For real

First, an update.

June 28 through July 10: Stillwater, Oklahoma. Ooooklahoma how the... (it's a song, it keeps going, and that one particular phrase gets very old pretty quickly)

OK&VBS2010

The original plan, and the one that was carried out, was to visit family for as long as a week, and then head home. This in and of itself creates such an occasion for joy and mirthful days that it's worth mention by itself! Hey N's, y'all sure know how to have a good time and make family feel at home :)

That encompasses about the first 6 pictures in the previous album, the first week spent in Oklahoma -- one of family going on small adventures hither and thither, staying cool inside, long hours of dialogues on world peace and small furry creatures. (the board's official report has yet to be filed, much less published)

That week went by fairly rapidly... as has much of this summer. My immediate family left that Saturday, and that's where the first plan and the second plan diverge.

See, a week later, the Stillwater VBS was going to start. I like to go out of my way to be at this particular VBS (my past records should show this). So I stayed at the N's for another two weeks! Take the first week of incredibleness and extend it into two weeks, only plus a few more people... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Saturday Aunt Liz took Stephen and I out to the Alabaster Caverns for most of the day. It turned out to be more of a long drive with good music, a history lesson or two, followed by a lot of hiking and gaping at scenery, followed by the drive back home that had the same as the first. Field trip officially, unofficially a really good reason to go hiking and wandering through a cave.

Monday and Tuesday were quiet, cleaning up days. And also a bit of Calculus review.
Wednesday was to be another quiet day, except that one of the VBS official team members arrived early. The house wasn't very quiet until after the sun went down! Thursday the rest of the team arrived, and all tallied up accounted for one from Ohio, one from Kansas, two from California, one from Scotland, and one from Northern Ireland. Add my person and two of my cousins to that lot, and then extend it to the rest of the Stillwater crowd, and VBS had a lot of workers.

I have to add in a spot of something here. Stephen and Megan, a Northern Irelander and a Scot respectively, certainly added a lot of flavor to this particular week. And they sang Oklahoma some. You can never tell!
A shout out to those who came across the pond to help out! :)

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday went by smoothly, Friday being the day that the entire VBS team went on the OSU ropes course, both high and low (things such as the human knot). Fun fun. (feel free to gape at the pictures again)

Monday the 5th of July was the first real day of VBS work -- and it wasn't properly working really hard. We set up the field that was intended to be used for VBS, ran through our rough plan, all without the kids. July 4th was the day before and the rest of Stillwater was still taking a break.
Okay, make that Tuesday as the first real day of work, but even then we got rained out and only about a third of the total people who would have shown up could actually stay out with us in the rain.
Evenings were either really tough or really fun, depending on how you look at it -- basically the VBS team went to some populated area of town and started knocking on doors talking to people. Some confrontations on spiritual matters ensued.

Wednesday and following VBS was held at the YMCA, just in case the rain came again. I could (and would) go on about the details... but how time flies by! (or something)

July 10: Departure. Aunt Liz drove to Dallas, while Mrs. S. and I came along for the ride (Mrs. S. was visiting with Rachel, who is in fact staying there with my grandparents. Funny how things work out like that!)
For the sake of not rehashing too much of my melancholy, I'll avoid the part where I say it was sad to leave -- ask my cousins and family, they will most likely clue you in.

July 12: Enid VBS begins, only without me. I was in Nacogdoches, getting ready for Calculus 2! That's the reason for random review during this long trip. Summer II semester dual credit at SFA -- a packed month. However I'm very happy to report a final GPA at SFA (this is merely coincidental information, it doesn't transfer) of 4.0! That gives me hope yet for this coming semester.

Skip forward to August 14, when I had my official graduation and Eagle Court of Honor. Yep, big ceremony, lots of hullabaloo. I honestly didn't hope to make it a big deal -- it just makes things official. And is a good source of barbecue (thanks Mom!)

Grad/CoH (mine)

The major upside being that I get to see all sorts of people from all over that I hadn't seen in forever :)


On a completely unrelated note, I am now in possession of copies of:
Newsboys In the Hands Of God
Tenth Avenue North The Light Meets the Dark, Over And Underneath
Fireflight Unbreakable
Coldplay X&Y, Viva la Vida
Jars of Clay Long Fall Back to Earth

All of which I would offhandedly recommend. Again, I think the advocation is best left to somebody else, mostly because I won't be here, or have the privileges to listen to these in public...

This semester has become the future that I both looked forward to and dreaded. Now it's here! All packed up, moving out tomorrow, how odd.
My life is about to become very inaccessible in all sorts of ways, one of those being that I am now cutting contact in many fashions, save only gmail and this blog (if I'm doing well). For those who are yet unaware, I'm going to Texas A&M and be in the Corps of Cadets (I hope you have heard of the latter if you have heard of the former). Fish Orientation Week starts tomorrow, and if you are currently reading this, I am most likely unreachable until... ?
I don't know much of the matter, except that it's going to be a major trial.

That in mind, this is Petr, Amigo de la Sombra, your friendly neighbourhood... (okay I'm not digging that deep) signing off until further notice. You'll know when I'm reaching through insurmountable odds to get here. Your prayers are much appreciated.
Until we meet again, take care and God bless!
-Petr