"YOU-NO-WHO"
a bizarre attempt at poemness
dedicated as titled

you make me laugh out loud
you make me ponder
you make me put my hair up

you gracefully catch an apple in your mumbling mouth
sarcastically tossed by the
my-momma-never-taught-me-to-chew-with-my-trap-closed Ian

you hill walk
you wed monsoon
you don't know how to light a gas fireplace

so hill walk over to my french twist
monsoon my thoughts
I'll teach you to light a laugh

I just experienced my first real Scottish Pancake Day! Pancake day is the Scottish version of Mardi Gras, also known as Shrove Tuesday. You make loads of pancakes, apparently, to use up the remaining goodies in your cupboard before lent starts (which is tomorrow--Ash Wednesday).
Pretty yummy. Actually though, their pancakes are not like American pancakes. Scottish pancakes are like American crepes, and American pancakes are like Scottish scones. Hmmm...

Had another good chat with my flatmate Mary about boyfriends (or lack thereof) and celibacy. LOL! Seems to be the topic of the month... or the year or something...

I met another Small Person tonight. Mary and I have this theory that short or petite people have a special connection. Like ESP. But especially in a crowd, short people recognize eachother and there's a little SP (small person) twinkle or wink or eyebrow that passes back and forth... and Hannah (the new small person who is an amazing 5' 1/2") definitely agrees.

Went to the middle of nowhere and did nothing. Was very nice--glad to get back to reality now. :)
Mary and I had a great conversation with Emma tonight! We had a huge pow-wow about creation and evolution and watched a program on evolution called "The Day the Earth was Born". Although we weren't able to answer all of her questions, it was another really big step. Mary also lived with Emma the year before this one, and says that Emma never would have been asking questions like these a year ago. Although my convictions about God and Scripture are so strong that I don't feel the need to see scientific proof about creation, I think this experience is showing me that I should be informed anyway so I can have intelligent debate with non-believers.

If anyone knows some good sources to help me study up on this topic, please tell me! (annalaurenhunt@hotmail.com)


Hmmm... :)

The last few days have been kinda crappy. I was supposed to be taking them off, but I have come to the startling and horrifying conclusion today that I have forgotten how to relax. I feel like one of those caricatures of the 40-year-old business man who has forgotten how to take time off and, when forced to take his kids to the swimming pool, goes in his business suit.
I just feel like I always have to be doing something... I can't do nothing because then I feel like I'm wasting my time. Oh for the days of student-dom when wasting my time was a much sought-after luxury! No, I take that back... being a student wasn't that great! ;)
So. I'm skippin town to go to a B&B somewhere in the middle of nowhere and do nothing, as ordered by my boss. Who knows what will happen!

A love sonnet for The Pants.
Dedicated to my roomie, Evelyn Reith.

O Pants, how long have I lov'd thee?
Please let me count the days.
It has been many more years than three,
Yes, even four I'd say.

It all began when Evelyn came
To Highlands residence hall:
The pants then grew to glorious fame,
Were worn by one and all.

The girls said "Evelyn when you die,
I want your lovely pants."
But Evelyn always giggled so sly,
And said, "Not even a chance."

The years went by...
The girls did sigh...

Then one day AnnaLauren
Returned from having tea,
To see a golden package in
Her room... "What could this be?"

She opened up the envelope
With weak and tremulous hands.
And it was nothing less than, nope,
Nothing less than THE PANTS!!

She cried aloud and shrieked with glee.
"Oh WOW, it's Evelyn's pants!!!
I can't believe she gave 'em to ME,"
AnnaLauren was in a trance.

The note within said,"Hey room mate,
I hope these get you feelin great."

THE END.

Yes, yes, I know this is my third posting today but I guess I am making up for lost time. Navs tonight went pretty well but I was only there in body (not in spirit)... I have also pretty much decided which mission trip I will go on this summer. Looks like the only one I'll be able to do at all) is Norway/Latvia 20 June-15 July. It'll be a bit of a squeeze because it means I'll have to leave the very next day after returning from the week-long Navs summer conference. Which wouldn't be so bad except I think that I'm one of the 4 people organizing the conference... an even bigger job than the one I just did because it's twice as long. Well, either way it will be an amazing month, that's for sure!! :)
For those of you who will be at Covenant or in St. Louis in late August or early September, I am thinking up evil schemes of how I can come visit before I come back to Edinburgh in mid-September! Heh heh....
Off to bed now.

Here's a crazy story from Mom's treasure trove:
She's been trying to send me my new bank card as the old one has expired. But the first package she sent it in, along with a cd of John Piper sermons, has mysteriously disappeared in the black vortex that is the Royal Mail. (but that's a whole new story)... So she calls the bank to try and get another card sent directly to my address in Scotland.

Well.

The low IQ clerk ended up not only changing MY address, but the address of all the bank accounts in my whole family. AND that's not all... apparently he couldn't remember the country code for Scotland so he picked the nearest thing, figuring that should be close enough... so he ended up changing my address to a place called Seycelles!

My mom calls the bank back and says, "excuse me, but not only did you change the home address of 4 extra people, but you changed it to the wrong place! Do you know where Seycelles is?" "um, no," the guy said. "Well I'll tell you! It's an ISLAND off the east coast of AFRICA!!!!" :)

Okay, very sorry for not posting recently! Humblest apologies. :)

Been super busy with Navs retreat this weekend and I feel like I got hit by a truck now. The weekend was really great... highlights:
-Being on staff and getting to help with everything
-Great conversation with Mel (a girl who was converted while high on Magic Mushrooms... thought she was Jesus at first but that's been cleared up)
-The 4 seminars: fulfillment ("the idol of our culture"), purpose in life (as related to Lord of the Rings), foundations of biblical discipleship (focusing on honesty about yourself), and loving other people.
-The ceilidh (scottish dance) on V-day... SO fun although I've come away with several battle scars (ceilidhs can get kinda violent sometimes!): twisted ankle, a hole in the head (collided with Heather during "Strip the Willow"), bruise on my arm (swinging on Mark Stirling's arm is like hooking your elbow around a light post and yanking on it--OW), and every muscle on my body hurts. BUT--it was all worth it!
-Rocking Kirstie Aylett to sleep during one of the seminars. She 2 months old and literally half the size of a football!

Lowlights:
-On both Wednesday and Thursday I spent 10am-11pm straight working on putting together conference materials for the retreat. I hate Mac computers! No offense to Mac lovers--it's nothing personal.
-Friday night was intense trying to get everyone settled in dorms and having to switch people around, and the people that were supposed to be helping me were no where to be seen. arg...
-Feeling very drained and unmotivated by the talks, feeling "unspiritual." But I know God is still working. He'll never say "Screw you, you're just too lazy to be mine." He knows.

Mary (my flatmate, also known as Wee Broon) and I have started praying for our other flatmate Emma on Monday mornings, and some really cool stuff has started happenning. Talked with Emma last Tuesday and found out alot about what she thinks. She is an atheist and thinks all that exists is atoms bumping around, and when you die your soul goes on living in the memory of others. She asked if my family is religious... I told her even atheists are religious--everybody worships something--but yes, my family are believers.

Only 28 days until my brother Aaron comes to visit! Can hardly wait. I really want him to meet my friends, and I am excited for them to meet him too. It's like two different parts of my world colliding. :)

Better go now and get some work done for tonight.

I retract my earlier statement about the magazine, and please accept my apologies! :) oops.

Took artsy photos of Louise's (fellow Navs intern) engagement bouquet/ring and got them developed this wknd. She and Colin are very pleased and want to use them on the invitations!!! (this is fun!)

Talked to the grandparents last night. They are going to move to Waco (Lord-willing) as soon as they sell their house!! AND they acted like everyone knew it, and we didn't! They do love their secrets.

I'm also talking to the head of the missions committee at my TX church this evening about plans for next year. I want to stay for another 2 yrs, and everyone I have spoken to so far is very positive. I'm praying the logistics work out!!! NGYA!!!!

current mood: happy, sleepy, distracted
song stuck in head: "Legend" by Nelly Furtado

This is weird.
I love journaling in a real book... my journal right now is covered in silky, cinnamon-coloured leather and has crisp, creamy pages with a saffron silk ribbon bookmark. (How nicely alliterative... I didn't even try to do that!) But sitting down at this whirring plastic and metal piece o junk is prohibitive to my creative thought processes. When I write in a book, I feel like I am making a real mark (no that wasn't a pun) and I like to think about the millions of people, hundreds of years before me that also poured their hearts onto creamy pages in leather books. Computers just aren't very romantic (in the true sense of the word).

I just got a hot water bottle with a fleecy cover yesterday, inspired by my afternoon of walking around in the elements of rain combined with Edinburgh's "lazy wind" (it doesn't bother going around you, it just goes right through you). More people should have hot water bottles with fleecy covers. :)

Well I have to go to bed now. I don't want to do a repeat performance of last night's 4am bedtime debut!

-me