SUUSI!

[rivka]

We registered for SUUSI this weekend, and this morning I mailed out the required waivers and permission forms and the deposit. Now we're really going. (We've set aside our tax refund to pay for it, so we'll be able to afford it regardless of Michael's work situation.)

We'll be sharing a suite with bosssio and her boys, currently aged 18mos and 3 1/2. The kids play together really well - they came up to visit on Saturday, and it was sweet to watch Alex and Ant walking around holding hands. I think they'll be able to entertain each other a lot of the time, giving us adults more time to relax.

I am so excited. I need a vacation badly, and I haven't had a real one since... well, I guess since last year's SUUSI. (Spending Christmas with my in-laws? Not a vacation.) I've got a great schedule planned out for myself, a mix of family and independent activities with plenty of unscheduled time - including, most notably, a whole morning when Alex will be in the children's program and I won't be signed up for anything.

Here's our workshop/trip schedule:

Sunday
Check-in.
Banner parade and ingathering, 7-9pm.
Mandatory youth-parent meeting right after ingathering.

Monday
Alex: children's programming, 9-12.
Michael: stewardship workshop, 10-12.
Rivka: meditative singing workshop, 10-12.
Michael: Texas Hold'em tournament, 7-10pm.

Tuesday
Michael: flatwater kayaking, 7:45-12:30.
Alex: children's programming, 9-12.
Rivka: meditative singing workshop, 10-12
Michael: yoga for better backs, 2-4pm
Rivka and Alex: "Enjoy a pretty place" family hike, 6-8:30pm

Wednesday
Rivka: Sinking Creek hike (with my father), 7:30-12:30.
Rivka: chocolate making 101, 2-4pm.

Thursday
Alex: children's programming, 9-12.
Michael: stewardship workshop, 10-12.
Michael: yoga for better backs, 2-4pm.

Friday
Rivka and Alex: Poverty Creek splash hike, 8:30-12.
Michael: stewardship workshop, 10-12.
Rivka and Michael: Teen Way Off Broadway (audience at the late show).

Saturday
Closing circle, 9am.

We each have a full day completely off from scheduled programming, which is nice. Not included in the above schedule are the various all-SUUSI activities, which we don't have to register for:

- Theme talks (extended sermons), every morning from 9-9:45am.
- Worship, Monday-Thursday from 8-9pm, Friday from 5:15-6pm.
- Family concert hour, Tuesday and Thursday from 5-6pm.
- Community street fair and play day, Monday and Wednesday from 5:15-6:30pm.
- Cabaret (professional and talented amateur music), every night from 9:30-midnight.
- Serendipity dance club, every night from 9:30 or 10pm-1am.

Somewhere in there, each of us will work a two-hour shift for the childcare co-op. In exchange, on all other evenings, we'll be free to go out and play from 9:30pm to 1am, and someone from the co-op will call us if Alex wakes up.

Holy cow, this is going to be awesome.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm really glad to know you're going to get to go again this year.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

What fun! I love the mix of stuff to do in various combinations of people, and I look forward to hearing about it.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

How do you feel about going to Tech?

[brooksmoses]

Rivka: Sinking Creek hike (with my father), 7:30-12:30.

Oooh, home. :) Do you happen to know where along Sinking Creek the hike is? The Newport covered bridge over Sinking Creek (the red one, not the unpainted one that's a few miles upstream) is on the one-lane road that goes up to the house where I grew up.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Here's the hike description: "We have a short van ride to the trailhead, and then begin hiking the Appalachian Trail up Sinking Creek Mountain. After an invigorating climb, we follow a ridgeline until we stop for a great view of the valley to the west. Relax for a bit and enjoy the view, then it’s downhill all the way as we backtrack to the starting point. The meadow at the beginning of the trail usually rewards us with beautiful wildflowers and butterflies. Hike is about 4 miles."

I will certainly keep my eye out for the red covered bridge!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

What happened there was awful, and I know that a lot of people at SUUSI have close ties to Tech. I think there will be a sad tone to parts of the week - like Ingathering, when we all come together again on Sunday evening.

I'm not at all worried about our safety or anything. I think what happened at Tech could just as likely happen at any other university in America.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't mean about the safety. People manage to kill each other in prisons and we can't run colleges like that.

I was just thinking of the sadness.

[brooksmoses]

Ah, okay -- Sinking Creek Mountain, rather than the creek itself. I think that hike is probably coming from the southeast side of the mountain, and then the "valley to the west" is the one that Sinking Creek itself is. So it looks like you won't get to see the bridge.

When you do get to that view, though, the mountain on the other side of the valley is John's Creek Mountain. The house where I grew up is near the ridgeline (but on the far side from where you'll be), way off to the left.

Regardless, it's home -- it's all home. :) If you take pictures, share, please?

Oh, another thing I was reminded of when I was looking around to see where this was: the particular bit of mountain that you'll be hiking on has some really interesting geological history.