I am so thankful that my value is not computed based on the stupidest thing I ever did. Wouldn't it be terrible if your worth was equal to the worst mistake you ever made?

I am also thankful that we can change and become new creations. Have you ever met someone and then later found out that in highschool or college they were completely different than they are now. They were drunks or promiscuious or druggies...and you think I would have never guessed that because they are SO different now.

I love evolution of people.

Long time no see. Last night was our last night in Charlottesville. We spent the day packing up our house and CLEANING. Moving is tiring work. I don't like it. I don't want to do it again soon. Please don't make me. No- really. Please.

We drove today to Bloomington. On the way here we rejoyced in SPRING. The Dogwoods and Redwoods are blooming and the leaves are a-sprouting. It is amazing how quickly the cold and winter pass, and now that they are over- I can hardly remember what it was like! Today was perfect; it was 78 degrees and sunny and I was walking around in short sleeves.

Rules (for my sister about love)

1. Ex-boyfriends should NOT be allowed to call your house to talk to your parents or siblings. The only reason they can call is to tell you how wonderful you are or to ask you to take them back (which you will, or course NOT DO.)

2. If someone says that they love you and you don't feel the same, and then they treat you badly and make fun of you and go out of their way to be mean to you- you are right they don't love you. They don't know what love is.

3. If you get dumped, remember they ALWAYS come back and they are always sorry they left.

4. When a guy comes for the weekend to visit you and ignores you, acts like a baby and NEVER closes a door, BEWARE.

5. Wait for the CIA guy who has a cover story and is on secret mission and is smart enough to know how to treat a woman.

Portrait of a family:

Ring ring (Ever notice how cell phones NEVER ring? It is always a whistle or a song or a vibrate, but never a ring!)

Rachel: Hello?

Luke: Savannah just said something and we can't remember where it comes from. It's "Pulsating mass of festering wounds."

Rachel: (Laughing) oh yeah! We used to say that all the time... I have no idea where it comes from. It sounds like something in the Princess Bride...but I think it is more obscure than that.

Luke: Yeah, Savannah said she thinks we read it somewhere, she remembers us saying it all the time on the way to school.

Rachel: I haven't thought of that phrase in ages! We will have to Google "Pulsating mass of festering wounds" and see what we get.

Luke: OK, bye

Rachel: Bye.

Weird. Weird. Weird.

Although I still think that is a facinating phrase!!

Tonight was fun. We went out with about 6 of Clints co-workers. They were all really fun and I enjoyed getting to know them. It has been so long since I was in a group of people just laughing and joking. We had a really good time. You will be relieved-I'm sure- to know that at the end of the evening we were both in perfect condition to drive home!

After everyone left, we noticed that the resturants on the square had out their outside seating. We sat down and at some mussells and calimari. Here is my new favorite thing- ordering apertizeres. They are SOOOO much less expensive and there is always a lot of food! We figure that may be the last time we eat downtown in Charlottesville.

There are a lot of really great things about Charlottesville. Like how the nights get cold and we don't have to run the heat or air conditioner for abour 6 months out of the year. Also there is plenty of seafood around and lots of ethnic resturants. The four seaons- and a relatively mild winter (One of Clint's co-workers lived in Rochester and Detroit so he thought the winters in Charlottesville were heavenly and he couldn't understand how I could have been COLD this winter!). I highly reccommend if you have a chance to live here that you do it- but only if you are going to make a lot of money. I also suggest that if you can come for a vacation you do that. You could drop in and see my aunt while you're at it!

I don't know who Bracey Wright thinks he is...but he isn't. He is going to give up a college degree to go play in the NBA when the best I can say about him is that he can make three point shots IF no one is guarding him and IF he is having a good game and IF he isn't injured. Give me a break. Go Bracey- and maybe you can get a ticket to a game in next year's road to the championship.

Tonight we had meatball subs. The reciepe comes from Clint's Italian grandmother and it was DELICIOUS: fried meatballs, sauce and mozerella. I say it again- delicious. I think I would be a great short order cook. I love the fast pace and multitasking that can go on in a kitchen. My favorite days at the bakery were when we had huge lunch rushes- people out the door- and we had to make sandwiches as fast as our little hand could move. Ahh the sweet smell of Chaos...my favorite.

Tomorrow we are going out with Clint's office for drinks. Coming from a non-drinking christian back ground I find this concept amazing. Adults, going to a brewery to drink and socialize. It facinates me. One of the guys told Clint today that he would be willing to drive Clint home if he wanted to "get serious about drinking" tomorrow night -the guy is 22 and this is his first job after college which might explin his mentality but still...I am intrigued that he would think nothing of someone he works with getting drunk and having to be driven home. People are the most interesting things on the planet.

It is hard for me to grasp that my days left in Charlottesville are in the single digits. T-6 and counting. That is how it was when I left Abilene- I didn't realize that I wasn't living there until like last week.

Clint had a good interview with the University of Texas last night. He said that he really enjoyed the people interviewing him and that they said right off the bat that the position he was interviewing for was a great way to get into higher education, familiarize yourself with other positions within the University and then move on. That is good to hear! We won't know more about it until the end of next week. I'll keep you posted.

37 year old Mike Tyson is going to fight again. Does he think this is a good idea?

I found the COOLEST toy online the other day. You type any word into the site and it tells you how often that word is used in the English language. I could spend hours (which I have) typing in various words. I am facinated with it. It is here: http://www.fabrica.it/wordcount/main.php

I don't know about you guys but I had a GREAT WEEKEND. Friday, after Clint got off work, we drove to see my favorite Aunt and the family. We had a wonderful time with them. They took us into DC to see all the Cherry Blossoms, and then we drove past my old house and went to see the highschool I used to go to- more about that later. Then we went back to DC and ate Ethiopian food- yummm- and then walked around the neighborhood. Both my Aunt and Uncle used to live in DC so they were great guides. There is nothing like experiencing a city with someone who is in the know- it's always an eye opening experience. Sunday we went to church, then traded family stories and then Clint and I were on our way home. Turns out they only live about an hour and a half from us.

Anyway- about going to my old highschool- it was completely surreal. There was no one there- it was opened because there were a few people in the auditorium practicing some play. We walked around and saw all my old classrooms, the old lunch room, gym, lockers etc. What was really strange was to be there with my husband and to think about my little 14 year old self walking the halls 12 years earlier with no idea that one day I would be back with Clint. It is interesting to me the connection we feel with places where we know a little something about what has happened there, or who has walked there. It is why we like going to the Alamo or Mount Vernon or Israel. There is something sacred about knowing the history of a place-just the knowing connects you to the past. There is something sacred about putting your hand or foot in a place where Thomas Jefferson or Jesus or a younger version of yourself put their hand or foot.

I am beginning to wonder if we really should leave Charlottesville. Not to worry too much- I am pretty sure we should. It's just that with the renewal of spring I forget how terrible it has been here. I start to wonder if we only decided to leave because we were so miserable. I think it will be helpful, now that I am not bed ridden with depression to re-examine the decision just so in the future I will be safe knowing that the choice to leave was based on more than just a burning desire wash my hands of a city that has not been kind to us so far! Clint gets nervous when I start talking like this- but mostly after I have said something crazy like "I am not sure we should leave Charlottesville," I feel better and can dismiss the idea completely. In fact, after writing a paragraph on it, I dismiss it now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKE!!! You are in your mid-twenties just like me!!!

I am going on hiatius for the weekend. We are headed to visit my Aunt and Uncle for the weekend. I think we are going to make it up to see the cherry blossoms in DC!

I'll let you know how it goes.
-R

Family is so strange...at least mine is. We make the same comments about television shows and people and situations. I bet if you could watch me watching Mythbusters here in Virgina, and the rest of my family watching Mythbusters in Indiana we would be saying the same things at the same times.

Also my family communicates strangely. I have played Taboo with my brother where he could guess "apartment" from my clue of "New York." People we were playing with looked at us like we were cheating but somehow that clue and that answer made sense to us.

My sister just called me and our conversation went like this:

Her: "Hey- I can't remember that song from camp. It's two parts and there is something about an empty cup and not having any strength."

Me: "Yeah- that is called 'All in All'"

Her: "YES- that's it. Thanks."

Is this communication normal?

Once I called her because I couldn't remember a catch phrase from a computer game we had when she was little. I didn't tell her what game...I just asked for "the line the FDR always said in that game." "Barbarism," she said and we hung up.

Again...is this normal?

I didn't fall asleep until 4:30 this morning. I have got to get on a schedule! I don't know what my problem is.

Something to consider:
Success is different for everyone. If I wash the dishes every night- I am successful because my natural inclination it to put them off until the morning. If Clint puts the dishes of until the morning, he is successful because his natural inclination is to do them every night even if he has to stay up all night or miss out on fellowship to do it. For some people planning and thinking about the details means they have been successful; for others, being spontaneous and unplanned is success. In other words, decide what comes most naturally to you, and then do things against your nature that help you achieve balance. Anyone who is extremely anything: rigid, chaotic, clean, messy, lazy, hardworking, thoughtful, obvilious, gererous or stingy needs to work on balance. AND remember- things that are good are usually hard.

Well, we were right dad- North Carolina won. The best line of the night was after it was all over the commentator said "What started in March ended in April with a championship that belonged to May." You know he has been waiting to use that line!!

I have been plagued with insomnia these past few nights- and that means that Clint has not been sleeping well either. I go to sleep at about 11 and then without fail wake up at 3 and can't fall back asleep until about 6. It is horrible. I think part of the problem is the warm weather- it makes our room so much hotter and that is one thing I can't stand: sleeping in a hot room. The bad thing is that all I do is lay there and think about anything and everything. One thing I miss about being single is that when you aren't sharing your bed with anyone if you wake up in the midlde of the night you can turn on the lights, get out a book, watch a little tv etc all without leaving the warmth of your bed. Those days are long gone! I hate insomnia...any suggestions?

We had blueberry muffins this morning. I rememeber being a little girl- about 5 and helping my dad make blueberry muffins in the moring. I was always delighted to see the purple liquid drained off the little can of berries, and skeptical that they were indeed bluberries- they sure didn't look like any bluberries I'd ever had! Biscuts are another breakfast we would make with my dad. I still remember the sound of the air escaping as he pushed down a glass on the dough to cut them out- and never forget to push down and then turn the glass to cut the dough fully. Then there are the pancakes- my dad's specialty. I have never tasted better pancakes than his. First you have to get the flame just right and the pan just hot enough. I rememeber my dad holding his hand over the pan to check the temperature. I didn't know why...but it was an important step- one I still do today. Then in goes the batter...wait for the bubbles, and NO peaking- once you lift up the pancake it won't get any browner. Also, the stance you assume while cooking pancakes is ver impotant: spatula in the right hand, arms behind your back, left hand holding your right wrist- again- I still do this one today- it makes me feel like the adult.

Last night we watched two movies- One "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" was really facinating. It was about her rise and fall. After watching it- I can't help but like her. Don't get me wrong. I think she ahs issues (unlike the rest of us) but fundamentally, I think she is a pretty good person. We also watched "The Fog of War," a movie about Robert McNamara, the Seceratary of Defense durning the first half of the Vietnam War. That one was really really good. Both documetaries are good examples of how people are much more likeable when you undersatnd their actions and thoughts. People are rarely stupid...it's just that we don't understand them or don't have all the information!

This morning we drove to Potomac Mills a GIGANTIC shopping mall near DC. We spent a good 6 or 7 hours shopping away...and left without having bought a single thing. I was very proud of us...it helps when you know you don't have the money to spend, but still that is quite a feat! We tried on shoes, looked at clothes, picked our favorite china pattern, and my personal; favorite- people watched. The most interesting thing I saw; tons of women in really really high heels for a day of shopping. They are better women than I. I wore sneakers and MY feet hurt.

The Pope is gone. The process that follows will be interesting to watch.