Back to School

I have to admit it--I've put myself in a pissy mood the past couple of days. I find myself at work mumbling, "Grumblecakes, grumblecakes. Grumblecakes, may I help you? Grumblecakes, do you want your iced coffee sweetened? Grumblecakes, can't you get your coffee somewhere else?" And I'll also apologize for all that grumbling. Jon and I got back from visiting family in Santa Cruz on Monday evening. We only had a few days before school started on Monday for us both, and gosh darnit we were going to make the most of it. Right? In some ways we did. We went with Andy to see Wilco on Wednesday and entertained an out of town friend of a friend on Tuesday. But then I had deadlines and headaches and little motivation to do the things I wanted to do. And every hour I spent at work sent me barreling toward fall semester and the inevitable forfeit of all freetime and relaxation--no break, no long sigh or moment to think. It was closing Thursday, closing Friday, working all stinking day on Saturday, Church on Sunday and then class on Monday morning, meeting Monday night, more class Tuesday, work, class, work, class, dishes. School. Boo. School.

And we're going to take a sigh. *sigh* and put away all that negativity. Here goes.

Here's what I'm taking this fall class-wise: Biblical Theology with the hobbit like Dr. Baylis, Ethics and General Epistles with a new professor (oooohhh, new professor) and Acts, Pauline Epistles with Kim/Johnson. For the last class I'm looking forward to sitting in the back, protesting any group projects and writing down all noteworthy quotes. (Walls, people, We've got to build up our walls!)What else? Non-class-wise, I get to hang out with Imago families on Sunday, which is very good. Tonight, Yuka taught me the differences between Japanese people (guitar pick shaped heads), Korean people (rounder faces, wider noses) and Filipino people (round faces, widest noses and darker skin). That alone should be enough to keep us all happy.

travis came to town and then we skipped it.

we've been busy i suppose. in the midst of our various socializings i thought i'd take some time to post two photos for you enjoyment.

Look at me, Injury.

I'm going to go ahead and blame it on being the youngest in the family, but I have a knack for making a big deal out of very minor injuries. Big enough to point out bruises not easily observable by the naked eye. Big enough to sound like Tobias from Arrested Development. Enough to keep saying, "I threw up yesterday," while looking around for any sign of validation. It's my own damn fault really. My clumsiness has reached the point that at work I often feel like I'm just flailing about. Flail. Flail. For the betterment of society though, I thought it would be best to direct my whining and injury into something more productive. A little doodle perhaps?




Leaning down to put some of a friend's personal belongings into her car, thus helping her move, I launched the bridge of my nose into the ski rack on the roof of the car. Checking up on my injury I observed a swollen oval on the right side of my nosebridge and quickly moved to reduced the swelling. The result was a barely noticeable bruise that probably looked more like a pimple and ended up leaving behind a few blackheads as souvenirs of the event.



I had a massive headache Monday morning that echoed into Tuesday morning when I took one more migraine pill around 9:46am. For the next 24 hours the pill left behind a phantom lump in my throat collecting memories of all the things I swallowed that day (frosted mini spooners, green beans, risotto). It took two doses of hot tea (joy and then refresh) among two days to purge the collection.



The day before that though I threw up. I haven't done that in six years, not since freshman year when Bo and I collectively shut down both bathrooms in our hall. Those were the days. I sat this one out alone at around 6:23am Monday morning. Later that day I refused to let Jon eat the leftovers of what I deemed the cause of the hideous digestive crime.

Iowa = Portland

I'd like to extend a warm welcome to a few native iowans and friends (at the same time!) who will be visiting Portland this week. Andrea, Adam and Travis, would you please stand up?

I've spent a good part of the summer months thinking through and whining to jon about the transitional period our sense of community has been going through this past year. Our friends of old are back in town, going to a different church, dating different people, not talking to us as much, coming over during the week for dinner, asking us to help them move, inviting us to their wedding. As you can tell it's a mixed bag that has caused me some to much anxiety. By the time we get to the obligatory weekend-night with no obligatory plans I keep asking, "do we have any friends? jon, we don't have any friends." thanks to iowa, that's no longer true. not only do we have dinner plans for sunday night, but we also have someone staying with us, visiting and eating with us. what a happy change. then we'll whisk ourselves away to become out of town guests in aptos, california. oh, august, you are being so socially good to me.


by the way, if you want to see travis in his iowa=portland reunion tour let me know. he's staying with us, eating our waffles and using our toothpaste.