Post Semester Happenings

You would think with all of this time, I would keep you more informed... I am going to blame it on the lack of schedule.

The past few days have been great. Really, truly living up the 'summer' time.

Saturday was a relaxing day, mostly spent up in my room cleaning (really just putting things away) and getting things back to normal. In the afternoon, Sam and Gwyn came over. Sam had not ever seen Arrested Development, and thus, needed to be indoctrinated. It had been a long while since I watched that glorious show. I highly suggested it to most people (Dad, Caleb you should be able to find it in your Media Centers). After getting Sam hooked both on it and Big Bang Theory, I was invited to join Gwyn's family for dinner. It was her two parents, Caitlin (her sister and fellow YadGrad), her Aunt and Uncle, and two cousins Will and Tom. Her Aunt and Uncle live in Olympia! It was great to talk yet again to people from my great state. Tom is a recent graduate of WSU as well. The whole evening was great. After dinner, the group retired to the hotel the out-of-towers were staying in for some 'Loaded Questions.' And from that point on, Gwyn's Uncle called me 'Fuchsia.'

Sunday was Confirmation Sunday! As I have been working with the youth group, I knew most of the 'Confirmands' thus making it a great day. I don't know if I have mentioned this, but I am (I guess 'was' now...) a Confirmation Mentor for one of the students (I feel a little weird using their name here... so I will just refer to them as My Confirmand). It was exciting to get to see them recognized, including a reception at the church after the service. After Church I was invited over to My Confirmands house for a Confirmation/Mothers Day luncheon that was crazy good. The house was great, the food was great, the company was great. It was exciting to get to see all of these people who were excited and supportive of My Confirmand. I was glad that I got to be there.

Another cool thing about this house, is that it is less than a block away from Gwyn's house. So getting there afterwards was easy! Because baseball is amazing, her family went out to the Pirates game, and Gwyn and I were able to join them for a lovely (and sunny) baseball game. And guess what! The Pirates actually won! Don't worry Dad, I thought of you the whole time, and kept telling everyone, that the last time I was there was with you! Mom, if you would have gone with us (which you were invited to) you would have received a commemorative pair of Pirates Earrings! :)

That is a failed 'bunny ears'

I do enjoy that park.

On Monday I got to hang out with Skanda and some of his friends. We had lunch at D's, where I enjoyed a Hot Dog covered in Grilled Onions and Mushrooms, with Marinara all topped with Cheese. I love that place. After lunch we went and saw Thor. As I told someone, I did not have any great expectations, and none of them were broken. It was fine, nothing super great, nothing super bad. As for a recommendation, if you want to see it, go for it, but if you don't you are not missing anything.

Yesterday was spent making Dessert Pierogies and brainstorming with Jeff, Bri, Gwyn and Bart. Jeff is more or less inc charge of the potluck after church on sunday. Oh, I guess I should back up. This Sunday is the Pittsburgh Marathon. The race is all around Pittsburgh. As with most races, they close the streets to prevent the runners from competing for space with cars. Because it is a marathon, they need a lot of space for it, and because it is Pittsburgh, the course is all over the place and a 'tour' of the city. So Shadyside Pres, is right in the middle of the 'loop.' So you cannot get to the Church while the race is going. Traditionally this has been a point of contention from the churches of Pittsburgh, as the majority of Churches in town cannot have a normal Sunday service (I know just around Shadyside Pres there are at least 10 churches, and that is just within walking distance...) some get very angry. Shadyside however, gets really excited. They set up a water station on the race route, there is going to be speakers (which I was put in charge of with another 'techie' guy Mike), there are going to be orange slices (apparently this is a big thing), there are going to be signs and cheerers. 

Ok, now where was I going with this... oh! So the service is moved back to 4:00 (i think... it could be 5....) and there is a church wide potluck afterwards. Jeff is in charge of the speaking parts of this, and has solicited my help to back him up. So we will be presenting awards to the people who we know are running. Thus the meeting last night to discuss these awards and the evening in general. I am super excited, it is going to be great.

Well, I need to go take a shower. I am meeting My Confirmand for lunch. They are doing State Testing, and thus they have a half day, and you know what half days mean??? LUNCH!