it's been a long night so this will be to the point.

today, during my eight hours straight of watering trees, i was daydreaming about when we get to heaven and god will say his famous line "well done thy good and faithful servant." i was probably thinking of how much of a screwup i am, and probably thought to myself that i wont be a recepient of those kind words. and then i was thinking how refreshing and exciting it would be to be surprised by those words. "who, me?!? gee, thanks!" my face would light up, i'd double check and make sure god wasnt pointing at the person behind me, i'd point to myself and raise my eyebrows, and he'd nod. i mean, i'd like to think that god won't commend the hilary faye's of the world at all, but even if he did, they'd be expecting it, which makes it a lot less meaningful. so i'm glad i'm not expecting it, and i hope i'm caught off guard on that day, and the fact that a screwup like me will be commended shows off god's glorious grace all the more.

speaking of hilary faye, i didn't really like saved. i wouldnt even recommend that other people go see it. i just didn't think it was worth much.

on another note, (mom, erica, you may stop reading here) there have been "feminine douche bags" laying on the table in our maintenance shop for the past week. i have yet to ask why.

oh! and one more exciting thing! i got a raise!
everyone at fellowship community got a 3% raise. this happened two summers ago too, and i wasn't included, so i just assumed i wouldn't be included on this one either. but i got a nice little letter about it and i'm getting a whopping 29 cents more an hour. that works out to about 2 dollars more a day which is about 10 dollars more a week which is about 20 dollars more a paycheck. unfortunately it doesnt go into effect until next pay period and i think i'll only have about 2 or 3 more paychecks by that time. but i sure am rolling in the dough. well, more like taylor university is rolling in the dough. well, not my dough, just the loan provider's dough. but now that i got a raise it will be a little bit less of the loan provider's dough and a little bit more of my dough. this is nonsense, i need sleep. goodnight.

hi.

the taylor blog update i promised is up. its very vague though. i didnt even give any details and it's like 20 pages long. i wish i could emphasize to people how great the trip to Paris was. i realize different types of mission trips have different purposes and many of them are good and worthwhile, but after this one, i feel like this is how all mission trips should be done! it's not a very valid thought, but it was just refreshing and it made sense and it was just my type of thing. listening and learning and letting god take care of it.

for the record, jamin and anyone else interested, i never got the shirt from slow loris. maybe she knew when my birthday was somehow and is decided to wait to send it? sometimes i get mad because she never sent it, and then i realize it's her generosity and her stuff, i dont deserve this shirt, so what right do i have to be mad about it? then i realized this is kinda a good illustration for god's grace and i used it for my sunday school class last week but im not sure if anyone understood it. it ties into the parable of the workers getting paid the same wages...we tend to think we deserve stuff, when we deserve nothing and it's all god's generosity. ummm, yeah, something like that.

last night we went to philly and had a great time. erica and rachel and i went down and met up with dan and jeff. jeff was in hello dolly at the walnut street theater. we ate quiznos. it's my favorite restaurant. we got a backstage tour. the show was really enjoyable. we went out afterwards to a "sheik-hipster joint" for jeff's birthday and dolly herself was with us. it was all very exciting. i wish dan was living in coopersburg still.

im glad im teaching sunday school this summer. im basically just rambling about my revelations of god's grace and its refreshing to remind myself of all this. i have found myself in tears more than once in preparing for the class.

we went to kari's wedding today which meant EVERYONE came up to erica and i at some point in the day and said "so...are you taking notes? getting ideas? does this make you excited? blah blah blah?" we didn't mind too much.

we met with a shady guy this morning who coordinates weddings and stuff. he's quite the salesman and said funny things like "nibbler platters."

has anyone seen fahrenheit 9-11 yet? reactions? there was a pretty good article about him in the newspaper today, about how everyone says his facts are off and stuff like that, and the grudges he has with jay leno and other guys, and there was a little interview with him, but the article left things disturbingly unresolved. i want to know whether this guy and guys like him are telling the truth or not. i like his work, but can you really believe all of it? is it possible to get unbiased facts anymore these days?

can you say brandtson?

uh oh. my finger just started itching and i think it might be poison ivy.

there is an older (early 60s, we're talking) couple in our church and these people can DANCE. holy moly. she just lays her head on his chest and they just glide all over the floor. if only i had half the moves of these two. they love it. i love it. it's a beautiful thing when two people are in love and they can dance well. (this topic was brought up because they were dancing at the reception today.)

adam, if you are reading this, this is me saying hi and thanks for the email. i am too lazy to hit reply and say hi. this is incredibly lazy and shameful. forgive me.

tomorrow is sunday school, church, seeing the stan sing his frank sinatraish heart out at the grove (if you don't know who stan is, come to our reception next summer and you'll fall in love), attending a graduation party, telling people at church about france, and we'll see what else. hooray.

happy sabbath. if you made it all the way through this one, you're a friend and a trooper.

and it's not that i'm a complete jerk in those chance encounters...it's just that things are more awkward than i want them to be and the interaction is not as grace-filled as i wish it would be.

this afternoon was one of the first times i actually enjoyed work. last night erica said a quick prayer for my poor attitude and maybe it was answered? randy and i were slaving away at taking this stupid ground cover vinca vine out that was planted for some reason and is now taking over, and while we were working, there were 3 or 4 old men that were standing there watching us and making a lot of jokes. this had potential to be annoying...but these guys are hilarious. quintessential old characters who joke around and just make you laugh and shake your head. i daydream about what my life would be like if one of them were my father-in-law. they were cute and funny and it made me want to retire with friends next door. and one of them gave me a coca-cola. and it wasn't the diet caffiene free kind either. hooray.

the other day at the dentist i was surprised to see the addition of a tv in the room where you get your clean-up-job and checkup. this seemed like a good idea, but i'm pretty sure the hygienist was watching the 5:00 news more than my teeth, which made me a little wary. is that the correct use of 'wary,' joanna?

i don't like watching grown married people flirt with other grown married people. i can see the desire and the temptation in their eyes. it makes me sick to my stomach. i hope to god i don't turn out like that. thankfully i'm fairly certain nothing goes beyond flirting. but what a mess satan can potentially make of our lives.

sorry to end on a downside. have i mentioned the brandtson cd is amazing? have i mentioned im engaged? time to hit the showers. i promise i'll update the taylor blog one of these days. as soon as they start paying me again. HA! happy wednesday.

i have a tendency to totally blow chance encounters. that didn't really make sense. but it's those times you randomly run into acquaintance-friends-whom-you-were-always-fond-of, in the cvs for example, and hours later you are kicking yourself for screwing things up. communicating the grace of god in a less-than-five-minute-conversation with someone you havent talked to in years is a tricky thing to do. i wish i was better at it. dear holy spirit, please help me in the future, sincerely, nathan.

today at work i passed two of the head nurses in the hallway and heard the words "vaginal fluid" with a hand motion that i communicated as 'flowing' or maybe even 'gushing.' ladies ladies ladies, is the middle of the hallway the best place to be talking about such things?

then in the lunch room two grown women were discussing their fanaticism with the oh-so-dreamy STING. it was terrible. and the one women's poor husband was sitting right across the table from her. it upset me quite a bit.

the new brandtson album is holy-moly-incredible.

all for now. when i get motivated, i'll post a paris update on the taylor blog so keep your eyes peeled.

im engaged.

i stopped in at the bank today to ask about my checking account balance. i had been checking the balance on the ATM machine and things didnt appear to be quite right. when i told the lady my problem, she asked if the balance on the ATM machine was too much or too little.
i was thinking about it later...how many people go in when they think their balance is too much?
when it's too much, you've (conveniently) made an error in your calculations and you'll figure it out later. when it's too little, the bank obviously made a mistake. hmm.

t-minus 3 hours until the long night of traveling begins. au revoir or gutentag or something like that.

hi.
vermont was great. read the taylor blog for a full report.
making you read the taylor blog is like including your best friends in a mass email, and for this, i apologize. it's pure laziness, but blogs in general are laziness, so, what else is new?
i'm kinda stressed out with life at the moment. not stressed out like freaking out. stressed out like not caring anymore. hmpf.
i leave for paris friday afternoon. wish me luck. if you don't believe in luck, wish me blessings. thank you.

i need to post this before i forget.

little taylor has a fascination with jokes. she doesnt really understand anything she is saying but that makes it all the funnier. eventually she'll insist that you tell her a joke, and you can say absolutely anything and she'll laugh hysterically. sometimes she'll laugh hysterically and stop abruptly and say "i don't get it" which is especially funny, particularly because she doesnt know whether she gets it or not, she just says that because she knows thats what you say after jokes.

she came up with a joke on her own that was by far her funniest:

Q: what did the shirt say to the blouse?
A: let's get in the car and go for a ride. i'll drive!

i saw supersize me last night. it was disgusting and hilarious at the same time. it was interesting and well presented and quite funny. some amazing stuff in there too...you'll never eat junk food again. maybe.

there's been stuff to talk about and i forget it all and have to help my dad pack anyway.

we'll be in vermont until tuesday. see you then.