because Dana said so

* watching 3 movies in a week when I barely had time to sleep or eat -- Memoirs of a Geisha, Finding Neverland, The Illusionist (I refuse to count the time I spent in the living room Friday night with J, Candace and John as watching You, Me and Dupree.)
* getting better at this campus ministry thing
* the wonders of technology -- toner replacement videos and text messages
* celebrating a significant milestone with a friend
* talking to my brother while cooking, and then eating, tortellini
* cold, bright days
* too much class, but quality all around
* getting to know new folks
* racing to class to get a block of seats, and pondering a plan to move as a block on a regular basis
* music: the Bens, Regina Spektor, the Weepies, and mix cds
* tacos and love-talk
* having great folks (friends) to help me at work
* pictures of babies in my office
* Coca-cola
* chatting with Dana at the kitchen table
* brunch with the ladies twice in one week
* my new coffeetable book about the World Series -- I LOVE BASEBALL!!!
* skipping church
* wearing sweaters -- new, old, soft, fuzzy, bright, grey... I LOVE SWEATERS!
* Kansas Day, complete with cookies, poems, groans, and Home On The Range
* cold, sweaty John shivering and eating an egg sandwich

a week gone by

* the city of New Orleans
* accomplishing visible progress in a flood damaged home
* sparks of hope in the form of FedEx and BellSouth
* new friends

- empassioned late-night talks with friends
- not letting go
- sleeping in my bed
- crispy microwave bacon and orange juice
- more new-to-me musics

* the first day of classes
* welcoming a new dean
* figuring out how to graduate
* knowing there are other options when obstacles arise
* a rigorous round of new classes
* shiny new books and pretty flowered folders and loads of pens
* arriving 20 minutes early to get a good seat and then almost falling asleep in said seat
* breakfast cookies
* excited, inspiring professors with good book lists
* making progress with mission planning
* sitting on a cold stone bench watching my friends play frisbee, feeling ridiculous but really enjoying it
* just enough people
* conversation and laughter in the living room
* big leather chair by the window

easy breezy

* dinner with the Wesley kids
* Candace in the office
* dinner with the Wesley "staff," planning our staff retreat in Paris, at which we will have devotion and discuss crime statistics
* new Grey's and girl time
* four blades on my new razor leave smooth calves
* chatting with John
* my crackly broke up knee
* anticipating another roadtrip, and the chance to get to know some folks
* the calm of these past few days with no agenda

what's simple is true...

the rest of my trip: beverages with Nick, kids movie with Alanna, late night couch talk with Becca, breakfast with Tatum, lunch with Kevin, dinner and games with Robin, breakfast with Allen... and the old familiar drive down 77 to hit 20West.

- being back in this city, with its tall buildings, busy roads, and lovely familiar faces
- cooking dinner for the gang
- thai food
- the boys and their backwards sleeping
- the girls and giggling over margaritas
- my office
- running

"there's no logic; there's no reason..."

picking the perfect activity when there can be only one
centuries-old sketches and etches
aunts
breakfast tea
traffic = music time
new cds
meeting almost-toddling precious girl
texmex dinner with Mollie
lounging
pictures, stories, memories, comfort
miles and miles
inviting a professor to breakfast
italian dinner with Sissy
this familiar city, in which I could live again
people still on the itinerary
dress
concern from an old friend, just before needed
sleeping dogs (I'm going to let them lie...)
reality
Go


"look how close I've come, how close I've come... I'm far away."

"if you gamble everything for love, it'll be alright..."

texmex french toast
pregnant Beth and sleepy Kevin
hills and cows and stone walls
old farmhouses and baronesses
sparklers and champagne
precious friends, and cute couples
dirigibles
running through the dark with Lane to beat the truck
driving to and from the camp
fog setting in
rosemary tree and potatoes
young Harry Potter
cinnamon
3D lights and quicker stew

a challenging goal
the hardest and the most important rolled together
the old and the new, like the sky and the mountains, melting together