Successfully skied yesterday for the first time in my 29 years and had an absolutely blast. I say first time, I tried many years ago but gave up after one run when I ran over a 2-year-old kid at the bottom of the hill. Yesterday I managed quite a few more runs than that including a few good falls and one totally uncontrolled sprint down the “big” hill where I managed to stay upright. Dawn is an excellent teacher and promised that conditions were perfect. She tells me I would be very lucky to ever again enjoy two feet of fresh powder from the day before.
Today it took seven hours to get home but that included an excellent veggie burger at Burger King and an even better veggie sub at Firehouse Subs. I continued to be amazed at how well Dawn and I can entertain each other in the car. Kobe was very happy to see us and is now perched just above Dawn on the couch helping her with her work.
We came home to a strange box on our doorstep. The conference center we use for our fall conference mailed me a very nice box of chocolates as a little thank you. I knew this new role would have a few unexpected perks.
Watching football as we both drift towards sleep. They interviewed one of the players in the pre-game and when asked about what he’d do after retirement (at 35) his answer was “absolutely nothing.” Dawn and I both commented on how strange it is that so many people dream about that. I know often they actually mean “anything I want without having to worry about making money” but saying “absolutely nothing” feels very different. And a touch sad.
It’s really cold outside. The wind was blowing stuff around outside and I thought it was snow. Sadly it was not. I did notice that it is snowing on this blog, wish I could take credit for that.
November was a busy month that concluded with our annual fall conference in Hampton. Over 200 students were with us for the weekend which we have all agreed was a success. Things have slowed down a touch since that sucker was put in the books.
December has been a big month for working on fundraising. I sent out my year-end letter with hopes of many friends being able to give at this time of year. Two people so far have told me they are coming on as monthly donors in January which is awesome. Final 2009 numbers won’t come out until mid-January but I am praying that with some surprise gifts coming in the next few weeks, the year will end better than expected.
Kobe (our cat) has had some gunk in his eye for the last few days. Dawn finds this particular gunk rather disgusting and is very thankful I am willing to pull it out with the help of one simple toilet paper square. Daily activity.
This weekend we are with my family in the mountains. Next week we have a handful of days in Richmond seeing the rest of the crew. And on the 26th I fly out to warm St. Louis for Urbana #4 for me. I still vividly remember my first trip there when I privately laughed at people who stood one night to commit themselves to full-time Christian vocational work. Irony.
