Holy moly. Where did the first two and a half months of 2010 go? I know we say this sort of thing all the time–– about every year/ month/ day–– but this is unbelievable.

[Happy belated daylight savings time, by the way. That is, except for you, Arizona. Sorry you missed the fun. Maybe next year? Probably not. But you can email Senator McCain anyway–– I hear he's been talking about "change" a lot lately. Save daylight? Yes. We. Can.]

Where did my March Part A go?

Here’s how my 359 hours (15 days x 24 hours= 360 hours – 1 hour daylight savings= 359 hours) divvy up:

1. Sleep= approx. 101 hours
2. Quality time with friends + fiancé= approx. 41 hours
3. Freelance work search= approx. 35 hours
4. Wedding/ honeymoon planning= approx. 33 hours
5. Apartment/loft/ house hunting= approx. 26 hours
6. Writing= approx. 24 hours
7. Prayer room + Church= approx. 22 hours
8. Personal (reading, praying, etc.)= approx. 18 hours
9. Driving (my car + IHOP shuttles)= approx. 16 hours
10. Eating= approx. 9 hours
11. Stuffing, sealing, stamping wedding invitations= 5 hours 23 mins
12. Shopping (grocery, wedding-related, etc.)= 4 hours 33 mins
13. Talking on the phone= 4 hours 29 mins
14. Meetings= approx. 4 hours
15. Filling out NCAA Tourney brackets= approx. 1 hour
* Who knows?= 16 hours 35 mins

Stuffing, sealing, and stamping wedding invitations took a total of 5 hours and 23 minutes of my time this March.

There you have it. Honestly, I’m not particularly proud of my time usage so far this month. But real life, not the niche fantasy I’ve been living in for the last few years of my life here at IHOP, requires such time. And, so far, I’m not particularly acclimated to non-fantasy life.

This is about the time of year when we realize how poorly we’ve done on our New Year’s resolutions. Though I didn’t have any this year (perhaps to my disadvantage), I’m beginning to feel slight regret and disappointment concerning my year to date. And, my tendency at this point is to think like a daylight-wasting Arizonan (you know, the old ‘maybe next year’ attitude). I’m such an all-or-nothing individual. One stumble–– one accident–– and I’m ready to call it quits. I do this with Bible-reading, praying, and fasting along with writing, exercising, and bedtimes. Is this God’s will?

Absolutely not–– that’s my answer. If I’ve learned anything in my years of tottering after Jesus, I’ve come to understand that He is longsuffering. He is slow to anger. He doesn’t leave me in the dust, as He triumphs on to righteousness, but He is always with me–– never forsaking me.

Thankfully, Jesus is unlike any man I’ve met. His patience is unprecedented.

So, as I continue to lose my faith in my abilities, I’m thinking I’ll give way, more and more, to grace.

One day, in the seemingly distant future, I’ll be like Him. If I love Him, and don’t quit, I win. End of story.

Well, that was a smorgasbord. Take what you’d like from it.

-a time-wasting, daylight-saving, resilient recipient of grace

Postscript I: If you’re a resident of Arizona, I may have gotten a little carried away. Please don’t do anything you’ll regret later–– like forcing me to waste daylight with you, etc.

Postscript II: This post was way (way, way) overdue. My bad. (I didn’t have any time).

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Pre-wedding life is chock-full with tasks. Today, as I sit at my desk, staring at my chalkboard, a hideous yellow sticky note stares back at me.

“Get Pants Altered,” it reads. Such a task sounds simple: 1. Drive down the road. 2. Enter Diane’s Alterations. 3. Change into your wedding pants. 4. Let Diane measure you. 5. Change back into your Friday pants.
6. Establish a pickup time. 7. Peace out.

Yet, for some reason, it’s little tasks like getting my pants altered that are the most dreadful to me. Oil changes, closet tidy-ups, and bill paying sessions exasperate me like no other. Thus, I disdain to-do lists. (Bad news for a soon-to-be-married guy).

Everything preceding the “I do” of a wedding can be summed up by the words “to do.” I don’t like the “to do”–– even though a lot of the “to do” is “she do.” I’m just ready for “I do” after all of this “to do.” (Just get me on my honeymoon, riding a “Sea Doo”).

Here’s a sampling of the to-do list that my fiancé Bethany and I need to fulfill:

1. Get wedding bands
2. Find caterer
3. Book hotel for April 18
4. Getaway car?
5. Reception music
6. Decide order of ceremony
7. Write vows
8. Make reservation for rehearsal dinner
9. Find [cool] envelopes for invitations
10. Find [cool] stamps for invitations
11. Send invitations
12. Get info on marriage license
13. Get pants altered
14. Coordinate groomsmen accommodation
15. Purchase groomsmen favors
16. Follow-up with florist girl
17. Get flower girl (any of you attendees have a cute daughter we don’t know about?)
18. Land health insurance policy
19. Buy LadyComp (Didn’t feel like giving a link. Maybe the Google can help you out.)
20. Create budget

I timed myself as I made that list. It took approximately 2 minutes and 20 seconds–– all off the top of my head. Without doubt, there are many, many more tasks to be filled outside of the above list. And I don’t like that.

Anyway, I should run out and get my pants altered before Bethany finds out I’ve yet to do so.

For the “I do,”

Jules

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4. March; Grant Ward’s Car (Atlanta, Georgia to Kansas City, Missouri)

That’s right, March’s extraordinary moment (a long, humorous one) took place in an automobile.

The cast: my good friend Grant Ward, myself, and Abi, a young native of Mumbai, India who appeared to be in his mid-forties.

Explaining the background of the story would be too thorough for a blog post. (Too thorough for me? Imagine!). So, in short, Abi was a 19-year-old young man who quit a program he had enrolled in in Atlanta. He was headed  to rural Colorado to work at a Christian retreat center and he found cheaper flights from Kansas City than he could find from Atlanta. How Grant got connected with him is another story. You can ask him if you’d really like to know.

Before we even pulled out of my driveway, I had come to the realization that Grant and I were in for an awkward drive with Abi. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen a Jay and Silent Bob film, but Abi is an Indian type of Silent Bob–– carrying the same awkward muteness. Receiving a formless grunt, regardless of its connotation, was a generous response from Abi.

At first, I thought Abi was the type of shy guy who would open up with time. In my mind, he was the type who’d put on a tough external coat initially, only to crack and open up after a while. (Think the Beast from Beauty and the Beast or William Forrester [Sean Connery] from Finding Forrester).

This understood, my sole tactic for diffusing Abi’s unbearable awkwardness was to talk until he cracked. I wasn’t particularly interested in conversing with Abi, if I were to be honest. Instead, I was mostly interested in clearing the air.

I used this tactic for four days. And I utterly failed. My conversational aptitude (and resolve) was no match for Abi’s silent aura.

Abi Highlights

1. (Nashville) At Baja Burrito, Abi wolfed down his meal and asked us if he could go outside. Although we knew the Indian-blooded Abi would be uncomfortable in the 30-degree temperatures, we allowed him to exit. The next time we saw Abi, he was casually strolling through the Baja parking lot. He would periodically stop to look inside cars that were intriguing him. As a dark, bearded figure Abi looked extremely sketchy. Secretly, I wouldn’t have minded if Abi stole a car and disappeared forever–– just to have another story in my arsenal (along with freedom from his awkwardness).  And, as a matter of fact, Abi did disappear. However, it was only for a few minutes. He had visited a nearby gas station. We’re not sure why. (I know what you’re thinking and you need to stop. Don’t stereotype. No, Abi was not visiting his cousins at the gas station. At least, I don’t think he was).

2. (Nashville) At Crema, Abi quickly grew uncomfortable with our table (consisting of Grant, Annie, Jason, and myself) and, again, asked to leave to go sit in Grant’s car. He would sit there for hours, reclined in the front seat, mysterious to all who came near. We’ll never know if Abi took Grant’s car on a joyride or not. He certainly could have.

3. (St. Louis) Abi perked up to inquire about the St. Louis arch. I was shocked to hear him speak with no preceding provocation.

4. (Nearing Kansas City) Slap-happy from 12 hours on the road, I was beginning to act out in utter silliness. This provoked two or three minutes of unstopped giggles from Abi. I still don’t understand how this happened.

5. (Kansas City) At our apartment, Abi refused to drink out of a glass. Instead, he’d use our purified water pitcher as a cup, pouring the water from inches above his head into his mouth. One night, I was describing his quirk to friends when, all of the sudden, Abi came out of his bedroom. He walked to the kitchen and began to drink water. Though we couldn’t see Abi, we could see his silhouette on the wall, which excited immediate laughter from my friends. Clueless, Abi walked back through the living room to his bedroom with no acknowledgement of anyone in the room.

6. (Kansas City) At least once a day during his three-day stay, Abi would take over the bathroom for an hour or more. He refused to shower regularly and instead used a cup for his bathing. At first it was funny to listen to such activity in the bathroom. Eventually, however, it was annoying. Especially when you had to go number one (this is a trustworthy link).

7. (Kansas City International Airport) Abi departed.

The reference to Jamal in the title is alluding to my New Year’s post.

April’s extraordinary moment will come ASAP.

Enjoy your weekends.

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This is a bit unnerving–– my first blog post on the newly renovated julestompkins.com. Most blogs come and go as quickly as a junior high girlfriend. The typical scenario, from start to finish, transpires like this:

Jamal logs in to Facebook. Jamal clicks the link in Roger’s status. Jamal reads Roger’s Blogspot post. [The post is far too ambitious, sharing the deepest thought Roger has ever conceived, poorly communicated]. Intrigued, Jamal creates a Blogger profile. Jamal designs an orange and green blog, featuring Tahoma font and a clever title like “Until the Dawn” or “Longing Soul.” Jamal maintains his blog for a two months, totaling twelve posts–– four of which came in the first week.

By the time of he was composing his twelfth post, Jamal was admitting his guilt concerning his lack of blog maintenance.

Such a scenario is what I’ll be trying to avoid on this site.

Instead, here is what you can expect from my blog:

-An average of two posts every week

-Frequent mentions of Jesus, my fiance Bethany, my friends, my family, and IHOP

-Attempts at humor

-Grounded, honest writing

-Sarcasm

-Innovative, experimental writing style

Hopefully this will be an enjoyable experience for you and I both.

PS: Thank you Stephen Jordan for creating this site. You’re a great friend.

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