mid-july update

wow. it has been a crazy last couple weeks.

here is one word to describe my life since my last posting: rollercoaster.

i'm not usually one for metaphors, but i really appreciate a good one. every once in a long while.

so, here's the gist:

i last posted on monday, july 5. which is when i went from spending time with family (nice top portion) back to my house in bemidji (major drop). where i started to pack since i would be moving that friday.

during the course of the next three days (kinda steady and level), i went to work, lead a Bible study, packed up stuff in the house, and so on and so forth...

thursday night was able to have a "picnic" (in quotation marks because we ate burger king) in the park with two ladies from church (going up again).

then the whirlwind really began on friday (think spiraling down). i spent all day packing with a few breaks for when i grew tired. but it was nice that from the time the kindem family showed up with their pick-up and to the last time i drove from the house in my car, it was only 2.5 hrs. amazing how quickly you can move, especially when you get help from some in the congregation.

good/bad point: one dreyer boy pointed out that you can tell who in the congregation likes me because you can always tell by looking at those who help you move.

just so everyone knows, only two families were willing/able. so my response was that no one wanted to admit that i was moving because they love me so much.

so there i was in a new place, and i started unpacking a few things. like my dress clothes to prevent major wrinkles. and some kitchen stuff (food and utensils).

then i woke up and packed for a week of camp.

then i dropped off my car at the local mechanic to have them look at something that went wrong.

then was picked up to leave for a week of camp (upward again).

camp was nice (stayed pretty level). was at mount carmel near alexandria, mn. highlights include:
- meeting a fellow intern (who is originally from arizona, went to sem in phoenix, az and berkeley, ca, and is working in wisconsin)
- starting the week off with a tornado warning in the middle of the first supper of the week...also a low point since it was 45 min of being cooped up (silly storm traveled 10 mph)
- meeting miriam's family
- spending time getting to know other campers and staff
- relaxing (lots of naps involved)
- reading
- watching sunrises (that's right, folks - more than one early morning for the girl who hates being up before 8!)
- seeing former interns and their new baby (well, she was born in november, so not "new" per se)

then arrived back in bemidji, picked up my car, and went back to my new place in order to organize a bit more. right now, most of the organization is trying to separate what is mine versus borrowed, and locating items that simply got shoved into boxes/bags while leaving in a hurry. i did not take enough time packing before friday, it seems...

sad fact in my life is that while on the way back from camp, i felt a tickle in my throat. assumed it was simply dehydration. alas, it was more. cause i had a full-blown sore throat the next day. fortunately i didnt have to talk to anyone until later in the evening. helped out with a rejoice and remember service hosted by my church as a way to rejoice and remember cancer patients (current and past). ended with some pie eating.

sunday morning, realized that my throat was not 100% but was at least improved. until i had a coughing spasm in the middle of pastor mark's sermon. fellowship involved eating more pie.

and now, today.

which is truly a manic monday.

cause i woke up to find a huge, swollen, red, warm-to-the-touch bug bite on my forearm. yesterday it was a mere, itchy mosquito bite. or so i thought. but today, i'm thinking that it may be more along the lines of a spider bite...i've never had such an obnoxious bite before in my life!

it was so obnoxious, i even went to the clinic to have it checked out. yup, i went to a doctor. and for those of you who know me, i don't go to see doctors. even when i need shots or physicals, i end up with nurses or pa's.

so it turns out that you have to wait 48 hrs to find out if a bug bite is simply allergic reaction or something else. and considering i just took an allergy pill not long ago, and the bite just seems to be getting itchier, i'm thinking that i will have to fill the prescription for antibiotics. which i'm not really looking forward to doing. but if that will help my arm out, i'll take the first prescribed pills in my life.

if you don't believe that i've managed to get away without prescriptions in 25 years, talk to my mother. i may be wrong, but i'm not remembering a single time i've had my name on a little bottle...

then to top off my day, i just got a phone call to let me know that my cleaning was not up to snuff. so i'll be off this afternoon to go wipe down the oven, fridge and cabinets in the kitchen. pretty sure it won't be up to the standards that the landlords want, but i'll do my best. even with my bum arm.