I can't sleep...

... And these are some of the things I think about late at night.

Sometimes, I trip over things that only I can see. It's true. Also, the sidewalk will be unlevel only in the place I am walking, or that last step will disappear only when I am trying to step on it. In the past, I have jokingly explained away any gravitational mishaps that have befallen me with a shrugged explanation of "I am clumsy". You know, it is one of those things that if I bring out into the open the fact that I just tripped over that crack in the sidewalk, then we can all get a good laugh out of it and save my face some blushing. However, if I do not say something about, then I am robbing people of the joy of laughing at/with me because they may be too polite to laugh. It just sort of hangs there with everyone wanting to laugh, but they don't. Such occurrences can be awkward. Anyway, the thing is, I never really believed this about myself, the clumsiness that is. I do not know why, it must have been one of those delusional, self-denial things.

Today, my eyes were opened. I can finally admit it openly and without the need to use this admission as a cover-up for embarrassment, I AM Clumsy. Whew. Glad that is over with. What, you ask, led to this epiphany? Well, it may have been the fact that I just now tripped over my shoes, or it may have been the fact that someone added an extra step to the staircase today, or it could have been me thinking to myself, as the glass lid to my pot is twirling on the tile floor of my kitchen like a top, "I sure am glad that didn't break", deja-vu ( and this is the kind of deja-vu that is defined by a sense of dull familiarity.) After these three things happened to me today, it was like all the pieces of the puzzle started fitting together. I thought back to other events like the time I fell out of my chair just so I could put a hole in the floor. I recalled the countless times I have excused a near fall by saying that my legs must be tired from exercising earlier ( I still think this one might apply sometimes). Now, I feel free. I do not need to make excuses anymore. I can just say that I am clumsy.

I wonder though, what might have happened had I admitted this to myself earlier. Maybe I could have gotten professional help with this issue and reached my true potential. I might have been playing for the WNBA right now instead of sitting here at 1:30 in the AM!! writing this crap. Maybe I will start a support group, so other people suffering from this can know that they are not alone. Les, it is ok.

I can make fun of this because a) it is true, I am clumsy and b) I am training to be a counselor so I hear stuff like this. I would compare it to the whole, I can make fun of my family but you can't, sort of thing. Alright, enough. I am going to attempt to walk to my bed and get in it without falling or tripping or bumping into any of my mysteriously moving furniture. Good night.

"I Gave Up Alcohol for Lent"

These words were the beginning of the following conversation I had with a friend, who shall remain anonymous.

"I gave up alcohol for lent" said my friend.

"Really?" I replied.

"Yeah, I haven't had any alcohol, well, except one time when I swallowed a bug and then I had to drink a beer" said my friend.

"Good excuse, Trish (oops, so much for anonymity)" I replied sarcastically.

"No really," she said, "I was riding in the car and I swallowed a huge bug and the only thing in the car to drink was a beer. No one would believe me when I told them how big the bug was, but then I felt something on my tongue and I got TWO LEGS off of my tongue! And then I wiped them on Brock (laughter). The bug wouldn't go down so I had to take a drink of Brock's beer and it was his leftover beer, so it tasted like horse pee."

Yes this conversation actually took place. Many have taken place in the past, and I don't foresee the cessation of such conversations in the future. Fun times!! Well that was my fun for the day and I thought I would share it with everyone, with Trish's permission of course.

And to my bug-eating, beer-drinking and apparently horse pee-drinking friend, Cheers!

Here are some pictures from last week. My mother and I in front of the ruins of St. Paul's. This is the must see spot when someone visits Macau.
This is a picture of the Arkansas team, as they were dubbed, on the hill that the people from Macau call a mountain. I cannot justify calling this slope a mountain, but it is the highest point in Macau and affords a nice view of the city. From left to right is my mother, Robin, Ann, Renee and Pastor Curt.

This picture was taken during a very informative tour given to us by some students that were born and raised in Macau.
Here, our group is in Hong Kong at the Gertrude Simon Lutheran School. We held an English camp... of sorts. Also in this picture is May, Sharon and the principal of the school Mr. Lai.

The day after the English camp, some of the students and teachers offerred to show us around Hong Kong. We began our tour with a trip to the famous Victoria's Peak and then had lunch in Central followed by a scenic walking tour of the Central business district. Below is a picture of the whole group minus the photographer.
Here is a pic of some of the teachers that helped to show us around.

And this is picture of some building ( I think it is the legislative counsel building) and the skyline of Central Hong Kong.

More later.

Just as a side note, if anyone (eh-hmm) finds any typos, I do hope you enjoy them and get a nice laugh out of them.