Lots going on

I got back from Blue Ridge Family Encampment about a week ago, and it was really cool.  It was very different from your typical summer Bible camp. So different in fact, that I wouldn't put them in the same category.  

I directed the chorus, which was both fun and stressful.  I came in not knowing what to expect, what the kids were expecting, what the camp directors were expecting, what kind of music the kids were familiar with, exactly how many kids I would be dealing with, or the musical talent level of the kids.  I hate going into things not knowing what to expect, so needless to say I was a little worried going in.  

Everything turned out just fine though.  The kids did a great job, we did almost everything I wanted to do except we had to cut a medley of old songs from the book out.  I assumed the kids would know all these songs, so I didn't rehearse them until the 2nd to last rehearsal.  Surprise! We've never heard of any of these songs.  Whoops.  No biggie, the program was going to be on the long side anyway.

I enjoyed teaching the chorus, it was nice to get back into the music world.  I also got to help teach the middle school class.  It took an extra ounce of patience, but it was lots of fun, and I think the kids got a lot out of the class.

Selfishly, it was really good to spend some time with some of my old DXD brothers.  Hudkins did a great job as director of the youth/college program. Dan-O and Landry held it down for the media department, and pulled off a great slide show at the end of the week.  We had a blast on the 11 hour drive there and back, getting lost trying to find whale-mart, helping everything on the schedule go smoothly, and just getting to know all the kids and the college peeps.

In other news, I bought the new Death Cab for Cutie album a couple of weeks ago with the iTunes card I got last Christmas.  I hated it at first.  Track two, "I Will Possess Your Heart" drove me crazy.  I thought it had no meter and was just dumb.  I made myself listen to the whole album again on the way to Searcy to meet up with the guys for Blue Ridge and I finally figured it out.  There is meter after all.  It's two bars of 4, followed by a bar of 3, followed by a bar of 5.  If you do the math 4+4+3+5=4+4+4+4  So it adds up to 4 even bars of 4, but the feel of the bass line makes it feel like mix meter. Genius!  Once I had this epiphany, I listened to the rest of the album with a little more open mindedness.  I didn't like the other songs before, because the phraseology was so choppy.  Every melodic was only 3 or 4 words long it seemed.  I either got used to it or it's not as bad as I originally thought.  All that to say, this is a good album.  Takes some getting used to, but I love it.  4 Gui-stars out of 5!

Concerning my upcoming move:

Things I will miss about living in Springfield:

1. Being close to Searcy and my friends there.

2. My church family at Brookline

3. Thursday night Bible study.

4. The Fall weather.

5. Pineapple Whip!

6. Andy's Frozen Custard.

Things I will not miss:

1. Winter.

2. My stupid job.

3. Fire trucks driving by my apartment. Every. Night.

4. Garbage men picking up the garbage outside my window in their loud, beeping, thundering trucks. At 3 in the morning.

5. Not having a washer, dryer, or dishwasher in my home.

6. Springfield Airport.

Things I am looking forward to in Tampa:

1. My awesome new job that I will enjoy and actually look forward to going to!

2. No winter!!

3. Seeing my sister, brother-in-law, and niece all the time!

4. Living a short drive from my parents!

5. Good airport with decent prices.

6. All the cool stuff to do (Orlando is only 1 hour away; Gainesville is just 3 Go Gators!; pro baseball, football, and hockey; museums, zoos, parks, concerts, and all the things big cities attract; orange groves, strawberry festivals, and generally awesome fruit.)