Monday, October 24, 2005

checking in...

hey friends -

in an attempt to put off some work, i thought i'd post an update on the happenings and travels of the past few weeks.

i left kansas city on wednesday morning, october 5th, and drove to my parents' house in wellington, tx (click here for a map).

here are a few things i thought during my drive and first week at home:
  • i love the flint hills of kansas
  • i'm no fan of driving in the rain behind 18-wheelers
  • pumpkin ice cream is the BEST
  • listening to lyle lovett on the iPod as you cross into Texas is a good idea
  • as is bringing with you a bag of hi hat coffee, for a little taste of kansas city in the panhandle of texas
  • i LOVE high school football games. especially the ones that happen on a crisp fall evening.
  • i was quickly reminded how inconvenient living in a small town can be when i had to drive to amarillo to make copies
  • i heart sunday afternoons
i stayed in wellington until monday morning (which was the 10th). that day, i arose exceptionally early and headed west, to glorieta, new mexcio. glorieta is a retreat center about fifteen minutes outside of santa fe. each october, emergent has their annual emergent gathering there, under the falling leaves of the aspens. it really is my favorite thing we do all year, and save a couple of people, it is a pilgrimage that my closest emergent friends make each year. this year was no exception. the gathering lasted through thursday noon, and then my friend naomi (from minneapolis) and i drove up to taos. we stayed there through friday afternoon, and then drove down to ojo caliente (a natural hot springs) where we met up with friends for the evening.

regarding my travels to new mexico:
  • t-mobile needs to get it together so i can have service on I-40.
  • i drank WAY too many liquids on the way to glorieta.
  • yay for rest stops.
  • i'm no fan of driving in the rain behind 18-wheelers.
  • if you ever find yourself in santa fe, you should go out of your way to eat at harry's roadhouse. yum.
  • yarn spun by mennonites and dyed with vegetables is expensive. and makes a nice addition to my stash.
  • i love october the most.
  • i need to go back to taos very soon.
  • the rio grande river gorge is scary deep.
  • i'm totally digging this album by my friend ryan sharp.
  • boo for rest stops that are open on one side of the road and closed on the other (especially when i'm on the closed side).
i returned back to wellington from new mexico on saturday, the 15th. i spent the week at home, resting, tying up loose ends from the emergent gathering, and obsessively watching coverage of hurricane wilma. there's not much to do in wellington, so there's not much here to report. except that:
  • i love miss piggie's hamburgers. rusty, we should go there when you're home at thanksgiving...
  • always buy enough yarn for your knitting projects. it's bad news when you run out of yarn for a project, replacement yarn is two states away.
  • the reason there's no fall color in west texas is because there are no trees.
  • i am more allergic to my hometown than any other place on the planet.
  • not having cell coverage is both a blessing and a curse.
so now i'm in houston. i arrived here saturday night, and will be here until i go back to wellington for thanksgiving. i'm staying with my sister and my friend tania. monday is my work day for my paying jobs, and i'll be starting on thesis work tomorrow. positive thoughts and prayers will be much appreciated.

so far:
  • driving through suburban dallas is a favor that i will do only for the very best of friends (i met my friend lauren for lunch on my way through...)
  • seeing a sign on I-45 heralding an upcoming 161 miles of construction really takes the wind out of one's sails.
  • thanks to debbie and stacy for getting married, and giving tania one of their extra beds. this means i don't have to sleep on the couch.
  • this is the funniest website.
  • if you've gotta be in houston, late october - may is the ideal time.
  • it's fun having my friends ryan and holly from california in houston at the same time i am.
  • it's nice to not have to cram seeing four years worth of friends into a weekend trip.
  • some of the very best people in the world live here. i hope you get to meet them sometime.
  • i hope the astros pick it up, or it's going to be sad times around here.
i hope you all are very well, and would love to hear from you.

laci

p.s. a bit of concert promotion:

1. barclay's unexpectedly back in kansas city, and is playing a couple of gigs around town. if you're looking to fill your evening with a bit of acoustic folk music, click here for more information. somebody's got to go for me, since i can't be there...

2. my friend brad hoshaw is coming into kansas city from omaha this weekend and will be playing at the borders on 91st and metcalf. you should get yourselves out to the show. you can listen to his work here, as well as find out the details on the show. brad has been in kansas city twice this year, and i have missed him both times. this is not good. don't let this happen to you.

3. for those of you in houston, my friend ryan sharp (referenced here twice already) is playing a show wednesday night at taft. more information available here. let's all cross our fingers that wednesday night isn't potentially the last game of the world's series.

4. and for those who love the classical musics, my friend nicole is giving a recital sunday night at baptist temple church in houston. the curtain goes up at 6:30 PM.

so the moral of the story: support independent artists - get thee to a show this week! and tell them i sent you...

1 comment:

Ryan Lee Sharp said...

Ha! You've a blog! Sweet. We can stalk you from afar...