pjd: fun times for all

for those of you who've never been to puddle jumper days in odessa, mo... oh, man. you're missin' out.

pjd: fun times for all (or so i'd like to call this post).

favorite observations from my day in town, chillin' at the watt's tent (a perfect place to watch people pass by) from 8am until 10:15 pm:
1. many of the "popular" people from my graduating class now seem to be rather plump, married, some w/ kids, some w/ kids on the way...
2. ... and it's only been 2 years since graduation. (ha!)
3. many, many girls holding hands. hmm, maybe just many close friends?
4. the punk high school crowd now looks like the punk elementary crowd, hangin' out, smokin', using the "f" word like it's the only noun/verb/adjective they've learned.
5. speaking of the "f" word. i've considered starting a "dictionary ministry." i don't think it would hurt too much to hand out dictionaries (or rather, throw them at people... geesh) in order to educate people on the many, many words that could be used to express oneself. some words even have more than 4 letters. pretty exciting, don't you think? so many learning opportunities...
6. my buddy garry, whom i haven't even seen for about 2 or 3 years, now has a daughter, has been married and divorced, and is about to marry his second wife. oh yeah, and that wife-to-possibly-be has a daughter that could be, like, his sister. whoa. (i felt badly for him, when he said "wow, i'm really glad you're doing something w/ your life... that's awesome." i wonder if he realizes that he, too, really is worth something? something more than what he is right now...)
7. some people never change... and some people always do.
8. the less clothing a girl has on, apparently, the more beautiful she is. or so the young and not-so-young majority of odessa thinks. all i can say is: ugh.

not all of it was bad. i mean, the day was GREAT for about a million laughs and smiles. i got to hold my friend's 2-month old baby, who was just absolutely beautiful (liliana grace was her name... how beautiful is that!?). (luckily, that friend is married. a rare thing anymore, it seems, at least in these parts.) ok, so i say "these parts." it's not the same for everybody, but at a gathering like puddle jumper days, during certain parts of the days (particularly evening/nighttime), it seems like it is. so what else... saw a BUNCH of people i hadn't seen in forever, and it was really awesome to talk to them. even people i never talked to much-- it was like a great reunion. pat jackson just got back from alaska, and immediately asked if i'd be running in the race tomorrow morning. "thanks for making me feel like a runner!" ha! :) great to see him. adam brown... now there's a fun fella. cool to see him, cool to see and talk w/ elliott, and cool to see and talk w/ mary watts. travis bradford-- saw him for a second-- but didn't see tara around. hopefully tomorrow... anyway... good times...

tomorrow will be another full day at pjd. parade in the am, back at the tent w/ the watt fam, and then-- this is exciting-- there's going to be christian music bands from evening time until close at midnight... how cool is that?... so, if anybody wants a fun, semi-decent time, come on out!

pjd: fun times for all!

:)