Catching up - again :-)

Well, it's been eons since I've posted - life has been wonderfully busy! Mostly with church stuff, which is a good kind of busy :-) Last month was extremely demanding with several Worship Team obligations (practices & leading worship for Sunday School and an additional event) and Bible Study, Game Nights, and a few other miscellaneous things. Just finding time to do laundry was a challenge :-P

One of the greatest things I got to do last month was hit Disneyland with some friends <>. (pictures will be posted, hopefully next week). One of my buddies, Mark, was a totally amazing guide. He really knew how to take advantage of the "fast pass" option. We got to go on every ride we were interested in - a couple of them twice!

The gang was kind enough to let me keep a family tradition (which was especially important to me as my family wasn't there) and hit StarTours first and last :-) It's still so cool . . . I just wish we'd actually GET to Endor one day! (derned pilot!) I think it would be totally fun to ride one of those speeders through the trees :-) . . . well, till the inevitable crash, that is.

The way-coolest new ride, in my humble opinion, is the Buzz Lightyear! We get to shoot the Evil Emperor Zurg and all his little minions!! Half-way through the game/ride I figured out we could turn our seats (a.k.a. "star cruisers") all the way around! It was SO Cool!!! First time out I racked up enough points to be a Pilot! (that's 3rd level out of 6 . . . or 7??). Second time out I had a chair to myself (they're made to seat two), so I grabbed the gun for the empty seat and competed against myself :-) I WON! and I lost :-( Either way, I still had a total blast! (pun intended).

We even went on autopia - which I'd never been on - at least not as an adult. We went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (twice), Indiana Jones <> (twice), Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, Winnie-the-Pooh (major scrunchies in the tiny seats!), and even rode the carousel (woulda been romantic, but without a hunny, it was just fun ). I had a beautiful mare decorated with mauve and blue. Her wild mane and tail whipped up by the wind as we flew around the world (in my ever so healthy imagination anyway ).

Oh, and, yeah, we did go on Space Mountain. Still a cool ride, but not really spiffed up enough to justify 2 years out of service. Much darker - which was really cool. Couldn't see your hand in front of your face unless the stars were being projected on to them. Kinda made me afraid to put my hands up though . . . not knowing where the structures were :-)

Things are slowing down a bit for this month, which is good because I *need* to do my Christmas shopping!! . . . and next month is going to be packed. I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year - I get to be with family AND I get snow!!! :-)

I was hoping to do all my gifts on a cash basis, thanks to a generous bonus from my boss - but I'm not terribly great with saving extra cash so I'm gonna have to do some on credit.

Spiritually, I like to think I'm growing - - I hope so anyway. I've been attending Bible Study (which I didn't do last year), and the monthly women's ministry group out of my Sunday School class (which I also skipped out on most of last year). We're studying Thessalonians in Bible Study, Philemon in the women's ministry meeting (3 months/lessons on "How To Study Your Bible" with Philemon as the sample text), and Colossians - which is a great tie-in to Philemon - in Sunday School. Our Senior Pastor is taking us through a lengthy, meaty, and beautiful exegesis of Luke. Lots of good stuff to absorb.

I know I need to write out some of what I've been learning - that's next on the list of "things to spend time on the computer doing."

I'm also involved in some ministry work this year - Worship Team for my Sunday School class is the biggest one. I've also been asked to help keep up the website for our church AWANA program - I look forward to getting started on that as soon as they send me the administrative info I need to access the site :-) My brother has also asked me to help with the Youth portion of his church's website. Again, as soon as I get the details, I'm really looking forward to digging in :-) It's really great to be able to use the skills I've learned out in the secular world to help accomplish things for the church :-)

Well, that's it for tonight I think. Disney pics & some sermon summaries coming soon :-)