A trip to Joplin turned into a trip to...

"We are looking for 6 people to give up their seats on this flight and fly out tomorrow.  We will provide hotel accommodations and meal voucher for tonight and tomorrow morning as well as a $300 voucher for future travel."  The announcement echoed through the waiting area where I sat with the Joplin Mission Team.  We were returning home from our week of work in Joplin, waiting in Dallas for our plane to arrive when the announcement was made.

I looked at Youth Pastor friend and said "You should do that."  I was half joking.  He looked at me and said, "I think you should."  I thought about it for a few seconds and then shrugged.  "Nope, can't leave my team."

The announcement was made again 30 minutes later.  They were looking for 3 people then.  I wrestled with the thought and Youth Pastor friend gave me the "you should take it" look.  Still, my sense of team spirit held strong.  Another 30 minutes, the plane that was to take us home had arrived and the third announcement was made.  "We are looking for one person to give up their seat on this flight and take a guaranteed flight out tomorrow morning.  We will give you meal vouchers, a voucher in a hotel tonight and a $500 travel voucher for future travel."  I didn't hesitate long that time.  I took my ticket, went up to the counter and said, "Yes, please."  I guess I can be bought.

10 minutes later my team was boarding the plane and I was sitting in the waiting area, waiting for my hotel, meal and travel vouchers.  I enjoyed two hot showers in a lovely bathroom with fresh, clean towels, serious luxury after a week on a Mission trip, slept in a real bed with clean sheets and arrived home at 9:30am the next morning.  No big deal.

Fast forward a bit and I have a $500 travel voucher and a deadline by which to use the voucher.  There were many options open.  Head to Mississippi for fun?  BE with the Revgals? (Gave that one serious consideration seeing as how I could visit Mississippi friends and go to BE. Like two vacations in one.) Washington State to visit family and friends? Maui with my parents and friends?  Washington DC?  Maine?  I just couldn't make a decision.

One day, sitting at work I had a moment of clarity.  I had to take a vacation or I was going to fall apart.  Not a working vacation like my last three have been but an actual go away and do nothing vacation.  That's when everything began to line up. The option was clear.  The airfare was just slightly higher than the travel voucher.  The dates freed up and suddenly I was going on vacation.

And that, my friends, is how a trip to Joplin turned into a trip to Maui. Aloha.

These days

This not having a job thing isn't a hardship.  At least not right now.

All last week was spent in Tahoe, pretty much doing nothing.  It took about 5 days for my mind to settle down, my soul to rejuvenate and my body to recoup.  Yo Momma had volunteered to babysit Miss P during the day, so around 7:30am she would arrive and the fun would begin.  Did I mention that she turned two?  Yeah.  The terrible two's are upon us.  The meltdowns were impressive.  They didn't work, but they were impressive.  She is kinda cute though.

Friday afternoon and unto the late night hours were spent slaving over the cake on your left.  Miss P's birthday party was Saturday and there had to be cake!  It went pretty quickly, despite having to mix color after color after color.  I'm contemplating taking a cake decorating class sometime soon.  It could be fun.

The weekend was filled with family, party, bike riding and friends.  Not to mention the book reading and quiet time.  Tough times.

The part I'm not enjoying, as much, is the time to think, ponder and wonder.  After 12 years of being constantly busy, this time to let down is reminding me of things I've left undone, unfinished, regrets and so much more.  It was much easier to ignore all of that when I was constantly planning for the next thing.  God and I are doing a lot of talking about days gone by.  Guess that's a good thing, right?

The part that I'm relieved about is the lack of worry about what's next.  Others are doing enough worrying for me!  :)  I'm enjoying the time to relax, be free of job stress and take in views like these every so often.

What am I ready for?

VBS ended today.  It was a good week.  Nothing overly dramatic happened.  The kids had fun, the songs went well.  Jesus was proclaimed.  It was a good week.

This week to come is one of wrapping things up.  There are still a few things on the wall in my office, but most of the things that came with me or that have been added over the years have been taken down, packed away and are ready to be brought home.  Which leaves me a lot of time to contemplate and clean.

People, as should be expected, have been asking about my future.  What I'm going to do.  I've tried to envision the future and I can't.  I can't seem to think of anything but taking a vacation, taking time off and just relaxing for awhile.  I am ready for a break.  That's all I know.  Which makes the Friday Five over at RevGals very appropriate for me today.  One of the things that I would like to accomplish in my time off is to take all the boxes in the garage that have all of my stuff in them, off the shelves and go through them.  Then I would love to tackle the closet in my room and empty out all the things in there.  And somewhere, in this between job time I want to take my car in and get the brakes checked, the windows fixed and detail it really, really well.  Poor car has been neglected lately.

Which leads to the next thing.  There's a part of me that really wants to get in my car and drive.  I had thoughts of driving north, up into other states and exploring but there's circumstances keeping me from that.  I would love to jump in my car and drive across the country and explore.  Or drive to Mississippi and show up on Ben's doorstep ready to finish the sheet rock on the Yellow House.  The call of the open road is echoing loudly in my ears right now.  I just want to drive away.

One week to go...

Round three

All week my shoulders have been getting tighter and tighter and tighter. My friend K has been known to tell me on many occasions to "stop wearing your shoulders as earrings." As my stress levels rose all week I kept repeating a mantra "happiest place on earth, happiest place on earth, happiest place on earth". Tomorrow morning at way-too-early-o'clock in the morning I will be getting up, finishing my bag packing and heading out the door. First for Star$ and then to Grammy B's house where I will meet up with my traveling friends, N, Train Guy, Adventure Boy and Grammy B. Sometime in the afternoon we will be scooping up K along the way and then, then my third trip to the Happiest Place on Earth will commence. Best birthday present I ever gave myself was a annual pass to the Happiest Place on Earth.

Fun is going to be had (meltdowns, most likely as well), pictures will be taken and most importantly, the stress of the week will be sloughed off these shoulders as I enjoy being a kid again. The stress will be there when I get home, but for now, I'm gonna enjoy my godsons, enjoy my birthday present to me again and enjoy the fantasy of the Happiest Place on Earth...and be grateful for the memories being made.

The week that was and the weeks to come

Last week I decided was going to be vacation week for me. I've been at the church for so long (10 years!) that I've accrued extra vacation time in addition to the days that I haven't taken in years past. Vacation time it was!

Monday, G.G. and I decided to head north and visit the newest member of the family, Little T as well as his cousins Bubba and Curious Guy. I played trucks with Bubba, cuddled Little T and flirted with Curious Guy...oh yeah and enjoyed the time with my cousins and aunt and uncle. Wednesday G.G. and I made the trek to Tahoe for Thanksgiving with the family. Snow had made it's arrival, leaving a couple of feet of around the house. I woke up on Thanksgiving Day thinking "it would be so much fun to make a sled run by the house". And then I remembered that I didn't really want to do that. Instead I hung out with Little Miss P. We took our picture together again. I'll have to find it and post it for the world to see!

Saturday G.G. and I went home, through the snow and the rain. As we were driving home, it occurred to me that besides the conversation in the car with G.G. about work, I hadn't really thought about work all week. I didn't pick up a single book that had to do with work. I even avoided the computer, only checking things a couple of times in the week. I didn't stress out about all the stuff going down and worry about how I'm going to make it come January if all the financial stuff goes the way it's looking like it's gonna go. I just entered into the moments and let the rest of life go by. It was lovely.

Of course, now that I'm back home, back at work, that reality is looming. But before all of that goes down, there's this trip to Mississippi** that is coming. And Christmas. And Train Guy's birthday. I started a list today of all that needs to be done between now and the 16th...it's a lot of stuff which will just continue to grow until that moment I get on a plane bound for Mississippi...which reminds me I need to add rides to the airport to that list.

Add to it, today I woke up and found that for the first time in over a year I'm getting a cold. Raw throat, semi-stuffy nose. Loveliness. Guess all that rest and non-stress isn't good for my body...or maybe it was hanging out with all those kidd0's! Oh well, not gonna let it get me down. On with the show!

**For those that are curious, I'm $180 away from my goal for the Mississippi trip. If you can throw a couple of dollars into the hat, it would be greatly appreciated!

Belated Birthday post

I started three posts this week and deleted them all. Kind of feeling a little *bleh*. I've talked a lot and listened a lot this week and now I'm worn out.

But I realized that I didn't share pictures from my road trip in September. Yo Momma asked what I wanted for my birthday and I said "I want to go to Disneyland." And so we did. Can I just say, Disneyland is probably the best place to be on your birthday. You can get a button like this that they personalize for you and all day long people will stop to wish you Happy Birthday. It's very lovely...even at 36. :)
Yo Momma was a good sport. She rode California Screamin' (we were too cheap to buy the picture so we took a picture of the picture), went to the top of the Fun Wheel with me (in the non-rocking cars, thankyouverymuch) and was a great D-land partner. She didn't know I was taking this picture our first time through Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but I had all kinds of fun! The Jonas Brothers were there shooting a commercial on my birthday. It may or may not be them standing on the stage in front of the castle...not that you can really see that in this picture.I didn't know who it was when I took the pic...still don't really care, to be honest. All I know is they were in the way of my getting a picture in front of the castle on my birthday...so we took one the next day. :) It was a great birthday. Thanks Yo Momma!

Beignets

I love beignets. I love them. Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans is just about my favorite place. Making beignets at home, they just don't turn out the same. So when I heard that the place I'm at had beignets, nothing was going to stop me from getting them!

Right now, this particular place has gingerbread beignets. I really don't care, as long as they are good. Yo Momma put our order in and waited. Out they came. They came with two dipping sauces, one is an eggnog cream and the other raspberry. The beignets were good, not like Cafe Du Monde, but they were good. I didn't notice any gingerbread flavor though.

As we were paying for our lunch and beignets, the waitress took our check and went to get change. She came back and said "There was a change in your bill. You didn't get the gingerbread beignets, so I had them take the charge off." What is that? These were the regular ones? We just got an order of beignets for free? Won't find me complaining! In fact, I'll be back tomorrow to try the gingerbread ones out! :)

Road trip!

Yo Momma and I are on Road Trips this week. Road Trip #1 took us for Cousin V's baby shower. Auntie R joined in that adventure. It was a good time with a lot of laughs. That was a quick adventure, though cuz I had to be back home for church this morning. As of 10:30am this morning I am officially on vacation and I'm spending that time somewhere that I love. Getting to the somewhere that I love, though, required some driving. So we hoped in the magical gas-lesser car and braved the road.

I am here to tell you that people lose their brains when they get behind the wheel of a car. I do not jest. Something switches off and people just go out of their minds! We drove a very long straight road for a very long time. There are many trucks that travel along said road. The many trucks meant that the people who wanted to turn said road into the CA version of the Autobahn were slowed down many a time, especially when said road is only has two lanes in each direction. There were many who figured that if the left lane was slow and the right lane appeared free then they should drive there. Which they did only to cut off people in the left lane when the right lane slowed down. Some people figured that if they were close enough to the bumper of the car in front of them, that car would then go faster even if there were cars in front of that one preventing that from happening!

There were the vehicles towing things that were DEFINITELY not going the 55mph limit. One was driving so fast that the wind was tossing the trailer back and forth. I thought for sure that the trailer was just going to tip right over. I haven't ever pulled a trailer, but I have had a car full of teenagers playing football in the car (oh the stories) and I know how hard it was to drive with them moving all over the place. I'm sure it's pretty comparable.

There were the occasional road boulders or turtle drivers, those people who insist on going 5-10mph under the speed limit and drive in the passing lane and won't pull over no matter what because there are trucks in the other lane that they might come upon at any moment and heaven forbid they move!

My personal favorites, though, were the people who would ride the bumper of the magical gas-lesser car until Yo Momma or I pulled it into the slower lane (which we drove in most of the time) only to then take FOREVER to pass. Grrrrrr.....

In all fairness, I like to drive faster than I should but driving on trips like these remind me that my brain needs to be engaged, that courtesy on the road is not such a bad thing and that driving the speed limit (or a wee bit above) is usually a good idea.

Luckily the car is parked in a lovely space at a lovely hotel and it will not have to be moved unless we want to move it for the next few days. We'll be on foot or bus...and I'll tell you all about it as the week goes by!

In the meantime, this movie from 1950 is very much apropos for today.

Rebellion

I'm not going to church tomorrow. I know, I know, going to hell. I've heard it. I'm still not going to church tomorrow. Or today since technically it's Sunday while I'm writing this.

No, I'm not going to church. I am, however, going to sleep in, go out to breakfast with 3 fantastic women and then get in a car and drive home from Play Land. We'll most likely talk about church. We'll talk about life. We'll remember the plays we've seen, we'll share in more laughter, finish the pies and cakes we couldn't finish tonight. We'll watch the scenery, cars and trucks go by. We will enjoy the last few hours away from home, from family, from the stress of everyday life. We will be thankful that God brought us together as friends and be grateful for the time we've spent together. We will enjoy the day and be grateful, say Thanks to God and laugh together, share the burdens of life and help each other see the path ahead with better vision and a better attitude.

Yep, tomorrow I'm not going to church. God wouldn't have it any other way.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I get to see this live! Yea!

Out of pocket

Yo Momma goes on a bike ride every year with her friends in Iowa. They get on their bikes and ride 62 miles whichever way the wind is blowing. For five days they ride, staying in motels at night and just having a grand time. At the end of the week they call one of the husbands back in Davenport, IA and say "come get us!". Sometimes they wind up 300+ miles away, sometimes they circle back to where they started. Yo Momma then stays a few days afterwards to visit with the family we have back there.

About 2 months ago, Papa Bear came up with an idea. Why don't we (Papa Bear and I) fly to Iowa the day that the ride is done and surprise Yo Momma. In fact why not surprise everyone back there and just show up. The plan was set in motion, tickets were bought and the fun began. I was so good at keeping the secret that I didn't tell some people who really needed to know! Sorry!

Anyway, the time came and we flew away (arms flapping all the way, Meggie, hee-hee). We arrived at 6pm Chicago time, rented a car and drove into Davenport. We had a time crunch though because our favorite ice cream shop was closing and we really needed to get there. The idea was that we would send Yo Momma a text pic with us eating ice cream and ask "Where are we?". We arrived 5 minutes before closing and gleefully had ice cream before dinner! Yo Momma, though, had turned off her phone so the surprise had to wait.

Next morning, after a night in a local hotel, we hopped into the car and headed to our friends house for the surprise. A ring of the door bell, the opening of a door and the exclamations began. What are you doing here!?! I can't believe it! It was a good surprise...I saw the tears in Yo Momma's eyes.

So, for the last few days I've been *out of pocket* as my friend Ben T. likes to say and it's been fun. I love traveling back to Iowa and being with the family there but also love driving through the countryside, looking at corn fields, going to the Isabel Bloom store and spending money, admiring farm houses and just being a little slower than life in CA tends to be. Not to mention the nightly ice cream stops (lose weight on this trip? naaaahhhh). BTW, If you are ever in Naperville, Illinois stop in downtown at the Egg Harbor Cafe...oh my goodness that food is good! They have multiple locations. I highly recommend the Cinnamon Bun French Toast. Drooling as I write this!

My time away is not yet done, though I am back to the hurried-ness of CA. This time though, it's me and God and no one else. I'm looking forward to the time to be quiet and pray.

This is not the Motel 6

It's been a crazy week. Last Thursday Gma and I were housed at one house in Tahoe, last Friday I was with my New Sis (to be at that point) at another house, Saturday I stayed at the Parents house in Tahoe and Sunday night I moved to yet another home in Tahoe for the duration of the week or until last night.

This morning I woke up bright and early and cleaned the house I'd been staying in. As I was heading out to pack my car the skies opened up and the snow fell down. I decided since I needed to be in Sac by noon I wouldn't dilly dally and zoomed out of town. K and Lora didn't believe me when I said it was snowing so on the way up the mountain I had to pull over and take a picture with my cellphone of the snow on my car. I don't kid about this stuff people! Geesh.

For the next three nights I'm lodged at a pricey hotel in the big city. I've got a king bed with six pillows...6!!!! All to myself!!! Heaven, I'm in heaven. This is SO not the Motel 6.

I'm in the big city for the National Youth Workers Convention and I have to say that if the first General Session and seminar is anything to go by, God has it in mind to do some pretty big talking to me in the next couple of days. I'm pretty unstable right now anyway, so this could not be a pretty weekend. I'm glad I have a room to myself so that I can hide while I cry...maybe. Tears don't seem to care when they are shed or who they are shed in front of. I did warn Trin though that I'm a little bit of a basket case, so at least one person has been forewarned.

I'm sure I'll post more about what God is saying, once I've had a chance to decompress a little. For now I'm going to sit back in my nice big bed, watch a little TV and hopefully fall asleep.

BUT I have some pictures to post from the wedding...There is one of New Sis and I but it's not good...in fact it may get lost in camera world. Not good at all.

This is Nesta, Lisa and Aunt C (though you can't see her face)...Yo Momma and Papa Bear are in the background. And yes, Nesta has a mohawk. He's so cute!
This is Brody and Kinuye, the dancing cousins. It's a very serious job.

And this is me with Gma and Lil Bro. I think this one is my new favorite.

Sighs of relief

From the news on the Pearlington Blog there is less damage than originally suspected. Check it out here for yourself http://www,pearlington.blogspot.com

Yo Momma and I were talking today and there are two things we can do right away #1 send clean-up buckets to PDA and #2 start sending gift cards to Ben so that they can buy whatever supplies they need. Lowes or Home Depot. If you want to get one and send it my way I'll combine them all and send them to Ben...any amount is greatly appreciated!

In the meantime I'm going to enjoy my vacation and breathe a little easier...and figure out what my response is to the Presbymeme II that I just got tagged for! Thanks PG! :)

Dots of the week

Vacation is fabulous, I just have to say. Every year when vacation comes around I wonder what I'm going to do and then by the time the week is over, I wonder how I ran out of time! I still have two more days of vacation left but found myself with a little time to reflect. I like dots, so here's what's been going on this week and what's running through my mind!

• Yo Momma and I hopped in the convertible aka the "race car"on Tuesday and headed up to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I highly recommend it. Especially the play "On the Razzle". Excellent. I love the nuances of live theater and I love seeing how the actors and actresses respond to unexpected events. During the second act of the last play we saw the lights went out. The actors on stage didn't miss a beat as the back-up lights went on. They just kept going. I was really impressed that there were emergency lights designed to illuminate the stage in case of power outages. Nice. The lights came back on JUST as the cast took their final bow. It made me aware that though things like lighting only add to the experience of theater but the really important part is the ability of the actors to convey the message of the play. I don't need special effects to dazzle me when the acting is so good!
• While I don't particularly like driving north on Boring Road that goes through the state, I do have to say I noticed that once we reached the neighboring state slower moving vehicles actually moved to the right so faster moving vehicles could pass on the left. We don't do that so well in CA. Especially in the Bay Area. So listen up! All y'all who move over to let faster moving vehicles pass in the appropriate lanes, Thank You. Road Boulders, you are not helping the situation, just let the people drive the speed they choose and MOVE OVER!
• I've read three books this week and didn't turn on a TV for four whole days. I realized that I turn on the TV when I'm home for the noise. Maybe it's time to get out of that habit. (TV was just turned off.)
• It's been stinkin' hot this week up north and at home, so what did I choose to do today? Head to a local amusement park with the Train Guy, Little Boy and K. It was hot but so much fun. Train Guy and I rode Whirling Strawberries. It's quite an experience. My favorite moment of the day was on our last train ride of the day. Train Guy had pretty much worn himself out but wanted to go on the train "one more time". Halfway through the ride Train Guy was asleep. It was a kodak moment...too bad we forgot the cameras!
• My biggest project of the week was putting up new window blinds in my room. I took me a little while to do tonight. It's amazing how window blinds can change the look of a room. Hopefully they keep the light out a little better too!
• Tomorrow is Church Day and I'm still on vacation. That means that I don't have to get up to be at church at 8am. I don't even have to go to church at all! Usually when I'm not in church it's because I'm on a trip with the youth. The last time I had a Sunday morning off I was on a plane headed home after a friends wedding. This time I have some options and I'm home. I'm feeling the need to go to church, but I'm not feeling the need to go to my church. I'm not sure where I will end up tomorrow. But I do know that I will appreciate sleeping in!
• And last little dot thing for the night, The Dad is complaining about his Blog name. He doesn't feel that "The Dad" is very exciting. Um-hm. I'm not so sure he will like any of the others that have run through my head either. I'll keep thinking and let you know!

That's it. I'm tired. Bed is calling and so is another book!