Skills a wastin'
70 words
Speedtest
When I was in the work world, I had a boss for a time who gave me this advice, "Never let them know you can type"
Guess after four years of staying home its okay to admit it. I can.
Posted at 05:14 PM Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
April 28, 2008
Spiritual Journal - Rich Man
The other day someone on www.tallyscrapper.com directed us to the photos in the collage above. These are photos of a scrapbook room like no other. Everything is brand new. Everything has the perfectly selected place. Everything is available in abundance. I included only a small sampling of the photos of this shrine to scrapbooking. While looking at them I started to feel a little ill. Now I know nothing of the owner of said scrapbook room, so this isn't a judgement on her specifically. But looking at that room made me think of Matthew 19, and the story of the Rich Young Ruler. So often we want to know the formula for achieving perfection. Just tell us what would make it perfect, and we will go about with the plan. This woman certainly did her research and her execution was flawless. She arrived at the place in the story where she could say, "All these things kept; what am I still lacking?" In the Bible story one supposes the earnest young man sensed a lack, even after following the laws. He was seeking something deeper, I think in all sincerity. Jesus knew this man's heart. He knew that what was blocking this man's ability to have a true and deep relationship with God was his preoccupation with the external. With the things of this earth. So Jesus told him to lay them down.
Having a $200,000 scrapbook room or working out of a paper bag with a glue stick isn't the point. It is neither a formula for success to have it all or have nothing. The formula for success only has one step: turning everything and everyone over to God, and listening to His Spirit guiding us each step of the day. There is no checklist. God wants a personal, involved relationship with us at which He is the head.
It is interesting to me that Jesus said, "If you wish to be complete..." I'm sure the man was put off by this remark. If this woman were to ask us "Can you think of anything else I am missing?" She would not expect to hear "If you wish to be complete..." Especially if after all her hard work to make this room just right the solution would be to sell it all and give the proceeds to the poor. It would seem counterproductive to all her research, hard work and she certainly would be getting pennies on the dollar. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she needs to do any such thing. I wouldn't know what she needs to do, if anything. Because the Word of God is a living thing, personal to each of us, meeting us where we are at, divining what is in our heart of hearts, separating bone from marrow.
For those of you following along, journal about being consumed. Do you have something or someone in your life that you feel unbalanced about? Is there something or someone that is the focus of most of your thoughts, time and resources? What is the center of your universe? Reflect on this obsession and how it affects your daily life.
Posted at 08:32 AM in Journal of What I believe Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
April 27, 2008
Spiritual Journal - Eye for an Eye
A much simpler page today. Text is from Matthew 5 & 6, two of my favorite chapters in the Bible.
"Here's another old saying that deserves a second look ' eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.' Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
You are familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best---the sun to warm and the rain to nourish---to everyone, regardless, the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. if you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
In a word what I am saying is grow up. You're kindom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.
But be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding.
When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure---'playactors' I call them---treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it---quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.
I sometimes think if I could really meditate on this passage daily and make it real and alive in me, I would really change in a miraculous way. I keep coming back to this when I feel lost. I'm a girl who struggles with the bugaboos of fairness and pride, so these are my touchstone verses.
Posted at 08:46 AM in Journal of What I believe Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
April 22, 2008
Heavenly Day Patti Griffin
Oh heavenly day, all the clouds blew awayGot no trouble today with anyoneThe smile on your face I live only to seeIt's enough for me, baby, it's enough for meOh, heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly dayTomorrow may rain with sorrowHere's a little time we can borrowForget all our troubles in these moments so fewAll we've got right now, the only thing thatAll we really have to doIs have ourselves a heavenly dayLay here and watch the trees swayOh, can't see no other way, no way, no wayHeavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly dayNo one at my shoulder bringing me fearsGot no clouds up above me bringing me tearsGot nothing to tell you, I've got nothing much to sayOnly I'm glad to be here with youOn this heavenly, heavenly, heavenly, heavenlyHeavenly day, all the trouble's gone awayOh, for a while anyway, for a while anywayHeavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day
Posted at 05:57 PM Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
April 21, 2008
You could say I chickened out...
I know, I know, I promised controversy and danger in my post today, but turns out those topics aren't fully seasoned yet, and I don't want to rush them. I did ALOT of reading today, hours and hours worth...so perhaps soon.
In the meantime, I did work and finish the cover to the journal today.
Lots of texture-y goodness and color variation that you SOOOO can't see in this photo, I wish you all could touch it and see it IRL. I wanted the purpose for this book to be right on the cover and I like how my little Making Memories letter stamps made it all possible. I may find myself coloring in the wings a bit someday, but for now its done.
I promise I will coax out a couple of topics tomorrow, it looks like I'll be home alone most of the day.
Posted at 12:43 AM in Journal of What I believe Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
April 19, 2008
Up Next for the Spiritual Journal...
...It's either healing, death or submission...that's bound to get some people talking!
Posted at 08:21 PM in Journal of What I believe Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
One of My Happy Places
Posted at 04:29 PM in Travel Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
April 18, 2008
Happy Birthday JANS!
One of the many wonderful people I have met through www.tallyscrapper.com. Jan is a sweetheart and I have really enjoyed getting to know her more and more over the last year. She's been with Tally since the beginning I think and has a true heart for family history. She is a design team member this quarter, just in time for the luscious vintage kit, which she rocked!
Here's a little mini taste of her great work, and if you LOVE the vintage-y ones rush to Tally and buy that kit before its sold out!
I hope your birthday is extra special Jan!
View slideshow
Posted at 06:55 AM in Scrapbooking Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
April 16, 2008
Is this goodbye?
The other day when I was out walking this group of men ran past me. They were new recruits for the Marines, and I quick snapped their photo as soon as I realized this. Why? Well because my son Jason has just signed up for the Army National Guard and has been doing a little running himself to get into shape for the start of basic training in October.
Yeah, looked like he was going to leave for three months of basic training right before his sisters wedding. We were sad about that, but everyone wanted to be supportive of this decision he has made to work on his future.
Then he called me again today. I had left him a message about babysitting on Sunday, taking his little brother out to a twins game so that Scott and I could head to Orchestra Hall and have a nice afternoon date together. Turns out he can't babysit. Until fall. Because FRIDAY, yes, THIS FRIDAY he is flying to SOMEWHERE IN THE SOUTH to begin his training. He'll graduate sometime in AUGUST. This all came up today, so he has no details. He won't have a cellphone for the first part of the training. He will immediately be learning how to get by without cigarettes. He may or may not have weekly access to email. He doesn't have a mailing address yet. He is busy between now and Friday getting ready to leave, so I won't be seeing him again...until AUGUST.
I'm. not. ready.
Posted at 05:09 PM in Family Permalink Comments (10) TrackBack (0)
Happy Birthday to...me?
Scott's birthday was on Monday. I made his favorite cake (recipe to follow), made chicken curry for dinner, picked him up a couple of books that I knew he didn't have and would enjoy. Andrew got him some Sea Monkeys (who's life is complete without sea monkeys?) I took Andrew out for the afternoon so he'd have some quiet time to write or sleep or whatever.
Then on Tuesday he took Andrew out to the park to play in the creek. I read and took a nap. They came back just after I woke up, and came walking in with this:
I was SOOOO thrilled! Many of you know that I rediscovered biking two summers ago when my friend Mike was in a biking accident that nearly took his life. I have been borrowing Scott's bike because mine was so old and beat up we couldn't really recover it. It was a bit too big for me and the brakes needed some work, but basically it worked fine for the type of biking I do. With Scott trying to get more healthy we had been talking about replacing some parts on my bike to try to get it going again so we could all go biking together.
What a special treat to see them walk in the door with a brand new bike for me. And they got a great price on it because it was on sale and Scott returned something that wasn't really working anyway. We ate a hasty dinner and then we all set out on a nice little 5 mile bike ride. It was very windy, but warm and beautiful, and I loved how easy the ride was thanks to this nice bike. I never had to walk it at all!
Today I set out again on a 4 mile ride, while leaving Scott and Andrew at the archery range. Its another gorgeous day here.
Tomorrow we are off for 24 hours to Duluth for a little mini vacation. We got a great deal on a hotel room at a waterpark and are meeting a couple friends up there. Then Scott has the rest of the weekend off. Woo hoo!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
March Posts 2008
Video
I've been making videos. I LOVE learning something new and over the last few months I've been learning how to use my digital camera to make short how-to videos for www.tallyscrapper.com.
Here is my latest, favorite. Might have something to do with the fact that you really can't see me. Which has something to do with the fact that I had just got done running 3.5 miles and was all sweaty and stinky...a perfect time to get inspired to do a video.
Posted at 10:34 AM in Create Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
March 30, 2008
Happy Anniversary Baby
Saturday was our 12th anniversary.
I love this man more than I ever imagined possible. I'm comfortable with him in ways that surprise me. I feel safer with him then I expected. We really are the picture in the dictionary under the word compatible.
So don't be the least alarmed when I say that I hope this marking of our 12th anniversary ends the hardest year we have had in those twelve years. I have an imagination, so I can certainly think of how things could be worse, for one thing we could be on opposite sides of the battle, instead of fighting it shoulder to shoulder.
But nonetheless, its been a difficult one, and we are both ready to move into a better place. Ready to make number 13 our lucky number.
We had a nice weekend and we are celebrating more formally in a month when some of our problems are further along.
Happy Anniversary Baby, got you on my mind...
Posted at 10:57 PM in Family Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
Babbling
We have a babbling problem in our house. A sweet little eight year old opens his eyes and his mouth first thing in the morning and neither are shut again until after bedtime. I'm a person who appreciates peace and quiet and I married a guy who feels the same. (Married him 12 years ago yesterday by the way, but we are pretending is in a month so that we can celebrate better, rough times right now...)
This morning was in no way different than any other. I awoke at 7:30am to hear him already chattering away in his room (alone) and as soon as I emerged he flew to me like a bottle fly and started buzzing around me. I can't tell you the first part of his monologue, because my brain wasn't awake yet. I can tell you I hadn't been up 5 minutes when he asked, "Can you make me breakfast?" "Yes" was my response. A minute later he asked, "When will you make my breakfast?" and I immediately responded, "I will make you pancakes in a little bit" His little bit being 15 seconds later he queried, "Are you making my breakfast yet? I like cereal!" I countered with "I am making you pancakes, but not yet"
Within half an hour of waking up I was in the kitchen making pancakes and listening to my morning Daily Audio Bible installment (I'm behind so I'm only in mid Feb right now) The reading was in Exodus, the ignoble account of how the people behaved when Moses went up to the mountain to talk to God. Hate that account. Perhaps it rings too true for me.
Anyway, WHILE I was making the pancakes the chatter about the pancakes continued...would I use the strawberry syrup, was that the good pancake recipe that was the best ever, how many can I have...
Think harshly of me if you will, but I sent him to his room. Its so much better than child abuse!
In the relative peace that ensued (I could still hear him talking in his room) something occurred to me.
Matthew 6:7 "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard for their many words"
God is my Father. And when I, His child talk to him I think sometimes, maybe even often, there is alot of chatter. Perhaps because when God says yes to me His timing feels different than what I desire. Perhaps because I can't hear His answer because I'm chattering. Perhaps because I just like to hear the sound of my voice. Or perhaps because like the pagans, and for some reason like my son, I think that I "will be better heard for my many words."
I wonder if God ever wants to send me to my room.
A few weeks ago a friend prayed that I receive healing from my past, which she saw was holding me back. Almost unconsciously I've been since seeking my past, searching for the shreds of the wound that never healed. One of the pasts I found was a friend named Judith. On her blog in August last year she commented on her feelings after the 35W bridge collapse. She talked of the many things in our life that we take for granted, that we have faith will be there to hold up the pieces of our life. I mean who ever prayed "Dear Lord, please keep all bridges I cross today standing" ?
Andrew was always going to get those pancakes. He knows this from over eight years of consistently getting fed (or being sent to make his own breakfast!) that he will get what he needs. And yet he babbles.
I know that God will provide. Mainly because the Holy Spirit infuses me with a faith that I as a mere mortal could not whomp up on my own. Partially because I can bear witness to the many times God has provided for and protected me, all ill deserved. And also because of the promises recorded in the Bible, such as
Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. For what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"
And yet sometimes I still babble.
Posted at 09:28 AM in God Permalink Comments (3) TrackBack (0)
March 27, 2008
National Guard and my family
So when I wrote that odd post last night, which caused my best friend to wonder what was up and the man in question to fear for a stalker, I had something else on my mind. (and I'm off to edit it to make more sense now, so if it makes sense now, that is why!)
So this is what I had on my mind...
Turns out this guy:
yeah, the guy, not the blonde beauty, is joining the National Guard as we speak. He'll stay overnight tonight at their recruitment hotel headquarters and tomorrow will go through a battery of tests to determine if he is fit to join. I asked all the questions you are thinking right now and he had few answers. I'm sure after this weekend he'll be in a better place to answer them. So yeah, my 21 year old son is joining the army. And I just don't know what to think. I want to support him in his decisions. I know he has struggled to find his way as an adult in this world. I know God will take care of him no matter what. But...well...I've had a little too much experience with the ANG to be excited for him. So, I'm a bit muddled. Be patient with me, I'll bounce back soon I'm sure. (and yes, that cute girl is my daughter, she uploaded some new pictures from last fall to my computer recently!)
Posted at 04:16 PM in Family Permalink Comments (5) TrackBack (0)
March 26, 2008
In no time flat, shrinking the distance
This is Paco. Or that is his nickname, I won't post his real name, because I don't know how he'd feel about being featured on the blog of someone he hasn't seen in decades. This is a dude from my back in the day. When I was in my teens, regardless of the one I was with, this was who I was pondering. When I was old enough to be kissed, even by Sound of Music standards, he finally noticed me. My senior prom: he was my date.
Here he is the way he looked the last time I saw him in person:
It was shortly before nour lives that we were so sure would rejoin after college went in separate ways forever. I thought at the time, and I have always believed that he was an important chapter of my life. And yet. And yet I only have two photos of him in my thousands. It got me thinking about how careless I was with my memories when I was a teen. I had so many amazing experiences from the ages of 14-19 and I have only a handful of photos, most of which don't document what I was up to.
I think it was because nobody was supposed to move on, our lives werent' supposed to head in different directions, so why worry that I didn't have many photos? I'd just get them from someone else in the gang if I needed them later, right?
And now they are all gone on to their own lives. I don't keep up with any of them and these few photos are all I have of a time of my life that was filled with change and adventure.
But back to Paco. Last time we talked via email he had no children, and I had two. He had just accepted his first major teaching position and I had just purchased a home with Scott. Now we both apparently have sons, he's finished the job he'd just gotten and moved on to Chicago, back in the center of the country for the first time in decades. We've sold our house and the job I had is long over. I'm not sure if he'll email me back or not, of course I know nothing of what he is like as an adult and whether these random connections out of nowhere from old friends will amuse him or annoy him.
A fun advantage of the internet though, to be able to touch base from time to time with the past, especially for people like me who consider our history important now, even though we weren't good guardians of it back then.
Posted at 06:47 PM in What's inside my head Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
March 21, 2008
Mom, How Does it work?
seriously, never did I think I'd be teaching my son how to use a dial phone. sure sign that the times have changed. He was fascinated.
Posted at 11:23 PM in Andrew Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
March 20, 2008
Talking House
Andrew and I took another trip to the Minnesota History Center today and our first stop was my favorite exhibit. Recreated inside one room of the museum is a house. That house, which still stands in East St. Paul, MN, has been home for dozens of Minnesotans, and has echoed the changing landscape of that neighborhood. What I love about the exhibit is the lack of celebrity in its tenants. These are the truly middle class, all but lost in history and painstakenly recovered by the hardworking team of historians at the museum. The Schumachers who built the house were prominent members of society at the time, but their relatives didn't stay around in Minnesota after their parents deaths. After they moved to a new house across the street, they turned the house into a duplex, and later a triplex, thus making it a rental home for decades.
I love that so many "average" americans are memorialized in this exhibit. Just people that worked, had small tragedies, gave birth, moved on. I could spend hours in this exhibit learning about their simple lives, looking through their photos, reading about their passage through the house.
Its everything I love about scrapbooking built into a massive "altered item" that would suck up all the tallypoints if you could post it!
This quote, from Ali Edwards blog, sums up my feelings:
Leo Buscaglia : The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt.
I think the museum affected Andrew in a special way. After we came home I left immediately to clean a house. When I came home it was to two poems he had written. Poems! Be still my heart!
Posted at 09:10 PM in Adventures In Town Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
March 18, 2008
Jan, Feb, March Recap
I just don't have any inspiration on what to write!
So, here's an old standby:
Time Capsule
1) A gift you gave: March: cute little onesies for Em's twins to be
2) Something you apologized for: February: hormonal3) The last person you thanked: March: A tallyscrapper for saying something nice to me4) The last movie you watched: Feb: Friends with Money, which was surprisingly meaningfilled
5) The best food you ate this month: March: Mushroom stuffed ravioli at Macaroni Grill (thanks Martha!)6) The last place you ate out: March: Noodles7) Something that made you cry: March: Josie hitting the nail on the head AGAIN!8) Something that made you laugh: March: sitting around the dining table being silly with Andrew and Scott9) The last person you talked to on the phone: Lance10) Someone you're thinking about today: Erin11) What have you created this month that you are proud of: March: a video for tally12) What is your mood today: Lazy13) What is today's weather: Heavy snow tapering my midmorning high of 4014) Something you are thinking about: healing from my past.
Posted at 08:51 AM Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
March 13, 2008
Online Rally at Tally!
This weekend is a big bash for www.tallyscrapper.com! Its their one year anniversary this weekend and lots of fun is planned. I am gonna be hanging out there on and off all weekend and digging into all the great challenges!
Hopefully by the time the weekend is over we'll have some new members and a big party hangover!
Come and see what's going on!
Posted at 09:55 PM in Scrapbooking Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
March 07, 2008
It's back.
A little dented a little scraped, but all still works and the number is reactivated. So if you want to ringy ding me, I'm ready...
I've been making videos. I LOVE learning something new and over the last few months I've been learning how to use my digital camera to make short how-to videos for www.tallyscrapper.com.
Here is my latest, favorite. Might have something to do with the fact that you really can't see me. Which has something to do with the fact that I had just got done running 3.5 miles and was all sweaty and stinky...a perfect time to get inspired to do a video.
Posted at 10:34 AM in Create Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
March 30, 2008
Happy Anniversary Baby
Saturday was our 12th anniversary.
I love this man more than I ever imagined possible. I'm comfortable with him in ways that surprise me. I feel safer with him then I expected. We really are the picture in the dictionary under the word compatible.
So don't be the least alarmed when I say that I hope this marking of our 12th anniversary ends the hardest year we have had in those twelve years. I have an imagination, so I can certainly think of how things could be worse, for one thing we could be on opposite sides of the battle, instead of fighting it shoulder to shoulder.
But nonetheless, its been a difficult one, and we are both ready to move into a better place. Ready to make number 13 our lucky number.
We had a nice weekend and we are celebrating more formally in a month when some of our problems are further along.
Happy Anniversary Baby, got you on my mind...
Posted at 10:57 PM in Family Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
Babbling
We have a babbling problem in our house. A sweet little eight year old opens his eyes and his mouth first thing in the morning and neither are shut again until after bedtime. I'm a person who appreciates peace and quiet and I married a guy who feels the same. (Married him 12 years ago yesterday by the way, but we are pretending is in a month so that we can celebrate better, rough times right now...)
This morning was in no way different than any other. I awoke at 7:30am to hear him already chattering away in his room (alone) and as soon as I emerged he flew to me like a bottle fly and started buzzing around me. I can't tell you the first part of his monologue, because my brain wasn't awake yet. I can tell you I hadn't been up 5 minutes when he asked, "Can you make me breakfast?" "Yes" was my response. A minute later he asked, "When will you make my breakfast?" and I immediately responded, "I will make you pancakes in a little bit" His little bit being 15 seconds later he queried, "Are you making my breakfast yet? I like cereal!" I countered with "I am making you pancakes, but not yet"
Within half an hour of waking up I was in the kitchen making pancakes and listening to my morning Daily Audio Bible installment (I'm behind so I'm only in mid Feb right now) The reading was in Exodus, the ignoble account of how the people behaved when Moses went up to the mountain to talk to God. Hate that account. Perhaps it rings too true for me.
Anyway, WHILE I was making the pancakes the chatter about the pancakes continued...would I use the strawberry syrup, was that the good pancake recipe that was the best ever, how many can I have...
Think harshly of me if you will, but I sent him to his room. Its so much better than child abuse!
In the relative peace that ensued (I could still hear him talking in his room) something occurred to me.
Matthew 6:7 "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard for their many words"
God is my Father. And when I, His child talk to him I think sometimes, maybe even often, there is alot of chatter. Perhaps because when God says yes to me His timing feels different than what I desire. Perhaps because I can't hear His answer because I'm chattering. Perhaps because I just like to hear the sound of my voice. Or perhaps because like the pagans, and for some reason like my son, I think that I "will be better heard for my many words."
I wonder if God ever wants to send me to my room.
A few weeks ago a friend prayed that I receive healing from my past, which she saw was holding me back. Almost unconsciously I've been since seeking my past, searching for the shreds of the wound that never healed. One of the pasts I found was a friend named Judith. On her blog in August last year she commented on her feelings after the 35W bridge collapse. She talked of the many things in our life that we take for granted, that we have faith will be there to hold up the pieces of our life. I mean who ever prayed "Dear Lord, please keep all bridges I cross today standing" ?
Andrew was always going to get those pancakes. He knows this from over eight years of consistently getting fed (or being sent to make his own breakfast!) that he will get what he needs. And yet he babbles.
I know that God will provide. Mainly because the Holy Spirit infuses me with a faith that I as a mere mortal could not whomp up on my own. Partially because I can bear witness to the many times God has provided for and protected me, all ill deserved. And also because of the promises recorded in the Bible, such as
Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. For what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"
And yet sometimes I still babble.
Posted at 09:28 AM in God Permalink Comments (3) TrackBack (0)
March 27, 2008
National Guard and my family
So when I wrote that odd post last night, which caused my best friend to wonder what was up and the man in question to fear for a stalker, I had something else on my mind. (and I'm off to edit it to make more sense now, so if it makes sense now, that is why!)
So this is what I had on my mind...
Turns out this guy:
yeah, the guy, not the blonde beauty, is joining the National Guard as we speak. He'll stay overnight tonight at their recruitment hotel headquarters and tomorrow will go through a battery of tests to determine if he is fit to join. I asked all the questions you are thinking right now and he had few answers. I'm sure after this weekend he'll be in a better place to answer them. So yeah, my 21 year old son is joining the army. And I just don't know what to think. I want to support him in his decisions. I know he has struggled to find his way as an adult in this world. I know God will take care of him no matter what. But...well...I've had a little too much experience with the ANG to be excited for him. So, I'm a bit muddled. Be patient with me, I'll bounce back soon I'm sure. (and yes, that cute girl is my daughter, she uploaded some new pictures from last fall to my computer recently!)
Posted at 04:16 PM in Family Permalink Comments (5) TrackBack (0)
March 26, 2008
In no time flat, shrinking the distance
This is Paco. Or that is his nickname, I won't post his real name, because I don't know how he'd feel about being featured on the blog of someone he hasn't seen in decades. This is a dude from my back in the day. When I was in my teens, regardless of the one I was with, this was who I was pondering. When I was old enough to be kissed, even by Sound of Music standards, he finally noticed me. My senior prom: he was my date.
Here he is the way he looked the last time I saw him in person:
It was shortly before nour lives that we were so sure would rejoin after college went in separate ways forever. I thought at the time, and I have always believed that he was an important chapter of my life. And yet. And yet I only have two photos of him in my thousands. It got me thinking about how careless I was with my memories when I was a teen. I had so many amazing experiences from the ages of 14-19 and I have only a handful of photos, most of which don't document what I was up to.
I think it was because nobody was supposed to move on, our lives werent' supposed to head in different directions, so why worry that I didn't have many photos? I'd just get them from someone else in the gang if I needed them later, right?
And now they are all gone on to their own lives. I don't keep up with any of them and these few photos are all I have of a time of my life that was filled with change and adventure.
But back to Paco. Last time we talked via email he had no children, and I had two. He had just accepted his first major teaching position and I had just purchased a home with Scott. Now we both apparently have sons, he's finished the job he'd just gotten and moved on to Chicago, back in the center of the country for the first time in decades. We've sold our house and the job I had is long over. I'm not sure if he'll email me back or not, of course I know nothing of what he is like as an adult and whether these random connections out of nowhere from old friends will amuse him or annoy him.
A fun advantage of the internet though, to be able to touch base from time to time with the past, especially for people like me who consider our history important now, even though we weren't good guardians of it back then.
Posted at 06:47 PM in What's inside my head Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
March 21, 2008
Mom, How Does it work?
seriously, never did I think I'd be teaching my son how to use a dial phone. sure sign that the times have changed. He was fascinated.
Posted at 11:23 PM in Andrew Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
March 20, 2008
Talking House
Andrew and I took another trip to the Minnesota History Center today and our first stop was my favorite exhibit. Recreated inside one room of the museum is a house. That house, which still stands in East St. Paul, MN, has been home for dozens of Minnesotans, and has echoed the changing landscape of that neighborhood. What I love about the exhibit is the lack of celebrity in its tenants. These are the truly middle class, all but lost in history and painstakenly recovered by the hardworking team of historians at the museum. The Schumachers who built the house were prominent members of society at the time, but their relatives didn't stay around in Minnesota after their parents deaths. After they moved to a new house across the street, they turned the house into a duplex, and later a triplex, thus making it a rental home for decades.
I love that so many "average" americans are memorialized in this exhibit. Just people that worked, had small tragedies, gave birth, moved on. I could spend hours in this exhibit learning about their simple lives, looking through their photos, reading about their passage through the house.
Its everything I love about scrapbooking built into a massive "altered item" that would suck up all the tallypoints if you could post it!
This quote, from Ali Edwards blog, sums up my feelings:
Leo Buscaglia : The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt.
I think the museum affected Andrew in a special way. After we came home I left immediately to clean a house. When I came home it was to two poems he had written. Poems! Be still my heart!
Posted at 09:10 PM in Adventures In Town Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
March 18, 2008
Jan, Feb, March Recap
I just don't have any inspiration on what to write!
So, here's an old standby:
Time Capsule
1) A gift you gave: March: cute little onesies for Em's twins to be
2) Something you apologized for: February: hormonal3) The last person you thanked: March: A tallyscrapper for saying something nice to me4) The last movie you watched: Feb: Friends with Money, which was surprisingly meaningfilled
5) The best food you ate this month: March: Mushroom stuffed ravioli at Macaroni Grill (thanks Martha!)6) The last place you ate out: March: Noodles7) Something that made you cry: March: Josie hitting the nail on the head AGAIN!8) Something that made you laugh: March: sitting around the dining table being silly with Andrew and Scott9) The last person you talked to on the phone: Lance10) Someone you're thinking about today: Erin11) What have you created this month that you are proud of: March: a video for tally12) What is your mood today: Lazy13) What is today's weather: Heavy snow tapering my midmorning high of 4014) Something you are thinking about: healing from my past.
Posted at 08:51 AM Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
March 13, 2008
Online Rally at Tally!
This weekend is a big bash for www.tallyscrapper.com! Its their one year anniversary this weekend and lots of fun is planned. I am gonna be hanging out there on and off all weekend and digging into all the great challenges!
Hopefully by the time the weekend is over we'll have some new members and a big party hangover!
Come and see what's going on!
Posted at 09:55 PM in Scrapbooking Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
March 07, 2008
It's back.
A little dented a little scraped, but all still works and the number is reactivated. So if you want to ringy ding me, I'm ready...
Friday, February 29, 2008
February Posts 2008
14 posts from February 2008
February 26, 2008
A Crabby Hippee, but a Hippee nonetheless...
You are a Hippie
You are a total hippie. While you may not wear birks or smell of incense, you have the soul of a hippie.You don't trust authority, and you do as you please. You're willing to take a stand, even when what you believe isn't popular.You like to experiment with ideas, lifestyles, and different subcultures.You always gravitate toward what's radical and subversive. Normal, mainstream culture doesn't really resonate with you.
Are You a Hippie?
Posted at 11:58 PM Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
February 24, 2008
Books, Books, Books
As much as I have been reaching to find cheap or free fun things to do that celebrate winter, eventually I have to come home! My first love has always been books, and in the winter months I find myself curled up in the easy chair or bed with a good book more often than any other time of the year.
In the last few weeks I have read three very satisfying books that I wanted to mention. I found them all entirely readable and although all three of them had elements I didn't like, the majority of each book was a delight.
The first was a nice thick tome entitled
This was a complex read, taking characters from actual history, characters from Shakespeares plays and mixing in some new plausible characters of his own, and coming up with a lush war history of early Verona, Italy and its surrounding cities. There was too much battle and blood for my preference, but wading through that I enjoyed a nice long jaunt through an interesting and compelling storyline with complex characters doing unexpected things. I got lost in this many times, forgetting all my worries and that friends, is what makes a great book. I found it interesting that the author is first and foremost a stage actor, a fact I didn't learn until AFTER I read the book.
Next I dove into another huge book that I got because the title was intriguing and the cover was pretty.
I found it interesting that I coincidentally picked up these two books the same day at the library, and they both have links to the world of theatre. The author, George Dahlquist is first and foremost a playwrite! Anyway, I can in no way recommend this book without a huge caveat: although it is entirely compelling as a story and is certainly unusual at least from the books I have read over the years, it is somewhat R rated and not entirely plausible. So if you read it, don't blame me if you find it repellent. For my part I couldn't put the sucker down. I was alternately grossed out and fascinated by it, finding it hard to pinpoint the time and location of the story I got completely caught up in the strange world that it presented. The characters were numerous and I feel the author did a good job of making them interesting and deep enough to enjoy. I would read another book by this author I think.
Finally I just recently finished the book England, England by Julian Barnes. I feel hard for Julian Barnes when I read Arthur and George. This is a great fictionalized story about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes fame, and a little known Englishman named George Edalji, an englishman whose father was native to east India. The story of these two men is woven together in a near genius fasion and I have to say it is one of the best books I've read in a year. What I love about Julian Barnes writing is that he has that double secret that I so seek in any book I read: the ability to dance with language in such a way that I nearly want to read with a notebook at hand to write down all the lovely turns of phrase found within; and a story so compelling that the pen and paper sit dormant and forgotten.
So with that lovely book in mind, I reserved this book:
Which turns out to be a fanciful tale of a powerful man who decided to recreate a recreational version of the country of England more convenient than the real thing. This book fell short of my high expectations, although it is still a wonderful read. The language command was still there, in fact the first two chapers of the book are so quotable and illicit such deep thoughts that I nearly didn't notice that the story itself was a little lacking. Alas, I did in fact notice it in the end though. Still his luscious way with words, puts a smile on your face...you know?
Now I am deep into reading about Walt Whitman, having finished one slim biography and plowed through a more thorough one to about the half way point. I also have three volumes of poetry awaiting me, which I grab a "bite" of now and then through out the day when I need a pick me up!
What are you reading these days?
Posted at 06:47 AM in Books Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
February 22, 2008
Beyond Machu Picchu
Andrew is scheduled to do a presentation on an explorer on the Friday I am out of town. Because I will be away, we decided this was a great opportunity for Scott and Andrew to work together on the project, something they get to do infrequently.
Tonight all three of us were working to formulate a plan for his presentation. First step of course was to pick an explorer. Andrew wanted to study a Rainforest Explorer, and we started to look into what that would mean. Then he specifically said he wished to study someone who is exploring in the mountains and forests of Peru. Okay. Huh.
After some stumbling around the internet we came across a man named Paulino Mamani. Mr. Mamani is a native of the Province of Calca and is one of only three international explorer fellows from Peru of the prestigious Explorers Club based in New York City. Mr. Mamani has been helping lead expeditions into the regions extending beyond Machu Picchu in the Andes for over 20 years. There is precious little information about this frontiersman/cartographer/explorer. Andrew wrote an email with my help to the Chair of the New England Chapter of the Explorers Club asking him for leads on information about Mr. Mamani. Gregory Deyermenjian has himself been on over 2 dozen expeditions to Peru, and has been interested in exploring since he was a boy. A great quote from an interview of Mr. Deyermenjian is:
So what happens as you become more immersed in other cultures like this? How does that change how you see the world?
DEYERMENJIAN: There are two ways in which getting immersed down there can grab you. One is the interpersonal, in that while there are such advantages to being here in the United States—and I'm very much the patriot—nonetheless, when you start spending time in a place where the culture is still as it was many years ago, you come to so appreciate everything being on a man-to-man, person-to-person, eye-to-eye, handshake, your-word-is-your-bond kind of level, and where the joy is not in what's the current movie, but in interacting with those around you. Just as it is on an expedition where your entertainment is the entertainment that the person sitting right across from you is providing. So, on that level, it's just becoming addictive. And in a country such as Peru—although I've made expeditions in Brazil and in Ecuador—you're treated like a king, being from the United States. And you're only limited by your own energy.
You just need to have the will power and the tenacity to stick with it and not lose your cool when things appear to be all going wrong and the officials are all denying you entry. Just stay cool, never be insulting, never be pompous or high and mighty, just stick with it, and eventually, at the last minute, it all just falls into place.
There are undocumented ruins, unknown ruins, ancient Inca ruins. And so you can do something that no one else has ever done, but it's up to you. And so you're not bound by a lot of strictures that there are here.
Sounds to me like great advice for life in general. I so dig homeschooling!
Posted at 08:04 PM in Homeschooling Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
Spring?
Andrew and I have recently begun taking our local nature center more seriously and last night I went snowshoeing in the moonlight with Lisa and a dozen other hearty souls. It was lovely.
I am constantly impressed with the staff at Wood Lake. They love their jobs, and love Wood Lake and their passion is contagious.
Lisa was talking about Robin Migration with her mom yesterday and forwarded this link today.
I spent 10 tearfilled minutes listening to various Robin calls. I'm ready for the big melt down.
And todays poem:
by adrien stoutenburg
Gregorian Adjustment, 1582
George Washington's birthday February 11, Old Style;
February 22, New Style.
The equinox was out of joint.
In twelve hundred years plus fifty-seven
trusted calendar went awry,
delveoping an error of ten days,
so nothing matched.
Leaves bloomed too late;
birds nested in blank boughs;
even roosters were crowing out of tune.
Pope Gregory on his stiff thrown,
bent brow to fist,
attempting to reel time back
to something rational and true.
From prayer and thought he ruled
then strumpet days must be tossed out
upon the dump heap of eternity,
the daily reckoning rectified.
Time is a racer and a sloth.
The Pope's chill bones
were tapestry
by the time his rectification came
to the American Colonies
and caught Ben Franklin
out of time...
then days plus one
(a leap year's maverick sprint)
to be deducted from the total sum
of trips abroad, tomes, kites, and love.
Franklin was one who treasured sleep,
regretted those sweet hours lost;
yet philosophy with him ran deep,
and time was but a sieve, he knew,
through which one must expect a leak.
Our founding fathers took in stride
corrections of inevitable flaws.
Some losses had to be.
Birthdays were hustled into line,
adjustments made for wages lost,
new dates assigned to deaths or anniversaries.
But still the gap yawns there:
eleven days of expurgated history.
I am leaving on vacation in less than one week, and time is definitely "a racer and a sloth" in that regard. So not ready. So ready.
Off to skate. WE WILL FIND WAYS TO ENJOY WINTER!!!
Posted at 09:23 AM in What's inside my head Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
February 21, 2008
A Year in...
Music, Art and Poetry/Prose...my mother taught me an appreciation of all three, and I will be forever grateful. When life gets me down, Music, Art and Poetry elevate me again.
I found out today that someone I was very much looking forward to meeting I was not going to be meeting...at least not yet. Sigh.
So it seemed a good time to run off and spend that gift certificate at Barnes and Noble my thoughtful husband got me for my birthday.
This is what I got:
Its a lovely mini coffee table book with 730 pages of art and a quote, one for every day of the year. LOVE it!
Todays art piece?
The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello. This is a pretty bad representation of the painting, its much lusher and interesting.
Uccello is not an artist with whom I am familiar, so it was fun to learn more about him. The quote for today?
"Peace hath higher tests of manhood than battle ever knew." John Greenleaf Whittier.
I also picked up a book entitled A Year in Poetry at the library. Today's poem is a good one:
February the 20th Street
Hugo Williams
A coincidence must be
Part of a whole chain
Whose links are unknown to me.
I feel them round me
Everywhere I go: in queues,
In trains, under bridges,
People, or coincidences, flukes
Of logic which fail
Because of me, because
We move singly through streets,
The last of some sad species,
Pacing the floors of zoos,
Our luck homing forever
Backward through grasses
To the brink of another time.
Posted at 05:53 PM in Create Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
February 20, 2008
I could have taken this photo
but I don't have a tripod anymore....so I took this instead...
Oh well, my eyes remember something closer to photo a or b! We met some neighbors outside who did have a tripod and were out there longer than us, we mainly watched from the window until the tree blocked our view.
A lunar eclipse happens when the sun is on the exact opposite side of the earth as the moon. The sun is "peeking" around the earth a bit to reflect off the moon, creating the red color. Regulus and Saturn were large bright "stars" visible on either side of the moon because of its diminished brightness.
DANG it was cold out there!
Posted at 09:59 PM in Current Affairs Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
February 15, 2008
I hope winter lasts forever!
I was scared. I figured it was too cold, I mean it was 3 below when we left the house this morning. I didn't have the right kind of gloves. How would I help Andrew if he needed it, since I'd be such a beginner?
Then we went to the class and the instructor started talking about different stances and how to get back up and hills with turns and I was SOOO scared! I really didn't want to go, but if I didn't go, Andrew couldn't go. So we slapped on the skis and out we went...and it was love at first glide!
I fell a few times but it was a wonderful experience over all. We took the trail twice, and Andrew wanted to do a third time but we agreed to come back tomorrow morning instead. We are members of Wood Lake Nature Reserve so the ski rentals are free. I forsee us getting in great shape as we squeeze every bit of trail goodness out of the rest of this season and then eagerly await next season. Andrew says he's gonna save all his allowance until he can buy his own skis and shoes so we can go even when the building isn't open. Sigh. We love!!!
Posted at 05:38 PM in Healthy Living Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
February 14, 2008
Kina Grannis
I'm scouring my music collection for a soundtrack list for a new scrapbook I'm working on, and came across this gem. Kina is the girl who won the chance to have her song played during a commercial break during the Superbowl. Her voice is pure delight and the song she sang for the contest is pretty rad. But this is my favorite after a few spins:
People
Swarms of people they move in every directionSome eyes they wander while others are just glued to their feetAnd how I wonder what goes on behind those eyes,There are lives, growing older and they're growing wiseSo amazed by all the many different faces,Searching for traces of emotion wondering places they have beenAnd on occasion, someone will take a look at me,But do they see a unique person, or am I part of a vast sea[Chorus:]Sing me your song, solve my mysteryI wont do you no harm, just wanted to seeSing me your song, solve my mysteryI wont do you no harm, just wanted to seeThat you're a person just like meThey are they background of your everyday situationLook all around you start to wonder really who these people areThey might be watching, wondering quite the same of youSo break this auto pilot path and try to start something new
And really, this is the perfect lyrics for what scrapbooking means to me. Sing me your song, solve my mystery!
Posted at 11:36 PM in Music Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
Elevate
DOLDRUMS! week after week of ice and cold and snow and subzero cold and did I mention cold?
I need to rise above this frigid landscape. I need to expand. To infuse.
A favorite quote:
"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.” ~Benjamin Disraeli
Studying the weather report is NOT nurturing my mind with great thoughts. Its time to work on my political layouts again. Its time to check out more poetry at the library. Its time to get outside the box.
Who's with me? Do something mind expanding today!
Posted at 04:21 AM in What's inside my head Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
February 11, 2008
Sometimes surfing the web is funny!
Posted at 11:08 PM in Weblogs Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
»
"If you are bored with your own photography you are really bored with what you are photographing, so pick a new subject about which you are knowledgeable and enthusiastic."
Bill Jay
(1940- )
February 26, 2008
A Crabby Hippee, but a Hippee nonetheless...
You are a Hippie
You are a total hippie. While you may not wear birks or smell of incense, you have the soul of a hippie.You don't trust authority, and you do as you please. You're willing to take a stand, even when what you believe isn't popular.You like to experiment with ideas, lifestyles, and different subcultures.You always gravitate toward what's radical and subversive. Normal, mainstream culture doesn't really resonate with you.
Are You a Hippie?
Posted at 11:58 PM Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
February 24, 2008
Books, Books, Books
As much as I have been reaching to find cheap or free fun things to do that celebrate winter, eventually I have to come home! My first love has always been books, and in the winter months I find myself curled up in the easy chair or bed with a good book more often than any other time of the year.
In the last few weeks I have read three very satisfying books that I wanted to mention. I found them all entirely readable and although all three of them had elements I didn't like, the majority of each book was a delight.
The first was a nice thick tome entitled
This was a complex read, taking characters from actual history, characters from Shakespeares plays and mixing in some new plausible characters of his own, and coming up with a lush war history of early Verona, Italy and its surrounding cities. There was too much battle and blood for my preference, but wading through that I enjoyed a nice long jaunt through an interesting and compelling storyline with complex characters doing unexpected things. I got lost in this many times, forgetting all my worries and that friends, is what makes a great book. I found it interesting that the author is first and foremost a stage actor, a fact I didn't learn until AFTER I read the book.
Next I dove into another huge book that I got because the title was intriguing and the cover was pretty.
I found it interesting that I coincidentally picked up these two books the same day at the library, and they both have links to the world of theatre. The author, George Dahlquist is first and foremost a playwrite! Anyway, I can in no way recommend this book without a huge caveat: although it is entirely compelling as a story and is certainly unusual at least from the books I have read over the years, it is somewhat R rated and not entirely plausible. So if you read it, don't blame me if you find it repellent. For my part I couldn't put the sucker down. I was alternately grossed out and fascinated by it, finding it hard to pinpoint the time and location of the story I got completely caught up in the strange world that it presented. The characters were numerous and I feel the author did a good job of making them interesting and deep enough to enjoy. I would read another book by this author I think.
Finally I just recently finished the book England, England by Julian Barnes. I feel hard for Julian Barnes when I read Arthur and George. This is a great fictionalized story about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes fame, and a little known Englishman named George Edalji, an englishman whose father was native to east India. The story of these two men is woven together in a near genius fasion and I have to say it is one of the best books I've read in a year. What I love about Julian Barnes writing is that he has that double secret that I so seek in any book I read: the ability to dance with language in such a way that I nearly want to read with a notebook at hand to write down all the lovely turns of phrase found within; and a story so compelling that the pen and paper sit dormant and forgotten.
So with that lovely book in mind, I reserved this book:
Which turns out to be a fanciful tale of a powerful man who decided to recreate a recreational version of the country of England more convenient than the real thing. This book fell short of my high expectations, although it is still a wonderful read. The language command was still there, in fact the first two chapers of the book are so quotable and illicit such deep thoughts that I nearly didn't notice that the story itself was a little lacking. Alas, I did in fact notice it in the end though. Still his luscious way with words, puts a smile on your face...you know?
Now I am deep into reading about Walt Whitman, having finished one slim biography and plowed through a more thorough one to about the half way point. I also have three volumes of poetry awaiting me, which I grab a "bite" of now and then through out the day when I need a pick me up!
What are you reading these days?
Posted at 06:47 AM in Books Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
February 22, 2008
Beyond Machu Picchu
Andrew is scheduled to do a presentation on an explorer on the Friday I am out of town. Because I will be away, we decided this was a great opportunity for Scott and Andrew to work together on the project, something they get to do infrequently.
Tonight all three of us were working to formulate a plan for his presentation. First step of course was to pick an explorer. Andrew wanted to study a Rainforest Explorer, and we started to look into what that would mean. Then he specifically said he wished to study someone who is exploring in the mountains and forests of Peru. Okay. Huh.
After some stumbling around the internet we came across a man named Paulino Mamani. Mr. Mamani is a native of the Province of Calca and is one of only three international explorer fellows from Peru of the prestigious Explorers Club based in New York City. Mr. Mamani has been helping lead expeditions into the regions extending beyond Machu Picchu in the Andes for over 20 years. There is precious little information about this frontiersman/cartographer/explorer. Andrew wrote an email with my help to the Chair of the New England Chapter of the Explorers Club asking him for leads on information about Mr. Mamani. Gregory Deyermenjian has himself been on over 2 dozen expeditions to Peru, and has been interested in exploring since he was a boy. A great quote from an interview of Mr. Deyermenjian is:
So what happens as you become more immersed in other cultures like this? How does that change how you see the world?
DEYERMENJIAN: There are two ways in which getting immersed down there can grab you. One is the interpersonal, in that while there are such advantages to being here in the United States—and I'm very much the patriot—nonetheless, when you start spending time in a place where the culture is still as it was many years ago, you come to so appreciate everything being on a man-to-man, person-to-person, eye-to-eye, handshake, your-word-is-your-bond kind of level, and where the joy is not in what's the current movie, but in interacting with those around you. Just as it is on an expedition where your entertainment is the entertainment that the person sitting right across from you is providing. So, on that level, it's just becoming addictive. And in a country such as Peru—although I've made expeditions in Brazil and in Ecuador—you're treated like a king, being from the United States. And you're only limited by your own energy.
You just need to have the will power and the tenacity to stick with it and not lose your cool when things appear to be all going wrong and the officials are all denying you entry. Just stay cool, never be insulting, never be pompous or high and mighty, just stick with it, and eventually, at the last minute, it all just falls into place.
There are undocumented ruins, unknown ruins, ancient Inca ruins. And so you can do something that no one else has ever done, but it's up to you. And so you're not bound by a lot of strictures that there are here.
Sounds to me like great advice for life in general. I so dig homeschooling!
Posted at 08:04 PM in Homeschooling Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
Spring?
Andrew and I have recently begun taking our local nature center more seriously and last night I went snowshoeing in the moonlight with Lisa and a dozen other hearty souls. It was lovely.
I am constantly impressed with the staff at Wood Lake. They love their jobs, and love Wood Lake and their passion is contagious.
Lisa was talking about Robin Migration with her mom yesterday and forwarded this link today.
I spent 10 tearfilled minutes listening to various Robin calls. I'm ready for the big melt down.
And todays poem:
by adrien stoutenburg
Gregorian Adjustment, 1582
George Washington's birthday February 11, Old Style;
February 22, New Style.
The equinox was out of joint.
In twelve hundred years plus fifty-seven
trusted calendar went awry,
delveoping an error of ten days,
so nothing matched.
Leaves bloomed too late;
birds nested in blank boughs;
even roosters were crowing out of tune.
Pope Gregory on his stiff thrown,
bent brow to fist,
attempting to reel time back
to something rational and true.
From prayer and thought he ruled
then strumpet days must be tossed out
upon the dump heap of eternity,
the daily reckoning rectified.
Time is a racer and a sloth.
The Pope's chill bones
were tapestry
by the time his rectification came
to the American Colonies
and caught Ben Franklin
out of time...
then days plus one
(a leap year's maverick sprint)
to be deducted from the total sum
of trips abroad, tomes, kites, and love.
Franklin was one who treasured sleep,
regretted those sweet hours lost;
yet philosophy with him ran deep,
and time was but a sieve, he knew,
through which one must expect a leak.
Our founding fathers took in stride
corrections of inevitable flaws.
Some losses had to be.
Birthdays were hustled into line,
adjustments made for wages lost,
new dates assigned to deaths or anniversaries.
But still the gap yawns there:
eleven days of expurgated history.
I am leaving on vacation in less than one week, and time is definitely "a racer and a sloth" in that regard. So not ready. So ready.
Off to skate. WE WILL FIND WAYS TO ENJOY WINTER!!!
Posted at 09:23 AM in What's inside my head Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
February 21, 2008
A Year in...
Music, Art and Poetry/Prose...my mother taught me an appreciation of all three, and I will be forever grateful. When life gets me down, Music, Art and Poetry elevate me again.
I found out today that someone I was very much looking forward to meeting I was not going to be meeting...at least not yet. Sigh.
So it seemed a good time to run off and spend that gift certificate at Barnes and Noble my thoughtful husband got me for my birthday.
This is what I got:
Its a lovely mini coffee table book with 730 pages of art and a quote, one for every day of the year. LOVE it!
Todays art piece?
The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello. This is a pretty bad representation of the painting, its much lusher and interesting.
Uccello is not an artist with whom I am familiar, so it was fun to learn more about him. The quote for today?
"Peace hath higher tests of manhood than battle ever knew." John Greenleaf Whittier.
I also picked up a book entitled A Year in Poetry at the library. Today's poem is a good one:
February the 20th Street
Hugo Williams
A coincidence must be
Part of a whole chain
Whose links are unknown to me.
I feel them round me
Everywhere I go: in queues,
In trains, under bridges,
People, or coincidences, flukes
Of logic which fail
Because of me, because
We move singly through streets,
The last of some sad species,
Pacing the floors of zoos,
Our luck homing forever
Backward through grasses
To the brink of another time.
Posted at 05:53 PM in Create Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
February 20, 2008
I could have taken this photo
but I don't have a tripod anymore....so I took this instead...
Oh well, my eyes remember something closer to photo a or b! We met some neighbors outside who did have a tripod and were out there longer than us, we mainly watched from the window until the tree blocked our view.
A lunar eclipse happens when the sun is on the exact opposite side of the earth as the moon. The sun is "peeking" around the earth a bit to reflect off the moon, creating the red color. Regulus and Saturn were large bright "stars" visible on either side of the moon because of its diminished brightness.
DANG it was cold out there!
Posted at 09:59 PM in Current Affairs Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
February 15, 2008
I hope winter lasts forever!
I was scared. I figured it was too cold, I mean it was 3 below when we left the house this morning. I didn't have the right kind of gloves. How would I help Andrew if he needed it, since I'd be such a beginner?
Then we went to the class and the instructor started talking about different stances and how to get back up and hills with turns and I was SOOO scared! I really didn't want to go, but if I didn't go, Andrew couldn't go. So we slapped on the skis and out we went...and it was love at first glide!
I fell a few times but it was a wonderful experience over all. We took the trail twice, and Andrew wanted to do a third time but we agreed to come back tomorrow morning instead. We are members of Wood Lake Nature Reserve so the ski rentals are free. I forsee us getting in great shape as we squeeze every bit of trail goodness out of the rest of this season and then eagerly await next season. Andrew says he's gonna save all his allowance until he can buy his own skis and shoes so we can go even when the building isn't open. Sigh. We love!!!
Posted at 05:38 PM in Healthy Living Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
February 14, 2008
Kina Grannis
I'm scouring my music collection for a soundtrack list for a new scrapbook I'm working on, and came across this gem. Kina is the girl who won the chance to have her song played during a commercial break during the Superbowl. Her voice is pure delight and the song she sang for the contest is pretty rad. But this is my favorite after a few spins:
People
Swarms of people they move in every directionSome eyes they wander while others are just glued to their feetAnd how I wonder what goes on behind those eyes,There are lives, growing older and they're growing wiseSo amazed by all the many different faces,Searching for traces of emotion wondering places they have beenAnd on occasion, someone will take a look at me,But do they see a unique person, or am I part of a vast sea[Chorus:]Sing me your song, solve my mysteryI wont do you no harm, just wanted to seeSing me your song, solve my mysteryI wont do you no harm, just wanted to seeThat you're a person just like meThey are they background of your everyday situationLook all around you start to wonder really who these people areThey might be watching, wondering quite the same of youSo break this auto pilot path and try to start something new
And really, this is the perfect lyrics for what scrapbooking means to me. Sing me your song, solve my mystery!
Posted at 11:36 PM in Music Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
Elevate
DOLDRUMS! week after week of ice and cold and snow and subzero cold and did I mention cold?
I need to rise above this frigid landscape. I need to expand. To infuse.
A favorite quote:
"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.” ~Benjamin Disraeli
Studying the weather report is NOT nurturing my mind with great thoughts. Its time to work on my political layouts again. Its time to check out more poetry at the library. Its time to get outside the box.
Who's with me? Do something mind expanding today!
Posted at 04:21 AM in What's inside my head Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
February 11, 2008
Sometimes surfing the web is funny!
Posted at 11:08 PM in Weblogs Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
»
"If you are bored with your own photography you are really bored with what you are photographing, so pick a new subject about which you are knowledgeable and enthusiastic."
Bill Jay
(1940- )
Thursday, January 31, 2008
January posts 2008
mindaTHINK
« December 2007 Main February 2008 »
15 posts from January 2008
January 31, 2008
Poetry: It can still make me cry
WHAT TEACHERS MAKE orOBJECTION OVERRULED orIF THINGS DON’T WORK OUT, YOU CAN ALWAYS GO TO LAW SCHOOL by Taylor Mali
He says the problem with teachers is "What's a kid going to learnfrom someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers:“Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.”
I decide to bite my tongue instead of hisand resist the temptation to remind the dinner gueststhat it's also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.
"I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor" "Be honest. What do you make?"
And I wish he hadn't done that(asked me to be honest)because, you see, I have a policyabout honesty and ass-kicking:if you ask for it, then I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honorand an A- feel like a slap in the face.“How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.”
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hallin absolute silence. “No, you may not work in groups.No, you may not ask a question.Why won't I let you get a drink of water?Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.”
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:“Hi. This is Mr. Mali. I hope I haven't called at a bad time,I just wanted to talk to you about something your son said today.He said, ‘Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?’And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.”
I make parents see their children for who they areand what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,I make them question.I make them criticize.I make them apologize and mean it.I make them write.I make them read, read, read.I make them spell ‘definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful’over and over and over again until they will never misspelleither one of those words again.I make them show all their work in math.And hide it on their final drafts in English.I make them understand that if you got this (the brains)then you follow this (the heart) and if someone ever tries to judge youby what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:I make a difference! What about you?
Posted at 09:30 AM in Create Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
January 30, 2008
More Lies
Having kids is HARD! I mean WAY hard!
This week I've had a scare with my oldest, worrying about things that I can't go into, and today I had a horrible time with my youngest.
No one tells you about the hardest part of parenting. The part where if you spend 90% of your time with the little critters they are gonna become a part of you, a part you love more than your self. A part you will seek to protect from harm, even facing your fears.
Today I thought I had the easy job. Sit by Andrew's side while Andrew and Scott had dentistry work done. I wasn't in the room 5 minutes before the full horror hit me. Me, the one who hates dentistry above all else, who would rather give birth every six months than visit a dentist every six months was going to watch while our sweet dentist yanked three teeth out of my baby's mouth. Um. Wait. How about you take my teeth. It'll be okay.
Andrew cried, "It hurts, it really hurts" and I felt like dying. We have been home three hours and I'm still curled up in a ball, hardly able to function. I dont' ever want to watch him suffer like that again. I don't ever want to sit idly by while tears run down his face.
He on the other hand seems to have bounced right back. I think his pain got to the dentist too, who kept apologizing for the noise (a loud cracking sound that turned my bones to jelly) and afterwards, white as a sheet, he looked me in the eye and told me in front of Andrew that he felt having three teeth pulled translated to BIG MONEY. Yes, he actually said that! I wasn't sure if that meant he was going to charge us double or if that meant the toy we were to buy Andrew needed to be amazing, but I opted for the big toy and right now Andrew is painstakingly putting together his Indiana Jones Temple Lego set.
But I hate that it ended up all being a lie. I was sure the novocaine shots wouldn't hurt. I was sure the teeth coming out wouldn't be painful. Apparently I was wrong on both counts. And when he came through it all with a mouth full of bloody gauze I felt like I had betrayed him.
Scott said he felt like rising up from the next chair over and punching the dentist. And we have a great dentist.
Sigh.
So I'm pretty out of it tonight, Andrew is fine and Scott and I are looking at each other across an adult beverage with sadness. I remember when I was in the midst of labor with Andrew and it had gone long and painfully, and without much progress. I remember saying, "I dont' want to do this, I want to stop!" Of course, everyone ignored me because yeah, turns out you can't stop that whole labor thingy with very good results. Anyway, that is how I feel today. I need off this merry-go-round. Its too scary. I want my figurative mommy. Or at least I want to not be the mommy. At least for a few hours. It hurts too much!
Posted at 07:21 PM in Andrew Permalink Comments (6) TrackBack (0)
Life Moving at the Speed of Sound!
So much has happened in the last week and now we are off to the dentist again in an hour, this time to actually have some work done on Andrew and Scott.
Andrew took his 2nd grade CAT test yesterday and kicked it in the butt! He was giddy with laughter at how much easier it was this year versus last year, and the math section was the biggest surprise. He's really made amazing progress and I predict we will be taking CAT 3 in May or early June. I reviewed his answers and I think he only got one wrong...out of 120 questions. And, it only took him about 45 minutes to take the whole thing! WHOA! So proud.
Colder than ever today, -15 below upon wake up, the apartment which is normally toasty is a little nippy. SO I am dressed for the occasion:
Tons of new layouts going on over at http://www.tallyscrapper.com/. A beautiful Feb 15 kit is really rocking my world right now!
Posted at 12:18 PM in Weblogs Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
January 24, 2008
Got me a new phone: she's purple
My phone battery was not holding a charge very well, so after our walk yesterday and our adventure at the orthodontist, we stopped in and picked me up a new free one. Turns out when you keep the same phone for four years they:
Stare at you like you're a crazy woman, thinking, "Man I was in grade school when this phone came out"
Tell you things like, "That company is out of business now"
Ask you hard questions about your new phone like "what manufacturer do you want to go with and what features do you want?"
Give you a really nice phone for free because you have so many phone credits saved up from not switching very often.
I've got a camera, a video, a digital media player and a buncha other stuff that I don't even pretend to understand. But most importantly, she's purple. Pretty!!! Scott had plenty of credits to get one too, a green one.
Posted at 06:35 AM in Current Affairs Permalink Comments (5) TrackBack (0)
January 23, 2008
Horror Story
Three tooth extraction appointment: next Wednesday
Next step: wait for permanent teeth to grow in: two months
Molds and the sitting down discussion of the cost of 2x4 braces for one year: shortly thereafter.
Sigh.
Posted at 05:30 PM in Andrew Permalink Comments (3) TrackBack (0)
January 11, 2008
Crafty Friends are Grand!
My very own Barbie Doll, now with smaller bosoms.
Lisa made this today and it is SOOOO cracking me up.
More about it at http://www.tallyscrapper.com/
Posted at 10:02 AM Permalink Comments (7) TrackBack (0)
To Whom It May Concern:
To the Person or Persons in whose space I parked in downtown St. Paul tonight:
I want to apologize for the inconvenience to you. I can't imagine how annoying it is to come home and find your spot taken. I'm sure the missing sign reserving your space has been a constant source of trouble for you in an area with tight parking to begin with, and added to what I assume was already a frustrating day. I see that it took the towing company 45 minutes to arrive after you called them, I hope you didn't have to drive around the block that whole time waiting for your spot to be cleared. I know you couldn't park elsewhere, because then you would risk being towed.
I hope it didn't ruin your day entirely and because I have no way of knowing who you are, and because I was trying to figure out how to get my car back and didn't leave you a note at the time, I hope you aren't laying in bed tonight feeling angry or bad about the whole experience.
I'm pretty positive I will NEVER park in your spot again. If you haven't already, let it go...and I hope the management gets your sign back up soon so you have no further difficulties.
I had a sweet friend give me a ride to the towing place, I had the money available to me to pay the towing fee, and my car appears to be unharmed. I'm so relieved it wasn't wrecked or stolen. My husband was only a few minutes late for work and the whole experience opened my eyes to an urgent issue I need to address.
Oh, and it gave me another opportunity to be grateful for the sweet nature of my husband, who didn't chide me even a little bit.
Go with God, whoever you are.
Minda Shultz
Posted at 12:40 AM in Current Affairs Permalink Comments (5) TrackBack (0)
January 08, 2008
Politics
A great discussion going on over at http://www.tallyscrapper.com/ regarding politics. Some of my favorite Tally gals are in IA and NH, so they have both been barraged already with the candidates for president.
I made a pledge last year to learn more about the candidates so my vote this year would be informed above all else. Well, as informed as is possible with my distrust of the media and all thing political!
After some initial background reading, I have been noncommitally leaning toward Barak Obama. I love his charisma, he seems serious and gentlemanly, I think he could gain respect from people outside our borders.
Today I took a look at the issues that are key to me and took a test...to determine which of the candidates best fit my interests and beliefs. The first test was at http://www.glassbooth.org/ On this site I learned that actually Obama and I only see eye to eye on 55% of the issues important to me, while Ron Paul and I feel the same way about 81% of the issues important to me. Ron Paul. Hmmm...I have a friend, a fellow homeschool mom, who is a strong supporter of Mr. Paul and is campaigning for him. I have some discomfort with him, namely that his voting record is not supportive of some of his positions, those that are nearest and dearest to my heart.
Mainly what the survey told me though, since the top four candidates in the poll were the bottom four in my survey, is that what I believe and how I feel about the issues, is vastly different than your standard American. Meaning? If I vote according to the issues alone, I will not be voting for the next president. Because the guys at the top of my list? Yeah, I'm afraid they don't have a chance. So, then do I just go with who of the top runners I think is the least problem? Your thoughts?
Posted at 07:16 PM in What's inside my head Permalink Comments (7) TrackBack (0)
January 07, 2008
Artist of another sort
I have three fabulous children and really sometimes they scare me. I mean who am I to have such talented, amazing kids? Lucky is what I say!
Many of you have seen my daughter's beautiful artwork, and more can be seen at http://www.tallyscrapper.com/. Her name there is ErinElise2884.
But many of you have never seen what my eldest son Jason can do. He's started doing some recording and posting at YouTube, so now you can! His name is NoLongerSlave on YouTube, and here is one of his songs.
Isn't he fabulous? To be able to play, write and sing, and he taught himself how to play the guitar and bass and drums, the only music lessons he had were for piano years ago and sax. He just blows me away!
Posted at 10:47 AM in Music Permalink Comments (6) TrackBack (0)
January 06, 2008
He NEVER suffers in silence!
Andrew loads the dishes and cleans up after dinner each night. He does it now without being asked, but not without fussing and complaining. Thing is, once he gets going he's singing away, happy as a clam. But first he must protest. I took these pictures last night, and Lisa provided the caption. Brilliant girl that Lisa!
I am bursting with pride over that kid right now, he's such a wonder! Loving Eight.
January 05, 2008
Most Literate City in the Nation!
Yep. We are.
Posted at 09:51 AM Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
Slumber Party
Andrew's big birthday bash day is today, a kids birthday party in the afternoon and a family party in the evening. Lisa's husband is out of town on Guard duty, so she and her dog Missy came last night to spend the night and help me manage the party preparation.
Andrew of course just considered it another facet in his party...a slumber party!
Posted at 08:01 AM in Adventures In Town Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
January 03, 2008
The LAST scrapbook page
This post will contain the LAST scrapbook page I will ever
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
post on this blog. I am throwing my hat fully into the Tallyscrapper ring. If you want to see my pages, you will need to go to the best webhome ever for scrappers, www.tallyscrapper.com or you will need to come to my house.
You don't even need to be a member to see my work at Tally, and for those who are friends from both, I don't want them bored with seeing the same pages here and there. So, this will become a place more focussed on the nonscrapping side of my life. I DO HAVE a nonscrapping side, I just don't talk about it very often. Time to bring that side out!
Posted at 12:04 PM in Create Permalink Comments (4) TrackBack (0)
January 02, 2008
Internet: Incredible Opportunity to Learn
I was rereading my entire blog for last year, pulling out a single post to highlight for each month in a little minibook of 2007 memories. While doing that I stumbled across a blog I was highlighting back in March. While on that site I stumbled on to this. I have only read a week's worth of posts, but I found a connection I wanted to share. I have been close to those who have died 20 times or more in my 43 years. This is not because I am extraordinarily unlucky, but because I used to volunteer in Hospice services as a companion. There is something that happens often in those about to die, those who are not running from the truth of it, and this guy is talking beautifully about that something. Go learn from him, let him be your friend in his last days, even though time and space might not allow you to be his friend. http://ohenrosan.blogspot.com/
Posted at 09:30 PM in Weblogs Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
"What the Photograph reproduces to infinity has occurred only once: the Photograph mechanically repeats what could never be repeated existentially."
Roland Barthes
(1915-1980)
provided by FocalPower
« December 2007 Main February 2008 »
15 posts from January 2008
January 31, 2008
Poetry: It can still make me cry
WHAT TEACHERS MAKE orOBJECTION OVERRULED orIF THINGS DON’T WORK OUT, YOU CAN ALWAYS GO TO LAW SCHOOL by Taylor Mali
He says the problem with teachers is "What's a kid going to learnfrom someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers:“Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.”
I decide to bite my tongue instead of hisand resist the temptation to remind the dinner gueststhat it's also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.
"I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor" "Be honest. What do you make?"
And I wish he hadn't done that(asked me to be honest)because, you see, I have a policyabout honesty and ass-kicking:if you ask for it, then I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honorand an A- feel like a slap in the face.“How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.”
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hallin absolute silence. “No, you may not work in groups.No, you may not ask a question.Why won't I let you get a drink of water?Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.”
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:“Hi. This is Mr. Mali. I hope I haven't called at a bad time,I just wanted to talk to you about something your son said today.He said, ‘Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?’And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.”
I make parents see their children for who they areand what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,I make them question.I make them criticize.I make them apologize and mean it.I make them write.I make them read, read, read.I make them spell ‘definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful’over and over and over again until they will never misspelleither one of those words again.I make them show all their work in math.And hide it on their final drafts in English.I make them understand that if you got this (the brains)then you follow this (the heart) and if someone ever tries to judge youby what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:I make a difference! What about you?
Posted at 09:30 AM in Create Permalink Comments (2) TrackBack (0)
January 30, 2008
More Lies
Having kids is HARD! I mean WAY hard!
This week I've had a scare with my oldest, worrying about things that I can't go into, and today I had a horrible time with my youngest.
No one tells you about the hardest part of parenting. The part where if you spend 90% of your time with the little critters they are gonna become a part of you, a part you love more than your self. A part you will seek to protect from harm, even facing your fears.
Today I thought I had the easy job. Sit by Andrew's side while Andrew and Scott had dentistry work done. I wasn't in the room 5 minutes before the full horror hit me. Me, the one who hates dentistry above all else, who would rather give birth every six months than visit a dentist every six months was going to watch while our sweet dentist yanked three teeth out of my baby's mouth. Um. Wait. How about you take my teeth. It'll be okay.
Andrew cried, "It hurts, it really hurts" and I felt like dying. We have been home three hours and I'm still curled up in a ball, hardly able to function. I dont' ever want to watch him suffer like that again. I don't ever want to sit idly by while tears run down his face.
He on the other hand seems to have bounced right back. I think his pain got to the dentist too, who kept apologizing for the noise (a loud cracking sound that turned my bones to jelly) and afterwards, white as a sheet, he looked me in the eye and told me in front of Andrew that he felt having three teeth pulled translated to BIG MONEY. Yes, he actually said that! I wasn't sure if that meant he was going to charge us double or if that meant the toy we were to buy Andrew needed to be amazing, but I opted for the big toy and right now Andrew is painstakingly putting together his Indiana Jones Temple Lego set.
But I hate that it ended up all being a lie. I was sure the novocaine shots wouldn't hurt. I was sure the teeth coming out wouldn't be painful. Apparently I was wrong on both counts. And when he came through it all with a mouth full of bloody gauze I felt like I had betrayed him.
Scott said he felt like rising up from the next chair over and punching the dentist. And we have a great dentist.
Sigh.
So I'm pretty out of it tonight, Andrew is fine and Scott and I are looking at each other across an adult beverage with sadness. I remember when I was in the midst of labor with Andrew and it had gone long and painfully, and without much progress. I remember saying, "I dont' want to do this, I want to stop!" Of course, everyone ignored me because yeah, turns out you can't stop that whole labor thingy with very good results. Anyway, that is how I feel today. I need off this merry-go-round. Its too scary. I want my figurative mommy. Or at least I want to not be the mommy. At least for a few hours. It hurts too much!
Posted at 07:21 PM in Andrew Permalink Comments (6) TrackBack (0)
Life Moving at the Speed of Sound!
So much has happened in the last week and now we are off to the dentist again in an hour, this time to actually have some work done on Andrew and Scott.
Andrew took his 2nd grade CAT test yesterday and kicked it in the butt! He was giddy with laughter at how much easier it was this year versus last year, and the math section was the biggest surprise. He's really made amazing progress and I predict we will be taking CAT 3 in May or early June. I reviewed his answers and I think he only got one wrong...out of 120 questions. And, it only took him about 45 minutes to take the whole thing! WHOA! So proud.
Colder than ever today, -15 below upon wake up, the apartment which is normally toasty is a little nippy. SO I am dressed for the occasion:
Tons of new layouts going on over at http://www.tallyscrapper.com/. A beautiful Feb 15 kit is really rocking my world right now!
Posted at 12:18 PM in Weblogs Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
January 24, 2008
Got me a new phone: she's purple
My phone battery was not holding a charge very well, so after our walk yesterday and our adventure at the orthodontist, we stopped in and picked me up a new free one. Turns out when you keep the same phone for four years they:
Stare at you like you're a crazy woman, thinking, "Man I was in grade school when this phone came out"
Tell you things like, "That company is out of business now"
Ask you hard questions about your new phone like "what manufacturer do you want to go with and what features do you want?"
Give you a really nice phone for free because you have so many phone credits saved up from not switching very often.
I've got a camera, a video, a digital media player and a buncha other stuff that I don't even pretend to understand. But most importantly, she's purple. Pretty!!! Scott had plenty of credits to get one too, a green one.
Posted at 06:35 AM in Current Affairs Permalink Comments (5) TrackBack (0)
January 23, 2008
Horror Story
Three tooth extraction appointment: next Wednesday
Next step: wait for permanent teeth to grow in: two months
Molds and the sitting down discussion of the cost of 2x4 braces for one year: shortly thereafter.
Sigh.
Posted at 05:30 PM in Andrew Permalink Comments (3) TrackBack (0)
January 11, 2008
Crafty Friends are Grand!
My very own Barbie Doll, now with smaller bosoms.
Lisa made this today and it is SOOOO cracking me up.
More about it at http://www.tallyscrapper.com/
Posted at 10:02 AM Permalink Comments (7) TrackBack (0)
To Whom It May Concern:
To the Person or Persons in whose space I parked in downtown St. Paul tonight:
I want to apologize for the inconvenience to you. I can't imagine how annoying it is to come home and find your spot taken. I'm sure the missing sign reserving your space has been a constant source of trouble for you in an area with tight parking to begin with, and added to what I assume was already a frustrating day. I see that it took the towing company 45 minutes to arrive after you called them, I hope you didn't have to drive around the block that whole time waiting for your spot to be cleared. I know you couldn't park elsewhere, because then you would risk being towed.
I hope it didn't ruin your day entirely and because I have no way of knowing who you are, and because I was trying to figure out how to get my car back and didn't leave you a note at the time, I hope you aren't laying in bed tonight feeling angry or bad about the whole experience.
I'm pretty positive I will NEVER park in your spot again. If you haven't already, let it go...and I hope the management gets your sign back up soon so you have no further difficulties.
I had a sweet friend give me a ride to the towing place, I had the money available to me to pay the towing fee, and my car appears to be unharmed. I'm so relieved it wasn't wrecked or stolen. My husband was only a few minutes late for work and the whole experience opened my eyes to an urgent issue I need to address.
Oh, and it gave me another opportunity to be grateful for the sweet nature of my husband, who didn't chide me even a little bit.
Go with God, whoever you are.
Minda Shultz
Posted at 12:40 AM in Current Affairs Permalink Comments (5) TrackBack (0)
January 08, 2008
Politics
A great discussion going on over at http://www.tallyscrapper.com/ regarding politics. Some of my favorite Tally gals are in IA and NH, so they have both been barraged already with the candidates for president.
I made a pledge last year to learn more about the candidates so my vote this year would be informed above all else. Well, as informed as is possible with my distrust of the media and all thing political!
After some initial background reading, I have been noncommitally leaning toward Barak Obama. I love his charisma, he seems serious and gentlemanly, I think he could gain respect from people outside our borders.
Today I took a look at the issues that are key to me and took a test...to determine which of the candidates best fit my interests and beliefs. The first test was at http://www.glassbooth.org/ On this site I learned that actually Obama and I only see eye to eye on 55% of the issues important to me, while Ron Paul and I feel the same way about 81% of the issues important to me. Ron Paul. Hmmm...I have a friend, a fellow homeschool mom, who is a strong supporter of Mr. Paul and is campaigning for him. I have some discomfort with him, namely that his voting record is not supportive of some of his positions, those that are nearest and dearest to my heart.
Mainly what the survey told me though, since the top four candidates in the poll were the bottom four in my survey, is that what I believe and how I feel about the issues, is vastly different than your standard American. Meaning? If I vote according to the issues alone, I will not be voting for the next president. Because the guys at the top of my list? Yeah, I'm afraid they don't have a chance. So, then do I just go with who of the top runners I think is the least problem? Your thoughts?
Posted at 07:16 PM in What's inside my head Permalink Comments (7) TrackBack (0)
January 07, 2008
Artist of another sort
I have three fabulous children and really sometimes they scare me. I mean who am I to have such talented, amazing kids? Lucky is what I say!
Many of you have seen my daughter's beautiful artwork, and more can be seen at http://www.tallyscrapper.com/. Her name there is ErinElise2884.
But many of you have never seen what my eldest son Jason can do. He's started doing some recording and posting at YouTube, so now you can! His name is NoLongerSlave on YouTube, and here is one of his songs.
Isn't he fabulous? To be able to play, write and sing, and he taught himself how to play the guitar and bass and drums, the only music lessons he had were for piano years ago and sax. He just blows me away!
Posted at 10:47 AM in Music Permalink Comments (6) TrackBack (0)
January 06, 2008
He NEVER suffers in silence!
Andrew loads the dishes and cleans up after dinner each night. He does it now without being asked, but not without fussing and complaining. Thing is, once he gets going he's singing away, happy as a clam. But first he must protest. I took these pictures last night, and Lisa provided the caption. Brilliant girl that Lisa!
I am bursting with pride over that kid right now, he's such a wonder! Loving Eight.
January 05, 2008
Most Literate City in the Nation!
Yep. We are.
Posted at 09:51 AM Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
Slumber Party
Andrew's big birthday bash day is today, a kids birthday party in the afternoon and a family party in the evening. Lisa's husband is out of town on Guard duty, so she and her dog Missy came last night to spend the night and help me manage the party preparation.
Andrew of course just considered it another facet in his party...a slumber party!
Posted at 08:01 AM in Adventures In Town Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack (0)
January 03, 2008
The LAST scrapbook page
This post will contain the LAST scrapbook page I will ever
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post on this blog. I am throwing my hat fully into the Tallyscrapper ring. If you want to see my pages, you will need to go to the best webhome ever for scrappers, www.tallyscrapper.com or you will need to come to my house.
You don't even need to be a member to see my work at Tally, and for those who are friends from both, I don't want them bored with seeing the same pages here and there. So, this will become a place more focussed on the nonscrapping side of my life. I DO HAVE a nonscrapping side, I just don't talk about it very often. Time to bring that side out!
Posted at 12:04 PM in Create Permalink Comments (4) TrackBack (0)
January 02, 2008
Internet: Incredible Opportunity to Learn
I was rereading my entire blog for last year, pulling out a single post to highlight for each month in a little minibook of 2007 memories. While doing that I stumbled across a blog I was highlighting back in March. While on that site I stumbled on to this. I have only read a week's worth of posts, but I found a connection I wanted to share. I have been close to those who have died 20 times or more in my 43 years. This is not because I am extraordinarily unlucky, but because I used to volunteer in Hospice services as a companion. There is something that happens often in those about to die, those who are not running from the truth of it, and this guy is talking beautifully about that something. Go learn from him, let him be your friend in his last days, even though time and space might not allow you to be his friend. http://ohenrosan.blogspot.com/
Posted at 09:30 PM in Weblogs Permalink Comments (1) TrackBack (0)
"What the Photograph reproduces to infinity has occurred only once: the Photograph mechanically repeats what could never be repeated existentially."
Roland Barthes
(1915-1980)
provided by FocalPower
Monday, December 31, 2007
12/2007
December 30, 2007
Lightsaber Mosquito
What I learned at church today...we were at Darrell and Mitchell's house today and we found out that a year ago Mitchell and his cousin made this video about Jesse's first year at Camp Du Nord.
Hysterical!
December 29, 2007
December 26, 2007
My Favorite Christmas Photo
Usually there is one. A photo that speaks to me more than it might to others. And this year is no exception. As I shuffled through the lot of them I came across this one and knew it was IT.
You see my son, who is not allowed video games, or video game equipment stood mute when his grandmother pulled a Nintendo DS out of her Christmas stocking. I love the look on his face. I love the look on hers. I love the star from the tree that looks like its perched on his head. Love it. Makes me smile still.
Christmas: Exemplified
Today I did my annual mini family photo shoot. After a couple of ROUGH years trying to timer set a group photo, it came to me last year to take individual portraits of each of my family members and then the pictures can be combined in a collage or used seperately.
This year I asked my family to grab something from mom and dad's house that exemplified Christmas for them. Exemplified means represented by, illustrated by or embodied in. We jumped outside for the last rays of sun bouncing off the magical light snowfall. Here is a taste of what my camera saw:
Much more to come on this project, including a challenge at TallyScrapper this weekend, so stick around, here or there!
December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas!
Vivian made these adorable marshmellow snow men!
While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads!
December 21, 2007
December 20, 2007
The Power of the Word
In my church group, we talk often about the Power of the Word. When God speaks, things come into being. Not just new things, like the earth, but things that aren't. In Romans 4:17 it says
- as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" --in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
In Genesis it talks about the world being a void, or nothing, and God spoke all that we know into being. Christians and Jews call this creation. Some scientists describe that moment as a "big bang" which I imagine is a great way to describe complete vacuousness becoming land and water and light and beings. In the Old Testament God told Abram, an old man, that he would be the father of many nations. Nearly all faiths on earth originated from that moment, and few debate that that infact happened. God spoke and things happened. In the New Testament, God spoke through an angel and a peasant girl from a small village became pregnant. God spoke again and her husband to be not only didn't have her stoned, he kept his promise and raised Jesus as if he was his own. When Jesus, God Incarnate here on Earth, walked among us as a man, his Word called into being health and welfare for many hurting people. In at least one instance his Word raised a man from the dead. Many days dead.
Sometimes, God's Word calls into being things we wish were not. Imagine the surrender and pain Mary felt the day her son was killed, in the cruelest of ways. Imagine the panic she felt when she discovered she was in labor, at night, on the road, and there was no place to deliver that babe. And yet in these situations, we with the Bible as a guide and the hindsight of thousands of years can see how those seemingly tragic situations were the most glorious of all time.
This time of year is tough for most folks. Its a time of reckoning and remembering. And sometimes the memories and the reckoning is painful. It can become hard to have faith. To believe with complete peace that God is in charge of our lives and that its all going to work together to weave a beautiful picture. I think of the phrase "evidence to the contrary" and this year more than some others I seem to be inundated with "evidence to the contrary" that God is in charge that there is truth in the statement that(Romans 8:28) ... we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
This year my reckoning has made me realize how far apart my family has drifted, which considering the course of events is very sad. My reckoning has made me face the fact that financially the ship is sinking, and sinking very fast.
I Corinthians 5:7 says "This is why we live by believing and not by seeing."
Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see"
I believe in God, the One who Speaks things that weren't into existence. I believe that all things are working together for the good. And I also believe that I can survive everything that will come in the future. I mean look at Mary. She had to survive humiliation, rejection, fear, shame, and the pain of watching her own child be killed. The song that is first on my playlist is one of hope for me. It reminds me that the Breathe of Heaven, or God, is ultimately powerful, and ultimately in charge and will breathe life where life is not.
And that is far more comforting to me then the closest of families or the fullest of bank accounts. In my life, I know God is working things out, redeeming the things I have destroyed or messed up. And when I remember that? All that other stuff just falls away into the void.
December 18, 2007
Someone Wished for a Wish List
I updated our Wish List on Amazon today, taking out things that are already purchased and adding new things for Andrew. There is some random stuff for Scott and I on there from last year, but I think its pretty clear which things are Andrew related!
Happy Shopping person who asked me for this! 
December 14, 2007
Every Morning
I'm almost afraid to post this, because truth be told, I'm not a girl of routines. I love variety, I fully believe it is the spice of life, so when I find something that is a routine, I worry that its just one step from being thrown aside for the next new thing.
But since I took this picture in October, and its still going strong, I think I'll take the risk.
Every morning I:
- Unload the dishwasher
- Make a smoothie
- Concoct my latest version of the word coffee
- Sit back and read Tallyscrapper.com
Andrew loads and starts the dishes at night so that when I wake up in the morning its ready to be emptied. Usually my coffee and smoothie making apparatus is in the dw, so its a good incentive to get it emptied and put away before I make breakfast.
The smoothie recipe I use came from a low carb cookbook I picked up this summer in search of something new to try on Scott's diet. We have both fallen in love with this one. To make it you dump in one container of Yoplait vanilla yogurt, then you fill the container twice with 8th Continent Vanilla Soy Milk and dump that in. You put in a banana and a cup or so of frozen berries and blend. Just that simple and oh so good. When I make it for just myself I have made the recipe smaller by including only one container of the soy milk and half the banana. I give the other half to Andrew to try to start the day by getting something healthy in him. Today we were out of soy milk so I tried regular milk (gag) I really recommend the soy milk. The cow's milk made it too thick and "fluffy" and I didn't like the texture as much.
While I'm making my smoothie I drink down a 12 ounce glass of water. I figure if I can get my first glass of water in before I start anything else, I'll be on my way to drinking enough for the day.
Then its time for coffee. I don't actually drink coffee per se, so I thought I'd share my secret recipe. We use Obsidian roasted beans from Caribou Coffee, ground for an espresso machine. Scott and I have been blessed with the gift of TWO espresso machines, so we don't even have to share. Even in the days when money is SUPER tight it is nice to have that luxury and I pray a prayer of thanks daily for the two kind people that passed them along to us. My espresso machine is from Starbucks. I derive pleasure from the fact that in my kitchen everyday Starbucks and Caribou work together to give me my perfect cuppa.
I fill the machine with enough espresso grounds for two shots, and fire her up. The machine has buttons for doing two shots at once or one, and my perfect recipe for an Americano-to-die-for is pushing the 2shot button twice and the 1shot button once. With that I get just enough Americano to satisfy my morning longings, its nice and hot, and I've squeezed every ounce of flavor out of that 1/8 cup of grounds possible. Mmmm, mmmm good!
Then I log into TallyScrapper and find out what's what for the day. Whose up already, what the day holds for them, if there were any layouts posted since the previous evening.
If I have the luxury of extra time, which I rarely do, I visit here to post, or Pioneer Woman, but usually I don't get much past TallyScrapper.
Within an hour my kitchen is ready for the day, my body is fed and charged up and I've touched base with my online friends. Its a lovely way to wake up!
December 13, 2007
Every Valley
Last night Lisa treated me to a lovely concert. Messiah by G.F. Handel holds a special spot in my heart. Besides being part of a choir that performed it when I was a teen, my ex has a beautiful professional tenor voice and he sang this many times. It is one of the few remaining things from that marriage that I hold dear.
Before Lisa and I went, we needed to do a quick photoshoot, because, being we are two photographers, we of course have no pictures of the two of us together.
So we set up my "photo studio"
Yeah, my husband started shooting before we had transformed it fully. See the cute little christmas ornaments made out of clay sitting on the stove? Yes, that is a microwave...and a pizza. Speaking of pizza, 
Lisa did a little pizza modeling while I continued to struggle with my makeup. That ghost in front of her is me rushing to the bathroom to "put my face on".
I was gonna make a wisecrack about this photo and the fact that my husband was our photographer... 
Until I realized this was actually one that Lisa took when I asked her to get some pictures of just me. Should I be alarmed? 
But in the end, all the hard work and goofing off netted us a couple of decent shots. Then we were off to the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis. And SHHHHH, don't tell my husband, but not only did we park under the bridge, we parked UNDER the BRIDGE. As in not in a parking space. Naughty girls! 
This is what the Basilica looks like. During the day. In summer. Using a camera worth more than my vehicle. 
And the inside.
Imagine the sound quality in such a magnificent building. Divine. 
And here we have the chorale and the orchestra playing....no wait, that is my friend Kit jumping my moms car that wouldn't start when we were up north in our UNHEATED house. Did I mention is was subzero the whole time we were there? I did. Oh, sorry.
Anyway, the concert was wonderful and the soloists were quite amazing. Here is a link to a clip that is one of my favorite solos. This was not from last night, but you get the idea.
http://www.spiritsound.com/audio/mp3/ComfortYe2000.mp3
Anyway, I came home with a cold. So I'm in jammies, laying in my favorite easy chair trying to get better by tomorrow because seriously, I do not have time to be sick!
Once again this year we are using our "advent stockings" which we blog lifted from Kelli Crowe and which have become a necessity to Andrew. The Advent season to for celebrating and remembering God's ultimate gift of coming to live among us. This is such wonderful news because it leads to the story of Christ's death and victory over death through His resurrection. Because so often the holiday season can be a time of hustle and bustle, but not alot of meaning and because we don't have school or church holiday programs to memorize for and attend, this is how we get in the true spirit of Christmas at our house. What we are doing this year is similar to last year, but I made things slightly simpler. You may remember from last year that each stocking/sock, one for each day of the Advent Season, contained a piece of candy, a passage from the Bible relating to the theme that week for the Advent, and a little toy or craft to work on together. This year I have put the candy in a dish under our candle(s), which we light every night before we start our reading, special question and craft or game. I wanted to make the focus of the stockings the passage of the Bible, and the family time, not the candy, thus the change. In addition, I have simplified the written portion. The bible passages I used last year and the amount of information I was putting forth each night was OVERLOAD for Andrew. I could tell he wasn't getting anything out of it because it was just too much. So this year we are focussing on two passages of scripture and working through them a little bit at a time so we can eventually memorize all or part of them. For this first week, which is traditionally known as the week you light the Prophecy Candle, we have been working on memorizing Isaiah 9:6,7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgement and justice from that time forward, even forever. Of course any of you who are familiar with Handel's Messiah recognize that text, I can hardly recite it without singing! So this week we have played a little Handel, we have made a birthday cake from scratch with LOTS of frosting, We made ornaments in a star shape for our tree We went downtown to see the display at Macy's as a family (with our dear friend Lisa along for fun!) and we made hanging decorations to extend down from our light fixture in the diningroom to further sparkle up our home. Finally, today, Andrew, Lisa and I went downtown AGAIN with the homeschool group and enjoyed the Sleigh Bells concert by the Minnesota Orchestra. It was a beautiful concert as always, chock full of so many of Andrew's favorite pieces of orchestral music that it was as if he planned the concert himself. The picture is the view from the Orchestra Hall parking lot, very Christmasy wouldn't you say? Here is a link to a little taste of the concert: Tomorrow morning Andrew and I are going sledding and then I will be heading out for the weekend to work on Christmas gifts and finish some more tags for next week's advent activities. In the meantime, Scott and Andrew will continue working on the verses in Isaiah, and making another craft. I'm guessing they will slip in some more sledding, a movie, some chess playing and maybe even a spot of Christmas planning themselves. Have a great weekend and I'll try to post as early as possible next week, although it looks to be a busy one with lots of cleaning, a couple of wonderful concerts, strudela and lots more fun! Woo Hoo! So today I ran the first 5k I've run in over 10 years! It was a fun, fabulous experience, the kind that makes it fun to talk about, instead of just a lame little 5k run! We had our first blizzard of the season. You know the type: whipping winds, snowy/sleet or sleety/snow falling fast, couldn't even see Lake Harriet while standing beside it! We got a decent parking space, picked up our t-shirts and headed for the heated vendor tent. Ah, this girl who hates crowds never appreciated them more! 6,000 crazy Minnesotans, dressed in everything from a reindeer costume to a snowsuit, dogs in tow, all laughing and talking excitedly and LOVING that the snowstorm was making this all so much more interesting! It was fun wandering around and checking out the costumes, overhearing conversations, and trying to decide if we were going to need to shed layers once we got going. It was such a crowd it took us 5:50 to get TO the start line after the race began! We used our own watches to keep time and Marcy and I ran pretty well, considering the first half mile was pins and needles sleet pelting us in the face, and the fact that we had to walk for a good 2 to 3 tenths of a mile because so many people were backed up. The favorite thing for me was passing people. I passed hundreds of people on the race, and that really wasn't what I was expecting, so it felt good to know that I wasn't coming in last! Marcy and I ran together for the first half of the race and then I had to take a walk break and we said our good lucks and parted ways. I began running again shortly thereafter, because even though I'd stripped off gloves, hat and a coat and was sweaty, if you go too slow you start to get cold again! The road was slick but I was very careful and when I was 3/4 of the way around I checked my watch and realized if I picked up the pace a bit I actually could meet my goal of 36 minutes, even with the rough start and bad roads. I kicked it into high gear and came across the finish line just one minute behind Marcy and very close to my goal (just a few seconds over) I felt great and was pleased as punch, immediately thinking, "I want to run another 5k here at Harriet in better weather conditions!" So Tami was right, I am hooked! I have more pictures that aren't downloaded yet, but here are a couple until I can get the rest out of the camera.ecember 07, 2007
Advent Stockings:Year 2
December 01, 2007
Something other than Scrapbooking and Vomit
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