End of My Starbucks Era

This coming week is my last week at Starbucks. I am hanging up the green apron. In honor of this momentus occasion, I present a list of things I will and won't miss at Starbucks.

MISS:
Free pound of coffee/box of tea per week
30% discount in stores
19% discount on Verizon bill
Starbucks Paseo baristas
Free drinks while I work

WON'T MISS:
Frappuccinos
Tall Nonfat Extra Hot Semi-dry Cappuccinos & other obnoxious drinks
Customer humor like "Do you have any regular coffee back there?"
Breakfast sandwiches in all forms
Food warmers in general
Frappuccinos
Peeling bananas at 6 a.m.
Tips in the form of rolls of change
Dressing head to toe in black because coffee stains blend in
Ball caps (L.A. county health code)
Frappuccinos

OK so the "won't miss" list became longer than the "miss" list, which is either a sign that it's time to quit or that it's just easy to complain about work things. Or maybe both.

Glad that I made so many friends over the years - good baristas make good friends.

Moving

Five weeks from Monday, I'm moving! Moving back to Nashville. I didn't think I would be so ready to go - but man, I'm ready for the next five weeks to fly.

I'll miss California (at least some things about it) and I'll miss my friends (though I expect to see some of their faces in Nashville before too long).

But I'm really excited about seeing what happens next. Starting in June, life looks different. I'll have two roommates joining me in my house - Sarah F. and Sarah G. It'll be weird to be back in my house (though I expect to adjust quickly after the smallness of my CA apartment). And it'll be different to have two other people there. But I'm excited for the change - and it'll be nice to have people in the house while I travel.

Yes! I'll be traveling quite a bit between June and February 2010. Yay!!! I think that's what makes me most happy - to be moving around, city to city, state to state. I decided this winter that if I don't have an e-ticket in my inbox, I experience a mild panic attack and seek out someplace to visit. (Not sure if this an addiction or just a sign that I'm supposed to be traveling for a living.)

I really have no idea what to expect come June 18 when I arrive back in Nashville. There will be some adjustment to the city, people, the house, the traffic, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm ready to be back in my community where people know my story, my history, my dreams, my AGE. Yes, my age. I'm fine when people think I'm 26, but I really like 33 and the experience that comes with it. And I kind of grow tired of explaining what it is I do for a living.

Most of all, I think I'm ready just to start applying what I've been learning. I'm ready to get back into my church community. I have enjoyed being at Cornerstone in Simi Valley and hearing Francis Chan speak most every week. But there's something about being involved in ministry; I don't have that opportunity so much in CA. And I'm ready to start doing more for my sister and brother-in-law and Sudan. I have no idea what that looks like really but that's OK.

So in five weeks, the next phase of whatever begins!

Nurse's Orders

My friend Lois is a nurse. She asked how I was feeling with this cold I currently have. I said, fine.

She recommended that I "hydrate and rest" to kick this cold.

I said that I was doing well with the hydrate but not so well with the rest.

Nurse Lois' response: "Stay tucked in bed with your phone and you'll be just fine."

Hahaha! She knows me too well. Maybe tomorrow that's exactly what I'll do.

U2 in Pasadena

I bought two tickets to see U2 in Pasadena in October. Yes, yes, I know that I'm leaving Pasadena in June but I'm coming back for U2 and an intensive at Fuller that starts the day after the show. I figured since I would be coming to town for the class, I might as well get tickets to the show.

Now, I bought an extra ticket figuring that it wouldn't be hard to find someone to go with. I then came up with the crazy idea of asking my brother. We had already discussed the idea of going to one of the shows (he, my sister-in-law Charissa and myself) as we did for the last tour (we met up in Chicago, fantastic!). But the shows are in the Fall and Charissa is due with Baby #2 in early September. So, we figured that birthing babies was going to be taking up some time.

Since the Pasadena show isn't until late October, I thought I would toss the idea his way and he could fight Charissa over going or not going. (I figured that she wouldn't be able to leave the babies; I do feel bad about her being left out.) His reply to my email that suggested discord in the house might result from my offer:

"Discord? What discord? Oh, you mean, 'How is it that you get to just fly all over the world and I'm stuck here!? I go to work and they ask "Where's Jason now" and I say the Bahamas, Vegas, [exotic places like Milwaukee] here, there...' You mean that discord? She'll live. With any luck, I will too. Besides, I'm skipping Boat Show this year! That has to count for something!"

Jas

Wow! He's skipping his favorite boat show in late summer for the baby.

I also felt like I was reading an email that I would write about everyone complaining about my traveling and leaving them behind. Jas and I, we are related.

There Better Be A Heaven

Francis Chan related a story in his message this past Sunday about how his family recently opened their home to a homeless woman and her four children (I think it was four). Francis said he woke up one morning this week and heard eight children playing in the house and thought, "There better be a heaven."

Even though being woken up by eight children playing probably isn't the greatest possible suffering known to man, in the moment it is considered an inconvenience or an annoyance. And in that brief moment, I might have the same thought as Francis, "This better turn out right. This loss of sleep better be for a good reason. There better be a heaven."