the dayton days XIX

a morning ritual

Monday. I worked 2-11:00 covering for Denise. On break I sat on the patio and read N.T. Wright and smoked some cigarettes. I was tested on LEAN, or the speed of drink-making, and shocked everyone with 24 seconds per drink (the average, and goal, is around 33 seconds). Oh: and I heard back from F.C.C. (Franklin Christian Church): the elders looked over my packet (my resume and three sermons) and were impressed. 

Tuesday. I grabbed iced coffee from Spring Valley before jetting down to Cincinnati. I met up with Monica at C.C>U. and we went to Refuge to celebrate the 4-year (?) anniversary of my rejection by her hands in Spring 2006. We grabbed coffee and then got lunch at Aroma's while visiting Jessie, and then we went to Newport and got ice cream and walked around the Purple People Bridge. When I got home I swung by work and got a drink and sat on the patio reading N.T. Wright for a bit, and then Dylan came over and we hit up D.L.M. for dinner. Mandy K. is in Wisconsin now: we're going to continue our email correspondence, though we won't be able to talk one-on-one over the phone anymore.

Wednesday. Ams is in town for the night. Once I got off work, we went to Starbucks for a bit, and then Dylan came over and we played Mario-Kart and sat on the front porch smoking and laughing late into the night.

Thursday. Dad took a 1/2 day, got home around noon, and we went kayaking at some place up north. The skies were clear and the sun was warm. We kayaked for two hours, and my arms were SCORCHED. They look like twin lobster tails. I went to work and got some espresso, had sushi for dinner. I spent the rest of the evening just lounging around: Dylan & Tyler are in Atlantic until Sunday. I was feeling a bit sick so I went to bed early.

Friday. Though slated to work 6-2:30, I called off: my legs hurt so bad from the sunburn that I couldn't walk, and I was nauseous and dizzy. "Sun poisoning." So I slept ten hour and then spent the afternoon watching movies: The Road, Shutter Island, Edge of Darkness. I talked with Mandy K. for a bit. Things are rough in Wisconsin. I went to Starbucks to work on some stuff for Faith and had a good chat with one of the regulars--Gus, I think?--on Jesus. 

Saturday. I slept eleven hours last night, and didn't even puke once all day! But my limbs still hurt. I went to the Centerville Starbucks to work on my notes for N.T. Wright's "Simply Christian." I worked 3-11:00 with Abby, Denise, and Aubree. 

Sunday. Last night Dad asked, "How have you been feeling mentally?" "Not bad," I told him. And that's not a lie. NOT BAD means there is depression. Come on, I am bipolar, after all. But it's not a strangling depression. I always get depressed in the summer. And in the fall. And in the winter. And in the spring. I'm okay with it. I can handle it, deal with it, without being self-destructive at worst and non-functioning at best. I haven't even WANTED to cut since late January, that whole Billy episode; I actually forgot his name for a moment! Dewenter and I went to M.C.C., and Hank was on drums and Ashlie sat with us. We went back to my place and grilled chicken on the grill out back. Dewenter graduated college Friday and has a job interview at a brewery in North Carolina. I worked 2-10:30 with Abby and Aubree. Three girls flirted with me, but I'm sure they were minors. A big storm rolled through by the time I got home. I sat on the front porch--Mom got some hanging flowers, which I'm all about--and watched the constant lightning and rain. So beautiful! I moved my old desk, the one I had in 2003, into my room. An antique! Ha. I'm going to get an oil lamp for it. "Just like the good ol' days."