Scattered Thoughts Recorded

Tuesday afternoon, my uncle calls me. He wants to know if I have plans for the evening. Which I don't. I hardly ever do, come to think of it. Anyway, he invites me to go camping with his family. Just for the night. In line. At IKEA.
So I did. I grabbed a sleeping bag, some flannel pjs, and a blanket and headed out to the grand opening of the first IKEA in Ohio. It was cold and we didn't really sleep, but I got a bunch of free stuff and got to hang out with my cousins.
My uncle posted pictures with the whole story here http://www.kingandsons.com/ikea/
After the whole experience, I loaded up my free chair, went home and slept for three hours. Then went to work.

I haven't updated, sorry. Life is swell, mostly. I went to Guatemala for a week in January, and to Detroit a lot. I'll be going to MA in a month, and I'm looking forward to it.
The wedding is now official "close" as it is less than 100 days away. Also known as three and a half months. Most things are all set, except for food. Really need to do that this week. oi. Also need to go to the doctor.
I'm having my first bridal shower in two weeks. It's weird to think that people are going to throw a party and fuss over me. Even weirder that it'll probably happen three or four times before the actual wedding. Part of me would really like to just get all the hullabaloo over with. I'm not a hullabaloo person.

Best of 2007
- Party: Graduation
- Show: none
- New show: the office
- Comeback show: ?
- Reality show: none
- TV moment: jim and pam
- CD: Cities Anberlin
- Song: Inevitable - Anberlin
- Movie: Pan's Labyrinth
- Video game: none
- Experience: Kiss/Engagement/beginning to master Latte art
- Concert: The Pomegranates
- Book: The Kite Runner
- Month: May and December
- Day: Dec 15th

hopes for 2008:
- Predict something that you think will happen in 2008:
Caleb and I are getting married, along with about a dozen other people
- What do you hope changes about your country?: Mainstream Christianity distances itself from the "religious right" and the "liberals"
- What do you hope for yourself?: a regular daily routine
- What do you hope for your family?: support and understanding

during 2007:
- Where were you when it began: my parent's house
- Did you stay up: Yes, barely
- What was your new year wish: that my parents would get along with Caleb's
- How many boy/girlfriends: one
- Broke up: nope
- Have any crushes: there's always those
- Care to mention names: Caleb
- New friends: Rohs Street regulars and UCC small group
- Had to say goodbye: to Gordon and regular contact with people there
- Missed anyone: Caleb, Platelet, Emily, Sasha, etc.
- Win anything: a gift certificate for Panera
- Best place you went to: Wales and New Hampshire
- Worst place you went to: Cincinnati
- Happiest moment: Kiss/Caleb getting the job
- How was your birthday: low key

There's something about the new year beginning that makes me take stock of change. The question of how much has changed since this time last year is always interesting, but especially at new years. Geographically, I haven't moved. The last few new years have quietly passed at home, without much fanfare and with few people. Last year, I was alone when midnight hit, my parents having already gone to bed. This year, Caleb was there. Most of the big changes in my life right now revolve around Caleb. He proposed, we're getting married, he got a job in Michigan and we'll be moving up there. It's interesting how much one person can effect your life in so short a time. Not that I'm complaining, to the contrary, I love it and wouldn't have it any other way.
Having him here this past week was wonderful. We had time to relax together like we haven't had since the summer, if ever. The fact that the day after he left the whole country froze has not been lost on me.
2008 is going to be an exciting year. There's a lot going on, especially leading up to May. To start, I'm going to Guatemala on Saturday. I'm also going to Michigan twice and Massachusetts for a long visit. And my boss may spring some sort of barista competition on me, though I really hope he doesn't. I also have been charged with finding a place for us to live up in Michigan, which is interesting. I'm not really sure how to do that or even what to look for. Translating an on-line posting into an actual apartment is a bit daunting. And I need to find a job for myself.
The craziest thing about this is that everyone else's life seems to be moving just as fast as mine. Engagements, marriages, babies and cross-country moves are beginning to be run-of-the-mill news, which is bizarre considering how completely life changing those events are to the people involved.
In any case, Happy New Year everyone.

- I turned 23 yesterday. If you missed it, it's ok. Don't bother posting about it, wait until next year.
- I'm getting married May 25th.
- I'm moving to Trenton, Michigan on May 26th.
- I'm marrying a youth pastor and moving the suburbs of Detroit: this proves that God has a sense of humor.
- I'm living in community of people that is dysfunctional, but fun.
- I've been sick for almost a week and would really like to be done with it.
- I'm volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center and really enjoy it.
- I wish it were Sunday now.
- I need to eat dinner and move up my laundry.

For most of my Christian life, I have been around Good Christians. Good Christians hide their sin from the outside world. They might have an accountability person of some sort, but generally, their struggles are secret and buried deep under layers of passionate worship, bible studies, and promise rings. I think most of the American church is made up of Good Christians. We don't sleep around, get drunk, or disrespect their parents. They follow the commandments and can rattle them off in order. Good Christians have it all together on the surface.
Now, I'm rubbing up against a lot of Bad Christians. They get shunned from Good Christian churches. They have scars on the outsides of their souls. They challenge and question traditional Christianity because they see its hypocrisy and they hate it. Their sin is blatant and their worth, goodness and righteousness is repressed.
True, both sides are twisted. Neither is what Jesus wants for his children. I'm not accustomed to being blatantly broken because few people in my life are. Brokenness has always been something searched for and shyly admitted after years of friendship, if then.
My challenge has been issued: I am not in this place to fix people. It's not may job and I can't do it anyway. Instead, what can I learn? How can I help and serve? How can I be the hands and feet of Christ? Where can I see Christ already at work?

I've started crocheting again. I have a vague idea of making a blanket as a Christmas present for the house. So far, I have two granny squares of odds and ends that are nice by themselves, but wont combine very well. I'll keep trying.
I hate how Christmas always seems to sneak up on me. I don't like to think about it before thanksgiving, but then I feel like I'm scrambling to think of everything and either buy or make it in three weeks. Oy.
The weather is more typically November now, which is nice. It's hard to believe how fast the time is going by. Exactly six months from this moment Caleb and I will be married and partying like crazy with friends and family. Craziness.

Answer using only one word:
1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Boyfriend/girlfriend? fiance
3. Your hair? up
4. Your mother? working
5. Your father? travel
6. Your favorite item? ring
7. Your dream last night? enh
8. Your favorite drink? latte
9. Your dream car? echo
10. The room you are in? cafe
11. Your ex? married
12. Your biggest fear? divorce
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? ex-pat
14. Who did you hang out with last night? roommate
15. What you're NOT? bored
16. Muffin? pumpkin
19. The last thing you did? coffee
20. What are you wearing? long-johns
22. Your favorite book? Charlotte
23. The last thing you ate? cookie
24. Your life? suspended
25. Your mood? tired
26. Your true friends? distant
27. What are you thinking about right now? caleb
28. Your car? mazda
29. What are you doing at the moment? working
30. Your summer? memory
32. What is on your TV? movies
33. Yesterday? wednesday
34. Last time you cried? this week

I've always been a fan of traveling. Lately, I've been doing it a lot. Nothing too major, mostly road trips. St. Louis for the weekend, Columbus on Saturday, Lebanon (OH) on Sunday. Starting in November, there will be more trips. Up to Michigan for a church interview with Caleb, and then to New Hampshire and Massachusetts for Thanksgiving.
This week I am working mornings everyday while my boss is on vacation. I'm trying to take the bus, but it makes people nervous when I ride at 6:30am, especially since it's been rainy lately. I don't mind though. Working this shift has been a journey of a different kind. My confidence in making business decisions is improving. I end up thinking on my feet a lot, but these decisions are getting better too. I like working here, now that I know what I'm doing. I like giving people a good drink and knowing that they will enjoy it 90% of the time (you just can't please some people, you know).
The weather has been traveling quickly from Summer/Indian Summer/why is it still 80?? to more acceptable autumn. This week has been cold, dark and rainy. Today is sunnier, but cold and blustery, but, with Halloween approaching, blustery is appropriate.
As we all know, the red sox have sailed into the world series with some outstanding offense. My only complaint is that the games start so late that I can't afford to stay up until they finish. Luckily, that didn't matter much last night, as the game basically ended in the 5th, which was when I headed to bed.
Daniel, the homeless man who can often be seen around the cafe, has become more resident this week. Homelessness looks different for everyone, and for Daniel it is more of a choice than unfortunate circumstances. It's frustraiting to come in at 6:30 in the morning and see him completely camped out on the porch. While I'm glad that he feels safe here, I would rather see him actually get real help, instead of just existing from day to day. Most people would consider themselves at rock bottom if they were in his condition, but he doesn't see it that way. Maybe its the alcohol, maybe its the schizophrenia or any number of other conditions. I don't know. But, as it gets colder, it will be harder to deny him.
On a completely different topic: Congratulations and Best Wishes to Meg and Jason!!

I left this house this morning wearing my pea coat and it was a wonderful feeling. I haven't worn it since April, and I missed it dearly.
The heat has finally broken, and temperatures are now normal for October, not August. Good bye 90s, hello 60s. I think the Air Conditioner will come out soon, though I wont have the time until next week to even think about it.
I'm working until 7 tonight, and then packing for the weekend. Tomorrow I'm working from 1 until Midnight because the cafe is hosting an art auction. It will be a busy busy shift. I can't afford to buy anything, much as I would like to. There's a dear little end table that would look great in our room, but unless i can get it for $20 or less, it's just not going to happen. I need to pay Sallie Mae next week. And Visa.
On Friday morning, I'm driving to St. Louis by myself. I'll go to a conference, stay with Christine, hopefully meet up with Siverson, and then drive back on Saturday night with my pastor. Should be interesting.
So sometime on Sunday, maybe, I'll think about taking out the Air Conditioner.
My roommate and I rearranged our room last week. Half the room is a "living" room with chairs and furniture, the other half has beds and such. There's a popazon chair in the basement waiting for me to fix it and haul it upstairs so we can sit on it. Some of the nails are coming out, so I'm thinking of getting serious with some twine and wood glue. Maybe duct tape too. I don't know if it'll work.
Time to work.

First, an update on the previous entry. Actually, I lied. There isn't much to update as far as the painting is concerned. I asked Les the other day, and he said he had contacted the parties involved, but the artist hasn't bugged him about it that much and he's been busy. So, the artwork remains in Wisconsin as far as I know.
In other news, life at the cafe is as interesting as ever. In the past week, I have discussed a wide range of topics, including rabid raccoon attacks, divorce and marriage, breast size, milk foam....sublime to ridiculous, if you will.
Daniel and I have had a number of interesting conversations lately. He told me (or, rather, I think he told me, it's a bit hard to tell sometimes) this evening that he only helps people do things when he's gotten his SSI check; he has woken up surrounded by foot-high flames for the last week; he has kitties that he really likes but the food he gets for them gets eaten by huge raccoons; a doctor told him that he had a whole list of illnesses, including pancreatic cancer and epilepsy, but he didn't believe it and never took any medicine. Most of these topics flowed into and over each other in quick succession. I'm finding it difficult to deal with Daniel on a day to day basis. He is continuously drunk and usually smoking, sometimes reasonable, mostly not, sometimes hallucinating or delirious or both. The thing that always gets me is how content he is, usually. In any case, it doesn't seem like the thought has occurred to him that he is at what most people would consider to be rock bottom. He continually exists in a state that would cause most to make serious changes, get cleaned up, start over, etc. Knowing that, it's difficult to be pleasant to him sometimes, and even harder to see through all his issues to the image of God he was created in.

Here at Rohs Street Cafe (RSC) we pride ourselves on being a place for community. One community we (usually) enjoy being a part of is the local arts, performing and visual. Currently, an artist named Holly is displaying her work in our ante rooms. Her works are mostly of modest size and somewhat abstract, various mediums, and all addressing the topic of hearing/listening. The pieces are each labeled and priced, and the show ends next week.
Not being familiar with the standard practices of the art world, I happily sold a small painting entitled "Leaving Home (First Suitcase)" to a willing buyer week before last for the list price of $120. The buyer took the painting with her, saying that she was heading out of town and would prefer not to leave it until the end of the show.
Last week, Holly stopped by the register and inquired after the piece. I proudly announced that I had sold it. Her face fell and she became upset. The painting had already been sold at the opening. Didn't I know that the little red dot next to the price meant that it had been sold? Didn't I know that this was standard practice? Hadn't Les told me?
Well, I had no idea that the little red dot had any sort of significance at all, in or out of the art world. I was informed that it is indeed standard practice in art galleries everywhere to indicate sale by placing little red dots next to the price. However, Les didn't know that either and no blame was placed on me. "We'll work it out" said my boss and the RSC art guy, Tom.
Working it out is proving difficult. Not only did the second buyer leave town, but she went to Wisconsin and gave the painting to her mother. And, the painting wasn't sold originally to just anyone, it was sold to the artist's sister-in-law because the subject was her daughter, and it's a very personal piece and she wouldn't have sold it at all except it was to family.
To be continued....

It's been a long week. Having Caleb here has been amazing. I'm working shifts on my own now, and getting used to things and getting better at it. I'm also moving into my new place, and finding it to be a rather frustraiting process.
Caleb's parents come tomorrow. We'll take them around town on Saturday, and there's plans for some of my family to come over for dinner on Sunday night, which will guarantee a hilarious good time.

It has been exceedingly hot these last few days. I'm not really a fan of 100+ heat, I'm def more comfortable at 80.
Yesterday was a very long day at work, but I learned a lot in a trial-by-fire sort of way. In the afternoon, Les had me practice making lattes. Steam milk, pour milk, try again. I used over a gallon of milk, made 15-20 lattes, and didn't drink any of them. I'm getting the hang of it. Towards the end, I made a decent double heart in the foam, and Les said that it was really nice. Next, I'll attempt the classic Rohs St Rosetta, which looks like a multi-lobed palm leaf. I still screw up the milk every third time, so it might be a while before I'm allowed to serve someone.
I can make almost else everything on the menu at this point. Smoothies, iced coffee, tea, iced tea, iced lattes (where the milk and foam don't matter so much), chai lattes... I can also use the register and not screw up, most of the time. The register is annoying, and it doesn't really like me, but we're working it out.
Last night was busy because we had live music. The headliner was a band named The Sheds. They were good. It was also brutally hot, and I think we poured two hundred cups of ice water.
I slept in this morning, which was really nice, and I have the day off :)
Caleb comes tomorrow!

I have been interning for two whole days. Life is fairly crazy everywhere else, but at Rohs St, it's usually pretty slow. Only once or twice during the shift is there a reason to make more than one drink at a time. Peak seems to be early afternoon, like 2pm.
There are a lot of regulars. A crop of graduate students come in every day and stay four or five hours. They mostly stay to themselves, studying in that overly intense way that graduate students do, but sometimes they come to the bar for a while and chat about something completely unrelated to whatever they're studying.
Also in the category of regulars are a few characters. Clifton is full of characters; mostly, they are people who either don't quite have it together any more, but there are a few who have gone completely around the bend. They're known by their first names (Harold, Daniel, Louise, Tony) and are part of the charm of the neighborhood. They don't usually buy anything, they just come in for a cup of water, some AC, and a listener. We usually let them stay as long as they want, which has gained us something of a reputation, but that's ok.
I'm learning how to properly brew espresso. I mostly have that down, though consistency is not there at all. My milk, which I have only steamed once, needs help. Reportedly, my boss has declared Thursday to be "Milk Day". He will buy gallons of cheap milk (not the organic whole that we usually use) and I will practice making foam until it mixes deftly with the espresso crema, instead of being a dollop on top like bad whipped cream. It will probably take a number of months before I really get it right.
Les, my boss, knows so exactly how to do it that his lattes look beautiful every time. The crema and foam, even in a to-go cup, are arranged in the pattern of a heart or palm leaf. Starbucks doesn't do that.

This morning I was officially introduced to the UCC community as the Rohs Street intern. It was pretty sweet. Next week I need to remember to not dress up for church. Or, I'll just go ahead and dress up and know that everyone will be kinda weirded out by it. I like dressing up for church, even when I don't have to. It gives me an excuse to look nice, and I'm not quite ready to give that up.
I officially start tomorrow. In a few hours I'll go to the really big house in Mt. Auburn that I will probably move into in another week, unless something horrid happens. Even if something horrid does happen, I'm willing to overlook a lot for free housing that isn't at my parents'.

I'm getting more excited the more I learn about what composes this internship. For example, my boss is the best barista in Ohio. Seriously, he came in 9th in a national competition last spring. Also, there's a trip to Guatemala coffee farms in January, and I'm slated to go.
I'll be moved out of my parent's house in a week or two, though where exactly I'll be living has yet to be nailed down. That may happen tomorrow.
Training for the coffee bar starts on Monday. Till then, I recover from driving 16 hours and read lots of books. I'll also have to relocate my life (which is currently in the living room) up stairs so my sister can organize her life in the living room.
Also, I'm taking my first stab at wedding dress shopping tomorrow. Should be interesting.

Yesterday, I drove to Ohio. Well, I didn't drive the whole way, but most of it. We left Nicole's at 8am, got out of Boston by 8:30 and arrived home at 11:45pm. We were blessed with relatively few break lights, and only a few back-ups, mostly around tolls in Buffalo.
The car is still full of stuff, as of 10:20 this morning, including my clothes, so I wont be much help in unloading for a while.
I need a shower, so I'm going to do that.

On Monday, I'm going to drive to Ohio. Again.
I'm finding it hard to believe that my life at Gordon is actually ending. This summer has been long and hard in a lot of ways, and relatively easy in others. Working grounds has guaranteed that I go to bed early, get a good night's sleep, and have a regular schedule - which has been awesome. The RA position has been frustrating at times, but it generally has had more positives than negatives. And, of course, wedding planning has been stressful and complicated, but the excitement keeps building, which is awesome.
I've been informed that I need to make sure my LJ stays updated while I'm gone, so I'll do my best on that.
Right now, I'm reading a lot about coffee and am eager to put all that book knowledge into practice. At the same time, I'm becoming more and more emotionally unstable as Monday approaches and the number of people I've said goodbye to increases. The ride home will be interesting.
My hope and prayer is that I'll be able to jump into the internship and focus on doing the best job that I can. I don't want to be distracted by the fact that Caleb and I are apart, and I don't want to be so focused on the future that I lose track of the present.

Today is one of those blistering summer days which don't really occur all that often up here, despite how much people might complain. In China, our first three weeks were all 80+ days, though we slept in AC which made a huge difference.
Last night I did not sleep in AC. I attempted to sleep in two-fans-and-two-open-windows, which worked ok. I woke up a lot and do not at all feel rested, but I know it can be worse. Like, the power could go out.
This morning, I'm eating fresh-picked strawberries for breakfast with my sandwich baggie of frosted mini-wheats.
Work will be interesting. We might just not do too much, which is fine with me.
This heat is such that it makes me sleepy, but I don't actually sleep that well. Much more conducive to naps than real sleep.
In any case, it's sunscreen time.