"Camp does alot for kids." --Kim Pierce

I was reminiscing this morning at work about the trip home from camp this summer, so I thought I'd share bits and pieces slowly before I forget them all.  As I feel awkward sharing about minors online, I'll change their names, either to nickname I normally call them, or one that just makes sense to me.

The story that brought this on was really about the last ten minutes I was in the car with my kiddos after coming back from camp. I had one 5th grade girl, a 5th grade boy, a 3rd grade boy, and a 2nd grade boy in my car.  The 5th grade girl is my sidekick, which is why she was in my car.  She had the option to ride in the van with the other girls her age, but chose to come with me.  I have to admit that I might have encouraged her presence, because I wasn't sure that I wanted to ride with just the boys by myself.  So, my sidekick (from here on out referred to as either Carl or Bucky) rode with me to and from camp.

Bucky is a trip.  She is the best mixture of childhood and maturity.  She's not afraid to be silly and play, but she's also reliable and trustworthy.  If I ask her to go do something, she does it without complaint or dawdling.  When we were going to and from camp she was the one in charge of the map and the phone, therefore leaving my hands free to drive.  When someone called, she relayed the messages without error, and gave my responses clearly.  However, she also called Justin to tell him knock-knock jokes.  That's my Carl.

When we first entered Norco, she insisted we roll the windows down.  The air was cool in the car, and for once, none of the boys were stinking it up, so I was a bit confused.  She continued to insist without giving a specific reason why, and since there was really no harm, I rolled down the windows.  She then proceeded to hang her head out of the car and breathe deeply.  She encouraged the others to do likewise, saying, "Come on! Breathe that Norco air!  It smells like home!"  I said, "Carl, all I smell is the refinery."  She responded, "I know!  It smells like home!"

I love my Bucky.

"It's better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone." --Marylin Monroe

OK so I'm not exactly unhappy. Just feeling very alone. I have no internet which is never a problem until I'm alone and I want some noise. All of my DVDs annoy me and I am having trouble streaming my favorite videos to my phone. Le sigh.  Fortunately it is still an awesome phone and I can blog from it with relative ease.

Still excited about moving and I just got a msg from Justin saying that I can leave stuff at their place if I want. That will be helpful as I can't move in until Monday. I'll be seeing him tomorrow because we're having dinner at Sarra's.

I know what he and Kim think about us moving in upstairs but I wonder what Hayden thinks. Guess I'll find out soon.

I think I'll stream a book and pack up some more stuff. Hooray?

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.” --Khalil Gibran

Arthritis is going to stink.  Alot.  My right ring finger is in excruciating pain.  Typing with it is nearly impossible (I'm typing slooowly without it right now).  The very joint aches in the way that I imagine arthritis to ache, and I have a feeling that today I get a sample of what life shall be like later on.  Which is going to stink.  Alot.

"There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction." -- Winston Churchill

Change is tough, but change is good.  I will soon be living in Norco, which has been my heart's desire for about 16 months.  Kim and I found a great apartment that is directly above Justin and Hayden's.  This is ideal, not only because we'll be able to share internet, but because it'll be really nice to just be a floor/ceiling away.  Justin is becoming less excited as he realized that it would be who has the bedroom directly above his.  I may have made some mild threats to sing a particularly annoying song at the top of my lungs about a chicken named Theodore at 3:45 in the morning.  It's already Justin's least favorite.

Otherwise, all is well.  Kim and I will almost no furniture at first.  You can tell we're two students moving in together because we're bringing with us two TV's, a mini-fridge, a rocking chair, a mushroom chair, an exer-ball, a fish tank, a PS2 and our computers.  That's pretty much it.  We do actually have some dishes, but not much to cook with.  Between the two of us we have everything to furnish our apartment, they're just several states away.  We'll get them later on, probably next month.  For now, we'll have beds, because Kim is getting hers from our pastor's family, and I'm borrowing a couple mattresses from the church.  The mattress are what's left of the bunk rooms we used to have at the church.  We have turned both bunk rooms into classrooms for Sunday School, so the mattress went up to the attic.

The whole getting setup things is fairly daunting monetarily, but God in his grace has provided, and I shall get through.

More changes: I got my work schedule, and it is pretty sweet.  I will normally have 25 hours, but I will have the option to come in early most days, which will be nice traffic-wise as I will now be driving East instead of West, and driving to Mid-City from the West is not necessarily fun.

I need to go to housing today to straighten things out.  I should maybe jump on that while it's still early.