I made it to Jazzercise in time... sort of :) They had done the first song in which you "warm up" - by doing amazing things like stepping to the side and stretching your neck. I'm usually not ultra motivated to get there on the dot.
Work was busy today, but not on par with last week. I had time to come home for lunch and I didn't feel like I had 30 things to do every minute.
You should have seen the beautiful sunrise over the valley this morning! The radiant reds and oranges shone everywhere. But by lunchtime, this had all disappeared into a sea of grey and pouring rain, only to let up by the late afternoon. There was a brief moment of sun that I could see out the window, illuminating the fall-colored trees across the valley. When I left work today around 5:45, the stars were just coming out. Jupiter greeted me cheerily as I walked to the car.
Jp
Monday, November 9, 2009
Is It Possible?
Sunday, November 8:
I really liked the Will Ferrel movie 'Elf'. I know it sounds unbelievable, but the guy can actually be funny sometimes. He's mostly too crass and stupid for me, but he wasn't in this one. It was especially fun because it had lots of references to Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and a few other Christmas movies without being too formulaic. We watched it right after lunch because my friend Becky had it with her. It was a good one to watch with the family.
After the movie we played a few hands of Skip-Bo... poor Becky! :) I won all three (or was it four?) times. We then went out to get something at Fred Meyer and had Chinese for dinner while we were out. A perfectly lovely evening, really.
When I came home, I was pretty tired, but Mom and I read in Corinthians again. And after that, I picked up Mere Christianity again and finished it! Yay! But it was so long ago that I started it, I read the first book of it again for a refresher. So good. The Lord used a part in the end to speak to me directly about a sin that I was holding on to... and I let go. Sweet freedom :) I am shocked with myself that I was tempted for a minute to say "Forget you!" to God about it. He is so patient with us.
Jp
I really liked the Will Ferrel movie 'Elf'. I know it sounds unbelievable, but the guy can actually be funny sometimes. He's mostly too crass and stupid for me, but he wasn't in this one. It was especially fun because it had lots of references to Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and a few other Christmas movies without being too formulaic. We watched it right after lunch because my friend Becky had it with her. It was a good one to watch with the family.
After the movie we played a few hands of Skip-Bo... poor Becky! :) I won all three (or was it four?) times. We then went out to get something at Fred Meyer and had Chinese for dinner while we were out. A perfectly lovely evening, really.
When I came home, I was pretty tired, but Mom and I read in Corinthians again. And after that, I picked up Mere Christianity again and finished it! Yay! But it was so long ago that I started it, I read the first book of it again for a refresher. So good. The Lord used a part in the end to speak to me directly about a sin that I was holding on to... and I let go. Sweet freedom :) I am shocked with myself that I was tempted for a minute to say "Forget you!" to God about it. He is so patient with us.
Jp
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Movin' Stuff Around
Jason's brother's wife had to move out of her apartment into the new house today, while his brother (her husband) is coming home tonight from doing an engineering job in Alaska... what a day! So it was a hard day's work with our friends and my future family in-law :) Very happy to be doing something with my hands all day long though!
I've had a very strange week. Really intense at work... besides ten minutes for a sandwich on Wednesday, I haven't eaten lunch all week. Too busy at work to stop to think. But I did get done what I needed to get done. 8 small engines *finally* shipped on Friday! Yay! Only 24 to go... :) I've only had them waiting to get going for months.
In other news, I had a wild night of weather last night, listening to Switchfoot's new album "Hello, Hurricane" with lightning, thunder & pounding rain outside. And then of course, there was the video of "May's Fury" that I had just happened to decide to watch because I was alone. LOL
And Friday was also a Monk double-header. We made up last week's at 3PM (which I loved - what a cute little dog!), went out to dinner and then watched the regularly scheduled one at 9. Very fun indeed! I ended up falling asleep to the rain pounding on the roof.
Jp
I've had a very strange week. Really intense at work... besides ten minutes for a sandwich on Wednesday, I haven't eaten lunch all week. Too busy at work to stop to think. But I did get done what I needed to get done. 8 small engines *finally* shipped on Friday! Yay! Only 24 to go... :) I've only had them waiting to get going for months.
In other news, I had a wild night of weather last night, listening to Switchfoot's new album "Hello, Hurricane" with lightning, thunder & pounding rain outside. And then of course, there was the video of "May's Fury" that I had just happened to decide to watch because I was alone. LOL
And Friday was also a Monk double-header. We made up last week's at 3PM (which I loved - what a cute little dog!), went out to dinner and then watched the regularly scheduled one at 9. Very fun indeed! I ended up falling asleep to the rain pounding on the roof.
Jp
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Walkin' in Running
After working on that last super-long post on Sunday, we watched the next in Foyle's War. I'm always worried that they're going to kill off Foyle's son (he's in the RAF), but they just gave him battle fatigue. Whew! I really love this series.
Yesterday was wild! I woke up way early, and then unpacked and cleaned myself up. As I walked in the door at work at my usual time... a little after 7... my boss called my cell to make sure I was coming in. And as soon as I got upstairs I barely had time to sit down all day long. Worked right through lunch and stayed a little late. It was pitch black outside when I left at 5:30... so much for bike riding after work until about March.
Not only was it more than a full day of work, but after a quick dinner, I ran off to my Bible class. We studied Galatians and Ephesians a little closer than we've done in the others to discuss Christian freedom in Christ and how he becomes our identity. We talked about the difference between doing what Christ commands with delight rather than through duty. It's the only way Christianity can really work. Otherwise we start thinking we have to do all this stuff to impress God, and that is exactly what he wants to save us from. How hard would it be to impress perfection and holiness? Impossible, as far as I've experienced. So us Christians do things that please him and abstain from others that don't because we love him. His desires become our desires (slowly, but surely). Thank the Lord he has promised to help us in this.
I started listening to the Owensboro WENN program in my car on the way to class. It is so different from what I'm used to! It's fun when it deviates from the show! Except of course, when Victor speaks... :) No one can replace JBL. In order to unwind when I got home, we watched Valentino Speaks for some plot-less fun. And it was... fantastic.
This morning, you should have seen the valley! I didn't see it from my regular hill because I made it to Jazzercise this morning... but from the parking lot I saw the fog coming up to the trees on the opposite side with a thin, wispy layer of pink and yellow clouds surrounding it. Mt. Rainier was lit up in a glow of gold and the moon was still fully visible in the west. And then I walked in the door. Here we go again!
Jp
Yesterday was wild! I woke up way early, and then unpacked and cleaned myself up. As I walked in the door at work at my usual time... a little after 7... my boss called my cell to make sure I was coming in. And as soon as I got upstairs I barely had time to sit down all day long. Worked right through lunch and stayed a little late. It was pitch black outside when I left at 5:30... so much for bike riding after work until about March.
Not only was it more than a full day of work, but after a quick dinner, I ran off to my Bible class. We studied Galatians and Ephesians a little closer than we've done in the others to discuss Christian freedom in Christ and how he becomes our identity. We talked about the difference between doing what Christ commands with delight rather than through duty. It's the only way Christianity can really work. Otherwise we start thinking we have to do all this stuff to impress God, and that is exactly what he wants to save us from. How hard would it be to impress perfection and holiness? Impossible, as far as I've experienced. So us Christians do things that please him and abstain from others that don't because we love him. His desires become our desires (slowly, but surely). Thank the Lord he has promised to help us in this.
I started listening to the Owensboro WENN program in my car on the way to class. It is so different from what I'm used to! It's fun when it deviates from the show! Except of course, when Victor speaks... :) No one can replace JBL. In order to unwind when I got home, we watched Valentino Speaks for some plot-less fun. And it was... fantastic.
This morning, you should have seen the valley! I didn't see it from my regular hill because I made it to Jazzercise this morning... but from the parking lot I saw the fog coming up to the trees on the opposite side with a thin, wispy layer of pink and yellow clouds surrounding it. Mt. Rainier was lit up in a glow of gold and the moon was still fully visible in the west. And then I walked in the door. Here we go again!
Jp
Monday, November 2, 2009
There, And Back Again
The puppy is comfortably sleeping at the top of the stairs now, but he sure got excited when Mom and I got back! And it's his 7-year-old birthday... Unfortunately, to him a birthday cookie is just a cookie. lol! It sure is nice to get back in the afternoon and just relax...
We got up very early, Friday morning... so early that I laid myself back in bed for a minute or two before we left at 4 am for the airport. The Fun Couple dropped us off and we went right through to security as I checked in online and we only had carry-ons. So at about quarter to five, Mom and I stopped at Ivar's for breakfast inside the airport... holy cow!... and we had breakfast sandwiches with smoked salmon... bizarre, but good! By the time we were done it was time to catch the subway tram for the S gates. We didn't have to wait long to board at all! I slept almost the entire first flight to Salt Lake City, and the second flight was so uneventful, I don't remember anything about it. No turbulence, no nothing. I suppose we did take off and land though. We got to San Diego at around 11:30 am and we went directly to the car rental place and hopped on the freeway and didn't stop until we pulled up to the stoplight at the off-ramp in Yuma, Arizona, 180 miles later. Our car was a white Chevy "Cobalt", and besides the CD player not working, it was a comfortable little ride. At least that way, Mom and I had lots of time to enjoy talking. There were two border patrol checkpoints that we went through, an awesome mountain pass (4,000 ft. elevation) with mountains that looked like they were made of gigantic rock piles (with rocks the size of cars and trucks), an enormous, white sand desert, a large, orange submersible being hauled on a semi-truck trailer flatbed, a sign saying "Next Exit, Mexico" (LOL), and 16 miles out of Yuma, the Imperial Sand Dunes (where they filmed part of Return of the Jedi (on Tatooine)... and Road to Zanzibar, among others) that Interstate 8 goes through. It was a neat drive!
We got to the Days Inn in Yuma around 2 pm and the proprietor said it was an unseasonably cold 77 degrees. Heh. We had just come from 40 degrees Seattle. We settled in, and soon Zac came driving up in his new maroon pick-up truck. It was a very pleasant meeting. But as Mom and I had not eaten since 4:45, we were slightly hungry, so we went out to eat a snack at Carl's Jr., which Zac didn't know they had. Outside of Walmart, this was his first time around town in the month that he's been there. He had just gotten the truck 2 days before this trip. Back at the motel, we piled into his pickup and got a look at his base. He drove all around, but we stopped to look in the PX (well, more than look - they had his unit patch and a navy t-shirt :) and then we took a quick tour through his barracks. I was shocked by the bleakness, but it was a nice little room. One roommate, two beds on the floor, plenty of storage space and an adjoining bathroom with the next room over. He's had wireless Internet in there for about a week now. We weren't hungry enough for dinner yet, and there was nothing worth watching at the local theater (gee, Halloween was the next day, no wonder) so he brought Transformers 2 back to the motel to watch on his gigantic laptop/blu-ray player. He's very much into movies. What an intense thing that is to watch! It's nearly all computer-generated machines slashing each other to pieces... with a storyline and disgusting stuff along with it! I hadn't realized that Spielberg was one of the producers, so that's why I was surprised. I was interested in watching it... I was, I promise. And I did enjoy watching it. I did. :) Right afterwards, we went out to Zac's favorite food place on Earth: Outback Steakhouse! I had my favorite: Tilapia with crab. And oh, boy! was that good! It's pretty needless to say we were wiped out when we got back to the hotel, so we all crashed and fell to bed.
For Halloween on Saturday the 30th, we slept in 'til 9. Lovely breakfast at Denny's right afterwards (right nearby) and then we stopped by the gigantic mall right across the street. He needed to pick up new frames for his glasses, and then I wanted a external hard drive so I could bring home a copy of all of the Kim:Possible seasons that he had on one of his. There was a Best Buy, so we were set. They have pretty much everything you can think of in Yuma. It's rather large and has a growing retirement community along with the very large Marine Corps Air Station. We then did our local sightseeing at the Yuma Territorial Prison State Park. We did quite a bit of driving around the historical district (I can be directionally challenged sometimes), but we did find the entrance after all. This place was neat to visit (as a tourist)! They had a little museum, a short movie about the place, and a walk-though cell. Not only that, but they filmed scenes from Beau Geste there! Wow! After a lunch break at Cold Stone Ice Creme (in the mall) where I had a medium cup of half pumpkin, half chocolate, (yum!) we went back to the motel and watched "Sleepless in Seattle" in the same fashion as the night before. I really did like it a lot... they filmed in the same "S" concourse that we had taken off from the previous day! After the film, we were hungry enough for dinner, so we went out to the Olive Garden (also across the street from the motel). It was one of the loveliest dinners I can remember. Cheese stuffed pasta with shrimp... and the company was good too :) To finish the evening before he had to go back to base for the night and next morning, we watched "The Prince & Me". I have to mention here that these are all Zac's own movies and also ones that I had never seen before! I love his wide taste in movies... most of the time :) I suppose I could do without Rambo 1 through 4... eeek. So he had to take off to do his duty the next morning, so Mom and I were alone for a little while. Sleep came quickly.
Sunday morning, the first of November: We got to sleep in 'til about 9 again, but Zac had to get up and to his work by 8 or so, and when he got there, they told him they didn't need him. That stuff can be hard to swallow sometimes. He also had to get a haircut for an upcoming inspection, so by the time he got back to the motel, it was about 10:30 or so. Mom and I spent the meantime reading more in the New Testament together. We've finished Romans and moved on to Corinthians. Instead of breakfast, we went to Carl's Jr. again, this time being more than just a snack. Their burgers are huge! I had one with guacamole and bacon. By this time we had checked out of the hotel, so watching movies was out. He did need some things at Walmart, so we went there first and left his truck there when we were done. There were a few museums we wanted to check out, but they were all closed. So while we were out there, we decided to go look at the Sand Dunes from the car. Zac was interested and we wanted to show him... he had been flown in to Yuma when he arrived, so he hadn't seen anything out there. We took a couple of back roads once we got to the dunes and we saw a lot of sand! It was very pretty, in its own way. By the time we drove back to Yuma, it was getting to be later afternoon and we were without an idea as to what to do, so we decided to part ways a little earlier than planned. We dropped him off at his truck and hugged him goodbye and we both took off in opposite ways. Mom and I then filled up our tank near the freeway and then drove to our pit-stop motel in El Cajon (EL CAW-HONE) just outside San Diego (where I stayed in July - the very same room!). Because it was so early (we even gained an hour on the way back to SD - AZ doesn't participate) we went to Balboa Park in San Diego and had dinner at my favorite place. There was a play going on that night, but we weren't really interested for the price it was at. So we enjoyed a long dinner and desert by the window and watched the sun set. It was a glorious time, just my mom and I.
I drove the route I discovered in July and got us back to the motel in a matter of minutes. We didn't stay awake very long... we hit the sack at about 8:30.
This morning, we didn't have to leave for the airport until 5 am! I sorta knew where to return the car... it took my third time around the block to get it right though! The car rental shuttle got us to the terminal in plenty of time, so after getting through security, we had really good breakfast sandwiches at the California Pizza Kitchen. The weather was perfect for flying, so I got lots of great pictures all the way from San Diego to Salt Lake City. I spent nearly the whole flight looking out the window. The next flight from Salt Lake to Seattle, I spent reading in Mere Christianity. I am thoroughly convinced that C.S. Lewis knew what he was talking about. :)
When we flew by, Mt. Rainier was covered with clouds to the north, but as we looked at it right out our window from the south it was just magnificent. The pilot surprised me by not landing right away. Instead we kept flying high past Seatac and circled around Lake Washington, flying over Kirkland and the U District before landing from the North. It was bright clear sunshine out and I got lots of nice shots of the cities and lakes.
So here we are again, back home. Zac seems a little disillusioned with his day-to-day in the Marines, and he spoke of getting out... It was good for me to hear him and see where he's at, so I can think of what I will do when I get bored when I get to that point. Gosh, it was good to see him! We all had a great time!
Jp
We got up very early, Friday morning... so early that I laid myself back in bed for a minute or two before we left at 4 am for the airport. The Fun Couple dropped us off and we went right through to security as I checked in online and we only had carry-ons. So at about quarter to five, Mom and I stopped at Ivar's for breakfast inside the airport... holy cow!... and we had breakfast sandwiches with smoked salmon... bizarre, but good! By the time we were done it was time to catch the subway tram for the S gates. We didn't have to wait long to board at all! I slept almost the entire first flight to Salt Lake City, and the second flight was so uneventful, I don't remember anything about it. No turbulence, no nothing. I suppose we did take off and land though. We got to San Diego at around 11:30 am and we went directly to the car rental place and hopped on the freeway and didn't stop until we pulled up to the stoplight at the off-ramp in Yuma, Arizona, 180 miles later. Our car was a white Chevy "Cobalt", and besides the CD player not working, it was a comfortable little ride. At least that way, Mom and I had lots of time to enjoy talking. There were two border patrol checkpoints that we went through, an awesome mountain pass (4,000 ft. elevation) with mountains that looked like they were made of gigantic rock piles (with rocks the size of cars and trucks), an enormous, white sand desert, a large, orange submersible being hauled on a semi-truck trailer flatbed, a sign saying "Next Exit, Mexico" (LOL), and 16 miles out of Yuma, the Imperial Sand Dunes (where they filmed part of Return of the Jedi (on Tatooine)... and Road to Zanzibar, among others) that Interstate 8 goes through. It was a neat drive!
We got to the Days Inn in Yuma around 2 pm and the proprietor said it was an unseasonably cold 77 degrees. Heh. We had just come from 40 degrees Seattle. We settled in, and soon Zac came driving up in his new maroon pick-up truck. It was a very pleasant meeting. But as Mom and I had not eaten since 4:45, we were slightly hungry, so we went out to eat a snack at Carl's Jr., which Zac didn't know they had. Outside of Walmart, this was his first time around town in the month that he's been there. He had just gotten the truck 2 days before this trip. Back at the motel, we piled into his pickup and got a look at his base. He drove all around, but we stopped to look in the PX (well, more than look - they had his unit patch and a navy t-shirt :) and then we took a quick tour through his barracks. I was shocked by the bleakness, but it was a nice little room. One roommate, two beds on the floor, plenty of storage space and an adjoining bathroom with the next room over. He's had wireless Internet in there for about a week now. We weren't hungry enough for dinner yet, and there was nothing worth watching at the local theater (gee, Halloween was the next day, no wonder) so he brought Transformers 2 back to the motel to watch on his gigantic laptop/blu-ray player. He's very much into movies. What an intense thing that is to watch! It's nearly all computer-generated machines slashing each other to pieces... with a storyline and disgusting stuff along with it! I hadn't realized that Spielberg was one of the producers, so that's why I was surprised. I was interested in watching it... I was, I promise. And I did enjoy watching it. I did. :) Right afterwards, we went out to Zac's favorite food place on Earth: Outback Steakhouse! I had my favorite: Tilapia with crab. And oh, boy! was that good! It's pretty needless to say we were wiped out when we got back to the hotel, so we all crashed and fell to bed.
For Halloween on Saturday the 30th, we slept in 'til 9. Lovely breakfast at Denny's right afterwards (right nearby) and then we stopped by the gigantic mall right across the street. He needed to pick up new frames for his glasses, and then I wanted a external hard drive so I could bring home a copy of all of the Kim:Possible seasons that he had on one of his. There was a Best Buy, so we were set. They have pretty much everything you can think of in Yuma. It's rather large and has a growing retirement community along with the very large Marine Corps Air Station. We then did our local sightseeing at the Yuma Territorial Prison State Park. We did quite a bit of driving around the historical district (I can be directionally challenged sometimes), but we did find the entrance after all. This place was neat to visit (as a tourist)! They had a little museum, a short movie about the place, and a walk-though cell. Not only that, but they filmed scenes from Beau Geste there! Wow! After a lunch break at Cold Stone Ice Creme (in the mall) where I had a medium cup of half pumpkin, half chocolate, (yum!) we went back to the motel and watched "Sleepless in Seattle" in the same fashion as the night before. I really did like it a lot... they filmed in the same "S" concourse that we had taken off from the previous day! After the film, we were hungry enough for dinner, so we went out to the Olive Garden (also across the street from the motel). It was one of the loveliest dinners I can remember. Cheese stuffed pasta with shrimp... and the company was good too :) To finish the evening before he had to go back to base for the night and next morning, we watched "The Prince & Me". I have to mention here that these are all Zac's own movies and also ones that I had never seen before! I love his wide taste in movies... most of the time :) I suppose I could do without Rambo 1 through 4... eeek. So he had to take off to do his duty the next morning, so Mom and I were alone for a little while. Sleep came quickly.
Sunday morning, the first of November: We got to sleep in 'til about 9 again, but Zac had to get up and to his work by 8 or so, and when he got there, they told him they didn't need him. That stuff can be hard to swallow sometimes. He also had to get a haircut for an upcoming inspection, so by the time he got back to the motel, it was about 10:30 or so. Mom and I spent the meantime reading more in the New Testament together. We've finished Romans and moved on to Corinthians. Instead of breakfast, we went to Carl's Jr. again, this time being more than just a snack. Their burgers are huge! I had one with guacamole and bacon. By this time we had checked out of the hotel, so watching movies was out. He did need some things at Walmart, so we went there first and left his truck there when we were done. There were a few museums we wanted to check out, but they were all closed. So while we were out there, we decided to go look at the Sand Dunes from the car. Zac was interested and we wanted to show him... he had been flown in to Yuma when he arrived, so he hadn't seen anything out there. We took a couple of back roads once we got to the dunes and we saw a lot of sand! It was very pretty, in its own way. By the time we drove back to Yuma, it was getting to be later afternoon and we were without an idea as to what to do, so we decided to part ways a little earlier than planned. We dropped him off at his truck and hugged him goodbye and we both took off in opposite ways. Mom and I then filled up our tank near the freeway and then drove to our pit-stop motel in El Cajon (EL CAW-HONE) just outside San Diego (where I stayed in July - the very same room!). Because it was so early (we even gained an hour on the way back to SD - AZ doesn't participate) we went to Balboa Park in San Diego and had dinner at my favorite place. There was a play going on that night, but we weren't really interested for the price it was at. So we enjoyed a long dinner and desert by the window and watched the sun set. It was a glorious time, just my mom and I.
I drove the route I discovered in July and got us back to the motel in a matter of minutes. We didn't stay awake very long... we hit the sack at about 8:30.
This morning, we didn't have to leave for the airport until 5 am! I sorta knew where to return the car... it took my third time around the block to get it right though! The car rental shuttle got us to the terminal in plenty of time, so after getting through security, we had really good breakfast sandwiches at the California Pizza Kitchen. The weather was perfect for flying, so I got lots of great pictures all the way from San Diego to Salt Lake City. I spent nearly the whole flight looking out the window. The next flight from Salt Lake to Seattle, I spent reading in Mere Christianity. I am thoroughly convinced that C.S. Lewis knew what he was talking about. :)
When we flew by, Mt. Rainier was covered with clouds to the north, but as we looked at it right out our window from the south it was just magnificent. The pilot surprised me by not landing right away. Instead we kept flying high past Seatac and circled around Lake Washington, flying over Kirkland and the U District before landing from the North. It was bright clear sunshine out and I got lots of nice shots of the cities and lakes.
So here we are again, back home. Zac seems a little disillusioned with his day-to-day in the Marines, and he spoke of getting out... It was good for me to hear him and see where he's at, so I can think of what I will do when I get bored when I get to that point. Gosh, it was good to see him! We all had a great time!
Jp
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Teachings
Just came from my class... we worked our way through 1 & 2 Corinthians tonight, while we talked about other things like scripture translations, sanctification again (as the Corinthian Church was struggling with sin and someone in class didn't understand how they could be saved), the importance and sacredness of communion (at a level I hadn't considered before), and like every week, we talked about how the spiritual and material realms combine in Christ as he is Heaven come to Earth. I need to know scripture more... My head is swimming, thinking of all the things I want to do more. There needs to be a real effort made on my part to work at knowing the Bible better. That way I'll get to know Christ better; and what could be better?
I don't know how recently this was adopted, but the current Sailor's Creed (that I memorized on Sunday - on orders) is:
I am a United States Sailor.
I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and I will obey the orders of those appointed over me.
I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and those who have gone before me to defend democracy and freedom around the world.
I am proud to serve my country's Navy combat team
with Honor, Courage and Commitment.
I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all.
Now I'm really goin' swimmin'.
Jp
I don't know how recently this was adopted, but the current Sailor's Creed (that I memorized on Sunday - on orders) is:
I am a United States Sailor.
I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and I will obey the orders of those appointed over me.
I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and those who have gone before me to defend democracy and freedom around the world.
I am proud to serve my country's Navy combat team
with Honor, Courage and Commitment.
I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all.
Now I'm really goin' swimmin'.
Jp
Another Day or Two
Sunday was so relaxing, it was quite an odd feeling. I woke up around 10, went to late service, got back around 12:45, had lunch with the family, sat down and talked, ate a big piece of both the Apple and Pumpkin pies that Mom made (YUM!), took a huge nap, woke up around 7:30 as the family was leaving, watched the end of the NY Giants & Yankee's games with Dad, then watched "The Naked Spur" (Jimmy Stewart - 1953) that I had never seen before (that Meg owns) with Mom & Dad. I had a bit of trouble with sleeping since I had overslept in my nap, but nothing much to write about.
Yesterday was a crazy Monday. I spent the entire morning wishing it was September, next year. People were freaking out about my data books that are required to be sent to our customer this week, and that was pretty much it. Things calmed down by the afternoon, but by then I was really close to sleeping with my head on my desk. It was generally a hard day. Going home was a great relief. We had leftovers for dinner and watched the next installment of Foyle's War. But the greatest encouragement was talking to my friend who is going to school in Florida. She had just finished her mid-terms and wanted to catch up... we hadn't talked since May! It was only a brief 45 minute conversation, but it was just what we needed. Lots of things had happened since then! :) No problem sleeping last night! But it sure was cold... 41 degrees outside this morning. It took effort and a half to get out of bed.
Jp
Yesterday was a crazy Monday. I spent the entire morning wishing it was September, next year. People were freaking out about my data books that are required to be sent to our customer this week, and that was pretty much it. Things calmed down by the afternoon, but by then I was really close to sleeping with my head on my desk. It was generally a hard day. Going home was a great relief. We had leftovers for dinner and watched the next installment of Foyle's War. But the greatest encouragement was talking to my friend who is going to school in Florida. She had just finished her mid-terms and wanted to catch up... we hadn't talked since May! It was only a brief 45 minute conversation, but it was just what we needed. Lots of things had happened since then! :) No problem sleeping last night! But it sure was cold... 41 degrees outside this morning. It took effort and a half to get out of bed.
Jp
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Yay!
This is Seaman Recruit Payne reporting... for the first time.
My height was off one inch, so I was under the maximum limit by the three pounds I lost this week. How glad I am that today is over!
Yesterday at the hotel I had lots of time to myself. They said I'd have a roommate, but she never showed up. I read a lot and watched odd things on TV, like the Arts channel. It was pleasant to close my eyes listening to a European orchestra, and just rest on the double bed. I finished my quick read through the Gospel of John and the letter of Ephesians and started Bridge to Terabithia. For dinner, Uncle Sam treated me to the hotel restaurant, where I feasted on tender, grilled chicken with rice and veggies and a small cup of delicious clam chowder. As I walked to dinner, I paused by the third-floor windows to watch the thousands of little birds gallivanting about outside against a brilliant sunset over the Seatac Airport (I could see the airplanes from my room).
I was able to watch Monk, and I was very pleased with the episode... especially that they picked it up right where they left it off five years ago... very pleased. Thanks! Also, a female in the room next to me, that was joining the Marines, watched it with me. That was also nice, as I was feeling rather alone all of a sudden, and realized how I missed those who were familiar to me.
This morning I fell asleep after my alarm when off, and I never heard a snooze... I did hear a wake-up phone call at 4:45 though, and my heart went from 0 to 60, figuratively speaking, when I thought for a second that I was late (bus left at 5:30). I had a dash of eggs and water for breakfast, as I thought I was right on the weight limit. I needn't have worried! :)
At the processing station, we first had a long medical briefing, then a breath test (for drugs? - they were quite worried about drugs), then an interview with a doctor (going over all those things I already said "no" to on the forms), then a blood pressure, blood draw, vision test, hearing test, urinalysis test, then the dreaded height, weight & movement test. We arrived at 6am and we were done with this part by 11am. Lunch felt really good! I had a burger with Swiss cheese!
The rest of the day (my recruiter and I left at 2pm) was taken up with paperwork and electronic fingerprinting. The boss of the Navy office was a nice lady who knew my grad assistant conductor from the Husky Band from being stationed with her... in the Navy Band... small world! At this point, I can leave the program without a discharge... but I did raise my right hand. I am set to join as an Electronics Technician for 6 years as an E-4 if I graduate from my school after boot. I can still change my mind on the job up to about a month before I go in September of next year. Ooh-rah! :) Oh, dear.
Jp
My height was off one inch, so I was under the maximum limit by the three pounds I lost this week. How glad I am that today is over!
Yesterday at the hotel I had lots of time to myself. They said I'd have a roommate, but she never showed up. I read a lot and watched odd things on TV, like the Arts channel. It was pleasant to close my eyes listening to a European orchestra, and just rest on the double bed. I finished my quick read through the Gospel of John and the letter of Ephesians and started Bridge to Terabithia. For dinner, Uncle Sam treated me to the hotel restaurant, where I feasted on tender, grilled chicken with rice and veggies and a small cup of delicious clam chowder. As I walked to dinner, I paused by the third-floor windows to watch the thousands of little birds gallivanting about outside against a brilliant sunset over the Seatac Airport (I could see the airplanes from my room).
I was able to watch Monk, and I was very pleased with the episode... especially that they picked it up right where they left it off five years ago... very pleased. Thanks! Also, a female in the room next to me, that was joining the Marines, watched it with me. That was also nice, as I was feeling rather alone all of a sudden, and realized how I missed those who were familiar to me.
This morning I fell asleep after my alarm when off, and I never heard a snooze... I did hear a wake-up phone call at 4:45 though, and my heart went from 0 to 60, figuratively speaking, when I thought for a second that I was late (bus left at 5:30). I had a dash of eggs and water for breakfast, as I thought I was right on the weight limit. I needn't have worried! :)
At the processing station, we first had a long medical briefing, then a breath test (for drugs? - they were quite worried about drugs), then an interview with a doctor (going over all those things I already said "no" to on the forms), then a blood pressure, blood draw, vision test, hearing test, urinalysis test, then the dreaded height, weight & movement test. We arrived at 6am and we were done with this part by 11am. Lunch felt really good! I had a burger with Swiss cheese!
The rest of the day (my recruiter and I left at 2pm) was taken up with paperwork and electronic fingerprinting. The boss of the Navy office was a nice lady who knew my grad assistant conductor from the Husky Band from being stationed with her... in the Navy Band... small world! At this point, I can leave the program without a discharge... but I did raise my right hand. I am set to join as an Electronics Technician for 6 years as an E-4 if I graduate from my school after boot. I can still change my mind on the job up to about a month before I go in September of next year. Ooh-rah! :) Oh, dear.
Jp
Friday, October 23, 2009
Until We Meet Again
I think this is the only time today I get access to a computer... right after work today, I'm heading over to my recruiter's and then we go on to Seattle where I stay the night. It'll be an adventure though, as I've never stayed overnight in downtown before :) I hope I'll get to see Monk on a hotel TV! That's something to look forward to at least. I'm bringing about four small books with me for tonight's stay and tomorrow morning's Physical. I'm not sure when I get done on Saturday, but I'll make sure to post yay or nay right away.
This week has been good. I was a little disheartened early on about my weight, so I spent a lot of time doing cardio workouts: there was Monday's run in the morning, and Wednesday I did Jazzercise, Thursday I did another mile in the morning as well as an eight-mile bike ride after work. I did Jazzercize again today and I've been keeping the meals to a minimum. For instance, I just had cucumber for breakfast. We'll see how it goes tomorrow!
Tuesday's class interfered with my workouts, but it was good for my heart in a different way :) We talked a lot about theology... in fact, some people who came early had asked questions about salvation, so when I arrived, the teacher was already teaching. The overview is sort of a backdrop as we talk about important doctrine, such as justification, sanctification and glorification. Gosh, I have read Romans lots of times, but I never stopped and thought about the implications of these things and what they specifically mean. Good to do! Good to be able to describe what it is you are reading! Duh!
On Netflix this week we had the first disc of 'Reilly: Ace of Spies' and I enjoyed it. Dude, that guy gets himself in sticky situations! My parents remember watching this on TV back when I was very little, so they are enjoying watching some of it for the first time. When we started the first one, I was surprised that it was set in 1901... not much done about that time period! So far it's covered oil in Russia, the Russo-Japanese War and the naval arms race with Germany in 1905... neat-o!
So, until Saturday afternoon, adieu! And although I won't be able to go to homecoming... Go Huskies!
Jp
This week has been good. I was a little disheartened early on about my weight, so I spent a lot of time doing cardio workouts: there was Monday's run in the morning, and Wednesday I did Jazzercise, Thursday I did another mile in the morning as well as an eight-mile bike ride after work. I did Jazzercize again today and I've been keeping the meals to a minimum. For instance, I just had cucumber for breakfast. We'll see how it goes tomorrow!
Tuesday's class interfered with my workouts, but it was good for my heart in a different way :) We talked a lot about theology... in fact, some people who came early had asked questions about salvation, so when I arrived, the teacher was already teaching. The overview is sort of a backdrop as we talk about important doctrine, such as justification, sanctification and glorification. Gosh, I have read Romans lots of times, but I never stopped and thought about the implications of these things and what they specifically mean. Good to do! Good to be able to describe what it is you are reading! Duh!
On Netflix this week we had the first disc of 'Reilly: Ace of Spies' and I enjoyed it. Dude, that guy gets himself in sticky situations! My parents remember watching this on TV back when I was very little, so they are enjoying watching some of it for the first time. When we started the first one, I was surprised that it was set in 1901... not much done about that time period! So far it's covered oil in Russia, the Russo-Japanese War and the naval arms race with Germany in 1905... neat-o!
So, until Saturday afternoon, adieu! And although I won't be able to go to homecoming... Go Huskies!
Jp
Monday, October 19, 2009
In the Good 'ol Fall
Well, 5 AM came and went. I woke up briefly to hear the end of my alarm going off... and then I returned to slumber. The point is to work out every day this week... so when I woke up at 5:56 again (this time really awake), I realized that I had missed my first shot at Jazzercise. Wasn't too surprised though, as I had a long, busy day yesterday. So to make up for it, I got up and out and ran twice around our block for another mile run. This time I wasn't wasted (out of breath) at the end and I did it in roughly nine minutes.
Today was the first day I went to work when it was still dark out. :( Soon the light will leave before I'm done. That's the one thing I don't especially look forward to this time of year... feeling like I'm some sort of strange creature that rises at sunset and sleeps at dawn. :) Work was work. Ho-Hum. At least I didn't have my normal post-Sunday-trip letdown. I suppose it did help that we went out to lunch at our favorite place... so between the boat-loads of work, I had a really lovely lunch: shrimp tacos and a simply heavenly seafood bisque. Yes, that helped the day a lot.
And just finished: a Facebook Album from Puget Sound and from 132nd Square Park, full of Fall.
Jp
Today was the first day I went to work when it was still dark out. :( Soon the light will leave before I'm done. That's the one thing I don't especially look forward to this time of year... feeling like I'm some sort of strange creature that rises at sunset and sleeps at dawn. :) Work was work. Ho-Hum. At least I didn't have my normal post-Sunday-trip letdown. I suppose it did help that we went out to lunch at our favorite place... so between the boat-loads of work, I had a really lovely lunch: shrimp tacos and a simply heavenly seafood bisque. Yes, that helped the day a lot.
And just finished: a Facebook Album from Puget Sound and from 132nd Square Park, full of Fall.
Jp
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)