Saturday, October 29th

4:45 AM: get up and drive to IHOP
5:00 AM: eat eggs, hash browns, sausage, and pancakes
5:30 AM: go to Wal-Mart to pick up bananas, cliff bars, and gatorade
6:00 AM: get to apartment and get ready for ride - change into cycling gear, pack cooler, re-tape handle bars, load bike into truck
6:30 AM: head for Flower Mound
6:50 AM: wait for other team members
7:15 AM: still waiting
7:30 AM: other team members arrive - still waiting for course to be marked
7:40 AM: coach shows up and starts marking course
7:45 AM: start cycling
2:15 PM: finish cycling (hey, it was 75 miles and a *&%$# of a hill I had to go over 3 times)
2:30 PM: call friend, sister, and brother-in-law to tell them I'm done riding and to please come over to start moving
2:40 PM: shower
2:50 PM: head to U-Haul
3:10 PM: wrong U-Haul store
3:30 PM: right U-Haul store
4:00 PM: start loading and realize I'm starving
4:10 PM: leave apartment, go to Quizno's, borrow pliers
5:00 PM: return to apartment
5:30 PM: finish loading and head to new apartment
6:00 PM: get to new apartment and begin to unload
7:30 PM: finish unloading
7:35 PM: U-Haul battery dead
7:45 PM: go back to old apartment to clean and sleep
8:00 PM: go to sleep being extremely thankful for the extra hour of sleep

I'm glad Saturday's over. But how cool is 75 miles!!

Thanks for reading.

Busy, Busy, Busy

This week was Red Ribbon Week. Do y'all remember getting red ribbons in school and pledging not to do drugs? I don't, but I don't. Anyway, I brought in four speakers to address students at my school. Two of the speakers were PhDs and the other two were recovering addicts. Planning that, making sure the speakers showed up, being a host, etc. was pretty stressful. Other things that I have going on right now are: interviewing families for Christmas assistance, planning two college nights in November, getting ready for a United Way Youth Committee visit next Tuesday, and trying to get all the kids in my program input into a new on-line case management system. Ahhhh - that's me screaming. Too much stuff that I have to do. Oh yeah, and then there's that little thing called the PhD program. My dream is to go home at 5 o'clock and be able to watch TV and take a walk in the evenings (of course all evenings would be around 75 degrees). Maybe in a couple of years. We will see. Oh, and will I actually allow myself to be that not busy? Hmmm...good question.

Thanks for reading. I'm really quite alright.

Going Home

I know I haven't posted in a while. Since I work at a school, they have a pretty good firewall up. Lately, I've been able to read blogs, but I haven't been able to publish on mine. Since I don't have a computer at home, it makes it difficult to publish stuff if I can't do it at my work computer. Anyway...

I just got back from Abilene. I really do love that city. I have very fond memories of my college experience at ACU. Going to homecoming lets me visit with old friends and remember a simpler time in my life. I really enjoy the calmness that I feel when I'm there - things don't seem to be in such a rush. Highlights of the weekend include riding from Abilene to Baird and back on the access road of I-20, seeing my really great friends from Nashville, going to club breakfast with friends and watching a good kid I know perform as a sibling, talking with professors who are friends and mentors, seeing my sister pledge a club she's wanted to join since 1996, and reconnecting with a friend that I know from my time spent at A&M because he married an ACU grad and was there with her. Some people may laugh because I love the college I went to so much, but I think of all of the significant relationships in my life that have been formed because of my attendance there and my affection for ACU becomes even deeper.

I was asked on Thursday, the day before I left for homecoming, if I would consider becoming part of the faculty in the counseling program at UNT after I graduated with my doctorate in a couple of years. I feel extremely flattered that people believe I'm qualified to teach in such a good program. I will think and pray about it; however, if there's a chance that I can end up at a place like ACU, I would take the opportunity there in a heartbeat so that I could become part of such a great institution. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what God has in store for me.

Thanks for reading.