What do you do when the thing you hope never happens...happens?

These are several pics of New Orleans and outlying areas that were taken in the last day or two. The flooding will only get worse as Lake Pontchartrain continues to pour into the city. I can't tell you how much I love this city and how much it breaks my heart to see it devastated like this. It's very surreal. I can't say much more, but these are several pictures that I found online...a pictures worth a thousand words, and all that.

Part of the twin-span--the bridge across the eastern side of Lake Pontchartrain that connects New Orleans East and Slidell--I've driven this stretch many times.

the storm has caused breaches in the levee system, dumping water from Lake Pontchartrain into the city of New Orleans

Oh, Jessica, I don't envy you your job!

Garden District

Canal Street

The French Quarter

People who've been forced out of their homes because of flooding have found "refuge" on the interstate

inmates from the Orleans Parish Correctional Facility

During my second year at Seminary, I served as a youth intern/interim youth minister at First Baptist Church, Gulfport, MS. It's just down I-10 from New Orleans and was on the eastern side of the hurricane. I.e., the Gulfport/Biloxi area was beat up pretty badly, itself.

Along Hwy 90 in Gulfport. Not very far from First Baptist. I often passed this way bringing kids home after youth events.

Somewhere in Gulfport

I think this is the beach near where I used to stay at William Carey College.

First Baptist Church Gulfport, MS--I can't believe it looks like this.

my new favorite meteorologist

I am a bit over-exposed. I have been watching The Weather Channel non-stop since I woke up this morning--ok, I watched local channels for a little while but they were just GETTING ON MY NERVES (I'll probably blog about that later). They have several meteorologists 'on-site' at different locations but Jim Cantore has become my favorite. He's on-site in Gulfport, MS. Through the modern-day miracle of DSL, I quickly discovered that he's been with TWC since 1986 and he's apparently a bit of a storm chaser. I also discovered that his wife has early-onset Parkinson Disease and both of his son and daughter have fragile X syndrome. He seems like a strong person. As I'm going a bit stir-crazy at home, I thought I'd blog about him. Keep it up, Jim!

Update!

As of about 10 minutes ago, the new information is that sustained winds are at 175mi and pressure is at 907mb! Basically, the Gulf waters are warm and as the storm passes over these coastal waters, it could potentially build strength. It's like throwing kerosene on a fire...this is not good! The concern now is not so much about property damage as it is about human life. This is a very dangerous storm and there are always some very stubborn people who refuse to leave.

I have been watching too much Weather Channel since last night. It's addictive! My favorite is how the Weather Channel has newscasters standing on the beach in Biloxi and Gulf Shores talking about the mandatory evacuations--oh the irony. And the guy in New Orleans has Bourbon Street as his background! Funny! Alright, I'll keep you posted as new information comes in...

Anatomy of a Hurricane

This is Katrina, a category 5 hurricane that is heading for US! (Actually, a little to the East of us, which is a good thing.) She's a beaut, isn't she?! I just thought I should blog about her before we lose electricity!

This pic contains some info about Katrina. You might notice that winds are at 160 mi. That puts Katrina at a category 5 hurricane. For those of you land-lovers, IT DOESN'T GET ANY WORSE THAN A '5'!!! Category 5 = 'total catastrophe' according to hurricane size charts. And pressure is at 908mb. The lower the pressure, the stronger the hurricane. Hurricane Andrew (another 5 that hit Florida several years ago) had a significantly higher pressure, which means that Katrina is the same size, but more intense. Last year, Ivan hit the Alabama coast with a pressure of 909 or 910mb.


This is Katrina's projected path. We are just to the West of the projected path. There is some sort of high-pressure trough across northern LA, which is pushing it East. I'm hoping that it passes to the East of New Orleans, because it would be really bad for New Orleans to get the eye. The city of New Orleans is actually below sea-level, so it fills up like a bowl. The most severe areas of a hurricane are the eye and the Eastern side of storm, because that's where the worst winds are. We will see some of the weather, but the bands will be much weaker by the time they get around to us.

It's a...Baby!

Yep, I've seen it with my own eyes! Erica and Damon are having a BABY!!! 10 fingers, 10 toes, 2 kidneys, a brain, a cute little face, a squishy little heart...all 12 ounces of....HIM! It's a boy!! And yep, we saw that too! ;) He's right on track at 20 weeks. He's due January 11, 2006! Yippee! I love being an aunt!

...and if someone would send me the scanned ultrasound pics in jpeg format rather than a pdf file, maybe I could share it with all of you! ;)

Alright, I have one of these now...don't quite know what to do with it, but it's there!

Alright, I am now on myspace.com. Check it out here. I have very little understanding of why I would want or need another thing about me out there on the world wide web, but ya know I can't resist. I mean I could be doing something productive with my time, but why?! I have no idea how this whole friends thing works, so feel free to...uhm, add me or whatever you call it...if in fact you ARE a friend. If you're a weird stalker-like person, stay away!! Thank you James Thiele...or I guess I'll say James Tealy and the 11th grade girls at HBCS for sucking me in! ;) I'm there now and a little lost!

PS, James' myspace actually has stuff on it...including music from his new album...cd...record (what do we call them now?) so check it out!! Go James! I'm excited for ya! (So where's my free cd?! ;)

Why I love Jane Austen:

It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy;-- it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others. -Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility


Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

What the heck...and other bits of randomness

Who is felicia89gilbert and why in the world is she posting comments about timber on my post about school??? if you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out. I saw this on Phillip's blog too (see, "Yeah, sure you 'forgot',")...so what's the deal with this blog spamming?!? is this the new thing?! ugh! I have finally managed to avoid it in email--for the most part--so is this the next wave?

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I experienced an interesting phenomenon today. This is completely unresearched, so I must rely on my personal experience from today as basis for my observation: Guys look at you more when you're wearing pigtails! I find this strange and interesting. I feel like all I ever do with my hair is pull it back in a ponytail these days--thank you Louisiana where it's still 100 degrees and 90% humidity at 6:02 pm (no lie! I saw it on the bank marquee near my house!)--so today I thought I'd do something different and I pulled it back into low pigtails. No big deal, right? Well, I don't know why, but I got more looks from guys.

I noticed it first at Hobby Lobby when I was shopping with my mom, but I just figured the guy was looking at me. Nothing weird. I was looking at him b/c he was wearing a strange hat...so maybe we were just noticing each other's unusual head-gear. So later I'm at Wal-Mart (sidenote: I hardly ever look at people when I'm at Wal-Mart. I shop--which includes a little browsing b/c I AM my mother's daughter--get my stuff, and get out. I love to people-watch, but Wal-Mart is just NOT the place!) and I'm shopping and talking on the phone--b/c it's Saturday and I have free minutes--and three different guys looked at me. They didn't give me a funny look b/c I did something weird. They just looked--but it was more than just a casual glance. It was definitely a LOOK. And one guy practically stared, so I looked back at him b/c I thought maybe I knew him, but I didn't so then we were both kinda staring at each other...and then he passed me in the aisle and thankfully that awkward moment was over (but a little sad too, b/c he was CUTE!) I just found it strange...anyone care to explain?

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I've done a good amount of introspection in the past few weeks and I've come to some interesting and slightly disturbing conclusions about myself...but that's nothing I'm gonna share here! Bonny and I were discussing some of these today as I was shopping and I just want to say that it's rather strange to talk about your innermost thoughts and feelings while shopping for coffee and frozen foods!

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Well, one week of school down, fifty-million to go! This week has been crazy! I'm both excited and somewhat nervous about my two Bible classes. One is a history of Christianity which has actually been fun, b/c I've always enjoyed history. I think my kids think I'm a little off my rocker sometimes b/c I get into the stories and start talking quickly--what, ME talk FAST?! please! ha!--but it's been cool. My Apologetics class scares me b/c I can't quite get a handle on how I want to work the class. I'm loving all of the research but I'm on overload, so my goal is to create a plan this weekend. Yeah, we'll see how well that goes! It's Saturday night and I'm nowhere NEAR a plan--but I've got a whole list of books to read!

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Speaking of school, just call me "coach!" Have I mentioned that I'm assisting the PE teacher with PE? It's a rather large class of 35 8th-11th graders and she's worried that she'll lose some of them. It's been...LOTS of fun! ;) j/k--I am enjoying it, but I'm ready for a cool front! The great part is I'm shouting out orders and instructions when I don't even know what I'm talking about! "Control the ball!" "Keep it in the circle!" "Set with the tips of your fingers, not the palm!" It's great! But they keep making me participate and that COMPLETELY blows my cover! ;)

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So I have a new boyfriend. Ha! Don't I wish! Anyway, I DID buy his new CD and I'm liking it. I LOVE his voice! You can here some of his songs here or here. Hey Emmie, hook a sista' up! ;)

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Well, tonight was another one of those first scene in every romantic comedy movie ever made nights for me. Ya know the one...it's Saturday night and the clever, cute but aloof single girl walks into her immaculate apartment (yeah, mine's JUST like those in the movies!) with Chinese take-out in one hand and a bag of movies in the other! Except this is a regular occurrence for me and either this is the worse movie ever made or I live a very boring life, because the plot does NOT pick up! I'm really not depressed about it or anything--if it bothered me, I wouldn't be blogging about it! On track for tonight's viewing entertainment: Hitch and The Incredibles--yeah, I'm one wild and crazy gal! ;)

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Speaking of movies as life, I've always thought that it would be cool--and very useful--if we could have a running soundtrack. It would make life SO much easier! Just think, you'd know when danger was lurking, when you were about to receive bad news, when romance is in the air...it would be GREAT! :)

Alright, I believe those are all the random thoughts I can muster up for tonight! See ya!

Cool People

Last weekend I went to visit The Jacksons, very dear friends of mine in New Orleans. This is a pic at Judi's graduation in May--So I suppose they are the Drs. Jackson now?! Sarah is in a musical revue called Showkids which includes several Broadway tunes (you can see a review of the revue here) so I went up for a performance and got to help with a cast party as well! It was a wonderful opportunity to visit with them and it made me realize how much I've missed those interactions. Both Allen and Judi are gifted communicators and great impromptu counselors. They are my family in every sense of the word--except that of blood, of course! I can't believe how quickly Aaron and Sarah are growing up! It was great to see them. They are probably one of the biggest reasons I miss living in New Orleans! And I'm beginning to think that there are more ways to move back to N.O. than go to school...hmmmm, definitely something to look into! But that's another subject for another time! ;)

School Daze

School days, school days,
Dear old golden rule days.
'Readin' and 'ritin' and 'rithmetic,
Taught to the tune of a hick'ry stick...

Ok, so all I knew of the song was the first line of the chorus, but it's fitting! Today was the first day of school at HBCS. In some ways, it feels like we never left! Jen and I were talking on the way home about how it seemed like we were just away on a short break. I think I am a little more ok with the whole idea of going back now. I didn't realize how much I've missed 'my kids.'

Our collective student body has grown a by leaps and bounds this year. We ended last year with 312 and begin this year with 365--and that includes a significant loss of former students in our middle/high school. The face of our middle/high school student body has changed a great deal since last year. We've had several leave to experience the 'joys' of public school and we have lots of new faces in their place.

The look of our campus is changing as well. Our new administrative offices are open and ready for action! Grace commented, "It's like we're a real school now!" which is funny, but true. After having our office in a converted house, the new office makes the whole thing seem more 'legit'! And the office has lots of great hiding places and escape routes just in case you don't want to run into anyone in particular! ;) (not that I would ever need anything like that personally, of course! ha!)

Work is wrapping up on our new middle/high school building. We should be moving in the week after Labor Day. That's exciting for us as well, although now I feel ENORMOUS pressure from the 11th graders to decorate my new room so that it won't "look like an insane asylum!!" (the jerks! ;) I'm gonna get around to taking a few pics of it all next week, so never fear! (I was a little busy this week, trying to figure out what in the world I was doing!)

Alright, that's all for now. I'm off to New Iberia to sit in on a little d-now action with the Highland youth group. And since I already know EXACTLY what I'm doing with regard to next week's lessons (yeah, right!) I thought I'd take a little road trip to New Orleans to visit some dear friends. Stay tuned for exciting re-caps when I return! ha!!

Congratulations Della!!

Apparently, a beautiful vineyard in Sonoma valley is the cool place to get 'officially' engaged! Della and Aaron made it official Saturday on a day trip to Sonoma. The couple will wed later this fall in a beach ceremony in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Ever the bi-coastal couple, Della and Aaron live in California but maintain close ties to family in Florida. They will honeymoon...somewhere...and will return to California where both work for a Christian foster care agency in Northern California. (hmmmmm, I've obviously read a wedding announcement or two in my time! ;)

Della and Aaron--The happy couple


The rock! A 63 faucet (is that right Della?) Princess cut diamond on a simple white gold band. He did well--it's beautiful Della!

Mr. Rogers emerges once again...

As I was setting up my desk today, I came across my The World According to Mr Rogers daily calendar, so I read through all of the days I'd missed. Strangely enough, the two that made the biggest impression were the first (from May 26) and today's. Here they are:

May 26: There's no "should" or "should not" when it comes to having feelings. They're part of who we are and their origins are beyond our control. When we can believe that, we may find it easier to make constructive choices about what to do with those feelings."

August 10: The great poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote: "Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart, and learn to love the questions themselves."

Just thought I'd share! ;)

SCHOOL S-U-(oh, wait! I may have students reading!) *ahem*, School's Super! ;)

Monday began the pre-student days o' school-year bliss! It has been a whirl-wind of excitement, let me tell you. Ok, if you can't tell, I am a LITTLE less than excited to be starting the school year. It's not that I don't like school--because, as my sister likes to point out, I like school a little TOO much--and it's not that I don't like my students--I do, and I can't wait to see them--and it isn't that I don't love buying school supplies--I do! I LOVE school supplies--it's just giving up the sleep-til-nine-then-sit-around-in-your-pajamas-til-noon days of summer...and I had too few of them! *sigh* I am having fun (i.e., spending too much money) getting my room ready!

On a completely unrelated note, I had cheap Chinese buffet tonight--gotta love it when you can buy take-out by the pound!--and my fortune for this evening is: You are admirable, for you remained firm even when troubled by personal relationships. So what does THAT mean?! I've never been affirmed by a fortune for something I already did! And how exactly did I 'remain firm'? hmmmm, interesting...

Well, tomorrow is another fun-filled day of pretending to work on my room, while actually running back and forth between the office, my room, and Jen's room all day. I do have some stuff that I really need to get done, so I guess I'll do all of that stuff on Thursday night! ;) ...and when you hear the faint sounds of what you think could be a cell door slamming, think of me!

Street Legal and Ready to Roll!

Well, it's finally happened! For months--or maybe years--I've been saying that I was getting a new car...and that day has finally arrived! Today I bought a car--and I did it all by myself! It's a 2002 Honda Accord. It's silver--and before you even ask: yes, the blinkers work! I have not named it as I am not one of those people who name my cars. If you haven't figured it out yet, this is a picture of the new (to me) car.

I'm just happy that I have it! It's great to meet up with a police car at an intersection and not cringe in worry that he will notice my expired inspection sticker! What a wonderfully freeing feeling! ;) For those of you who are not familiar with my car woes, I have driven a car without blinkers for about two years now. It was not an ideal situation, but no one could ever figure out exactly what the problem was and I didn't want to spend any more money to try and figure it out! So I just avoided police cars--especially motorcycle cops! Those are the worst! :)

Anyway, just wanted to share my joy with the rest of my loyal readership! Just don't be callin' me if you need a ride! ;) just kidding...I'm happy to give you a ride--if the price is right! ha!!

At last, a response!

Alright, this book tag business has stressed me out for DAYS since I’ve been back, so here it is! I am sure that I will read this in a week and have completely different feelings on half of the books I’ve listed—and have thought of about 15 other books that I SHOULD have listed—but this is how it stands today:

1. How many books have I owned?

Hmmmm, over my lifetime? Probably thousands. At this present moment? I’d estimate around 400 or so…I got rid of several in the last few years due to all of the moving I was doing. Books are HEAVY and I’m a single girl, so anytime I ask friends to help me move, I am ridiculed for all of the boxes of books I have! I still have several boxes of books “in storage” at my mom’s house (that’s ‘code’ for: I just haven’t made the effort to load those heavy boxes into my car and cart them over to my own apartment! Anybody interested in helping? I’ll take all of the help I can get! ;) And that number does not include all of the books I’ve loaned out that never find their way back home! If I counted those, I’m sure that number would be a tad bit higher…hmmm.

2. What was the last book you bought?

Blue Like Jazz: nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality—Donald Miller

3. What was the last book you read?

Blue Like Jazz—just finished it on the plane. It’s very post-modern in its approach to Christian spirituality. I’m still processing it and I may need to read it a second time to decide how I feel about it as a whole, but I found it to be a very thought-provoking book and I enjoyed Miller’s writing style. Someone else read it and let’s discuss! :)

4. What are FIVE books that have meant a lot to you?

1. The Bible—God (nf) …and I write this knowing that Jen and Abe have also listed it, but I’m not copying. I believe that any Christian who does NOT consider the Bible to be the most significant book in his/her life needs to take a second look at the faith that they claim to have. Possibly it’s become mundane and dry, or else it was never there to begin with, but the Bible is a good place to start in either case. Why rely solely on what other people are telling you about God when you can discover it for yourself? And NO ONE tells better stories than God!

2. Waking the Dead—John Elderidge (nf) I’m not typically one for ‘pop theology’ but this has been one of the most inspiring books I’ve read in a while.

3. The Life You’ve Always Wanted—John Ortberg (nf) One of the most practical, hands-on applications of the spiritual disciplines I’ve ever read. He makes the spiritual disciplines sound so simple and easy-to-do…like why haven’t I been living like this all my life—oh wait, because I’m a selfish, self-centered, flawed human being! It’s a great read/re-read…now what box is that book in?!

4. Pride and Prejudice—Jane Austen (f) JA is one of my favorite ‘classic’ writers and, except for maybe Emma, this is probably my favorite of her works.

5. Systematic Theology—Wayne Grudem (nf) ok, so maybe I haven’t read the WHOLE thing, and maybe I can’t remember most of what I read when I did read it (b/c I was reading it at 4am the night before a massive ‘worksheet’ was due) but I the class I took that included reading from this book was one of the best classes I’ve ever taken, and Dr. Stan Norman is one of the most intelligent, witty, sarcastic teachers of Theology I’ve ever known!

5. Honorable Mentions

The Journey of Desire—John Elderidge (nf) I read this before Waking the Dead, so of course the newer always replaces the older, but it was very effective as well and written along the same lines as WTD.

Night—Elie Wiesel (nf/narrative) Very thought provoking and artistic in its style. After reading that book, I could understand how someone could lose their faith in God.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden—Joanne Greenberg (f/nf?) It’s about a 16-year-old girl who suffers from a schizophrenic break and her struggle to regain her mental health. I first read this book in high school and it both disturbed and intrigued me.

Great Expectations—Charles Dickens (f) I only mention it because this is the one book I truly forced myself to read. I hated it—and I let my hs English teacher know it—until about the last 20 pages or so. I finished the book proud of myself for having persevered, and I actually enjoyed it by the end! (I was not so successful with The Grapes of Wrath, however!)

Consumer Reports Magazine—can I count a magazine? I just LOVE CR!!

6. What I Should Read?

Searching for God Knows What—Donald Miller

Captivating—John Elderidge

All of the summer reading that my students were assigned and that I will be teaching through in a little over a week!

I have a list of classics—both literary classics and works concerning faith and Christianity—that I will never get to the end of! I suppose that is especially true if I never actually begin! ;) The one I’m working on right now is The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I’ve read the first chapter…about three times, now!

A Day at the Dairy Farm!

Brad and I went out to check out some ministry sites during our third week in Maryland. Most of these pics are of the South Mountain Creamery--a fully functioning dairy farm in Middletown, MD! Brad went to shoot video; I went to see the baby cows!

Yeah, I was trying to be creative with some of my shots...just keep scrolling and you'll see some pictures of actual animals and such.

hey...it's hay!

Pigs...on a dairy farm? huh?

Ya can't have a farm without a tractor!

I just thought this was very picturesque

Some of our students hard at work...

...and hardly workin'!

how farm-like!

This is one of the 'baby cows' that were born just a day or two before. Six calfs were born while we were on site that week!

my favorite 'baby cow' pic

This is a waterfall at Devil's Backbone state park, another one of the ministry site we attempted to visit that day. We found out later that the students had left this site early, but the park was beautiful so I took a few pics before we left.

Brad who made fun of me and my joy over the 'baby cows' and who allowed me to mooch off of him for some 'mocha' chocolate milk in a cool bottle that he thought was gonna cost $7--hey, this kinda tastes like chocolate coffee milk?! ;)

Home Sweet Home?

Well, I'm home! It's always strange how coming home from camp brings a conflicting mix of emotions. I am happy to be freed from the 'something to do every moment of the day' feel of camp, yet I feel listless and unproductive--like I'm not doing something I'm supposed to. It's nice to be back in my own apartment with all of my stuff and to not be living out of suitcases anymore (well, almost--I'm still slowly unpacking), but my apartment seems so empty. I've been living with 13 other people for almost eight weeks now and while some of them drove me nuts at times (no names! ;) , I miss the community of that group. I miss the companionship. I miss the human interaction. I crave random pointless conversations at 2am, sharing ridiculous stories for the hundredth time.

I have done this enough times to know that this is the normal post-camp depression. We jokingly call it 're-entry' because it's like coming back to 'real life' after having been gone for eight weeks. I've lived in a temporarily alternate universe. I don't know what's going on in the world, but I will laugh at my own private jokes for weeks. I've just had eight weeks full of experiences that no one REALLY wants to hear all about. Some will say they do and will patiently listen to a few stories, but most just want to ask the simple and pointless question, "So, how was your summer?" and receive the equally simple and pointless response, "Good!"

And honestly, if someone were to really, really want to hear what went on this summer, I wouldn't even know where to begin. It's something that must be experienced in order to be understood in it's entirety. And so I usually just stick with my own simple and pointless response of, "It was good--God did some really cool things this summer" knowing that I will never be able to express in words the amazing things that God did this summer. Knowing that God can and does do those amazing things on a daily basis, but we are all usually too busy to stop and take notice. Knowing that, just as students struggle with 'losing the glow' of camp as they return to their 'normal' lives, I struggle with that exact same thing.

I had a great time this summer. I learned a lot about God. I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about other people. I think I came home with more questions and less answers than when I left, but I think that's a good thing. So often, I feel like I've got it all figured out and I start carving my little niche. Right now, I think I'm starting on a blank page, and I'm waiting to see what God shall write as I begin this new chapter in my story...