I Don't Understand...

...why sometimes we grownups expect kids to behave like graduate students, with full and undivided attention to the speaker at all times. Why do we do that?

Dancing in Public

I'm aggravated at YouTube's not letting me embed this right here on my blog, but OH WELL.

Please, please click through this link and go watch this awesomely cool YouTube video. Please.

Cross-Cultural Thinking

I just listened to a Michael Feldman (the host of What Do You Know?) interview...apparently a lapsed Irish-Catholic has written a memoir. I was shocked at the depth of brazenness! This man has no desire whatsoever to do anything that honors God or make any choices that are beneficial to himself if they are also compliant with morality. Sheesh. I didn't realize that pagans hate God so much!

Evening Peace

There's a lot to be unhappy about. (There always is. No matter who you are or where you live, we can always find something to ruin our days.)

But right now, my tummy is full, my washing machine is running, there are two peeper frogs conversing right outside my window, and there's a bird chirping out there, too. Oh, and there's a breeze blowing in through the open window.

We don't have the TV on, or the radio. It's just quiet.

The Best Response to a Cry of Suffering

When someone is suffering, the best thing...I've learned over and over again...is to sit there, hug them, hand them kleenexes, and be there with them.

Talk later.

Do Others Do This Too?

I have some family traditions. Honking the horn when you cross the state line. Calling out the name of a body of water (when you're on a road trip) and expecting everyone else in the car to call it out, too. Things like that. (There are more than I can list...more than I can even think of!)

On Friday, we colored eggs. I grew up doing American Eggs, with the rainbow colors...aaaaand the Latvian Eggs, with the onion skin dye and the natural nature stuff for the variety.

My dear husband did his 2 or 3 Latvian Eggs, and colored about 18 of the American Eggs. He wrote witty things on the eggs in crayon beforehand and then dipped them in the dye. This was the part he enjoyed the most.

When I asked him if he didn't want to do more Latvian Eggs before I threw the dye away, he looked up from some invisible wit he was inscribing on an egg and said (lovingly, but factually): "No. I did those three for you. Cause I love you."

I love, in our marriage, that we can be that honest about traditions and habits. It's ok that he doesn't loooooove doing Latvian Eggs, and it's ok that he was honest about it. To be honest like that makes me happy, and it makes me trust people more.

Have a nice day.

Commentary

I'm watching a TV show on DVD with the commentary turned on. Isn't it interesting to have commentary become a normal part of our culture? Why do we need to know why and how and when the directors did what they did? Why can't we just watch tv and be entertained?

Correcting Ignorance

Our pastor gave a killer sermon some weeks ago about correcting others' false facts about the Bible. There's a difference, he said, between humbly correcting fallacies and arrogantly putting people in their place.

Now comes the confession. In my school days (mostly high school), I was very good at putting people in their place. If they had their doctrine out of joint, I was there to point it out to them, whether they wanted it or not. Having me around made people feel like their proverbial zippers were always down. (This did not make me very many friends. Believe me.)

Then I went into reverse mode. I stopped correcting people at all and just became a sympathetic listener. I became a doormat. I was a jellyfish, with no spine of my own. (My convictions were good enough for me, but I didn't have to shove them down others' throats, right?)

Whew. I'm still in progress, still growing, but I'm coming closer to a happy medium. To be specific, I had a great talk last week with a co-worker about all kinds of things: we talked about the new Creation Museum (I said I didn't think a museum would change evolutionists' minds about origin theory); he asked what I believed about the Origin of Everything, and I explained the following:
What I Think About the Origin of Everything
1) I don't like that evolutionists take God out of the equation.
2) The Bible clearly states that God made everything out of nothing.
3) The Bible also says that God made people in a special way...he made Adam and Eve on purpose, with a special purpose in mind.

He digested this for a moment, then asked me to explain why, as he put it, "so many people just...you know...take the Bible and put it on a pedestal." He said it was a good book about morals but he doesn't run to it for the answer about everything. I gave that a moment to rumble around in my head. I wanted to think and answer clearly. Here is what I said:
Why I Quote the Bible so Often and Study it and Read it and Know it
1) The Bible says about itself that it's inspired, that it's truthful, that it's right. I believe that because I believe that the entire Bible is true.
2) The Bible is the story, from beginning to end, of Jesus Christ's relationship with his people. He's our Creator, He's our Savior, and He's our Redeemer.
3) The Bible is authoritative in what it talks about. It doesn't talk about a lot of things (say, for example, which brand of laundry detergent I should use during each season of my life), but the things it does talk about, it's right about.
4) The entire Bible isn't meant to be literal. The history sections and the doctrine-textbook sections are literal, but the poetry parts aren't! They are poetry and meant to be poetical.

The fella I was talking to listened. I hope that what I said was what he needed to hear. Then he went on to ask about other holy writings, like the Koran and the Bhaghavad Gita. I thought again and answered this:
How I Compare the Bible to Other Religious Texts:
1) Each of these texts explains the world in a certain way. All these worldviews are so different and cannot logically all be correct at the same time.
2) Each of these texts claims to be true. They're so different, teach differing views of the world, but again--they cannot all be correct and contradictory at the same time. (Logic dictates that red is red, and green is not red. It's green. Green and red cannot simultaneously be red!)
3) I already explained my relationship to the Bible and why I trust it. Those are the reasons I choose the Bible over the other texts. They cannot all be truth, and so I reject the other texts and choose the Bible.

I'm humbled that God gave me such a clear chance to answer questions without being pushy. I mean, he asked me to share what I know and believe. I pray that God will water the seeds of truth I told him about.

Question for Discussion

Do you think that the oh-so-popular and slightly-askew photo composition looks cool, amazing, and beautiful; or trendy, dated, and annoying? Discuss.

It's been a while

I've not posted in a while. I'm sorry. I'm not dead, and I haven't quit. I just haven't felt inspired.

That's a lot of sentences that all start with the first person pronoun. Sad.

In-Laws and Outlaws (Christmas Travels Part IV)

Whew! It's March and I'm still posting about Christmas. Oh well. Deal with it.

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So, after our time in Colorado Springs, we traveled back to Quinter. Here are the Quinter 'skyscrapers,' 8 miles away from us at this point! (They're actually grain elevators. Note the flat, flat, flatness of Western Kansas. It's flat out there, folks.)



My youngest brother-in-law's girlfriend had flown in a couple days before to 'meet the family,' and my husband and I got back to Quinter earlier than we expected. Consequently, I got to go along on the Girls' Antiquing Trip! After the antiquing, we all went to grocery shop in the W-M*rt. (When living in the country, you have to be sure to grab groceries when you can!)



The next day, New Year's Eve, I got to talking to the youngest brother-in-law. He and his girlfriend and the sister-in-law and I climbed up on the roof and watched the sun set. It was the last sunset of the year and it was a good one.



Here's the cute couple, in the beautiful sunset light. (Do you notice her scarf? That's one of our Christmas gifts to her. I'll have you all know that I made it!)


Aaaaand then, after counting down with the folks in Times Square, middle brother-in-law's wife played reveille on a trumpet for the whole town's enjoyment. (People, there are 800 people in this town. This was the loudest celebratory sound to be heard...a trumpet.)

The In-Laws' New Year's Eve Tradition dictates that we play fussball. Mother-in-Law's dad made this fussball table, and it's Mother-in-Law's favorite game! She really gets into it. (In this picture, from L to R, are: youngest brother-in-law, mother-in-law, middle brother-in-law's wife, middle brother-in-law, and sister-in-law.)

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(The 'in-laws' in the title are my husband's family, and the 'outlaws'...they are us, the married-into-this-family kids. Me, the Trumpeter, and the Girlfriend.)

(And I like them all. It's a gift, to like your in-laws, and I do.)

Spring Catch-Up

It's been a while since I've posted. You know, I read all these great blogs and sometimes think I have nothing cool or worthwhile to say. And then I get in the habit of not-posting. Or I get really, really busy, and just get in the habit of not-posting.

Honestly, it has been a busy month for me. I've worked extra hours because of the exhibit-change-over. I worked extra hours because of Atlanta schools' Spring Break increased our attendance. I worked extra hours because one of our staff couldn't fulfill their shifts. I worked a lock-in Friday night (wheee! clock in at 5:30 pm and clock out at 9:30 am and sleep about 3 hours in between! yay for caffeine!).

When I'm feeling taxed, then writing here goes out the window. I have other things to do, like dishes, laundry, meal planning, and cooking. Folding clothes. Straightening up the house. Hanging out with my husband.

But here's a post for y'all. Would you like some short-quick-to-the-point Deep Thoughts? Good; here you go:

• I had coffee with a good friend I haven't seen in 5 years. It's so good to see her again and catch up. I sensed in her the same changed I've been sensing in myself: I've gone through some really hard seasons in the last 5 years, and have grown up a lot, become more refined, more sanctified. So has she. Her fun and goofy and silly personality is still there, but there's also a delightful calmness and peace that was there before but is more apparent now.
• A dear friend has, in the last month, had a baby (her 3rd girl! hooray) and spent about a week in the hospital with her. The baby had (has?) RSV.
• Spring is springing here in Southeast Tennessee. The redbuds are blooming in spite of the chilly overcast drizzliness we've had the last week and a half; the pears are trying their darndest to bloom. All we need is two, maybe three, hot and sunny days and spring will dazzle and delight us.

That's about all that comes to mind. Have a good Lord's Day, everyone.

How I Know My Sister-in-Law Loves Me

When she starts her mass-sibling-update-email with this paragraph:

It's been a wild several weeks. It seems like it's been about a month since I've had a weekend to myself. I know some of the more outgoing of you wouldn't understand (Krista! ), but I seriously needed a weekend to just BE and not have anything going on or anybody wanting to do anything with me.

Aaaah. Being singled out is awesome! Even more awesome is knowing that all the siblings will read that interjection and laugh.

Ham Loaf

I'm inspired to write about my evening's cooking...at least the Ham Loaf part of my cooking.
Here's a photo of the recipe.* Actually, it's a photo of an email of the recipe. If you care, you can read some of my commentary when I emailed the recipe to my mom.



Start with 1-3/4 cups of milk. Notice the measuring cup. My sister gave it to me for Christmas a while ago. See how the cup looks like it's got stairsteps? Those are the 1/2 and 1/4 measurements...I love those measuring cups!

Next, add two eggs and 2 tablespoons brown sugar:

After the eggs and brown sugar, it's time for the dry mustard. 1 tablespoon. Isn't that a cute mustard tin?

Be sure to add the salt.

Next, I mixed what was in my bowl. That giant fork? We called it a granny fork at Mia Cucina, one of my previous employers. I use it a lot for whipping and mixing things like this.

Then, add 6 slices soft bread, cubed.

Since I used up all my bread, I had to put another loaf in to bake.

Add 1-1/2 pound ground pre-cooked ham. This is my food processor, grinding my ham. Janis and Christine gave us that food processor for a wedding gift. Thanks, Janis and Christine! I like it a lot!

You should also add 1 pound ground beef. I didn't take a picture because my hands were all beefy and gross, so feast your eyes on this instead:

Put it in a casserole to bake. Doesn't that look like Alice's meatloaf in The Brady Bunch Movie? Hah! It looks a little gross, I admit. But believe me, it tastes great when it comes out.


Just for kicks, here is a photo of the unbaked ham loaf looking mighty pink, like it's out of a 1960s cookbook with full-color photos!

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Ham Loaf
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine in large mixing bowl:
1 3/4 c milk
2 large eggs
2 T brown sugar
1 T dry mustard
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6 slices soft bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1-1/2 lbs ground ham (pre-cooked)
1 lb. ground beef

Shape into a loaf in an oven-proof dish.

Bake until firm and lightly browned, about 90 minutes. Meat should reach an internal temperature of 175-180 degrees on a meat thermometer.

Christmas Travels Part 3: Colorado

After our Husband's-Family Christmas-day festivities, we spent a few more days with my In-Laws. And, because Colorado is so close to Western Kansas, we popped over to my parents' house for my Family Christmas Festivities.

My parents' tree. Isn't it nice? I love to see the ornaments I recognize from years and years past.


I remember this votive-holder from years and years past, too. It looks much nicer with a candle burning inside it, but we decided to blow it out once we got to the opening-presents part of the evening. Good thing, too...in the flurry of tearing paper, there was at least one instance where I set the paper on top.

My sister and her husband live in Colorado, too, but they spent the night at my parents'. They had just flown in from Atlanta that afternoon and were tired! Plus, if they spent the night, we could have more togetherness time the next day!


My parents and I played gin rummy every Saturday morning for about two years when I lived with them. Now it is a tradition, and so we played. That's my dad's coffee cup over there. Notice that the first card is an ace.

Aaaand of course, we had a fire in the fireplace. Doesn't it look cozy? It sure was! Aaaaah, good times.