Pop a la Mode

I love holidays. Especially work holidays that don’t require me to be in California for work. A true holiday that I can lay on my couch all day and watch TV if I want.

The City of Birmingham and others places have started four-day work weeks to help cut costs. As a person that can work anywhere as long as I have an Internet connection and cell phone signal, I like this idea. I tend to work better in my pajamas. And I even have a webcam for conferencing if they absolutely need proof I’m working if the e-mails didn’t do that.

So this weekend I’m mostly lazy. Today I’m headed to Oxford to visit the Mississippi Merricks’. Robyn is working the Ole Miss game so I’m hitchhiking over with her. I’ll be back late tonight and tomorrow my house turns into a college student refuge. Elizabeth will be doing the church thing for me, eating my food and doing laundry which I think is going to become our Sunday tradition.

And then Monday is my holiday. Isn’t that fabulous?

I don’t get stumped much but I did tonight.

I was working on a questionnaire for a personality test and this question came up: What are you passionate about? And I can honestly say I have no earthly idea.

To be really honest, I don’t think I’ve ever been passionate about anything. To me, being passionate is to want something more than life itself and to work towards that and live towards that in every waking moment. As a Christian, I know that my answer should be to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ but it’s not. Evangelism did not score very high on my spiritual gift test. I care that I am able to communicate His love through my actions but that’s not passion.

I am passionate about my TV watching but that’s really shallow. I am passionate about reading. I never feel like I’ve learned enough. I’m passionate about my friends and their needs. I’m passionate about my family and their welfare.

I hope this doesn’t keep me awake tonight. But I really want to know, what is my passion?

I officially love whitewater rafting. That was the most fun I’ve had in a really, really, really long time.

The drive up to the Ocoee River was about three hours, just north of Chattanooga. We were afraid TS Fay was going to make the day blah but the sun was shining once we arrived.

I am happy to report that I did not once get thrown in the river. I did receive face-fulls of icy water but that I can handle. The key, I learned, is all about wedging yourself in the raft with your inside foot. The better wedged you are, the better balance and brace position you have.

Favorite part of the day, hands down, was Riding the Bull. I did not ride the bull but the concept is that you sit on the front of the raft and hang on to the rope while going through the rapids. Robyn decided to try it out and the first rapid knocked her backwards. The whole rest of that area Robyn is lying flat on her back, legs straight up in the air with water pounding on her and all of us laughing so hard we can’t help.

Of course that was the spot on the river where they take your photo. All our photos are of us laughing like hyenas and Robyn partially obscured by waves of water except for her feet. Even our guide was laughing. You just couldn’t help it.

It was a fantastic, and tiring, day. I will happily go again anytime.

I’m headed up to the Ocoee River near Chattanooga, TN this morning to try my hand at whitewater rafting. This is not something I have done before or ever felt the need to do. I’m going because Robyn asked and because misery loves company evidently.

I’ve been doing some research and we will be rafting the middle Ocoee which are level three and four rapids. Highest level is number six which if we were doing those I’m smart enough not to go.

So say a little prayer and hopefully I’ll report back with fun stories.

This is a question I don’t ask very often but I uttered it this morning.

I had a meeting downtown and as we got off the highway and turned, I saw something from the corner of my eye. A man standing on the sidewalk, wearing tennis shoes and waving his hands. Only tennis shoes - nothing else but a smile and his glasses. He did have a t-shirt in his hand but was using it more as a flag.

My colleague and I hurriedly moved ourselves down the road while I tried to call the police to report the man. I never got through! How can the police not answer the phone? I mean thankfully I wasn’t being attacked or anything but still - a naked man! On the street!

Thankfully not something I see every day.

A LOST quiz for my fellow addicts out there:

As you can see, I did not so well.