I found out yesterday that a friend of mine from high school had a brain aneurysm over a week ago and her family decided to take her off life support. She died yesterday afternoon. I am in shock. We hadn't seen each other much lately as we drifted apart after college, but we'd recently reconnected on facebook. She was one of my best friends in High School. There was a group of 6 of us that hung out as the "non-drinkers" in our school. She made me laugh hysterically. We had adventures that got us stuck in the mud, had me driving her car into a ditch when she tried to teach me to drive a stick, getting my dad's flashlight run over by a logging truck. I will always think of her when I think of caramellos. And Dr. Pepper. And Beef Jerky. (usually all at the same time when we were driving around) The world seems a little dimmer without her in it. At the same time, it's all so surreal. We're too young for this, right? She is the 2nd person in our class to die, which maybe doesn't sound so bad, but when you graduate with a class of 40, most of whom you went to kindergarten with, it makes it harder. Someone pointed out that it's 5% of our class. I didn't need to know that. I will miss my friend.

Sigh

I'm having a flirtation. I have no idea if it will actually go somewhere, but at the moment I'm enjoying that giddy, new relationship high. Now I just need to channel some of that excess energy into figuring out what to do once I'm without a call in a month...

Friday 5--"If"

1. If you were a color, what would you be?

Blue! It's my favorite color, and I love it in pretty much all of it's shades. It can be bright and cheerful or dark, almost black. I can almost always find a shade of blue to match my mood.

2. If you were a flower (or plant), what would you be?
I have no idea. I love lilacs but don't know how to make that into an appropriate metaphor...

3. If you were an animal, what kind would you be?

I want to say something big and fierce and cool, but I think I'll go with turtle. They're quiet, in their shell, move slowly. Oh, except I should amend this to snapping turtle, because I do occasionally get feisty.

4. If you were a shoe, what type would you be?
Oooh--a magical shoe that was both amazing and impractical and fancy while at the same time being comfortable and sturdy and appropriate.

5. If you were a typeface, which font would you be?
Comic Sans MS, but again I don't have a good metaphor for this one. Did I mention I kind of suck at metaphors? Except that they remind of me of my OT prof in seminary who used to yell "it's a metaphor!" And that just makes me giggle.

Memory Loss

Sometimes I wonder/worry about the things I've forgotten. I was having a conversation with a friend recently (we went to school k-12 together) and he brought up something from math class. Our last names are close in the alphabet so we were frequently seated together. Actually, my mom says teachers used to make me sit next to him not because of the alphabet, but because I was the only one who could keep him under control. I don't remember that. Of course, the teachers probably wouldn't have shared that little tidbit with me, so I might not need to worry about forgetting that particular information. Anyhoo...he brought up something he clearly remembered from a high school math class and I had no idea what he was talking about. After thinking about it for awhile I think I might have a vague memory of it, but no clear details. Sometimes I feel like I've either blocked or forgotten big chunks of my life. Another example: I was trying to remember specific details from the year I lived in the campus ministry apartment during college. I remember lots of random things, but they don't add up to a whole year. Is that weird? I also can't remember the last name of my roommate during that year. On the other hand, I can remember all sorts of useless s--- from pop culture. It's weird, and possibly disturbing. Maybe I should get one of those memory enhancing game thingies...

So, here it is the week of Christmas, and I am confused. I keep thinking Christmas Eve is on Wednesday. Of course, when I realize it's Thursday I feel like I've gotten an extra day in the week, but I just can't seem to convince my brain that Christmas Eve is Thursday, NOT Wednesday. Weird. In other news, my shopping, wrapping and delivering are done. I did not do cards this year, though. I used to make my own Christmas cards. MAKE them. And I was in college. And it was finals. This year I couldn't even seem to find the energy to write a letter, whether for snail-mail or e-mail. I'm thinking maybe I'll send out an Epiphany letter this year or something. I swear, I used to be organized. At least I thought I was. I don't even have children. I can't imagine how much crazier I'd be if I were trying to balance everything plus a family. I'm impressed with everyone who makes that work. And there you go--my random post. Merry (week of) Christmas!

Call Process

I haven't posted much lately, and I haven't done an update on the call process at all. It's partly because, well, I hate the call process. (I know! Don't say hate!) And maybe hate is too strong a word, but I do find the process frustrating. It's a communication thing, in that call committees most often suck in that department. I've had 2 interviews so far, and 2 rejections. To be fair, the 2nd time was great with communication, but the first time the committee didn't call or e-mail for 3 weeks until they finally (only after I contacted them first) called to tell me they weren't moving forward with me as a candidate. Just call and break up with me already! So, yes, I find it frustrating, and it's probably better that I don't update on a regular basis and vent. At any rate the process is still, um...processing. I meet with another Senior Pastor next week (and no, I'm not only looking for an associate call, it's just what's come up so far), so we'll see how that goes. In the meantime the new interim starts here on November 1st, so it will be another transition. I'm looking forward to having another person on staff, but not necessarily looking forward to the transition. The office manager asked me last week, "is he going to tell us what to do?" Well, yeah, he is. Let's just hope he's nice about it...

Friday Five--Shoes!!!

Too often the Friday Fives I offer up seem extremely introspective, so here's something that could be fun. I notice as I finish my sixth decade that my taste in footwear is much different than when I was younger, as comfort wins out over fashion. So look at your feet and think about what you put on them!

1. What is your favorite footwear at this time in your life?

I definitely have shoes that I wear because they are comfortable and practical, but I LOVE shoes, and they're usually fun and less than practical. I think right now my favorites would be either my black or brown boots that I wear with skirts. During the summer I love my Keens, but also have a variety of fun sandals. Probably my absolute favorite, though, would be the patent leather red pumps I wore for my ordination.

2. What was the craziest shoe, boot, or sandal you ever wore?

I had some suede shoes in high school that were patchwork. They were navy, hunter green and fuchsia. I loved them. But looking back they were pretty crazy.

3. What kind of shoes did you wear in your childhood?

Purple jelly shoes!

4. How do you feel most comfortable? Barefoot, flip-flops, boots, or what?

I'm one of the rare people who detests flip flops. I just hate that thing between my toes. As for comfort, despite my love of shoes I also love to be barefoot. Shoes come off as soon as I'm home, and I frequently have them off at work. If they're easy to kick off I also prefer to preach barefoot.

5. What kind of socks do you like, if any?

Oooh, fuzzy socks are the best.

Bonus: Anything you want to share about feet or footwear.

My sister just told me I have more shoes than God. Which is probably true since I imagine God doesn't really need shoes. I definitely have an addiction. It's kind of a running joke at church. People now pay attention to what shoes I'm wearing, and generally comment more on my footwear than on my sermons. Not sure if that's good or bad...