I’ve just finished my first forty-hour workweek—perhaps a feat rather late/pathetic/ridiculous/even disgraceful for a twenty-two year old.  Considering the readership of this blog consists of my family and friends, it’s more probably you thought: how lucky.  That’s precisely how I feel—how lucky I am to have forty hours where I am not in control.  I find it completely liberating.  This summer I felt an immense pressure to fill my days, yet I woke up each day with little to do besides search for jobs and exercise.  On the really good days I got to add ‘go to post office’ or ‘buy milk’ to my multimedia of To Do lists (notepads, post-its, digital stickies, organizer…).  With this newfound structure, there is a fixed number of time slots and a fixed number of activities that fit in any given time slot.  Decision-making made easy.  Spontaneous ambitions curtailed (slightly).

My days here at CIAT (see ‘where I work’ link on the left) are essentially as follows:

6:00 wake up

7:30 Arrive at the CCC (Corporate Communications & Capacity Strengthening) Office.  Everyone says good morning, and Eduardo asks me if I slept with ‘los angelitos.’

9:30 Grab a ‘tinto” (small serving of black coffee—the café con leche is warm milk) with a colleague at the little snack shop (pronounced ‘esnackshpp’). On Fridays an old Dutch couple sells breads, cookies, foccacias, granola, and other treats from ingredients from their organic farm (I’m sure they beat the extra-processed cakes and extra-fried empanadas, etc that the snack shop offers—though I’ve yet to be tempted to by them…)

12:00 The cool part* of my team collects me to walk the open-air corridors to lunch.  We hover by the library staircase to wait for Andrea to join us and then continue to the Cafeteria.  Before, during, and after our meal everyone talks about food constantly (whats being served, what they will ask for, how they like to prepare it, why they like it, why they don’t like it, how I should try it…)

12:40 We take a stroll around some part of the extensive and beautiful CIAT grounds.  Eduardo tells us what sorts of plants we are passing, and stories about earlier days at CIAT (ie, how all the important people got to plant their own palms at the entrance, or more fascinating, how they tied a big yellow ribbon around the largest tree (in imitation of an American song? Which is?) in front of CIAT when they were waiting for one of the directors to be returned by the FARC—apparently he was a very confident type, and did not heed warnings to avoid a certain route.  He was returned for a ransom of US$700,000).

1:00 Return to the office

3:00 (Wednesdays only) Center-wide optional Seminar.  This week a researcher from Argentina who heads a project on Yucca/Cassava improvement spoke about his team’s progress and challenges.

4:30 Time to go home!

5:00 Hit the gym (pretty outdated/limited—the free weights aren’t labeled but I play with those), and then run around a bit.  I pass a pick-up soccer game, tractors, tons of interesting birds, and then get a bit lost in the tall sugar-cane fields.

6:30 Dinner.  It’s a bit early and pretty deserted—I’ve eaten with a Nigerian microbiologist who travels everywhere, and a Colombian who works on finding habitats for under-utilized crops.  Starting next week I’ll probably catch the bus home at this time and eat there.  If I have more work to do, a third bus leaves at 10:30.

RELAX/READ/STUDY (GREs, Spanish)/SLEEP

*Cool part includes: Eduardo: journalist, early 50’s, hilarious & thinks so; Maria Fernanda: journalist/ ‘social communicator’ who graduates from her 5yr undergraduate program on Saturday, 23, MY FRIEND CRUSH (the person I want to be my friend the most); Andrea: also a ‘social communicator’ (these are their self-designated titles on linkedIn & facebook), mid-late 20s, always asks for two servings of meat at lunch so she can feed a stray cat which she has yet to name.

It’s been a wonderful week—I love speaking Spanish again, and I’m so excited about the organization I’m working for and the people I’m working with.  Next week I’ll have a better sense of what I’ll be working on (meeting with my bosses Monday!), and I’ll move into the city of Cali.  I can’t wait to meet more people, and to find my café, grocery store, and apartment!

Sunday:
1:  Read textbooks necessary
2:  Check out WebCT
3:  Make sure phone stuff is straightened out

Monday:
1:  Talk to professor Malik, get book printed.

• Zoom In Saturday. NTV. 6:23- & 7:45- (Check for AAA 2008 coverage)
• Mezamashi Saturday. Fuji TV. 6:32- & 7:36- (Check for AAA 2008 coverage)
• Ousama no Brunch. TBS. 9:30-14:00 (Arashi)
• Channel Rock. TBS. 17:00-17:30 (New Dramas)
• ♦Jun Style. NACK5. 10:20 - 10:50 (Jun)
• Δ VS Arashi. Fuji TV. 12:59 - 13:30 [Guest: Kumada Yoko, Mizuno Yuko] (Arashi)
• ♣Arashi Marks ARASHI AROUND ASIA 2008 17:30 [Kasumigaoka National Stadium]
• Δ Tensai! Shimura Doubutsuen. NTV. 19:00 - 19:58 (Aiba)

Saturday Sept 6 @ Greenbriar
10:30-11am Pilates
11-Noon Yoga

Sunday Sept 7 @ Greenbriar
11-Noon Pilates

Tuesday Sept 9 @ Elgin & Louisiana
7:15-8:15pm Pilates

Thursday Sept 11 @ Post Oak
7:30-8:30pm Pilates

Saturday Sept 13 @ Greenbriar
10:30-11am Pilates
11-Noon Yoga

Sunday Sept 14 @ Greenbriar
11-Noon Pilates

Monday Sept 15 @ Richmond
7:15-8pm Pilates (Subbing)

Thursday Sept 18 @ Post Oak
7:30-8:30pm Pilates

Saturday Sept 20 @ Greenbriar
10:30-11am Pilates
11-Noon Yoga

Sunday Sept 21 @ Greenbriar
11-Noon Pilates

Monday Sept 22 @ Richmond
7:15-8pm Pilates (Subbing)

Tuesday Sept 23 @ Elgin & Louisiana
7:15-8:15pm Pilates

Wednesday Sept 24 @ Richmond
7-7:30pm Pilates (Subbing)

Thursday Sept 25 @ Post Oak
7:30-8:30pm Pilates

Saturday Sept 27 @ Greenbriar
10:30-11am Pilates
11-Noon Yoga

Sunday Sept 28 @ Greenbriar
11-Noon Pilates

According to the Uberman schedule, naps are every four hours and last from 15 to 30 minutes. Mine will be 20 minute naps, leaving me with a total of two hours sleep per day.

My nap times:

3:10 am/pm
7:10 am/pm
11:10 am/pm

Phonics - I detest this subject as I think it is super super boring. So does she. I think we're going to nix phonics or at least skip to the few items in the book that would be instructional and useful to her. I'm going to have to look through our book a little more to weed out the busy work. (once per week, but maybe not at all.)

Science - We're doing a unit on the human body with lots of activities thrown in. She's also doing quite a bit of writing by logging our daily tasks and making little booklets and stuff. We've checked out a bunch of human body books from the library and she has been reading them with and to her little sisters and taking them in the car when we go pick up Mimi from school. The other day she was reading about the heart and we ended up having a great conversation about the relationship between the size of an animal and how quickly its heart beats. We're planning on a trip down to the Science Museum to see the human body exhibit before it leaves next month. (twice a week)

Math - Right now we're doing mostly review of addition and subtraction of multiple numbers. I've found lots of fun activities that incorporate these. I'm going to work with her on a sewing project to work on our measuring skills (and estimating skills, as I am a laaaaazy sewer). We've also done some cooking and we practice our fractions. I expect that the cooking will increase as the holiday season gets nearer and we'll do a lot of practical math like doubling recipes and figuring out the metric system and equivalencies. She really wants to move on in math and get to multiplication and stuff, but I am feeling that we should ease back into the subject. (three times per week)

History - We tried to do an entire year of history over the summer, but burned out on it. We got about a third of the way through it before we shelved it until the school year. We are still in ancient history, but Bubba loves it. She really gets into most of the stories and we have some fun discussions after reading them. It is always amazing to me the details and names she remembers after reading. There are some that I have to go back and look up that she rattles off really quickly. This is one of our favorite subjects as we always learn something new and there is always some sort of fun project to go with it and reinforce the lesson. (twice a week)

Writing - Most of our writing is done within our other subjects as Bubba balks at having to sit down and write just for the sake of writing. One day per week we do do some sort of writing task. Lately we have been working on different brainstorming techniques. At first she was lazy and bored with it until she ended up coming up with a really fun and creative story based on some of her brainstorming. Every Friday is poetry day and we do something different. Last week we had a book from the library about rocks (her current passion) and it was a long poem about different types. We read it and then she chose her favorite type of rock from the poem and copied out that page in her best writing. We have a book of Roald Dahl poems for tomorrow that I'm very excited about.

Reading - Every day I read a chapter of The Wizard of Oz outloud to her. When we're finished with the book we're going to watch the movie and compare and contrast it to the book. I think we'll do it orally or I'll have her write down the main points and present it to Dad or something. I've been thinking about all of the different books we could read and then watch the movie to compare and the options are huge. I think it will give her a better idea of how much better the books typically are, too, and promote more reading. She also reads for half an hour to herself or to her sisters outloud.

Music - She practices her guitar every day except for lesson days. She was given two new songs to practice at her last lesson. We were also informed of her first recital coming up in October. I can't wait to watch her play in front of everyone.

Art - At the beginning of every week we start a new art project. She then has the entire week to work on it and refine it in order to have a very thoughtfully and thoroughly finished piece. The first few projects in each unit are more technical, exploring each element (line, texture, etc.). Then there are a few really creative projects that incorporate the techniques previously studied.

(On a side note, Baby started preschool today, but I haven't had time to get the photos off of the camera yet. I'll write about it when I have them on the computer. Suffice it to say that she had a blast and it sounds like the day went really well.)

For those who wonder what I do with my time (all 3 of you), it always changes. But here are the past three days.

TUESDAY: Coming back always means (groan) many meetings

• 6:15am: Jacob picks me up... so we can save gas and use precious minutes getting caught up.
• 7-9am: Meeting with Jacob and Matthieu (sort of an intern) to pray, encourage eachother, and talk through everything happening this fall.
• 9-11am: Meeting with Louis, Matthieu (different than the first), and Jacob, to talk through issues: accountability, ministry, and family.
• 11am-1pm: Meeting with the oversight committee for the church at St Jérôme (Louis, Terry, Jacob, myself). We worked through a couple of explosions that occurred during my vacation... this took up most of our time.
• 1pm-4pm: Regional Church planting strategy meeting. Evaluating potential church planters. Planning a new church plant in St. Eustache, as well as a couple of possible re-plants along the north shore of Montreal.
• 4pm-5pm: Drive home... whew!
• 5pm-9pm: Spend time with the family

WEDNESDAY:

• 7:30am-9:00am: drive to downtown Montreal (with Terry)
• 9:30am-3:30pm: Provincial church planting strategy meeting. We planned a church planting boot camp (which I will, in part, be teaching this October), as well as helped a church planter avoid a total burn-out.
• 3:30-5:00pm: drive home... whew!
• 6:00-8:00pm: try to get reasonably caught up on essential e-mails and other paperwork (or... pixelwork?).

THURSDAY: Finally! Able to concentrate exlusively on the St Jérôme church!

• Felt rather sick this morning, which does not happen often, so went back to bed and slept a little later, then shoved down some toast and coffee. Not a fun morning. An incorruptible body in the future sounds great.
• E-mails & phone calls (again and always)
• Sermon preparation: Will be walking through our vision for the church this Sunday: our 6 values.
• Reflection time on, and prayer for, the sermon (in the forest behind our place)
• Time with Martine (love that)
• Was able to catch the end of Mccain's speach at the Rep. national convention on TV tonight. McCain-Palin looks formidable all of a sudden.
• It's midnight, I'm going to bed (hate going to bed this late).

I did not have bow tie pasta or asparagus, so I used egg noodles and veggies from my garden and made the same recipe.  Again, to save money from going out and buying those two items.  I am sure the recipe will be delicious another time, but for now, it was great.

So, tomorrow, I have written down to harvest my apples.  Tomorrow is our bible study day like I said, so I am going to try my best to stay around the house so that I finish up chores and have supper ready to leave for the study (we are reading and studying Mark).

Keep working on your schedule.  I found that in due time, there were things I had written down on my schedule that never got done.  I have new things on my schedule that still have not gotten done from the recent list.  I have a couple of sympathy cards I want to get out and I have my table to sand and paint.  In less than two weeks, I will be starting school with the children, and that will slow down me getting done all of the other goals.  Things will get done because the Lord directs our paths.

Hold in there, write if you would like help, I will be willing.

Crystal

1. Nguprek scriptnya upload file Frontliner [worktime]

2. Jum'at an [siang]

3. Ke kampus, berjuang cari seat di kelas [after worktime]

4. Jemput Hunny [malem]

...

• ♦Arashi Discovery. FM Yokohama. 6:50 - 6:55 (Ohno)
• ♣Arashi Marks ARASHI AROUND ASIA 2008 17:30 [Tour begins at Kasumigaoka National Stadium]♣
• Δ Maou. TBS. 22:00 - 22:54 (Ohno)
• ♦Aiba no Rekomen, Arashi Remix. JOQR. 24:00 - 24:30 (Aiba)

This weekend (Sept. 6-7) is the Chadds Ford Days event in Chadds Ford, PA. Hurricane Hanna may determine my schedule this time. We're watching it carefully and frankly won't know for sure what's going to happen with the show until late tomorrow (Friday).

***************************************************************

It is time to turn the page on the great Labor Day World Series and focus our attention on the upcoming Fall Season. We have many changes to talk about – including DaBears COMP team leaving the Church League and into one of the 2 REC Leagues… The hated Regal Eagles and DaBears COMP team are the only 2 teams that signed up for a COMP league this season, so let’s look at the other teams in that league that were hoping to be in an easy REC league:

• Adam & Tim’s Mooseknuckle
• Renegades
• Decra Steel
• Angry Beavers

Some of us will still be in the Church League, but unfortunately for some of our hated rivals – we will not have our competitive team that blew everyone out of the water and captured second place. Instead, DaBears Rec team will do our best to anger our Church League Nemesis’ to the point of angry cussing and yelling at umpires… again. Let’s look at the competition in the Church League:

• Pleasant Ridge Red
• Pleasant Ridge Black
• Tate Spring Baptist
• Tate Springs II
• FRBC Blue
• Rockway Rangers
• First Baptist Red
• SACOC

Hurricane Ditka is coming off of a disappointing season in the Summer, but rebounded by winning the Labor Day World Series and now have been put into the easiest league of them all for the Fall. Let’s look at the limited competition that the mighty Hurricane should blow through this season:

• Thunderducks
• Opponents
• Underdogs
• Da Boyz

Give us your thoughts in the comment section below on the teams that are in our 3 leagues, any predictions for the upcoming season, how happy that Keith and Cody must be that DaBears COMP team is not in their league to embarrass them anymore, NFL week 1 predictions, Sarah Palin’s speech, the Oklahoma City Thunder, or anything else you would like to mention…