Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Traveling madness

October is a crazy month for me. My birthday is at the beginning of the month, and this year I get to go to the Renaissance Festival and to see the Lion King on stage (which is absolutely AMAZING!) all in the same day. I normally work Tuesday - Saturday, but this month I'm also working Mondays to make up for the fact that I have trips on 2 weekends. Oct 10-12 I was in Nashville for a Reconciling Ministries Network retreat/training/strategy session. Nashville is beautiful, the center where we stayed is nice and very hospitable (it even has a labrynth to walk!) and I got to spend time with some great people that I haven't seen in a few years. I learned a lot about what's going on the United Methodist Church and renewed my faith that there are changes coming for the better because of these people. :) I love you guys!

This weekend I'm headed back to the same center in Nashville for a different church group. This is the biannual Deaconess/Home Missioner Convocation (i.e. formal gathering or conference) and I'm really excited about being there. I haven't seen these folks in several years either and the fact that I was just in Nashville at the center makes me feel comfortable - I know what to expect and what I'll need to bring or not.

I get back from Nashville on Sunday evening and then Monday morning I head back out for work. I'm going with all of our AmeriCorps members to Leadership training in Taladega, Alabama. We'll be staying at a church conference center so it should be pretty nice accomodations. I normally love this kind of event, but I'm really bummed that all of this travel is happening all at once. I just want some quiet time to sit at home with my family! It makes me think of people like my father-in-law who travel a lot for their jobs. It's one thing to see lots of places and meet lots of people, but I need more stability than that. I kind of like a routine and knwoing what to expect - not that I don't like spontaneity too, but I need to come back to that something solid and reliable. I think I could handle a trip every month, as long as I got to be home for a few weeks between each one. Right now I'm just looking forward to November and life being a little more calm.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My name is Mandy also and I've just stumbled across your blog randomly ... I dig it! very nice ...
enjoy your trips .. you can sit around and enjoy routine in the assisted living home when you're older ..
as to november ... yay!! its getting very cold here in Atlanta where i live and you should post pictures of the scenery where you travel!
-Mandy :)

mandyc said...

Thanks for stopping by, Mandy. Namesakes are always welcome! :) Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera with me to this particular trip to Nashville but I'll get the chance to bring it with me when I got Alabama on Monday. I'll try to post some shots! And you're right - there's definitely time to rest later. I struggle with that balance sometimes. For now, I'm enjoying the workshops at this conference... more later.