Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Three Weeks Worth O' Bloggin' At Once
OK, so I checked my own blog last night and realized it had been three weeks since I had posted anything. And it’s been a busy, event-filled three weeks. For those that read Waldie’s blog, you know what’s up. But if your DON’T read her blog (and you should, ‘cause it’s cute), I apologize for the lack of and subsequent rambling catch-up blogging. I will do my duty and post (and I REALLY want to be taking a nap right now, but I got off the couch, put some punk music on, and hit the keyboard. All for YOU, dear readers.)
Katie's mom Diana and stepdad Jim (and Tommy the Dog) came down for a visit and we all had a lovely time, going to Mepkin Abbey and Charleston, the Nick to see movie Neil Young : Heart of Gold, eaing at Thai Lotus (with Paula and Anne W.) and a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting right now. The visit was really fun.
So Easter has come and gone. Very quickly, I really like the Easter season at our Church. In fact, it’s the main reason we don’t travel for the holiday. Christmas, Thanksgiving, and July 4th we’ll travel around, but Easter is ours to stay in Columbia and experience the beauty of the season. We attend three services: Thursday night, Friday night, and then usually the Satrday night vigil, because it’s so touching. However, we opted to attend Sunday morning’s service, which was also nice.
Friday’s service is always a humbling experience, as the service begins with the priest (and this year the Deacon as well) entering the church in front of the congregation and lying face down on the ground in front of the alter in an act of total humility. They only lie down for a minute or two, but it seems like an eternity. A very powerful way to begin a service. Also in this mass, it is tradition for the priest to emulate Christ by washing the feet of 12 individuals, again, a very humbling act for both the priest and those watching, not to mention those who have there feet washed and dried by their church’s spiritual leader. And this year I was one of the twelve. I was so nervous and feared I would get overly emotional when the time came, but I did not. It was very touching, make no mistake. I felt honored. As for Easter Sunday, we had lunch at Tony and Ingrid’s and it was a great afternoon of food and fellowship.
So what did we do on the Saturday before Easter instead of going to the vigil? We moved to a new place. Mike, Matt, Chrissy, and Margaret assisted us in moving the last of our belongings into our new pad (we’d actually moved a good bit of it ourselves days before).
We are pretty settled, just hanging a few pictures and trying to get rid of the last few random piles around the house. We were so tired of the problems we were experiencing in our place, I feel I was too quick in cutting the cord and moving on. I had to stop back by the old place a day or so after the move and found myself suddenly very sad when I went inside. We were happy in our new place, but the dusty empty old place was still home. We spent three years there- almost the whole first three years of our married life together- and for all its quirks, it really was pretty nice. So here’s to three years’ worth of quiet evenings spent with my wife, dinners with friends, over-crowded Christmas parties, Asian neighbors, and Mumbles the Janitor.
I won an award, which I received on the 20th. 2006 Outstanding Senior Sociology Major (or something like it.) I appreciate the recognition. And the $60 check I discovered in the envelope later.
Africa is ON! Tickets purchased, vaccinations received. We’ll be flying into Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (leaving US on June 5th, arriving June 6th), staying a week, traveling by train across the country (2 days) to the city of Mwanza on Lake Victoria, where we’ll meet my Swahili Teacher and stay with his relatives for a week. After that, we may hit Arusha to sit in on the Rwandan Genocide Tribunal, bt ultimately we’ll cross into Kenya and end up in Nairobi for most of a week and then depart on the 26th. CANNOT WAIT.
This Wednesday, Jeremy “Homeskillet AKA Cap’n Hardqore” Mucha’ arrives for one night, vanishes for most of a week, then shows up again next week for some racing and chillin’ with the Dishrag and his Old Lady. Then Friday 5/5, my folks arrive in Columbia, and Saturday its Graduation time.
That’s all for now. If you’ve made it this far in the post, you need to seriously reconsider how you spend your time.
Katie's mom Diana and stepdad Jim (and Tommy the Dog) came down for a visit and we all had a lovely time, going to Mepkin Abbey and Charleston, the Nick to see movie Neil Young : Heart of Gold, eaing at Thai Lotus (with Paula and Anne W.) and a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting right now. The visit was really fun.
So Easter has come and gone. Very quickly, I really like the Easter season at our Church. In fact, it’s the main reason we don’t travel for the holiday. Christmas, Thanksgiving, and July 4th we’ll travel around, but Easter is ours to stay in Columbia and experience the beauty of the season. We attend three services: Thursday night, Friday night, and then usually the Satrday night vigil, because it’s so touching. However, we opted to attend Sunday morning’s service, which was also nice.
Friday’s service is always a humbling experience, as the service begins with the priest (and this year the Deacon as well) entering the church in front of the congregation and lying face down on the ground in front of the alter in an act of total humility. They only lie down for a minute or two, but it seems like an eternity. A very powerful way to begin a service. Also in this mass, it is tradition for the priest to emulate Christ by washing the feet of 12 individuals, again, a very humbling act for both the priest and those watching, not to mention those who have there feet washed and dried by their church’s spiritual leader. And this year I was one of the twelve. I was so nervous and feared I would get overly emotional when the time came, but I did not. It was very touching, make no mistake. I felt honored. As for Easter Sunday, we had lunch at Tony and Ingrid’s and it was a great afternoon of food and fellowship.
So what did we do on the Saturday before Easter instead of going to the vigil? We moved to a new place. Mike, Matt, Chrissy, and Margaret assisted us in moving the last of our belongings into our new pad (we’d actually moved a good bit of it ourselves days before).
We are pretty settled, just hanging a few pictures and trying to get rid of the last few random piles around the house. We were so tired of the problems we were experiencing in our place, I feel I was too quick in cutting the cord and moving on. I had to stop back by the old place a day or so after the move and found myself suddenly very sad when I went inside. We were happy in our new place, but the dusty empty old place was still home. We spent three years there- almost the whole first three years of our married life together- and for all its quirks, it really was pretty nice. So here’s to three years’ worth of quiet evenings spent with my wife, dinners with friends, over-crowded Christmas parties, Asian neighbors, and Mumbles the Janitor.
I won an award, which I received on the 20th. 2006 Outstanding Senior Sociology Major (or something like it.) I appreciate the recognition. And the $60 check I discovered in the envelope later.
Africa is ON! Tickets purchased, vaccinations received. We’ll be flying into Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (leaving US on June 5th, arriving June 6th), staying a week, traveling by train across the country (2 days) to the city of Mwanza on Lake Victoria, where we’ll meet my Swahili Teacher and stay with his relatives for a week. After that, we may hit Arusha to sit in on the Rwandan Genocide Tribunal, bt ultimately we’ll cross into Kenya and end up in Nairobi for most of a week and then depart on the 26th. CANNOT WAIT.
This Wednesday, Jeremy “Homeskillet AKA Cap’n Hardqore” Mucha’ arrives for one night, vanishes for most of a week, then shows up again next week for some racing and chillin’ with the Dishrag and his Old Lady. Then Friday 5/5, my folks arrive in Columbia, and Saturday its Graduation time.
That’s all for now. If you’ve made it this far in the post, you need to seriously reconsider how you spend your time.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
For the Kid (Adult?) In You...
My mom sent this one to me today, and I felt the need to share.
If you were (are?) like me, you took (take?) small pleasure in twisting pipe cleaners / garbage ties / anything bendy into the shape of little people. But what if your little person came to life? What would he do?
What would he do? (Be sure to have the volume up.)
If you were (are?) like me, you took (take?) small pleasure in twisting pipe cleaners / garbage ties / anything bendy into the shape of little people. But what if your little person came to life? What would he do?
What would he do? (Be sure to have the volume up.)
Mimi ninangoja sasa...
"I am waiting right now..."
,,,so I thought I'd blog. This afternoon I am supposed to be meeting with my Swahili teacher (Fabian Maganda, mwalimu wangu wa Kiswahili). I called him moments ago to check if he was indeed available (since last week he forgot and went off to eat lunch with his wife, acting, as he said, like a "typical African", ie, not so strict on schedules). He was in a meeting when I called and said he will call me back. So I am waiting.
There is lots going on these days, though how exciting it will be for y'all to read about is debatable. This last weekend was busy, what with poker games (congrats Matt), Katie's birthday (Happy 28th), and the first real house-hunting we have done since our last debacle a month ago. We looked at one duplex this morning which was OK, but it didn't knock our socks off. In fact, my socks were still confortably snug on my feet. My inclination is to pass on it. We went to see another apartment afterward (after voting- VOTE PEOPLE!!), but the property manager brought the wrong key so we couldn't get in. However, from looking through the window, it looked CUTE. If everything looks OK and it is actually as cute as it seems, we may roll with this one. It's on the second floor of a house in Olympia. Pretty nice area.
Lots of packing of non-essentials. If we can get a place, we'll start REALLY packing with a quickness. Though our apartment is quite comfortable right now, Sunday night we had to break out the inflatable mattress and sleep on the living room floor again, as our bed room was 85 degrees WITH the AC on. We're ready to move.
OK, so there's the boring minutia of my day. You're dismissed.
,,,so I thought I'd blog. This afternoon I am supposed to be meeting with my Swahili teacher (Fabian Maganda, mwalimu wangu wa Kiswahili). I called him moments ago to check if he was indeed available (since last week he forgot and went off to eat lunch with his wife, acting, as he said, like a "typical African", ie, not so strict on schedules). He was in a meeting when I called and said he will call me back. So I am waiting.
There is lots going on these days, though how exciting it will be for y'all to read about is debatable. This last weekend was busy, what with poker games (congrats Matt), Katie's birthday (Happy 28th), and the first real house-hunting we have done since our last debacle a month ago. We looked at one duplex this morning which was OK, but it didn't knock our socks off. In fact, my socks were still confortably snug on my feet. My inclination is to pass on it. We went to see another apartment afterward (after voting- VOTE PEOPLE!!), but the property manager brought the wrong key so we couldn't get in. However, from looking through the window, it looked CUTE. If everything looks OK and it is actually as cute as it seems, we may roll with this one. It's on the second floor of a house in Olympia. Pretty nice area.
Lots of packing of non-essentials. If we can get a place, we'll start REALLY packing with a quickness. Though our apartment is quite comfortable right now, Sunday night we had to break out the inflatable mattress and sleep on the living room floor again, as our bed room was 85 degrees WITH the AC on. We're ready to move.
OK, so there's the boring minutia of my day. You're dismissed.
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