Life As A House

In my new house I have a gi-normous tv... we're talking like 42" or bigger... it's really huge. However, with this ginormous tv I have no reception. I can't get cable, I don't have satellite, and I don't have an antenna. I live alone and in the middle of nowhere... I need noise. So this means that I watch a lot of movies. That's fine with me, I love movies.

The other night I watched a movie I bought after only seeing a very brief clip. I had never heard of it, but it was a great investment. I don't usually do that, but this time I'm glad I did.

If you've never seen Life As A House I recommend you go watch it now... or maybe tonight... really soon anyway.

I've tried three times now to write a synopsis of the movie, a review or something of the sort, and every time it comes vastly short of communicating the greatness of this movie. It is a beautiful picture of the relationship between a father and a son and the growth that happens as they build a house together. I especially recommend it for anyone who works with teens.. but really it's just good for anyone.

I will forewarn you that there is fair amount of language and some very adult subject matter, but almost all of it is essential to the story line and appropriate to the situations.

Again... go watch this movie!

Enough Already

I've decided that I've had enough already. Enough of summer that is.

I'm ready for fall to start. The kids are going back to school, that should mean that it is fall, not that it is 85-90 out (yes, that's what the weather's been like here). I'm ready for sweaters and crunchy leaves. I'm ready for bright blue skies and crisp cool days. I'm ready for pumpkin pie, cinnamon buns, candy corn, and apple cider. I want reds, yellows, oranges, and browns to be the colors of everything in my house.

I am ready for fall!

Mostly I think I love the smell of fall. There are so many great smells that are a part of fall. (Do you agree Rob?) Hurry up fall!

What's your favorite part of fall?

I'm sure I have to work, but are we sure I have to work HERE?

i love my job.

ok, i love one of my jobs. as of june i am the associate pastor of youth and communications (a really long title for a job that you're only supposed to work at 15 hrs a week...) at the denton nazarene church. that's the job i love. take note of my last post... they pay me to do this???

the job i don't love so much is the job that i actually need. i mean, i need the paycheck, i need the benefits. i don't love the hours. i don't love the lack of flexibility that means that i can't do all the things that i want to do with the job that i do love. i don't love that my only week of vacation is now gone because i went to teen camp. i don't love the tension that is always brewing. i don't love working late every friday night.

i know i have to have another job. part - time youth pastors frankly aren't the mostly highly compensated folks out there. i don't mind having another job. but i would really like one that works better with the job i do like. it would make me a much nicer person. i promise. :)

so for a while now i've wanting to go back to what i was doing when i first came here - full time substituting. it would mean flexible days and hours. it would mean all day with kids again. it would be a paycheck not much different than the one i bring home now. it would mean no pay when i don't work - either my choice or vacation. it would mean no insurance.

so, do the pros outweigh the cons? can i responsibly make the choice i want to make? school starts soon... do i start with it, or stick with the reliable job that stresses me out?

just for josh

this is just for josh.
he gave me grief yesterday for not updating my blog, he convicted me. he said "you don't have anything to say?" certainly I have things to say... has anyone ever known me to not have anything to say? I always have things to say... sometimes I just doubt that anyone else would want to hear all of the things that I have to say. the other problem is that I have so many things to say that I don't know what to say, so many things fighting to get out, I don't know which will win.

but before I say anything profound...

I'm at teen camp.
we have high speed wireless.
I'm blogging.
what kind of parallel universe am I in?