I've spent this week getting back into "Starbucks shape." I've been working long hours at a pretty busy store, so my feet and legs get a little numb after a while. The store is the 13th one in the chain that now numbers 7,000 - it's the second oldest east of Seattle. I've been settling in here, and making some new friends at work, so that's cool. I'm a little frustrated, though, because I guess I'm questioning the value of working that hard for pretty low pay. And yet, it's what I've got for now, so I'll be thankful. I've been applying for all kinds of jobs - college admissions recruiter/advisor, psychiatric agency case manager, corporate trainer, etc. All this while still trying to figure out where I'm supposed to be regarding this small church that may be interested in hiring me as their pastor.

Along the way here, I've met some pretty cool folks, and I do feel good about having moved. Now that we're mostly out of boxes and pretty well settled into the house, I'm really looking forward to getting out and seeing the good stuff here. I want to check out the neighborhoods and restaurants, the art galleries and theaters, the specialty shops and the music scene. But now we're getting back to the whole "I need a job that pays better than Starbucks" topic.

The other day I went to a local gathering of pastors put on by the Acts 29 Network. I talked casually with Mark Driscoll, the pastor at Mars Hill Church, one of the flashpoints in the whole emerging church movement. He welcomed me to the area. I'll leave the name-dropping at that.