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Day’?s Verse:
Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?”
Matthew 16:24-26
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Yesterday I had a normal day, except that I gave my legs a break and in to work. Normally I would happily accept a normal day, but since yesterday I turned 24, I kind of secretly hoped for a special day. The only special part about it was that Ian gave me a nice stack of books: The Ganymede Club, Name of the Wind, Across Realtime, and Inherit the Stars. He also found an unopened copy of Beauty and the Beast on DVD, which I’ve wanted (along with Lion King) for a long time. Disney movies these days sure aren’t what they used to be. I also had one friend call yesterday to say happy birthday, a birthday card each from my grandparents and parents, and I received an…interesting…rendition of the happy birthday song on our answering machine this afternoon. Next year maybe I’ll make a point of coming up with SOMETHING so my birthday doesn’t feel totally hum-drum.

Thursday as I rode through the Marlborough Savings Bank parking lot adjacent to our apartment complex, I noticed an envelope. I stopped and picked it up, out of curiosity. It said DEPOSIT AT MARLBORO SAVINGS BANK on it, and as far as I could tell remained unopened although it bore lots of car tire-tracks. I held it up to the sun, wondering if it really had something inside, and could discern no shape within the envelope. But, I reasoned, if it was still sealed, presumably whatever somebody had intended to deposit was still in there. So I propped my bike against the outside of the building (thinking briefly about how ironic it would be if my bike disappeared in the 30 seconds I was inside) and went in. Nice bank inside, totally devoid of customers at 5:45 on Thursday evening, and the tellers sat chatting. I handed over the envelope, explained how I had found it, and left amid a profusion of comments about how nice I had been.

I still have no idea if there was anything in there, or if it was important, but I hope that somebody would do the same thing for me some day.

This morning (at 9:30 am! And we’d been awake almost 4 hours by then!) Ian and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. Six other people showed up. Afterwards we agreed that it was perfectly in keeping with the other three movies, although I felt the climax edged a little too close to the really bad 2nd Indiana Jones movie. Even so, the beginning especially had all the exciting adventure you’d hope for, plus they threw in plenty of funny lighter moments (surviving a nuclear blast in a lead-lined refrigerator?!). I particularly enjoyed the interaction between Indy and Mutt, his sidekick. It was also rather fun to have the old USSR villain theme crop up again. In all we both agreed that it provided a solid piece of entertainment, not too heavy on plot but with plenty of classic Indy-style action.

We also agreed that we can hardly wait for Wall E to come out, and that Australia could be good too, although the trailer was too short to tell. We decided to pass on Kung Fu Panda, though.

Now, in a strange reversal, Ian is off riding his new bike while I sit here in front of a computer. What was that I heard about married people becoming increasingly like one another as the years go by…?

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Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
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