Heigh ho, what a difference between this summer and last! This summer I feel utterly at peace. I move more slowly, help my family out, and retire to my "cave" (basement study) to write. As for the latter, in the last two days I have outlined my book and written four single-spaced pages of it! Yes, life is happy, and I know to whom I owe it. God is the master of my life. I am continuing to put Him first, and He is continuing to bless me.

Tomorrow I start to drive with Magda and Greg to California, for Joe's wedding. It is quite convoluted, how we come to be doing this. Naomi, Joe's fiancee, was working up in Maine so that she and Joe (the USCGA is in Connecticut) could spend time together. She took Joe's car and drove it to MO, then flew back to CT with my dad for Joe's graduation. Dad flew back here; Joe and Naomi flew to California. This left Joe's car at our house. So we three siblings are going to bring the car to Cali. We will fly back to MO after the wedding.

This is especially exciting for me, because I've never been on the west coast. And to make things even odder, one of my friends from school, Will Glaser, is passing through on his way to Oregon from North Carolina (where he was teaching a TeenPact class), and he is stopping at our house overnight. So he will be driving on toward the west coast tomorrow in his big Suburban as well. Strange coincidence, eh?

I could write about so many things. Fun family anecdotes would probably be best. I still, for example, haven't gotten much of anything clean around here. It feels like the "fog of war" in some computer games... I travel in my little zone of cleanliness, but anywhere outside my immediate range instantly becomes dirty again. It is a fascinating phenomenon, one I never noticed myself a few years ago when I, too, was blind to dirt.

Ooh! Or I could mention that I bought myself some summery clothes at Wal-Mart today. Funfun! Our Wal-Mart here in MO has a much better selection than the one in Leesburg, near school. That is one thing I appreciate about Missouri, despite its lack of hiking opportunities - we have better clothes available for much less money. I would have shopped at my favorite outlet as well, since it is having a 70% off Memorial Day sale, but I don't have that much money. Wal-Mart will have to do for now.

My summer itinerary is lining up. At the end of June, I fly to Princeton for a week-long Intercollegiate Studies Institute seminar. We are discussing four books on conservativism and libertarianism, including Whittaker Chambers's Witness. I just received the books yesterday, and I am looking forward to reading them. Then, late July, my family will quite possibly be driving to the International Jugglers' Association's yearly convention in Iowa. I cannot describe the fun of these conventions adequately. All the top performers in the juggling world attend this convention. It is where you find out and are reminded who is who. Further, you attend many free workshops, or just walk around the huge gym to watch the amazing skills of the people practicing. For me, since I am an adequate juggler, these conventions are the highlight of my year. I haven't gone the past two years, because of college, so this opportunity is especially grand. Other than those two occasions, I will, of course, be doing my normal long list of activities. I won't be bored; I know that.

I was just thinking, perhaps the strangest part of my first week of summer is that for once I feel together. I'm not split between college and home. I'm all one person, united. I'm not sure why that is, since I've gone through withdrawal so many times before. Perhaps it is because I own a car now, and I know college is just a place that I can leave and come back to. It's not my entire life, even when I'm there. I think this is a healthy knowledge.

OK, time to stop for now. I've written enough. Plus, I'm packing and baking cookies for tomorrow's trip. I ought to get back to it. Will should be here any time...  ¶ 5:46 PM