Sunday
Write a blog entry, watch some football, then go to bed.

Monday:
Go to school, teach classes. The evening is free ... free to work on this week's 6th Grade Retreat. Most of it is done, but I've still got to print student guides, labels, and nametags, prepare for my chapel talk, and spend a good amount of time in prayer. George W. Bush will be coming to my junior high cross country course (Voice of America field, one mile from my apartment) to speak ... they're expecting 50,000 people, but I won't be one of them because the doors close at 3pm (unless if I can get someone to cover my last 2 classes). It has, however, been fascinating to watch the Secret Service set up an impenetrable fortress in the middle of a big field. I also have to put together lesson plans for Wednesday through Friday, when I'll be at camp for the retreat.

Tuesday
All the details start coming together today ... packing, answering last-minute parent questions, printing up the last of the materials for the retreat. I'll end up working an evening shift at Apple, too. I'm finally back down to one shift per week, and I'm hoping that it won't push me over the edge this week. If it does, I'll just go ballistic in the store ... I'll pull a fire alarm or something. That'd be entertaining.

Wednesday
We all head up to PVM for day one ... the theme is "I Am Treasured", and we'll be teaching the kids about how God treasures all of His creation, including His children. My hope is that this will begin to spark a healthy self-image among some of these young men and women ... it's amazing how many of their hardships (depression, pride, self-consciousness, anger) are a direct result of an ignorance about God's love for them. We'll be playing games, rock climbing, zipping, and finishing out the evening with a campfire led by Native Americans Mark and Jesse Banks.

Thursday
The fun continues on Thursday, when the kids will learn about "Treasuring Others." They should be getting used to the camp life by now (and so should their parent chaperones), so we might just start getting into the meat of the retreat. Guest speakers will talk about birds of prey, reptiles, and soil/water studies, and kids will get the chance to do the challenge course and orbitron. We'll end the evening with a campfire and a revised game of Underground Church ... I'll bet it'll be a huge hit with the kiddies (if only it would go over well with the 'rents!).

Friday
On Friday I'll start out the day by speaking at a chapel service. Somehow I'm supposed to talk about eternal perspective ... our theme for the day is "Eternal Treasure". I'm not quite sure how to approach this, however. The concept of temporal vs. eternal is quite abstract and hard-to-grasp for many sixth graders ... and I can't rely on slick multimedia stuff to get my point across. I'd really appreciate some prayer on this one, yo. And call me if you have any good ideas or stories. As the day goes on, the kids will get their shirts, clean up, and head back to school. I'll have cross country practice then go home to collapse on my couch for a couple of hours. Oh yeah ... and there's a school social at the Lindner's house (probably the biggest mansion in Cincy) that night, so I'll probably end up there.

Saturday
My cross country team will be competing in the Seven Hills Invitational. It'll be interesting to see how things go after missing 2 practices during the week. My hope is that some nagging injuries will subside and some of my runners will really get the chance to shine!

Sunday
Sabbath. Sweet, sweet sabbath.

i really really really wanna go home.

They're nuts.

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that.

What the world needs is people who have come alive."

-- Howard Thurman

I've been making a list of my favorite slogans for our cross country t-shirts in the coming years. Here are my favorites:

• We're those fast kids your mother warned you about.
• Running is a mental sport. We're all insane.
• Roads? We don't need no roads.
• It's not the size of the dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the dog.
• The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.
• If you have to ask why we run, you will never understand.
• In my mind, I'm Kenyan.
• May the course be with you.
• "No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indominable." --Roger Bannister
• "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." -- Steve Prefontaine
• Seven days without running makes one weak.
• Trample the weak. Hurdle the dead.
• Everyone gets knocked down. Champions get back up.
• Run like you stole something."
• CHCA Cross Country. Helping skinny kids make friends since 2001.
• Our sport is your sport's punishment.
• Run for the One
• CHCA Cross Country. Kenya dig it?
• If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger.
• There's no telling how many miles you'll have to run when chasing a dream.
• Nobody said it would be easy. They just said it'd be worth it when we got there.
• My goal is to beat yours.
• Want more playing time? Run slower.
• A run begins the moment you forget you're running.
• Running is the feeling of someone pushing from behind, then realizing that it's you.
• Truth is, you can always run faster. Sometimes the truth hurts.
• Those who say "It cannot be done" should not interrupt those doing it.
• You won't die from running. You'll pass out first.
• If cross country was easy, they'd call it "football".
• Some people follow their dreams; others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission.
• All it takes is all you've got.
• We've got a bad case of the runs.
• We run faster than your mascara.
• It makes the water taste better.

Which is your favorite?

Time to type once again. Recent weeks have found me very reluctant to do so, probably disenchanted by the contrived nature of narrative on the web. Spouting off about stuff sometimes just doesn't seem very productive ... it usually isn't a release for me, it's done mostly for everyone else. Hey, I like you guys, but I'd rather talk to one of you face-to-face.

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Cincinnati, waiting for my nephews and nieces (from NJ) to fall asleep. Their family is in town for a wedding this weekend, and I have the pleasure of taking the kids off Ross and Ronda's hands while they enjoy some of the adult stuff together. As always, it's a joy. Except for when I have to type silently on a TiBook (it's virtually impossible).

My body is quite tired right now. This week I ran 2 hard workouts with my cross country team ... four miles on Tuesday and sprints/plyometrics/stairs on Wednesday. I think I'm getting old. Last night I only slept 5 hours, then today I spent an hour getting dunked (dunktank style) in my tuxedo at CHCA's annual fall festival. It was a blast, but wow ... I'm really wiped from all of it.

I've been tremendously blessed lately ... just to see opportunities and desires fall into place, to see confirmation of His Providence and evidence of His love for me on a daily basis, has been wonderfully comforting. I feel like it's foolish to just point out one or two instances here ... but I can truly say that His character is becoming dearer and dearer to my heart. I recognize His handiwork all around me, and I'm overjoyed to be a part of His kingdom. How completely awesome.

I like being quiet ... not really taking time to feed the insatiable appetites that other people have for information. I've found that when people say that they want to know "how I'm doing", they are usually asking about "what's going on". They're not satisfied with my answers that honestly tell "how I'm doing" ... they want to know "stuff". Whatever.

Lately I've been able to create order in so many spaces and corners of my life ... sorting out the drivel and managing the necessaries. My room, office, apartment, car, schedule, focus, communicative abilities, leisure time, and spiritual walk are all slowly being ordered, and it's wonderful. I haven't had this convenience in quite a while ... for several years I've strived to put my own life last (usually creating quite the mess inside my walls).

I'm also steadily living out of a deeper understanding of how God has designed me. I'm a creative soul, one who is passionate about creating meaningful experiences for others (especially kids). Bring that.

Mr. Webel: "Word to your mother, Tessa."

Tessa: "I'll tell her you said hi."

I'm just lousy at keeping up with email.

So it's Saturday of yet another long week. Classes progressed normally this week, cross country stepped it up another couple notches (these kids rock), I got my CPR/Sports Medicine certification, worked at Apple a couple nights, had a big parent meeting for the upcoming 6th grade retreat to PVM, and survived Meet the Teacher Night. Deft maneuvering, I tell ya.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. I'm working at Apple from 8-4 then I'm off until Tuesday. Sure, I'll be catching up on a lot of paperwork and details at school, but it'll be on my schedule without all those pesky interruptions. There's just something freeing about being able to take a break when I need to, eat when I'm hungry, do things in an actual logical order, and just be alone for a day or two. I'm finding more and more how much I enjoy solitary days, you know?

Ok, I've gotta go. If you've seen my wallet lying around, just let me know. It decided to go AWOL this week ... sure, I'm pretty good at not spending money, but I'm kind of attached to my identity. I'll think I'll be possessive about that, yo.

This is a monitor:



This is a monitor with a computer inside: