the quote board

the end of an era

2009-01-05T20:03:00.002-05:00

Well folks, I think this is it. For some people, blogging is a real outlet - and I'm realizing that I am not one of those people. Pre-facebook, it was my main way of sharing myself with others that weren't part of my daily life. But I was never the girl that kept a consistent diary (more apologies than anything - "Dear Diary, It's been soooooo long since I last wrote!"), and my blog is seeming to head along that same path. So for now, I'll see everyone on facebook - or even better, in person!!

testing, testing, 1 2 3...

2008-10-01T12:56:00.004-04:00

So, I couldn't think of any clever or funny way at the moment to intro this bit of news, but I'd figure I'd let all 3 of you that read this in on the most recent developments in our quest to get Sophia to gain weight. Sophia is growing! Hooray, right? Sort of hooray. Apparently she's getting taller even faster than kids normally do at this age, so she's up to the 50th percentile in height. Hot dog! And she's gaining weight, but it's still on the same little curve that she's made below the chart (Is that a negative percentile? Is there such a thing as the zero-eth percentile? What's below that?) So while she's definitely growing, the height/weight ratio is getting bigger, which according to the gastroenterologist, means 'worse.' Her appetite is still fairly non-existent too. (You would not believe how many people have told me how much they would kill to have this problem, and I got to tell you, it's sort of a comfort to hear that...but...not really.)

She's still on meds to treat her reflux (we think it's working?), but the erythromycin never really made her hungry. And that's the best option to treat poor appetite, as far as side effects go. So...Sophia gets to have a sweat test and upper GI endoscopy w/biopsy to see if there are any underlying reasons for the DGE - food allergies, bacterial infections, or still-high acid levels etc.

The sweat test isn't a huge procedure, but the endoscopy does involve total anesthesia. :( Fortunately, she won't remember a bit of it, and she'll have little if any side effects from the procedures. The sweat test is tomorrow, and the endoscopy is Tuesday, so we'd love your prayers! Most of all, that God's will would be done in all this, but especially that we might get some answers, and that we would be calm and flexible while dealing with all the doctors and waiting rooms!

breakfast butz

2008-09-12T14:11:00.004-04:00

Since northern Delaware in functionally considered a suburb of Philly, football season has brought new Eagles cereal to our local Acme grocery stores. Unfortunately the all-caps font they chose for the box makes the title a bit ambiguous looking. I couldn't help snickering to myself like a middle-schooler for a few minutes after I finally figured out that it was supposed to be "Breakfast Blitz." Finding a pic was more difficult than I had the time/energy for, so here's the Fox Philly news clip

Is it just me? ;) I think not.

still alive....

2008-09-12T13:16:00.005-04:00

Yes, world, I'm still here! The busyness/travel/lack of routine of the summertime morphed into a molehill-turned-mountain of pictures and adventures, and the thought of blogging, even when the free time presented itself, felt overwhelming. Then I remembered....this is not graded. Ha! There still lurks a little bit of 'if you can't do it thoroughly and well, don't even attempt it' bit of twisted perfectionist in me that comes out in the strangest ways sometimes. So...pictures are on Facebook, traveling and visiting with dear friends and family was marvelous, and we are now back in the comfortable routine of fall - complete with cooler weather and much raking (stupid tree next door).

My friend Jennifer had a funny online experiment on her blog, and I've decided to give it a go. Here are her instructions: Go to Google, search for "(insert your name) needs," and then laugh at the hilarious things that come up. Read below to enjoy some of the things that I apparently need:

1. Erin needs another miracle.
2. Erin needs to wear shirts that have straps. (uhhh...think I got that one covered. (no pun intended!)
3. Erin needs another cable access show.
4. Erin needs a Harley.
5. Erin needs a friend.
6. Erin needs a liver transplant.
7. Erin needs advice.
8. Erin needs your prayers!
9. Erin needs to do the dishes.
10. Erin needs a place to live.
11. Erin needs a makeover.
11. Erin need help.
12. Erin needs some posse love and support.
13. Erin needs some of her own medicine.
14. Erin needs a nap. (always!)

Some of these are definitely true, others, thankfully not. Let me know what your name turns up!

fun recipes

2008-06-25T17:35:00.004-04:00

In the neverending quest to find new things that Sophia will either eat or be entertained by (sometimes the two aren't so far apart!), I came across two great recipes in the last few days that were moderate successes - so here they are!

Play-Doh

2 c. flour
1 c. salt
4 tsp. cream of tartar
2 c. water
2 Tbsp. oil
food coloring

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and whisk until well blended. In a heavy skillet or saucepan, cook on med. low for 2-3 minutes until thick. Knead until smooth.

Mine needed exactly 13 minutes of cooking to get to play-doh consistency, so I'm not sure how 2-3 minutes is possible, but that's what the original calls for. I'm actually not sure where I got this recipe - I remember finding it online when I taught at Magnolia, and it was a big hit with the kiddos. I had forgotten about it until I made an awful play-doh recipe my pediatrician gave me the other day (half a cup of oil! you can imagine the mess...), and thankfully I still had a copy of the recipe for the good stuff. Of course, Sophia was totally sketched out by the feel of it, but I bet your little bitties (and you! you know you love the stuff. :) ) will have a grand ole time with it. She has been completely enamored with the plastic spoons and straws we dug out to use with the play-doh, so that's been a nice plus for this afternoon! :D

Loafer's Loaf

(from Feed Me, I'm Yours, a cookbook from the 70's lovingly passed along from Julia)

1 lb. ground beef
1 1/4 cup oatmeal, uncooked
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1 cup milk
2/3 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup minced onion
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup grated American cheese

Combine all ingredients. Pack into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr. 10 min.

I actually followed a suggestion the cookbook had on a different page - make mini-loaves in a muffin tin! I have no idea how long I baked them (20-30 min? It was a bit bonkers that particular night, and I was just peeking and checking til they looked done.) I also didn't have celery salt (who does?), so I just used regular old salt. Bonus? Josh loved these!! He spread ketchup on them and asked that they be added to our dinner rotation. :) Sophia liked the few bites she took (yes, only a few bites....the meds aren't doing jack at this point), but today she's rejected them outright. Ahh, toddlerhood.

I've been to Richmond and back since the last post, and I'll see if I can get some pictures up of Jonathan and Joel's graduation. (Mine came out sadly blurry.) I also had a fabulous, short, and slightly chaotic visit with Julia - needless to say, neither of us had any free hands for picture-taking! Other than that, our summer routine has been just that - fairly routine! We're in the midst of transitioning from two naps to one....whew! That's another post entirely - I'll probably wait til I can put a good positive "hindsight is 20/20" kind of slant on that. ;)

lifestyle changes

2008-06-03T11:41:00.003-04:00

Well, after many months (almost 6!) of trying to figure out why our otherwise healthy toddler generally isn't interested in eating or gaining any kind of weight, we finally have some answers. Hallelujah! May 23rd was Sophia's gastric emptying scan, which we had been dreading/praying about for some months, mainly because it involved her drinking a couple ounces out of a sippy cup in 10 minutes (which she usually was not interested in) and lying totally still for an hour, unsedated (umm...is that even possible for anyone under the age of 12?).

But sure enough, she gulped the 3 oz. of milk mixed with something radioactive, so it must have been as tasteless as they promised. (It definitely helped that she hadn't had anything to eat or drink yet since she had gotten up a few hours earlier.) She was pretty upset at the nurse who taped her torso down to the scanning table, but after a few minutes, she was chill as could be. Know why? They dimmed the lights, rolled up a little TV cart, and popped in some Blue's Clues. Sophia was MESMERIZED. She's not really a TV watcher yet, and this must have been the coolest thing she'd ever seen. It was nice too - the scanning was being done from underneath her, so we could sit on either side of her, reach over top of her - whatever needed to be done. It was more painless than getting her weighed or measured at the pediatrician!! I mean, the child did not move a muscle for the straight hour. I think she might have twitched a finger in the last ten minutes, but that was it. The nurses were flabbergasted - they'd definitely never seen any kid her age be that still for the whole time. Miraculous!!

And...they called us a few days later (also miraculous) to let us know that she's got moderate reflux and delayed gastric emptying (which means food hangs out in her stomach too long making her not hungry). Some morning Prevacid for the reflux and 3x daily low dose erythromyacin to make her stomach empty out, and we might see some results in the nearish future! She ate like a horse the first night we started the meds, and I got all excited about it, but she hasn't done that since, so I think that was just a fluke. (Darn!) She doesn't love getting the meds squirted in her mouth, but we manage to get them down without too much drama. I'll keep you posted if she suddenly chunks up! :)

The other lifestyle change? Daily SPF 30 now goes on Josh's head. Yep, a visit to our dermatologist this morning confirmed that the two spots on his head that seemed like they were always in process of healing were actually precancerous! Whoa. Fortunately, Dr. Webster froze them off right then and there. So if you have any spots/moles/anything that make you nervous at all, don't hesitate to get them checked out! (PSA over now. :D )

not as rich as we'd hoped - ha!

2008-05-19T21:50:00.003-04:00

yard sale profits: 12 dollars (oh well)

yard sale purchases from others in the community yard sale: 9 dollars (all things we needed! promise!)

going through every inch of our house and clearing out what we don't need/use, plus meeting many many more of our neighbors: priceless!!

and she speaks!

2008-05-01T11:36:00.005-04:00

I just realized that it's been at least four weeks now since Sophia ventured into the realm of first words, and I had yet to post about it! *tsk tsk* Being a linguist and a former teacher of language-disordered kiddos, it's been such fun in a mama way and a nerdly way to watch the process unfold. :D She had never really imitated any sounds we had made - definitely babbled all kinds of strings of different sounds, but never in direct imitation of what we were doing. She could mimic intonation perfectly - 'jibberish' that sounded like adult conversations in some strange language, and strings of tones that sounded exactly like exaggerated things we said to her. ("mmmmm," tones going up then down when she ate something she liked, "mmhmmm?" when she picked up a toy phone, sounding just like when I answer the phone with, "Hello?" and so on)

Then....(April 4th to be exact)...Josh asked her, "Can you say 'Dada?' And out of her mouth came the sweetest little 'dada' that you have ever heard. Just like she had been doing it her whole short little life or something. Ha! "Can you say 'Mama?'" Sure enough...."Mama!" And then the best part...."Where's Dada?" She points...."Dada!" "Where's Mama?" She points again. "Mama!" Later that day, when we were out shopping as a family, she would point to whichever of us wasn't strolling/carrying her and 'label' us with a smile. I've never been so happy to be labeled! :D

Since then, she's added an occasional 'bye-bye' (more often than not, she blows a kiss), ball (baaaah or baaaaow), baby (behBEH), more (moe or meh meh MEH!), a whole host of animal sounds (including 'lalala' for pigs, thanks to the Sandra Boynton classic Moo Baa LaLaLa), and shaking her head yes and no. She's even doing "AH-hmm!" for 'open,' although I think she uses this for 'please,' 'yes,' 'more,' 'I want that," etc. We'll see what she comes up with next! No walking yet, but she does cruise the furniture like nobody's business, so I'll keep you posted. :)

rarity of rarities...

2008-04-14T11:52:00.002-04:00

Fabulous customer service, that is! Here is the recent email exchange that made me love this Canadian company forever and ever:

To Whom it May Concern:

I recently purchased a spray bottle of Linen Water Spray in Blue Lavender from World Market. When I got home, I realized that, not only was the water rather cloudy, but there was a fair amount of white sediment/pieces floating in the bottle. The spray does not smell 'off'; in fact, it smells fantastic! Should I be concerned about the cloudiness/sediment? (I'm not sure how I missed it in the store.) It was on clearance in a branch of World Market that was going out of business, and is therefore nonreturnable. Thank you for your time and response!

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Fruits & Passion!

Please provide us with your address and we will send you a replacement.

Have a nice day,

Amélie Brault -

Customer Service Coordinator / Coordinatrice, Service à la Clientèle
Fruits & Passion
Tel:1-866-638-8417 x 3049
Direct: 450-633-3049

Fax: 1-866-880-6060

Please visit our web site: www.fruits-passion.com

Wow!! I sent that email Saturday, and I got the response this morning. I really wasn't asking for a freebie, but how very generous of them! They definitely deserve a free blog plug. ;)

thoughts on possessions

2008-04-13T21:27:00.002-04:00

I just finished a fabulous read, called It's All Too Much. It's by Peter Walsh, the guy on "Clean Sweep" who helps people get rid of their clutter. (I haven't seen the show, but maybe some out there in the blogosphere know who I'm talking about?) Anywho, I saw a two-part documentary on a woman who had a severe struggle with hoarding, and the rescue/help/tips he was giving her as he dug her out was very different from the usual organize-your-life-with-color-coded-bins kind of wisdom. And joy of all joys, our local library had his new book! (So nice not to have to drop money on something you can borrow. Though..now that I think about it, I might actually add this to our library.)

The first chunk of the book is on why we have clutter....if you don't address that, then it will just come back. Turns out Josh and I have very different reasons! I'm much more of a sentimental clutter person....I can have a tough time letting go of things that connect to memories, events, people, etc. On the other hand, I am ruthless with trash. Car gets cleaned right away after a trip. Junk mail is sorted over the recycling bin before even hitting the kitchen table. Josh is the opposite - great at understanding that mementos don't necessarily equal memories, especially if they're in a box in the basement instead of in a place where they're displayed to enjoy them. I won't rewrite the whole book here (ha!), but let's just say - spring cleaning, here I come! Once we get the car settled, that is.....

Speaking of possessions....a big 'un is a goner. Yep, the lovely little black Honda was officially totaled. I had a good time thinking of the memories attached to it (see a pattern? heh heh), like taking it on some college saran-wrapping capers, driving away from our wedding in it, learning to do some serious snow driving in it in Grove City, and doing many a cross-country trip in it in seminary. The memories will remain though, even if it now rests in a salvage yard somewhere. *sniff sniff* Why are cars so personal, huh?

One last story about possessions, and then I'll end this novel of a post! Earlier this week, I went ...duh duh DUHHH... bathing suit shopping at Target. Blah. I don't care who you are, if you are female, this is not the highlight of your week. I'm really not sure who they're making them for, but clearly the mannequins aren't buying them, so the designers should adjust their proportions a little bit. I'm fine with how I'm created, but something about bathing suit shopping can really drive a person to almost have a dressing room screaming fit. Suit one...nope. Suit two...definitely nope! Suit three....even worse then the other two. *sigh* Alright, dressing room lady, please...I really really really don't want any of these. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I spied one hanging on the rack in the dressing room that someone else had rejected. Try it on...deep breath...hmmm...alright, not bad! I didn't do a happy dance or anything, but it was doable. Whew! Check the price tag.....$8.74!! As a lady in my church says, ''At'll do ya, hallelujah!!! Now it was time for the happy dance. :)

a sad day

2008-03-21T12:59:00.002-04:00

Yes, a sad day indeed. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and Josh had decided to keep Sophia at home while I went to a Women in the Church meeting that morning, so I was by myself. And hooray - it wasn't my fault. (whew!)
I had slowed down to make a right turn into church (no turn lane) and a guy behind me (not sure if he was directly behind - I think he was a few cars back actually) thought I was turning left into the daycare (obviously not seeing my blinker). So...he decided that he was not willing to wait or slow down and would make the brilliant decision to OFFROAD IT ON THE RIGHT SHOULDER AND DIRT/GRASS AROUND ME. uhhh...yeah. And, seeing as I don't usually check my mirrors to see if someone is in the shoulder while I'm making a right turn, I slammed right into him as he was on my right. He ended up way up on the embankment, with very little damage, and he jumped out right away, apologizing, knowing that he had just done something really stupid and reckless. Fortunately, he admitted fault right away when the cops got there, and I had plenty of witnesses from church, so we won't have to deal with the hassle of a court date or anything like that. Sheesh - what a mess!

It doesn't look so much like it from the pic, but the doors are fairly dinged and dented, and the whole right front side of the engine is pretty mangled, so we'll see if the damage is more than the worth of the car.

Ha ha...and irony of ironies, we had just put four new tires on the day before! Isn't that just the way? Much to be thankful for though, that's for sure.

cause for celebration

2008-02-29T21:35:00.009-05:00

one whole year!! a year of infanthood and a year of parenthood - there is no way to express how unbelievably quickly it's flown. here are a few pics...we mostly took videos, so I'll see if I can get some stills to share down the road. (the 'official' party with grandparents and uncles is in a week - these are from our mommy/daddy party on Sophia's actual birthday.)

playing with the ribbons...the wrapping is just as fun as the presents!

her little cake, complete with flowers and a duck (her favorite things at the moment)

reading a birthday card from Kathy Wargo, while eating some green beans. (She was so happy, relieved even, to be eating veggies instead of the cake!)

odds and ends II

2008-02-29T20:22:00.003-05:00

more random thoughts and observations....

-I decided I would be extra adventurous and cook some Indian food a few weeks ago. Not just curry thrown in with some chicken and rice...oh, no. This was straight-up authentic, go out and buy some garam masala for my spice cabinet, this is the real deal kind of Indian food. The finished product was fairly decent, but I discovered something sneaky about one the spices! Beware if you use turmeric in any of your cooking endeavours - it will turn any white utensils (such as nice spatulas and immersible blenders) bright Easter egg yellow! There could be a fun crafty use for that if it didn't have such a potent smell. :D

-Ever flipped past QVC when watching TV? (I won't ask anyone to admit to watching, or even *gasp* buying something. heh heh) They were selling something (I forget what) for about 20 bucks, and you could use the easy pay plan with four easy payments of 5 bucks if you wanted. Seriously folks - if you need to use the easy pay plan of four easy payments of 5 bucks, you probably shouldn't be buying anything on QVC!

-Sophia's first birthday was yesterday (the official b-day post with pictures is coming soon!), and I decided to make her a 'healthy' cake, as this was her first foray into honest-to-goodness sweets. The recipe called for carrots simmered in juice concentrate pureed to a pulp with some raisins, along with wheat germ, whole wheat flour, eggs, oil, and some other non-sugary ingredients. The batter looked HORRENDOUS (anything with ground raisins cannot be a pleasant color), but the finished mini-cakes and muffins smelled pretty tasty. Sophia gobbled up the little tester crumbles I gave her, so I figured we were set. But as they cooled completely, they definitely developed....crusts. Not bad crusts, just healthy quick bread crusts. Not something cake-like that she could mush her hands in, and definitely not something you would put frosting on. So...into the oven went mini-cakes and cupcakes, round 2. (Fortunately I had bought a back-up box of yellow cake mix in case the nature-baby-all-natural cakes tanked.) Her finished mini-cake was so cute, if I do say so myself, when all was said and done and decorated. And do you know which one she would not eat? Yep, the cake mix one. Four or five licks of frosting for the camera, one or two test nibbles of cake that we broke off for her, and she pushed that sucker away from her. Even after we cleaned her off and offered her a few more bites of plain old cake....nothing. I guess she is a nature baby after all. Or maybe a salt-lover instead? (considering her passion for deli-chicken slices, string cheese, and olives) How the heck a salt-lover came from two die-hard sweet-tooths (sweet teeth?) is beyond me. xD

-

odds and ends

2008-02-17T14:09:00.005-05:00

Sometimes my posts are longer than others, and sometimes they just end up being random lists of things that have recently caught my attention. This is definitely one of the second sort. :)

1. The other day, I ended up behind this SUV that was some sort of mobile veterinarian unit. It's hard to tell from the cell phone pic (don't worry - we were stopped at a light!), but not only does it have "no narcotics on board" painted on the back, but it has one of those little oval decals on the back, this one with the letters "SN" printed on it. What did it stand for? "Spay and neuter." I am officially sick of the little oval decals.

2. Sophia's food tastes are ever changing! She loves finger foods, but the ones she loves make no sense to me! She enjoys some of the typical ones (cheerios, cheese, deli chicken, anything breadlike, bananas), but she must have some serious texture issues going on. She adores pureed fruits and veggies, but she won't touch them if they're in chunk form, not even if they're steamed to the level of softness known as "mush." Know what she likes? Hummus. Yep, my homemade over-the-top-with-garlic-and-cayenne hummus...and peeled and diced olives. heh heh...my little Greek baby.

3. I saw the American Idol guy when I was at the grocery store a few days ago. (see earlier post) I thought about getting someone to take a cell pic of us, remembered what he had actually done on American Idol, and decided against it. :)

4. I've had several other little epiphanies/random trains of thought that I thought would be worth sharing over the past few days, and of course, they've all escaped somewhere now that I have a moment to sit and blog. I guess this means there'll be a part 2!

Pastor Mark Driscoll's take on health and wealth teaching

2008-01-21T09:55:00.000-05:00

" 'Prosperity theology' is that God is a pinata, that faith is a whacking stick, and if you 'claim the promises', then an Escalade with rims, and a flat screen tv, and a summer home, and a grill for your teeth just fall out of heaven...and then you can walk around praising God." Ha!

-from his sermon, "The Rebel's Guide to Joy in Poverty"

oh no

2008-01-20T14:51:00.000-05:00

How many people saw this guy on American Idol last week? We were so dismayed to see that he was from here. The worst? Apparently he works at the customer service desk at our grocery store. *sigh* Ah, Delaware.

in the middle of the night....

2008-01-12T10:37:00.000-05:00

...at 1:00 a.m, precisely...

Me: "I just had the saddest dream! I was sitting on a swingset underneath a big spreading tree, playing my new guitar. I noticed a flock of little black birds sitting above me, and as soon as I realized what might happen, sure enough...they pooped on my guitar! Twice!"

(I didn't wake Josh up to tell him this. We were both stirring in our sleep for some reason, half-way awake. Matching sleep cycles?)

Josh: "Hmm... I was just dreaming that I was sitting in the living room with your parents, and we figured out that we could get to Narnia. So....I'm going to go back to that and follow it."

What???!! I laid there for about half an hour, watching Josh go back to sleep and presumably to Narnia. I never have cool dreams like that! (I asked him about it the next day, and he said that he was able to go back, but he didn't remember anything after that.)

So do any of you have cool dreams like Josh, or are you all like me, dreaming only of old schools you went to, lateness, missing the bus, faking your way through show choir performances, etc.?

now i'm not a phone person....

2008-01-03T21:07:00.000-05:00

...but i had to call julia, even though we'd had a nice long chat the day before. ('course, i'm always a phone person with julia. :) ) as soon as i felt that little sharp nub in the top of sophia's gums, i knew that she could seriously appreciate that there was a reason for the whining and whining and whining had been happening yesterday. sheesh, sophia should have produced a tusk after all that! no not really - ha, poor little love. an icky cold and a tooth coming through - no wonder she was a wreck!

christmas in virginia was a whirlwind, but it was a sweet time with friends and all sides of the family. pictures are coming soon!

it occured to me as i looked at the archive list at the side that i've had this blog for two years now! i was teaching in mississippi when i started, and my blog was filled with witty commentary and cute quotes from the kiddos in my class. my blog is decidedly less witty these days, and the kiddo i'm around all day isn't quite coming out with hilarious soundbites. (though her giggles are awesome) but i have to say...i'm pretty sure this season of life the Lord has us in is full of blessings all its own!

little nice comments and dancing elves

2007-12-17T21:51:00.000-05:00

It's funny how it's the little things that can really make your day. It could have been the fact that Sophia made it through a whirlwind mall trip, and managed to stay cheerful with some help from her best friends, the Cheerios. (Who knew that it would be so crowded on a Monday morning?) Or even that I was able to find everything I needed to, including many things on sale. I even found a few things that were going to wait til another trip! But no - it was the kind comments from two older ladies in line in front of me...

Nice ladies: "What a darling little girl! How old is she? Nine, ten months?"
Me: "Yes! Yes she is!" (trying not to be sound too excited)
Nice ladies: "Why, she's just the right size!"

Now, many strangers look at Sophia's petiteness and say silly things like "Oh wow, she's teeny! My daughter/niece/neighbor's daughter's little girl is that size and she's only 6 months old!" Defensive Erin immediately wants either promise them that I do feed her or just straight up kick them in the shins. (I know they don't mean anything by it, but sheesh people, consider how a first time mom will take what you say!) I was thrilled beyond words for someone to not only guess her correct age, but tell me that she was just right. :D (Of course, I know she's just right, but you know what I mean.)

In other news, our family took a little trip to the North Pole, put on some costumes, and created this dance number just for you all! Enjoy!!

books & bathtime

2007-11-21T14:15:00.001-05:00

Sophia's favorite pasttime is reading! Well, checking herself out in the mirrors in books is probably more like it, but she loves to turn pages too.

And who can resist a great bath? :)

bits and pieces from the fall

2007-11-21T13:27:00.000-05:00

... a lovely shot of the leaves in our backyard. They finally turned!

... and the beautiful maple tree at the Orthodox church across the street...

...and our little pumpkin. :)

apple picking!

2007-11-01T12:46:00.000-04:00

...and Sophia's first hayride, which I was not expecting. (Who knew the actual orchards we were picking from were so far away and not the ones right by the parking lot?) She did so well though - she just loves being outside, whatever we're doing. I don't think she had a clue what a cute oh-so-traditionally-fall thing we were doing, but whatever. :)

Now that we have yummy Fuji apples coming out of our ears, does anyone have any favorite apple recipes? I already made Sophia some fresh applesauce, but that just made a little dent in the pile.

milestones and other thoughts...

2007-10-04T12:34:00.000-04:00

i'm not sure why the blogging has been sparse lately; sophia's in bed by 6:30 (whoo hoo! check out Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child if you want the how-to), so i really have no excuses. maybe time on facebook has become a substitute? ;)

anywho, here are some updates since I last wrote something. we have been teething, sleeping through the night, and today - babbling! (sophia, not me - ha! although i guess i've been sleeping through the night now too. yesssssssss.) So, i know it's not super crucial the exact time babbling happens, but as a former student and teacher of all things language development, i was pretty stoked. of course the digital camera was with josh, but i got some low quality vids on my phone, and even managed to get her to do it while i was on the phone with josh so he could hear it.

hope everyone is enjoying their fall!

Things I've Learned About Myself from Guitar Hero

2007-09-03T12:37:00.000-04:00

1. This game is tough on us perfectionists....especially ones who already play guitar.
2. Guitar Hero is nothing like playing guitar, but my brain thinks it is. It keeps trying to make up rhythms that don't exist.
3. My contacts dry out when I play, because apparently I forget to blink.
4. Despite #'s 1-3, the game is still wickedly addicting. ;)
Thanks to Jonathan and Joel for getting me hooked at the beach!

Here's a cutie picture of Sophia in her beach hat. Don't be fooled by the big grin - she was scared to death of the water and the wet sand! Poor thing. She did seem to have a good time as long as she was held high above those mean old tidal pools. :)

pictures pictures!!!

2007-08-04T20:59:00.001-04:00

Have some free time? Here are links to LOADS of pics from David and Julie's beautiful wedding!! Their photographer was very creative and got some amazing shots...so get comfy and enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jdkmusic/DavidJulieDayBeforeTheWedding
http://picasaweb.google.com/jdkmusic/DavidJulieWeddingDay
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=3045683

on the road again...

2007-08-03T13:45:00.000-04:00

two funny things recently seen on our travels....

1. a license plate that said "BILN SUE" - I thought it was a lawyer's car at first, but then realized it was probably just a couple named Bill and Sue. Ha!

2. a breast cancer awareness pink ribbon sticker that said "Save the Ta-tas!"

"ummm...we've found an elephant walking down the street."

2007-07-13T13:34:00.000-04:00

This is great! I love the tone of the kid's voice...

(sorry you have to cut and paste the link, for some reason)

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2007/07/12/stevens.loose.elephants.gnn

angry and laughing, all in two minutes...

2007-07-11T22:00:00.000-04:00

First, the thing that made me angry....

Now those of you that know me well know how agitated I get when I see people flinging apostrophes everywhere they don't belong...usually in plurals instead of possessives.

But what I saw on a news teaser just made me downright ticked. Don't they proofread these things? The preview for the eleven o'clock news said, "Who wear's the pants?"

WHAT????!!! That's not even a plural! That's a frickin' verb! Sheesh. (Josh just rolled his eyes.)

And now, the thing that made me laugh...

I saw a clip of a Robin Williams movie...it looked dumb, and we were just flipping channels. Nonetheless, he told a joke that really cracked me up, especially because it took both of us a few seconds.

"A Buddhist walked up to a hot dog stand and said 'Make me one with everything.'"

See how long it takes you...I'm just curious. :)

One final bit of random news....I found a japanese beetle crawling on the top of my head yesterday. And it was missing a leg. Yuck.

the first get-together of life-long friends...

2007-06-23T22:07:00.001-04:00

....though Lily was a bit of a blur since she's a girl on the move now! (Oh, Julia, I am praying for you girl!) And can you believe that this is the only picture I took of my entire afternoon with Julia and her kiddos? Sheesh! Ah well, hopefully there will more visits in the not-too-distant-future.

In other Sophia news, we've been hearing our first little laughs the past few days! Not belly laughs, or even giggles really, but a little "eh-He!" when she gets tickled or gets a piece of clothing swooshed in front of her. *happy sigh*

lil' shopper

2007-06-01T15:54:00.000-04:00

So.....Sophia loves to shop! We ended up splitting up the costco/macy's trip into two days, since apparently costco is closed on memorial day. Who knew? Each time, she contentedly looked around at all the things around her and grinned her biggest grins at the salespeople. :) Thankfully, nobody tried to touch her hands or face this time. (Why do people do that? Seriously! It's not ok for grown-up strangers to do that to each other - same goes for baby strangers!)

Off again to Maryland tomorrow for a bridal shower for Julie-soon-to-be-Keltonic...

3 months!!

2007-05-28T10:36:00.000-04:00

man, time goes fast. it's so hard to believe that Sophia's already 3 months old! we're celebrating that (and Josh's well deserved day off) with a trip to Macy's and Costco. ha! yeah, i'll let you know how that goes. :P

Check out the new pictures and videos....we've expanded our picture pages!

a random train of thought....

2007-05-07T17:23:00.000-04:00

As I reread my last post, I wondered if "Sophia sweetly sleeping" was a tongue twister - it seemed to be, but then I realized it was just sleep deprivation. :)

But....it reminded me of a good new tongue twister I heard on America's Funniest Videos, of all places. It's even better than "toy boat!" Ready? Say "Irish wristwatch" ten times fast. I have trouble getting it out even twice. :P

oh my gosh oh my gosh

2007-05-07T15:19:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wondered if this could really happen? I have, especially recently. I've noticed a few ants wandering around the house now that it's warm...and then I look at Sophia sweetly sleeping and wonder - what if one were to crawl in her ear or nose? Would she wake up? What would happen? I'm seriously thinking about sleeping with some of Josh's earplugs for protection...and maybe hiring a bug guy. Yuck. I sure wouldn't be grinning like the kid in the picture!

In other news...Sophia is a growin' girl! She's now 9 lb. 12 oz., 22 in. long, and protected from all sorts of awful diseases! (poor thing, she definitely didn't see those needles coming.) She's moving right along those little growth chart curves, but we could have told you that. :)

The worst game ever

2007-04-28T16:50:00.000-04:00

"College sumo wrestlers hold toddlers Rion Yuine, left, and Seira Aoki during a contest known as Crying Sumo on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.

Babies face each other and are coaxed to cry. The first to bawl is declared the winner. The ritual is a wish for the good health of the children, as crying reputedly is beneficial for babies."
-CNN Online

As a new mom, where the name of the game is 'responding to and stopping the crying,' this seems like the most bizarre thing ever. Encouragement to our friends with colicky children though - your babies are in the best of health! :)

Me Church

2007-04-07T14:01:00.000-04:00

This video clip has been bringing chuckles to the staff at church this week. :)

In other news, Sophia went to the pediatrician for her one month check-up. Current weight and height? 8 lb. 2 oz and 20 3/4 in. long! (She was 6lb. 3 oz. at 2 weeks, and this was at 5 weeks. Holy smokes!) Her head circumference is only in the 5th percentile - the doctor smiled and said that was really a hereditary thing. We smiled and looked at Josh's little noggin. Yay for little noggins!

Look how she's growing!

2007-04-02T13:05:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe how much this little sweetpea is changing everyday. These two pictures were taken just a few weeks apart - you can see the difference! We find that our nicknames for her keep changing too- she was 'peanut' and 'little nut' for the first few weeks, but 'sweetpea' and 'little love' seem to be the new ones.

So the blogging has been a little sparse, but what can I say - it's a good day when I'm actually showered and out of my p.j's by the time Josh gets home. :D Keep checking the photo site though - Josh puts new pictures on all the time!

neat article

2007-03-06T16:15:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to an article about one of my kids I taught at Magnolia. Matthew was in my class the 3 1/2 yrs. I was there, and he made such good progress! (Interestingly enough, there's also a picture of Matthew and me on the RTS website that was in a batch of pictures Josh sent in for a photo contest!)

After such a long wait....

2007-03-05T18:26:00.000-05:00

...she's here!!

Sophia Frances Knott joined us at 3:36 am February 28, weighing in at a teeny 5 lb. 15 oz and 19 1/2 inches long! She definitely gave us a few scares along the way, with her heart rate dropping on and off during labor, but we're so thankful the Lord provided some skillful doctors with some great tricks up their sleeves that kept her safe and sound. We'll keep the pictures coming, but for now, we're just counting our blessings upon blessings.

...and trying to get some sleep in there occasionally. ;)

daily monster

2007-02-12T10:55:00.000-05:00

I totally ripped this off someone else's blog, but I was so mesmerized, I had to share. You'll just have to watch this guy work to see what I'm talking about. He's got a website too, at dailymonster.com, but I haven't looked at it in depth, so browse at your own risk. :)

and...the snow is coming! the snow is coming! I'm promise, I'm not that excited. ;)

"Wow, I'd be fat AND fast!"

2007-02-02T16:07:00.000-05:00

Yep, that's right folks. Caffeinated doughnuts. Josh was totally psyched, despite the odd physical results he imagined. ;)

In other news, I assembled the crib myself today. Not because Josh didn't offer - no, no...for some strange reason I really wanted to do it myself. I am now queen of the Allen wrench!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

2007-01-31T19:23:00.000-05:00

woot woot for the coming snow! only 1-4 inches.....just enough to make everything pretty, but not so much that Josh has to do major shoveling. :D

got some free time? visit Postsecret.com - a very deep window into people's hearts. (be forewarned, people send in some very..uh..unedited stuff) It makes me want to sit down and have lunch with so many of them, although I guess that would defeat the purpose.

john elijah mckenzie

2007-01-30T12:21:00.000-05:00

Congratulations John and Michelle! You and little Elijah are in our thoughts and prayers. :)

"Well, the wombat does already have underwear on!"

2007-01-02T20:00:00.000-05:00

Seriously. This was just heard in our house.

Apparently, when we go to our labor/delivery/childcare class this Saturday, we're supposed to bring a doll or stuffed animal of some sort. I'm not sure what for, but I'm seriously hoping it's for the 'childcare' part.

Anywho, I really didn't think we had either a doll or stuffed animal here, but Josh helpfully reminded me that he has both a plush wombat and Eeyore in his closet. And he would have none of it when I didn't think that a four legged creature in a standing position would work for diaper practice or whatever-the-heck they're having us bring them in for. (And yes, the wombat is wearing Power Rangers underwear.)

I bet good money we'd be the first soon-to-be-parents to bring a wombat to class though.

Fountain Show

2007-01-02T13:24:00.000-05:00

What better way to celebrate than with a beautifully choreographed show of Diet Coke and Mentos. Happy New Year to All! (Thanks Dad for telling me about this.)

thought for the day....

2006-12-14T12:15:00.000-05:00

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered."

-G.K. Chesterton

merry christmas!

2006-12-09T22:58:00.000-05:00

if only this blog had smell-o-matic technology!

mmmmm....fresh christmas tree smell...mmmmmm

Congratulations David and Julie!!!

2006-11-20T20:48:00.000-05:00

...and major props to my brother for pulling off quite the proposal set-up, which included a blindfolded trip to a mountain in VA, the big question written out in luminaries/candles, and a crew of my brothers, her sister, and several friends to set off fireworks when she said yes!

time-wasting anagram fun

2006-11-10T21:20:00.000-05:00

josh ran across this site while he was looking for a last minute study tool tonight...

what's in your name?

(mine's "rotten ink"!)

To my sweet husband....

2006-11-07T19:04:00.000-05:00

HAPPY 27TH BIRTHDAY!!!!

pumpkin carving gala 2006

2006-10-30T23:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, so not so much a 'gala' per se, but definitely a fun time was had by all. Five women with pumpkin tools, cupcakes & cookies, and piles of pumpkin guts all the middle of the living room floor - awesome.

Mine (the one with the stars) is a bit of a switch from the 'Reformation Day' pumpkins of years past, but I figured the neighborhood folks here might not appreciate Latin phrases as much as the seminarians. :D

new house rule...

2006-10-25T10:41:00.000-04:00

...according to Josh.

"Whoever lands the first strike gets dibs on clean-up."

Clean-up on the bug guts that is. >:p

(This picture of a camel cricket is not actual footage from our house, just a representative of one of the many ugly ones sneaking up from our basement. They're so darn fast too - ick.)

In other, happier, news....Julia is now the proud mom of two!!! Here are some of the beautiful pictures. Congratulations!!!

I found it!

2006-10-14T13:56:00.000-04:00

Well, actually, Josh found it on youtube. I promise it wasn't there a few days ago, but this is the clip of the art gallery giant slides I saw on tv. Enjoy the flying Brits!

Oh, and we had to scrape our windshield this morning. Holy frijoles.

it's almost worth a trip to London.....

2006-10-10T13:11:00.000-04:00

I saw this on BBC news yesterday - how cool! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to track down a video clip yet, so this is the closest I can get.

the more you move, the more you learn :)

2006-10-09T13:06:00.000-04:00

Did you know that Columbus Day is a major Italian-American holiday? Me neither, until we moved to a place with a very substantial Italian community. (Hence the great food available, as earlier mentioned.) The New York parade is televised here - and wow, these people are fierce about their heritage. Here's a short history, if you're interested....

I've also learned that Delaware is one of THE best places to enjoy fall. Not as cold as Grove City, where it's already freezing, and not as scorching as Mississippi where the leaves never turn. It's been awhile since I've lived somewhere with an actual fall - there's actually an apple tree covered with bright red apples right down the street! I have to say, I do miss the huge pecan trees at RTS and the afternoons shelling baskets and baskets of FREE pecans, but the crisp air here is a huge plus. I'll see if I can get some good pictures of the leaves changing for our friends still in the Deep South. :) (Or you can always road trip to see them yourselves - we only have a spare bedroom til February!)

Ok, about the 3-D pictures Josh has of the little bambino. It was actually part of my ultrasound, and apparently they all look a little alien at that stage since their skin is still transparent. (Check out some similar pictures at this cool website on fetal development.) So you're seeing a lot of skeletal and muscular structures. The bumps on the head are actually where the skull is fusing together! Cool in theory, but definitely alien looking.

the bambino was so wiggly.....

2006-09-28T12:30:00.000-04:00

that the ultrasound tech was only about 80% sure that it's a GIRL!

So, since it's not 100%, we're still going to say "he or she." But here are some of the pics! :D

(sucking a thumb already!)

the little feet (on the left)....

and a beautiful profile.

alien

2006-09-22T13:11:00.000-04:00

So Josh watched the numismatist clip I posted last night, and he just didn't think it was funny. Like, at all.

But then he found this on youtube and completely freaked himself out for the rest of the night. He just kept looking at me funny, saying, "I just can't believe you're going to be that big! And that that's going to happen!" Me neither, in fact, but at least it's a gradual adjustment, right?

are you a numismatist?

2006-09-21T19:44:00.000-04:00

Better yet, have you seen this commercial?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuEvOIovw4k

HA! It just blows my mind that a government agency came up with this ad!

no direct comparison intended...promise

2006-09-18T23:22:00.000-04:00

Josh: "Well, in case there's an uprising tomorrow and I don't come home, I love you and I'll see you in heaven.

Me: "Good grief, what kind of day are you planning on having at work?"

Josh: "No, no, I'm doing prison visitation tomorrow."

HA! I seriously thought he meant while he was at church. :)

so sad, but no....

2006-09-16T19:11:00.000-04:00

Isn't he so cute? We're not *really* thinking about getting a dog, but if we find the perfect one that fits our ultra-long list of requirements, we're getting more and more open to the idea.

Here's our list of "musts":

1. not yappy/prone to barking at nothing,
2. small & low-energy enough to be happy in a townhouse and small yard, but not so small as to be accidentally mistaken as a dust ball or large bug,
3. not prone to being stinky because of its oily coat (we definitely met one of those today),
4. not so high-bred as to cost hundreds upon hundreds in initial fees and maintenance,
5. and the biggest - must must must be ok with small kids

Now doesn't this little guy Jasper look like he would fit the bill? We thought so too until we met him today at the PetSmart adoption fair. Either he was fed some sort of downer before his online picture was taken or he was fed crack today before we met him. Holy toledo. Not only was he barking at everything moving and not moving within his range of vision, but he can leap almost as high as our heads. (Apparently he's a mix of daschund and Jack Russell...and the Jack Russell is trying to make an escape.)

A cat fits more of our requirements, but somehow neither of us is just dying to get a cat. They had some cuties there today too, but none that just made us want to take it home.

aaahh...it was so nice to get our cute animal fix though. :D

I'm back :)

2006-09-07T10:34:00.000-04:00

Erin --

[adjective]:

Like in nature to a banana peel

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

So this random definition generator is psychic after all! Why? Because, two and a half weeks after my return from the beach, the front of my shins have just started peeling. Ha!

In case you're one of the few readers that reads my blog and not Josh's (I can't think of any), here's the two month 'life update' in one breath.

June - bought the paint and the rest of Home depot, ordered laminate, ordered carpet, painted the downstairs of the house. wrong color! wasted paint - freaked out. upstairs color wrong too. non-returnable. bought more paint by running outside to the car with Josh four times to check paint chips in 'natural light.' with the help of 20-odd people from church, painted the ENTIRE townhouse ceiling to baseboards. tore out the old carpet, and replaced the blinds, garbage disposal, a bathroom sink, baseboard diffusers, gutters and gutter guards, ridge vent, toilet seat, screen door, and moved a cable jack. I am queen of the caulk gun. found out we're EXPECTING!!!

July - continued the autism job that I started mid-June. vowed that after the summer I would never work spec.ed. in the public school system again. what a mess. literally - I worked with 15-18 yr. olds who were non-verbal and working on potty-training. went on the saltines & ginger ale diet as my body decided it didn't like food after all. slept.....and slept and slept and slept.

(and I already know you're all going to really try and read that in one breath.)

so now, after a lovely vacation at the beach, we're finally settling into our fall routine. I'm home now, with plenty still to do on the house. and no, I'm not *really* showing yet, although I'm decidely more chunky around the middle. we did hear the heartbeat last week though, which was amazing!

and my appetite is definitely coming back... as evidenced by the Lady and Son's Cheesy Mac leftovers in the fridge. :)

"Well, at least the paint job looks nice..."

2006-06-07T11:23:00.001-04:00

...I said from the Mitsubishi, as we followed the Honda and the towtruck it was on to the mechanic's.

*sigh*

At least it doesn't seem to be anything major. It just decided not to start yesterday, that's all. And no, we didn't kill the battery - it was working just fine, seeing as the lights came on and it made a horrific noise as it was trying to start the engine.

Hooray for a church that all goes to the same mechanic though! There's a Christian guy in our area who is really good at what he does, and he seemed that way to us too when we got there. First mechanic I've ever been to that actually popped the hood right then and there and explained what he thought was going on, pointing and teaching as he went. (I actually feel like I learned something!) After determining that the starter motor and spark plugs were all doing their jobs, it's either the timing system or fuel system - perhaps a clogged fuel filter.

It is a little bit of a kick in the teeth though after just having the windshield replace two days ago so it can pass Delaware inspection.

*sigh again*

By matter of necessity, I learned to drive the Mitsubishi today! The clutch is a little tricky, but nothing is too bad considering that we're blessed to have two cars. Gratefulness covers over a multitude of car quirks - we would have seriously been up the creek if this had happened two months ago!

So, I'm off to Home Depot and Bob's Affordable Carpets to start getting some price quotes. (You better believe I'm going to shop around for flooring considering our current car "fun"!) I believe some caulk, sandpaper, and paint are also going to be in order.

Good thing I don't start work til the 19th! We would have been even farther up that aforementioned creek without a paddle...or lifejacket...or maybe even a boat. :P

sweet

2006-06-02T10:40:00.000-04:00

You Are Storm

Exotic and powerful, Storm descended from a line of African priestesses.
Emotions can effect your powers, but you are generally serene.

Powers: controlling weather, creating winds that lift you into flight, generating lightning

Which of the X-Men Are You?

Awesome.

(What a great link, John! Don't be sad you're Jean Grey...she's pretty cool.)

In other news...we are closing on the house today! Whoo hoo! Now starts the painting and flooring fun, but at least it doesn't cost as much as down payment and closing costs. :P

And... I took the autism program summer job. (They actually called me back the next day to offer the job.) It doesn't start til June 19th, so I've been volunteering at the pregnancy center in the meantime. I never thought I'd say it, but it is so good to be busy again. Woman is not meant to sit idle in an apartment all day long. :)

"David found a bee, and he kissed it."

2006-05-23T10:33:00.000-04:00

Yep, that's what I heard. Or thought I heard, anyways. Turns out, Josh had said "They have been found to be inconsistent" when we were talking about someone's tendency to mix metaphors. (It was late - what can I say?)

Say it fast....you can see how I got what I did. :)

On a different note - the job search has gotten wild and crazy, all within a matter of days. Here's the chronological breakdown of events:

Monday, the 15th - Josh calls me from work and says that Ginny Geiger, the new director of A Door of Hope (the local crisis pregnancy center) needs a receptionist. Could he pass on my name? I said sure - having met Ginny the week before at church, I was excited by the possibility. The center is moving from a rural/suburban area to a new building by the university and another one in downtown Wilmington to better serve women in crisis. Two seconds later, she calls me in for an interview that afternoon. It went well, but I wasn't sure it was what I wanted to do. They have very few clients now, so I'd be answering the phone a little, and organizing pamphlets and filing a lot. They needed the help though so I didn't rule it out.

Wednesday, the 17th - I made a bunch of calls to the Delaware Autism Program to see if they had any teacher's assistant positions open. I was already set to to tour a classroom of a lady at church on Friday, but no one had gotten back to me if there was even a possibility of a job. I'd decided that if there were openings, I'd pursue them; if not, I'd take the job at A Door of Hope. Easy as that. (Ha! I need to stop saying that.)

I finally get in touch with a supervisor, who says.....she doesn't know. Apparently there's a hiring freeze on paraprofessionals til the end of July due to a budget crisis. Send in my resume, letter of interest, and application from their website anyways, and they'll consider it then. I agree to it, but in the back of my mind, I'm already ruling it out.

I go to their website, and I find two different applications...one for next year, and one for their summer program. Deadline for the summer program? May 17th - today! Why had no one told me about this?! I begin a four hour marathon of redoing my resume, writing a letter of interest, filling out both sets of applications, and flying over to church to fax it all in.

Friday, the 19th - I spend the morning observing the high school high-functioning autism class. Delaware Autism Program is part of the public school system, and it has a main site called the Brennen School. It also has several satellite classrooms at many of the area schools, and that's where I was visiting. First of all, the local high school is pretty ghetto - a lot like Richmond City Schools. The classroom itself was not too bad though. They were working on a lot of vocational goals, and everything was being done independently. So different from Magnolia! My first impression of the program was so-so. A Door of Hope seemed better and better.

Two hours later - The phone call comes from the Brennen School, asking me to come in on the 22nd for a tour of the main school and for an interview for the summer program. Hmmm...now both jobs are possibilities again. I figure Monday will bring more answers.

Yesterday - The tour and interview takes a total of 15-20 minutes. That's it. And I wasn't interviewed by a supervisor of any sort - I think it was a teacher and some other staff member. The school is much nicer than the high school site, and the kids didn't seem nearly as severe as some area people seemed to think they were. (I guess I've gotten used to a lot over the years.) Lots of great programs, therapists, etc. The weird thing? They are really big into PECS, which is the picture exchange system for people with communication problems. Boo! It's not bad as a very last resort, but I have the sneaking suspicion that a lot of these kids could be reading, writing, and talking, using the Association Method. I mean, I've seen it happen so many times. (I'm biased - I know.) I still could see myself working there though, and they said they'd let me know in a week or two.

Final decision? I liked the Brennen School enough to decide to pursue it. It doesn't start til June 19th though, so I called Ginny to let her know that I wasn't going to take the job, but that I'd be willing to come in to volunteer a couple times a week until they get a permanent receptionist. She liked that idea - so that's where we are!

Whew!

It's a wonder I'm even thinking straight after all that. Let me tell you - this whole thing has done wonders for the prayer life. Funny how that works! ;)

a house, a house! my life savings for a house!

2006-04-30T23:04:00.000-04:00

ok, well, not really our life savings, but man it feels like it when you're lying on the floor signing all the loan papers. wow. definitely a jump up from 380$ a month in Jackson. I know, I know...home equity is a good thing. *sigh* It's just so final! Nobody talks about getting cold feet before you buy a house. (and yes, I know I'm stretching the title quote, but it fit....sue me.)

Great news though! We're buying a house! Well, a townhouse really, but it's close-ish to church and in our price range. Hot dog. It had been rented out for about 15 years, and the owner did his own 'home repairs,' so it's going to need a little cosmetic TLC. But that's alright - I can wield a paintbrush with the best of them. And hey - the new Nate Berkus decorating book I was going to buy at Borders? Yep, that's right - it was free at the library. Yessssssssssss. Which is good, since I don't think I'm going to be spending money on anything else, ever. :)

"I think chocolate is very acceptable."

2006-04-19T17:14:00.000-04:00

...whispered Grandma Bee, who is 97 and a half. (She points out the half.) Now she's not a direct relative of mine, but she's sort of the 'grandma' of most of our new church. She was giving us the grand tour of her apartment attached to her daughter's house, and the tour included her chocolate stash on top of her mini-fridge. After telling us that someone gave her the goodies for Christmas, she leaned in close like she was going to tell us a great secret. And that's when she winked and told us that she thought chocolate was very acceptable. Then she asked us if we had ever heard of M & M's. Hee hee!

This tour was the beginning of the most...unique...Easter lunch I've been to. Her daughter and son-in-law head up of the international ministry to UDel, and several times a year they invite an enormous crowd over for a holiday meal. There were probably about 50+ people at the house, and let me tell you, the learn-everyones'-names-as-fast-as-you-can game gets a little tougher when the names are Shu Ping, Gui Ja, Woo Kyung, Li De, Hitomi, and Yu Ni. Thank goodness there were name tags, although (as you can imagine) they only helped so much. It was nice of them to include us though, and we went home very full and even more tired.

As much as I miss the people in Mississippi, can I tell you how nice it is to have a real spring? It's been in the 60's to low 80's and sunny pretty much since we've been here, and all the many kinds of flowering trees that grow here are in bloom. What's that? It's 95 in Jackson? Like I said folks, you know you want to road trip. :)

Toto, I don't think we're in kansas anymore

2006-04-05T22:52:00.000-04:00

Yes, so the whirlwind that picked us up and plopped us in Delaware is finally starting to simmer down. We really love our new church (the people there are great!), but at the moment it's next to impossible to communicate all we're soaking in (Josh's blog does a much better job.) So I'm just going to post a few things that struck me as oh-so-not-Mississippi.

1. It snowed this morning. I know - what the heck?! When Josh stepped outside this morning to see if we needed coats, he said, "Man, it feels like it could snow outside!" Silly husband, it's April. Sure enough, in the middle of the women's meeting at church this morning, I look outside to see a blizzard of snow coming down. And everyone else there is just carrying on like this is NORMAL! Of course, I'm staring outside watching like a loony, since it's been years since I've seen snow. (Nothing stuck, but still...whoa.)

2. The Italians. And their food. South Beach Smouth Beach, I'm going on the all pizza diet, at least for a week. You know it's a good sign when you see no pizza chains anywhere...no Little Caesar's, Mazzio's, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Domino's....nothin'. Why is that good? Because the stuff that you get around here is an entirely different creation. In every shopping center, and on almost every street corner, there are little Italian pizza/steaks/strombolis places run by the real deal. Like today - we got pizza at Tony's from a guy named Vinny who sounded like he was straight out of the Godfather. Raspy and everything. Seriously guys, this food is worth a road trip up here.

negative space

2006-03-21T01:41:00.000-05:00

I never noticed it before. But sure enough, as soon as my dad pointed it out while we were on the road to Delaware, there it was...plain as day on the side of the truck. Can you find the arrow? Please tell me I'm not the only one who never caught on to this cleverness.

purple ska

2006-03-20T14:19:00.000-05:00

So, the plans were - drop Josh off at the airport, go to the gym, and then spend my first real day as a non-teacher in the most productive cleaning/packing frenzy you've ever seen.

But it's raining. Storming, actually. (perfect for driving to the airport, right? Boo on Mississippi drivers when it's raining, or anytime for that matter.)

So far, it's been a hanging-out-in-my-p.j's-til-I-took-a-late-shower, listening-to-Fighting-Gravity, and eating-peanut-butter-from-a-spoon kind of day. That's about the same, right? ;) It's truly astonishing how much of a slacker I can be when left by myself. It's only lunchtime though, so I still have time for the frenzy fairy to strike me with her magic wand.

It helps too that we have a deadline...we're moving next week! Our trip up to Virginia/Delaware was mercifully productive, even though we didn't find a house. We knew it was a long shot with our time frame, but hey, we've got an apartment to camp out in for a few months while we take our time looking. And we definitely got a good feel for the layout of Newark, since we (me, Josh, my dad, and my brother Joel) drove around it 50 million times in 2 days.

What other big life decisions did I make? Glad you asked. I'm pretty sure I'm going to look for a job up there. I know...this is news to me too. The assumption was that we would find a house (ha!), and I would spend the time between move-in and having a family fixing the place up. You know, painting, stripping and staining furniture, and the like.

Well, now we have an apartment for three months. I mean, it's debatable if we're going to even put pictures on the walls. And Josh will be at work all day. Right...you see my dilemma. My thoughts exactly. I would be a walking nutcase stuck there all day with nothing to do. So, here comes job interviews - my favorite. :P We'll see where I end up! Ha ha ha! (That's our new motto.)

and we have a winner!

2006-03-07T23:27:00.000-05:00

It's official....the dog has a name.

(drum roll please...........)

The new Keltonic dog is....Cody!

Actually, 'Toby' was everyone's first choice. But after calling him that for a full day, it just didn't seem to fit. He just seemed like a Cody.

So nobody I know suggested that name, but if someone wants to pretend that he or she came up with it, I think I can still give out a prize of some sort.

Progress reports? What progress reports?

"well, at least it's not guns."

2006-03-04T23:27:00.000-05:00

...said Josh as we were watching the end of the local news.

And he said that because there were who knows how many people in Portland, Oregon having a pillow fight. Yep. A pillow fight. Now of course we were only halfway watching the news, so neither of us had heard any sort of intro. We just looked up to see a mob of people on the screen all bashing each other with pillows in the street.

Could you see that happening in Jackson? Me neither. Definitely with guns, but not pillows.

"outside the box, dang it!"

2006-02-26T17:34:00.000-05:00

well, i'm posting a quote from my head.

for those of you who have known me for a while, this won't surprise you, but I definitely think too hard sometimes. and when is this not necessary? that's right - mad libs.

let me tell you...if you're having to tell yourself to think outside of the box, it's too late. you're already wrapped, packing-peanutted, and packaging taped firmly inside. coaxing your brain to let itself go makes it seize up even harder.

so jonathan and lynsey have been driving around the country for a few weeks now, and they've been whiling away the driving hours with mad libs. but not any mad libs - no, these are long stories that jonathan writes himself, and lynsey fills in the blank. so since they've been here for the weekend, late-nights in our kitchen are mad libs times. ha! and when it's my turn to fill in the blank with a part of speech, this is what you would hear in my head....

"Ok, a noun. Hmm....a noun. Something not in this room - too unoriginal. Something clever, not like 'a spoon' or 'a car'. Like....'a muskrat'! Umm...or 'a toaster'! Nope, that's in the room. Dang it! Something witty. Think, think, think."

What's ironic is that, with mad libs, it matters precious little what you end up saying. Even if I did say 'a car' or 'a spoon,' the story would still be just as comical. Yay for good friends who love you, even if your brain is wrapped in its own special packaging tape.

I promise - we really don't watch that much t.v.

2006-02-22T10:48:00.000-05:00

"It's like they have hooves!"

Josh saw a girl on American Idol wearing gauchos and tall boots, and he's just not a fan of that look. I think he went on to say that she looked like she had llama legs. Ha!

I'll give you a prize...

2006-02-18T18:21:00.000-05:00

...if you can name this dog!

My family has acquired the cutest collie/chow mix that you have ever seen! And if you know my family (die-hard cat family to the end), this is a pretty big step. Problem is, no name they've tried has quite...fit.

The front-runner right now seems to be Buddy, because he's so kind and gentle-hearted that he tries to be everybody's best friend.

So...look at the pictures, and if you come up with the winner, seriously, I'll give you a prize. Not sure what yet, but know it will be fabulous!

(For those of you who've never met my family, he's with my brothers Jonathan and Joel in these pics.)

tourette's

2006-02-17T10:10:00.000-05:00

According to Mary Wilsford, that's what we teachers that are leaving are getting. We're all feeling a little ....stretched. And that makes us scream stuff out - not really words, just random sounds of angst.

Don't get me wrong - I love love love this job. It just seems like they're trying to squeeze every last bit of time and energy and help out of us before we go. :o Hence, the uncontrolled noises, often heard up and down the hall.

poor baby

2006-02-14T16:24:00.000-05:00

One of the things about autism is that it traps you in a world of your own - where movies, t.v. shows, computer games, and tape stories play on repeat at who knows what volume or intensity. Needless to say, it makes learning to communicate like learning English as a foreign language, as an 80-year-old, in a loud stadium, while having rocks stuck in your shoe. And you don't want to learn it anyways.
The phrases that do come out are often as hysterically funny as those product warnings written by non-native English speakers.

(heard today from my little redhead who is on the autism spectrum....)

"Oh no! Oh no! I'm stuck in my class!"

He really really really didn't want to write, but I was making him. What a cute cry for help! If only it helped him get out of his work like he'd hoped.

give the guy a break

2006-02-14T10:34:00.000-05:00

heard this weekend while watching the olympics...

"You know, Bob, he really just needs to relax.."

Ok, this was said about a man lugeing (luging?) down the track at 85 MILES AN HOUR! I guarantee you anything that the commentator would not be 'relaxed' if he was hurtling downhill at speeds faster than he goes on the interstate with nothing between him and certain death but a bodysuit. Please.

toeing the line of smart-mouthing

2006-02-02T11:15:00.000-05:00

Me: "Why are you out of your seat?" (to the kid wandering around the room)

Child: "Why, I'm just getting some exercise."

Hmm....I better keep an eye on this one.

Guys get through seminary...

2006-02-01T10:16:00.000-05:00

...by the sweat of their 'frau!' ha ha ha! that's a quote straight from Dr. Curry about the women like me that pay their husbands' way through seminary. Just classic.

The other great quote of the day comes straight from one of my student's daily journal entry:

"I must tell the truth. I broke the eggs!"

Apparently, he not only broke them, but tried to repair them and hide them back in the carton so he wouldn't get in trouble. :) And that's why my job is still fun, even on the hardest of days!

Ewww

2006-01-29T15:23:00.000-05:00

This definitely falls into the category of weird things that you'd rather not know.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/27/insect.dye.ap/index.html

I mean, I can see how if you were trying to keep kosher or were a vegetarian, that eating a daily diet of little squished bugs would be deeply unsettling. I prefer to file the idea in the category of "things that are true, but dwelling on them would cause some sort of psychosis."

Other things in that category include all the partially fact-probably true-nobody knows for sure kind of things we all use to repeat to each other in middle school, like the number of spiders you ingest in your sleep over your lifetime, etc.

Still....ewww.

We're not in Kansas anymore

2006-01-23T16:21:00.000-05:00

Well, I had great expectations of filling a blog with witty or deeply profound quotes on a daily basis. But as you can see, the whole "daily basis" thing is not quite happening. I guess I didn't realize that you have to have some sort of working memory left at the end of the day to remember any great quotes. Aha! Now we see the problem. (Sorry to disappoint, Mary Wilsford:) )

(Cute quote of the day: "That's astrocious!" said one of my students after looking at her terrible handwriting on one of her papers. It definitely was astrocious.)

So, if you haven't heard the news by now, which would be unbelievable since news travels at the speed of light in our varied communities here, we're going to Delaware! You can read Josh's blog (http://joshua627.blogspot.com) for all the details of the weekend, but man oh man, what a whirlwind. As of April 1st, if all the ordination stuff goes smoothly, Josh will be the assistant pastor at Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Newark (which is pronounced "NEW-ark," not "NEW-erk" like the one in Jersey).

Finding a house, packing an apartment, finishing a job, cramming in last minute fellowship...it's no wonder my head is scrambled!

the guessing game

2006-01-11T22:52:00.000-05:00

That's right folks...name that illness!

Here are the clues...

1. Hacking cough
2. Super sore chest
3. Voice like a man or a frog, depending on the hour
4. Child in class out with severe bronchitis today

Any guesses?

Well, my guess was probably the same as yours, so I signed myself up for a doctor's appointment ASAP. (Which is rare for me...I'm definitely a tough-it-out-unless-I'm-dying kind of girl.) But since we're flying to Delaware for the weekend for a church interview, I figured I shouldn't give everyone the "gift that keeps on giving" when I shake their hands.

Turns out it's just an upper respiratory infection. (That shouldn't make me happy, but it really did!) Antibiotics are my magic pills.

So, okay, this is not really a funny quote, unless you count my kids asking me all day,
"Mrs. Erin, are you sick?" as I coughed and hacked my way through the day. I could have thought of a clever response, I'm sure, but the reaction time was just a wee bit slow today!

in the beginning...

2006-01-09T23:30:00.000-05:00

Josh: "So, how attached are you to your socks?"

Me: "Ha ha! Um, I don't know, why?"

Josh: "Well....I accidentally vacuumed up one of them today."

sigh....

This is why I have a quote board now.....

Remember your freshman year in college when everyone had the ubiquitous dry erase board for writing down those things that seemed oh-so-funny at 3 am? "Ha ha! We're cool college students now...we have quote boards!"

So, my life seems like an entirely different existence from those first days living away from home. But somehow, I never have completely escaped the urge to write down the absurd, loony, or downright funny things I hear and read.

So here's a little window into the things in my day that make me laugh...and here's to extra socks. :)