It's Been Awhile

What with all the travel and training and lack of internet in my apartment as yet, blogging is likely to be light for another month or so. Anyway, a short update.

I spent the entirety of last week in Olathe, KS mentoring with the two hort agents there. I also spent one day at the KS Turf conference. It was a good week. I appreciated the opportunity to see another program and learn how things work there. One of the agents there was relatively new, so she had good insights into getting started and being the new agent. It is also going to be nice, because our background complement well, so she can help me with turf stuff, and I'll help her with fruit and veg.

I spent the three days this week in my home office. I spent the better part of one day going around to different places in the county with the other agent so I could see things and meet people. I'm starting to develop ideas for programming in the spring garden series, the HUGE garden show, and classes for farmers. The advice that I think is sound, but that I'll have a hard time following is to pick one or two things and really focus on them and use them multiple times in different contexts for the entire year.

I definitely am planning on working up a presentation and class on salad greens, which is a pretty wide topic that can be narrowed down and focused for numerous audiences. Anyway, I'm going to be at 3 days of orientation at KSU next week, so that will have to wait for later.

Yes, It is Too Late to Plant Grass

I am now officially one week into the new job. I spent the first day doing training at the KSU, learning about benefits, "professional scheduling," and signing paperwork. The rest of the week I spent in my home office, getting to know some of the ropes.

The biggest challenge so far, and I think in general for the next several months, will be adjusting to a different climate zone. I have learned that it is generally too late to plant grass seed, but sod is still okay. It is also fine to plant peonies, trees, and shrubs yet. To my northern Wisconsin mind, you don't plant anything in November, except maybe snowmen. It was 65 here the day that it was snowing up there, this past week.

Anyway, I'm starting to get the feel of the office, and I mostly know my way around. I know the people on the Ag end of the building, and I'm getting a start on the FACS (Family and Consumer Sciences) end. Tuesday I got to/had to sit in on 9 hours of Pesticide Recertification Training for Ornamentals and Turfgrass professionals. Several of the speakers were really good, others weren't. I got to meet the state turfgrass specialist, who is also an ISU alum. The last speaker of the day gave a really interesting talk about an injection procedure he helped develop to protect Scotch Pine trees from Pine Wilt.

I've also gotten my start in answering phone calls from various people. So far it hasn't been too bad, although one guy calling with a lawn issue gave me a bit of a work out last week. But that is a story for another post.

My next couple weeks are going to be kind of crazy, since I'll be in a county 3 hours away from Wichita for mentoring all of next week. Then I'll be back in Wichita for 3 days before Thanksgiving. Then I'll be back at KSU for more training the week after Thanksgiving. I'll be home for another week at that point, then at KSU for another week of training/mentoring.

Web Safari

1. Adoro Te Devote has a great post this week entitled, "What do You Seek When You Dream of Happiness?" about how our lives ultimately make the most sense through Jesus.

2. Steven provided this informative link about How To Build a Lego Trebuchet.

3. Rachel brought this site to my attention, where you can answer vocabulary questions correctly and various companies will donate 10 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. Not that I'm necessarily giving unqualified support to the UNWFP, but the vocab is fun, and donating rice doesn't hurt anyone. Certainly there are better ways to fight world hunger, but I see nothing wrong with having wealthy American companies donate rice to hungry people.

4. Scot McKnight is blogging through the book unChristian, and he is looking at Ch. 6 which discusses the impressions that Christians are "sheltered and irrelevant."

5. Hallowed Ground has some really nice paintings and pictures posted...I particularly like the last one in the post.

6. This 10 page article in the New York Times Magazine, entitled "The Evangelical Crackup" looks at the shifts that are taking place in the way that Evangelicals interact with politics, particularly on a national level.

7. In Illinois, apparently boys are consistently falling behind girls in testing and achievement at school. There are debates over whether it is because of changes to the tests or to the education in general.

A Productive Day

I guess you could call today a productive day. I have a new cell phone and number, a new address, and a new bed. If you think that you should receive my contact info and haven't yet, for some reason, just email me or leave a note in the comments and I'll get it to you.

I ended up going with T-Mobile's My Faves plan for the cell phone, largely because T-Mobile is supposed to have very good customer service and good signal consistency.

I'm moving into my apartment tomorrow afternoon, and my bed is going to be delivered Friday afternoon. S othen I guess I'm more or less ready to start work on Monday! Yikes!

Web Safari

This mid-week return of the Web Safari is quite a bit longer than normal, in large part because I have ended up compiling links for a couple of weeks while being too lazy to write up this post. So if you like, you can read through all the links in 3 sittings. That way it will feel like you really got 3 posts out of it.

Religion, Faith, and Related Topics

The religion section kicks off this week with a couple of posts from the Internet Monk.

1. The first post is about Evangelical worship, and how it seems to have come full circle in the past few decades.

2. The second post is a discussion of Willow Creek Church's recent announcement that their programs are not actually producing disciples of Christ.

3. For a bit more on that same topic, read the article from the Christianity Today blog.
I have to say that the realization that having more participation in church activities does not equate discipleship isn't exactly an earth-shattering revelation, but it is difficult to compete with that mentality that has been increasingly touted by a lot of Evangelical churches.

4. Over at Happy Catholic, Julie D. has finished reading the new book about Mother Teresa that got so much press a few weeks back. She learned a lot about Mother Teresa that she didn't know. I have to say that I like this review of the book, because it gives a nice overall look rather than dwelling on the big news items.

5. Happy Catholic also has a great post reminding us about the importance of consistent prayer, which is linked to ....

6. ...this post at Catholic Spitfire Grill about Making Time for Prayer.

Art and Other Culture

7. Lots of people seems to be talking about the movie Bella, so here is a conglomeration of reviews for your perusal.

8. Da Vinci's The Last Supper can be viewed in High Definition. It's pretty cool, because you can zoom in and see all the cracks and slight differences in color.

9. Food writer David Lebovitz shares a story about interviewing at Chez Panisse, and then a scrumptious-looking gingersnap recipe.

10. Do you like Bambi? I'm not really a fan of the movie. But does it really qualify as being one of the Top 25 Horror Movies?

Politics, Science, and all that other stuff

11. Brant Hansen puts together a satirical list of things he's looking for in a Presidential Candidate.

12. The ice sheets on Greenland are melting, which could result in the ocean level rising by up to 3 feet in the next 100 years. Mostly we care, apparently, because that will flood parts of New York City. My overall feeling is that there's not much we can do about it at this point, so instead of freaking out, we should just let the adaptation occur as it will. Gradually people will stop living in the flooding areas. Gradually, more people will populate Greenland. Unless we decide to be stupid by trying to control the climate rather than adapting to the changes, which could happen.

13. What would you save from a fire? If you had 10 minutes, what would you take? What would you choose to leave behind? I try not to be too materialistic about things, but I think I would still find it hard to choose between the irreplaceable family items and mementos.

14. Not to worry, Communism hasn't prevented Chinese young people from developing many of the same attitudes as their counterparts in more democratic societies.

15. Apparently some Neanderthals could have been redheads.

16. Some scientists found the oldest known living animal...and then killed it before realizing how old it was.

Finding a Home

I'm in Wichita now, but I'm still more or less homeless. Did I ever tell about that? I don't think I did. To condense a long story, I got a call last Tuesday from the apartment complex I was supposed to rent from. They told me that I wouldn't be able to move in on Friday, because they had a fire and the apartment I was supposed to get was no longer available. The next available apartment isn't open until Nov. 7th. So I decided I'd try to find something else, if possible.

I found an apartment that I should be able to move into by Wednesday. It's a nice apartment, bigger than the one I was originally going to have and homier. However, it is a bit more expensive, although a bit cheaper than what I was paying in Ohio. I think I'm probably going to fill out the application and put down my deposit to hold the apartment tomorrow morning.

It has a lot of kitchen counter space, which I've been sorely missing for quite some time. There's also a nice big balcony and a fireplace. (I don't understand why so many apartments around here have a fireplace. I can think of several other things I would choose to have in an apartment before a fireplace.) The bathroom is also quite nice, and it has hookups for a washer and dryer if I want them. I can rent a washer and dryer too. The stove is a mini stove like I had the last year I lived in Ames, but I think it will work as long as I'm not trying to cook a 30 lb. turkey. I certainly have no plans to cook a huge bird, but who knows?

I've also started trying to figure out what I'm going to do for a cell phone plan. By and large, cell phone plans are all the same. I'm trying to decide between the AT&T/Cingular plan and a T-Mobile My Faves plan. With the AT&T plan I would get 450 anytime(rollover) minutes, plus 5000 night and weekend minutes. I can also get my nights to start at 7 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. With the T-Mobile plan, I would get 300 or 600 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, and 5 numbers I can call for free all the time. The thing I don't want to do is not have enough anytime minutes, because extra minutes can get really expensive. I guess I'll decide that later on.

I have all kinds of other little things I need to do too, but I'm not going to jump at them until I get the apartment nailed down. It's kind of a challenge to do a lot of things when I don't have a Kansas address yet.

Recipes for Ramadan Feasts

My parents are hosting a Yemeni foreign exchange student this year. Last weekend was the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, so we had the other family with a Muslim student over this afternoon for a feast of sorts. I made 4 dishes that are roughly Middle Eastern in flavor: Noni Afghani, Fereni Starch Pudding, Lamb Tagine, and Spicy Pakistani Chickpeas.

The Noni Afghani, which is a type of flatbread, was really good and everyone liked it. I really liked the pudding, although not everyone was as thrilled. One of the exchange students really liked it too, so I guess that's what counts, right? It is a simple milk and cornstarch pudding flavored with cardamom and ground almonds. The lamb dish was tasty as well, but I felt like it was cooked too long and some of the spices were less flavorful than they could have been. The lamb could be made with beef too, I think. The chickpeas were okay, but I was kind of combining 2 recipes together and I kind of accidentally spilled too much curry powder into them. Oops.

The other family brought some pretty tasty hummus and tabbouleh, so I think we had a pretty good meal all around.

"Moving" is Done!

The "hard" part of the trip is done. We got everything loaded up and drove to Wichita, unloaded, and drove back to Wisconsin. For me, the worst part of the trip was the rain. I'm not a fan of heavy rain when I'm driving at 70 mph. Although the loading up part was also a challenge, I ended up only leaving a few cheap cleaning supplies there. The major thing I left behind was my vacuum cleaner, which I got from a lady at work, who got it at a garage sale for $3. It was a nice vacuum cleaner, but we weren't going to fit so much as a postage stamp more into either vehicle.

My new Billy Joel and Casting Crowns cds served me well on the trip. Something about a long road trip needs loud music that you can sing to. Luckily, I drove most of the trip by myself in my car, so I didn't bother anyone else too much. I did discover that I-35 is just as boring as it ever was. Maybe that wasn't much of a discovery. Yeah, not so much.

I have everything stored in my Extension Director's third garage, except for the few things I brought home. I started looking at beds, but didn't have enough time to do serious shopping. There was an absolutely gorgeous double rainbow in Wichita while we were looking at beds. I'll post the pictures after I get my computer set up and such.

Moving Activities

Here's the deal, folks.

Tomorrow (That's Tuesday, Oct. 16.), I'm loading up all my stuff into a rented SUV and my car with the help of my ever-darling brother and witty mother. The goal is to head out of Huron by early afternoon (1 p.m. is the goal, so 2 p.m. should be reasonable, right?). We plan to drive until we can't anymore, and then sleep. Then arise Wednesday morning and complete the trip to Wichita.

I'm unloading my stuff in the garage of my new boss, and then time-permitting, hunting for a bed and such. We will then spend the night in Wichita, and plan to leave the next morning (Thursday) for Wisconsin. Theoretically, we'll get there by a semi-reasonable time Thursday night.

I think I'm going to sleep a good part of Friday, and then do a lot of walking - because I'm pretty sure I'm not going to want to look at a car again any time soon.

Hanging at home through probably Tuesday morning, then visiting friend(s) in Minnesota on Tuesday afternoon-evening. Driving to Ames Wednesday morning and visiting people there, then sleeping at Kate and Jaime's place!!

Thursday, Oct. 25, I'm driving back to Wichita and signing my lease. I may start moving in then, or more likely will do the bulk of the moving in on Friday.

I will then have a little more than a week to get settled in Wichita before starting my new job. Eek! Someone tell me why moving halfway across the country is a good idea...? (Other than the obvious...I seriously need a covered wagon.)

For my 6 loyal blog readers, the obvious implications of this schedule is that any new posts will be scarce to non-existent for the next few weeks. Please don't abandon me! I'll be back! I promise! Okay, I'll probably scare up a post or two while I'm at home. And I'll probably pop over to Steven's place and update once or twice before I get my internet set up. However, depending on various factors, it might be a few weeks before I have my own internet again. So look for a return to regular blogging in mid-November!

How Beautiful by Twila Paris

How Beautiful the hands that served
The Wine and the Bread and the sons of the earth
How beautiful the feet that walked
The long dusty road and the hill to the cross
How Beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

How Beautiful the heart that bled
That took all my sins and bore it instead
How beautiful the tender eyes
That choose to forgive and never despise
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

And as He lay down His life
We offer this sacrifice
That we will live just as He died
Willing to pay the price
Willing to pay the price

How Beautiful the radiant bride
Who waits for her Groom with His light in her eyes
How Beautiful when humble hearts give
The fruit of pure love so that others may live
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

How beautiful the feet that bring
The sound of good news and the love of the King
How Beautiful the hands that serve
The wine and the bread and the sons of the Earth
How Beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

Listen to it here.