A Break From The Ordinary

Leading Off – I miss spring break. FSU just had theirs last week and I really could have used it. Granted, my boss has been out of town for a while so my days at work have been very run-of-the-mill. That’s sort of a break, right? But I miss having a week in the middle of spring where I could sleep in and choose to do as much or as little as I wanted.

My Pseudo Spring Break – That being said, I still had a break from a lot of my normal routine. Without students in town there was no Bible study to go to, no Nav Night to attend. I could leave for work a few minutes later because traffic was nonexistent. So yeah, there were some nice perks.

Monday night I had dinner at the Projectz, a traditional Cuban meal prepared by Mr James Zack Latham. Very tasty, I must say. Tuesday night I found myself watching A Goofy Movie over at Villa Special, which is evidently Joe’s favorite Disney cartoon movie. Considering it was a Disney movie it was pretty sketch at times. There was all sorts of innuendo. After both the dinner on Monday and the movie on Tuesday those in attendance sat around talking about the 90s due to the upcoming 90s party. It’s going to be insane. People are really passionate about this particular decade, probably because they actually lived through its entirety. I think I was at Villa on Tuesday talking about old music I used to listen to until after midnight.

Thursday night a bunch of us gathered at Camp Special for a time of worship. I really prefer the spur of the moment times of worship over any other kind of service or meeting. It’s much less about habit or routine and much more about a desire to spend time in God’s presence. Rob and James led us for a couple of hours. It was easily the highlight of my week.

Friday afternoon after I got off work I spent a few hours with Dave. This is something I miss about being a student. Actually it’s the thing I miss most. It used to be that I’d get to spend two or more hours each week with Dave every Thursday before Nav Night. Now I get an hour with him at lunch once every two or three weeks. It was a hard adjustment. It still is. But since this week he had no students to visit and Aaron wasn’t in town we both had a free Friday afternoon. We had lunch, watched FSU get beat by UNC, and talked about a lot of different things. We’ve each had a lot on our minds lately. I think we both needed a friendly ear.

The Greatest Video Game I’ve Never Played – This weekend my house stumbled upon a new way for us to bond. Scott bought Kingdom Hearts for PS2 last Friday. It is absolutely incredible. If you’re not familiar with it, it takes themes and characters from the Final Fantasy video games and adds Disney characters to the plot. So you’re main character (whose voice is provided by Haley Joel Osment) is doing all sorts of missions with Donald and Goofy. But it’s a one-player game, so Scott is at the controls and Porter and I are offering our advice as he goes through the game. It’s far more entertaining than anything on TV. We ended the weekend by being swallowed by Monstro (the whale from Pinocchio). We’ve decided not to play unless we’re all there because we’re all so consumed with the plot. I feel bad that I won’t be here this weekend because it means we all have to wait two weeks to play again!

The Bauer Power Hour – So far I am unimpressed with this season of 24. This not only due to the fact that Jack has only killed seven people through the first twelve hours. It’s mostly because the interpersonal relationships have dominated so far. The Bauer family, Chloe-Morris tiffs, everyone at CTU whining about Morris, the Palmer family, the White House power struggle. Tonight’s episode will feature the Logan family, complete with Aaron as the new man in Martha’s life. It’s just too much. I also don’t like how they introduced so many villians so early on. Jack’s brother and father, the Middle Eastern terrorists and the Russian extremists are all involved in the same plot at varying levels. It’s tough to buy.

I do like some things about this season, but they’re all little things. I think I’ll like this season when it’s all over. I get the sense it’s going to bring a lot of closure the way that season three did. I think they’ll be able to pull together a good story over the next twelve hours.

The rest – This week I’ll be flying to Tennessee on Thursday for my cousin Beka’s wedding. It’s going to be so much fun. I can’t wait to see all my mom’s family again. I even get to see my sister on her birthday. The whole thing should be a lot of fun, except for the inevitable questions from family asking when I plan on settling down. My fear, while at first blush appears to be self-absorbed, really is legitimate. Beka is the second oldest cousin out of ten; I’m the oldest. So I’m really the only person in my family who’s eligible to be asked those questions. I’ll be sure to keep a running tally and report which are the most awkward.