lauren laughs

i must admit i felt a bit skeptical when we pulled up to the campsite at elk neck on saturday. this can’t really be camping? pitching a tent next to rv’s? so many people around? indoor bathrooms? but i didn’t really mind because i knew that time with brian, minnie, anna and bob was time well spent. boy, was that an understatement.

it turns out that camping at camp sites is cool. granted, it’s not at all packing in a few miles and escaping civilization. but campsites, i’ve discovered, serve their own unique purpose. one of the pro’s is the food. you can’t cook up burgers, brats, chicken, veggies and yams in the wilderness. YUM. another new favorite: smores with dark chocolate. mmm… and while it was a bit chilly, we crammed 5 people in a tent to form our own little igloo. combined with bob’s unending supply of coffee, tea and hot chocolate, we survived with no frost bite casualties.

lesson learned: campsite camping is to “real” camping as blue box kraft mac & cheese is to “real” mac and cheese… or garden burgers are to red meat burgers. while not a substitute, they are wonderful in their own right.

the mice will play. crissy and i got caught in big mike the hammer’s office while he’s in indiana. the ironic thing is, i actually get more work done when the boss is out. i have a theory about me and work. i think i’m more task oriented than time oriented. i’m willing to bet that if you said i needed to accomplish x, y and z before going home for the day, i would do so efficiently and thoroughly. but if you say i have to be at the office for 8 hours, what does that really mean? i’ll still do the work because i have a work ethic and i think my work is important, but i respond to tasks. i need deadlines. knowing this will help me to structure my work day better, maybe. just thinking out loud.

i’m sure you’ve all received forwards of pets in halloween costumes. shoot, i’ve even sent such emails to my animal loving friends. i used to think only strange pet owners dressed up their cats or dogs, which is why i’ve found those emails odd and funny. but it’s not just the weirdos anymore. normal people dress up their pets too! i think this is because very few of us have kids. however, many of my friends have kid pets. here we have tex and indiana (kid pets of kim and scott) as darth vader and princess lea, and carolyn with her kid pet molly the pumpkin hound.

the neighborhood kids were out in full force last night. i think our candy was finished off in less than half an hour, but there were some cute costumes. minnie mouse was my favorite. and the girl that kept stepping on her mermaid tail. i salute all the teachers working with kids on sugar highs today.

i’m giving up on fixing red eyes. just pretend i was a possessed cheerleader and anna was rainbow bright with lazer beam eyes for halloween. other notable costumes were christy’s smurfette get up, complete with lots of blue paint, and blind-date-bob, who was blind.

trick: i went “mountain” biking this weekend at patapsco, which is surprisingly close to the city! if i had known you could drive just 15 minutes and be transported to trails with trees and streams, my first year in baltimore would have been much happier. it’s not quite virginia, but it’ll do. in any case, the real trick is that i have this painful bruise on my leg from falling off the bike sunday. it’s getting increasingly purply blue, but it’s totally worth it for a great afternoon outside and trying something new.

treat: i got a call from my boss-to-be in benin this morning! it came up as “unavailable number” and i couldn’t understand him at first, so i thought it was a telemarketer and said, “please remove me from your calling list.” i almost hung up, but then he said, “i’m calling from benin…” AH! we talked about what work i could be doing and i told him i’m practicing my french. he said they are all praying for me and so excited for me to join them. wow!

i sent an abbreviated version of the myers briggs test around to the other peeps on my team at work today. there are 5 of us. 3 are intj’s, 1 (mike) is entj and i’m enfj. this means that i’m an extrovert (really?), intuitive, feeling and judging (which does not mean judgemental).

here’s what the website said about me in relationships, and i realize i’m totally shooting myself in the foot by posting this… but might as well let peeps know what they’re in for. interestingly, my personality type is referred to as “teacher.” right on…

teachers bring all this infectious energy to their intimate relationships as well, and they make passionate and delightfully creative companions. however, at such close range the intensity of their wishes for their loved ones can create interpersonal conflict. teachers can overwhelm their loved ones with their exuberance, and with their pygmalion presumption that everyone wants to be helped along the path of self-discovery. then, when their loved ones either resist their pressure or fail to meet their idealistic expectations, teachers can feel frustrated, disillusioned, or even betrayed by the persons they care most about.

be afraid. be very afraid.

my friends caroline and jt had their first baby… a sweet little girl named julianne. i just flipped through the pics of julianne’s first month of life. babies are amazing! the whole process–pregnancy, birth, baby, developing human being–astounds me. julianne’s little pink feet are perfect.

it’s hard for me to imagine having kids at this point, though my mom was almost ready for #3 at my age. i mean, i’m still just a kid! but seeing pics like this does tug at my heart strings a bit. so somewhere deep inside my kid-self there just could be a someday-mom. scary, i know.

a few weeks ago i was sitting in my car reading, waiting for a meeting to start. i was contemplating whether to be a missionary when i started reading psalm 84. it pretty much sealed the deal. last week i was sitting in my car reading again before going to class (i read in the car a lot). i was feeling overwhelmed about what lies ahead before moving to benin when i read psalm 84 again. it hit the spot. i think i need to memorize this one. here are some parts…

“my soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” there are times when i’m so hungry for direction from God, i can actually feel it. like my soul could faint. it feels good to know the psalmist has been there too. i’m not alone when my heart cries out to God.

“even as the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself…” even though i’m about to be uprooted, i can trust that God will create a home for me.

“blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” ding ding ding! this is what i call confirmation. i think God loves our hearts, and mine is a pilgrim heart.

“blessed is the man who trusts in you.” so, i make up my mind in that moment to trust. and i keep making up my mind to trust over and over again. it doesn’t always come naturally, but it does come…

as i’m writing this post, a very special young girl is being laid to rest beside her father in pakistan. going to karachi this summer was neat because i got to be a part of farhan and roohi’s wedding, but even more so because i was able to break through cultural and linguistic differences and really connect with people. samana was someone i especially clicked with. she was so eager to practice her english and taught me more urdu than anyone else. she had just lost her father and we talked a lot about him. i would wake up from a nap and she would be sitting on my bed holding my teddy bear, waiting quietly and patiently to ask whatever new question had popped into her head.

samana taught me to say “i miss you very much” in urdu. i’m sure i’m spelling it wrong, but it sounds like “may nay tombhay bahat yadkia.” i was actually thinking about samana and this phrase this morning as i drove to work. it wasn’t until after i arrived at the office that i heard from farhan that samana had died of dengue fever. five people have died of dengue in karachi this month.

it’s just very bewildering when young people full of so much life suddenly die.

race for the cure was saturday and team chicksspeak had a blast. this was my first 5k and i hadn’t run 3+ miles since high school, but it’s surprisingly easy when everyone around you is so fired up. it was especially cool to run alongside men and women with signs “in celebration of” or “in memory of” a mom, sister or friend pinned to their backs. helps to give you a sense of purpose on a cold morning. pictured are anna, me, christina, jess and kim.

ray, the wonder fish, needed a change of water this morning. i always give ray the freshest of spring water, but opted for tap water today… thinking the resilient little guy could handle the change. apparently not. i looked up from my computer just minutes after the water change and found poor little ray resting on the rocks of his bowl, looking sad and distressed. ray never rests, so i knew this was an emergency. my coworkers flooded my office, very concerned for what has become the mea mascot. but i knew what ray needed. not tap water. so i grabbed some bottled water from the kitchen (meant for mea guests) and made the switch as quickly as possible. he made a speedy recovery and we’re all pleased to see ray swimming along as happily as ever. (susan, i know this story will bring a little tear to your eye).