Well, I know Emily will appreciate it. And that brings me to my point that I was trying to make in the first place. Although we are not clinically insane, Emily and I often times wonder about each others [as well as our own] mental and physical well-being. From the looks and responses that we evoke from others we are able to easily conclude that we are not altogether sane, either. [I think the fact that we use our cognitive skill sets to arrive at this conclusion is something of importance as well.] So, for argument's [and alliteration's] sake we call ourselves [slightly] sane.
Anyways.
I decided that you might like to go on a trip with me. A day trip, that is. I have wanted to go and visit the Sister [and Brother] for a while now and am excited that I finally have an opportunity to do so. Only I don’t want to go alone and I want you to go with me. So hop in and enjoy the backseat to what is a normal day in the lives of these two [slightly] sane sisters.
Don’t worry about the 107 degree weather. I know some of you are not used to such extreme weather conditions but trust me, once the temperature passes 97 degrees and the humidity 72% it’s all about the same. As Emily said earlier today [when we were debating whether to take our electronics in with us to eat or let them suffer in the heat], ‘The way I see it, if I can survive in the heat than so can my technology and equipment. I’ve made it so far.’ Don’t worry, we’ll stop for ice cold beverages periodically throughout the day for your thirst palette and, if you can stand the loud noise that comes from putting Emily’s A.C. on High, you’ll be cool, too.
So, here we go!
2:31 pm: We arrive in College Station just in time to save Emily from having to walk the 923 steps [I’ve counted] in the 103 degree scorching heat [not kidding] to her car, Nelda. Needless to say she was thrilled about the curbside service and we are happy to save her this one walk through the dessert.
2:32 pm: Emily lets it be known very quickly that she is starving. Since we [you & I] ate just before leaving we let her pick the place as we have no preference. We are secretly excited that she chooses Antonio’s pizza because, well, maybe we could use a piece of pizza after all. We decide to go with the ever-dependable pepperoni pizza and determine not to let the horrendous 2-point perspective mural ruin our dining experience. [The content itself is not horrendous but the technique—I have no words because it is actually more like a 12-point perspective.] Did your pizza taste okay?
3:01 pm: After we eat and sit for just a few minutes to let our food settle [remember we have a lot to do today!] we walk the few blocks to FedEx, a 16” x 20” piece of framed art in hand, to have said artwork packed, not sealed. Emily was selected to have one of her self-portraits exhibited in a special exhibit at a museum in North Carolina!
3:23 pm: Emily needs to be driven back to the Langford Complex so that she can drop off the packed, not sealed package off in the administration office as they are going to cover the shipping costs for her. Although it’s difficult, you and I wait patiently in the car—Difficult for me because being in this place always makes my pulse start racing, my eyes start twitching, and my right hand to cramp up into mouse-holding position; difficult for you because you have heard the horror stories of my tenure in this place.
3:32 pm: No sooner than Emily is in the car, we speed off in hopes to vacate the premises lest we go into shock and end up spending the day in the E.R. instead of doing whatever it is that we need to be doing. On our way we stop at the conveniently located McDonald’s for 2 Large drinks because if there’s one thing our Mom taught us it’s that a day of errands is only made better with a Mickey D’s Sweet Tea [or Diet Coke] in hand. Previous experience has taught us that we cannot place what we know will be our order in the drive thru. Have you ever gone through a drive thru with your sister [who prefers Dr. Pepper over Coke] in tow and asked for 1 Large half-Coke & half-Diet Coke and 1 Large half-Dr. Pepper & half-Diet Dr. Pepper? Well we [Emily & I] have and we drove off with 2 Large half-Diet Coke & half-Dr. Peppers. Yuck.
By now we have burned at least 93 calories from laughing and said ‘I miss you’ at least 7 times. You haven’t said much, though. Are you okay? You’re being awfully quiet back there. Maybe you’re just taking it all in.
3:29-4:26 pm: We continue on our errands stopping in Michael’s for a skull, Half Price Books for 50 vinyl records, and Hobby Lobby for yarn and a vase. Real shopping [for accessories and outfits] will have to wait for a later date when we have time and money.
4:29 pm: We arrive at one of the local coffee shops, Mugwalls, where we plan to spend more than 17 minutes. [I just heard you breathe a sigh of relief.] Finding a table that will seat all of us, we begin to unload our bags of computers, To Do lists, and centerpiece making supplies. It’s hard not to people watch at places like this. Some students come to catch up with a friend over coffee while some set up with enough space and caffeine to stay for days. Some students look happy to be reading the Bestseller in their hands while some look about ready to pull their hair out with one hand and throw their graphing calculator out the window with the other. Needless to say, we [some of you and me] are grateful that this is no longer our lives.
7:00 pm: Yikes! How did it get so late? We have only one hour and 15 minutes to pick up Emily’s car, drive home, take showers and get to back to campus for the campus-wide Bible Study— Breakaway—that starts at 9:00 pm. Somehow we manage to accomplish this all while meeting Brother’s new girlfriend. We’ll have to check her out later. We also discovered that my front left tire is low again. Something else we will have to check out later. For now she will stay parked.
8:56 pm: We arrive at Kyle Field with moments to spare and don’t have to search too hard to find Brother Andrew and the seats that he has saved for us. I am so excited about Breakaway tonight as I myself rarely made time to go to this amazing weekly event during my years at TAMU. As the band starts playing and we start worshiping I am so overcome with emotion at the reality of what is going on in this moment: almost 10,000 college students coming together to publicly proclaim and worship our Lord and Savior. It is a beautiful thing. I wonder if I would have faithfully and eagerly attended had there been something like this available to me during my undergrad years. I am saddened because I know the truth. The truth is there was something like this and I did not make the effort to attend regularly. It wasn’t as large [my school wasn’t even 10,000 students strong] and it wasn’t held in the basketball arena but it’s purpose was the same. Sadly I don’t even remember the name.
Breakaway is a non-denominational student ministry that was started by Gregg Matte and a few of his roommates who decided to have a hallway Bible Study. At first, they held meetings in their dorm room. Now they are 9,000 strong on a low attendance night and blowing the roof off of the basketball arena. They are doing some amazing things in College Station, TX.
This video is not of super quality but I was able to capture a couple seconds of the worship experience. Just imagine 10,000 college students singing 'Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me....' in the football stadium on a school night. UH-MAY-ZING.
11:47 pm: Back at home, we gear up to do our [Emily’s] daily Insanity workout routine. Have you ever tried Insanity?! It is nuts. Although in her bedroom and squished between her bed and closet doors was not the ideal place to try this workout for the first time, I did make it to the end. [I’m not sure if I can say the same for you!] Emily was amazing as she is 4 weeks into the workout!
12:39 am: After quick showers and mildly planning the next day we fall into bed with me, of course, passing out even before Emily’s head hit the pillow.
8:59 am: I awake before my alarm [a rarity indeed] and decide to get back to work on the centerpieces that I promised my cousin for her wedding. Needing the sofa, I am afraid that I had to wake you up as well.
9:30 am: Sleeping Beauty joins us and we proceed to work in the comfort of our own home and pajamas for the next couple of hours. I [nearly] finish the centerpieces, Andrew’s laundry, some of Emily’s laundry, and pack up my small-sized suitcase that has largely exploded all over the house. How does it do that?! Emily listens/watches a tutorial on how to digitally apply makeup in Photoshop. When Andrew joins us at 12:29 pm we are just about to start getting ready for our scheduled lunch. Unfortunately he cannot join us as he has to get to class [the only reason he was up at the early our of 12:29 am].
1:51 pm: Choosing a new restaurant in town we hurry in and study the menu. Thankfully Emily has been here before and she quickly tells us what she suggests. Knowing that we are in a crunch for time we take her advice and order trying not to drool on the cashier. The food smells go-hood! I would tell you the name of the place but I can’t remember. You should know though, shouldn’t you? You were there with us! The chips and salsa were sooooo yummy and spicy.
2:43 pm: We drop Emily off at Langford again for a meeting with one of her committee professors. We’ll pick her up when she calls. Man, a personal chauffeur seems like a pretty good deal!
2:47 pm: You and I grace the walls and tables of McDonald’s once more but this time it’s to stay for a while. We’ll be fine, though, as this is a true college-town McDonald’s. It’s almost loungy. In the front, high-ceilinged room that normally houses Play Places you can find grouped, comfortable seating, commercially covered sofas, electrical outlets at every table, white noise, and plenty of natural light. The best thing about any and all McDonald’s: the amount of crack they put in their coke. Seriously, that stuff will cure any headache or ailment so fast that you’ll be feeling good before you know it!
4:07 pm: We get the call that Emily is done with her meeting and is ready to pick up. On our way out, we order her a beverage as well, knowing that she will be thrilled to have an ice cold half & half with her name on it waiting for her in the car.
4:11 pm: We pick our Grad-school Princess up and head back to the house. Time has gotten away from us again and you and I have to get back home before it gets dark. [Remember the leaky tire we still have to deal with.]
4:47 pm: On our way out of town and Emily’s way back to school, we stop to fill the leaky tire up with air, praying that it will last the 1.5 hour trip back. Saying good-bye, we part ways but don’t get too emotional because we will see her again tomorrow. Pulling out of the parking lot, we put in Glee ‘The Warblers’ and proceed to jam the entire way home to ‘Teenage Dream’ and ‘Soul Sister.’
I hope you enjoyed your trip! Thank you so much for coming along with me; we'll work on your harmonizing with The Warblers next time :)
I hope you enjoyed your trip! Thank you so much for coming along with me; we'll work on your harmonizing with The Warblers next time :)
as always, this had me in stitches...because it's soooo true. i especially enjoyed our shopping list, which was 100% true. dear harley is still sitting on my floor in a plastic bag waiting to come out for his photo shoot.
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