~~~

Day’s Verse:

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Gal. 5:13

~~~

Zoom – Friday morning volunteering at Bellevue Teen Services (four straight hours of that which I hate most: cold calling people and trying to organize an event I know nothing about); upon arrival at Ian’s house, the joyful discovery that the Postal Service had delivered our Desktop Rovers and the not-so-joyful discovery that their batteries cost $15 per car. Friday afternoon at my house, reading Scientific American and National Geographic; watched Shrek with the whole family plus three of Mom’s friends in anticipation of watching Shrek 2 on Sunday. That day I began wondering if maybe volunteering at a place focused on teenagers—an age group I don’t like much, possibly because I just escaped from those years only a week ago myself—wasn’t right for me. I hate office work and organizing programs, both of which I did for the Meacham Group, and I don’t want responsibility as a volunteer. If I did something horribly wrong it would be my fault, and I’m not willing to deal with that. I began wondering if maybe I should do something else.

Zoom – Saturday laid-back, reading Pillars of the Earth, watching Beauty and the Beast at Ian’s house and beauteously sleeping on our air mattress. I’d forgotten how enjoyable the old Disney movies are; their 2-D style is being eclipsed by 3-D animation, but that doesn’t negate the fact that old Disney movies have an aura of unimpeachable high quality about them. I think that Pixar will take up that mantle, but hopefully not ruin their track record like Disney did. During the day Mom and I went for a bit of a walk, then left Ian in peace more of the day by running errands all the way from Woodinville (returning Gladiator CD) to Bellevue (entering grades at BCS). I like my parents and the relationship we’re developing now that I’m finally financially independent of them: we can act more like friends, or they as mentors who’ve lived 30 years longer than I have. It makes coming home feel like a mix between hanging out and actually being at home.

Zoom – Sunday we went to first service (“big church”) at Crossroads. Irony struck hard when the verses Pastor Jerry spoke on were Matthew 5: 1- 3, because at First Alliance we just finished a long series on the Beatitudes and now I will get a whole summer on them again. No harm in that; hopefully by the end of this my think skull will have internalized Jesus’ message. We sat between Ben and Lisa and Ian’s parents: I felt very happy because I knew a few people at church and they knew me. Then we went to College group where Lisa cruelly took me on a tour of people, introducing me around pretty thoroughly. Actually everybody seemed quite nice. You’d expect that from a group of people at a church. Afterwards, off the four of us—Ian, me, Ben, and Lisa—went to North Bend to eat and see Shrek 2 at the North Bend Theatre. We wandered around looking for a specific restaurant but even after asking directions at a coffee stand remained lost. A stroke of luck hit when we discovered Ian’s map book on the floor, and another stroke when the map book covered North Bend; after that, no problems. Good food, but we ate too quickly because we had quite some time to wait for the theatre to open for its 2:00 showing. We enjoyed Shrek 2 very much. I would put it on par with the first one, quite entertaining and clever, well animated and an excellent story. Ian worked there after that show so I went home with Mom and Dad (who came to see it there too) and spent the night at home.

Zoom – Monday, much lounging around after learning the hard way that Bisquick isn’t self-rising flour. Well, the coffee cake tasted alright even if we did have to eat it with a spoon. Similarly, my attempt with cookies later that afternoon fell somewhat flat…or should I say, oily? They rose just fine, and looked tasty, but, well…the recipe called for a cup of vegetable oil; that wasn’t my fault. I swear I did that one perfectly right! While I made the cookies, Karolyn came over to alter Colleen’s JSB dress and as usual did a fantastic job in no time at all. In between I went for a two-hour-long walk with Anne and Mom. Dad, Carmel, and I also went for a shorter walk later in the day; when we got home, Colleen’s boyfriend (ahahahahah!) Peter was over, along with Colleen’s old friend Katie. This day I decided to work the three days I’d agreed to at Teen Services and on the middle day, Thursday, tell them that I didn’t feel this position was right for me. Also zipped to Woodinville to buy the Shrek 2 soundtrack with the $20 of B&N; store credit I’d gotten from returning my repeat Gladiator soundtrack.

Zoom – Tuesday morning, found out I got three A’s and one A-! Only the ageing hippie professor in Major British Writers just could NOT let me get a 4.0 this semester. Still, earning a 3.79 GPA in college is good enough for me (huge grin). And calling Teen Services and canceling even the week’s work. Instant guilt, but a sense of freedom to look for something more suited to my skills and ultimate work goal. This raises the Question of the Week: is it better to have job experience of any sort—waitressing, office assistant, etc—or better to volunteer in an area closer to your ultimate goal?

So if anybody knows of volunteer opportunities at periodicals around here, or involving the environment, let me know… Sigh…

Ian, while listening to the painful voice singing “A Little Drop of Poison” on the Shrek 2 soundtrack: “He smokes six packs of cigarettes a day, washing them down with a quart of motor oil.”

– KF –