All in a Days Work

Working at a graphic design company, I get some opportunities to go out and actually apply, or "install," the graphics, letters or stripes, whichever it may be. Yesterday I went with my boss and helped him with a couple jobs. The first was putting some striping on a houseboat. We drove out to Laurie, Missouri, to a "ranch" on the lake. To me it looked more like a hobby farm, but my idea of a ranch encompasses more land and more cattle. This one had its animals, but not of the bovine sort. There were several miniature horses, a llama or two, an ostrich and emu (not the same thing, by the way) and two camels. There were more, larger, horses, but not in view. In addition they also have several dogs. I counted five, though there may have been more. Of these, the largest was an English springer spaniel, trained bird dog. The smallest was debatable. There was a dachshund and an Italian greyhound that were very close in size.
This ranch, I was told, belongs to the owner and producer of a fairly large Christian radio network. My boss introduced me to the owner and the extended family that were also there as a college student who's parents are currently in Bolivia on the mission field. Immediately they were interested in the story and began asking questions about everything. When they discovered that I am a Journalism major, being radio people, they were pleased, and tried to persuade me to go into broadcast journalism. They also stated that they wanted to interview my parents when they were in the area next. It was a pleasure the meet them and make a new acquaintance.
The rest of the morning was spent putting the stripe on the boat and chatting with a man who was putting carpeting on the same boat. For the afternoon, we put lettering and reflective striping on fire trucks. I had the honor of being trusted to install striping on one truck all by myself with no supervision. And I didn't do badly enough to get fired either!
Today has been a different kind of day altogether. I was able to sleep in for the first time in a while. After I got up I stayed in my room for the next couple hours watching movies on my laptop and folding laundry, with the occasional expedition downstairs to get coffee. After lunch, I went into town to get a few groceries, and then took a walk when I got back. Since I'm house sitting at the New Tribes MTC for the next week or so, I actually have somewhere to go to walk. Along the way I even ran into some friends.
When I got back from my walk I started to make supper. I'm very proud of myself, as I prepared it in advance and cooked it in the oven. Not only that, but I changed up the recipe and it still came out tasting good.
For the rest of my evening, I think I will return to my movie watching and relaxing. It's good to have a break from everyday busy-ness.

Wooster, Coffee and a Cold

I've had a rather relaxed day. After sleeping in to a decent hour, not too late, I did a little work--"business"--and went into town to run errands. It all sounds very grown up, but I suppose that's what distinguishes independent from irresponsible. One of these errands was to pick up some cold medicine for the stuffy nose and sore throat that attacked me last week. I felt very responsible as I compared brands and prices, finally choosing the store brand over the name brand. The highlight of that trip was getting I.D.ed when I tried to buy them. Apparently you have to be over 18 to purchase medicine, particularly cold medicine.
The rest of my day had very little productiveness in it, other than doing laundry. I listened to music, watched comedians on YouTube, and watched "Jeeves and Wooster," a British sitcom. I tried to use the DVD player and TV, but the DVD player is apparently possessed, as the disc holder won't shut to play the movie. The only way I could make it stay closed was to turn the machine off, then push the thing in. Even then, it decided to turn itself back on and open up again. I repeated the process and it seems to be holding... for the moment.
Living on my own, for however short a period of time, seems to invoke in me strange instincts. For instance, doing laundry. Normally I would wait until the last possible moment, but today I started it in the morning. Also, I started some meat marinating to cook tomorrow, instead of waiting to do something fast like a TV dinner. I also made coffee. That, however, is not so unusual a habit.
One more strange instinct is now asserting itself on me--to go to bed before midnight. And I might just do it too.

Snapshots

It's been a long day. I drove from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., nine hours. Considering the trip is supposed to have more than eight and a half hours of just driving time, I think I did pretty well. There were no major incidents, meaning I didn't get lost or even take a wrong turn.
I stopped in Louisville to top off my gas tank and buy a drink. When I went to pay, the man running the gas station at the time ran in and told me I'd have to wait a minute. He was polite, but seemed flustered. He came back momentarily and I paid for my drink. He said jokingly that he didn't need to have a day like this on a Sunday. I asked whether he needed to have a day like "that" anytime, and he said that on Monday it would be normal and expected. I really wasn't sure what he meant, but I gathered that it was more of a headache than other days. On my way out I said, "Have a good day!" He replied, "Thanks, I needed that." A moment later I was getting into my car, and I heard one of the other customers yelling at the attendant. There had been some lack of communication, and the customer hadn't followed the directions. Personally I think the customer didn't know what he was doing. Either way, I felt bad for the whole situation.
I don't really have a conclusion for this story. I just prayed that he really did have a good day, and that I had helped a little by having a good attitude rather than being impatient.
If we could add a little more patience to each our lives, we would take more time to listen and more time would be used understanding and communicating, rather than trying to scream your problems out louder than the next guy.

Real Travels: Slow Down

Greetings from Florence, Kentucky. Last Sunday I drove from Camdenton, Missouri to Florence, a 9 hour drive for me. I had expected it to take longer, but I'm thankful that the traffic wasn't bad and the weather was cool. My only experience on the trip worth mentioning is how I DIDN'T get a speeding ticket.
After passing through St. Louis I was in a stretch of empty road with just a few other vehicles. There had been signs every so often along the road that said "Slow Down, Enforcement Up. Arrive Alive." Nobody seemed to pay much attention. After all, it's the freeway, you're expected to go about five miles per hour over the limit. Of course, being in an empty stretch with very little traffic, the trend was a little faster. I was going along, following everyone else, matching their speed, not passing. I reasoned that if anyone got pulled over, it would be one of the people in the front going fast. Something happened that made me slow down a little; either I got something to eat or drink and decided to slow down. Wise of me, right?
I was coming around a curve and saw a white car on an overpass. First thought: That's probably a cop car. Second thought: I'll slow down just in case. Sure enough, as soon as I rounded the curve I saw two cars pulled over about 20 feet apart. Close call, I thought, recognizing them as two that I had been following. A second curve showed three more cars pulled over... all ones that I had been following moments before.
Thank you Lord for making me slow down!

Happy Fourth of July

Hello,
Happy Independence Day. I hope everyone had a great time.
I spent the afternoon preparing for the great blowing up of many things. It's a tradition to make paper airplanes and boats and attach bottle rockets and other explosives to them. These are tossed toward the lake in the hope that they continue in that direction. Most of them did.
This event occurred on the Point, at NTM. Another family there put on a fireworks show for everyone. It was amazing! I was quite impressed by the extent of the display. Unfortunately my camera batteries had died at this point, or I would have taken pictures.
This next week I'm headed to Kentucky to visit some friends. Please pray for me as I drive by myself. I'm looking forward to seeing them as it's been a while.
Well, goodnight for now!
Love in Christ,
Jeni

Here's a picture of my trip from Idaho. I'm standing in front of Mt. Rushmore! It was an amazing day to be there, and MJ and I had tons of fun.

School Stuff

Hi,
I have to go to bed soon! I stay up too late too often. That will change... someday. Anyway, my excuse tonight is that I went to Graceland youth group. It was fun to meet new people going there, and see some people I already knew. Of course I was used as an object lesson since I'm "so old!" Frank was making about point about not worrying about or focusing on the future too much, and asked me how long it was since I graduated from 8th grade. It's been 6 years. Then he made the point that when I was 13, in 8th grade, it seemed like forever till I would be 20. Now I am, and it didn't seem that long in retrospect.
OK, my main excuse: I filled out another application for a student loan, through the State of Missouri I believe. It took a while, but we'll see if this helps me out any with school. I had previously received a letter saying my loan application was denied, but then I got something saying that it was accepted, and I just needed to fill out one more thing. Maybe the "one more thing" was delayed in the mail and they thought I wasn't going to do it. Fingers crossed and prayers lifted.
I had a good talk with an old friend today. It was neat to catch up with someone who I haven't seen in forever long, and be able to talk about everything from what we're doing on the 4th of July to what we're doing in our devotions. The fellowship of Christ truly does surpass the boundaries of the world.
Well, the bugs are massing in my room and even getting stuck in my hair... evil Japanese beetles. So, I'm going to turn my light out and get ready for bed. On second thought, I'll reverse the order and not run into something in the dark.
Love you all,
Jeni