Ski Trip and Ponderings

Tomorrow, I'm leaving on a ski trip to Winter Park, Colorado. I've been looking forward to the skiing, and spending time with friends (and family!) who I don't see often. I haven't been skiing as much this year as last year, and I think that last year at this time of year I was a better skier than I am now. All my dancing and hanging out with friends is cutting into my skiing time this year, and I'm not unhappy about that. I know that the snow here in Washington isn't nearly as good as the Colorado snow, and last year I was surprised by how easy it was to ski well once I got off of the "Cascade concrete." I hope that's the case this year, too. I was planning on taking a shuttle from the airport to the resort, but my flight lands a half an hour before the last shuttle leaves, so I had to rent a car. It ended up being about $50 more to do it that way, but having a car will give me more freedom. It might possibly enable me to help other people out, too. I'm thinking of taking my Wii along with me, as it's so small, and there will certainly be downtime to play it in the evenings. The Wii is especially fun with lots of other people, so hopefully there will be a large TV that we can use in a common area. I could bring my projector too, but that would be pushing it. The Virtual Console is a really great feature. I recently downloaded and played through Super Mario World. This evening is Valentine's Day, and as I am without attachment, I will be attending a "Lovely Literature Gathering" hosted by a young lady I know through BSF. I was at a BSF Valentine's party last Friday, and played The Dating Game. The "winners" were given a box of chocolates and a Starbucks card, and we are apparently to "go out for coffee" and report back. This will all probably happen sometime next week, as both of us are going out of town this week. My job is ending soon: my group is finishing up what we're doing and will be moving on to other programs within the company. At this point, I don't know what comes next, although there are a few possibilities that I'm keeping my eye on. There was a job opening in Anaheim (which would subsequently move to Huntington Beach), but that listing was withdrawn. The supply of software positions is a bit thin right now, but I'm not too worried about getting laid off. The job opening in California caused me to consider whether I would want to go back. It would be nice to be near my family and friends down there again, but at this point I don't feel as if I'm "done" here. I'm not saying I want to stay in Washington forever, and I'm not saying that I don't. I've built a life here, not without pre-existing relationships, but certainly more on my own than ever before, and I have friends that I don't want to just up and leave. I need to be willing to go wherever and do whatever the Lord is leading me to go and do, and I believe that I am doing that. When I left California, I could clearly see the Lord's hand in it, and I was sure that this was where he wanted me to go. He prepared me for the change, and he prepared a place for me here. I suspect that if the Lord wanted me elsewhere, he would give me the same kind of peace that he gave me then, though not necessarily through the same means.