The glitterati of our family

photo and caption stolen from Roo

Posh and Becks stopped by.

(not really).

Back home

I have returned home from a brief trip to Eureka and my alma mater where we were celebrating Alumni Weekend. "Weekend" is a misnomer. It's actually an afternoon and evening. But I suppose Alumni Weekend sounds better than Alumni 8-hour Event.

I am on the alumni board of my college, so I was sort of required to be there, but I wanted to be there also. Friends of mine, T and his wife, were receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni award. I was happy to see that because I nominated them! T and his wife began a charitable foundation in the name and memory of their daughters who died at birth. Their foundation has been around about three years and has donated about $30,000 to our state Children's Hospital and also to the obstetric unit in their own city. Through tears, T told us the story of the foundation and related it back to the ethos of the college which seems to be, in short, "go from here and do something to make this world a better place." It was a great, moving celebration of how they have lived since college and I was really, really proud of him and really very proud to be his friend.

The day itself was beautiful, too. I stayed at Grammy and Gramps' last night and slept in this morning. As my grandmother said, "A mother needs a night of good sleep away from her children every once in a while." She was right. I truly enjoyed the day. The weather was warm, but breezy and the college was in its most beautiful state -- lilacs and flowers blooming, trees and grass green and lush, red brick buildings stately and welcoming as always. I walked around and visited new features -- a graduation brick pathway -- a labyrinth -- I've not visited. I walked the campus and remembered racing around the tall oaks that used to fill the area when Roo and I were little and spent some time driving around town, seeing many people out and about enjoying the day.

And I felt myself really longing for it all. My hometown is part of me in a way I just can't fill elsewhere. Perhaps it is because generations of my family have lived there. Perhaps it's because I can't let go. Whatever it is -- I feel at home there in a way no place else has fulfilled.

So though I returned home to my family tonight, I feel like I also came back to my regular sojourn. And into it, out of this lovely and renewing weekend, I bring the powerful feeling of being back home.

My fussy boy

Daniel is fussy. Again. I wish that this was an uncommon thing for him, but as I look back over the past 15 months of his life, I realize -- this guy is just not a very happy little guy.

Each time that he gets into one of these prolonged fusses (which always, conveniently, seems to coincide with visiting family we never get to see), I find some reason to excuse his punkiness. He has been sick, teething and tired for most of his life, according to me.

This time I'm fairly sure it's teething again. The child has all of his teeth except his two-year molars, and at one time, near his first birthday, had 8 (EIGHT!!) teeth all breaking through at the same time. He has teethed HARD since they started coming in at four months. Poor little guy.

And though I think this may be the source of the problem this time, I'm also concerned that there is something else going on. He is just not resilient, or adaptable and I'm worried.

So I've made an appointment with a doctor for a consultation in a few weeks. In the meantime, anyone have wisdom to share?

Narnia

I am so excited to see Prince Caspian when it arrives. I am a big fan of the Narnia books, and I really liked the last movie, and -- I'll admit it -- I was a huge fan of the BBC series on Wonderworks on PBS. I'm ready for Caspian.

And in the meantime, I'm enjoying listening to this set. I just love it. The Magician's Nephew brought me to tears. I highly recommend it for any other Narnia-philes out there.

Mental query to friends/ family -- is it in Eureka that someone has a NARNIA license plate? Or is that here?

Mothers' Day-ish gifts, belatedly

My grandmother gave me this lovely china that was owned by my late great-aunt. It wasn't really a Mothers' Day gift, but I got it on Mothers' Day, so I'm counting it. It is just gorgeous. There are a quite a few chipped pieces, but I will enjoy using it even more, I think, because of it -- less pressure! But if anyone has Noritake Chevonia for sale, let me know!

I got this lovely little easel from Dennis and the kids. I had requested it, as there is one like it at our bookstore that the kids just love to use. This one is for use on the back porch during the nice-weather months. It has the chalkboard on one side and a dry-erase board on the other. And it has a spot for a paper roll in the middle that feeds through the dry-erase board side. The kids most like using the eraser, I think. :)

And, of course, these are my best and most favorite gifts, enjoying a Saturday wagon ride with Daddy. Such happiness.

Where do you have photos printed?

I have had a terrible time getting photos printed at my local outlets. The colors are horrid and the pics are always grainy, dark and icky. Even SOOC shots are terrible and I KNOW 10 megapixels should be plenty to produce decent 4x6 prints.

SOOOO... if you take photographs and edit them in Photoshop or some other program, where do you get nice prints made? Online or brick-and-mortar, any recommendations?

Please go read this

Have you read Ann V's beautiful Mother's Day reflection? If you have borne a child, or are with child, or have lost a child, or long for a child, please, please, please read her words.

Wow.

Windswept girl

I love this picture. She looks so much like her daddy. I used one of Pioneer Woman's photo techniques on it. In its full size, it is wonderful, I think. My sweet, glowing, windswept little girl.

Daniel discovers ants

Poor ants. They don't stand a chance.

Annalivia likes to do her own hair

Fancy, eh?

Scenes from our wonderful day

We had just a wonderful day today. We went to church and then headed out to the country to the house Dennis inhabited pre-April to do a little dreaming and scheming. While there, Daniel dozed in the van and Annalivia got out and about in her Sunday outfit.

This morning when getting dressed, I asked her to get on her black shoes (very respectable Mary Janes) and instead, she came out with her red cowboy boots. "Can I wear these?" she asked. "They match my dress." They did, in fact, match her dress. She also wanted to wear a hat. So she did. The boots were great for clip-clopping around on the wood floor in the sanctuary during the Morning Prayer at church. *sigh*

And equally great for exploring Daddy's old house.
They were even going to take her straight across the field to Grandma's house when she noticed her cousins were there.

Instead, she and I walked down to Grandma's on the road, and Daddy and Daniel followed in the car. We decided to come home, get changed and the go back to the country, which we did.
Annalivia got to spend lots of time with Dennis' brother's two eldest children. They played for hours.

Our nephew demonstrated the finer points of tree-climbing in the orchard.

And our niece was happy to wear the dandelion crown I made that Annalivia would not wear.

And Daniel was content to swing with Grandma for quite a while.

We had a lovely time, going between the two farms, eating lunch outside, dreaming, scheming, working and lounging about. Late in our time there, Dennis and his mom talked about the possibility of us purchasing land from her at some point and she responded very favorably to that. We are very excited. It gives a direction to the next few years here that we just haven't had. And that is just wonderful.

In fact, the whole day was wonderful -- full of wonder -- and sunshine and wind and family. Lovely.

We have a new phone

New phone courtesy of Annalivia but she lets her brother use it.

My crazy kids

Thank you!

Thanks, friends and family, for all the birthday emails, phone messages, and facebook messages. I worked all day until 8:30 this evening, but it's been a good day. I have had a very blessed 33rd year. Y'all are part of the blessing.

My arm injury has made me gimpy enough that it is sort of hard to type and I need to save up for church typing, so I think I'll just post photos and few words for a while. Which will probably be a nice break for all of us! :)

Thanks again. I feel loved.

Human voodoo doll

My arm hurts today. And when I say it hurts, I mean it really, really HURTS. I think I have a pinched nerve. It may have resulted from me moving a Clavinova up stairs with my husband on Saturday. But it has gotten worse instead of better. Today, I'm going to see if my chiropractor can see me. I need help.

The arm is the latest in a series of physical failings as I approach my 33rd birthday this week that move me to consider my decrepit physical state with contempt. If I didn't know better, I'd think God had a voodoo doll of me up there and was systematically torturing me. First, it was tendonitis in my Achilles tendon. Then my back was in pain. The the arm. Now my wrist, too.

Year 33 is going to have to be one of focusing on physical strength and wellness, I think. I have never, ever been comfortable focusing on or even acknowledging my body. I've got issues and history, to say the least. (And none of you who know me are allowed to use this post against me in real life.)

But it is ridiculous to be unable to wash dishes or pick up little guys. So something needs to be different. And now. Because everything hurts to much to wait much longer.

Prairie Girl and Farm Boy

Sunday evening was really quite beautiful, if a little chilly. We had an opportunity to take a dinner-time drive and went out to Dennis' mom's house in the country. The cousins were there so Annalivia ran around with them and Daddy took a moment to introduce his son to Daniel's late grandfather's tractors.

I swear this zen-tractor look must be passed down on the Y chromosome in Dennis' family.

As soon as we took him off the tractor, he fussed to get back on. It was a pretty sweet companion to Annalivia's braids whipping in the wind as she ran around.

She asked me to put the braids and bows in her hair on Sunday morning. I was surprised the bows lasted until the evening.

Especially since she was just a little more than a tad ornery all day.

Dapper Dan photo shoot (alternate title: Why it is important to keep the talent well-fed)

The other day at Target, I stumbled into an entire rack of little boys' Easter outfits for 75% off. It is just darn hard to find dress-up clothes for little boys, so I bought a bunch in sizes up to 5T. Today, Daniel was in a long-sleeved shirt, vest and plaid shorts. It was a little chilly so he wore the Easter jacket Grandma made him. He looked very dapper.

He's such an introspective lad, eh?

Apparently hungry, too...

What would be on your list?

As per a recent post about music, I have been trying to make a list of "essential" pieces for my children. It is, of course, subjective and, by no means, meant to be exhaustive. But I'm curious... what would be on your list? What classical music would you want your child to not only hear, but know?

The start of my list...
Bach -- anything and everything, but especially B minor Mass, cello suites, Brandenburg Concertos, Goldberg Variations
Barber -- The Hermit Songs, Adagio and Agnus Dei
Beethoven -- anything, especially The Pastoral Symphony #6, piano sonatas
Brahms -- German Requiem
Copland -- Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, El Salon Mexico, Fanfare for the Common Man
Durufle -- Requiem, Four Motets
Dvorak -- New World Symphony
Faure -- Requiem, Pavane
Gershwin -- Rhapsody in Blue, American in Paris
Handel -- Largo, Water Music, Royal Fireworks
Holst -- The Planets
Ireland -- Greater Love
Mahler -- Symphony #2
Mendelssohn -- Symphony #3, Midsummer's Night's Dream
Mozart -- anything, especially the Clarinet Concerto in A
Palestrina -- Missa Papae Marcelli, motets
Prokofiev -- Romeo and Juliet, Peter and the Wolf
Rachmaninoff-- Piano Concerto #2, Piano Concerto #3, Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Preludes
Rutter -- Requiem, anything else
Schubert -- assorted lieder
Stravinsky -- The Rite of Spring, The Firebird
Vaughan Williams -- The Lark Ascending, Canon on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, choral works and hymns
Vivaldi -- Four Seasons

I have seen it ALL!!

Saw this at Tia's cleverly-named post "Someone Knit a Sweater for Satan". Wow.

Dinner cooked in a convenient kitchen

This weekend, Dennis put some shelves up in the dining room of our house. The parsonage is a typical ranch style. It has a little kitchen and very little storage (and Dennis and I are packrats, which does not help.) Up to this point, we had too much stuff on the counters, but Dennis' shelf installation allowed me to move pretties to the shelves, then we moved the microwave to The Impossible Corner and... voila! We have an entire counter on which to cook!

The lamp is not supposed to be there. It was Dennis' grandmother's lamp and one of the many projects he completed last weekend was re-wiring it and cleaning it up. It's there because it's a great little size for that counter and the cord is long enough to move it out of the way and then move it back to the outlet later.

I'm going to mooooove it because it's obviously a nursery lamp. But isn't it sweet? (We looked on eBay to see if we could find one similar so both kids' would have one. The one we found sold for $75!)I like the way it kind of fits in with the kitty cat cookie jar -- just like Grammy's -- and Annalivia's milk pitcher, which were the whole reason to put up shelves to begin with.


It's just so nice to cook dinner in a kitchen that is sort of functional. Seven years into my stay here, it's nice to finally figure this out!

Yikes

I do not have Photoshop for two main reasons. a.) It costs an arm and a leg and, more importantly, b.) I am infinitely capable of being obsessive and letting all else fester as I photoshop hour after hour.
Despite the fact that I don't have Photoshop and I don't have the familial energy to devote to photoshopping pics, I always read Pioneer Woman's Photoshop posts with interest.
Tonight, I went back to a post by the lovely Miz Booshay and decided to see if I could do the same thing in my JASC program I bought for $10 on eBay. Why, yes, I could. Then, for some crazy reason, I decided to read other Photoshop posts and see if I could do the same sort of things addressed in said posts in my cheapo photo editing software.
TURNS OUT -- I CAN!!!

It involves a little translation and some playing around with settings, but oh my goodness, I have an entire arsenal at my fingertips that I did not know I had!!!
Tonight, I played around with this photo.

It's of my lovely girl, but otherwise was pretty boring, I thought, underexposed and taken on an icky day. So I played -- cropped and lightened and texturized and so on and ended up with this.

Which just makes me smile.

And this is just the start. What in the world have I discovered?

Incredibly practical financial advice

For the last few months, I have been reading The Simple Dollar. It is a great personal finance blog written by Trent, a guy who has pulled himself and his family back from the financial edge. His advice is straightforward, simple, and well-written. I find that I am adding his posts to my favorites more than anything else I encounter. Trent has a great post on budgeting up today.

I highly recommend The Simple Dollar. You may not agree with everything, but you'll almost certainly find something helpful there.

Thank You, God, for Spring

I'm on my laptop working on the bulletin on the back porch. Daniel is trying to untangle a hose and Annalivia is pretending to water flowers. We drove up to have a picnic lunch with Daddy today and I had a lovely drive through the country while little ones slept. It's an absolutely glorious day.

I am so, so, SO glad Spring is finally here!

My thoughts exactly

Time to go get some coffee!

Overexposed

Terrible confession

I don't ever really say anything controversial on this blog. There was the time that I blogged about our Christmas tree, I guess. And recently, I suggested that making falafel could be shortcut by adding stuff to hummus. But usually, I say nothing the least bit inflammatory.

Until today. Because I have something terrible to admit to the blogosphere...

I don't really like other people's children.

I know that is not gracious, kind, earth-mother-y or pastorly, but it is true. I am ok with recognizing them as children of God, unique creations, beloved of their own parents, etc., etc., BUT I, myself, do not really enjoy them.

There are exceptions, found mainly in those to whom I am related by blood, and exceptionally cute babies, generally those whose parents I adore. But for the most part, I'm ok with not hanging out with another person's child.

I really liked other people's children before I had my own. But after having my own, I feel very differently. And it's not that I feel my own children are superior to all others; it's just that it takes enough energy to be with them that I don't want to be with someone else's children. And I certainly don't want to hug and kiss them and play games with them and have fun with them. Nor do I want someone else to do this for mine.

This is but one of the million reasons that I am not a daycare provider and never will be. And it is one of the million reasons we don't use childcare providers.

I don't really like other people's kids.

And I'm hoping I get over this before I'm a grandparent.

Ouch

I hurt my back today. I was doing a radical move of bending over to pick up mustard, salad dressing and jelly that a helpful little boy had put on the floor and the lower part of my back just sort of seized up. I have no idea how I did it. I was bending over angrily, though. Suffice to say, I have learned my lesson. Angry-me makes everything hurt.

This happened one other time in my life before Dennis and I got engaged and I attended a birthday party of one of his nephews. It was a bowling party and I was trying to be enthusiastic and energetic and very impressive, helping the little ones and spending most of two hours bent over. I wasn't angry that time. Just stupid. After it, I could hardly walk, but, I think, the pain went away the next day.

This morning, my crippling occurred as the kids and I were leaving the house. It got really bad after I had to rescue my son from an evil patch of grass that was ensnaring him, thus rendering him motionless and unable to walk. I came home, took some Vicodin left over from my wrist surgeries and laid on the couch. Dennis stayed home from school tonight and the drugs made me feel nauseous and sleepy, so I laid down in bed with Daniel about 6 a.m. and we both fell asleep. I got up at 11:30 p.m. and am heading back to bed now, with another dose of drugs. My back is feeling a little better, I think, but, truthfully, most everything is numb thanks to the codeine.

Is this what people mean when they say their backs "went out"? If so, I'm hoping mine comes in before morning.

Sacred music and spiritual formation -- some ramblings

After the concert last night, Dennis and I were talking about it, and he mentioned how much he loved the deep sounds of a pipe organ. I related to him a conversation I had with R, one of the members of our group, an organist who owns his own organ-building company. He is my age and fell in love with the organ when he was in his early teens, then went on to get a degree in Organ Performance and now owns this company where he constantly works with this instrument that so many churches are casting aside.

R and I were talking about the way an organ can elevate an entire congregation. As he said, the organ just seems to "wrap arms around you." There are few instruments that have that breathtaking and breath-giving effect. Perhaps it's because the organ's very apparatus is one of forcing air through pipes and thus "breathing" that it performs in such a way. Whatever it is -- it can be just amazingly moving.

I was thinking more about it and realizing again, for the gazillionth time, how much I MISS good congregational music. When I was growing up, the pipe organ in my home church, a lovely gothic-esque structure, was played by the incredible Lois Humbert. She treated the organ with such care and played it just beautifully. I remember my father taking us to church and him sitting there with his eyes closed during communion telling us to "close our eyes and listen to the little notes playing with each other." The music was not just hymns played dirge-like in the background, but toccatas and fugues and airs and all sorts of wondrous, substantive, and real music that twirled around on the acoustics of the nave and danced into my ears.

My parents continued to introduce us to sacred music as we grew older. We learned to play piano and Dad subjected us to all sorts of educational instruction about composers and styles and musical periods. (I remember being in the Learning Center of my grade school when I was in second grade and a teacher asked the group about symphonies written by Bach and I know-it-all-ingly informed her that symphonies weren't invented yet when Bach was writing music.) We went to choral concerts in churches and at the universities near us and listened to the great music of the church in all sorts of different settings.

And it became part of us, I think, to the extent that, when I wasn't really conscious of belief or doubt, when I had become unwittingly apathetic about faith, music was always the first thing to call me back to the presence of God. The Mozart mass. The Vaughan Williams and Durufle choral pieces. The Christmas motet from college. The Iona song cycle in seminary. It wasn't what brought me Home, but it sure opened the front door of the House and reminded me of how beautiful the Host had made everything inside.

Now, every once in a while, I get to experience really good sacred music and I feel like I am gulping down some sweet, satisfying nectar that I deeply crave and desperately need and seldom find. The music in the church I serve is... terrible, for the most part. We have a Clavinova now, thanks be to God, and got rid of the hideous funeral home organ, even more thanks be to God, but the music feels functional, seldomly beautiful and almost never treasured and savored and ingested.

And I wonder what kind of musical education my children are receiving. Will they learn to sing quietly and disinterestedly and to see music as a filler in the background for whatever it is that is going on in the foreground? Will they think that Jim Brickman piano solos and a choir singing the melody on absolutely everything and a praise song played 400 times during communion is what music is supposed to be like? Will they ever get to hear a pipe organ that breathes around them and with them and lifts them up as they are singing Praise to the Lord, the Almighty at the top of their lungs? Will I ever get to make them sit still while Mommy and Daddy are carried up in the rapture of a beautifully executed fugue leading them to wonder what all the fuss is about?

This morning we are listening to Vaughan Williams with the speakers cranked up high and I have just placed an order for some more cd's.

But I may have to become an Episcopalian after all.

Closet Episcopalian

Today we had our concert. In addition to some Mozart and Strauss, the choir sang three gorgeous, lovely, wondrous English choral anthems. It led me to contemplate for the millionth time a conversion.

My mom came up for the concert and managed to get in one of her trademark "BRAVO!!"s. She has them perfectly timed in that space between the end of a piece and the beginning of the clapping. This time, the piece deserved it. It was incredible -- 30 piece orchestra, full choir, four operatic soloists, amazing organ -- all singing full voice the words of Paul. I could almost not sing, it was so glorious. Mom said she felt like she was lifted out of her seat by it and that if anyone had looked at her, they would have seen a beam of light shooting out of her head. The whole audience leapt to their feet in applause. We were all glowing afterwards.

After the concert, on our way home, we realized we had sent my drivers license home with Mom, so, thanks to miracle of cell phones, she turned back and we intersected her in the country. It was lovely to spend a little more time with Dennis, right in that sweet time before the sun sets. It was a beautiful day and the light was just enchanting, the birds singing, and the grass smelling sweet and warm. It was a perfect concert, in and of itself, a little Spring symphony to end the day.

Concert

Tomorrow is my first concert with the Canterbury Singers. I am excited. I get to sing soprano (I never get to sing soprano) on this song (and sing a big high A!) and it is going through my head constantly!

Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.

Have I mentioned how happy I am to be able to sing again?

Date night

Dennis and I got to go on a date tonight. We went over to the Quad Cities. We had a nice drive down -- it was drizzling, but the grass has become bright green this week, the bluettes are carpeting farmhouse lawns, and we have flocks and flocks of pelicans in our area right now, pausing here as they migrate north. We stopped at a Christian bookstore and picked up some little presents for door prizes for the Mother's Day breakfast, then went to the hospital so I could visit a quasi-parishioner (thus qualifying this date for a mileage reimbursement). Then we had dinner at a local pizza place -- a dive in the best sense with very good, slightly quirky pizza. Then we headed home.

And when we got home, my mother in law had the children in bed and the house straightened up and vacuumed. She is so incredibly generous sometimes.

This was a very, very nice evening.

How high the moon

Yesterday late afternoon, I pointed out the moon in the sky to Annalivia.

"Look, Annalivia! It's the moon."

Annalivia replied with an overly-enunciated and pointedly-patient tone. "I don't like the moon, Mommy. I like the sun. Daniel likes the moon." She said it as though I constantly confuse the affinities of her and her brother, my 14-month old child who, so far, can say "MAAAAAAHHHHHHEEE!" and that's about it.

I wonder when Daniel mentioned to her that he was fond of the moon.

Redbox, Redbox, how I love thee...

Do y'all know about Redbox?

Redbox is a movie rental system that is in places all over the country. I had heard about it a while ago and didn't think there were any Redboxes around here, but the other day, I realized we had one at a grocery store I rarely visit across the river. Then I read The Centsible Sawyer's post about Redbox and realized I needed to get on board.

There are several truly great things about Redbox.

1. Rentals are $1/ day.

2. There are almost always codes available for free rentals.

3. They have lots of new releases.

4. They are quick and pretty convenient.

So far, we've rented Dan in Real Life, Barbie Mariposa :), The Dark is Rising: The Seeker, and Catch and Release -- for FREE!! They were all in great condition and it has been really nice to try out new movies for FREE!!

Book winner

Announced on that post! :)

Mommying in the midst of it

A beloved one is celebrating a new pregnancy at the same time that she is called to do some pretty big things by God. Last night she was wondering how it will all work.

I am thinking about that tonight because it is almost midnight and I am finishing up a homily for a funeral tomorrow. I need to go to bed because I actually have two back-to-back funerals tomorrow. The first is at 10 a.m. The second is at noon. They are both for folks who were baptized in our church and have not been involved at all. The second is for a 33-year old man.

This morning a dear, dear husband of a beloved member of our congregation passed away -- FAR too early after a brief and devastating struggle with cancer. I missed the first two phone calls this morning from the wife. The third I got because my daughter had brought the phone to me and placed it by my sleeping head.

The next few days are shaping up to be a bit overwhelming. Tomorrow it's two funerals and a meeting about the church's ailing investments in the evening. Friday is a meeting in the morning, followed by coordinating the funeral with the Catholic priest (the deceased was baptized and confirmed Catholic, but has been worshipping at our church for 40 years), a presentation to concerned congregants involving a new clavinova, an impromptu choir rehearsal and, hopefully, a date with my guy. Saturday morning Dennis has a meeting and then I a meeting with the deceased's family. Sunday is church with said clavinova, a board meeting, the visitation for the deceased, and my choir rehearsal, and then a dear friend is coming to visit. Monday is the funeral and party for dear friend.

In the midst of this, there are meals to plan and cook and CVS to visit for diapers and milk and, most importantly, children who will need attention. They will need time to be with me, too.

Occasionally, at moments like this, I think it may not have been the smartest idea in the world to keep the kids with me non-stop. I end up writing sermons at midnight and showering at 1 a.m. Sometimes I think it would be easier if we had regularly scheduled separation from each other.

But, for me, in my little church, these times are few and far between. And tonight, I know a little body will press up against me after they are both in bed with us or Daniel will run/trip over to me and pull on me until I pick him up and he can settle into the crook of my arm with a bottle or Annalivia will say something like, "Mommy, you are my dearest darling Mommy-toes!" tomorrow. And even as I'm trying to get out of the house with nylons unscathed by little hands, it will all make sense once again.

God has called me to some pretty big things, I believe.

It will all work.

Free money!! (really!)

Have you heard about Revolution Money Exchange? It is similar to Paypal and if you sign up before April 15, you will get a free $25 for doing so.

AND you can refer friends and if they sign up, you will get a free $10 credited to your account, up to $500.

If you think it's something you'd like to do, please consider clicking through on my link!


FYI -- this is totally completely legitimate and above-board!

April's clergy-tax tip of the day*

If you have difficulties with the whole quarterly-estimate thing and you are married and file jointly, you can have your spouse withhold more from their checks and forego paying quarterly payments. As long as the government has it, they don't penalize you.

*this is the only day I'll have a tax-tip because I know almost nothing about taxes. And you should check this one out with your accountant. It works for us. We're getting a BIG refund this year!!

A little giveaway

I've decided to give away a very, very, very lightly used copy of the book, Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. It's a nice book, but I'm downsizing and think now that I've read it, I can use the concepts pretty easily without the book taking up space.

If you want in, leave me a comment confessing how you pull one over on your children on this post by Friday, April 11 at 5 p.m. central time. I'll choose by random selection. Feel free to pass along the news. International entries welcome, too.

My confession: I cut things in half and say, "See... now you have two!" in the happiest voice I can manufacture. I think #1 is starting to figure it out though.

Free Starbucks on Tuesday!

Tomorrow, visit a Starbucks at 11 a.m. Central Time and get a free cuppa.

Visit any participating U.S. Starbucks store on Tuesday, April 8 at 9 a.m. Pacific Time (12 p.m. Eastern Time) and Starbucks will give all customers a complimentary short (8 oz.) cup of the new Pike Place Roast™ to enjoy as they participate in a simultaneous, nationwide, coast-to-coast, coffee tasting conducted by Starbucks coffee experts. More here.

And lift a toast to your friend April who is, alas, too far from a Starbucks to justify gas cost for the free cup. :(

Big day

Today I was supposed to go to my alma mater for an alumni board meeting. I was feeling kind of icky last night and also this morning when I got up to get ready, so I decided to stay home.

It was a good decision to do so. It was an absolutely gorgeous day here -- got up to 63 degrees, I think! And as long as I didn't eat anything, I felt pretty good. Dennis and the kids and I were in the backyard most of the day and worked on it ready for spring and then moved on to the garage which is need of a huge rescue. We made a dent, which is good.

After the outside work, we came inside and everyone took a bath/ shower, and then Dennis and I tackled our hall closet. It's an odd closet between the bathroom and bedrooms that just ends up being junky. I needed a place to store all of my CVS finds, so we cleaned it all up. It's just lovely. Right now the door is open to it and we keep walking by and sighing because it all looks so nice.

We are in the midst of a massive reformation and redistribution of our possessions. What we should have done when Dennis and I got married and conflated our stuff into one ranch style home, we are doing now with lots of kids' stuff thrown in the mix. We have big plans and the garage and hall closet are key to all of them.

I am going to start taking before and after pictures. Hopefully, by the time summer is over, no one will recognize this house!

What happened here?

The entire contents of Annalivia's room and closet dumped on the floor.

Me: Annalivia! What happened here?!?
Annalivia: I was trying to make a mountain!

Toy management

We have too many toys.
I strongly suspect that little elves sneak in here during the night and add more toys to the fracas, but that theory has yet to be proved.
Last night Dennis and I went through the toys and put a TON of them in a plastic bag to be sold at our spring garage sale (which we ARE going to have, darn it!). We got rid of all the cheap plastic toys, some stuffed animals and all of the electronic things, or anything that makes noise by itself.
A while ago, my mom had read somewhere that a family handled their plethora of toys by dividing them up into several containers and each day a new container was brought forth. At the end of the day, the toys were put away.
I personally thought this was brilliant. We have tried putting away some for a month or so, but there is still just too much choice. And while that probably means that we should just get rid of a whole lotta the toys, the kids really DO play with ALL of those that are left after our purging. And, honestly, Dennis and I are suckers because we think the remainder are cool toys!
SO -- anyway, we divided up the remainder, into some bins. We've got wooden toys, puzzles, a shape sorter and a bead game in one. The wooden kitchen range, pots and pans and teaset and food are in another. All of the Little People stuff is in one set of bins. Another has the Thomas trainsets. Another has cars and other "things that go". And the final one has some plastic animals in it. The last bin will eventually hold dress-up stuff, I think. Annalivia has her dolls and some stuffed animals in her bedroom. Daniel has a little box that can be added to at some point when he claims his own toys. And I think I'm going to develop a little box of Waldorf-esque dolls for Annalivia to take in the car and add the wood clackers, etc to it for Daniel.
I'd imagine that this system will have to be tweaked as the kids grow older. Right now, Annalivia plays with all of those things and Daniel plays with whatever Annalivia is playing with. Maybe their choices will differentiate at some point.
But I'm thinking that for now this will work better for us.

Today is Little People day. So far it's been a big hit.

UPDATE! CLEAN-UP IS A BREEZE!! TWO MINUTES. LITERALLY!! HURRAH!!

Pizza monster

Annalivia has become a little pizza-holic. Whenever we ask her what she wants to eat she says, "How about some pizza?"
Yesterday we got up in the morning and she wanted pizza. We actually got pizza for lunch after a long, long doctor's appointment and she had no sooner finished eating it than she said, "Maybe we could have some pizza for dinner."
Today she had just finished eating lunch and asked, "Mommy, can I have some pizza?"
I think if she had nothing but pizza and chocolate, she would be a very happy girl.

April Veriditas

I had a professor in seminary who, in addition to being brilliant and articulate, was also one of the kindest persons I ever met. She was a true gift to all of those who studied under her.

When I met her, she had just finished writing a book on the mystics and was awash with all sorts of wonderful imagery. One day in class, she mentioned Hildegard von Bingen's concept of veriditas, the "greening of the soul," in which the soul become lush, fertile, verdant, and welcoming to the seed of God's grace planted therein.

I have been thinking about this month of April and have decided that, as the Earth greens and the blogosphere begins teeming with posts on how to be more ecologically responsible or fashionably "Green", that I would take the opportunity to do some spiritual greening. I've got some changes to make if I want to experience some significant spiritual blossoming, and this seems to be the perfect time to prepare the soil of my heart.

Anyone else needing some spiritual gardening?

Help me, mothers of boys!

I know I could probably just spend a while researching this on the internet, but I'd prefer to deal with anecdotal evidence instead...

Moms of boys -- have you found that your little guys need a certain amount of physical play from you in order to function well?

I ask this because Daniel was fussy/ punky today. I tried kissing him and feeding him and walking around with him and singing to/ dancing with him. All were temporary fixes. In frustration, I held him by his hips upside down in front of my face and started tickling him and kissing him and he started laughing. For the next 30 minutes, I flipped him around and tickled him and had him doing gymnastics and basically doing what my Gramps and Dad always call "getting worked over." He was laughing and happy the whole time. And he didn't want to stop, but my wrist was killing me, so we had to stop. After that, he was pretty content, though he kept coming over to me to wag his head and get some more tickling.

It occurred to me that long ago I heard that boys tend to form intimacy in relationships through physical play, while girls tend to form intimacy through verbal interaction. It makes sense to me that rough-housing would be helpful for a little guy. But I am the eldest of four girls. Our physical contact was either loving or such that Roo and I still bear scars from each other's fingernails. It wasn't playful that I really recall (correct me if I'm wrong, Mom).

Any mothers out there find that your boys need a different kind of physical contact from you than your girls do?

Gramps update

I got to go see my grandfather tonight. I got there a little while after visiting hours had ended, but I got to go up. When I walked into the room, he was sitting on the edge of the bed with Sudoku and a crossword in front of him. And he was listening to Fox News and had a little pad of paper on which he had written "Alan Bradley" and "Black Liberation Theology". I took that as a good sign.

We got to talk for about an hour and he sounded good, looked good -- a little tired by the end, and it seems as though he is on the right track for healing.

Thanks for the prayers. Those of you who know me, know that my grandfather means the world to me, and to the rest of the family. We are very, very grateful for the time we have together with him.

Prayers for Grampy, please?

My grandfather is in the hospital tonight. He has been sick for the last few days -- sick enough to miss morning-coffee-with-the-guys at Hardees and today when getting up from his computer, he fainted. He fell and tried to get up again and fell again.

He is getting intravenous antibiotics and has a bad case of bronchitis. Gramps is very strong in spirit, but he has a bad heart, as he is wont to remind us, and this doesn't help. He is supposed to be in the hospital for a few days. If you'd lift a prayer for Kaywin, I'd appreciate it.

Deluxe dinner...sorta

Tonight, I tried to create a fabulous dinner for us, but it was one of those that just didn't quite...get there. Ever have those?

It fell short on almost every level....

• The chicken-fried steak with beef I found on mark-down yesterday wasn't really tender like it should be.
• The gravy wasn't very smooth and there wasn't enough of it. (Gravy scarcity is difficult for a McClure girl to handle. I may have cried.)
• The mashed potatoes were really good, but not very hot.
• The crust on the homemade apple pie was lovely on the outside, but turned to mush on the bottom.
• I forgot the green beans.

I will have to say -- the canned corn was delicious. It's hard to screw that up, though.

Don't you hate it when you try and ALMOST get there? Bugs the heck out of me.

Beef that won't kill us

So we got half a beef today. It is grass-fed, organic and from a local farmer. We ended up paying about $3/ lb which is considerably more than we would pay for the regular old delicious and artery-hardening supermarket beef, but about as reasonable as we could find for the good stuff.

We haven't cooked with it yet, but I will post my impressions when we do. My sistah, Kali, the Hereford-lover is doubtful, I think, that we will appreciate it. But I think our arteries will appreciate will and they are our primary concern just now.

Hip, hip HOORAY!!

Oh, I have been far too "vocal" here on this blog today, but I MUST share my EXCITEMENT after coming home from a Ministry Teams meeting at church tonight!

WE ARE STARTING A MEN'S GROUP!!!

This has been a five-year prayer of mine and tonight, it actually got calendared! And semi-organized! And I had almost nothing to do with it except that I asked if the guys were going to make us a Mother's Day breakfast and then pointed out that April would be an excellent time to have a men's group meeting so that the first big project together could be breakfast for us. And from there... it took off!!

Oh, I'm just so freaking excited!

AND -- we also decided to do an outreach dinner of some sort in the next few months, we calendared a dulcimer group to play at church and highlight our new adaptable sanctuary. We got Vacation Bible School on the calendar and started getting excited about that. We decided to invite a Bluegrass group to come and play for a special service this summer. The group asked me to look into hosting an ongoing parenting class this summer and we decided to hold an Ice Cream Social again. And we also decided to make a concerted outreach effort to children of folks already in our church as well as folks in the surrounding neighborhood.

I can hardly believe it.

After about five years of blah-ministry-as-usual, folks are excited about church!

I'm praying that nowadays I know enough to shut-up and stay out of the way of the Spirit's moving.

For, lo, it came to pass in Year 7...

that April was excited again!!

Oh, God is so, so, so, SOOOOOOO good!!

Truly magnificent beauty tips

Once again, Ann V at Holy Experience has whispered her gracious wisdom directly to my soul. I have spent the last few days of this week, suffering from skin revenging itself upon me after I put desperate makeup on it.
Ann has reminded me of what true beauty is. Armed with this lovely article and this follow-up and a tub of Eucerin, I will use her wise prescription.
I do disagree with her on one count though. She is extraordinarily beautiful. I don't know how, empirically, anyone could say otherwise and spiritually, she is just... radiant.

My little enabler

Annalivia is an overly-caring big sister sometimes.

Her brother has developed an affinity for washable crayons. He gnaws on them. And despite my best efforts to keep them locked away, the last few days, he has emerged from Annalivia's room proudly holding a crayon with little bits of purple or green or red around his mouth and a tongue that is markedly NOT its normal color.

Upon seeing his stained face, Annalivia will disappear into the bathroom and shortly reappear with a sopping-wet washcloth she will use to wipe up his face as he squirms around and she says things like, "Oooooh, dahlink! I must wash your face, dahlink." (a la Miss Lily on Angelina Ballerina)
Today, I wondered aloud to Daniel, "How are you finding these things, Daniel?"

Annalivia answered, "I GAVE it to him!"

I asked her why she did that.

"I wanted to wash his face," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

So helpful.

News bulletin -- tech-impaired moron learns how to read blogs

I am probably the last person in the blogosphere to figure this out, but I have just learned about Google Reader and I think it will change my blog-reading life.

Easter debrief before moving on

Easter was exhausting.

Probably less so for me, though, than it was for Jesus.

(Just keepin' some perspective.)

We had an incredibly busy end to Holy Week. Our sanctuary carpet/ remodelling thing was finished on Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday evening we had our final Soup for the Soul service, then went to church to set up for Maundy Thursday's dinner. I was there til about 9:30 p.m. Thursday's dinner was lovely -- sparsely attended, but lovely. Once again, I was there far too late and got home about 10. Friday, Dennis got up and went to church at 7:45 a.m. to help set up the sound system. We joined him at about 9:30, then I had a service at noon, went back to church at 1 and he met me at 2 with the kids to finish the sound system. We all left about 6:30 p.m. Saturday we spent the entire morning and early afternoon there and then I came back in the evening. I was hot-gluing moss to the top of Easter centerpieces in the fellowship hall at 9:15 p.m. when it occurred to me that things had gotten out of hand.

Easter morning, Dennis and I were in charge of Easter breakfast, somehow, and mangaed to get to church, with the family in our finery about 3 minutes after we had planned to be there. I also ended up being in charge of Sunday School, though thankfully, I was able to just hand the craft and instructions to another adult and have them supervise the kids as they ate breakfast. Then we debuted the new sanctuary during worship and had a great crowd -- almost twice what we have been averaging in these winter months! It was a great service and, I think, most people ended up leaving happy.

We had planned to go out for Easter brunch with friends, but other friends cancelled and so on and so forth, so we ended up having brunch here. We got home about noon and our friends and Dennis' mom came over and because of shoddy planning on my part, we didn't eat until 1:30 p.m., which is exactly when we would have been eating had we gone out to eat. Oh well. It was good and everything that was supposed to be hot, was, in fact, hot. Except the asparagus, which was sort of lukewarm.

And when the friends and Dennis' mom had left and Daniel was asleep and Annalivia was having some quiet time, the dishes were washed, the nice clothes were shed, and we had vegged out in front of our laptops, I laid down with Daniel to get him back to sleep and ended up taking a two-hour nap with him. It was lovely.

And so was the weekend. It is exhausting, but in one sense, I truly love the activity involved in this special time. There is something about making these celebrations as significant and precious as possible that is just very fulfilling for me. Fulfilling at the same time it is energy-depleting. I think I will probably feel different at some point in my life, but for now, this is good.

Today has been a day of recovery. I am enjoying doing almost nothing.

Tomorrow, we'll move on.

More easter pics

More easter pics can be found at Dennis' oft-defunct blog.
(eta: fixed the link!)

Easter Sunday

The fam

My girl

My guys

More on CVS...

Since a couple of folks have asked about it...

Here are some great links on the CVS Extra Care Bucks Program.

A great intro is here. An article titled CVS 101 has more detailed info. There's even more info here, Making CVS Work for You.

It can be overwhelming. My advice is -- don't give into the pressure to find The Perfect Deal your first times doing it. I wandered around the store today for 30 minutes and emerged with nothing. Digest what you can and if you think it will help you and your family, go try it out, and try not to get discouraged.

And let me know how it goes!

Let's celebrate the first day of spring with... um.... a Winter Storm Watch?

Yep. That's what we're going to be looking for tonight and tomorrow. Good Friday services are going to be contingent on what happens after the stinkin' Winter Storm comes through.

This winter just doesn't want to give it up, does it?

My new best friend, CVS*

I LOVE CVS!!!

I went and got a deal today. I am such a newbie at this and am almost completely unable to do it on my own. But thanks to brilliant, wise and amazing Money Saving Mom and the very creative Centsible Sawyer, I was able to get -- 1 lipgloss worth $8.99, 1 bodywash worth $6.99, 2 deodorants worth $1.69 each and a gallon of milk -- ALL for $3.12!!!

AND I got $12 in Extra Care Bucks to spend next time. "Next time" is going to be tomorrow, I think, when I'm going to try out a different deal and see if I can make some more ECB's! So much fun -- and all this stuff I don't really need!

*with apologies to my real best friends.

Bloggity blahggity blah blah blah -- 10 things on a Tuesday

1. Dennis is home! I picked him up from O'Hare on Sunday night at 7:40, got him home with requested pizza by 9:40. We walked into the house and Annalivia said, "Hi, Daddy," like it was any other day. Daniel was running laps, thanks in part, I think, to the steroids he's on. We all got to bed late, but it was worth it.
2. Daniel is doing much better after a bout with... asthma, maybe? We were in the emergency room on Saturday for about 7 hours while he cried and wheezed and gasped and so on. But he's better now.
3. My Holy Week is ending up to be pretty organized. I have services on Wed, Thurs, and Fri. I only have a bulletin, a meditation and a sermon to finish. I'm feeling pretty good about it.
4. The carpet is almost done at church, which means we are going to get to spend some time on Thurs and Friday playing with Easter arrangements in the mostly finished sanctuary.
5. My church secretary has been totally amazing lately -- coming in early, working hard, finishing everything in time, AND not doing anything "helpful," thus causing more work for me.
6. Dennis has agreed to have a couple of yard sales this summer and spend the summer decluttering, organizing and painting up the parsonage as though we are going to live in it for the NEXT seven years, too. He has no classes this summer. That means he gets to be my peon. :)
7. Our Easter outfits are coordinated and mostly assembled. I love Easter outfits.
8. After church on Sunday, we are going out with some other pastors and their families for brunch. One couple we know very well. The other we are getting to know, but like tremendously so far. I'm looking forward to it and am praying for exemplary behavior from my daughter.
9. I got an anonymous political comment recently. I kind of feel like I hit the big time.
10. My Sunday paper did not have any of the coupon inserts in it. It had plenty of ads. No coupon inserts. This bothers me because I'm trying to legally pillage CVS through the Extra Bucks program and I planned to triumph today. Since my call to the paper has not been returned, I guess I'll have to wait.

24 hours

This time, tomorrow, Dennis should be home. Thank you, Lord.

Interesting info on Muslim thought

Did anybody else out there catch the Mar. 3 broadcast of NPR's Talk of the Nation? It was an interview with Dalia Mogahed, one of the authors of a recent book called, Who Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think which was based on a self-funded six-year Gallup study of Muslims throughout the world.

I thought it was very interesting. I would like to see the hard data -- in addition to the interpretation -- and have asked my library to see if they can inter-library-loan it for me so it can sit on the desk waiting to be read until I return it. The program was about 30 minutes. As with all call-in shows, part of it is ridiculous, but part of it is fascinating. I'd recommend it if you have the time.

Among the interesting points --

• That which is most admired about the West by both Westerners AND Muslims was freedom and technological advances.
• That which was most criticized about the West by both Westerners AND Muslims was the breakdown of moral values.
• Radical Muslims are not more likely to live in poverty or be undereducated.
• Those who identify themselves as radicals do not generally identify themselves as more religious than moderates.
• Most Muslims thought Americans were likeable, though most had not met Americans.

I don't really know what all this means, but it is an interesting conversation and one that could be very informative.

Not to count chickens prematurely...

BUT -- I must record this here because it is just too...full, I guess, to hold in my brain alone any more.

• Amazing things are happening at my little church.
• The carpet in the sanctuary has been torn out.
• To do that, the junky funeral-home organ and piano and everything else have been moved out.
• The gorgeous hardwood floors under the pews have been refinished.
• While the carpet was torn out, a group of folks decided that we may as well change the chancel while we are at it.
• We got bids and hired a contractor all within a week (it took 7 (SEVEN!!!) years to actually agree to getting the carpet replaced.
• Work begins tomorrow.
• The built-in pulpit and weird railings are coming out. It will be opened up into a lovely design a la my sweet love.
• Work should be finished on SATURDAY!
• The new carpet -- a completely new color -- goes in on Monday.
• We should be back in the sanctuary on Easter.
• There has been talk of not moving the organ back and getting a clavinova instead!!
• There has been talk of taking down the picture a friend calls "the Olan Mills' portait of Jesus" that hangs over the baptistry in the very front of the church where normal churches have a cross (I know, I know) and getting stained glass windows to hang in the baptistry window instead.
• I have not been part of any of the discussions, for the most part, and have been doing behind-the-scenes scheming and influencing instead.

And, lo, it came to pass in year seven that...something changed. And the place where the minister was confronted about an affair in worship and the children stopped being baptized because they were no longer there and half of the congregation walked out of worship after a pastor was fired -- was suddenly -- not the same.

This is big.

Mamet, I concur

Friends, and folks with access to my Facebook profile, and people who drive by my van with the John McCain sticker, know that I am trending towards a more conservative political view these days. David Mamet, well-known playwright, has recently published a piece, "Why I am no longer a brain-dead liberal." It resonates with me. You can read it here.

(Those with delicate sensibilities should know there is a bit of profanity.)

Godsends

Right now, Annalivia is playing with our family friend, 14-year old, K. K is here to spend the night and then will go to church with us in the morning. I am SO grateful that she is here and is able to entertain Annalivia while I finish stuff tonight.

My mother-in-law just headed home after having dinner with us tonight. She came over when I had to visit a parishioner in the hospital. Tomorrow she is going to watch the kids while I am at my choir rehearsal and Evensong and then she's coming over on Monday to stay with them while I'm at the doctor's office. Then on Tuesday, she's going to go with us to the Quad Cities and on Wednesday, she's going to watch them during a church service.

Thursday she's going to Wisconsin for a much-needed break.

During this time that Dennis has been gone, it has amazed me how much help I've received from other people. His mom has been available at the drop of a hat; my grandparents entertained us in their basement after an impromptu visit. My sister and mom provided diversions when we got out of the car after our trip south, or before getting back into the car to head north. Friends have watched Annalivia and Daniel run around while I was cleaning up a church dinner and church members have stepped in to lend a hand so I wouldn't have to do so.

We are so blessed. I find every day to be filled with unexpected gratitude for others.

It leads me to pray I never again go through one of those pitiful phases of life wherein I think no one cares about me or the perceived challenges of my life.

The evidence to the contrary is just overwhelming.

The problem with being repetitive

So, someone in our house recently left for Russia. Upon saying goodbye, those of us at home gathered in the living room where I was a little teary. Annalivia climbed up on my lap and asked me why I was crying.

I told her that I was a little sad and why.

She wiped the tears off of my cheek with her hand and then asked very gently, "Can you go do your fussin' in your bedroom?"

Stinker.

The perils of motherhood

Tonight, I had a church service to lead so I dressed sort of carefully in a new top and similarly-toned cardigan.

I made the mistake, however, of putting my clothes on a couple hours before I left. Mothers of small children, will tell you that's a poor idea, especially during cold season. I was reminded of this during a conversation with one of my more fun parishioners who has raised several children of her own.

Parishioner: You look nice. I think you have something in your hair, though.
Me *feeling hair*: Ugh! I think it's snot.
Parishioner: You also have something on your sweater.
Me *looking at smudge on sweater*: Also snot.
Parishioner: I hesitate to mention it, but you also have something there *pointing to my top*
Me: That would be... snot.
Parishioner: Well.... at least it goes with everything.

A proper tea...ish

Annalivia has been wanting to have another tea party for a while, so today after Daniel went down for his nap, we had a proper tea party. Sort of. We had table linen and a lovely embroidered runner, teacups and an actual teapot and creamer jug. And we had hats.

What we did NOT have was a proper appreciation for tea.

I promise -- we did have a nice time...

Our resources

Dennis and I are not what I would call "frugal" people. Not at all, really. We like getting a deal on something as much as most folks, but I would not say we have a frugal mindset.

Or, rather, we haven't.

In the past few months, I've been taking notice of the expendable and disposable nature of many of our daily choices in our lives. We have not been deliberate in using our resources, I'm ashamed to admit. And it is something we are working on changing. Our goal is to learn how to live on less than one income and it has been, rather abstractly, for some time. Now we are taking concrete steps towards that goal. Baby steps, but actual movement, nonetheless.

I've found a lot of inspiration from several places recently: Like Merchant Ships, Money Saving Mom, Frugal Hacks and Frugal Abundance. Most of the women who write at these sites are motivated to frugality less out of absolute necessity and more because of their personal philosophies and especially, their faith.

I am very appreciative of these people who challenge me to put faith into action in ways I've not considered, or have been lax in enacting. I'm realizing that the way I treat my resources -- and not just the money we earn -- but also my time and my talents and the treasure I have in possessions and, most importantly, people -- speaks volumes to the extent of my desire to follow Jesus with my whole self.

So I'm working on becoming a "frugal person" with a frugal mindset. I'll be letting you know how it goes.

The looming departure

So I've not mentioned it here because it may be stupid, but someone in our family is getting ready to go to Russia pretty soon.

It's not me.

This weekend, we are preparing ourselves: Doing important things like airing out the mattress -- well, our version, anyway, which involves opening all the windows in a bedroom and shutting the door; And we're doing lots of laundry; And cooking lots of stuff; And making lists; And making sure bills are paid and that there are detailed written instructions about what to do in case Chechnyan separatists ruin the trip. That sort of thing...

AND, and, and!!! Dennis and I are going on a date tonight!! By ourselves!! (I'm kind of excited -- can you tell?)

There are definite advantages to preparing for absence. One becomes acutely aware of presence.

And that sure is a good thing.