sorry i TOTALLY spaced on posting my monday morning update last week. in the midst of the pittsburgh national youth workers convention, it didn’t even cross my mind. more particularly, i was in a wrestling match with god (losing, i might add), and an update post was seriously the last thing i was thinking of last sunday night and monday morning.

but here we go, back to it…

the weekend that was: after a few busy ones, this was a nice, low-key weekend. friday night, max, jeannie and i went to trader joe’s, and all chose whatever we wanted for dinner. given that max had, the day before, declared “the four major food groups of max” as chocolate lava cake, lasagna, orange juice, and syrup, he decided to make those four his dinner (much to our chagrin and amusement). i had a pre-cooked beef roast, some cubed sweet potatoes (to which i added butter and brown sugar), and some rice pudding for dessert. we watched ‘journey to the center of the earth‘ on pay per view, then i stayed up way too late catching up on some tivo’d stuff.

saturday was my kids’ school’s ‘harvest faire’ (they’re kinda into seasonal festivals for the whole community). it was a stunning day, weather-wise, and we had a nice relaxed time, chatting with peeps and such. in the evening, we all read books, then liesl and i caught up on 4 episodes of ER!

sunday was church (to which i hadn’t been in weeks), the san diego chargers game at our friends’ house (with chili, which was perfect for a cooler day), and ‘to do list’ stuff in the evening. i’m writing this sunday evening, and we have a fire going in the fireplace, jeannie and max are reading harry potter, liesl is studying in her room, and life is good.

where i am at the moment: in my writing spot this morning, then off to work. but this is a new week in many ways. i sold my mini cooper on friday, and we’re going to try to live through the end of the year with the one car. since jeannie has to drive the kids to school down in san diego, living with one car basically means i’m the one with no car. i have writing mornings planned most days this week, and my writing spot is 5 blocks from home and one block from a san diego trolley stop. there’s also a stop about two or three blocks from ys. it’s $5 round trip, which is a bit of a rip off, but should be do-able. i’m asking for a longboard skateboard for christmas, which would make the walks on either end a bit quicker. it’s going to force me to slow down a bit more — i can’t just say, “hey, i need to be at work in 7 minutes,” and leave. i think there’s a chance i will enjoy this, once i get used to it a bit; but i could be wrong, it might drive me crazy!

we’re pretty sure we’re going to buy jeannie a prius in january. our other car is a saturn vue. i’m toying with selling it while it still has a little value, and getting a vespa, or (maybe?) a piaggio mp3. since i only drive about 5 miles to work, and the weather here is almost universally nice, it seems like it would be practical much of the time.

on my to-do list this week: it’s mostly a catch-up week. but i have 3 or so hours blocked off every morning (except one) to work on the middle school ministry book. i really need to keep making significant progress on this, if i’m going to finish by january 1. i have four chapters done now, and about 9 to go for my half of the book (i’m co-authoring with scott rubin of willowcreek). i also have to re-write the opening session for ys one day this week (third or fourth revision).

procrastinating about: oh, not a whole lot, really. i’m finally making good progress on the middle school ministry book. jeannie and i have some work to do on our taxes, and we’ve been seriously procrastinating about that.

book i’m in the midst of: two, i guess. i’m a few pages away from finishing christopher moore’s island of the sequined love nun; and i’m about a 100 pages into dave livermore’s upcoming release, Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World (which i’ve been asked to read and write an endorsement for — that’s on my “to do” list this week also!).

music that seemed to catch my attention this past week: ok, this is a wild one. an amie street email (my favorite website for exploring new stuff) suggested a band to me a week ago. the band is called “king kahn and the shrines.” the album is “the surpreme genius of king khan.” i have listened to it non-stop most of the week.

how to explain? combine old skool funk and blacksploitation music with a bit of the rougher edge of dave matthews, with some doses of rolling stones, the doors, and a bit of punk sensibility. i don’t know, but it’s infectious, and i recommend giving king khan a listen. tasty morsels of fuzzy, buzzy, crunchy goodness.

next trip: nothing this whole week! woo-hoo! my next trip isn’t until the following week, when i head to nashville for the next nywc.

how i’m feeling about this week: okee-dokee! nothing freaking me out too much — should be a good one!