The Cat that Spilled my Water

We're back from Wisconsin now. It's so good to be home, such a good feeling to have a place to come back to that you know. I was going through high-speed wireless internet withdrawals and it was nice to sit on the couch with my laptop and feel free again. It was also nice to come home to a piano that I can sit down and play at any time instead of making a trek to the nearest one wherever I'm at. But I guess these are things that I take for granted and I'll have to get used to a different way of doing things down in Honduras. Flexibility is important wherever you are.

Along with the joys of being home come some annoyances. My bed is in an open room in the house now because my parents decided to turn my room into my dad's office. Even though that sounds kind of ruthless, for parents to kick their son out of his own bedroom, I agreed that it would be a good thing. My dad's paramount gift is not neatness and, like many moms, my mom likes her house tidy, so she has always liked the idea of having my dad's office behind closed doors. I'm not home much anymore and so it didn't make sense for me to hang on to an empty room when they could put it to good use - I know, I know, such sacrifice.

So last night, I let my sister's cat (Darling) in from outside and laid down to go to sleep. It wasn't long before she jumped on my bed and I felt her pawing at me. I lovingly petted her a little bit and then shoved her off the bed to give her the hint that I was ready to enter into uninterrupted sleep. I then reached over to the cup sitting on my desk and sat up to sip some water. Just then, Darling jumped up onto the bed and whacked my hand with her paw spilling the water all over me! At first I was slightly annoyed, then I laughed inside thinking about what had just happened. It was just funny to me that she actually bumped me hard enough to make me spill my water.

But anyhow, I'm safe and happy at home, enjoying the last few days that I have here even if I do have to share my nights with the animals.

Enjoying Life

My grandpa is one of the happiest guys I know. You don't have to be around him long before you find him slipping into his natural smile or laughing at something. He loves people and has always had a way of just enjoying life. His optimism has always inspired me and I hope that, as time goes on, I can learn to laugh like he does.

The Gift of Friends

Doesn't this look like the best group of friends in the world to hang out with? Well, we thought so. My grandpa is filling in, as a business manager, for Wisconsin academy this year and our family decided to spend Christmas there with my grandparents. When we were walking towards the academy church on Sabbath morning I told Cherie, "I wonder if we'll find anyone here we know. We usually run into someone that’s familiar." Sure enough we did, and what a blessing it was! (From left to right: Me, Rachel, Sarah, Cherie, and Nick). One evening, Nick, Rachel, Cherie and I were invited to chill at Sarah’s house. Nick drove the family van and we started out on our short trip to the house. Armed with Map Quest directions, we knew we wouldn’t have any trouble finding our way. As it turned out, that wasn’t the case. We were lost for about a half-hour, but we finally made it and the quality time we had together on the way was well worth the detour. After we stepped inside the house, we enjoyed a blazing fireplace and acquainted ourselves with the cozy surroundings. Then, we settled into the living room and found ourselves spending the entire time engaging in great conversations, forgetting all about the large tower of board games sitting by the couch that we could have played. It was such a meaningful experience and I believe it’s true that the art of conversation seems to have been lost among the fast-paced shallowness that surrounds us all. None of us knew we'd be together for Christmas but it definitely spiced up our vacation and added some extra warmth we weren't expecting.