and this is why i keep going to these things
'these things' being 'social events'. because i never want to go before hand, but i always have fun once i get there. also, pleased to report that no bears ate me, no skunks sprayed me, and no chain-saw serial killers attacked the convention center whilst we were in attendance.
met the other girls outside my apartment around 5:10, friday night, and took Carole down to my (landlord's) parking space to keep it safe for the weekend. then, we joined Yelena and Elizabeth already in the car on groundlevel, and set off for conference center, middle of nowhere VA. stopped at a subway for dinner and had my first subway sub in...4.5 years, i'm pretty sure. the choco chip cookies? were really really good.
we got in 10 till 9, tired, and went to pick up our 'packets' first. packet is used loosely, because it was literally, like, an expanded bulletin plus a nametag. checked in, dropped our stuff off, went back up to the calvin room (packet pick-up) and hung out for a bit. I ended up playing a dice game called farkle, and kicking everyone's asses through a combination of beginner's luck and being a conservative gambler. then it was off to bed, where i decided i was not smelly enough and too tired to shower, washed my face and brushed my teeth, and read in bed until midnight. sometime my roommate showed up, and we did perfunctory roommate-related introductions.
saturday i did not get up for the 6:45 am run/hike. it's a cross country running trail, which gives you an idea of the BEASTS who did, but no, that was not me. i was sleeping blissfully in my bed. was up in time to shower before the 8-9 breakfast, though i got there closer to 8:30 than 8. that's when i realized i'd forgotten both deodorant and my hairbrush. morning session, with discussion groups pre-sorted by the number on the bottom left of your nametag.
lunch, which involved an excellent chicken salad sandwich on a croissant. then there was an organized game up in this field on top of a nearby mountain :D (we were pretty well up in the mountains already, so it wasn't horrid getting there), which was called The Best (game). IT WAS A LOT OF FUN! we were divided into teams according to the colored circles around our numbers. i was on yellow (which is obviously the best.) there are several categories, all superlatives (e.g., the softest, the fastest, the longest, the best, etc) and by each category, a number of people necessary to complete the challenge, mostly one, a couple twos, and then 2 sets of 'x><6' which in our case, meant 8 people. then you send someone out, and see who wins! the only thing is, you don't necessarily know what you're being judged for until after you've selected someone. So, for instance, for the most, which required 2 people (and we won), you had to see how many mini marshmellows one teammember could toss into the other's mouth (we had 29. next closes team was 14). for one, i was blindfolded, and mary beth gave me instructions while i blindly grabbed the other 6 people and moved them into a circle. we finished ours the fastest, and then had to get permission for me to take the blindfold off for the next 4 minutes XD. i failed miserably catching a full water balloon, one poor girl had to do a squat forever and a half (before finally having to quit out of pain), and our 8 people made the korean war memorial.
after that was free time, which i spent half reading, a little bit of socializing, and yes, in the end, i did actually go canoeing. And didn't tip over! though we (mostly me. lucky bastard at the back of the canoe didn't end up as far under, being at the back and all) did get attacked by a willow tree, an its many-legged denizens. that was not so much fun, and once we got out again, i spent the next little while trying not to think about the bugs and spiders on me, and trying to kill the large spider that had fallen into the front of the canoe with my paddle. my arms are surprisingly unsore. many other people were involved in 3 epic games of capture the flag which spanned most of the afternoon and nearly all of them were sore today from all the sprinting. capture the flag is too stressful for me, so i only watched a bit.
then, a group picture, which only took 10 minutes from the planned start time (surprising!), dinner, and then evening session. It got cold very quickly. Then, back to my room to pick up my flashlight, and drop off my bible, and then we collected a group (jennifer, jessica, yelena, and carole) and went to the bonfire, where yelena was gracious enough to let me set fire to one of her marshmellows. the moon was full or nearly so, and absolutely gorgeous. and so bright! i didn't need the flashlight to get around, because it was like a giant lamp. it was probably a little more...poignant the night before the though, because the clouds made it so that you felt lucky when you got a glimpse.
i probably sat staring happily at the fire for an hour to an hour and a half, and then it was back to the room to shower, and read in bed. the roommate kicked me out briefly when she was having trouble sleeping with my bedside lamp on (understandable, really, as it was brighter than the overhead. of course, the overhead light was not very bright), so i went to read in the lobby (which was in a separate building) until i was sleepy, and then went back to my room for bed. the cold woke me back up though, and then it occurred to me that i had a flashlight, and read by that until midnight.
next morning, i didn't need to shower, so i slept in later before getting ready for breakfast. there was another run i didn't go on XD. breakfast was tastier yesterday, because there was bacon instead of sausage, but still good! last session, i did not really pay attention because i'd decided i'd had enough retreating and also had a better view of the front (i am a short person, ok) and ogling the bassist was a better use of my time. mmmm, so i have a thing for bassists. and this one's got some really sexy tattoos. i can go either way on tats, but these? i kind of just want to put my mouth on them. of course, offering a guy who goes to my church blowjobs for having sexy tattoos is probably not the way to go with things, but hey, nothing wrong with looking.
i'd packed my stuff up and returned my key before the morning session, so i chilled with people until lunch time, and then lunch (which was more like dinner, in my mind--fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans). there was a discussion about my shirt, and what D.A.R.E stood for, and who'd had the program and who'd not (most everyone did) and we collectively waxed nostalgic. and then we-minus-elizabeth (who was catching a ride with her housemate. her housemate's schedule to get there and hers hadn't matched up, but going back wasn't a problem, and was convenient, since they were going to the same place) set off. the views on the way back were really gorgeous, now that it was daytime and we could see them.
after getting my stuff dropped off, letting the girls use my restroom/let them see my view/be embarrassed about how incredibly messy my place is, we went and got carole's car out of the garage, and said our goodbyes. then i went grocery shopping, and ran into tego and krisztina by happenstance. I was mostly going only for cider, and then got sucked into raspberries and mushrooms, but i got a ride back and got to socialize. k thinks i should ask the bassist out; i didn't tell her i thought i could get it out of my system without dating him XD
also, this weekend:
+forgot my camera, so have no fun pictures. the place was pretty, but i liked the outdoor staircases and railings of the hotel part better. well, the walk to the activity field was really nice. i like...mountain tops. there's a certain kind of feel, even when the bushes make it so you can't see the 'view'.
+found out the 'church planting apprentice' currently assigned to us has a wicked sense of humour (even if his public speaking manner is stilted and weird), making fun of the speaker, our pastor, and one of our 2 elders for being bald. they threatened him back with hard questions when he goes to get ordained XD
+the not!bald elder pulled his hamstring playing in the epic capture the flag marathon. his wife was chasing him, he was pullilng ahead, and then suddenly he was down. he spent the rest of the retreat limping slowly, poor thing.
+i totally went with the absolute wrong discussion group during the evening session. running late cause i'd gone to the bathroom, i just rushed out after them, even though my group was sitting like, next to the bathroom door. XD fail.
+i kept trying to wiggle my ring on my finger, but i'd left it at home so it wouldn't like, get lost in the lake or something, so there was no ring to wiggle and it was very frustrating
+despite weather predictions of cloudy and raining, it was gorgeous the entire time we were there. it got pretty cold at night, but the days were sunny, and cool, and warm and just very nice.
+D.A.R.E t-shirts are conversation starters. no, seriously.
+phone mostly got enough reception that i could text (which, you may have noticed, i did like mad), but was too spotty to sustain the call i made to my parents, and out enough that i turned the wireless off during sessions and meals, when i'd be unlikely to be checking my phone. I didn't want to run down the battery needlessly on my only watch
mom: Just in case you escape the chain-saw murder, I am replying to your email. :)
met the other girls outside my apartment around 5:10, friday night, and took Carole down to my (landlord's) parking space to keep it safe for the weekend. then, we joined Yelena and Elizabeth already in the car on groundlevel, and set off for conference center, middle of nowhere VA. stopped at a subway for dinner and had my first subway sub in...4.5 years, i'm pretty sure. the choco chip cookies? were really really good.
we got in 10 till 9, tired, and went to pick up our 'packets' first. packet is used loosely, because it was literally, like, an expanded bulletin plus a nametag. checked in, dropped our stuff off, went back up to the calvin room (packet pick-up) and hung out for a bit. I ended up playing a dice game called farkle, and kicking everyone's asses through a combination of beginner's luck and being a conservative gambler. then it was off to bed, where i decided i was not smelly enough and too tired to shower, washed my face and brushed my teeth, and read in bed until midnight. sometime my roommate showed up, and we did perfunctory roommate-related introductions.
saturday i did not get up for the 6:45 am run/hike. it's a cross country running trail, which gives you an idea of the BEASTS who did, but no, that was not me. i was sleeping blissfully in my bed. was up in time to shower before the 8-9 breakfast, though i got there closer to 8:30 than 8. that's when i realized i'd forgotten both deodorant and my hairbrush. morning session, with discussion groups pre-sorted by the number on the bottom left of your nametag.
lunch, which involved an excellent chicken salad sandwich on a croissant. then there was an organized game up in this field on top of a nearby mountain :D (we were pretty well up in the mountains already, so it wasn't horrid getting there), which was called The Best (game). IT WAS A LOT OF FUN! we were divided into teams according to the colored circles around our numbers. i was on yellow (which is obviously the best.) there are several categories, all superlatives (e.g., the softest, the fastest, the longest, the best, etc) and by each category, a number of people necessary to complete the challenge, mostly one, a couple twos, and then 2 sets of 'x><6' which in our case, meant 8 people. then you send someone out, and see who wins! the only thing is, you don't necessarily know what you're being judged for until after you've selected someone. So, for instance, for the most, which required 2 people (and we won), you had to see how many mini marshmellows one teammember could toss into the other's mouth (we had 29. next closes team was 14). for one, i was blindfolded, and mary beth gave me instructions while i blindly grabbed the other 6 people and moved them into a circle. we finished ours the fastest, and then had to get permission for me to take the blindfold off for the next 4 minutes XD. i failed miserably catching a full water balloon, one poor girl had to do a squat forever and a half (before finally having to quit out of pain), and our 8 people made the korean war memorial.
after that was free time, which i spent half reading, a little bit of socializing, and yes, in the end, i did actually go canoeing. And didn't tip over! though we (mostly me. lucky bastard at the back of the canoe didn't end up as far under, being at the back and all) did get attacked by a willow tree, an its many-legged denizens. that was not so much fun, and once we got out again, i spent the next little while trying not to think about the bugs and spiders on me, and trying to kill the large spider that had fallen into the front of the canoe with my paddle. my arms are surprisingly unsore. many other people were involved in 3 epic games of capture the flag which spanned most of the afternoon and nearly all of them were sore today from all the sprinting. capture the flag is too stressful for me, so i only watched a bit.
then, a group picture, which only took 10 minutes from the planned start time (surprising!), dinner, and then evening session. It got cold very quickly. Then, back to my room to pick up my flashlight, and drop off my bible, and then we collected a group (jennifer, jessica, yelena, and carole) and went to the bonfire, where yelena was gracious enough to let me set fire to one of her marshmellows. the moon was full or nearly so, and absolutely gorgeous. and so bright! i didn't need the flashlight to get around, because it was like a giant lamp. it was probably a little more...poignant the night before the though, because the clouds made it so that you felt lucky when you got a glimpse.
i probably sat staring happily at the fire for an hour to an hour and a half, and then it was back to the room to shower, and read in bed. the roommate kicked me out briefly when she was having trouble sleeping with my bedside lamp on (understandable, really, as it was brighter than the overhead. of course, the overhead light was not very bright), so i went to read in the lobby (which was in a separate building) until i was sleepy, and then went back to my room for bed. the cold woke me back up though, and then it occurred to me that i had a flashlight, and read by that until midnight.
next morning, i didn't need to shower, so i slept in later before getting ready for breakfast. there was another run i didn't go on XD. breakfast was tastier yesterday, because there was bacon instead of sausage, but still good! last session, i did not really pay attention because i'd decided i'd had enough retreating and also had a better view of the front (i am a short person, ok) and ogling the bassist was a better use of my time. mmmm, so i have a thing for bassists. and this one's got some really sexy tattoos. i can go either way on tats, but these? i kind of just want to put my mouth on them. of course, offering a guy who goes to my church blowjobs for having sexy tattoos is probably not the way to go with things, but hey, nothing wrong with looking.
i'd packed my stuff up and returned my key before the morning session, so i chilled with people until lunch time, and then lunch (which was more like dinner, in my mind--fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans). there was a discussion about my shirt, and what D.A.R.E stood for, and who'd had the program and who'd not (most everyone did) and we collectively waxed nostalgic. and then we-minus-elizabeth (who was catching a ride with her housemate. her housemate's schedule to get there and hers hadn't matched up, but going back wasn't a problem, and was convenient, since they were going to the same place) set off. the views on the way back were really gorgeous, now that it was daytime and we could see them.
after getting my stuff dropped off, letting the girls use my restroom/let them see my view/be embarrassed about how incredibly messy my place is, we went and got carole's car out of the garage, and said our goodbyes. then i went grocery shopping, and ran into tego and krisztina by happenstance. I was mostly going only for cider, and then got sucked into raspberries and mushrooms, but i got a ride back and got to socialize. k thinks i should ask the bassist out; i didn't tell her i thought i could get it out of my system without dating him XD
also, this weekend:
+forgot my camera, so have no fun pictures. the place was pretty, but i liked the outdoor staircases and railings of the hotel part better. well, the walk to the activity field was really nice. i like...mountain tops. there's a certain kind of feel, even when the bushes make it so you can't see the 'view'.
+found out the 'church planting apprentice' currently assigned to us has a wicked sense of humour (even if his public speaking manner is stilted and weird), making fun of the speaker, our pastor, and one of our 2 elders for being bald. they threatened him back with hard questions when he goes to get ordained XD
+the not!bald elder pulled his hamstring playing in the epic capture the flag marathon. his wife was chasing him, he was pullilng ahead, and then suddenly he was down. he spent the rest of the retreat limping slowly, poor thing.
+i totally went with the absolute wrong discussion group during the evening session. running late cause i'd gone to the bathroom, i just rushed out after them, even though my group was sitting like, next to the bathroom door. XD fail.
+i kept trying to wiggle my ring on my finger, but i'd left it at home so it wouldn't like, get lost in the lake or something, so there was no ring to wiggle and it was very frustrating
+despite weather predictions of cloudy and raining, it was gorgeous the entire time we were there. it got pretty cold at night, but the days were sunny, and cool, and warm and just very nice.
+D.A.R.E t-shirts are conversation starters. no, seriously.
+phone mostly got enough reception that i could text (which, you may have noticed, i did like mad), but was too spotty to sustain the call i made to my parents, and out enough that i turned the wireless off during sessions and meals, when i'd be unlikely to be checking my phone. I didn't want to run down the battery needlessly on my only watch
mom: Just in case you escape the chain-saw murder, I am replying to your email. :)