Gardening

This is why I am the family's least committed gardener. This isn't even the bad arm (accidentally deleted that picture.)

More dreaming...

I don't think I really expounded properly on the things I'd love to do for others. I would love to send care packages to "our" missionaries. They'd be stuffed with fun things, like maple syrup and brown sugar and Nyquil, but also stuffed with resources for their ministries. Computers, books, audio lectures. Things for the people they minister to that would really reach them, such as firewood for my friends in Bosnia. Baby clothes and "accessories" for my missionary friends. Little luxury items that they crave but would never ask for. We'd go visit them, not just to help with whatever they needed, but also to just give them some company from home. I'd give them money enough for a nice vacation away and some evenings out. Trips to Disneyland while they're home on furlough. A nice car, computer and cell phone while they were home. Oh, and I'd have "mother-in-law" house for people to stay in that needed a place to crash in between things. Wouldn't that just be fun to do that for people?

Oh, and I didn't mention that my husband would get to get his PhD.

This is just too fun! Like I said, it doesn't make me discontent with my life, it is just fun to dream.

Dreaming

I am really, really satisfied and content with my life It is a wonderful life, and I'm so, so grateful for it. I am thankful that I can stay home with Lucy, we have all that we really need and don't worry where our medicine and meals come from. We don't worry about heat or clothing or gas for the car (well, we are all worried about that!). So don't get me wrong when you read the following. It isn't discontent, but fun dreaming.

So the question I ask myself is what kinds of things I would do if I had unlimited funds. First, I would squirrel away money for retirement and to take care of us in later years. I'd also make sure all my children are provided for in education and a start in their adult lives. Then the fun stuff...

I would love to give money to people and organizations in creative ways or to really needed purposes. For Biola and Immanuel High School, I'd make sure money went to their endowments, and also to Talbot and IHS scholarship programs. I'd also give money to the housing program for Biola and to the benefits program for Immanuel. I would love to give money for projects that people dream about doing but can't do. I wouldn't want people to know I was loaded, because I wouldn't want them to solicit me and try to convince me to do what they wanted me to. There are other non-profits I'd give to. I'd also want to find out, just by stealth, things that people around me really wanted and give it to them without them knowing how they got it.

For me... I would pay off our mortgage and pay to have a ton of projects (kitchen, bathrooms, add onto bedroom, windows, redo front yard) done on our house. Or else, we'd get a new house somewhere with sidewalks. And I'd have to buy houses all around me for my friends to live in.

I'd have a personal shopper who would pick out great clothes for me--not flashy, but great fits with a bit of style--and toss out stuff I didn't want anymore.

I'd get a babysitter more often, and hire a personal trainer and work out more.

I'd make really yummy dinners for our friends... things with expensive ingredients like really, really good meat.

TRAVEL! Austria and Switzerland, Norway, England and Denmark again, somewhere in Africa, New Zealand, Banff, Alaska, Colorado, Australia... First class tickets to everywhere. Maybe private plane! Flown by my sister-in-law!

Grand piano.

Mini Cooper, 64 1/2 Mustang, and pay someone to fix the Land Cruiser up. And the Z.

Flat panel TV so it wasn't taking up space.

New couches.

Cleaning service.

Okay, that's enough for now. =)

29b

Yes, in less than a month it actually happens. I turn 30. I've been talking about it so much I don't think I believed it could actually happen. But as things will be as they are to be, I suppose it will happen. I like Kristen's interpretation of 30... 29b (no not a bra size... that would be awesome!). I thought I'd tell you my plan for Birthday Month Extravaganza. I never expect people to make my birthdays for me--that is just setting people up to misinterpret your expectations--so I like to make my own fun. Here's the plan:

In honor of the big day, my husband is flying to Texas for a conference. Poor guy, he offered to stay home, but the way I figure it, it doesn't make sense. Everyone else is going to this conference, and I think he should go. Plus, what would we do? He'd be at work all day, and then we'd do the bedtime routine with Lucy and then maybe eat some cake? Or go out at the end of the day? I'd hate for him to miss it all just for one day. So instead we will celebrate before or after he goes, and I will spend the week with my parents, which I LOVE!

Mom will make THE cake. I can't say it's my favorite favorite, but I do love it's delectable yummminess that is certain to mark my chubby tummy forever. It is a yellow cake with holes poked in it, sweetened condensed milk poured all over it and Cool Whip on top. I'm telling you, it's really to die for. It used to come with coconut (see Susan's blog for discussion of this topic), but when we realized only one of us liked coconut, we nixed it. I am proposing some kind of candy topping this year... gotta think about it. We will probably also have steaks and Dad's sauteed mushrooms (one cup wine for the mushrooms, one for the cook). I think I will request a margarita, too. Olé!

Then I think we (Steve and I) will find a place to stay on the beach, just for fun. If anyone knows of any amazing deals, let me know! Thank goodness for the off season!

Theeeeen, I get a Girls' Night Out with the Bible Study girls. I'm insisting I get a Midori Sour or some such nonsense, and something amazing and Chocolate. Still deciding between Cheesecake Factory and Claim Jumper.

Theeeeeeen, my in-laws are going to Palm Springs and have invited the family, so we will get a lovely week with them, which I suspect will include dinner and some shopping. Yay!

Theeeeeeeen, my mom comes down sometime, and we get to redo my room! Yay! New quilt for the bed, new shams, new skirt. So excited!!!

Okay, 'nuff from me. Just thought you'd like to know. =)

Fall!

I hate to do any sort of ode to Fall, as I am certain there are plenty out there more polished, more moving, more humorous and generally better written than mine. But I think the outpouring of my soul demands vent, so here's my humble ode. Yesterday was the first time I felt it. I saw the imperceptible shadow that just looks like Fall. I felt that twinge in the breeze that feels like Fall on your skin. I heard the shouts of students at night that sounds like Fall. Football is on, John Madden is like a guest in our home, and I just await Howie and the boys on Sunday. The sun is going down earlier, the shadows are falling at new angles. I made chicken pot pie the other day. I think the thing that excites me most is the air, though. It is still warm, but there is an overtone that says summer's fury is expiring.

I've discovered that I just hate summer. Now that I am out of school and pay my own electric bill, summer feels like a burden, something you get through. I feel shut in, and I get tired of the little hairs constantly tickling my face from the fans, not to mention the noise of the fans and the a/c.

But Fall is on the way, and before I know it I can put on an evening sweater and drink my ritual hot chocolate.

Oh yeah... Fall means birthday! More to come on the 30th birthday extravaganza!

Ghost Poopie

These lovely, low fat dessert cookies are called "kisses"or meringues. Basically egg whites and sugar, they taste a lot like marshmallows. So my dear husband has decided they look like ghost poop, and has turned many of our visitors off to my baking. Ah well. More for me! But here's the thing? How doe he know what ghost poop looks like? Ask me one day how he knows what alien frogs sound like.

Bringing things out of the garage

I pulled out a few pictures that were in the garage and finally put them up. I also got a few wreaths and put them up, too. It's nice to get some mileage out of stuff you already have. =) You can't really see the pictures, but you can see the placement. The one over the fireplace is a black and white of Mt. Whitney from the Lone Pine side.

Solitaire

Why is this the only reward for successfully completing a hand of Solitaire? It is terribly unsatisfying. Maybe I am a little too entitled... I've come to expect parades and bells and whistles for the littlest things. I have been reading Little House on the Prairie and listening to Little women, and they were satisfied in the improvement of their character as a just reward. Maybe I ought to draw a lesson. =)

Dave

Steve and I properly celebrated our 5th anniversary last night. Our actual anniversary was spent passing a colicky newborn back and forth while the other one ate. But this was my gift... to go see Dave Matthews in concert! It was such a great concert, and my heart just beats faster to hear great musicians. They were really tight and really creative. I love that there was no visible directed downbeat, but they just hit it and off they went. There were these HUGE black winds and brass guys that were just amazing. They did all kinds of saxophones and clarinets, as well as a soprano trumpet (not a coronet, but a high trumpet).

The venue was beautiful. Easy to get in and out, too. We bought a VIP parking ticket ahead of time, which ended up being fantastic. It was listed on-line for $52, and I found it at a local broker for $10, which was the price of regular parking. Sweet! It was a gorgeous night, perfect temperature to be outside. We almost should have come earlier to hang out in the little park at the base of the theater, it was just super cool.


The funny "Oh that's right" moments were remembering that people like to smoke pot at concerts. The crazy part was that it was the 50-somethings that were smoking. I expected it to be the 20-somethings, so it was kind of, well, you know. The other sad thing was that Trojan reps were at the exits handing out samples. Um. Yeah. Whata world we live in.

But all in all, it was a fantastic night, and I'm just bummed we didn't stay longer. We weren't sure how long our babysitter was okay staying, so I didn't want to push it. So to sum up: fun was had by all.

At home with my girls

Made it home safely with Lucy today, and she was a little angel all afternoon and evening with a minimum of fussing. It was nice to get home, hot though it is. We cleaned and cleaned to take care of all the junk that I brought back with me. The boys did a pretty good job taking care of things while I was gone. It is wonderful to see my dear Love again, though it almost seemed like no time had passed.

On tap this week: working on events for church (I'm on a committee to plan two events for church), cleaning out my computer so I can organize my brand new computer!, and getting ready for the Dave Matthews concert!! Hoo-yah!

At home

This week has been so restorative for me. I miss my husband, but I love the chance to be with my family in an unhurried way, taking all morning in our pajamas, swimming in the afternoon, and "going visiting" (like good Scandinavians). I have help with Lucy, and the nieces adore her. I can mull over topics with my family as they come up or enjoy down time. It is just like a little vacation.

I had coffee with my two best friends from high school yesterday while Mom babysat. We had a wonderful time together, and we always seem to pick up where we left off. My mom mused that we used to moan over the little trifles of high school, and now that we are grown up we are talking about such big real life things. I am so thankful that all of us still love the Lord and are healthy and happy people. I think you don't find that all that often.

I left my husband

Poor man is eating on his own, batchin' it for a few days. I'm at my parents' house while my sister is visiting from Seattle. I miss my husband, but somehow there's something fun for me about being "home." I feel like a kid, even though I brought my own kid. I sleep in my old bed, I read my old diaries from high school for laughs, look at my old yearbooks, that kind of thing. I'm sadly nostalgic. The other thing I like is that normally when Steve and I come together, we're here for 2 days and gone again, whereas now I get to be here for almost a week and not feel rushed. Last night my dad rubbed my back and my mom made me a margarita. Oh yeah. Of course, that was sort of to counteract the effects of my baby screaming from Shafter to Selma (about an hour for those of you not familiar with the good ol' San Joaquin).

Oh yeah

You have to love that crazy dress I made. I made both of these dresses, but the Spring one is really hideous. But aren't we all so cute? Is it really stinkin' 12 years since those pictures?? Oh my. So that means it's 12 years ago now that I was getting packed up and ready to come down to Biola for the first time. Oh my, oh my.

Letters to my daughters

I found a website that I'm enjoying. We have some dear friends from camp at Catalina--the directors, actually--that do ministry to families and couples. I just checked out their website and discovered that they are publishing a series of letters called "Letters to my Daughters," written to their girls about choosing a spouse. While I have some small differences of opinion on a few items, they are generally right on, and it is fun to read them. It's especially nice being on this side of choosing a spouse, especially feeling so confident that I made the best possible choice I could have made. Anyway, I recommend taking a look at them... they're really good. Here's the link.

In other news, I'm relieved that Lucy took a bottle tonight. We will do a bottle every night now to get her used to it. I have beenr eally stressed about it, because I really need to know that I can get away now and then. Plus, there's the Dave Matthews concert coming up!

Up late, darn it

I hate being a night owl. Can't sleep right now, and have all this energy. Happens about once a month. I hate it because I know I'll pay for it tomorrow. What am I thinking about? Not much. Things like...

Should I go ahead and buy this quilt in the sage? Or do I wait and make it a birthday gift? Do I "spend" my birthday gift on this when it affects Steve too, or do I use my "earnings" from selling off little things, like books?


Should I look at Kohl's first for a shirt, or should I just go ahead and buy this one from Old Navy for the Dave Matthews concert?


And should I buy this jacket to go with it?


Also thinking about what an enjoyable time it was at Bible Study talking about John 2:1-25. I had done a little "homework," which always makes it interesting. I came home and finished the rest of that section in the commentary and was very much blessed. It was the Cana wedding and the cleansing of the temple. It's amazing how many poor sermons I've heard on those two passages, and this wonderful commentator gently but firmly separates the misconceptions from the real emphasis of the text. For example, this passage is simply not about whether or not it's right for Christians to drink. It's about Jesus taking the opportunity to use a sign to point to who he is. He uses ritual stone vessels, typically used for ceremonial washing, and fills them with new wine, indicating that he is the fulfillment of the old rituals. Sounds a little far-fetched the way I say it, but when you read John as a whole, it makes complete sense. Anyway, it is so exciting to read the Bible and realize I am indeed starting to learn something after all these years.

Thinking about how awesome the "homemade" Trader Joe's tortillas are. I'm starving, having only had a brownie for dinner. Yeah, yeah...

Planning out my week. Steve is still on Jury Duty tomorrow, and I am thinking he will get on this jury. At the very least, I think he will have to go in on Tuesday as well. Blech. That means we are without a car here at home. I have plenty of back-up, and I can easily walk to the grocery store and Starbucks. Thinkin' about picking up some decaf espresso roast so I can start making Americanos in the morning for myself. I just learned how to use Steve's espresso machine, and I think I want to start back into my coffee habit. With the new curio,
my teacups are finally out of the garage, so I can have a little coffee break in the morning in a nice teacup. That is if Lucy will allow it. By the way, the curio was Grandma's, brought here by M&D Earle from Nebraska. I love it! I still have some arranging to do, and possibly some teacups and teapots to get rid of, and a couple to bring back. I need my style consultants to help me figure out where to put stuff.

Okay, okay, this is ridiculous. Go to bed, Jenny!

A date!

Okay, not exactly, but it was nice. We three met Eric at Heroes in Fullerton and had dinner together. It was a loud, peanuts on the floor place, so Lucy could be as loud as she liked. Actually, she was so excited by all the eye candy that she was pretty quiet. We had nice conversation, and Steve had a beer that came with a life raft and a straw. Okay, not quite, but I got to drive home. =) It was so nice to get out all together and have a nice meal. Steve is STILL doing jury duty, and they are still questioning the jury after 2 days. They haven't dismissed a soul yet. The thing I LOVE is that La Mirada is 19.8 miles away from Compton. 20 is the cut-off. Not our house, but the city of La Mirada. We live toward the east edge, by the way. It takes him an hour to get there. Our gas. Our car. I hate the judicial system. At any rate, after a bit of a rough morning for me and a lousy day for Steve, it was lovely to eat fantastic curly fries and drink a Shirley Temple out of a mug the size of a bathtub.

The Liberry

I walked down to the Library (Liberry, according to Emma) to order Harry Potter on CD and pick up "Little House on the Prairie." I like this whole "back to Children's books" thing. The reading is fast, it's in manageable chunks, the stories are fantastic (the classics and the Newberry books), and they are generally just happy books. I like that Laura gets new mittens and a peppermint candy in her stocking and she is just ecstatic. Good lessons. I also like that her parents say, "Laura!" and she stops being naughty immediately.

At the Liberry there was a display case about it being Breastfeeding Awareness month. There were all these lovely out of context quotes pinned up. My favorite was something like this: "A newborn baby has only three needs: the warmth of his mother's arms, food from his mother's breast, and the knowledge that his mother loves him. He gets all three when he is breastfed." Um, I seem to remember my baby needing a HELL of a lot more!! (Forgive me... getting the cursing out of my system before Lucy can parrot.) I mean... did the guy that wrote that forget about the pooping and the sleeping and the screaming? I chuckle. =)

I also found out I owed 75 cents for an overdue book. I look in my wallet... surely people carry around that much. I have 72 cents. You gotta be kidding me! Luckily the guy smiled and said they could get a nickel from me next time around. Big money at the Liberry, eh?

Oh, and the air conditioning works!!! So what did I do? Promptly turned it off after the test run and sweat through the afternoon because I couldn't bear to watch the meter turn around and around and around. =) Unlike my next-door neighbor, whose LOUD a/c runs 24/7/360. No kidding. Like those (relatively) freezing days in February where I was cuddled up next to the heater, her a/c was running. I know it's not a fan, because you don't need a condenser for a fan. I think she does it because her ex-husband must be paying her electric bill. That's my latest theory anyway.

Teen Girl Squad

A friend recently posted on her blog about how blessed she was to have had a good high school experience. The more I talk to people the more I find out that it really is pretty unique to have had good high school years. I had great friends, lots of fun stuff to keep me busy, and no real temptations or regrets. Small regrets, of course, mainly derived from things I said which betrayed my still developing character, but nothing so horrendous that it ruined the whole experience for me. I went back for my reunion a few years ago, and I honestly had a wonderful time.

A couple of great memories...
The slumber party that got crashed by "our" boys
The bagel poem that became code for who we had a crush on (did we really think it was that clever?)
Walking every inch of the brand new Walmart the day it opened. Yes, folks, I'm from a small town.
Four girls taking one guy to Sadie Hawkins to spite "our" boys who had left us in the lurch for Christmas banquet...
Counseling at Science Camp...

ah, the fun.

Places

I sigh heavily as I admit this--I do not love La Mirada. I love so much and so many that are in and around La Mirada, but many of the things I love are not here. I love beautiful places to walk, oceans and trees that turn in the Fall. I love waves and mountains and pine trees and quiet. I love going out of a city before going into a new one. I do not love strip malls, crowds, traffic, crumbling concrete and houses built with plaster board and stucco. I do not love living so far from my family. But I do love the updates we've made to our house to make it ours. I love having a pool. Most of all I love our friends--the kind you don't just make anywhere (as friends of ours who have moved have told us). I love the amazing preaching at our church and the dedication to practicing the Word there. I love that there are 2 Targets within 3 miles of me, and I love that my backyard opens onto the Biola campus. How do you ever weigh all these things together? My heart rejoices and aches over it all.

6 month old!

Where did six months go?? Actually, the question really is, where did 4 months go. Those first two months seemed like an eternity, but the last 4 have really flown. I can hardly believe I've been finished with my Biola job for more than 6 months now, too. I thought I would get stir crazy at home, but I have really enjoyed it. I have fun with Lucy, too, and it's been rewarding most days. I will admit, I'm a little stir crazy with the a/c guys still here, but they will be done eventually. Plus, Jesus is a kick and Julio is a doll. I just want to pinch their cheeks, they're so cute and friendly. Jesus keeps asking if I want to send Lucy up into the ducts, since she fits better than the rest of us. =)

By the way, she weighed in at 17 pounds and measured 27 inches. That's 90th percentile for height and 75th for weight. Hard to believe she gained 10 pounds and 7 inches in only 6 months!