off to canada

My mom is going to be here in about 15 minutes. Then this evening we're going to stay at a hotel near the airport in San Antonio that has long term parking and a shuttle to the airport. It will cost about the same as parking at the airport, but it's much easier because we have to be at the airport at 4:30 or so. I'm excited to see my brother and Fanny. And I'm excited to travel to a new place.

On Thursday the Collins hosted a BBQ for us. Us being me, Paul, Steven, Leanette, and Rich and Leslie. We had a great time. The food was awesome. Whoever thinks that the British have dull food does not know what they're talking about. It's because Britain doesn't have a strong food culture so they take in the food of any country that was in the British Empire. We hung out late again just talking. It was kind of funny because they don't have the bugs that we do in Britain. Louis was terrified of the cockroaches. It was quite a sight to see him overreacting about the bugs. Earlier in the day I went with Gordon, John-Luke, and Louis to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was suprisingly good. Then we went to Wal-Mart (John-Luke wanted to) and then to H-E-B to get groceries for the BBQ.

I'm really glad that the Collins came. I've enjoyed hanging out with them a great deal. I'm sad that they're going back, but hopefully I'll get to visit them again when I go overseas for school.

Well, I might post from Canada, I might not. Just depends on what's going on. But I get back the McMains will be back. YEA!!!! I like the Collins, but I miss my family. I hope they have a safe journey back to the US and the Collins have a safe trip back to Britain.

Hangin' out with the Collins

So, I've hung out a couple of times with the Collins (the British people) and have had a lot of fun. Gordon is very interesting to talk to. Between traveling a lot and taking in forgien language students, they've seen a variety different cultures. Last Monday I was invited to eat dinner with them, we had BBQ. Through out the week I chatted with them here and there as I saw them. They spend one day out as a family and then Gordon stays in with the two boys the next day while Justine goes and does things that the kids wouldn't be interested in. Gordon says that Justine lacks the ability to sit still. On Friday Gordan and John-Luke (12 years old) invited me to go down the San Marcos River with them. We had fun. I went down the tube chute and John-Luke wanted to also. He was afraid of being sucked over the dam before the chute so he got out to wade with his tube closer to the chute. Well, as usual someone was standing in the middle of the tube chute (they do that so they can spin peoples tubes as they go down, very irritating) and John-Luke didn't want to run him over. So, he ended up being pulled down by the current, only he wasn't on his tube and he went down on his belly. He hit his hip on the rock and got a little scrape. They went down the Guadalupe River yesterday and he said he had more fun on the rapids there because he managed to stay in his tube. Then last night I hosted a little BBQ for them. Not as many people came as I had hoped, but that's because I had to move it from Friday to Sunday because I had forgotten about plans that I had already made. So it was the four of them, myself, my friends Steven and Paul who I used to drive buses with at the university, and a friend from my home group, Cole. We had a good time sitting around talking about everything from politics (we reassured him that he certainly wouldn't offend us by saying that Bush is an idiot), health care, religion, cultures, etc. It was wonderful food (thanks Steven) and wonderful company. When we finally said goodnight at 1:30 Gordon looked like he was going to fall asleep standing up. Even though it's been strange not having the McMains around, I've really enjoyed the company of the Collins.

Update

As I mentioned in the last post, my mom visited the last few days. We went to the outlet mall and she got a dress for Daniel and Fanny's wedding. I found some dress shirts for student teaching. We also ate at the Hill Country Grill. It was fantastic. It is in a building that used to be a bank. The Newton Boys Gang robbed a long time ago. The people who own the resturant did a fabulous job of restoring the place and keeping it original. It's a little pricey, but definately worth it next time your in San Marcos.

I got a digital camera and it is awesome. It is a Canon Powershot A95. It was more than I wanted to spend but I'm glad I bought it. The cameras in the price range that I originally had in mind were around 3.2 megapixels. That is fine for what I would use it for but it is already on the low side of average for cameras. Since I don't want to buy a camera that is almost ancient technology, I went ahead and spent a little extra money. It is the same model, but a newer version, of the camera that Sean and Kathy have. I've used their camera before and really like it. So I'm already a little bit familiar with how the camera works and know the quality of pictures that it produces. It has 14 shooting modes so I can choose to mess around with the shots or I can choose the 'point and shoot' option. I've taken quite a few pictures and will post them on Flickr momentarily.

The Brits got in on Saturday evening. My mom and I talked to them for about 20 minutes. They seem to be very nice people. He does some kind of advising for colleges around Great Britian so I'm going to try to talk to him about the colleges in Ireland while they're here. I haven't seen them since Saturday. They were gone all day yesterday, and I haven't gone in the house today. Turns out they come to the states twice a year. They've been to 36 states. That's more than most Americans have been to. They've done the houseswapping thing on multiple occasions and said they've never had any problems, so I feel a little better about them being here. (for those of you who aren't aware, here are a few posts at Sean's site that might explain the why the Brits are staying in the house. Click here .) It's still weird to think that if I go in the house there might be people I don't know instead of the McMains. I already miss the McMains.

Last night I went over and hung out with Steven and Paul. We watched 'Be Cool' with John Travolta and Uma Thurman. It was a pretty funny movie, kinda bizarre though. We also watched an episode of '30 Days.' It's made by the same guy who did 'Super Size Me.' They take a couple of people and put them in different situations for 30 days. In the first one, the guy and his girlfriend live off of minimum wage for 30 days. The one we watched last night had two people who are major consumers. It was estimated that just the two of them would need 12 planets for the amount of stuff they used and the amount of waste they produced. So they went and lived at an eco-place for 30 days. We're talking solar panels, grow your own food, recycle your crap for compost, no makeup, no sewers, etc. It was pretty interesting.

Well, I'm going to download my pictures and post them on Flickr now.

The British are coming!

"One if by land, and two if by sea;" (Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Actually, I know they're coming by land. They are coming by way of Houston in a rental car. Well, I dropped the McMains off at the airport this morning. I was really sad to see them go. I know they'll be back but I'll be three weeks without my family. They are so excited and I hope they have a wonderful time. I hope the British family that is staying here has a wonderful time also. I'm trying not to freak out that there will be strangers living in my house (I know the house is not mine, but this is my home). Kathy did an amazing job of getting all the kids packed and ready. She was still worrying about the house while we were in the car this morning and I told her to stop. My mom and I finished the last touches of cleaning when I got back from the airport. We cooked breakfast for them this morning which was fun. I also made black bean soup last night. A pound bag of beans makes a lot of soup so I was more than happy to feed the McMains. Of course only Sean and Kathy ate the soup, but the kids ate the salad and the bread. I enjoy helping out and was glad that I could lighten the burden on Sean and Kathy at least a little bit. I don't have much more to say right now, but I'll be sure to update you on the Brits tomorrow or the next day.

salsa dancing

I just got back from going out dancing with Kathy and Sarah. We had a blast. Dancing is so much fun and it's such a good release to get fun exercise. It was so hot at the place we were at. I'm having a snack (suprise, surprise!!) and then I'm going to bed. Tomorrow morning I'm going Dallas to visit Jes at her new place. Hopefully I'll get to stop and see Stephanie on my way into Dallas tomorrow. I won't be around a computer till Wednesday afternoon, but when I get back I'll post the couple of pictures that Kathy took tonight. Goodnight.

adventures in babysitting

Since last night was Thursday, I was babysitting so Sean and Kathy could have their date night. I like Thursday nights with the kids, we always have fun. Last night I took the kids and three of their friends (a total of 7 kids) to the river. The friends are 12, 14, and 16 I think so it wasn't bad at all. When we left the river storm clouds were coming in and it was starting to lightning a little bit when we dropped the friends off. We got back to the house around 8:30 and I was suprised to see that Sean and Kathy were back already. As the kids reluctantly started their chores, it started pouring. It was a wonderful summer evening thunderstorm. Lots of rain and thunder and lightning. Around 9:00 there was lightning, a loud clap of thunder, and then no electricity. The kids didn't freak out, to my suprise. I had been in the bathroom with Maggie while she brushed her teeth, so I was leading her back to the living room. Emily came out of her room with a battery operated desk light and we all convened in the living room. Kathy pulled out candles and lit one for every child. Emily took her candle to her room, Kathy went and laid back down (headache) and Sean, the kids, and I went on the front porch to look at lightning. It was very impressive. The storm was right on top of us and a couple of lightning bolts made it look like daylight outside. I tried to explain to Maggie that the noise of the thunder was just the clouds expanding really fast and that it couldn't hurt her (why do I give scientific explanations to 4 year olds?) but she was still scared. The kids wanted to go in so we all filed in off the front porch. The kids put their candles on the coffee table in the front room and Sean fixed them a snack. Emily rejoined us because her candle had gone out. After that, he read a chapter out of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis. The power still wasn't on so Sean told the kids that they could camp out in the front room and quietly tell stories until the power came back on. We sat and chatted for a little bit then Abby wanted to tell a story. It was pretty bizarre and drawn out, but of course hilarious. Toward the end of her story, the power came back on. She was disappointed and wanted to finish her story in the candlelight so she turned the light off. After she finished the story the kids made quite a production of blowing out the candles. Then they were off to bed and I went to my room to watch tv and go to bed. It was a few minutes before 10 when the lights came back on. The power had only been off for an hour, but it had seemed like much longer. I enjoyed sitting in the living room with the family and enjoying the storm, the lack of electricity, and the company. I was glad that Sean and Kathy were home because I'm not sure I could have successfully kept the kids entertained. Plus, it is more comforting for kids to have their parents home, safe, and keeping them safe during a storm. Thanks for the fun evening family.

ponderings

I've been thinking about some things lately. It's only been two months since Dan moved but I'm having a hard time being by myself. And I know it would be unhealthy for me to be in a relationships and I wouldn't be any happier, but I would have a distraction from working on my own problems. Here are somethings I've realized as a result of some conversations with people I trust and people who have been through similar life situations as I have.
-I create crisis for myself. I have a hard time being satisfied when things are going well so I freak out.
-Being with someone and being more concerned about them instead of myself is familiar so it is more comfortable than trying to deal with my shit.
-Since I have been in one serious relationship or another since I was 16, I don't know how to feel without responding to someone else. It sounds silly, but sometimes I just don't know how to feel because I don't have someone else to react to. You would think it wouldn't be that hard to know your own feelings, but it is.
-My 'inner child' (it sounds cheesy I know, but a person who I respect has suggested that I think about this) has some kind of fear about being alone and that is why I need to have someone around me, even if it's just a warm body.
-I think my anxiety and dislike of people (crowds, not individuals) has something to do with my depression and my inner child.
-Even though I have a crush on someone, I know it would be a really bad idea to pursue that person and I need to be able to articulate that in case this person, or anybody for that matter, expresses interest in me.
-I do not need to go to New York to visit Dan this summer.
-I am ok with the fact that I don't want to teach right now. I have the rest of my life to teach, just like I have the rest of my life to get married, I don't need to rush into it now just because that's what most people my age are doing.
-I'm focusing on one day at a time. Sometimes thinking about a week in the future is overwhelming, so I'm only going to concentrate on what I have to.
-I can't wait to go to Ireland, and if I still don't want to teach when I'm through with my Master's degree, I'll find different intersting jobs to do until I'm ready. If that's 15 years from now, that's fine. It's my life and I have to do what works for me.
-I've become ok with the fact that I can't sit through church right now. I've sat through two home groups and not been depressed to that's a major improvement.
-I have a lot of freedom right now and I'm trying to be content, if not joyful, so that I can enjoy this time period in my life.
-I'm going to get more tattoo in August and I'm so excited.

Well, I've had all these things rolling around in my head and just needed to get them out into a more concrete form so I can think about them in a more orderly fashion.