is fuel really important?

apparently...

started my vacation today with my friend and my dog. off in the car we leave at 8 a.m. today. 500 miles and nearly 10 hours later we ran out of gas. unbelievable! neither of us have EVER run out of gas before. and it being in my new hybrid car, it was rather freaky.

BUT, a very nice couple who lives in Quanah, TX, stopped by and gave us a lift 8 miles to next town (Quanah) to get some gas, took us back the car, and then followed us into town to make sure that was all the problem was about. sure enough, we just needed fuel.

lesson: the gas guage on the 2006 Toyota Hybrid is altered when driving on the highway versus in town. we learned and will not let it happen again.

to read or not to read

for a non-reader, i have hope that one day i will become a reader. and an avid one at that. at least i have a goal. :-)

seriously though, i've never really liked to read, much to the disappointment of the females in my family. and the unknown reason bothers me. in a desperate attempt to change, once a year or so i try to become a reader. i wander into Barnes & Noble, browse around until i find something that will hold my attention, then buy it. usually i arrive with some preconceived idea of what book i will look for and then expand on it, eventually buying two after reading the first chapter of each.

yesterday i explaimed in irritable fashion, "I want to be a reader!" today i went to Barnes & Noble and bought two books to fill the yearly ritual.

in five years or less i may or may not have read them and will be torn as to whether i should keep them or put them in the goodwill pile. and, if i don't actually read them both in the next month or two, they'll go on the shelf and mock me every time i pass by.

i buy books with the hope i will become a reader.

and, for a non-reader, i find it fascinating that i want to be a writer.

wish me luck ... i now have four books to fill the next two weeks of my vacation. for a non-reader, i certainly have high aspirations. *L*

claire and lara

i do this a lot. i waste perfectly good weekends doing nothing but staying inside, maybe venturing out for 10 minutes to retrieve edible and/or digestible food, but mostly occupying the couch, listening to mindless dribble TV, and staring at my monitor hoping to find something new to do with my life or someone who is doing what i want to be doing.

and so was such said day ...

if my mom (or anyone, for that matter) were to call and ask what i was doing i would say "nothing," and in the back of my mind i would actually think i did nothing today. however, i did something. i found two very cool chicks on the Internet who are doing what i want to be doing. their names ... Claire and Lara.

their blog will become a frequent of my world ... TrippingOnWords

thank you, Claire and Lara, for spending the day with me. yes, i read the entire site today. i am now caught up and ready to hear about Everest life when you return to the world of technology.

spring cleaning ... in august?

i cleaned out my office today. haven't quit yet. haven't been fired. just up and decided to take home a bunch of my personal stuff. i didn't even plan on it when i got here, it just happened. so it looks ... sad. but i feel really good about it. and if they decide to paint my office while i'm gone, they won't have to worry about moving all my stuff and i won't have to worry about them breaking or losing anything. it's a win/win situation! ;-)

give it 5 minutes ...

just for the "fun" of it, i decided to check the flights today to see how much different they are. the one that was total $470 on the AA site is now $488 and change. amazing! flights are worse than weather. give it 5 minutes and it'll change!

i want to buy a ticket so bad! i wish i hadn't said i wouldn't do anything until after vacation. i want to get this ticket and be able to say, "ok, October 1 i'm going to Guatemala City to start language school."

ok, i'm done ranting ...

fly, fly away

figures... i decided to check the flights again today to see what the prices were. and of course they've gone up. probably cuz of the London fiasco. the last time i checked a flight from Colorado Springs to Guatemala City was $416, today it's $495 and that's from stinkin' Denver. then i learned that the site i was thinking was the cheapest around (CheapOAir) is actually not so cheap cuz they rack up the taxes. so the $495 flight today actually would cost over $600! so i checked around and found an AA flight for $470, total. amazing. that was on Kayak, by the way.

ANYWAYS... (i want to buy it so bad! just get it and commit myself already!)

Nancy, from my office, came down a bit ago and talked to me in Spanish. it was cool. i actually recognized some words and responded a couple of times. then she lost me. :-) her husband, Gary, tried to talk to me the other day when i was asking a bunch of questions, but i can't even understand his English, let alone Spanish!

she said to stick with one particular place. and gave me the name of the school that our missionaries use there in Antigua (Christian Spanish Academy). i checked out their website and they charge $220 per week for school and homestay, but it doesn't look like there are any student activities included like all the other schools. plus, it looks like most of my money would go to pay for their very cool, flash-oriented website and the teacher uniforms! i'm not so sure about that one when i can get a much more "fun" sounding education at a different school for much less.

oh yeah, the "one place" theory. so that throws out my ideas of going to three different places. which is probably best. don't need to throw adjustments of two new places and people and such like that into the mix when it's not necessary. one is more than enough!

name that tune!

Jesús me ama, este sé. Ya que la Biblia me dice así. Pequeños a Él pertenecen. Ellos son débiles, pero Él es fuerte. ¡Sí, Jesús me ama! Sí, Jesús me ama. Sí, Jesús me ama. La Biblia me dice así.

NOTE: i used the AOL translator. not sure if it's correct though. for example, i have found "Jesus" translated as "Jesus" in one place and "Cristo" in another. so ... until i learn it from a person, i'm doubtful that the above translation is 100% correct.

nonetheless ... name that tune! :-)

this ... is the beginning

i am so excited about the possibility of the opportunities awaiting me in the next few months, and am so thankful for the timing. God has really been stirring my heart for something more, something different, something outside my small bubble.

once these stirrings began, i started on what i call a "journey of self-discovery." for 30 years i've been living in this world of America. i've had the privileges of seeing large portions of the United States and even a little bit of Canada. but, for the past 7 years, i've been working in the world of missions, where people travel all over and see incredible things that i'm almost afraid to even hear about, let alone go see myself. you would be absolutely amazed if you heard the stories i've heard over the years. you would, for sure, be brought outside yourself to realize there is so much more...

and so, when God started stirring my heart to discover the "more," i paid close attention. the past 7 years have been wonderful, hard, fun, encouraging, painful. they've brought change, challenge, marriage, divorce, sin, restoration, three different job positions within the same company, two of which i wasn't even qualified for, growth, education ... and yet for the past year i've been unfulfilled, discontent, bored.

my "journey of self-discovery" began with actively seeking my skills, talents, spiritual gifts, my likes and dislikes, whatever i could find to determine "am i where i should be?" if not, where is that? what does it look like? what would i be doing?

one major thing i learned during that time was this ... i'm tired of the "i wish"es never coming true...

and next thing i know, i'm learning Spanish, thinking of going back into the hotel industry, thinking of working on a cruise ship, pursuing language school, managing a restaurant, becoming a bartender, becoming a casino dealer ... so many things, so many thoughts!

the one thing that is nearing closer to a reality is language school. wow, i'm so excited about that. i think i've narrowed it down to Antigua, Guatemala. there are lots of schools there, so now i'm trying to figure out which specific school would be the best to attend. i'm even considering volunteering while i'm learning. this one school is near a sea turtle hatchery and rescue group. that could be fun! :-)

i'm here today, at work, trying to be diligent and productive. i have one week left of work before i go on vacation. when i return, i have a very strong feeling that my next journey will be of huge changes for me, completely outside myself, completely different than i've ever known. i'm so excited!

stay tuned...