Ah... International travel, especially in Atlanta. You've got to love it. I arrived back in town yesterday afternoon as part of my 32 hour day (8 time zones seperating Tallinn and Atlanta). As with every time that a mission trip comes to a close, the processing begins and life as I knew it prior to leaving takes over again.
We closed out the trip in Tartu with a (much needed) day of rest on Saturday where many of us, including myself, slept in, got a cheap massage in town, and toured the KGB museum in Tartu (recommend if you are ever there!). The team all got together for dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant in town... and I got my fix of real gnocchi (which you can honestly only find in Eurpoe) before I left. Betsy Griswold told me about an Italian market where I can get gnocchi flour, so there's a possibility that I'll try to make this an entree during my supporter picture/dinner party (date TBD).
Sunday we worshipped for one more time at Risttee Church... God's hand is on this group and I was excited to be able to support them for their second "Bear Week" outreach to the University. Kristan and band led worship and it was (again) very cool to see both Estonians and Americans alike worshipping Jesus with passion and authenticity. Finishing out, we had to leave the hotel at 1PM Tartu time to head to Tallinn... Helena, Tarmo, Maret, Daniel, Timo, and the gang (I need to see the pics now... my camera's charging) went over to see us off with encouragement, hugs, and "Bear on a stick signs" (ok... I will post a picture soon so you know what this is all about... it was hilarious). We debriefed on the bus to Tallinn & arrived in Tallinn at 4PM Tallinn time (same as Tartu time) to tour the old city of Tallinn (Tartu didn't have an "old city" because much of it was destroyed in WWII... Tallinn was spared of this) and eat as this really good Russian restaurant (check that one off my list). I highly recommend the beef steak and the pot roast pie... both got rave reviews.
We left Tallinn at 7AM Tallinn time for our flight and was in the air or in security lines for a good 12 hours, arriving into Atlanta around 2:00 and getting through Customs and MARTAing to Rich's house by 4:00PM Atlanta time. Part of my 32 hour day... which was all good if it was long. Now comes the processing and reflecting with God and close friends as to how my life has changed as a result of this trip... and it indeed has. I'm looking forward to sharing more soon... :) thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement!!!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Short one Donald Miller book
I have a short amount of time to blog as a group of us are about to head out to dinner in a bit before we go to Risttee Church for the Living Room event that we're hosting for the students that we connected with tonight... pray that TLR goes well tonight and that many of the students we connected with this week come and get connected in some way to someone at Risttee.
I am (as you can tell from my title) one book short from what I brought to read on the trip. I got a personalized tour of Tartu from my new Tartuian friend Ivan today and had a chance to invite him to The Living Room tonight... he was not committal but was open to reading Searching for God Knows What and sharing his thoughts on what he is reading with me (I have his e-mail addy, so communication will continue), which I was reading on the 8 hour flight from the ATL to Amsterdam and now I will have to pick up where I left off in a new book I will get in the States. I got to share with him a little too about Christian Spirtuality (a concept that Donald Miller coined in Blue Like Jazz) and having a relationship with God. I hope that the seed sticks in and grows... he is a very smart guy. I also gave him our last Passion CD that was donated to us by the Passion folks (thanks Jennifer Hill!!!)... I think he liked the songs that Kristan sang this week and we even ran into him on the "tour" and talked for a little bit.
The concert last night was incredible. The band from Risttee has some talent... I think that they are going to do well in the production department. A lot of students came out and listened to the show and the gospel was shared in song... in addition the students that attended were made aware of The Living Room event that we are having tonight.
We are on the home stretch! God is awsome!!!
chris <><
I am (as you can tell from my title) one book short from what I brought to read on the trip. I got a personalized tour of Tartu from my new Tartuian friend Ivan today and had a chance to invite him to The Living Room tonight... he was not committal but was open to reading Searching for God Knows What and sharing his thoughts on what he is reading with me (I have his e-mail addy, so communication will continue), which I was reading on the 8 hour flight from the ATL to Amsterdam and now I will have to pick up where I left off in a new book I will get in the States. I got to share with him a little too about Christian Spirtuality (a concept that Donald Miller coined in Blue Like Jazz) and having a relationship with God. I hope that the seed sticks in and grows... he is a very smart guy. I also gave him our last Passion CD that was donated to us by the Passion folks (thanks Jennifer Hill!!!)... I think he liked the songs that Kristan sang this week and we even ran into him on the "tour" and talked for a little bit.
The concert last night was incredible. The band from Risttee has some talent... I think that they are going to do well in the production department. A lot of students came out and listened to the show and the gospel was shared in song... in addition the students that attended were made aware of The Living Room event that we are having tonight.
We are on the home stretch! God is awsome!!!
chris <><
Thursday, September 13, 2007
On being a roadie, art competition, and working on the railroad
Interesting title? Well, it has been an interesting couple of days... pictures to come - I am at an internet cafe and cannot upload pictures yet.
Yesterday's railroad races were really fun... two teams of us Americans competed in the "Bugs bunny" rail car race and we fared pretty good, not good enough to make the playoff but we held our own. My team of boys beat our team of girls (which to their credit posed for pictures a good deal if that tells you how seriously they were taking the competition :) )... the team of Daryl Griswold, C Willis, B Waites, and Jaime Gibson finished fourth... and let me tell you it was much harder than I thought... we were close to having a casualty but no injuries. It also did not help that it started pouring when it was our turn to race.
The pub concerts went well as well... Ivan showed up and we hung out. I really want to connect him to folks at Risttee and have made some introductions. I plan to spend some time with him on Friday and talk about God... and plan to give him a copy of Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller (which I brought for me to read and did on the flight up... and I feel that I can sacrifice a little to help someone in their spiritual journey, you know)... which I think he will like and will provide opportunities for more conversation via e mail, myspace, or facebook when I get back to life in the States. Speaking of facebook... many of my new Risttee friends are on facebook which I find really cool. I have already put out a shout out to Tarmo and Timo - they are studs.
Today we handed out coffee and spent most of the afternoon setting up the stage for this evening's outdoor concert... we're bringing the full-on Buckhead Church lights and smoke machine show... it is going to freakin rock. I can't wait!!! What I got an appreciation for was how much work goes into setting up for a concert... and I am really glad that I am not a professional roadie. Interesting work... I lifted a lot of stage equipment, lights, and boxes. Fun. I also watched the art competition that we hosted in the town square... that was really cool. Li, who I talked about in a previous blog, competed and man is she a good artist! Courtney from our team also competed and I thought her mermaid drawing was good (Not sure what the theme was). I will post pictures when I get the chance.
I cannot wait till tonight's show. Pray that God uses it to move peoples' hearts more towards Him. He is the hope that they (and we) all need.
chris <><
Yesterday's railroad races were really fun... two teams of us Americans competed in the "Bugs bunny" rail car race and we fared pretty good, not good enough to make the playoff but we held our own. My team of boys beat our team of girls (which to their credit posed for pictures a good deal if that tells you how seriously they were taking the competition :) )... the team of Daryl Griswold, C Willis, B Waites, and Jaime Gibson finished fourth... and let me tell you it was much harder than I thought... we were close to having a casualty but no injuries. It also did not help that it started pouring when it was our turn to race.
The pub concerts went well as well... Ivan showed up and we hung out. I really want to connect him to folks at Risttee and have made some introductions. I plan to spend some time with him on Friday and talk about God... and plan to give him a copy of Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller (which I brought for me to read and did on the flight up... and I feel that I can sacrifice a little to help someone in their spiritual journey, you know)... which I think he will like and will provide opportunities for more conversation via e mail, myspace, or facebook when I get back to life in the States. Speaking of facebook... many of my new Risttee friends are on facebook which I find really cool. I have already put out a shout out to Tarmo and Timo - they are studs.
Today we handed out coffee and spent most of the afternoon setting up the stage for this evening's outdoor concert... we're bringing the full-on Buckhead Church lights and smoke machine show... it is going to freakin rock. I can't wait!!! What I got an appreciation for was how much work goes into setting up for a concert... and I am really glad that I am not a professional roadie. Interesting work... I lifted a lot of stage equipment, lights, and boxes. Fun. I also watched the art competition that we hosted in the town square... that was really cool. Li, who I talked about in a previous blog, competed and man is she a good artist! Courtney from our team also competed and I thought her mermaid drawing was good (Not sure what the theme was). I will post pictures when I get the chance.
I cannot wait till tonight's show. Pray that God uses it to move peoples' hearts more towards Him. He is the hope that they (and we) all need.
chris <><
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
The band has arrived! Making more contacts :)
As you can probably imagine, we are all very, very busy with handing out coffee & sandwiches, promoting our events and concerts, and supporting our Estonian friends from Risttee as they set up and lead the events. This evening, we are hosting a "railroad race" where teams of two get on these little pump cars (my term) and race for time down a set of abandoned railroad tracks (think Bugs Bunny cartoons or the movie "Oh brother where art thou?" which I haven't seen and now probably ought to). Bryan, Rich, Peep, and I got to "test drive" the railroad cars yesterday as we were setting up the course and I will honestly tell you that it was a lot of fun.
Catie and I are assuming "team leader duties" for the team today, which is a little extra pressure. So please pray for me for wisdom and energy because I didn't get much sleep last night. Part of our "leader duties" for the day is to lead the team meeting and devotion. Partly because of the fatigue we are all feeling, I felt led to do the devotion from Judges 6, which is the story of Gideon's calling to deliver Israel... a calling that he felt completely overwhelmed by and not prepared for... as many of us are feeling on our uber busy schedules and *ahem* sleep. It's cool that God does not call the qualified but he qualifies the called. I think I heard that from somewhere... but not sure where.
Connections are continuing to be made and are deepening. Marco, who I talked about in my last blog (sans pictures) has come by the coffee & sandwich stand every day this week so far - same with Li - and in fact we bounced different trivia game ideas off of them as we were brainstorming different questions off of them yesterday afternoon. Marco also showed up to the Kristin Stanfill & gang concert at the Big Ben pub last night and brought a friend :) - he had a great time and is starting to warm up to Courtney and I. Another guy that I had a chance to get into several long conversations with is a Russian guy named Ivan who is a third-year student at the University... I'm not sure where he is spirtually, but really like talking to him because he's a musician (introduced him to Timo last night), is a deep thinker, and isn't really afraid to speak his mind. We're going to hang out on Friday and I want to try to use this as an opportunity to further connect him with those students that are plugged in at Risttee - he was also at Big Ben last night - ... he's also met Courtney from our team too who has really been great about pursuing relationships with the Estonian students we meet.
The pub concert last night was really great. PRAY FOR THE BAND because they are (or were last night) wiped out from all of their travels... and mentioned that some of them have been up for 30 hours straight. I rode back to the hotel with Matt Melton last night and he told me that they were all pretty much gone physically. No matter... they played really great - and played their "usual stuff" and not the secular cover music that we anticipated. I think some students may have left because the worship music songlist wasn't expected (a table of students I met over bfast left and stuck me with a 201 krons check... about 20 bucks... did I mention though that I "found" an unexpected 20 dollar support check in my encouragement bag yesterday?)... but many stayed and I heard one comment secondhand from a student that said the the band #&"¤#¤% rocked. What can you say? They're good.
Ok... off to sending a few e-mails and catching up with friends.... and off to the train tracks at 4:05 (give or take). I'm looking forward to tonight's concert at Big Ben and to a lesser extent the RR race.
Coffee o Kakau? :) Ciao!
Chris <><
Catie and I are assuming "team leader duties" for the team today, which is a little extra pressure. So please pray for me for wisdom and energy because I didn't get much sleep last night. Part of our "leader duties" for the day is to lead the team meeting and devotion. Partly because of the fatigue we are all feeling, I felt led to do the devotion from Judges 6, which is the story of Gideon's calling to deliver Israel... a calling that he felt completely overwhelmed by and not prepared for... as many of us are feeling on our uber busy schedules and *ahem* sleep. It's cool that God does not call the qualified but he qualifies the called. I think I heard that from somewhere... but not sure where.
Connections are continuing to be made and are deepening. Marco, who I talked about in my last blog (sans pictures) has come by the coffee & sandwich stand every day this week so far - same with Li - and in fact we bounced different trivia game ideas off of them as we were brainstorming different questions off of them yesterday afternoon. Marco also showed up to the Kristin Stanfill & gang concert at the Big Ben pub last night and brought a friend :) - he had a great time and is starting to warm up to Courtney and I. Another guy that I had a chance to get into several long conversations with is a Russian guy named Ivan who is a third-year student at the University... I'm not sure where he is spirtually, but really like talking to him because he's a musician (introduced him to Timo last night), is a deep thinker, and isn't really afraid to speak his mind. We're going to hang out on Friday and I want to try to use this as an opportunity to further connect him with those students that are plugged in at Risttee - he was also at Big Ben last night - ... he's also met Courtney from our team too who has really been great about pursuing relationships with the Estonian students we meet.
The pub concert last night was really great. PRAY FOR THE BAND because they are (or were last night) wiped out from all of their travels... and mentioned that some of them have been up for 30 hours straight. I rode back to the hotel with Matt Melton last night and he told me that they were all pretty much gone physically. No matter... they played really great - and played their "usual stuff" and not the secular cover music that we anticipated. I think some students may have left because the worship music songlist wasn't expected (a table of students I met over bfast left and stuck me with a 201 krons check... about 20 bucks... did I mention though that I "found" an unexpected 20 dollar support check in my encouragement bag yesterday?)... but many stayed and I heard one comment secondhand from a student that said the the band #&"¤#¤% rocked. What can you say? They're good.
Ok... off to sending a few e-mails and catching up with friends.... and off to the train tracks at 4:05 (give or take). I'm looking forward to tonight's concert at Big Ben and to a lesser extent the RR race.
Coffee o Kakau? :) Ciao!
Chris <><
Monday, September 10, 2007
Pictures from Estonia through Monday
Above: The team at dinner with Kumar Saturday in our first night in Tartu, Below: Brian, Stacy, and I on the baggage claim at the Tallinn airport waiting for Jaime to hear that the airline lost his bags (or left them in Amsterdam... six of one, half dozen of the other)
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Above: Baptism pictures from Risttee Church: Below: Kumar Yoma (our ultra cool Risttee Church tour guide), Mareet, and teammates (Jaime, Rich, and me) on the Oscar Wilde statue before lunch on Sunday.
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Above: wrapping sandwiches for Monday's student rush; Below: coffee and chocolate station by the bridge.
More pictures and news on http://estoniasept07.blogspot.com - check it out :)
Arriving in Tartu, Worship at Risttee, and passing out coffee and "kakau"
Hi all... life is good up here in Tartu on a very beautiful and chilly Monday morning (chillier for some more so than others... I found that my blood is not as thin as I believed) Our first morning reaching out to students was very productive... we handed out about 300 ham, cheese, and cucumber (ok... not my thing but they went fast) sandwiches and many more cups of Nescafe coffee and hot chocolate (or "kakau"... however it is spelled - I sure I am not spelling this as it should but how I would say it... I'll give you an update on the spelling later). We found ourselves a spot strategically located near the bridge going into the city center where a lot of students and young professionals will use to walk to class and to their work.
Along with the coffee & kakau, we also handed out a small flyer that advertises "bear week" (or Karunadal 2007) and provides a URL that lists out more details about the events we are hosting during the week and all of the dates, times, and places. The sandwiches & coffee cups we handed out also included a URL for the Karunadal 2007 events... so pray that students check out the website and are attracted to the events we are throwing, especially the concerts. A couple of students that Courtney and I had an opportunity to talk to were really cool... Marco and Li... they really seemed to enjoy talking to us and had that first year amazement with them (wow - college is really hard) - pray that we get more opportunities to see them during the week during the events and passing along the way to class.
Yesterday's worship was really good. I didn't understand a word that anyone was saying in worship (except for Jeesus :-) ), but really was in awe of hearing people genuinely worship in their own language... seeing that the gospel is for the Nations and that He wants every people group to reach out for Him. After worship, we ate lunch with a few of our new Estonian friends and then traveled to Craig (one of the American Risttee pastors)'s house for dinner and to prepare for the events. One of my favorite people from Risttee that I met was a girl named Mareet (excuses for not being able to spell), who was just baptized this year and has an amazing voice... she LOVES to sing and as she was walking to the restaurant with us after church was singing worship songs as she walked. It was cool. She's part of the Going Up (High school ministry) and will be entering college next year, I think. It was really cool to see someone with her passion and zeal for Christ in this church, and hope that God will raise up more like her.
Pictures to come with my next post... Thanks for your prayers and encouragement! :-)
chris <><
Along with the coffee & kakau, we also handed out a small flyer that advertises "bear week" (or Karunadal 2007) and provides a URL that lists out more details about the events we are hosting during the week and all of the dates, times, and places. The sandwiches & coffee cups we handed out also included a URL for the Karunadal 2007 events... so pray that students check out the website and are attracted to the events we are throwing, especially the concerts. A couple of students that Courtney and I had an opportunity to talk to were really cool... Marco and Li... they really seemed to enjoy talking to us and had that first year amazement with them (wow - college is really hard) - pray that we get more opportunities to see them during the week during the events and passing along the way to class.
Yesterday's worship was really good. I didn't understand a word that anyone was saying in worship (except for Jeesus :-) ), but really was in awe of hearing people genuinely worship in their own language... seeing that the gospel is for the Nations and that He wants every people group to reach out for Him. After worship, we ate lunch with a few of our new Estonian friends and then traveled to Craig (one of the American Risttee pastors)'s house for dinner and to prepare for the events. One of my favorite people from Risttee that I met was a girl named Mareet (excuses for not being able to spell), who was just baptized this year and has an amazing voice... she LOVES to sing and as she was walking to the restaurant with us after church was singing worship songs as she walked. It was cool. She's part of the Going Up (High school ministry) and will be entering college next year, I think. It was really cool to see someone with her passion and zeal for Christ in this church, and hope that God will raise up more like her.
Pictures to come with my next post... Thanks for your prayers and encouragement! :-)
chris <><
Friday, September 7, 2007
And we're off!!!!
Aren't you glad this is the last post that I'll be pontificating my esoteric thoughts about the trip and getting on to more practical, action-packed postings? Ha Ha! Me too.
I'm about 1 1/2 hours from traveling to Rich's to meet with the group and progress toward the airport. Bags are packed and passport is stowed. All is well in the world. The great news is that our team's support needs are being met... from what I've heard we were short as a team by about $4,000 yesterday morning and I received over $500 (over 1/8 of the total need) in just the last 24 hours. :-). Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
One last esoteric pontification if you will... my last night of fun before going into "focused maniac packer mode" was dinner at this place in Decatur called Carpe Diem (owned by the same folks as Apres Diem in Virginia Highlands)... laughing histerically and swapping stories. A good time had by all. I imagine that our conversations with Peep, Anna, and our hosts in Estonia will be quite similar. It's interesting now that I think about it, because I really believe that "carpe diem" has been my theme for this trip (although, I didn't really make this connection until today - I'm more ADD than you think)... to sieze the day and allow God to dream big through me... and I sense that He has great things in store for us. I always think of the movie "Dead Poets Society" when I hear that phrase... and Robin Williams' character whispering carpe diem into his students' ears as he challenges them to make their lives count for something extraordinary.
Another Latin phrase that I love, that relates very well to the trip is the question that Pilate asked to Jesus prior to ordering the crucifixion. That phrase is "que es veritas?" (what is truth?)... and I believe that we are all asking that question when it comes to finding meaning and hope for our lives. They go hand in hand, because when we find Jesus to be our veritas, then we can securely carpe diem because we know Him who has secured us in His love. That's my hope... and especially that we can show veritas agape (ok - I am splicing Greek and Latin here, work with me) in a real and tangible way.
Off to Estonia. Whoo-Hoo!!! :-)
Cheers!
Chris <><
I'm about 1 1/2 hours from traveling to Rich's to meet with the group and progress toward the airport. Bags are packed and passport is stowed. All is well in the world. The great news is that our team's support needs are being met... from what I've heard we were short as a team by about $4,000 yesterday morning and I received over $500 (over 1/8 of the total need) in just the last 24 hours. :-). Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
One last esoteric pontification if you will... my last night of fun before going into "focused maniac packer mode" was dinner at this place in Decatur called Carpe Diem (owned by the same folks as Apres Diem in Virginia Highlands)... laughing histerically and swapping stories. A good time had by all. I imagine that our conversations with Peep, Anna, and our hosts in Estonia will be quite similar. It's interesting now that I think about it, because I really believe that "carpe diem" has been my theme for this trip (although, I didn't really make this connection until today - I'm more ADD than you think)... to sieze the day and allow God to dream big through me... and I sense that He has great things in store for us. I always think of the movie "Dead Poets Society" when I hear that phrase... and Robin Williams' character whispering carpe diem into his students' ears as he challenges them to make their lives count for something extraordinary.
Another Latin phrase that I love, that relates very well to the trip is the question that Pilate asked to Jesus prior to ordering the crucifixion. That phrase is "que es veritas?" (what is truth?)... and I believe that we are all asking that question when it comes to finding meaning and hope for our lives. They go hand in hand, because when we find Jesus to be our veritas, then we can securely carpe diem because we know Him who has secured us in His love. That's my hope... and especially that we can show veritas agape (ok - I am splicing Greek and Latin here, work with me) in a real and tangible way.
Off to Estonia. Whoo-Hoo!!! :-)
Cheers!
Chris <><
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
T minus 2 days till we hop the pond!
Holy cow! Can it be coming this soon? I am just starting to realize that my teammates and I will be boarding our beloved KLM flight to Amsterdam en route to Estonia in less than 48 hours. Wow.
Some great news! I became fully funded for the trip as of today!!! Praise God! Rich has asked that we target $2,100 to help support the band, I'm at $2K right now (which is supporting me) so any additional checks I get will go toward Kristan and co. (as well as picking up for my teammates... the funds donated to the trip officially go into a pool in which each of us is responsible for raising a certain amount as our share... that's kind of how it works).
I am about half packed... I consider myself a professional packer (not to be confused with the Green Bay Packers) because of my traveling for work. However, seeing as though I will be in Tartu for about a week and a half and will be experiencing somewhat of a climate change (going from sweating mid-90's to highs in the low 60's/lows in the 40's), packing is a little more of a challenge than it would be for a business trip. Additionally, part of my luggage will be dedicated to stowing give-a-ways (150 t-shirts, 50 flash drives (I think), a few iPods, etc.).
... speaking of give-a-ways, I met up with Rich this evening to give him the letter bags that many of you that came to my party contributed to... we were brainstorming how to best maximize them, including trickling notes of encouragement to team members during the week. We were out at Target getting supplies and American-style t-shirts to give out during the competitions. I got a set of 3 Spider Man and 3 Green Lantern "super hero" shirts there (for those of you that don't know, Green Lantern is on SuperFriends and he's not really all that Super... Superman is always bailing him out and Jerry Seinfeld isn't really all that fond of him either... but it is a cool shirt). I hope the students that I give them out to as gifts like them.
Ok... I gots to get back to either retiring for the night (sleep good, me like) or packing. We'll see, it's getting late.
chris <><
Some great news! I became fully funded for the trip as of today!!! Praise God! Rich has asked that we target $2,100 to help support the band, I'm at $2K right now (which is supporting me) so any additional checks I get will go toward Kristan and co. (as well as picking up for my teammates... the funds donated to the trip officially go into a pool in which each of us is responsible for raising a certain amount as our share... that's kind of how it works).
I am about half packed... I consider myself a professional packer (not to be confused with the Green Bay Packers) because of my traveling for work. However, seeing as though I will be in Tartu for about a week and a half and will be experiencing somewhat of a climate change (going from sweating mid-90's to highs in the low 60's/lows in the 40's), packing is a little more of a challenge than it would be for a business trip. Additionally, part of my luggage will be dedicated to stowing give-a-ways (150 t-shirts, 50 flash drives (I think), a few iPods, etc.).
... speaking of give-a-ways, I met up with Rich this evening to give him the letter bags that many of you that came to my party contributed to... we were brainstorming how to best maximize them, including trickling notes of encouragement to team members during the week. We were out at Target getting supplies and American-style t-shirts to give out during the competitions. I got a set of 3 Spider Man and 3 Green Lantern "super hero" shirts there (for those of you that don't know, Green Lantern is on SuperFriends and he's not really all that Super... Superman is always bailing him out and Jerry Seinfeld isn't really all that fond of him either... but it is a cool shirt). I hope the students that I give them out to as gifts like them.
Ok... I gots to get back to either retiring for the night (sleep good, me like) or packing. We'll see, it's getting late.
chris <><
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