At laaast, my love has come around

As I lay on my new pink shag rug listening to Etta James and drinking sparkling cider from the bottle, I can't help but think things are going well right now. Mondays still feel like a holiday at this point, even though they are part of our weekend, but we think this mentality will wear off eventually. Today was a beautiful, sunny Seattle day, I'm soaking these days in as long as we have them.

I went to Wal-mart with a roomie this morning. Wal-mart acceptance is a hot topic in the "social activism" and design world, probably universities at large. Even though I'm against it in many ways, I couldn't help feeling glad that it was a haven of everything I needed and more: I got a rug, bedding, socks, hangers, and more. It's just all there! It's been good to have as a second resource because it's so far away though, and rely more on getting household items from nice people on craigslist and such. Then we made a trip to the bank, where we've become regulars it seems, which it's kind of cool to know your banker and say hi every week. This wasn't before a little mishap though, which proved the general friendliness and good character of Seattlites. I debated whether to share this or not as Mom, Dad, and Grandma will all read this, but I hit our sideview mirror on a Budweiser truck driving down the road. Driving down the narrow road in a wide van, crossing an extra wide truck, mind you. And I believe it's a criminal offense these days to hit and run, so I parked and went back to the truck driver to assess the damage. I awkwardly asked him to roll down his window, and once he understood this I explained what happened. "Yeah, I thought I heard something," was his response; we looked and there was no damage. Ha! Praise the Lord. Well, by the time I got back to the van a guy was helping my roommate put the mirror back on, it ends up it just popped out (into our van I guess, because the window was open?), so he popped it back in. Apparently this man saw what happened, he said we both just turned our heads toward the truck as we heard the sound and passed by, and so he wanted to help us. We were fortunate! That could have been a downer. The mirror is broken, but hopefully that doesn't count as bad luck and we can find a replacement easily . . .

So after that little rendezvous it was experience I of using food stamps. I had in my mind what my mom thought would happen, that people would stare and be judging me as I shamingly pulled out my stamps to give the cashier. Not so! I ended up buying a LOT of food, basics and more, but our cashier and bagger were really friendly and we talked a little about Americorps and healthy food and how food stamps are good. Success!

This evening I enjoyed veggie Thai food with a friend and his friends, who were cool people. One works in Iraq helping to build houses; I was glad to learn of this because in the U.S. we don't hear about a lot of aid going on in the Middle East, let alone non-profit aid. Then it was time to visit the TROLL. So, cities are cool, big buildings are nice and Seattle itself has a great view. But the little things matter! And this weekend, between going to and fro the Oktoberfest in Fremont, I've passed Troll Avenue under a high bridge and learned there's an actual troll there. How cool is this! These multiple times I've passed it I haven't seen it, though, so tonight was the night. It had hair swooping over one eye, but the other was glazed and shiny. He was creepy! Perhaps not as creepy as the thought of disturbing a homeless guy that called the troll nook home though. Except apparently that was a big joke against Meghan... oh well. I realized, though, that this is one of the spots in "Where the Hell is Matt?" ( for his video, click here ). That made me like it extra. It was a fun spot and I'm glad to know where this troll dwells now so I can be extra careful.

The Lord will work out his plans for my life -

for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.

Ps. 138.8a