Sweet Home Oklahoma . . . if any place is... part 1

What a trip it was. It was definetly the best of times and the worst of times.

We left Ada about 3 a.m. last Saturday and arrived in Manchester, Kentucky, about 9 p.m eastern time. I rode shotgun all the way up there and was the unofficial d.j. for the church van. I was gettin' jiggy with it..... (hey, don't tap the glass.... thanks). But the ride on the way there was pretty good (as far as church van trips go). I got to know Barry (pastor at First Christian Church) pretty well just on the way up there because he did most of the driving. I thought I could help him stay awake on the way up there as best as I could. I didn't want him to get us in any kind of wreck. Well, it worked... kinda. But more on that later.

All I knew initially about the trip was what state I was going to and what time I was leaving. I didn't know exactly what the mission actually was. What it was the group was doing was putting on a Bible school for kids all the way from Pre-K to Seniors in high school. In fact, I didn't know what I was going to do until the night before I starting working. They could have had me dress up as a clown and throw pies at kids for all I knew... that wouldn't have been a bad job now that I mention it. But I later found out my job was to teach the 1st and 2nd grade kids. Matt Pippenger and one of the guys from Pennsylvania was there teaching them as well. In fact, I probably did the least amount of teaching. If it were up to me, they would probably be learning the finer arts of Seinfeldology. Kids would be running about saying, "Not that there is anything wrong with that" or calling everybody a type of nazi (as in "soup nazi"). So it's good that I didn't have too much influence on them.

Oh, and I mentioned Pennsylvania earlier. When we arrived at the Youth Center (where we stayed) we met with a group from Pennsylvania who got there about an hour before we arrived. They were there for the same purpose, to work the Bible School. Apparently, these two groups have been going to Kentucky for the past few years or so. One of the older men from Penn. has been making the annual trip since '83. So, some of the people present were familiar with everything and a few weren't. Ed, Pip, Whitney, and I hasn't ever been there before so it was all new to us. There were 11 of us and 12 of them (including one infant). Some of us got along real well. For instance, there was this guy, Matt, who Bryan told us about prior to the trip. Bryan was saying how cool the guy was and how much he liked him. Bryan turned out to be correct. They guy was awesome. Mainly because he laughed at all of Ed and I's jokes. He would always join in and be hilarious doing so. In fact, it seemed like he would almost have a small heart attack whenever he heard a really funny story. He would wave his arms and say "Stop! Stop!". One time at night, he was listening to my iPod with me. We were listening to a CD I had with some funny stuff on it. He would laugh so hard he would rip the earpiece out and laugh so hard. I guess he would take the headphone out like he couldn't take anymore. It was so funny watching him laugh. He made the trip very enjoyable.
to be continued....
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In order to allow more people to read this, I will break up stories from the trip into different parts throughout the week. I know how some people don't even start to read a blog if they know it's long. I guess long=boring. Which may very well be true for mine... (pause for agreements in unison).
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Well, I start my job at The Home Depot on Monday at 8:30. I'm kinda nervous and at the same time excited. I really hope I like what I'll be doing. Not only that, I hope that I know what I'm doing while I'm there. Maybe a cute chick-a-dee will work there and ................ ah who am I kidding? I'm a goblin!

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Stay tuned for a trip to Home Depot with Jesus, the Pope, Seinfeld, Kent, and Ed.

Until next time, vaya con Dios.