Hiya!

Hey, all. Obviously I've been gone awhile. Well, a combination of gone and distracted. Here are the month's activities:

July 23 was my last day of work. Had to quit or I wasn't allowed to go to Crater Lake with my family. I'd never expected cherries to go so long (they've NEVER gone this long, actually, my friend Kit who works there said), so it really wasn't any loss. I was worn-out, tired, and ready-to-be-done.

July 24-28 my family went to Crater Lake, and Nathaniel met us there on the Saturday. It was action-packed and fun but rather exhausting all the same. Beautiful and worth it, though:) Highly recommended.

July 29 my brother and I ran errands and visited our grandparents. (Another busy day...)

July 30-31 I babysat up at Camp Ghormley. Really fun but really trying, too. The girls were hard the first day but really great the second, so that was nice. It's hard to be patient with children when you feel as though you haven't stopped moving for over a month.

August 1st I was supposed to go hiking with my dad and brother and some other wonderful relatives. Unfortunately, my stomach had been turmoil-ous since Thursday night, so I stayed home. Which was good but a little bit sad:(

August 4-5 (I think it was those days...) I had jury duty. Sat in a pool of a little over 100 (maybe 106?) but wasn't selected.

August 6 I did nothing but read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In some cases that would be acceptable, even good after so much mayhem, but by the end of the day I felt quite sluggish, lazy and good-for-nothing. I recommend interspersing your less productive activities with productivity, in general.

August 7 I don't remember much. Oh, no--I do. We went to my aunt and uncle's for dinner, along with other wonderful relatives (of which I have a lot:). It involved homemade ice cream and fresh marionberries:)

August 8 we had people over for dinner: the "right Reverend" Ronald Jones + some of those same relatives. Mr. Jones and his wife were missionaries to the Philippines supported by our church for a long time, and then they moved back here and attended our church until they moved to Palmer, Alaska. We haven't seen much of them since, so it was nice to have a visit:)

August 9, Megan and I skipped church (*gasp*) and went to Maryhill Museum, primarily to see the Ansel Adams exhibit. However, we also met a lovely sculpture garden, multiple gorgeous peacocks (one of which stole a complete half of Megan's bagel--with cream cheese on it--after she so unwisely attracted individuals with her bagel crumbs...and, hilariously, the crumbs came from the half she hadn't been planning to eat, and they stole the whole half she had been planning to eat. So she was left with less than 1/2 a bagel). The rest of the museum was also impressive and amazing. I'd only been there once before, and we were rather young then. (Meg doesn't recall the previous visit at all.) I'd need a few more days visiting before I'd be quite satisfied, too--I want to read about every single peice of art there, not just look at them. But Meg was done longggg before I was, as she really didn't care about a whole lot beyond the Ansel Adams exhibit. Alas. Ah--also, fear not! We did attend church at night on our way home:)

August 10-11 I've been selected for a different jury, so I sat through the pool and was selected yesterday and today saw the initial stages of the case. I'm not allowed to talk about it until it's all over, so as not to be swayed in any way by bias. It's a fascinating process, and I think it's a really good experience. Besides, I get $10/day, which is a lot more than nothing, and I get to read my book a lot, because the court recesses a lot. It seems we do 15 or so minutes in and then are gone for 15 or 30 or 60 minutes. We DEFINITELY spent more time OUT of the courtroom today than in, but this is on account that the judge and attornies have much to do that doesn't involve the jury. Like I said, fascinating!

I've also house-sat one night and mowed my grandparents lawn twice. God never fails to give me a source of income when I need it!

God is very good. I feel like I've been crabby and, excuse me if you are offended, but there's not a better word I can think of, bitchy a lot this summer, and I suppose there are a variety of factors that go into that. But God is still good and loving and ready to help me move forward instead of backward.

Right now I have a purring kitten on my lap. I did nothing to make her purr except drop her into my lap. Amazing, isn't it?!? Animals are an incredible demonstration of the way God loves us--wholeheartedly and without regret. And ALWAYS. Cool, huh?

~Soli Deo gloria.