An update

So...a lot has happened in the past two-and-a-half-ish weeks.
Stop 1 was Harrisburg, PA, for Hannah's wedding. Friends, riding around in a half-packed van, beautiful bride, rain...it was a good time.

Stop 2 was training. The Camfel contract/info packet describes training as "similar to a sports camp". Naively, I believed this statement and packed far too few work shirts. In actuality, Camfel training is more akin to boot camp than a sports camp. Getting up early, doing manual labor in the hot sun for hours, so-so food...fun times. We were outside so much that I got a tan. As in a legit tan, not just post-sunburn discoloration.

Training covered setting up frames and fabrics (frames + fabrics = projector screens); setting up projectors and speakers (hereafter referred to as A/V); and evening sessions on the finer points of doing intros and conclusions, troubleshooting, and filling out monthly paperwork.

Most evenings, the worn-out trainees collapsed into bed not long after evening sessions. When free time and energy coincided, we played games, watched movies, talked, and went on self-guided field trips. I went into downtown L.A. twice. The second time, I and the two girls I went with (we were awesome) actually made it down to Grauman's Chinese Theater. We sighted many a famous character (no celebs, though), including Jack Sparrow, Davy Jones, Spiderman, Tinker Bell, the Mad Hatter, Shrek, Uncle Sam (black), Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Freddy and Jason, Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip, and Charlie Chaplin. Other highlights were stopping every yard or so to take pictures of stars on the walk of fame, stepping on the hand and footprints in front of the theater, and eating a ginormous cupcake at Crumbs.

                                Picture with the Chinese theater, like a good little tourist :)

Downside to the L.A. area: traffic. The only time there isn't traffic is certain times on Sunday. I wouldn't mind living in L.A. if I didn't have to drive.

In summary, training was a hard but good experience. There was more than one time I wanted to quit. I credit God with causing me to finish.

A List

Things I'm looking forward to in the next two weeks/4 months:

-trees! (if you've been to the Southwest, you'll understand)

-friends ("This is the time of life when you either get married, or you die.")

-hotel samples (free stuff!)

-rain (there's gotta be some somewhere in this country...)

-wearing a sweatshirt (even if it doesn't happen for a month or so)

-driving ("life is a highway...")

-changing scenery ("I like that boulder. That is a nice boulder.")

-new experiences ("Dr. Jackson is going to die when he sees this!" "What, again?")

-traveling by van, not by airplane (a journey of a couple thousand miles starts with a delay at O'Hare...)

-taking pictures (oh no, I'm my father's daughter after all!)

A Conundrum

I have recently been confronted with and once again failed to answer one of life's great mysteries: How does one pack light? The answer seems simple: Just pack what you need. But how do I know what I will need? A hundred different situations could arise, each requiring its own unique combination of clothing, toiletry items, electronics chargers, and miscellany. And though I'm not a boy scout, I like to be as prepared as possible whenever possible. So, I sit in the El Paso airport knowing I probably packed too much. As usual. Any enlightenment on this dilemma would be appreciated.