Wake up, body my brain says. Body says no. Brain registers time on clock. Body needs to get a shot in half an hour.
Body curses and grudgingly gets out of its nice, warm bed.
So Friday started out with me having to get the final shot of my hepatitis B vaccination series at nine a.m. Great fun was had—and I didn’t even bleed. Katie (katharina) calls while I’m impaled with a needle. When I check my messages and call Katie back, I learn she wasn’t able to get onto the 8:45 a.m. flight and would catch the 11 a.m. flight from Dallas to Newark. Unfortunately, this meant the earliest flight she could catch from Newark to Manchester would be at 8:45 p.m.. Sucks.
Then she calls later to let me know Dave (Taalcon) would pick her up and they’d drive up together. Cool. Figuring out times of arrivals and departures of planes and automobiles, I figure they’d leave around four-ish.
Around six-ish, I get another Katie call. “We’re leaving Newark now.” “What?!” “It’s a long story. Dave got a ticket and we missed an exit and then missed another exit but we’re on the right highway now and on our way.”
Two hours later I get a call telling me they’re in Connecticut. An hour and a half later, “We’re eighty miles away!”
Forty-five minutes later. “We were wrong. We weren’t eighty miles away. But I think we are NOW.”
Katie and Dave arrive around 10:45 p.m. EST and we lug their stuff in. Katie immediately settles and checks email and Dave to follow. I’m hungry, Dave is hungry, need to socialize, so we head out to the Red Arrow Diner after forcibly dragging Katie away from the computer (this is after ten minutes of us saying “let’s GO!” and Katie saying, “I’m coming! I really am.”…and not budging). After circling the block around the diner for ten minutes (construction), we park and go in. The server comes to take our order.
Dave orders a BLT. I order a cheeseburger. Katie says, “Do you have any fruit?” The server blinks. Dave and I stare at Katie. I say, “This is a DINER.” Dave says, “A DINER.” Server says, “We have pie.” Katie says, “I’ve been up a really long time since early this morning and I’m really tired.” Dave and me: “…And?” Katie, “No, I don’t want pie.” Me, “You mean it’s too late for pie?!” Dave, “It’s NEVER too late for pie.” But, According to Katie, it was too late for pie. Katie apparently DOES love pie, as she tells Dave and me, “I make really good pie. When I got home from my mission and got off the plane, the first thing my baby said to me was ‘Make me some pie!’”.
Dave and I stare at Katie, then blink in unison. Katie says, “What?” I say, “Baby?” Dave says, “Is there something you aren’t telling us?” Katie says, “I said my baby BROTHER.” Dave and Me: “No you didn’t.”
We eat and return to my apartment, continue chatting and set up airbeds and change into jammies and continue chatting. I remember the package Nathan had sent me and now it was technically Saturday the twenty-ninth (Nathan had written on said package Do Not Open Till Saturday 29th). I open it and he, along with Katie and Dave and Pat, a quad (this is a book containing the KJV bible, BoM, D&C, and the pearl of great price). It’s navy blue (favorite color) and has my full name embossed on the front cover. There’s a note inside as well. Nathan isn’t logged into AIM and isn’t at home and doesn’t have a cell. Argh. I wait. At some point, Katie makes a comment about “That’s many people’s conception.”
Dave and Me: *blink*
Around three a.m. we begin to play a game of Truth or Dare. We realize we’re too tired to think or go through with any dares, so basically we end up playing a game of Truth. Katie starts by asking me, “Truth or dare?” Me. “Truth.” Katie asks me, “What was your first kiss?” Easy. “Joey Green in kindergarten.” Dave says, “That’s such a broad question. It needs rules. It has to be your first romantic kiss. Was that a romantic kiss?” Me, “Are you kidding? I just kissed him because I wanted to play with his Transformer!” Katie and Dave: Nathan logs onto AIM, chatting begins. Nathan joins in the game. Dave asks Katie, “Truth or dare?” “Truth.” “What was the most embarrassing thing to happen on your mission?” Katie is plainly mortified. “I can’t say it. It’s too horrible. It’s so horrible that I did that, I feel so guilty about it. I can’t tell, there’s no way. I feel so guilty!” I say, “It’s obvious. You have more guilt right now than a catholic and a jew combined.” Katie decides to tell us a lesser embarrassing story. Dave and I continue to press for the REAL embarrassing story, because it MUST be good if Katie is THIS MORTIFIED. “Oh my stars, I can’t. I just can’t. It’s so embarrassing.” Dave says, “That’s the POINT. It will be cathartic.” Katie, “Okay okay okay. This is what happened. On my mission, we went to the ward Halloween party.” Dave and Me: “…And?” Katie continues. “And we went dressed up as NUNS.” Dave and Me: “…And?” Katie, “That was it! Isn’t that HORRIBLE?! It’s so embarrassing.” Dave and Me: “…And?” Katie asks, “Ya’ll don’t think that’s horrible?” Dave points out that the heathen perspective contains many more horrible things than dressing up as a nun. I point out that dressing up as a nun or priest at some point is practically a given for catholic youth. Katie doesn’t see our point and will spent the rest of the weekend trying to prove that she IS a heathen bad influence. (She isn’t.)
At that point, we all attempt to go to bed, settling onto our respective air mattresses and/or beds and reading. Katie asks me a question. I answer. Dave hears us. “I thought we were going to bed.” Katie and Me: “We ARE. We’re reading. Now talking.” Dave comes in. “You’re making me lonely.” So we chat and chat about me getting a tattoo before I become Mormon. About our staying up as a vigil, then more appropriately, a sort of pre-Mormon-bachelorette-or-something party. Katie continues to try to prove she is a heathen by telling more stories, none of which are either scandalizing or embarrassing save one (she threw up on the guy in front of her on a plane trip from Paris). I look at one of my windows. “Is it getting light out?” Katie says, “No, it’s still dark.” Dave goes over to the window, opens a drape and says, “Good MOOOOOOOORNING!” Yeah, it’s dawn. Five a.m. I say, “Holy sh*t!” As Katie says, “Holy crap!” Thus illustrating the difference between the heathen and non-heathen perspectives.
We all wake up reluctantly about noon-ish, shower, dress. T-minus five hours till swim. We head out for lunch at Pappy’s and eat some of the Best Pizza Ever. After a stop at the drug store (and my Last Iced Tea), I take Dave and Katie to my alma mater, Saint Anselm College and tell them monk stories from my years there. As we drive past the Abbey Church, Father Mathias is opening the church’s doors. We tool around campus for a bit, then realize it’s getting close to four and we have to get back to my apartment.
We begin assembling clothes and needed items (dry and clean underwear, stuff to fix myself up with after swim, etc) and picking out dress clothes. Then changing. Sarah and Chris show up (exwork friend and her fiancé). I finish changing. We’ve got all our stuff and are ready to go.
Except Dave forgot his dress shoes. We call the elders to try and rustle up a pair.
T-minus 45 minutes.
We arrive, put our stuff down. The font is ready to go. We’re shown what to wear, Dave doesn’t have white pants, so he has to wear a jumpsuit. Honestly, these jumpsuits HAVE to be why Mormons get space-people-rumors. They’re definitely not the height of fashion. I’m actually horribly embarrassed to wear it and was incredibly uncomfortable for the first part of the service.
We realize that Dave not only has forgotten dress socks and shoes, but also to bring dry underwear to the church. Chris takes my keys and car and shuttles Dave back to my apartment (while in his white jumpsuit) to get the underwear. They arrive five minutes before the baptism is scheduled to begin—Dave explaining that it took him ten minutes to get my door open.
There are pictures taken. While practicing how to do the actual baptism, Dave body-slams me to the floor. Walking back to the other room, Sarah bumps into a painting of John the Baptist and Jesus and knocks it from the wall.
I tell Sarah, “You knocked Jesus off the wall!” She’s laughing and all red with embarrassment. And I say, “And you’re the Jewish one here!” She says, “I KNOW!” and continues laughing and taking pictures of the event with my camera. Then tells me that Chris had asked her where we keep the pods. I told her, “Under the baptismal font.”
After the baptism (we got it right in one try, so only one trip under the water), I change and endure teasing from Katie and Sarah as I hop around in Very Cold and Wet Clothing and then try to change into my nice dry clothes. During this, I manage to drop my dry underwear in a puddle, but save them from getting TOO wet.
After the service, we head to a ward member’s house for a shindig involving food. Partway down the long driveway, we pick up hitchhiker (just another young adult from the ward) and get to the house. Once there, we realize there’s no parking. I’m offered a ride back in a shuttle-van of sorts if I drive back out. I attempt to explain, the rest of the folks in the car get all confused, and finally I say, “GET OUT.”
Them. “Fine. Be that way. That’s the end of this party.” But do manage to get out.
At the party, I continue meeting people in my ward as Katie continues to chat with them all. Most of the time I hear, “I’m sister/brother so-and-so.” And Katie will say, “Oh! I talked to you on the phone!”
At one point I said quite loudly, “You know more members in my ward than I do!”
We eat. Good food. Desserts, pie (banana cream, no less), homemade bread. Sitting out in the sunroom, I find out that another ward member is a founding member of the fencing club I belong to. We talk fencing for a good solid ten minutes. How cool is that?! Then, this lil’ ol’ lady turns to me.
“Jamie. Take a good look in the mirror now, because this is the last time you’ll see that beautiful figure. Becoming Mormon you’ll be eating all this good food!”
Me. *blink*
Everyone Else:
Katie announces that her foot is asleep. I ask which one. Katie says, “This one,” and points. I promptly kick that foot. “OW!” she yelped. Then said, “THAT’S YOUR FIRST SIN!” I say, “That was NOT a sin. I was helping.” The others agreed.
We depart. Well, attempt to depart as it took fifteen minutes to drag Katie the Social Butterfly away. We pick up a dress shirt for me to match my pinstripe pants and head back to my apartment. We watch an episode of Freaks and Geeks (awesome).We eat Winnie-the-Pooh fruit snacks that Dave brought with him. Katie plays with hers, I ask if she was ever taught not to play with her food.
Katie tells me, “I’m fulfilling its purpose. It would feel bad if it wasn’t played with.”
Then commenced the Playing of Halo, with Dave mopping the floor with me, and both of us mopping the floor with Katie. She whines about constantly getting killed.
“Then stop sucking,” I said. And Dave writes it on the OOC page we kept up.
Katie finally realizes why her story was so embarrassing. Not the nun part. “We did it with the Elders!” she blurts out.
“What!?” I say.
“I mean,” Katie explained. “I mean we went with them, to the Halloween party. Like…a DATE.”
Even Dave and I had to agree that WAS bad.
We manage to crawl into bed around three a.m.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Waking up is hard to dooooooooo. We struggle out of bed, shower, and dress. I step out of the bathroom fully dressed aside from my shoes, but realize that my pinstripe pants are an inch longer than all my other dress pants and I have to change my game plan and pick out another outfit. Once changed, we head out to the church. I’ve missed my window of tattoo opportunity (as Mormon FAQ book I received as a baptism gift from the bishop explains is Bad For Mormons) and lament this loss of having permanent body art. Dave and Katie and I are all in serious danger of falling asleep during prayers.
I’m confirmed at the beginning of the sacrament meeting. It’s hard to really describe the feelings involved and how affirming it was to my choice. I mean…the blessing, honestly, managed to piss me off because it was bang-on right. The priesthood holder doing the blessing (Elder Casper) gave what blessing words that came to him from the holy spirit. And the words he spoke were true, because some of what was said would be known only to myself and God. Things he would have known that were said: “God says he blesses your decision to choose righteousness, blesses that you will have a forgiving heart to forgive and be forgiven by those who oppose your decision, he blesses you to be an example to your friends, family, and peers, and to receive blessings in all of the current activities in your life.”
Things that he could have known prior, but struck truer than he could know: “Jamie, God wants you to know that he loves you. He blesses you with continued courage to overcome.” I nearly cried. I am NOT a crier. I’m not.
What he couldn’t have known and was said after a long pause. “Jamie…God blesses you to continue to be a leader in the church…to begin to be a leader in the church.” And I’m shocked and angry. Not because it’s untrue, but because it’s what I dreaded to BE true. The past few weeks, as I’ve studied and prayed and conversed on this decision, I’d felt that I wouldn’t JUST be a convert. Not a typical one. That I’d end up not being just another ward member, but would become a leader. And I didn’t…don’t…want to. I hate being a leader. And I thought, when I heard the example part of the blessing, that I was safe and being a leader meant just to be an example.
Nope.
We attend the Gospel Principles class, Dave and I end up telling our BoM throwing/hiding stories, much to the amusement of the “older” mormons. I end up chatting a lot with another sister and make plans to clean out donate stuff from my Closet of Death. Plans are also made for the other six discussions and visits and such.
After church, Dave and I are nice and go back to my apartment to change (see, Dave and I were fine, Katie wanted OUT of nylons). We go to La Carreta and good Mexican food was had. Once back at the apartment, we watch the Mormon Episode of South Park and laugh our asses off (well…Dave and I laughed our asses off. Katie laughed her butt off. ). Dum dum dum dum dum! Naptime. Wake up from naptime, go see Shrek 2. Dave and I figure out that Katie is made at us, but aren’t sure why. She’s walking about 20 feet ahead of us, like we’re bratty younger siblings (and folks in my ward kept asking if Dave was my brother o_O ). At the movie theatre, we lose Katie for a bit, find her, or rather, she finds us, and she seems back to being okay. The movie was pretty good but lost tempo in spots.
We return to my apartment. Naps are again had. I wake up and we’re all chatty again and decide to call Rivka. Continue chatting. Dave is hungry. I am hungry. Katie is semi-hungry but will eat her leftovers from lunch. I decide to make General Gau’s chicken and start sautéing onions in light olive oil with a bit of sesame oil. Five minutes into this, Katie says, “That smells GOOD.”
I say, “I’m just sautéing the onions.” Katie says, “You know how little I cook.” See, Katie used to own a pot. But a few months ago, while talking to me and Dave, she burned said pot and had to throw it out. She has yet to buy another pot. I find this fascinating. Katie decides she’d also like to partake of General Gau’s chicken. We eat the spicy Chinese food and clear our sinuses in the process. We attempt scrabble. I get, literally, all one-point tiles. Katie gets all the high-point tiles. Dave is somewhere in between. My brain decides to shut off and I try to go to bed but end up reading. Somewhere around two a.m., we all fall asleep.
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We HAVE to wake up by eight in order to get out the door by 8:45. We make it by nine, Katie frantically packing, Dave frantically showering, me frantically trying to get them to be more frantic. (I’m not the ONLY one with a problem with authority). We pile into the car and tear off to the airport where we throw Katie out the door as I slow to about ten m.p.h.
Kidding. I only slowed to 15.
We help Katie unload and hug her goodbye, giving her instructions to call if she can’t get on the first flight and we’d come and hang out with her in the airport. Off Dave and I go. We start talking about Katie and the pie incident as I drive back to my apartment. After five minutes of this talk, Dave says, “Now I’m in the mood for pie.”
I say, “Me too.”
We drive.
I say, “Want to go out to breakfast?”
Dave does. We go to the Red Arrow again, just before ten a.m. We eat breakfast.
Then we have pie. Butterscotch cream and apple.
It’s always the right time for pie.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
Out of interest, what's the difference between General Tso's Chicken and General Gao's Chicken? And why do they BOTH outrank Colonel Sanders?
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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They are not EVEN the heathens they are pretending to be. Please. Couple of the biggest church geeks I've ever met. You must only imagine the hilarity of Jamie "I Considered Getting a Tattoo" Taylor and Dave "Preacher's Son and You Can Tell" Tayman joyously exhulting in their worliness as exemplified by a few of the Seven Words and a fondness for the Sopranos.
posted
I'm back in Jersey now, and you will NOT be getting play by play of the trip home. It's too embarasing.
I hate driving in New York. When you miss an exit, and take the next one, you can't just turn around and get back on the right road.
Bleh.
But Mac's rundown is pretty dang accurate! Such a blast. And I think Katie was just 'sharking' us in Halo, to try and get a poor reputation so that when someone pulls out the game at KamaCon, everyone'll think she's a push-over - and then she'll wipe the floor with our a--,umm, our butts.
Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000
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Taalcon, that's so sweet and optimistic. But sadly. it's true. I'm really that bad. I'm SO bad at Halo at that they were actually skeptical I wasn't faking. I was so bad at Halo that at one point Dave took off to the other room for a few minutes to give me a chance to kill him several times as he still. I'm so bad at Halo that I spent five lives trying to get out of one dog-blasted room. I'm so bad at Halo the electronic guys started feeling bad for me.
But I kicked their butts at Scrabble. Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Katie to make you feel better I once thought I wanted to be a nun and dressed up as one several times for career day. And one of the guys in my high school (catholic high school) class dressed up as a pregnant nun so see how much worse that could have been as far as the nun part goes.
Oh and the fact Katie has no pots for her kitchen makes her one of the most fascinating people I know of.
Posts: 872 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Really does sound like it was really fun, Jamie. And ugh, first you are napping when I get on earlier today, get back and you're napping again!! Oh well. Posts: 9754 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I think I need to meet some more Jatraqueros...or, you know, hang out more with the ones I've already met.
Posts: 1635 | Registered: Aug 2002
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I stopped and thought about you guys when the time approached. So I was there in spirit if not in body. Welcome, new sister! Posts: 2843 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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quote: I continue meeting people in my ward as Katie continues to chat with them all. Most of the time I hear, “I’m sister/brother so-and-so.” And Katie will say, “Oh! I talked to you on the phone!”
Okay, I need to explain this. I spoke to exactly five.
1. Elder Casper - to tell him about the Skittles and to get the RS prez's number. Elder Casper is quite chatty. By the end of the conversation, he'd told me all about his girlfriend at home. *amused* 2. Sister Spencer, the RS (women's org) Prez - to make sure she knew about Jamie and to see about getting Jamie visiting teachers. 3. Bro. Williams, the ward mission leader - he got me a $60 standby ticket to NH and needed information. 4. Sis. Williams, his wife - Bro. Williams wanted updates on what was going on, and I talked to her when I called after not getting on that first flight to Newark. 5. Elder Fogg - I can't remember why. Maybe to give him Dave's phone number? They needed to do a quick background check to make sure he could do it.
That's not the whole ward. I still love that one of the founding members of Jamie's fencing club was there.
Then we will have two leading religious leaders ready to fight for our souls. DKW, she's after your job.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Mack, you don't have to lead. You can follow, from the front.
Celia, I said Fighting for them. We all know you collect them. They look so nice hanging in your den.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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The pants/skirt thing is interesting to think about. I don't think any woman in pants has ever been as much of an offense against the ideal of womanhood as me in some of my skirts over the years. (I haven't shaved my legs since before some folks posting on this forum were born). And after all, they let you be baptized in a pantsuit. Pants are invariably modest as well.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Sorry I failed to take that into account, rivka. But I would tend to argue that where a skirt or a pant is of the same size and rise cut, the pants would be more modest. Or application of sequins or see through inlays or pink appliqued fuzzy letters or any other fashion statements. Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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As someone who wears skirts and not pants, specifically for reasons of modesty, I obviously would disagree. *shrug*
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Two hours later I get a call telling me they’re in Connecticut. An hour and a half later, “We’re eighty miles away!”![[Wall Bash]](graemlins/wallbash.gif)
Katie and Dave arrive around 10:45 p.m. EST and we lug their stuff in. Katie immediately settles and checks email and Dave to follow. I’m hungry, Dave is hungry, need to socialize, so we head out to the Red Arrow Diner after forcibly dragging Katie away from the computer (this is after ten minutes of us saying “let’s GO!” and Katie saying, “I’m coming! I really am.”…and not budging). After circling the block around the diner for ten minutes (construction), we park and go in. The server comes to take our order.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Nathan isn’t logged into AIM and isn’t at home and doesn’t have a cell. Argh. I wait. At some point, Katie makes a comment about “That’s many people’s conception.”![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
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). Dum dum dum dum dum!![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
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I still love that one of the founding members of Jamie's fencing club was there. ![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
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