50 states part 1

It has always been my goal to visit all 50 states and I'm finally getting down to my last 8 or so. Next month I have a work trip to North Dakota and I'm very excited to knock that one off my list. I've been wondering how I was going to get there, so I was so excited when I got a call that they needed me to come and do a training in Bismarck.

One of my rules is that I can't count the state unless I did something there, either spend the night, visit a tourist attraction, something. Flying through the airport doesn't count, and driving through the state with only restaurant stops doesn't count.

So I started making a list, trying to make note of the first time I visited that state, (if ever) so I could determine which ones are still on my list to visit. Here are the first 16:

ALASKA
ALABAMA – 2003 spent a week in Mobile, AL with the Crossroads Christian Church youth group at Taking The City where we did service projects and practical jokes on each other all week.
ARKANSAS – 1970’s visited my uncle Jack’s family when they lived in Little Rock
ARIZONA – 1988 spring break trip with my freshman college roommate, Cindy, to Phoenix (first of many trips). Oops…I just remembered I went with my parents when I was a kid too. And on choir tour 1989 where we got sunburned tubing on the river and altitude sickness in Flagstaff after visiting the Grand Canyon.
CALIFORNIA –1990-something spring break trip to Thousand Oaks with Kami and Tracey to visit Tracey’s brother Kevin. He was pretty annoyed with us by the end of the week.
COLORADO – 1980s family vacation to Denver and Estes Park, multiple youth group trips in high school to various ski resorts and camps.
CONNECTICUT – 2005 tour of New England after a work trip in Maine. Visited the Mystic Seaport Museum, but that’s about all I had time for because Rhode Island traffic sucked away all my day.
DELAWARE – 1988 choir tour. I think we performed at a church in Delaware, but I need to confirm that. Not sure how I’m going to confirm that though…maybe someone else remembers?
FLORIDA – 1986 or 87 High School Marching Band trip to Disney World and other locations. Funny, funny times. Very hot, sweaty band uniform.
GEORGIA – 1986 or 87 Stranded for many hours in a bus station in Atlanta in the middle of the night because the air conditioning on the high school band bus broke down and we had to switch buses. 2004 or 5 spent a week in Atlanta for another Taking the City trip with Crossroads Christian Church youth group. Fun, but not quite as entertaining as the week in Alabama.
HAWAII
IDAHO – mid 1990s visited Boise Bible College to do a presentation with coworkers from AIM (Adventures in Missions). Also visited Shoshone Falls which was beautiful.
IOWA – 1980s Des Moines on choir tour with college. I think we performed in Grinnell also.
ILLINOIS – early 1990s drove to Chicago for the first time with college friend Rebecca, after attending a wedding in Springfield. Maybe went here on choir tour in 1988 too, I just can’t remember. Lived in Wheaton/Lisle/Naperville for four years in late 1990s.
INDIANA – 1991 spent the summer living in Bloomfield, IN as an intern with Adventures in Missions. Lived there from 1993 to 1996.
KANSAS – 1969 my birth in Manhattan. I don't remember it, but I have verification that I was there.

Here's a photo of my group hanging out in a park in downtown Mobile, AL. The park was across the street from the homeless shelter we worked in all week.

Why I like Facebook

Here are the reasons why I like facebook:

Earlier this week I had an email from an old youth group friend that I had not talked to in many, many, many years. The email was because he had a question about something that popped up on facebook, and gave us a good chance to catch up. It's fun to catch up with old friends, and I probably wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to get back in touch with Todd had it not been for facebook.

Then tonight, instead of going out partying on Friday night like usual (just kidding....i think I did that one time in high school and hated it....i've been a home body ever since), I decided to log onto facebook and finish uploading old youth group pictures that I have for our alumni page.

But then I saw my friend Ryan was online, so I chatted with him for at least an hour. I haven't seen Ryan in over 10 years, but we keep in touch through email and facebook. He lives in Tennesee now, after spending several years in China. He went on two mission trips with me, one to Cayman Islands, and one to Poughkeepsie, NY. He has the best sense of humor and can entertain me online for hours at a time! I quickly set aside my youth group photos and started uploading funny photos from our trips. We cracked up and starting wondering about the other members of our Cayman Islands team.

Then I got an instant message from my friend Tammi who lives just outside of DC. Tammi also went on mission trips through the same agency Ryan and I did (AIM), although she didn't go on any with us. I told her what Ryan and I were doing and she started looking at the photos too, and promised to help us hunt down a couple of friends from our trip that she knows. Yeah!

Meanwhile, I was also very entertained by several high school friends who kept posting silly remarks on my status. Silly remarks make me laugh every time! I love reverting back to middle school maturity levels.

Next, I got to chat with Chanda in New Jersey, who has been off facebook for a while and I'm happy to find her back on. We were both doing other things, so we didn't get to talk very long.

Ryan finally had to go to bed, so I decided to start posting my youth group pictures. My old high school friend Leslie was on from New Mexico, so we chatted while she looked at all the old photos I had of her from various retreats and ski trips. Leslie stayed up after all my other friends went to bed and kept commenting on my photos as I posted them, keeping me entertained.

Next thing I know it is about 2:30 in the morning and I noticed my friend Jason was logged on. He lives in Florida, so it is even later at night for him. I sent him a quick note and he explained that it is actually morning where he is. He is currently in Svalbard up in the artic ocean between norway and the north pole. He travels there frequently to do research on glaciers. He couldn't chat for long because the helicopter was coming soon to pick them up for their work. He's also an old friend from AIM that I haven't seen in at least 15 years, but keep in regular contact with over phone and email and now facebook.

And finally, my night on facebook ended with an online chat with Rachel who was on her computer up in Salina. She filled me in on plans to move to Chicago, God speaking to her through a veggie tales video, and her new kittens. She really cracked me up, but I'm not sure if it is because she was that funny, or just that it was 3:00 am. She would say it is because she is so witty, so that must be it.

Oh, and one more friend showed up after that. Sherry, another high school friend, evidently couldn't sleep so she started commenting on photos too. All these friends that I treasure, but probably wouldn't be in touch with nearly as often (or at all) if it weren't for facebook.

So in conclusion, I'd just like to share that I feel really blessed to have so many friends in my life, both old and new, and I'm thankful that facebook has been a good tool to keep us connected. And while it is true that I may have wasted about 5 hours on the computer tonight, I got to talk to friends in Tennessee, Virginia, New Jersey, New Mexico, Norway, and Kansas. How fun is that?

The Rosary

Tonight I went to a Rosary at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in west Wichita. I was there to support a friend from work whose father passed away this weekend. Since I'm not catholic and I can never remember what I am supposed to do or not to do when I am at these things, I quickly grabbed a seat in the back row and watched all the people come in and do their catholic stuff: touch the water, kneel beside the pew, pull out the kneeling bench, and all that other stuff I never really understood.

As the service started I quickly forgot about Tim and his father and my mind starting flooding with memories from growing up, and the role this church played in my childhood. I was never catholic, but this church (or parish, or whatever it is supposed to be called) still played a role in my early years.

First, my eyes filled with tears as I remembered the last time I was in this building for a funeral mass. It was 18 years ago this month, and I was there for the funeral of my best friend's mother. Julie had been busy planning her wedding when her mother was suddenly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late August, or maybe early September, I can't really remember anymore. The wedding plans continued while her mother quickly grew more and more ill over the next six weeks or so, until she died. We had the funeral in late October I believe, then two months later we all gathered in that building again for Julie's wedding on December 29th. It was a tough funeral to attend.

But my memories of this church actually started much earlier. I grew up in the neighborhood just west of the church and can remember when it was being built in the 1980's, while I was in high school I think, or maybe middle school. At that time there was only a field separating my house from this church building, although now the field is gone and a new housing addition stands there. I think I could see the church from the windows in our living room, and I drove by it, or rode my bike by it, on a regular basis. I even went to mass there on occasion. Julie and her two siblings lived across the street from me and since I was basically an only child (my older brother was graduated high school and living out of state by the time I was around 10 or so), I spent a good chunk of my childhood tagging along with them. I remember several times when I would get invited to go to the movie, or out to eat, or something fun and once I agreed to go, then Julie and her sister would inform me that I had to go to mass with them first, then we go to the fun thing. So they'd load me up in the car and take me to Saturday evening mass with the family, then we'd get dropped off at the movies, or the mall, or someplace equally fun. I never minded going to mass, but I always felt out of place. Julie and Susy would whisper or nudge me if I was supposed to do something (like kneel), or not supposed to do something (like communion). I just followed along and watched in awe at all the prayers they could recite from memory. And actually, now that I'm doing the math, I think many of my visits to mass occurred at St. Francic of Assisi parish in Westlink, before St. Elizabeth was built.

My favorite memory from St. Elizabeth parish was Julie's wedding. I was the only non-catholic in the wedding party and I was really stressed out about this. I was afraid I might do something wrong, but Julie's brother and sister were pretty good about giving me the eye when I got confused. And if I remember right (it was almost 18 years ago), her sister was on the outs with the catholic church at that time, so she wasn't allowed to do some of the stuff either. I think the wedding was also a full mass, so there were times when I was to remain sitting on the pew while the rest of the wedding party went forward. That must have been the eucharist. I survived and didn't do anything to embarrass my catholic friend, but I sure was glad when it was over! I also remember at her wedding reception (also at the church) they served punch with champagne even though most of the wedding party had not even officially reached drinking age. Her sister Susy and I were the oldest, and I think we were just 21 at the time. I think this was only the second time in my life I had drank alcohol. The first was in middle school when I was playing at Julie's house and her mother was entertaining some nuns who were visiting from out of town. They were all laughing and talking and drinking champagne or wine in her kitchen, and they gave us each of us kids a small glass of it. I remember taking one drink and then running to the sink and gulping down some water straight from the faucet because I thought it was disgusting. I never did really aquire a taste for alcohol. Except margaritas. I like those a lot.

Anyway....those were the thoughts going through my head this evening while everyone around me was saying the rosary. I called Julie before I went to get a quick refresher on the catholic rules and she told me I better kneel when everyone else did, even though I wasn't catholic. So just to be bratty, I stayed seated while everyone else kneeled. Me and the old guy in front of me. But to my defense, the priest did say "please join me in kneeling or sitting while we blah, blah, blah". It was a nice service, though I'm still confused on the whole purgatory thing. The priest said something at the end about how as each one of us prayed tonight, we helped open the gates for someone to go from purgatory into heaven. I might ask Julie about it, just so we can have the same argument we had hundreds of times growing up over who is right and who is wrong on this issue. I always lose because Julie is both smarter than me and more stubborn. I not only can't defend myself against her arguments, but I quickly lose interest and just give up and change the subject. But she's still one of my best friends :)

Update on Kate (momma cat)

My parents have been out of town all week so I have been spending some time each evening hanging out with their cat, Katie. Kate is the stray momma cat that I trapped back in April, housed in my garage for three months while she gave birth and raised four kittens, and then found a new home for her with my parents. She has always been an extremely fearful, skittish cat but my mom has been working with her a lot so she is slowly starting to warm up to people. Well, female people. She still doesn't like men for some reason. She came out to see me every night and let me pet her on her head (I was paw slapped if I tried to pet her back or tail), and even let me pick her up and put her on the couch next to me for a few minutes. And she has started to gain some weight and her fur is much softer than it used to be. She's a healthy, happy cat! Here are some photos from this week and a short video clip. She really likes laying on her back :)

crazy day

This morning I made sure to take all of my allergy medicine and so far it seems to have calmed my cough some. At least there has been no vomiting today so far. My voice is getting worse though, just sounding really grizzly and congested. And I've been sooooo tired today. I'm not sure if that is from the allergy medicine, the allergies themselves, or the nyquil I took last night. This morning I went to a crazy meeting (more on that in a second), then went into the office for about thirty minutes. By noon I was so tired I could not keep my head up, so I went home and slept for almost two hours. Then I went back into the office and called my doctor who agreed to see me in about an hour. I explained that my main symptoms now were exhaustion and a cough/congestion. She decided to do some blood tests and put me on an antibiotic. She thinks it might be a sinus infection, even though I don't have a fever or some of the other symptoms. Hopefully that will work because I'm really tired of not feeling well. And now I'm ready for my second nap of the day.

But first, my crazy meeting: We had an early childhood/child abuse prevention summit this morning. It was meant to bring community members together to discuss what we can do to prevent child abuse in light of the 6 child abuse related deaths in Wichita so far this year to children under age 3. But somehow it got posted in the Eagle earlier this week, so we were prepared for a bigger audience with some alternate agendas. And sure enough, that's we got. We tried to keep discussions focused on how we can prevent child abuse and not about all the problems with the child welfare (foster care) system. We had one representative from the pro life community who wanted us to focus on shutting down Tiller, pointing out that abortion is legalized child abuse and we need to put an end to it. Valid point, but not where we wanted to focus the meeting. Then we had some parents who had bad experiences with the foster care system who wanted us to focus on fixing the system and redefining child abuse (they feel too many children get removed from their homes when it isn't necessary). Also a valid point, but still not where we wanted to go. Then we had the District Attorney who wanted to talk about homicides to children over the past 20 years (and get some camera time, which at least one of the tv stations was happy to give her). I understand that is her framework based on her job, but still not where we wanted to go. The meeting ended without any resolution, which means there will probably need to be future meetings. We even had some protestors out in front with signs that said "system abuse is child abuse". Sigh.

Nap time now.

Vomit Talk

This morning I was feeling pretty good, but running late (not unusual). I ran out of the house forgetting to take any of my allergy meds this morning, but I thought I would be fine because i felt better yesterday, and I knew I had a bottle of Robitusson at work. I also remembered that I kept a bottle of vitamin C in my desk, so I popped a couple of those when I got to work. The morning went pretty well, but by lunchtime I was coughing and the cough suppresent wasn't working. I spent the afternoon answering with a very grizzly sounding "I'm fine" to all the well meaning co-workers who stopped by my office door to make sure I wasn't dying. I had intended to work late tonight to get caught up on some work since I spent most of September sick and not accomplishing much. But at 6:00 pm, when I was sitting at my desk holding the trash can on my lap waiting to stop throwing up, I decided it was time to call it day. I went home and drank some nyquil, used the steriod nasal spray, and took some mucinex. It helped.

I've got the vomiting down to an art now and it doesn't even really phase me anymore. I can even hold a little bit in my mouth until I have time to pull the car over and spit it out (I've never had to do that until today and it happened twice on the way home. it really wasn't as bad it sounds). I don't think that's a good sign that I'm getting so good at vomiting. I remember reading once that bulimics have bad teeth because vomiting up all that acid from their stomach wrecks havoc on their teeth. So now I'm starting to worry about my teeth. Fortunately I have a dentist appt next week, so I'm sure she'll say everything is fine. And I'm really feeling better overall, just I can't make this cough go away today.

So I think I'll take all of my allergy medications tomorrow and hopefully it will be a better day. Who knew allergies could cause this much grief?