Sunday, November 13, 2005

The End of an Era

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The Lambda Iota era is over for Andy! I'm both glad and sad about this, mostly glad, but I have become quite fond of the place. Moving out has been part of the great Andy's-life-simplification project as outlined in my previous "What's Happening".

It all began in the summer of 2003. Until that point, I had never set foot in a fraternity house. I was working as a woodworker for Russell & Co Organ Builders in southern Vermont, my childhood stomping ground, when I made the decision that being in Burlington as part of Christ Memorial Church was more important than following my dream of building pipe organs. (This dream isn't entirely dead yet, so watch out!). :-) I decided my excuse for coming back to Burlington would be to return to school to finish up my Bachelors in engineering (I had a two-year degree from '99).

Then I realized, if I came back 2 months early, I could be a team leader for the very first annual Green Mountain Summer, a Christian summer training program for college students and recent grads. So I did! Wow! What a summer! We rented two fraternity houses to house all the people, and one of them was Lambda Iota. Its a good thing I didn't know then what I know now! Near the end of the summer, the Board of Governors of the frat (made up of alumni that have stayed in the area) were looking for a year-round manager of the house and got wind that I was planning to stay in Burlington. They asked if I'd stay on as house facilities manager. In return for free room, satellite TV, DSL internet connection, and utilities, I would oversee the house, make sure the pipes didn't freeze, keep the board abreast of what the kids were doing, keep track of keys, etc. I did some house repairs for an hourly rate.

On the first day of October 2005, 2 years and 3 or 4 months from the day I moved in with all the Navigators students, I moved out into an apartment with a roommate from church, close to church and work. So it is time to reflect a bit on a very interesting couple of years! I went through cycles of popularity and unpopularity with the brothers, but as I packed the last of my things, they asked me if I wanted to join! I was honored and had to stop and think about that. In the end, I'm just too busy to be memorizing old Owl songs and histories, and I'm not totally sure how much alcohol one must consume during pledging (I kept my word and never set foot in the Chapter Room, nor observed any pledging ceremonies).

So, without further adeau, here's the tour! More is sure to come, but this should be enough to stop y'all from harrassing me for a while (kidding! kidding!):

GMS 2003 page 1
GMS 2003 page 2
GMS 2003 page 3 <--comment 12/5/05
My Nest: The Office
My Nest: The Bedroom <--comment 12/5/05
My Nest: The Living Room
Outside <--comment 12/19/05
An apology and a word about ministry <--comment 11/28/05

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