sunday nights make me sad...

i'm really not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow... it'll be a busy day, which will be good to make the time pass by quickly... but i'm not excited about going back... one tear...

much to write...

i took a quick trip to idaho and montana earlier today... (mentioned in movie trivia)... and it was wonderful... absolutely wonderful... i am grateful to dave f. and matt o. who encouraged the road trip in our discussion...

i want to be able to formulate my thoughts a little better... but there are three major things that stuck out in major ways on the drive...

1. i remembered what it was like to be 5 years old today in a very particular way... when i was a kid i was amazed by nature... trees looked HUGE and snow was the most beautiful sight i had ever seen... not only was it aesthetically pleasing, but it also brought the hope of a day without school... i loved being in the car and looking at nature passing me by...

somewhere between the time of 5 years old and 25 years old, things have changed... trees don't seem as tall anymore... snow is exciting, but not in the same way...

but things were different today... the trees in idaho and montana are HUGE!!! seriously - they're tall trees... they were all the way up the side of the mountain where i could barely see the top without ducking my head down to be able to see more... beautiful, tall snow-covered evergreen trees... one of the most beautiful things i've seen in a very long time... i even stopped at a "historical site" and got a handful of snow, took pictures and ate a bite or two... for old times sake... and today i used comp time from work, so it was almost as happy as not having school... or happy in a different way - but with much joy...

it made me feel small today - not in an insignificant sense of the word, but in the wide-eyed wonder sense of the word... i got chills looking at the mountainside... my heart was happy...

2. coming back to spokane, i somehow timed it right without even knowing it... and was driving into spokane while the sun was setting... and i'm just going to tell you that the sky looked big... very very big... and it was streaked with the most brilliant colors i've seen in a very long time... as i tried to imagine those colors together on a palatte, it didn't seem the same... as i thought about it some more i realized... i could never recreate those colors... the sky was on fire... even thomas kinkade can't match God's art... i got to see a piece of it today in the afternoon sky... and my heart was happy...

3. i stopped in coeur d'alene (pronounced core da lane - it's french... so i guess the plural would be coeurs d'alene...) during early afternoon... i drove around the lake (gorgeous!!!) and then i stopped at a mexican restaurant and ate and then walked down to a used/rare book store, where i bought 4 books... looking through the shelves was wonderful... i love old book stores... love them!!! i told the owner that i was so glad to have found him this afternoon... i think he was happy for the company for a while... i loved it... it made my heart happy...

so after all this happy heart business... it's just made me realize the faithfulness of God... it is no secret that i've been struggling in many ways the last several weeks and months... that journey is not over by a long shot... but i was reminded of His goodness today in a fresh way...

and i haven't even mentioned the conversation from last night... but there is no time for that right now... it's been a great 24 hours... more info about the conversation to come... it was on that level of the great conversations i have with my boss sometimes... but way way better... i know it's a great conversation when i both cry and snort...

but for now... i gotta go... oh... and i'll post pictures as i'm able...

m-t-s-thursday, part 6... road trip...

okay... new trivia... and you should feel happy... i totally didn't feel like making it up... and i did... just for you!!! today's theme is no secret... each of the quotes contain either "idaho" or "montana" because that is where i'm going in just a little while... i'm so close that i can drive to both... hang out in several different places and make it back to spokane by 8:30... amazing... so have fun... no cheating... i'll update answers as i'm able...

name the movie for 1000 points each...

1. I will live in Montana. And I will marry a round American woman and raise rabbits, and she will cook them for me. And I will have a pickup truck... maybe even a "recreational vehicle." And drive from state to state. Do they let you do that? {hunt for red october} ~ chris
   
2. Look, I may be from Montana, but we have men there also. {phone booth} ~ chris
   
3. Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. {A River Runs Through It} ~ chad
   
4. I will listen now. After your father's murder, you were orphaned. You were ten years old. You went to live with cousins on a sheep and horse ranch in Montana. And...? {silence of the lambs} ~ andrea
   
5. Woo-oo. You look like sex on a stick in that Frederick Montana getup. {sweet home alabama} ~ andrea
   
6. A mall? Where y'all think we're at, Boise, Idaho? Shooo! {adventures in babysitting} ~ andrea
   
7. I don't know how they do things down in Juarez, but here in Idaho we have a little something called pride. Understand? {napoleon dynamite} ~ chad
   
8. No, not there honey over in Goober, Idaho but it's a nuclear waste dump. {overboard} ~ andrea
   
9. Way to go, Idaho! {toy story} ~ andrea
   
10. Sparkling Muscatel, one of the finest wines of Idaho. {the muppet movie} ~ chris

spokane...

it's been an interesting couple of days... i feel like it's thursday, but it's only monday... wow... i have 2 full days left of convention stuff left... i'm pretty sure that i'll be wiped out wednesday night... but it's okay... it's a very nice break from the usual...

and today - i got to sleep in a lot... i LOVE staying in hotels... and this hotel is super nice... i'm staying on the 8th floor... so i opened the curtains and woke up to a beautiful skyline view of spokane... and can see the lights now of the city... i LOVE it!!!

okay... enough about all that...

it's also been really good to see poeple that i haven't seen in a while... today, i randomly ran into a friend of mine from seminary on the balcony of the skyline ballroom... i had just been thinking... "wow... there's a balcony... that would be cool to go on and just be..." and then i noticed him out there... random... and fun...

oh... and i get to be a messenger for my church, which means i get to vote on stuff... which is something new... my pastor and his wife were registering and they asked me if i wanted to be a messenger... so i get to be... which is pretty fun...

but my contacts are drying out... and i'm tired... so i'm going to take them out and go to sleep... and i will just go on the record in saying that they have the best pillows ever... and a great desk chair... i know that people take hotel towels all the time... i wonder if i could get out with the desk chair and the pillows...

today's been a heck-of-a-day...

and i'm glad it's friday... i'm going home...

m-t-s-thursday, part 5... is it thursday already?

i realized this morning that it's thursday again... work has been stressful this week... i've officially worked 2 hours past when i get off tonight and who knows how long i'll be here tomorrow night... i seriously just thought, "if i leave by 6:00, that will be okay..." and then i looked down at my watch and realized it was almost 6:30... but i have to put up movie trivia today or i will get a bad reputation... i fully expect that this week's will be shorter than last weeks... i have no good ideas and no real time to be creative (or energy...)

the rules are the same... no cheating... and have fun... (and i am sure there are others... i just can't remember what they are...)

For each quote, name the movie and the actor/actress who says it for 1000 points each... (see, i'm giving lots of points away... you should be happy!)

1. I'm right on top of that, Rose. {don't tell mom... the babysitter's dead - christina applegate} ~ chris
2. I'll be honest with you, I love his music, I do, I'm a Michael Bolton fan. For my money, it doesn't get any better than when he sings "When a Man Loves a Woman". {office space - john c. mcginley} ~ chad, but no one gets the additional 1000 (because it was listed... and cheater points don't count!!)
3. So that's why everyone around here treats me like some dime-store floozy. They all think I'm screwing the boss. {9 to 5 - dolly parton} ~ amy
4. Oh... This is nice, I don't understand why women complain about waxing. {what women want - mel gibson} ~ chris
5. Well, we obviously can't leave you alone with that stapler. {two weeks notice - hugh grant} ~ chris
6. Nobody's looking for a puppeteer in today's wintry economic climate. {being john malkovich - john cusack} ~ robyn
7. I hate men who smell like beer and bean dip... and makin' love in the back of recreational vehicles! {big business - bette midler} ~ chris
8. I'm still sort of moved by your "My word is stronger than oak" thing. {jerry maguire - tom cruise} ~ chris
9. Ah, so you're a son of a Mitch. {elizabethtown - kirsten dunst} ~ emily/chad
10. We need Kate, and we need Leo. And we need them now. Come on. [they go in and watch Titanic] {love actually - liam neeson} ~ chris

2500 points goes to the person that can guess the theme... that's a lot - but i'm feeling generous today... the theme is "office" - amy guessed jobs... which is close enough...

12000 points to chris
4500 points to amy
2000 points to chad
1000 points to emily
2000 points to me for the remaining quote and actor

The theme is NOT chick flicks... (a lot of them are - but they're not all chick flicks and that's a cop-out of a theme... i'm a little more creative than that!)

a break in the rain brought to you by the first wednesday of the month...

i love these days... the quiet first wednesdays of the month are one of my most treasured things at work... and this week has been rainy... the past two days, it's been gray skies, clouds and rain... the whole world looked gray... and i like the rain... but it's nice to look out my window today and see patches of blue behind the clouds...

november is looking to be a pretty crazy month... it's amazing how time slips by so quickly... unnoticed... i've been thinking on the lyric "Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans" (Thank you, John Lennon, for that slice of brilliance)... i heard this phrase first when i was in high school... it should have been a warning... but instead, i thought it fun and interesting... and didn't heed the warning...

and today is probably no different... i often miss things because i'm looking at the next step... i've said it before that when i get on "go" mode (at work or in life), i might accidentally step on someone and not even know it... if i'm "on a mission" to do something, i often don't notice who i'm hurting or ignoring in the process...

here's the real life example...

i have a couple of great friends in the northwest... they're the friends i'd pick even if i hadn't had to take desperate attempts to find friends here... they have definitely moved past the arena of "friends by convenience" and right into that special spot called "friends by choice..." they are fun and exuberant... (i just really like that word...) they are the people that don't laugh at me (at least to my face) when i'm having weird issues... when we talk about guys (it's just... a little crush), they want the whole story, with no part left out... and i want the whole story from them, too...

what's funny and a bit ironic, is that i don't know if we make each others' b.f.f. lists... we all have other friends that we "do stuff" with... we're not bound in those relationships... i don't hang out with them every second of the day... but they're my friends... true... honest... fun...

i haven't considered their feelings much in the last few months... with all the planning for the move... at one point one of the girls let me borrow a cd (vance gilbert) with a song on it called "taking it all to tennessee" and she said that's her song to me... it's a great song (and cd, by the way)... but one of the verses stung me in a very deep way... i've put the words below (to the chorus and the verse...)

Now you're taking it all to Tennessee
Taking it all to Tennessee
What about me?

I haven't heard you mention my name
And tomorrow in the same phrase
Since this Smokey Mountain conversation started
You've got this picture of your place
And you flash it in my face
Well, if you want me to for you
I'll be excited

life has happened to me with my northwest friends while i've been busy getting ready for nashville... i don't want to miss it anymore... i've tried to be intentional with them - to say "tomorrow" and their names in the same sentence... to make deliberate plans with them... i will miss them when i move... i have friends in nashville, but it's just like starting over... and while that's exciting and fun... it's also terrifying...

maybe i'm just more introspective today... i think that kind of mood comes with the kind of weather we've been having...

on sunday, i'm going to spokane for our annual convention meeting... i'm hoping there is free internet in the hotel and i can take my laptop and blog from there... i don't know how much time i will have... but i'm excited to go to spokane because i've never been to eastern washington and i'll get to drive over to idaho and mark another state off my list... and hopefully, i'll get to hang out with my friend heather... it's been a long time...

but i guess i should get some work done before the meeting is over and the silence is broken...