weather

i love the weather.
but i do not like the weather websites of some of our local news stations.

this is why.

inspiration, weather fanatic

okay. so i've had this bright idea to post some of my favorite workouts that i like to do while i'm away from the Y. when i was in SL i made a point to do some calisthenics almost every other day...i mixed it up with push ups, sit us, planks, lunges...and glistening, sweaty arms! i loved it. be on the lookout.

SO. i just had to write this story. last night i was watching so you think you can dance, yes, i know, it wasn't on last night...i'lll get to the point.

so. i'm watching it. and watching it and there's a weather alert going on at the bottom. since i am a weather freak i pay attention to the weather on the bottom. i got on the borrowed internet and looked at weather.com. weather.com seemed much calmer than fox.

then i realized i was watching a tape.

moments of stifled laughter: sierra leone, part 1 - a/c, bug, credit card, snap

as i'm plowing through memories, thoughts and questions i was encouraged to write about some of the funny things that happened while in sierra leone. this may be one of many posts or maybe just one post.

we will see.

so. mamba point, freetown, sierra leone.

enter wmf north american staff for a celebration dinner. we dress up. i wore what i call a missionary outfit - note the photo. everyone else looked fabulous.

we walk in and it's cold, quite cold.

request 1 - can you turn the a/c off? or one of the units on the wall?

yes.

we order food. eat some great appetizers. get our main dishes. i eat. yum yum. notice something in my food. i take it out, notice it's a roach, whisper to stephanie about it. i don't want to make a scene.

request 2 + scene = um. there's a roach in this food.

response = waitress sticks tongue out.

request 2.1 = steph or cami, um, there's a roach in this food. can we see the manager?

i receive some delicious lentil soup.

we want to pay. with a credit card.

request 3 = here's a credit card

response = we don't accept it.

response 2.1 = awkward shuffle for money...then faye settles the situation. credit card accepted, end of story

so it's picture time now...you know how WMF rolls.

request 4 = can you snap us (take a photo of us)

and here's the photo.



it was a lovely, lovely evening celebrating some of the people who i am inspired and challenged by. i look up to these people more than they know.

the rainy season

i'm sitting in panera near my apartment. i sort of call this my satellite office. when i first moved to omaha i spent a lot of time here, typing and using their internet machine. after my first field visit to southeast asia i spent time here trying to sort through what i saw, learned, questioned, doubted, wondered, dreamed, mourned, prayed and walked.

and i'm back. with a mediocre cup of coffee, a jittery heart from the caffeine, and an attempt to write about my time in sierra leone.

although i've been back a couple of days, i've gotten into a pretty good routine of sleep, working out and eating. i've watched maybe a little too much television (yes, five episodes of sex and the city yesterday) and i've officially avoided going to some of the places i need to go to really enter into what i learned in sierra leone. every field visit is different, every field, community, ministry is different. but this visit caught me a bit off guard. i never really know what to expect when i visit friends.

so i sit in panera and i wonder about minorities in missions, sustainability, wholeness, laughter, tears, justice, responsibility. and i watch the rain drip. i think of our friends in sierra leone who will be entering into the rainy season soon.

landed

thirty six house later i'm blogging in my quiet apartment. i've only moved from my green chair to go to the bathroom. i haven't changed out of my clothes yet. i haven't showered. i've facebook-chatted with liz. i've called two people: my family and kenley and i've sat.

i just returned from freetown, sierra leone, where marcia and i spent time with our staff who serve there with word made flesh. i haven't had time to touch the surface of what i'll need to uncover and discover from my time and observations there.

i'm sitting in my apartment and it's the first time that i've been quiet...and the world has been quiet. words, conversations, tears, laughter are catching up to me like the jet lag that's approaching ever so quickly.

and so i'm back. somewhat reluctantly, somewhat happily and quite sad. i need to make a good effort to attempt to get ready for bed. i haven't touched my baggage. i have looked at my bills and letters, read a few prayer letters, read and responded to some email. read the news....and wrote bad sentences.

to bed i go. i'll write more later. much more.

jara

boiling stomach

my parent's dog's stomach sort of makes weird noises. when i'm at their house my brother and i may be playing xbox and hear jackson's stomach.

i don't know how to explain it, but that's how my stomach sounds like right now. it's a combination of what a boiling pot of water would sound like in a stomach.

so that's where i am. it's almost midnight and i'm getting ready to head to sierra leone, west africa. i took a nap earlier today so maybe that's why i'm awake.

today i had some moments when i cried. tonight is the last night that daphne and i will be neighbors. today i realized that when i get back, i won't have a neighbor (the new one doesn't move until later in may).

so today as i sat on my couch and cried a little bit i thought about the times daphne and i shared on my brown couch. there's one moment in particular i remember well. she dropped the f-bomb a little bit in a discussion about the sadness and frustration that surrounded the season of her relationship with caleb - at that point they were broken up. this afternoon i thought about how far they've come and how exciting it is to celebrate their upcoming marriage.

my stomach is still boiling a little bit. and i have a couple of tears in my eyes. things are changing and i'm really excited. i anticipate the next months of life. i reflect and am thankful for the past three years of life in omaha.

i will have lived in omaha three years in a couple of weeks and i couldn't have asked for a better neighbor, friend and coworker.

congratulations daphne.

was that me?

i was delayed getting into newark last night. i was annoyed. i was tired. i threatened to throw my luggage down an escalator. i tapped my foot.

and then i saw that the train to newark/penn station was leaving in one minute.

i don't know what happened to me but i bought a ticket and grabbed my 43 pound piece of luggage and ran down two flights of stairs...and made the train.

was that me?

i couldn't believe it. i actually felt like i was in shape.

it made me smile. and not sweat!