Waffles in the shape of Texas

This morning I ate a waffle in the shape of Texas. Very weird. 

The things I love about this trip
|::| Being close enough for my friend Becky to come visit.
|::| The bed. The bed is massive and high and so comfortable. I'll definitely have to adjust to my twin bed when I get back home.
|::| Temperature control. No noisy a/c. Just set the remote and let the central a/c do the rest.
|::| Blackout curtains. They keep me from getting up with the sun, which some mornings turns into a little hitting-the-snooze-too-much issue.
|::| The per diem. The more frugal I am, the more I get to save save save!
|::| The city of Irving is beautiful in its own way. When Becky was here we drove around looking for a Braum's. It's really hilly here, more than we expected, and really pretty.
|::| Seeing the sunset from my room.
|::| Not having to travel 30 minutes to do my laundry.

The things I miss
|::| My familla. Going home last weekend was a nice break from the trip and it was good to get a taste of home before coming back for 4 more weeks.
|::| Open windows.
|::| My friends. Dancing, having places to go. The familiar.
|::| Kansas sunsets.
|::| My movies. I can't believe I left When Harry Met Sally at home.
|::| My oven. I have a microwave, stove, fridge, dishwasher (yet I still washed my first batch of dishes by hand), but no oven.

Becky is one of my Wichita friends and when she got married, her husband's job took them to Houston. She was sweet enough to drive 5 hours from Houston to see me and was here less than 24 hours, but the time that we spent together was much fun, and included a shopping trip to Kohl's and Payless in the rain. She informed me that I like to flail my arms around when I sleep. Learn something new!

Since she left I haven't had much motivation to do anything, but I do have plans to go to The Village church in the morning, shopping with Karen (one of my co-workers), and then meeting up with a JBU friend to go see Dave Barnes at The Grenada. (uhm, and I just read that Stephen Speaks is coming too. Yay!) And maybe next weekend we'll go see Sara Bareilles.

I did organize some of my photos on my computer today and found these of some summer storms and sunsets. (Do you get tired of me talking about sunsets?)

A Harvey County storm

A storm at Cassoday

Riverside beauty

The view from my hotel room

I'm kicking myself for not looking at the Super Harvest Moon on Thursday night. My friend texted me about it but I was too occupied by something to go outside and look. It won't happen again until I'm ... 45. It sounds better to say, "it won't happen again until 2029".

Work has been wearing me out. I'm not really complaining about the work, just saying that it's much different than what I'm used to. Most of the day I spend looking between "field forms" that the guys fill out, and a computer screen, inputting data. If I told you anything more, it would confuse you to pieces. And sometimes even I'm confused. I can definitely tell you that this is going to be one memorable project. One afternoon I was almost physically sick from looking at the computer that I didn't do anything that night except read On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness until it was finished -- almost until midnight. I didn't feel like looking at anything made of pixels. I paid for it the next day though when we had to be at work early and I woke up with bloodshot eyes and 6 hours of sleep. Oops!

When I was home last weekend, I saw Andrew Peterson in concert. He's so great. Such a talented song writer, and book writer, and adds so much natural humor to his shows. Storytelling is one of his gifts, and he puts on such a great show. If you hear of him coming near to where you are, definitely check him out -- especially if you are a Rich Mullins fan. On his blog today he wrote about drawing a scavenger hunt map for his daughter and her friends. I think that is so cool. Looking at the map makes me feel like I'm exploring a little part of the land of Skree and the Glipwood Township.

Andrew Peterson, from the fourth row

Judgement House is beginning registrations on Monday. And writing about this reminds me that I need to make the code for new blog buttons for the GCC bloggers to put up. I'm in charge of publicity again, with the added responsibility of coordinating video and photography for the 2-week event. Yikes! Thankfully, email works even from out of town, so I am able to get a lot done even though I'm away. I should be back in town by the time JH starts.

When I was looking through my pictures, I found one of a paragraph in a book that I wanted to remember. I think it's from somewhere in the beginning of Chasing Daylight:

The most important moments rarely come at a convenient time. Sometimes you wish that God would check your calendar first. The ironic part is that our schedules get packed with the mundane and ordinary, and we become irritated with God when He interrupts us with the miraculous and extraordinary. The Scriptures are full of stories about people who were rudely interrupted by God. We read them and long to have the kind of adventure experienced by those men and women. Yet when God interrupts us, are we willing to respond on a moment's notice? 

My Life Group is reading Crazy Love next. I'm sure that it will have just as much stuff to think about as Chasing Daylight.

Alright. Laundry is done. Time to fold clothes and go to bed. Thanks for reading, if you made it all the way through. I didn't expect to write this much, but writing to you was therapeutic for my lonely self tonight. :)