I feel as if this month has gone by somewhat quickly. (Yes, February has fewer days than other months, so it actually has gone by more quickly than an average month.) I feel like I haven't really gotten much rest in a while, and I think it's just because I've become busy.
I find that I'm now on a 4 day per week church schedule: Sunday service, Tuesday small group, Wednesday teaching a class, and Thursday basketball. The Wednesday night thing will finish in a couple weeks, which will free me up from a responsibility.
Church continues to be strange. We lost another pastor due to something that crept up from his (somewhat distant) past. It's another unfortunate loss for the church. As the new Elders take over, I'm still in a watch-and-wait posture to see what's going to happen. If the Elders hook up with a good interim pastor, and the elders are willing to push to make necessary changes, I'll probably stay for a while longer. But if it looks like it's just going to be more of the same, I think I might be done. The youngest elder is is his early 60s, and I'm just not sure how "in touch" they are with the under-40 demographic in the church (which is a strategic and vital part of a growing church). In particular, are they going to try to keep the church as it has been (something that feels like like a 1990s church), or are they going to allow it to change so that it can meet the culture as it stands today? My hope is for the latter.
Bill likes to say that "a committee is no substitute for a strong leader" but the Elders are not supposed to function like a committee. They are supposed to be the strong leaders. I hope that they will be, and I'm willing to give them every opportunity to prove themselves to be leaders.
There were also some more events which I find to be amusing about the Elder process. I don't want to sound as if I'm bitter about it, because I'm quite content with the idea of not being an Elder. I refused to sign a letter of commitment because my interview came before the Dr. Speer vote. There were some people who were interviewed after the Dr. Speer vote, whose answers to the questions had a completely different context and understanding because of the extra piece of information. Had I been interviewed later, I probably would have responded differently. Furthermore, one of the elder candidates withdrew from the process after being presented, but then was later re-instated. I know that some people feel as if I should have had the same opportunity (and under some sort of notion of "fairness" they're probably right -- but again, I really don't care that I'm not an elder).
I'm just taking it month-to-month. I'm in no hurry to make a change, and there's no reason to rush into anything right now.
I've also been studying for the actuarial exam, which has been interesting and somewhat fun. I haven't looked at some of this probability stuff in years, so it feels good to get a refresher. It's nothing hard, and nothing that I haven't seen before, so I should be able to breeze through this test. I think the financial ones will be much harder because I'll actually have to learn something new. I'm hoping to take the first exam sometime in the next couple months.
Experimental cooking seems like it's making a return. I found a person who wants to cook new things, and people who are willing to eat it, which is the perfect combination for all sorts of fun. I have also been asked to break out the Alton Brown food dehydrator and make some more jerky. Oh, and I need to make a smoked pork shoulder. And a turkey fryer so I can do a crawfish boil... and maybe fry a turkey. But one thing at a time. Here was Monday's experiment:
Shrimp Etouffee: Sweat the trinity in some butter, add some flour and cajun seasoning to make a blond roux, add stock to make a gravy, simmer a while, add shrimp and cajun seasoning (plus hot sauce), simmer, add extra butter, serve on rice. (It reheats very well.)
Crab cakes: Drain canned crab, a little mayo, mustard powder, old bay seasoning, bread crumbs to absorb extra moisture, egg for binder, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, green onion, shape into cakes, coat in panko, pan fry (or deep fry?), squeeze some lemon to finish it (something I didn't do).
I did my taxes. Horray for the $8000 credit for buying a home last year! That's all I have to say about that.
Once that money comes in, I think I will actually have a real long-term emergency fund in case Nevada System of Higher Education implodes on itself in the next year. I don't think it's going to happen, because it's looking like the legislature is going to push for only a 5% cut as opposed to the 10% cut proposed by the governor and our campus has the support of the right people. But it never hurts to be prepared. The actuary thing will be a nice backup plan if things get really bad, too.
Other stuff that's going on or has already happened:
* Change is in the air for a lot of people. Everything from dealing with the IRS to possible job changes to planting a church (and more!). I hope all goes well for all.
* Hofbrauhaus (February 19).
* Backgammon tournament (April 15).
* InterVarsity faculty retreat (first week of August) plus probably a San Diego visit the week before.
* Friends and relatives in town this weekend.
And thus concludes another rambling brain dump. It felt more scattered than usual, but sometimes that's just how it is.
