This is [a] song I'm listening to as I write this post. I enjoy it, and I want to share with you.
The next morning, I gave a presentation on my work so far at that point. I really enjoyed it, but was incredibly glad to be done with it. It was challenging to stand in front of a room of educated people and peers to talk about something that they all understood way better than I did, but I really felt good about it. Nothing like a nice chat about solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to clear the head.
Then, I went to North Carolina to rendezvous with the other Fullers in celebration of my grandparents' sixtieth wedding anniversary. That's right - sixty years. They're pretty awesome. It was really nice to chat with them and get to know them a little better, especially since I find that I now respect them even more than when I was younger. Their love for God and others is overwhelming. I like that.
As far as I know, I had more science for the week, then joined my parents in San Diego for the weekend. See, my parents have this great tradition of taking awesome vacations without the kids during church camp. This year, since I did not have church camp, I was able to participate in part of their awesome vacation by boogie boarding, bike riding, and eating great meals at Mission Beach. It was the first *real* vacation I feel I've had in a long time. The following weekend, I visited them again for Friday night and Saturday morning, which was great. After that, I visited a vacationing high school friend, Kyle Thomas, in Newport. I like that kid.
More recently, Sam came out to Malibu for volleyball camp. He is hilarious, and I enjoyed our brotherly bonding, which mostly consisted of sitting naked around a campfire telling stories about animals we've bested. Or just hanging out, watching movies and going to the beach. One of those. Regardless, while Sam was busy at volleyball camp, I was able to visit the Getty Center in LA with the chem students and professors. I totally nerded out - I actually felt a trace of jealousy in the gas chromatography lab in the conservation institute there. And their scanning electron microscope blew my mind. God's design is so beautifully intricate. Also, I learned that I can now appreciate art. Later, while Sam was still at camp, I had a chance to relax and do nothing but sit and think. I needed that.
Now, I'm writing this in between drafts of my presentation for tomorrow. And then, I come home. I'm ready.
And I've been learning a lot lately. The past month has been good for teaching me about myself and how to deal with people. God answers prayer. And, I'm learning tons about the responsibility of knowledge. A song someone close shared with me has the following lyrics: "Now that I have seen, I am responsible / Faith without deeds is dead."
And that probably feels like it's just tacked onto the end of this post, but I simply don't have the time or energy to share everything I've learned in the past month right now. If you talk to me, I'd be glad to share more.
And now, to address the title. My hand smell(s/ed?) like an onion. Cooking is cool. Except onions kind of smell bad. And this post has been a smorgasbord of random thoughts. What I mean by that is this...
If you feel like dancing, dance with me.
