Well, it’s news for anyone not in the greater California/Baja area.

After returning from Nepal, I decided that it’s just too cool of a country to not live in. So I decided to live there. Probably making the move in September.

I’m pretty excited.

So I was chatting with my favorite Uncle Steve on Friday over coffee and he mentions that he missed taking his vitamins today. I was all “Whoa Steve, hold the phone! Guys actually take vitamins?” and Steve assured me that they do. He even showed me his vitamin collection and I was very impressed; it’s robust without being excessive - not unlike Uncle Steve himself.

I don’t know why it struck me as so unusual but I never thought of vitamins as a guy thing as I’ve only ever seen women take them. I don’t take them myself - I’ve chosen to believe that I will be under the age of 30 when the Second Coming hits (this world view helps keep my life joyfully uncomplicated :)), so projecting into my long-term health enough to start taking vitamins is difficult for me. It’s also the reason I don’t wear sunscreen.

But, is it common for guys to take vitamins or is Uncle Steve a (healthy and well-supplemented) anomaly? He tells me that he isn’t but I remain unconvinced.

I thought I was unique and edgy for having a crush on Jon Stewart and I realize more and more every day how mainstream the dude is and how everyone has a crush on him. The crush hasn’t gone away though. I harbor a secret fantasy that when we start performing miracles like the Lord says we will, I will perform a grand miracle in the middle of a very public place and it’ll get caught on camera and Jon Stewart will want me to appear on The Daily Show to talk about it. And now, the Lord knows He can’t use me to perform miracles because I will abuse the power. Damn my pride.

I was talking to Jer last night about the dread Papyrus font and how much I despise it and and today I saw it used four times in advertising and two of those times at Costco. For shame, for shame. I should also mention that I feel geeky and design-esque when I talk about things like this (fonts and conversations with Jeremy)

Chuck and I were looking at photos one night and realized in tandem that whenever we see a hot guy, we both sniff. Just one lone sniff. We figured out that we do this out of grief due to the unlikelyhood* that they will return the sentiment. So if you pass by us and we sniff, you’ll know why. (*spellchecker tells me this word is spelled wrong but in my heart I know it’s right)

Our new house has a tennis court, which makes me very happy because now when I must defend my much-too-excessive use of salt with my usual argument “But eating salt helps you not faint when you’re playing tennis in the hot sun” (see Life with Grandpa #3) the argument is even more airtight since there is now the possibility, however remote, of actually playing tennis.

In all seriouslyness, there is Big News on the horizon for your friend and comrade Jules and I’ll be posting about it soon, thus redefining myself as a woman of actual substance on this blog.

I am a very impressive maximizing Home member. I’m also humble enough to keep this information to myself, but in this particular case if I don’t tell people about it they won’t know about it - and if we’re all being honest with ourselves, who wants that? This is how awesome I am:

The car that I used yesterday to make a trip to a place far, far away was scraping empty when I left home. I filled it up on my way out with my last $15, rendering myself penniless for the remainder of the trip. By the time I got home the car was scraping empty again due to the many miles we had conquered together, coupled with unimpressive MPG. Now although we have a home rule of not bringing the car back under half-tank, (just like Grandpa says) since I was out of money and had already put gas in the car once, I would have been off the hook with a plausible case to plead at Home Council should the need arise to defend myself. But I am not a minimizer, neither am I a maintainer. I am a maximizer.

What I did was go through the not-so-speedy process of extracting money from the gas budget out of my father; and if you’ve ever lived with my father you’ll know that when you ask him for something, he will usually give it to you but not before he tells you in detail and usually in some length (while remaining very respectful of you as a person), a better way to do whatever it is that you’re doing at the moment. I do not resent him for this for he is a wise man and I have much to learn from him. But it did add a full eight or nine minutes to my mission of Doing The Right Thing.

In the end, after braving the busy post-work streets of my fair city and filling up the car, I spent a total of 34 minutes out of a sunny Thursday afternoon doing absolutely nothing but The Right Thing. Though I may not receive any recognition for it on this earth, great will be my reward in that better place.

I may have been bombarding your inbox with prayer requests & updates about my trip to Nigeria. Yesterday I was told that the dates of the medical project have changed to July 20-26 soooo I will, God willing, be going then. I still need your prayers though specifically for $$ for my ticket.

The Lord did a miracle and I got my visa, although they didn’t want to give it to me because they said I didn’t have any blank pages in my passport…but I found one! yay

Thank you ever so much for your prayers! They really do work, please keep them coming.

Connie, may this be a marvelous year for you. May you run your 5k with the greatest of ease. May you learn to love to do lunges and and have the firmest butt ever. May your coffee always be fresh. May your computer never crash. May the allergens in our room dissipate. May I learn to keep my stuff on my side of closet. May Michael always have wine to sell you when you need it. May you find the perfect facewash. May your tennis shoes always be supportive. May the network never go down. May you never miss a deadline. May your border crossings always be quick. I wish all these things and more for you on this day of days. Happy Birthday!

On the pictorial post below. They’re very interpretive and poignant. And thus concludes our Nepal coverage.