i may have totally blown my ncaa men's tournament bracket this year, but i did pick the right team to win eco-challenge. my kiwis pulled it out in the end. they are so cool!

this week has been so packed. i guess that happens before you go on vacation, but this week has not offered much relief until this morning when i slept in a little. it was really nice. the rest of weekend i'll probably spend trying to pack and clean up my apartment. i'm also going to rooster days - a yearly festival in broken arrow. derek webb from caedmon's call will be playing there, so i'm pretty pumped about that.

recently i've ventured out into wearing capris. when they first came out a few years ago, i thought they were ridiculous, but they've grown me and i finally caved in. i made three of my girls, jill, lindsey, and tiffany go with me to buy some. it was crazy how insecure i felt wearing them at first. i just felt really awkward, but the girls were supportive (and honest) as always and i found a pair. i've gone looking for some more, but i've been really frustrated because they are all so long on me they might as well be pants. luckily, one of my friends, glenn linscomb is hemming them for me. i think this "capri transition" will go pretty well. i'll keep you updated.

i've spent so much time talking about ridiculous things i don't have time to blog about what i really wanted to blog about. i'll try it anyway. lately i've been wrestling with the idea of redemption and what that means. but, i just looked at a clock and i really don't have time. oh well, i guess that's another blog.

by the way - no racquetball attack yet!

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.

i made it through senior sunday! sunday was definitely a stressful day - you want everything to go perfectly because it is such a special day to our seniors and their families. but, everything went well. the slide show came up, we didn't miss anybody, and everybody stood where they were supposed to. brad did a great job and the women's ministry here handled the senior lunch which was wonderful!

things at the gym are good, even though i slept through my kickboxing class this morning. saturday i went to an abs class with gary. i don't really know gary's complete background, but he is known all over tulsa for being pretty over the top when it comes to abs. i think we did 1000 to 1200 crunches (in various positions) in 50 minutes. it was so crazy! he just kept going and toward the end i started to look around in desparation, wondering if anyone else realized that he had clearly lost his mind and it was up to one of us to stop him! but, no one said anything and eventually he stopped. as crazy as ol' gary is, i'll be at his class this afternoon.

another thing about my gym is that the racquetball courts freak me out. i've never played racquetball, but i think i get the general idea of the game. anyway, their courts are downstairs and open at the top. there are about four courts i think, with two on each side of a walkway that goes to the mens' and womens' lockerrooms. so, basically, as you walk to the locker room, you have "open" racquetball games going on on each side of you. i am completely convinced that i am going to get nailed by a ball moving at a very fast speed. i've pictured the whole scene several times. every time i walk to the locker room i fight the urge to get down on my stomach and do the "soldier crawl" thing until i'm past the courts. if anything happens i'll let you know.