Hello Warmth!!

****NOTE:****
This post was written a few days ago, but because Blogger, in their infinite wisdom, thought that this blog was a spam blog, and thus kept me from uploading new posts. Anyways, here it is, and as we speak, I'm in the process of writing a new one.

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I'm sick.

Again.

I don't know what it is, whether the illness within my body is mutating, or if I'm getting new sickness at the heels of recovering from the previous crap. Either way, I'm hacking up a lung and blowing my nose constantly. Let me tell you, it's not a pretty sight. To top that off, I woke up to -30 degree weather yesterday. Can I tell you how much that sucked?

But all that changed for the better when I boarded the plane for my final destination of Austin Texas where the weather is a painful 24 degrees C (75 degrees F). Compared to my last flight out of Buffalo, this trip was phenomenal. Not only were there no delays, but the flights actually arrived early!! I flew from Buffalo to Chicago, had a 2 hour layover, then flew from Chicago to Austin. I slept, drank water, listened to music, and read the in flight magazines. The only crappy thing that happened was having some intense pressure on my head from my cold. It felt like Jabba the Hut was applying some insane vise grip on my head with his tail.

Upon stepping off the plane, I gathered my luggage and walked outside to wait for whoever was gonna pick me up. As I was standing there, basking in the atmosphere of Austin, I literally felt my cold symptoms melt away. I could smell the fresh air and taste the crispness of car exhaust. To some, that would be kinda gross, but I welcomed it with open arms.

After waiting for a few moment, I saw my good friend Gideon pull up in his car. I wasn't expecting him, so I was very pleasantly surprised. I put my stuff into his VW, and we went to his church office, where I was greeted by some great and familiar faces. I chilled at a desk while Gid, Enoch, Matt, Harmon and Wey had their staff meeting.

At around 6pm, Jim and Gretchen, who are getting married this weekend in Houston, accompanied by Yeeland, came by the office to pick me up for dinner. We chatted, ate, laughed, and had an amazing time. I can't wait to see them tie the knot this Saturday. I really hope my limited Cantonese skills don't get in the way of this beautiful ceremony.

All in all, this trip has been fabulous so far. I have begun the journey of filling my gullet with comfort food like beef ribs, country fried steak, and organic hamburgers, and plan on adding a wider array of tasty southern treats into my system.

Then come Sunday, I leave from Houston to New Orleans for a week of helping out in whatever way I can. Vox is sending a crew out that way to help in the rebuilding of the city and those lives affected by Katrina. I'm really looking forward to going back and see how things have changed, or not changed, since my last trip with Nathan, Pernell, Kristyn and Melissa.