this weekend, one of our summer interns, jonathan loper, came to visit. i think he'll do a great job. he probably isn't so sure about working with me. i think i usually come across as a pretty much "together" person. i can handle details and organization, but underneath it all i'm a spaz and a scatterbrain - and i'm ok with that. it just takes a while for most people to really see that side of me. not jonathan. i've known for about two weeks that he was coming to visit, but for some reason i totally forgot on sunday. mark, one of our cool youth deacons, brought him in and was like well, here he is, this is jonathan. and i was kind of like ok great and i kept trying to figure out how to ask who he was and why he was here. i think it was obvious pretty quickly that i was not making the connection so there was this really awkward thing where i was just spitting out random questions, trying to figure out who he was. and then, it all hit me along with the embarassment of not remembering. later i called him chad and he also got to witness me freaking out when i nearly missed my chair in my office. so, jonathan - welcome to the team!

i've stayed up late the last two nights to watch eco-challenge. it shows at 9, but the last two nights i've missed it and had to watch the repeat at 11. anyway, eco-challenge has got to be one of my favorite things to watch and it is totally worth the loss of sleep. it is getting up there with march madness, if you can believe that. anyway, this year it is in the fiji islands. the athletes in this race are incredible. i can't believe some of the things they go through. in moments of delirium i think i might be able to do that, but then reality hits and i remember how lazy and out of shape i am - with or without gary the abs man. although, this year there is a team of playboy playmates which makes me think maybe it is possible... anyway, i have a couple of favorite teams. i love the kiwis from new zealand. they are so hardcore. my favorite team member on the kiwis is nathan. last year, he tried to do the whole race without sleeping and toward the end completely lost it and basically went temporarily insane. but, i think he has a different strategy this year. i also like team go, who finished in last place last year. hayden christensen (anakin skywalker) is competing this year with his brother and sister and that has been interesting. the only thing is their fourth member isn't even mentioned. that's got to stink. i'll try to keep you updated. i'm going to go out on a limb and say my kiwis are going to win it this year, even though ian and team go-lite are going for a three-peat. anyway, check it out on usa this week.