little rustic hang out, and had scrumptious hobo pies for dinner. We did the two-tracking, militia-discovering adventure and also broke out the guitar for some off-key singing. On Sunday, we made pancakes, eggs, bacon, and vegetarian sausage (not too bad, and much better than not-dogs), packed up camp, and hit the river around 11:30 am or so. We had a minor tussle with a park authority who was unhappy that we did not have special permits to be on the Pine River, but we were not aware that we needed them and he let us go anyway. He did initially try to tell us we needed to drive half an hour to Baldwin and get them from the ranger station, but he changed his mind thanks to our honest looks and my assertive powers of persuasion. Ha!

And the excitement continues - Grant and Robin will be staying with us tonight, after they have dinner with Gabe and Andrea, and then Tim and Anna are coming up tomorrow to hang out and stay at our place as well. Party! I'm currently trying to get the day off tomorrow, or at least part of the day, so we can do some climbing or whatever. Come on boss-lady, tell me yes!