I'm gonna be happy with the way that I am

Well, it happened. I have become convinced that you actually DO care to read these silly little road journals. So here is a pathetic try. I used to be really good about noting interesting things that happen on these trips, and at snapping pictures to document said things - but not so this time. I suppose the state of my brain this week is to blame. Blame the brain. (Or blame the parade of outgoing soldiers I watched at the airport that catapulted my appropriately suppressed emotions into an impossible-to-reign frenzy.)

If I summed up this trip in one word, it would be timely. It feels like a giant blur that I will probably hardly remember in the coming weeks, but I honestly think it has been the most timely. It's not a coincidence that at this particular day in this particular season of my life, I would need the serious distraction of intensely mind-engaging work. It's not a coincidence that I would really need the encouragement of a godly man who remembers the parts of my character that I forget. It's not a coincidence that I would have lots of time on the road with just my brain and the radio.

I was dreading this project. I mean, it's Georgia. And if you remember correctly, my last adventure here was MISERABLE. There were a lot of variables about this project that were up in the air, and being the perfectionist that I am, I really hate going in to a project where there are unknowns. But the relief I felt when I walked in to the house and saw it painted (correctly, mind you), empty, and fairly clean was HUGE.









Small town Georgia is exactly what you would expect (except I have YET to find side-of-the-road boiled peanuts in Georgia OR Mississippi!). There is not a lot around - so a lot of my time has been spent in the car driving back and forth between other little nearby towns that may have more to offer than this one. It stormed pretty good yesterday afternoon, and another storm is rolling in now - which I guess is actually extremely symbolic of my mood. It's nice to hear the thunder and watch it get eerily dark at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

Three days of hard work, sifted with monumental distraction, and a slice of unexpected encouragement = not a failure.


I only have two more weeks of travel, but BOY am I ready to be home and stay there.

The boy's gone. The boy's gone home.
The boy's gone. The boy's gone home.
What will happen to a face in the crowd when it finally gets too crowded?
And what will happen to the origins of sound after all the sounds have sounded?
Well I hope I never have to see that day but by God I know it's headed our way
So I better be happy now that the boy's going home.
The boy's gone home.
And what becomes of a day for those who rage against it?
And who will sum up the phrase for all left standing around in it?
Well I suppose we'll all make our judgment calls.
We'll walk it alone, stand up tall, then march to the fall.
So we better be happy now that we'll all go home.
That we'll all go home.
Be so happy with the way you are.
Just be happy that you made it this far.
Go on be happy now.
Please be happy now.
Because you say that this, this is something else (alright)
I say that this, this is something else (well alright)
I say that this, oh, this is something, this is something else
Oo thi-thi-thi-thi-this is all, thi-thi-thi-thi-this is yeah,
thi-thi thi-thi-thi-this is all something else.
Well I tried to live my life and lived it so well
But when it's all over is it heaven or is it hell?
So I better be happy now that no one can tell, nobody knows.
I'm gonna be happy with the way that I am,
I'm gonna be happy with all that I stand for.
I'm gonna be happy now because the boy's going home.
The boy's gone home.
Yeah the boy's gone home.
Yeah the boy's gone home.
Yeah the boy's gone home.