things I do not love

aka, Things I Am Tired Of

::Crocheting. I started working on Christmas presents last February and, while I love the people who are getting these presents, I'm tiredtiredtired of crocheting. My hands are tired of it (my right thumb especially is getting sore), my mind is tired of it, and I'm done for now. But the projects they are almost done and when they are done I will be through with crocheting (at least for the next few years).

::Cooking/meal planning/getting dinner on the table. Enough of this, I want to go back to being a kid when someone else was responsible and stuff.

::Waking up at 3am with an annoying cough.

::Being far away from my family. I miss them.

::Bickering/debating/arguing with people about my religion. It's not the debating...it's when they interrupt me midsentence just to bicker back. When they don't listen to these life-giving words, but formulate their answer while I'm sharing the gospel of grace! Grrr! It makes me really mad (ironic, I know).

7 Quick Takes Volume 2

Go to Conversion Diary for more 7QT.

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So, last week I was frenetically preparing for a northward weekend journey, the museum's annual not-so-scary members-only Halloween event, and fighting bad allergies that have since mutated into a cold and sinusitis.

1. I am thankful for doctors who take action. At the doctor's office, I received several prescriptions--antibiotics, cortisone for the swelling, cough suppressant that's not codeine-based so I don't have to deal with the OTC cough-syrup side effect of stupidity--AND a cortisone shot right then and there. Woo. I haven't taken any pills and I feel better already. It's the cortisone. I can finally breathe through my nose well.

2. Today, during Story Time, I read to two 6-year-olds. We did some Early Childhood Games (can you guess if the pumpkin inside the smaller box will be bigger or smaller than the first pumpkin? it's called prediction of volume) and they enjoyed the games...a little...and I could see they were relieved to learn that the Early Childhood Games were designed for kids who are TWO YEARS OLD and that it's OK that they were BORED by them.

3. Those 6-year-olds from Story Time enjoyed a book that was a little scary, The Little Old Lady Who Was not Afraid of Anything. They liked knowing that the scariness is in the anticipation of the reader saying "BOO!" They were cute!

4. My husband is at a high school football game tonight. That means I am at home alone to rest and rest and to rest. I usually hate being alone but tonight I'm ok.

5. My bum hurts from the cortisone shot.

6. Our northward journey took us on a 12-hour drive (one way!) to visit my grandparents. I am thankful to have seen them...and thankful that Grandma knew who I was...and thankful for the hope of heaven where God will wipe all the tears away from our eyes. Oh, how I grieve. Aging stinks! Sure, they have the wisdom of experience and all that....but when their brains start imploding and they stop being themselves....it hurts. Oh, for heaven! Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

7. I can't think of anything else.

No-good Title

I started this blog as a way to keep up with my family. I wanted to report on my day-to-day life so that we could have even a little bit of that daily interaction that you miss when you don't live nearby.

Now I wonder if I've fallen off the blogging bandwagon because I've 'lost the vision' for my blog. I read a lot of blogs...design blogs...homemaking blogs...book blogs...and get inspired by them. I like to think through ideas and problems, but this is not the proper forum for that. I have a journal at my desk for that. I read the Word and think and pray, but I have another journal for that.

This is the place for updates for my family. Maybe I'll start writing letters to them, or write to them as if I were sitting next to them. We'll see how that works.

Make-Your-Own Handwriting Sheets

Hey! It's free. You can make any combination you want, with three different handwriting styles: basic print, D'Nealian, and cursive.

Isn't this cute?

The acorn cakelet pan.

I want it.

Christmas is coming. So is my birthday.

7 Quick Takes Volume 1

Click over to Conversion Diary to read more Incomplete Thoughts.
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1. It's getting to be field trip season again at the museum. I love the little-kid-playtime I get to have with these kids. They're so excited about exploring and learning and investigating. What a refreshing place to work. I love it.

2. Fall has hit here in Chattanooga. We had all that rain, then an hot, humid interlude, then some more rain--and now *bam* it's chilly and a little dry. Not humid. The trees haven't realllllly started changing yet but they will be soon (some of the smaller trees are changing already) and it's going to be be-u-ti-ful!

3. There's this amazing huge chestnut tree right outside my office window and it's really pretty. It was lovely in the rain, with the glossy wet leaves plunking under the raindrops and now it's pretty in the bright crisp fall sunlight. It'll be pretty when the leaves change, too.

4. My husband's cross country season ends today. HOO-RAY! He enjoys it and he's such a very good coach but enough is enough. He's tired. And I'm tired. And so we are going out on a date tonight...nothing special...just dinner. And I'm buying new shoes. And we'll probably loiter in the local big-box-bookstore. (They can afford it.)

5. I'm so glad I married a book person. One of my coworkers has a son who is a book person. She wants to know if I have a single sister who's like me for this guy to marry. I don't. Too bad for her.

6. A friend of mine told me the other day her daughter named her new stuffed wolf "Howell." Hah! I have a cactus named Pierce. I like ironic, wry names. If I ever have another pet I want to name it something odd like George or Steve or Angela. Not anything pet-like (Fluffy, Bowser, or Rex). That's too standard. I like non-standard.

7. I am crocheting a big project as a Christmas present and I've been plugging away these last few weeks. (Christmas is comin RIGHT UP and I need to get goin!!) Yesterday I did my reading from Proverbs while I crocheted and it was very soothing. I'm going to do it again today.

Who Knew I Liked 80s Music?

"Don't Stop Believin' " by Journey.

There's an episode of Scrubs that features this song.
I like it. I might have to buy it. Then I could put it on a mix CD. (Why something that archaic, you ask? It's because I don't have an iPod. AND I'm doing ok without one.)

Post-Summer Recap

Slept in.
Worked shifts.
Exercised together.
Spent time together.
Stayed up late.

Car trip to Kansas.
Short jaunt to Colorado.
Precious time spent with both sides of our family.
Spent time with all immediate family members...but one.

Recuperated at home.
Worked.

Days spent in our home with dear family.
Days spent in Atlanta with more dear family.
Time spent at the beach: sleep, swim, play, eat, read. Repeat.
More days spent in Atlanta with dear family.

All in all, a fast summer, but a good one.

Returning home...re-entry...is strange. (Do astronauts feel weighed down when they come home from the international space station? Did they miss the sunlight, soft breezes, fresh air when they were weightless?)
It's good to be home. It's good to be back. But summer freedom was good too.

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?