I was laying in bed at some point this morning thinking about sleep and basic training. In the beginning weeks of basic, we were allowed about 6 hours a night if we didn't have fireguard. If we did have fireguard, it was about 3 1/2, and most of us had it 2-3 nights a week. In my sleepy state, I wondered if that would be considered torture. As we progressed in our training, we were allowed more sleep. When we made a major boo-boo, we'd be woken up in the middle of the night and driven outside to do exercises on the concrete in the cold. Terrible. Needless to say, we quit messing up. I think I'm a stronger person because of it.
Now, I'm not endorsing torture. Somewhere in dreamland I put these two things together and my brain began processing them. Interesting thought, anyway.
Today was boring. My major mission was laundry and to get the computer up and running again. The faucet adapter I use with my washing machine bit the dust today and is barely usable, so I have to jump up and turn the water on or off, depending on the cycle, lest I get water spraying everywhere or I damage the pump in the machine. So that's a pain.
I'm sick of the computer. What I really want is someone to go do something with. I’m talking friend-wise. Travis is definitely my best friend, but I can’t drag him around doing girl stuff for very long. I miss having Kristy here. I miss having a friend who is on the same wave length with me who wants to shop and eat and talk and laugh. I miss friendship. I know that it's something every ministering couple has to go through--loneliness. And I suppose knowing it makes it easier to go through. It's times like this, when I'm really feeling the "adolescence" of our situation that I pray. By adolescence I mean that we're not quite on the level of pastors, but we're not newbie kids, either. We don't fit into the single category because we're married, but we don't fit into the "family" catagory either because we don’t have kids. So, like I said, I pray. I know things will change eventually. Nothing stays the same forever, and whether it's me changing or the situation changing, it will change.
It's been cloudy all day. Just blah. No internet. Nothing good on the radio. No books I want to read. Finally at about 3:30 I had enough. I'd opened my door to get some air in the apartment and noticed it was raining. It was fairly mild, though, temperature-wise. So after getting a little motivation from reading the Curves magazine "Diane", I put on my walking clothes and headed out. I got soaked, but oh, it felt so good. It was a warm rain and I loved it. I did about a mile and a half around my neighborhood.
Before I got too deep into my walk, I went over to the river behind my apartment. (That's what the picture up top is.) It is so cool. If you scroll down you can see a picture of me and Ayla standing on some rocks next to the water. Well, it's been so rainy since the first snow that the river is incredibly swollen and those rocks are way under water now. The water reaches about halfway up the old levy. It's millions and millions of gallons of black water rushing over the ruins of two centuries ago. Absolutely incredible. I could stand there for hours. I wish someone had made or would make a study of the history of Felts Mills. It really should be a historic site. Maybe I'll do some research.
Another thing I noticed on my walk was how much more you can see when all the leaves are gone. I was walking along the ATV trail and noticed a TV someone had rolled down a hill. I hadn't seen it before because of the foliage. That's kind of how life goes, isn't it? Things always go in cycles. When we get to an autumn time in our lives, when things are dying off, we can get a better picture of ourselves and see where we need to clean up. Then the winter comes and allows us to compost all that nastiness and it gets buried under a layer of bright white snow, or God's grace, blanketing everything, making it utterly still, and allowing the natural processes to occur under the frozenness. Then the spring comes, and we begin to grow again, using those past experiences as fuel. Then the summer comes and we become fruitful and effective.
...Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
I know Jesus was talking about a person forsaking his life to pursue Christ, but it kind of goes along with the season thing too.
On a totally unrelated note, my latest food adventures have been among the newest Doritos flavors: Blazin’ Buffalo Ranch and Spicy Sweet Chili. I’m not one to normally have intestinal distress, but there was more than buffalo blazing after I polished off nearly an entire bag of those babies. They’re so two edged—they burn like crazy, but they taste so good that you think, "Just a few more won’t hurt."
The Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos taste like Chinese food, so I was doomed from the first chip. They taste like they were dipped in chili oil, but the flavor is soooo good that you keep going. This time, though, I refrained from eating too many. I really do like keeping my intestines intact.
