Last night I had a doozy of a dream. I will do my best to explain it how I remember but I wish you could have just experienced it with me.

I was on the beach camping with my family and it was night time and all my friends were going to play basketball in the water but I didn't because it was dangerous. so I went for a walk. I walked all night and when I got back to the beach the next morning, the place was packed. Apparently, there was some huge concert thing going on. Well, after walking all night, I really had to use the bathroom so I found the only bathroom and the line for the womens room was SUPER long. Like stand in line for 3 hours kind of long. So I decided I'd just wait. Since I was camping on the beach front, I had a great "seat" for the concert so I made my way down this super super steep hill, trying not to step on people too badly (which was impossible because there were hordes of them) and I finally made it to the front. Once I got there, I saw that there was a bathroom right next to our site with hardly any line. So I got in line and realized that there was not "mens room" "womens room", it was just a big open room with 3 urinals on the right wall and one toilet on the left wall. Well, I was in the right line so when I got up to the front I asked the guy in the left line if he would switch with me so I could use the toilet rather than the urinal and he said yes. But when the person in front of him finished, he went to the toilet. I was pretty frustrated since, by this point, my bladder was pretty full. But rather than using the toilet, he took out a sponge and wiped it down and then offered it to me. (What a gentleman?) So I walked to the toilet trying to figure out how I was going to use the bathroom without defiling myself or anyone else and I must have figured out a way because I don't remember anything else of that - I just remember that they did an article in a magazine about me "The woman who showed propriety in an open restroom" or something weird like that.

So I go back to my campsite and all of a sudden my best friend from High School shows up with her kids! I didn't even know she was going to be there but she was looking for her husband, who had booked tickets really early and got seats right next to our site. So we hung out with them for awhile. I don't remember any concert or anything ever happening. I just remember that we were all chatting and then, out of nowhere, the hill next to the one with all the people on it started rumbling and shaking and the railroad tracks started falling off. Then everything started shaking and then there were thousands of shooting stars all at once and the world started spinning. Our cars were parked on a really steep hill and I wasn't sure if my parents car would make it out because it was parked the wrong way and it would be impossible to turn it around with all the shaking. It was like an earthquake, but it wasn't. So after about 5 minutes of detail that I won't go into, I saw that my parents made it up the hill. I was about ready to run up after them when gravity disappeared and I fell into the sky.

But rather than falling into space, I landed on another land. I wish I could draw you a picture. But there were 2 "earth's" and the ground of one faced the ground of the other sharing a common sky. But you couldn't see it. I didn't know another world existed above ours until I fell into it because before, gravity always held me down. So I found myself hanging on handlebars from a playground on this new world, watching the world below me, that I had been on, fall into chaos. I watch lions and jaguars and tigers and zebras all chase each other around the beach, and more stars fell and I realized that it was the end of the world (well, that one world) that I was witnessing. And with another lurch, I was flung back to regular earth and landed next to my parents who had reached a door. They pulled me through and slammed it shut and then everything seemed normal. I was upright, there was gravity, there was no chaos. There was just a woman in a toga. She explained to us that the world we had lived on had been destroyed and this was a parallel world we were in. Before, it seemed that this world was upside-down (when, in fact, this world was upright and the "earth" as we knew it before was actually upside-down) but now, it would seem just like the other world in looks and feel, because it was all that was left. Everyone who didn't make it through the door perished.

Then another woman came up and started yelling at us. Apparently our ancestors had lived in this world and been in a feud with this woman and that's why they left. So now that we were back, she wanted revenge. It was my mom, dad, brother (all like my real family) and then I had a little sister. (Which, in real life, I do not.) My sister was standing in the corner and as this woman kept yelling, she said that she would take something precious to us for her revenge and, before we could even comprehend what was happening, she pulled out a gun and shot my sister. But my sister had bought a replica sword at the "concert" on the other world and had it tucked in her shirt so the bullet hit that, bounced off, and hit the shooter in the chest. As she was dying she said to us that she was wrong to have tried to kill us for her fight was with our ancestors, not with us, and she was sorry. And then she died.

Then, another woman, who looked like the dead woman's sister, came up and said that, because we hadn't tried to fight back or retaliate, she could see we were people of character and she would help us in this new world. She said that the people of her own world were not quick to help the newcomers and there was a shortage of jobs but she was make sure we were cared for. So we walked into the first restaurant we came to, a bagel bakery, and she told the person behind the counter that my dad was a hard-worker and a person of integrity and she needed to give him a job. And so my dad got a job and I guess that meant we were going to "live happily ever after" (starting from the ground up in a new, unfamiliar world that looked just like ours but was vastly different in culture and character).

And then I woke up. SO strange. Wish I had a dream interpreter right about now.

This has got to be one of the funniest Fail Blog videos I've seen yet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHXj3qgFs_k&feature=player_embedded

I lied. This one is my favorite. Must have happened in KY.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KZ2EVIDDbY&feature=player_embedded

We seemed to pack a lot of things into this weekend - most good, one thing not so good. Friday was my day to work late so I didn't get home until 5, cooked dinner and then most of Friday evening is a blur and I can't remember much of what we did but I know I finished "What is the What." It was so good and I recommend it to anyone (except kids - it's pretty intense for kids to read). It blows my mind how ignorant, rude and mean Americans can be to the refugees in our country. Where is the compassion? Don't they know what these people have gone through? There was a large Sudanese refugee population near Coffs Harbour, in Oz. It makes me wonder how those people were treated by the Australians.
Saturday was a pretty low-key day. Charles spent all day in the library. I spend the day (which I meant to spend cleaning) writing music, figuring out what to play for Kate's wedding, grocery shopping and then in the evening I went to "It's a Grand Night for Singing" at UK with Aimee, Katie and Natalie. It was lots of fun and the show, once again, blew my mind. They put on a fantastic production and I would love to be in it - just be in the chorus line and learn all the fun dances!
Sunday was the most full day we had. We decided to have lunch at Five Guys. I had never even heard of this place before and all of a sudden, this weekend, everyone was talking about it and then we drove by in on the way to UK so we decided to check it out. It's like Raising Canes or In and Out Burger - they only do a few things (in this case, hamburgers, hot dogs and fries) but they do them extremely well! It was, by far, the best cheeseburger I've ever had. You can go in and order with any toppings you want and they are all free. I had the little cheeseburger (only 1 big beef pattie) with grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, pickles and AI and it was delicious and a great price. Charles and I split a large fry and it was huge - we couldn't even finish them. So that is my new fave place for Burgers!
Then we went and visited a new music store. I don't know why I'd never gone to that one before - it had pianos, great piano music (I bought the music from Pride and Prejudice - beautiful), violins, ukeles, etc. It was awesome. We spent over an hour in there. Then we went and saw UP in 3D. Another great movie... definitely a must-see, especially in 3D. We had called the theatre and they said the next showing was at 3:40 but we got there at 2:50 and decided to go in and buy our tickets. When we got there they said the next 3D showing wasn't until 5:10 but there was one that just started and was still in the previews. So we got to see it right away - which ended up being a really good thing. We got home a little after 5 and were going to play tennis but it started to thunderstorm so I decided to play my new music and Charles and Robert played Mario Kart.
And that's when it happened - we heard this explosion and then rushing water. Charles went to check it out and the boiler had blown and water was RUSHING out of the boiler room and beginning to flood the downstairs. So we quickly moved out the couches that were in the hallway and tried to shove towels under the apartment doors so they didn't flood. Then it took 3 of us (one person from upstairs) and ALL of our towels to sweep, squigi and mop the water out so it didn't flood our apartment. Maintenance got there quickly, but it took awhile for them to get the door open, fix it, and help us get the water out. But after about 4 hours, and a lot of sweat and work later (the main area was probably 100 degrees from all the hot water rushing out) everything was back to normal. It wasn't how we planned to spend our evening but we definitely got our exercise. And it also gave us the motivation to finally get renters insurance. There have been too many mishaps here for us not to. And now we have no hot water. And no idea when we'll get it back... that's a bit disheartening. I'm hoping it will be on by this evening. I would REALLY like a shower.
But in all that, I just kept thanking God that we were home - because we definitely hadn't planned to be. If we hadn't been there, who knows how long it would have been before someone noticed. Being that the apartment building was pretty much empty, and we are the only people on the bottom floor, it could have been a disaster. We could have come home to a flooded apartment and a lot of our stuff ruined. But we didn't. We saved our stuff and (hopefully) the stuff in the other apartments as well.

So that was the weekend. After that fiasco we were exhausted so we watched a couple episodes of Star Trek and went to bed.
And today it's back to work. Yippee.

On another note, my wrist was feeling back to normal after the weekend but after even 1 hour of typing today, I can feel my arm getting tense. Oh boy, here we go again.

That's pretty much the gist of our lives right now. Not much new.
My days consist of getting up too early, spending too much time at work, then usually doing something fun in the evening but it ends all to early when my bed time hits. Some of the fun things consist of:
Dinner with friends - a few nights ago we did a big Mediterranean style dinner with Greek salad, a fish dish and Charles made these delicious herbed cheese and tomato stuffed hamburgers that we had in Pita. So good.
Tennis - I have been learning how to play tennis and I love it! It feels quite natural to me most of the time. I'm used to racquetball so it's hard to remember that I just have the tap the ball - that right now, any type of force means I have to go hunt for the ball. It's nice to finally have an outdoor activity that I love, besides hiking. Yesterday we played for 4 hours and I am pretty sore today.
Hiking - I can't remember if I mentioned this already but Charles and I found some amazing hiking trails down by the Asbury College Equestrian Center. I thought they'd just be a nice walk in the woods but we ended up being taken on a path that overlooks the KY River valley, a path that took us right down to the river (it was quite the hike back up) and a third path that led us right along the bottom of the KY Palisades. Absolutely breathtaking. And who knew that was pretty much right in our backyard!
Star Trek - Charles and I did the 2 week free trial of NetFlix and Charles got the first season of Star Trek - The Next Generation. So we've been watching episodes here and there: on a lunch hour, before bed, while eating dinner, etc. I didn't think I could get into it, but I'm really loving it! It's kinda corny and 80s sometimes but I love that there is usually some moral dilemma or something.
Movie Mania - we've been on a movie kick lately. We saw Charlie Wilson's War this week - quite good... although they could have done without the first scene, Be Kind Rewind (ok), The Simpsons Movie (ugh) and I know there are more but they must not have been memorable because now I can't think of them.
Reading - I've been doing quite a bit of reading this last week. I read Redwall (the first book in a kids serious about a Warrior Mouse - it was a quick, fun read) and now I'm reading What is the What which is a fantastic (but sad) story of a Sudanese Refugee in America. The writing is brilliant. It was a finalist for the National Critic's award (or something like that) for best Novel either this year or last year. I have not finished it but at this point I would highly recommend it.

And I guess that is pretty much it. I've been practicing some music for Kate's wedding, trying to come up with a title for the piece I wrote for the bridal processional, I had to pull together a couple songs this morning for chapel today which went pretty, I've been spending some good quality time with my hubby (Saturday was a super fun day full of tennis, swimming, lunch at the Joseph Beth (bookstore) bistro... )! Good stuff. I even got a new cookbook! (Can't wait to try out some of the recipes!) So far this summer is off to a good start. But I must admit it gets harder to get up and come to work every morning. It's hard enough in the winter but in the summer it is just torture. I'm SO looking foward to my week off in July!

My ONE down note is that I'm getting carpel tunnel and that really sucks. I think it's my body's way of saying "TOO much typing, TOO much time at a computer. GO OUTSIDE." But alas, I cannot. So instead I'm wearing a brace and trying not to kill my wrist with piano and tennis.

So with all the things going on with AJ I forgot to post about the fun memorial weekend events!

My parents took their time getting down here and arrived Friday afternoon! I made a yummy and healthy dinner of shrimp and bean packets and then we went for a walk around Wilmore, ending up at Cluckers for ice cream! yum! On the way back to the apartment we saw a couple taking a picture beside the Francis Asbury statue and my dad offered to take the picture so they could both be in it. We found on the next day that it was Scott Rassmussen and his wife - Scott Rassmussen of Rassmussen reports! (He was also the speaker at graduation!) :) So that was cool.

Saturday was a full and busy day - Charles's graduation! We went to the worship service, which was really great (Charles played the drums!), then enjoyed the graduation picnic with my parents and Kate and Robert. We sat with a really funny couple who talked all about their farm and had us in stitches!

After lunch we had to RUSH (and I mean rush) to the Luce Center so Charles could get his picture with the graduating Wesleyans... but we missed the official one. Oh well - he's not going to be Wesleyan much longer anyway and I don't know how they expected people to get there so early. That part of the day was rushed and frustrating but it ended up fine. We got there, got seats, and Charles graduated! I was so proud of him - he has worked so, so hard!
After graduation my parents took us and Jason to our favorite Indian Restaurant - Masala!! yum! We definitely ate our fill of Tikka Masala, Lamb Curry, Naan bread... it was soooo delicious.

My parents had stayed up pretty late the night before so they went to bed early and Charles and I helped Robert and Kate move in upstairs! It will be so fun having them live right above us!

Sunday we went to the Louisville Zoo! It was a pretty good zoo and we had a lot of fun. My favorites were the tiger, the baby elephant (sooo cute) and the Bongo! I had never seen a bongo before... Louisville is one of the few zoos that has one - it's like a cross between an elk and a zebra. Super weird but awesome! God has quite the imagination!
We ate our packed lunch in the parking lot then headed home. We threw together all the leftovers we had in the fridge for dinner and had quite the smorgasboard - pork and saurkraut, salad, garlic couscous, perogies... etc. My cousin in N. Ireland calls it "Fridge on the Table", and that's sure what it felt like!
After dinner we did a couple geocaches around Wilmore (I found them both - that never happens!!) and then went home to eat ice cream and go to bed.

Monday we slept in a bit then went with my parents and Kate and Robert to the Reds-Astos game in Cincinnatti. We had a lot of fun and had great seats but at the bottom of the 4th inning it started raining and they delayed the game. We waited an hour and a half and finally decided to leave. The game started back up about 20 minutes after we left - go figure. But the Astros lost so Charles didn't care too much that we didn't see the whole game.

We said goodbye to my parents at that point, which was sad. But I will see them again in July and that is not so far away. The rest of us went and spent the rest of the day at IKEA. Oh. My. Goodness. I had never been there before and it was AWESOME! The top floor was a bit overwhelming for me -- too much stuff to look at and too much stuff I would love that I can't afford. The bottom floor was a little better! Charles and I got a chair for the living room, bamboo placemats and a paper lantern to go over the kitchen table, a holder for our salt and pepper shakers, a plant, and I can't remember what else - but it all came to less than $100! And we had a great dinner there (the business model they have is a brilliant one - make people tired from walking around and then offer them a delicious meal for a great price!). I could move to West Chester just to be near that store! With the new upgrades and the little bit of rearranging we have done (as well as a new pair of red curtains that I just picked up) our apartment is starting to look more like a home and less like a mish-mash of free furniture that we have picked up from anyone who might be giving it away. I'd say it's about time - we've been in that apartment for almost 2 years now (hard to believe).
We made a quick stop at the nearest Tim Hortons before heading home.

Overall it was an exhausting but oh so fun weekend! And the best part is, with Monday off, I only had to work a 4 day week this week and that is super awesome! Tomorrow is Friday and I'm looking forward to another great weekend!

AJ was a part of our family for 10 years and my parents had to put him down unexpectedly yesterday. Although I'm not usually a super emotional person (at least as far as sadness goes), I have been a wreck. It's especially hard to be away from home at times like this . I didn't get my chance to say good-bye, I just have to grieve from a distance.

I will never forget the day we brought AJ home. I actually was not there to pick him out. I came home from somewhere (I was 16 so I was probably with friends or at work) and around the corner of the kitchen runs this super cute, skinny, BIG puppy (he was 6 mo. but already huge!). He was so happy and friendly and I loved him right away! At that point we still had Sam and it was fun to watch AJ (who was so young) try to play with Sam (who was so old).

AJ certainly had his quirks. Digging holes, for instance. He thought he was a gopher or something. We ended up having to tie him out by the cherry tree so he didn't dig up the whole yard, which at first made me so sad because he loved to run around and it seemed silly to have to tie him when he had so much room to roam - but it didn't take long to realize that he liked being out there. Even when he wasn't tied up he'd go lay out there in the shade.
He was terrified of thunderstorms. If he was outside during a storm he would destroy the garage door trying to get in.
He loved our cats - I'll never forget AJ and Mittens and how they used to play hide and seek in the field. Or how you'd come into the garage at night and find him snuggled with Pumpkin.
And he wouldn't fetch for anything. He knew what he was supposed to do, but he just didn't care enough to do it. If you had a treat he might bring it back to you twice, at most. But usually you'd throw the ball and he'd look at you like "well, you were dumb enough to throw it, go get it yourself" and walk away in the other direction.
And lastly, he wouldn't bark. We have big dogs to be guard dogs and it's a good thing AJ was big and looked intimidating because he couldn't have kept a fly out of the house. I swear if someone was trying to break it he'd sit by and wag his tail. Usually you hear people yelling at their dogs to stop barking - we had to give AJ a treat every time he DID bark to encourage him to do it some more!

AJ could be pretty protective. If I was outside sitting on the ground and Charles came up behind me, AJ would get between us and chase him around the yard - not in a mean way, ever. But in a clearly protective way.
Mom would tell him when I was coming home and he would perk up his ears and get excited and wait for me. When I'd leave, he'd start moping as soon as he saw the suitcases.

And my favorite thing was that he was always the first to greet me when I came home - whether it be from school, work, college, Australia, KY... he'd hear the car coming and be there to greet me as soon as I opened the car door. It's weird to think that there will be no furry mass to trip over with my suitcase the next time I go home.

I just can't believe he's gone. No one saw it coming - a week ago he was fine. He had injured his leg right before my parents came to visit this past weekend, but they took him to the vet, put him on meds and he seemed to be doing better when they left. But the first day there were here my grandparents called and said his whole back half was paralyzed. He was himself - happy, and eating and seemed really normal but he couldn't move his back legs or his tail. So when my parents got home yesterday and found out that the X-rays showed nothing and the only option was an MRI, possibly surgery and after thousands of dollars still no guarantee that he'd be able to walk again, the only other option was to put him to sleep.

I don't know how my parents did it. I would have been a mess. They went to see him at the vet (where he'd been staying) and he was so excited to see them - not having a clue that it would be the last time... that he wasn't going home. I was thinking last night that it's too bad the vet couldn't come to our house to do the deed... just so that he could be home. But it's good to know that it was quick and painless and he was with people he loved and who loved him.

I'm sure going to miss my sweet puppy. But he will always be close by. My parents are going to bury him in his favorite spot - underneath the cherry tree.

I start with the random thoughts. Worst new first.

Random Thought #1: The job I was really hoping for for Charles fell through. Huge bummer and a big pain in the butt, to be honest. I'm working hard at optimism and not being bitter. So we are somewhat back to square one in our plans for next year. He will look for some other jobs in the Lexington area and if nothing pans out then we will look elsewhere and move to wherever we can get 2 jobs with decent incomes. The plus to staying in KY is that we live in a super affordable place and Kate and Rob are here and with another income we could save a lot of money, I think. The plus side to moving would be the fun of another adventure, getting away from KY drivers, getting some new experiences... but we run the risk of moving somewhere more expensive, needing another car and not putting much money away - which is the #1 goal for right now since we are still hoping Durham will work out in the long run.

Random Thought #2: Yesterday was the last chapel for the 0809 year. It was the best sermon I've ever heard on the Ascension. I must admit that I was proud be "Anglican" (I'm not officially Anglican but I'm moving that direction) when JD talked about how many churches pass over Ascension day and preach on something else that day. Not our church! All our readings and the sermon will focus on the importance of Ascension day! There is something to be said for going to a church that pays attention to the church calender!
Anyhow, it was a really powerful sermon (you can listen to it online if you're interested - it would be at www.asburyseminary.edu/chapel and then just find the mp3 for the chapel on 5/20/09) about how Jesus flew (this was a big thing for JD - and it really is awesome to think about!) and what his ascension means for us. And he said something that I found brilliant. He said that the gravity of earth is "what goes up must come down." (And not just in physics, but in nature as well - pride comes before a fall.) But the gravity of heaven lifts us up! (In Jesus's case and in our case someday, it is literal - He ascended and someday we will meet him in the air! But there is also the spiritual sense - Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up!) So awesome! And he talked about the shape of the cross and how it fits with the gravity of heaven. "Jesus, being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but came in the form of a man, a servant and made himself obedient to death, even death on a cross (that is the down - the humbling)... therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above everyname... (and that is the up - the exalting!). As Christians, our lives should follow the same pattern! I wish I knew how to draw things on here so I could give you the visual. But it was awesome, nevertheless, and the sermon is worth listening to online if you have a few spare moments.

That leads me to my funny story.

Our workstudy here in Financial Aid is leaving us this week so we all planned to go out to lunch together. They wanted to leave around 11:45 but I had to play in chapel. I told them that if it got too late to go ahead without me and I'd meet them there. So chapel, although really great, went really long and I didn't finish up until after noon. I came back down and everyone had their lights off and doors locked so I figured they'd left. I hopped in my car and drove to the restaurant as quickly as I could (getting stuck behind people who have not yet realized that their cars can go over 45 mph Go KY.) Anyhow, I get to the restaurant and no one was there. So I thought maybe I had the wrong place. So I went to call them and realized that I left my phone back in my office. So no phone, no friends. Great. I thought maybe they decided to go somewhere else so I drove to a couple of the near-by restaurants but no go. I knew that by the time I got back to my office to get my phone that it would be too late to meet up with them. So I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a few groceries, got a sub at subway and went back to work.

Turns out, they had waited for me until 12:10. But they had locked up and were waiting in the little room in the back (that I never thought to check) and then had gone to the restaurant but I had already left. And they tried to call but, of course, I didn't have my phone.

So that is my funny, albeit sad story of how I missed Rob's goodbye lunch.