sigh

Sometimes I am really frustrated with how careless I can be. I lost my keys. I am sure they are at work, but I can't find out until tomorrow because I can't get into the building without a key. In the meantime, I had planned to spend the evening picking up some things I need for my backpacking trip this weekend, but I don't have a key to my car right now.

Have I mentioned that this is the second time in two weeks I have not had my keys? The first time, I locked them in my house and Izzy lifted me up so I could climb in the window that is ten to fifteen feet above the steps to my fire escape. This time my neighbor let me in the front door to the house and I climbed in through the window on the balcony.

The irony of today's forgetfulness is that I was very careful this morning to make sure I had my keys with me when I left the house. I hope, hope, hope I left them at work and didn't drop them anywhere.

University Falls

This weekend Katie, Izzy our friend Jason and I went hiking at a place called University Falls. It is out past Georgetown off an unmarked dirt road. The attraction at this place is a series of waterfalls that you can slide down. It is basically a natural waterslide park that is more fun than a regular waterpark (if you can handle a six to seven mile hike).

We had a lot of fun sliding down the falls into freezing water and warming ourselves on the rocks.

When we made our way back out, we stopped for pizza in Georgetown. Georgetown is past the middle of nowhere and the town is a quarter mile long, so we didn't think we were going to have a good dinner. Mostly we were stopping for the beer. We were surprised by the best quality pizza I have ever had. There was no grease. They used fresh ingredients including fresh cheese and the pizza was yummy.

Eventually we returned home sleepy and full. I love summer!

Pictures (and hopefully video) will follow when Katie sends them to me.

Pretty!

How do you like my new blog template? No more crazy pink! The new template has some bugs I need to work out, but I like it a lot better.

Happy day.

This deserves its own post. Izzy brought me flowers at work today. I was very happy because I have only seen him for about an hour since Monday and wasn't scheduled to seem him until Friday. I am spoiled and usually get to see a lot more of him, so I was sad.

I am more happy because I got to have lunch with him before I had to go back to work. But the flowers are so nice and beautiful too.

Now I have a huge, pretty boquet of flowers sitting on my top shelf letting everyone in the building know that I am loved.

Christmas Eve

It really isn't Christmas Eve, but it felt like it at work today. The Agency I work for is getting a new director tomorrow, and everyone in the building is full of hopes and fears. For my part I am hopeful.

I think that the core program could be much better than it is even with the present lack of funding. However, there has been a lack of leadership and direction. As I have sat in my seat for the last seven months, I have seen a lot of people working very hard to do the best they can without leadership. If they had leadership they could do even greater things than they have been doing. Officially, my job is to support these people. However, I have not had permission to do as much as I could have to assist them. I hope that changes.

I have been frustrated with my job because the agency has issues with leadership that micromanages. I haven't been able to do much, though I am fortunate that I have had more to do than most of the other people in my unit. I like being given a job to do and being allowed to do it. Right now I have nominal duties that I can only do when my supervisor is standing over me watching. She hasn't had much time for that lately so I have mostly been left to my own devices to fill my time in a purposeful manner.

I am told that tomorrow everything changes. That the agency will no longer function on a "need to know" basis, that people will be given specific duties and be empowered to perform them, and that it will become a community of people working together for a single purpose. I remain somewhat skeptical, but if we at least move in that direction, I will be extrememly happy.

Blast from the Past

This Saturday, Izzy and I went to Berkely for a Torey Honors Institute alumni event. The event included a (very good) dinner and a discussion of George's MacDonald's The Golden Key. It was a very good time.

I had a good time talking with a new alumn who was a philosophy major about the program, old professors and his future plans. I also had a good time talking with my old professors, who I haven't interacted with much in years.

I enjoyed the discussion. It has been a long time since I have had that kind of a discussion and while I didn't really have an opportunity to read the story carefully (and therefore didn't have much to say), I still learned a lot. I also enjoyed watching Izzy participate in the group.

What was really interesting was seeing Torrey through Izzy's eyes. I am glad he got to go to the event because it is really difficult to explain Torrey to someone who hasn't seen it first-hand. I love Torrey and am very glad I had that experience. I am glad that Izzy was so interested and appreciative of the experience I had, both the benefits and pitfalls of the program. In some ways, Torrey is the least diverse place ever. Nearly everyone in the program is while, upper middle class people who have been raised in Christian homes. At the same time, there is a diversity among Torrey students that is harder to capture in words, but is not something that isn't often found in too many other places.

The other high point of the day was getting to spend time with Rahime and 'Chung. Visiting them is always fun and I appreciate their hospitality because I really wouldn't have liked driving home that late in the evening.