Plans? What Plans?

I did a pretty poor job of planning my summer this year.  I really didn't enjoy my last year of school so instead of planning jobs and activities that would enrich my academic portfolio (like a lot of my colleagues did), I decided to close my eyes this summer and pretend that school didn't exist.  I was so excited to just not be in school this summer that I didn't get a job which started to seem like a horrible mistake when I arrived in Seattle on May 25th and didn't have anything to do until late August.  My friends and family in Washington were thrilled to have me around so I decided to just hang out there for the rest of the summer (the 100+ temperatures in Tucson were very unappealing compared to the 70 and partly cloudy weather of Seattle).

I managed to get a sweet, part-time job from the University of Arizona for six weeks that I could do remotely in Washington through June.  This made me feel like much less of bum since I had been feeling a lot like a bum lately.  Let me give you an example.  I was watching TV with my parents last week and I said, "I really feel like eating some brownie batter."  Without a moment's hesitation my dad said, "I'm on it," got up, and whipped some up for us.  My dad brought out three spoons and in twenty minutes my parents and I had devoured the whole batch.  One of my dad's mottoes is: "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels."  That does not apply to chocolate. 

Since I was feeling slightly bum-like (a bumpkin, if you will), I started thinking of ways I could be productive this summer.  Two Sundays ago my brother Jay recommended that I contact the company he had worked for last summer.  It sounded like a sweet gig so I emailed the head honcho on Monday morning.  I didn't hear from him on Tuesday or Wednesday, and by Thursday I was consuming so much sugar that my memory started to fade and I mostly forgot about it. 

On Sunday night I went over to the Kecks' to beat them at a game of Ticket to Ride.  As I was leaving their house I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize.  I answered it and it was the head honcho my brother had told me to contact.  He asked if we could chat, but I was driving and talking on my cell phone which is a big no-no in Washington.  So I said, "Yeah, I'd love to chat.  Just let me put in my blue tooth," which I then did.  Unfortunately, I just got a new cell phone and I pushed the wrong button and hung up on a near stranger who I was hoping would pay me money.  I called him right back, we chatted, and he offered me a summer a job in Washington which I promptly accepted.  I start right after the 4th of July. 

The only problem with being employed in Washington is that my car is in Arizona.  Luckily, I had purchased a flight back to Tucson over a month ago thinking that I would be in Arizona for summer.  I'm now in Las Vegas en route to Tucson.  I'll be there for two days and then on Friday I'm driving up to Utah where I'll be for two days and then it's off to Washington to spend the summer in a verdant paradise making some money.  I'm thrilled.  Unfortunately, Utah friends, I'm very sorry, but I won't be able to see most of you on this super-fast trip through Utah.  However, I will be back later this month and we can hang out then. 

Mostly, I'm just amazed at how everything works out.  Whether it be getting a teaching job the day before school starts (which has happened to me twice and both times I wasn't technically qualified for the job) or getting a summer job in June, things work out.  I remember when I was trying to find a place to live in Tucson last year.  I only knew a few people there and I knew it would be lonely at first.  I prayed and prayed that Heavenly Father would send me to a place with people who would become like family to me.  And then I moved in with Kevin and he and his family really are like family to me.  His dad has even called me his third son (he has two sons).  I've seen it over and over and over again in my life; things always work out. 

If anyone wants a lift, I'm driving from Arizona to Utah on Friday and then from Utah to Washington on Monday.  Road trips with me resemble this.