You win some, you lose some

Well...as I suspected, you can never really plan too far ahead. Once you are sure of something, once you've written it in stone, something changes and you find youself back to square one. Or at least I do. I worry and fret and fuss and moan, only to find that worrying and fretting and fussing and moaning did nothing to give me control. They just stressed me out. Planning in general stresses me. This is why I hate packing.....too many decisions to make and not enough knowledge to run on. Will it rain? Do I need a swim suit? What about sunscreen? Blah blah. Soon...you find youself lugging 7 suitcases behind you on the way to the airport. Or, you find youself freezing cold in a hail storm in the middle of July because, for some reason, you forgot to pack your fleece-lined winter jacket for your trip to the beach.

All this being said, l'Arche DC has already filled their open position for the Fall (they neglected to tell me this). And, their next available position is in December, some ways away. So, it looks like DC is out and we are back to where we began: What to do starting September. I have some ideas, but nothing that involves actually getting hired somewhere and getting a real salary. Is this a surprise? L'Arche Tahoma Hope (in Tacoma, WA) is hiring for a new assistant and Melissa knows the community coordinator quite well. I definitely have an "in" there if I wanted it. She got to know some of the core members and assistants this weekend at Regional Gathering and really liked them. Tahoma Hope is the only l'Arche community in the US that is also a farm. Several communities in France have farms, but it is a new idea in the States. Last weekend we went up there for a BBQ and I was able to see the farm and meet some of the folks there and tour the grounds. They have a chapel which I thought was really beautiful and a lot of space to walk around. I liked it there. So, I could potentially join l'Arche Tahoma for a bit, at least until next July or something.

Also, I've thought about doing something temporary (who knows what) until January and then heading back to Romania until the summer. I could raise the money pretty easily, and I would be a big help to Dana in terms of helping to organize the social work internship and getting the study abroad program off the ground. There's a lot of work there to be done, and Dana and Brandi and Briana are three of my favorite people on the planet. This is, of course, a non-money-making option, but I don't really expect to be making money until after a grad degree (Ha! getting a job with an MTS??).

Anyway, the parents are coming to town (Florers and Bixlers) this week and I am in the midst of trying to plan Melissa's picnic shower for Thursday. Doesn't look like a lot of folks will be able to come which is unfortunate. Thursday isn't the most popular day of the week, I guess.

Since Melissa was up in Spokane this weekend at Regional Gathering, Jacob and I drove up to Long Beach, Washington (Kite Capital of the world?) and stayed with Tim and a large portion of his extended family at their beach house. It was really nice to get away and meet some new people. The house they were renting for the week was literally right next to the ocean....you could see it from the upstairs windows. And it was huge! But, nonetheless, there were 15 people in a house that supposed to fit 9. At night, there was hardly a square inch to be found...people were sleeping on the floor, on the couches, in all the rooms. Tim and Jacob pitched a tent down the road and slept there. There were cousins and nephews and sisters and aunts and Grandma Roth, the matriarch. We raced go-carts in town (my testosterone levels went way up after we raced) and played a lot of video games (Mario-kart!) and played Clue like it was our job and walked on the beach. It was really a nice time, and I really enjoyed getting to know Tim better. He is a high-quality human being.