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.

even more updatisms

this has been an interesting summer. i've been uber busy at times and bored out of my mind at others.

for example, most of the summer is dull as all the kids and their families disappear as soon as the school year ends. and since our vbs is not til august, that means that numerous won't be around at all this summer.

but i have had a few really good experiences.

like a week-long mission trip. i and cory (the two chaperones) took four kids (3 boys and 1 girl) from bemidji to new london, wisconsin. we worked at a workcamp through TeenServe. it was a fantastic experience as we spent several hours each day working on various projects to spruce up homes in the new london area. my crew (one of 59) worked on a two story victorian house, scraping paint, priming and painting the four colors. it was quite the process. but it was a lot of fun to meet the other 5 members of my crew. we were from 6 towns/cities in 4 different states. and we enjoyed meeting our "residents" who were extremely hospitable and friendly: melissa and her mother jean, aka granny.

every evening was spent in worship and listening to a speaker. the band, fourth in the fire, was fantastic and perfect for the teens to get really into the music as it had times for both jumping around and for calming down meditatively. and the speaker, mike guzzardo, was phenomenal.

i really enjoyed the overall experience, even if the latest i woke up on any given day was 6:20 am and if lights out was 10:30 pm.

it was truly one of those mountain-top experiences that re-energizes you for coming back down the mountain to "reality."

sadly enough, whenever i have such experiences, i always seem to fall down cliffs. no gradual return but a steep drop-off.

like finding out sunday morning that the house i've been staying sold. which is great news for the owners of the house. i'm truly happy for them. but i'm also extremely irked that they didn't have the decency to call and tell me that they want me out of the house by the 15th of july. which will happen, but i'm still upset that they didn't tell me. even when i called to let them know that there was some mail at the house for them. no, they called and let the church office know. but since i wasn't there (they knew i was out of state), they were safe in not having to talk to me directly, which they have not done for quite some time. but no one contacted me. and pastor mark had thought they would have done so, so when he was talking to me before the church service yesterday, he assumed i knew. and i did not. which meant that i found out the disturbing news that i would have to be moving out of the house in 5 days. because i found out on july 4, went home for the 4th-5th, and leave for camp on the 10th. which means that i will be moving on friday, july 9. if it works. if it doesn't, then my landlords will just have to wait for me to move on the 17th-18th, which is when i am back from camp. ugh.

but i went back to the family to escape a bit for the holiday. and it was a lot of fun to be around my family once again. i also got a lot more info about what krissa is going through with her injury. from learning where she's still numb (which makes it weird to see your limbs moving despite not feeling them) to seeing her wounds and just how weak she is.

it's amazing how nice it is to just sit around and do nothing with people i love. now if only my spiritual recharge wasn't already emptied as i'm dreading the next couple days of craziness with packing and moving while still going to work...

here is my sermon from yesterday morning (yup, i had to preach the very morning after returning from my mission trip) without a few of the extra stories from the trip that i had included in with the sermon as i preached:

Today’s text has a great message for us all. I love how easy it is to imagine us in a similar situation.

So, picture Jesus standing around a large group of people ready and anxious to get out and do something.

Have you ever been part of an organized volunteer day?

Helped out with the census or some other poll?

Any situation where a group gathers around a focal person before receiving an assignment and being sent in a direction?

I remember times like this. At my college for our community service day the hundreds of volunteers would gather in the chapel before being commissioned out into the community for the day.

At camp, the staff or campers or volunteers would be told which part of the camp to go clean up.

Or, in the case of 6 of us from Bethel this past week, at TeenServe where hundreds gathered at a middle school in New London, Wisconsin to find out which crew we were assigned to.

There are countless other examples. So pick one that you remember and put Jesus in the leader’s role with you as one of the many followers awaiting instructions.

I can picture Jesus meeting with his followers in an open space to give them their instructions before they take off to all the corners. This large gathering is about to receive instructions that are both simple and challenging.

Here is basically what Jesus tells them:

Okay, disciples, here is your task: Today we are going to go out and cover the country. Pair up and start walking.

Don’t take anything with you. No snack packs, no coolers, no luggage, no travelers’ checks. I want you to receive what you need from the people you meet on your journey.

When you get to a town, you will find that there are two types of people.

The first kind will be friendly, hospitable and peace-filled. This is good. Greet them in peace and do great things in this town. Heal the sick, cast out demons, and do whatever else you can to help those in need.

The second kind is going to be closed-off and unapproachable. Greet them in peace, but if they do not respond in peace, don’t stick around to perform good deeds for skeptics. Now, when you are rejected, don’t be offended. Don’t take it personal since they are not really rejecting you, but they are going to be rejecting God.

But, no matter what the people are like, here is the message you are to deliver: The kingdom of God is near.

That is you mission should you choose to accept it.

And 70 chose to accept and went on their ways.

Put yourselves in the followers’ shoes. How would you feel after hearing such a message?

I think I would start panicking. There would be some hyperventilation as I hear that I can’t take anything with but a travel companion.

I admit that I tend to overpack, so taking nothing with is out of my comfort zone. And how can I travel if I’m not even allowed a small carry-on? And why can’t I take anything with? It’s not like I’m going to know anyone on my travels to stay with?

This would be a major leap of faith for me to believe that God will make sure I have what I need. To have faith in the kindness of strangers to provide housing and food.

But that’s not all that I would be worried about. Part two reminds me that there are both good and bad people out there. And that I will meet both types on my travels.

Remember hearing about Sodom? How about Ninevah?

On the one hand, we have Ninevah in Jonah’s story. This would be a good town for a messenger. A town that was so starved to hear anything about God that they are open to a messenger. An unexpected place for repentance.

But then there are Sodoms. Towns so closed in on themselves that no amount of preaching will reach the people. Where no amount of miracles would open their eyes. A town where people will scoff at you and remain skeptical.

But the challenge is that you never know what you’re getting into until you are there. So you greet the people and see what happens. And that is scary to think about. Getting into unknown situations. Cause I would prefer to simply go around a town like Sodom and head straight for the good places.

What really is exciting is the fact that the 70 return with stories of amazing experiences where they did good and were embraced by communities.

Their messages were accompanied by some amazing feats that no normal human being could perform without the help of God. They went out, performed miracles and delivered the message that the Kingdom of God is near.

Our speaker at TeenServe reminded us that Jesus told his followers that they would be able to do great things. In fact, that they will do greater things than even Jesus was able to accomplish. Part of this reason is simply because there are more followers than there are Jesuses. And when each follower has the same Spirit in them as Jesus, a lot of amazing feats will be accomplished.

These 70 are a prime example of just how much more can be done with many hands who follow God’s will.

Think about that. Each follower of Jesus will have the same Spirit dwelling in them. That Spirit that is the force behind miracles is in each of us. Which means that each of us could do greater things if we just open ourselves to that possibility.

We can be just as effective as the 70 if we just let ourselves do the work, trust God and deliver the message that the kingdom of God is near. Which is both challenging and simple at the same time.

God had a message that needed to be delivered right to people’s front doorsteps. And it was delivered by people just like us.

Picture the 70 as mail carriers being dispatched to all the corners of the countryside. They have letters to deliver, no matter what. They were to get their messages to all people, regardless of whether they were peace-filled or not.

Their job was to get the word out and to do good acts for those who greeted them in peace.

Jesus reminds the 70 that their experiences are not about them. Their assignment is not to test their own powers, but instead to do good works so that people would be able to hear and believe the message that the kingdom of God is near. The 70 were prophets, they were messengers of God, vessels that housed God’s spirit and spread the word of God.

Because it was God who was the driving force behind their mission.

My next question when receiving this mission would be: Why this message? What exactly does it mean that the kingdom of God is near?

I admit that I’m not sure. I hate trying to figure out what the kingdom of God is because every single time I think I get it, it slips out of my grasp.

I’m pretty sure it’s not your typical kingdom. I mean, think about it. Kingdoms are effective because you have a visible monarch overseeing everything that happens. And if God is the ruler of the kingdom of God, then the ruler is invisible. Which might mean that the kingdom is invisible. And since our faith in God as ruler is a spiritual issue, then the kingdom of God must be a spiritual issue.

Did everyone get that? It’s a bit of logic for you early in the morning. So let me sum it up: God’s kingdom is not of this world in a typical sense of how we understand kingdoms. God’s kingdom has a spiritual component. Which makes God’s kingdom a a faith issue.

I don’t think that it is just a coincidence that the 70 perform miracles and bring the message at the same time. I think that the miracles are tied into the kingdom of God. Because I think the kingdom of God involves the ultimate healing and restoration that comes with faith. That the kingdom of God will be ushered in when we have faith and let the Spirit of God do its purpose of restoring this world. When we remember that it is never about us, but that it is always about God’s will. We will be part of the kingdom of God when we are able to belong only to one ruler.

What is clear to me, and I hope even clearer for you, is that the kingdom of God is near. Whatever the kingdom may look like, it is near. We just need to be ready for it.

Amen. 

george

i named the new hammer i bought today. george is a small "stubby" hammer.

i kid you not, that's the type of hammer it is. seriously. it says so on the label.

i bought a stubby hammer.

feel free to giggle. i did. and still do.

anyhoo, george was purchased in preparation for a mission trip where i will be painting houses. which means that my shopping list also includes paint brushes, paint scraper (and i totally found a rockin awesome 14-in-1 paint tool), goggles, etc. the hammer is prolly meant to pound in random nails gone astray. i don't expect george will get much action, but he was well worth the $2 i spent on him at home depot. it was a fun day!

i should be working

but i'm not. obviously, i'm at work but not exactly working on everything i should be working on.

like the bible study for the next two weeks (i'll be leading for the next month or so, but i need to have enough prepared for the 30th when i'm gone on a mission trip)

or my library project where i'm adding color to old books. i sort the books into different categories that have corresponding colors. which reminds me that i have yet to find some of the colored labeling dots i need...

today i will do at least do the bible study prep. then tonight i will attend a women's circle. but in the meantime, i decided to figure out just why i have no drive or ambition to work. especially since i've had energy the last couple weeks.

and i'm reminded of my lows during february and march. when i was not really able to care for other, when i would rather stay in bed and do nothing, when i was trying to heal on my own. that was my limited experience of what depression might feel like. but i managed (with God's help and the support of family and friends) to crawl back out into my typical optimism.

so now i'm at least aware that part of my reluctance to be with people as their pastor is that i'm also wounded and trying to heal. i still talk to them, i still visit, i still pray with them. but i'm also aware that any healing for them is coming from God and definitely not from me and my abilities. because right now i'm not capable (well, technically i've never been) of healing others.

my mind and heart is in other locations and not focused on the present.

my heart is with my family right now, especially with krissa and mom and dad out in santa barbara. but i'm also with my sister kayla in omaha as we both await the decision that will dictate where we will be moving at the end of summer (since we agreed to be caretakers as long as krissa needs the extra care). i'm with my sister kendra since she tends to be the most emotional of us all (at least, she's the one who shows the drama). i'm with my baby sister kiana as she is just trying to figure day-to-day where she needs to be and what she needs to be doing (like going from having a summer to do as she pleases with lots of rodeos and playdays to unexpectedly nannying for a week to spending a couple days with me to making sure that cats/dog/rabbit are taken care of) with an intent to visit krissa wherever she is but not knowing if that will include flying to california or waiting for krissa to get back to the midwest while trying to plan spending time with family and friends

i'm looking ahead to the mission trip. i will be leaving at 4:30 sunday, june 27 to be gone for about a week. so i'm looking ahead to preparing the bible study i'll miss while out of state.

i'm looking ahead to the end of summer, which is my most challenging situation.

i mean, i don't know if i'm going to have to move to rapid or to rochester or to somewhere in new york. i don't know if i'm going to be able to take classes at luther or if i need to be finishing my degree online. so many little factors that would be nice to have planned instead of hanging in limbo...

Survival

There are a few things going on in my life leading to me being in survival mode:

1. 12 mile bike ride. Let me expound upon this a bit more. I have not done any major athletic activity since January. Which was 6 months ago. I got this brilliant idea that it would be so much fun to go to Itasca State Park, which is only about 30 miles away from Bemidji, to walk through the Mississippi. Because the headwaters of the Mississippi are there. And I thought it would be fun. Then I thought it would be even more fun to ride bikes there. They have a 5.8 mile bike path. One way, of course. Which means the total is 11.6 miles. Little did I know that it would involve some hills. Or that my bike would decide to fall apart on me. Literally. The screws holding the handle bar were loose. And then somehow the bike didn't want to change gears. Or somehow the brakes would randomly lock so that I couldn't go forward. Not fun. No fun atall. But I survived. And I managed to wade in the Mississippi. And survived the physical exertion.

2. Internship. Granted, I'm loving a lot of what I do. I love people. I love worship. I love Jesus. But it's been hard. Particularly having to fight against expectations that can be a bit unrealistic. But I've been intentionally having fun. Doing things that interest me (like working on the library and leading a Bible study on Proverbs). Visiting people. Not dwelling on the bad (very important).

3. Family life. I think that a lot of churchgoers can forget that pastors have families that are seldom (if ever) seen. My family in particular is my lifeline. I'm not married or have a child or anything like that to have my own little nuclear family. I'm solo, which means that my parents and sisters are my family. And when one of them is hurting, I'm distracted.

The last couple days have been a major challenge for my family.

Last Friday, my sister KrissaMarie broke her neck while playing rugby. Nothing stops your own heart quite the same way as hearing that your sister broke her neck. The fears are instant: is she dead? is she paralyzed?

Then to top it all of, she's halfway across the country. I'm in Northern Minnesota, she was injured in Santa Barbara, California. So it's not like I can jump in a car and be there within a few hours.

Fortunately, she's alive and well. Not paralyzed or anything. Yes, extremely weak. Yes, she had surgery to fuse vertebrae. Yes, she'll be in rehab for the next year. But she can eat (feed herself no less). She can talk on phones. She can walk.

Thanks be to God for her miraculous ability to heal quickly!

But that is the least of the story, because so much more stress comes with other days. Like ordering plane tickets for our parents to get to Santa Barbara. I ordered them on the phone thinking that such an order would be the best and easiest to deal with. Alas that it was not the case. The gentleman helping me on the phone turned out to not have the best hearing. Like when I start the conversation by saying that I will be ordering TWO tickets. And after providing all the information for passenger #1, I find out that he was only booking the one. So we have to go through the whole rigamarole again to order another ticket on the exact same flight. Only to find out the next morning when Dad gets to the airport to pick up his ticket, it is not for June 12 like it was supposed to be. It was instead for July 12. The idiot on the phone messed up. And my dad suffered for it. He didn't get on the same flight as Mom. He went and bought a ticket with a different airline because he wanted to be there ASAP. Then proceeded to have delays and missed flights. And of course, I'm stressing out because of all this. In addition to the worry about Krissa. Not a good combination. But Mom and Dad both got there. Which is the important part.

Then the next stress factor arrives in the question, "Kara, I don't know how to email the Wiechmann family email. Will you send out the message?" And I respond, "Of course I can."

So now I'm the official go-between.

I get information from my parents and siblings about Krissa's progress. And about what steps will be taken soon for rehab or fundraisers. Then I relay it to the family members and friends whose emails I have.

Since Krissa was supposed to be working at camp all summer, I also had to contact the camp to let them know she wasn't going to be back this summer. Then give the contact info to Kendra so she could get the stuff at camp since she lives only about an hour away.

It's a lot to be doing when also trying to focus on internship. Being the contact person and travel agent is time-consuming. But I love it! I love planning and organizing. I love the tangible results of being able to build up contacts and strengthen relationships through such events.

Other stress factor comes in the form of the unknown future. Because Krissa will be in rehab for so long and because people can only take so many weeks off from work, I (along with Kayla) have been volunteered for and have volunteered ourselves (not sure which came first...) to be caretakers who can move wherever in the country to help out. Because I can end internship early if necessary (I'm down to less than two months left). And because I can take online classes (major perk of being almost done with seminary and only having a few classes left). And Kayla's entire degree is online. And because we want to help out in any way we can.

But such a future means that I don't know where the rehab location will be about 5 weeks from now (when Mom's leave of absence expires). I don't know if Krissa will be going back to college and if she needs to have her sisters along for the ride or if her college will be able to take care of everything. Which means that during the school year I may be in Rochester, MN with her at Mayo. Or I may end up in Poughkeepsie, NY near Vassar College.

It means that I have no idea where I will be living two months from now. And I don't like not knowing...

But there is nothing that can be done for now. It's all about survival. Hour to hour, day to day, week to week, month to month.

spaghetti

i've been doing a lot of reading lately.

while some of it involves the bible (gotta love text studies where pastors gather to read the coming sunday's text or the bible study i'm leading on the book of proverbs), most of it does not.

i'm an avid reader. love books. serious problem for me since my memory is very good at remembering the stories i read which means i can't just pick up a book i've read within the last year cause i'll remember all the details. which means that in order to read something that is not boring, i need to find books that are either new or old enough that i've forgotten what happens.

thankfully, libraries exist for just that purpose.

so i've been a library patron with a few books out at a time. and i had forgotten how much i love checking out books that are not for study or research but are instead for enjoyment.

of course, if you know me (and to know me is to love me), then you also know that prefer read books that have little/nothing to do with theology. like science fiction, fantasy, romance, mild mystery. books that help me to escape the reality that can bog me down.

this past lent, i had issued a challenge to not read anything books but the bible in an attempt to give up something i love and to ground me firmly in the word of God. of course, this challenge did not extend to any commentaries i read in order to prepare sermons or bible studies. 

that was a major challenge for me, but i have to admit i did like the adjustments in my life as i instead focused upon God and this world instead of escape.

but i'm thinking that i'm playing catch-up (a few months later) to make up for lost time. which is nice but probably not the wisest course of action for me.

cause i've gone on fantasy binges, "good" book binges, only watch tv or movies binges (just to spice up my doldrum life of reading), romance (lately christian or inspirational romance instead of smut) binges. 

lately i've also started to read some "good" books. good because they are the books that make you think about life or God or other weighty issues that hurt my brain when I try to understand. books that i may or may not agree with.

this past year some of my fave "good" books include basically anything written by mitch albom, the last lecture (amazing read i heartily recommend), the shack (neat idea for a plot), dakota (read it so many times yet still love kathleen norris's classic)

it's amazing that for the first time in my life, i like reading books that reflect upon the meaning of life. i like reading books where the author grapples with theology.

i still love being able to escape into other worlds where there is love at first sight (ahh...romance...) or supernatural beings (especially witches and fairies...oh how i love magic).

so i guess i'm growing up (possibly even maturing) as my taste in reading changes.

not that i'm going to give up reading books about dragons or fairies or witches or far-off lands or impossible love.

cause that would just be cruel and unusual punishment.

apocalypse

i decided that i don't like apocalypse movies

let me explain

this weekend i rented "legion" which was one such movie. really dark. both in dark lighting and in theme. cause what would a movie about the end of the world be like if it wasn't dark? seems wrong to have happy and cheery apocalyptic movies...

and i realized while watching (and of course reflecting afterwards) that the reason i didn't like this particular movie was that the end of mankind was coming because God had lost faith in humanity. and decided to start over kinda like with noah way back when

and i realized that i did not agree with such a movie because of my beliefs

i'm not comfortable with talk about God going back on promises to not do that again (remember in genesis 6 after noah and the flood came the rainbow=promise to not do that again)

because the God i believe in is the one who would be the one to keep up a promise even when human beings lose their way, which we often do

summertime fun begins...

so tonight bethel had a little gettogether for the youth and youth leaders and whoever else would show up. there was a small group that came, but we had a ton of fun. we ate potluck-style. and while the guys were getting the grill ready for the hot dogs (thanks pastor mark in particular) some decided to play around with a giant flying disc. pink of course. and so began the evening in the park along the lake.

i had a great time getting to sit around and talk to those who came. i'm not the overly athletic, as anyone who knows me can attest. but i do love to socialize.

so we snacked a bit. and i ate more sweets than i should have. but i do love monster cookies, and peanut butter cookies, and strawberry rhubarb cake.

after eating a meal together, we spent some time just chatting. then we pulled out the guitars.

and then we transitioned over to bocce ball. which is one of my favorite lawn games EVER! and to think i almost won with my awesome teammate erin...

and we ended exactly at 21:00 (the time my phone said) or 9:00 for all those who don't know the 24 hour time. 

and this is the view we had as we left:

bells of bethel

today was the kick-off to bemidji's summer musician series in which various church musicians show off their talents.

bethel lutheran was first in line. and the half-hour concert over the lunch hour was the final performance of the bells of bethel (as the bell choir is known) until after labor day.

so we performed some songs today. it was fun to be able to perform several in a row as opposed to when we play one for a church service.

that was noon.

tonight we had a potluck to celebrate the end of a year. and it was so much fun to be able to sit around, talk and eat. we laughed and had a good time.

then we watched the video of our performance. which was both embarrassing and amusing.

embarrassing because we all looked grumpy or mean or bored as we were all focused and unsmiling. cause we were so intent on watching our music and not as much of looking happy.

amusing because we all looked that way. and because we were able to laugh at ourselves. like laurie who was sitting next to me as we were both cringing over how we hate watching ourselves without having some alcohol first (in a town hall where no alcohol is permitted). or how we teased some because they spent most of a song just turning pages. or being able to recognize when someone was totally off and missing notes (which we all did at one point or another).

such a fun group to be a part of. and now i don't know how i'm going to figure out the way to start my weekends. cause all year my thursday night ended with bell choir. and since friday and saturday are my days off, that means that bell choir was the official end to my week. and now without that habit, i'll be lost for a couple weeks...

the weather

i'm always amazed at how much my mood is affected by the weather. and how sometimes it's not.

today for example. it's raining out, which is kinda disappointing to me since i would prefer a bit of sun, which i got this morning when i first woke up ridiculously early before going back to sleep. and the next time i woke up (with my alarm going off, of course), it was raining. nothing really major, but enough to bring moisture to the very sandy soil that is oh so common up in these parts.

someone recently had finally explained to me why on earth they need so much rain around here. it's because they have very sandy/clay-y soil that doesn't hold any moisture. which is not really what i'm used to since i seem to have grown up in a part of the country where the soil can get saturated quickly thus leading to flash floods.

but back to the drizzle outside.

it's a calm rain. kinda pleasant to watch, but i'm definitely in thunderstorm mode. i want the torrential downpours that are over in minutes as the clouds pass and the sun comes back out. so much more interesting to have the extremes. there is something to walking in a downpour with the sun shining down on you.

but i'm noticing that despite the lingering rain, i'm in a pretty good mood. i spent all day yesterday, which just so happened to be memorial day, by myself at home. i curled up on the couch and watch tv shows. movies on tv and tv on dvd. it was a much needed break and down-time. i needed to be able to spend a day literally doing nothing and forgetting the world outside. of having my phones on but no one calling.

except my mother to double check on when kiana is going to come visit me so we (the two of us plus people from church) can traipse on down to the science museum in minneapolis where the dead sea scrolls are on display. which is less than two weeks away! yay!

on another note, i finally got around to planting the seeds to start my tomato and strawberry hanging pots. and i put all my plants out on the patio deck yesterday. where they will remain until there is a frost warning. i had been keeping them inside so i could shelter them a bit from the extremes of the outdoors. and because the soil was more likely to retain water inside while i was gone for four days. most of them are growing. not fast enough in my mind, but at least i'm seeing green amid the dark soil. and now they are lined up in hopes of getting the morning sun.