Grandma Mel got her back right molar pulled last Monday morning.
My very kind dentist called early that morning and said, "Of course we can't have her feeling badly! How about 10:00 AM today?" The whole drive to the dentist, Grandma kept saying, "I feel better, really. I think I'm fine."
When we arrived at the office I told the receptionist Granny said she felt better. The receptionist smiled. "Ah. We hear a lot of that around here."
After filling out paperwork and chuckling over which box to check about fear of dental work (Extreme, Moderate, or None), they call Granny back. Bud and I have a good chat while she is gone, sitting in my dentist's waiting room that is nicer than my living room...it's got a library!
Eventually I see my cute grandma heading our way, accompanied by a dental assistant who says that it's very good that we came in when we did; the tooth needed to come out. I am looking at Grandma, wondering exactly how many teeth they pulled; my goodness, her lower teeth are missing! It's then that I learn she has a partial, which is at the moment wrapped in a tissue in her hand. Whew!
She has a wad of gauze tucked in the back of her mouth where they yanked the molar, and a big grin across the front of her face. I have never seen a smile that big on someone who just had a tooth pulled and was numb on one side. Before I can even ask how she is, Grandma says, "Oh, I feo so mush bettew!"
"Really, Granny? It's okay?"
"Oh, dis waf wunneful! I feo so mush bettew!"
"You know, Grandma, if you feel that much better that quickly after having your tooth pulled, it must have really been bothering you."
"Weo, ifs been a widdle paifoo."
"Well, then I am glad we came. Do I have a happy Granny?"
"Oh, yef! Habby Gwanny!"
We came home, I made a sandwich for lunch for Bud, and Granny tucked little bits of doughnut into the still intact left corner of her mouth. Don't try to tell an almost-84-year-old what they should or should not eat. Just let them grin and munch pastry bits with their head cocked to one side, pretty blue eyes all a-twinkle. Kinda cute.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Sunday Morning With Granny
Grandma Mel and Bud arrived yesterday afternoon. Apparently there was a decent amount of snow in the mountains on the way over and they almost turned around and went back home. I am grateful they made it, and just a couple of hours after they got here, it started to snow here for the first time this season. It was beautiful! Grandparents and snowflakes and a game of Mexican Train Dominoes last night...happy, happy!
As all things grandparenty should be, we had dinner at Elmer's last night. During my yummy split-pea soup, I hear Grandma make a little, "Eep!" sound while she is eating her salad, and I look up to see her holding her right cheek like she bit it or her tongue or something. Turns out she has a bit of a toothache that has been pestering her, and it seemed to flare up more significantly right then. Hmmm. Okay.
This morning, she comes into the living room talking like someone who is trying to move their mouth as little as possible and keep their tongue as still as possible. Hmmm. "Granny, how long has this tooth been bothering you?"
Now the story comes out. It's been bugging her for a few weeks (she thinks it's from a filing that wasn't done terribly well). Bud asks her why she hasn't mentioned it at all. "I was afraid we would have to get it fixed and we wouldn't be able to come here. I didn't want to miss the trip." (Make sure you read that aloud with your jaw and tongue very still.)
How do you tell your 84-year-old grandmother that you are thrilled that she wanted to see you so much, but you want to bop her on the nose for sitting around in pain and not getting it taken care of?
Ask me someday about the...what's a nice word for stubborn?...ah, determined, independent, tenacious, adamant, resolved, single-minded, headstrong...women on the maternal side of my family and the DNA I have inherited as a result. If you need a thrill sometime, get yourself a seat with me, Mom, and Grandma Mel all together and ask us to try doing anything that looks the tiniest bit like inconveniencing someone else or disrupting a plan we have made. Eh gads.
"Grandma, I bought the most expensive turkey I have ever seen for Thanksgiving. You are going to my dentist tomorrow, because if you don't eat your share of this turkey, you are sleeping in the garage."
It takes me an hour to convince her that I would like to go to the store and buy her Orajel. I finally just go get dressed and when I come out of my room, she is in her jacket. "Granny, I can just go and you can stay..." Nope. We both get in the car. I am happy to have her with me; I just don't know how fun her tooth finds the bumps in the road.
I am actually secretly tickled pink to have a little trip with her and to care for her. We get out of the car at the drug store and it bothers me zero to wait for her slow-moving body to climb out of the seat, close the door and walk toward the entrance. I covet every moment I have with her.
Then we get in the store. All I can think is we need the Orajel and we need it fast; I am feeling magnanimous because I acquiesced to Orajel today and my dentist tomorrow, when I wanted emergency dentist today. Grandma stops at the newspapers and picks up a Sunday edition. I offer to carry it, which, of course, I am denied. Okay. I try to move us on to the aisles in the back where the medicines are. Just when I think we are truckin' along, she stops at a candy display...CANDY! She piles four different bags of Hershey's chocolates on her newspaper! "Grandma, you can't even eat, your tooth is killing you, and we need candy? What in the world?" She tells me to hush and bats my hand away, and starts to giggle like my mother. Sheesh.
This is the point where I call my mom. I was perfectly fine to just take care of all this and let my folks hear the story once we had a dentist appointment...but I can't wrap my mind around the illogic of the candy purchase. I also know it's exactly the type of thing Mom would do. When I tell my mom, she just giggles and says, "Apparently you didn't read the fine print on the agreement for having them stay with you! Have fun!"
I happened to mention a doughnut place across the street the day before. We finally have medicine in hand (and newspaper and candy) and are in the car, and as I pull out to head home, Granny says, "Donuts! Let's go!"
Oh my. She picks out seven doughnuts (one an enormous fritter). As Grandma is paying (because, of course, I lost that argument, too), the doughnut gal asks her if this will be everything. "Yes!", I blurt out. "There are only three of us!"
At home, after a slathering of Orajel, we all settle in to watch A League of Their Own with our coffee and donuts. Granny drinks her coffee on the left side of her face and it takes her the whole movie to eat one jelly doughnut. I mention at least every 20 minutes that we are going to the dentist tomorrow.
Good thing Tom Hanks makes her laugh :)
As all things grandparenty should be, we had dinner at Elmer's last night. During my yummy split-pea soup, I hear Grandma make a little, "Eep!" sound while she is eating her salad, and I look up to see her holding her right cheek like she bit it or her tongue or something. Turns out she has a bit of a toothache that has been pestering her, and it seemed to flare up more significantly right then. Hmmm. Okay.
This morning, she comes into the living room talking like someone who is trying to move their mouth as little as possible and keep their tongue as still as possible. Hmmm. "Granny, how long has this tooth been bothering you?"
Now the story comes out. It's been bugging her for a few weeks (she thinks it's from a filing that wasn't done terribly well). Bud asks her why she hasn't mentioned it at all. "I was afraid we would have to get it fixed and we wouldn't be able to come here. I didn't want to miss the trip." (Make sure you read that aloud with your jaw and tongue very still.)
How do you tell your 84-year-old grandmother that you are thrilled that she wanted to see you so much, but you want to bop her on the nose for sitting around in pain and not getting it taken care of?
Ask me someday about the...what's a nice word for stubborn?...ah, determined, independent, tenacious, adamant, resolved, single-minded, headstrong...women on the maternal side of my family and the DNA I have inherited as a result. If you need a thrill sometime, get yourself a seat with me, Mom, and Grandma Mel all together and ask us to try doing anything that looks the tiniest bit like inconveniencing someone else or disrupting a plan we have made. Eh gads.
"Grandma, I bought the most expensive turkey I have ever seen for Thanksgiving. You are going to my dentist tomorrow, because if you don't eat your share of this turkey, you are sleeping in the garage."
It takes me an hour to convince her that I would like to go to the store and buy her Orajel. I finally just go get dressed and when I come out of my room, she is in her jacket. "Granny, I can just go and you can stay..." Nope. We both get in the car. I am happy to have her with me; I just don't know how fun her tooth finds the bumps in the road.
I am actually secretly tickled pink to have a little trip with her and to care for her. We get out of the car at the drug store and it bothers me zero to wait for her slow-moving body to climb out of the seat, close the door and walk toward the entrance. I covet every moment I have with her.
Then we get in the store. All I can think is we need the Orajel and we need it fast; I am feeling magnanimous because I acquiesced to Orajel today and my dentist tomorrow, when I wanted emergency dentist today. Grandma stops at the newspapers and picks up a Sunday edition. I offer to carry it, which, of course, I am denied. Okay. I try to move us on to the aisles in the back where the medicines are. Just when I think we are truckin' along, she stops at a candy display...CANDY! She piles four different bags of Hershey's chocolates on her newspaper! "Grandma, you can't even eat, your tooth is killing you, and we need candy? What in the world?" She tells me to hush and bats my hand away, and starts to giggle like my mother. Sheesh.
This is the point where I call my mom. I was perfectly fine to just take care of all this and let my folks hear the story once we had a dentist appointment...but I can't wrap my mind around the illogic of the candy purchase. I also know it's exactly the type of thing Mom would do. When I tell my mom, she just giggles and says, "Apparently you didn't read the fine print on the agreement for having them stay with you! Have fun!"
I happened to mention a doughnut place across the street the day before. We finally have medicine in hand (and newspaper and candy) and are in the car, and as I pull out to head home, Granny says, "Donuts! Let's go!"
Oh my. She picks out seven doughnuts (one an enormous fritter). As Grandma is paying (because, of course, I lost that argument, too), the doughnut gal asks her if this will be everything. "Yes!", I blurt out. "There are only three of us!"
At home, after a slathering of Orajel, we all settle in to watch A League of Their Own with our coffee and donuts. Granny drinks her coffee on the left side of her face and it takes her the whole movie to eat one jelly doughnut. I mention at least every 20 minutes that we are going to the dentist tomorrow.
Good thing Tom Hanks makes her laugh :)
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Cakeitude
Ace of Cakes came to life Friday night for Becky and me. A little, mini, one-person-knows-what-they-are-doing and one-person-can-hold-the-frosting-roses version, anyway!
Two late nights and one afternoon after first commencing "Operation Get Cake to Church before MAF Game Night on Friday", we were off to the church with the cakes and gear in the car. And me riding in the passenger seat, holding the white roses you see in the back...the blue ones could stay back there because we didn't care so much if they got munched. The white ones...very important.
We arrive and there is a table waiting. There are little pillars already inserted in each layer, so icing gets squirted in between to act like glue.
Becky tried to tell me that if I ever worked with icing enough, I might not be so inclined to chomp the little rosettes of sugary delight. She said it loses its appeal after a while. Yeah, right. I told her about my colored-frosting-tongue photo collection (currently available in blue, maroon, and black). I have many colors yet to capture.
More icing gets piped around the edge of each layer to fill the gaps created by the pillars. What did I contribute thus far? Ever seen those guys on ships landing planes with orange, glowing sticks? Picture me doing the equivalent of that for Becky to stack the layers, making sure they were centered well. But instead of orange sticks, it was lots of, "Go, go, wait, back, no, this way, hold on a sec, more this way" and fingers pointing while I did laps around the table and the cake. I was also a human lazy susan for the individual layers for last minute touch ups before stacking. Becky said my speed was excellent :)
I also found a place to stash the roses so they would not get all soft and thus very difficult to attach to the cake. Classy, huh?
Oh, and I helped assemble and fill the fountain. We wanted it nice and full. So we filled. And filled. After we had it running for a bit, we noticed that the little holes were not able to keep up with the volume, so water was also running over the edges of the tiers, lessening the effect a bit. We want the bride to have the perfect little fountain of her dreams...but it's already assembled under the cake and surrounded by tulle...so....
We are set up in front of the church's coffee and snack bar, so Becky grabs a coffee stirrer. And starts sucking. And swallowing. Water from a plastic fountain that I am sure must have had some warning in the directions about "Do not use this to drink from. Made in China and coated in melamine." or something.
I at least find a regular size straw. After a few swallows, I realize this cannot be the most efficient way to do this. However, I am not a particularly efficient girl...just better than Bekcy. So I grab phase three of "Rescue the Fountain", which is a cup to spit the straw-sucked water into.
I have to tell you that while I was sucking and spitting, Becky just kept using the skinny little red stirrer to drink. Between my sucks and spits, I am yelling across the cake that she is nuts, get a regular straw for God's sake, and really, I don't think you should be drinking that water, there are more cups behind you, woman. Oh, and Becky, I don't think it has to do with the amount of water in here...isn't it just a pump power issue? If it wants to be a volcano with this little ridiculous motor, then so be it, don't you think? And do people think we are getting snockered right now because this fountain has a light in it which makes the water look kinda beige, like champagne? Also, does she need her car's gas tank siphoned any time soon? I am becoming a pro in a matter of minutes...plus, I am a little light-headed. Is she still standing over there?
Of course, as evidenced by the above photo, much laughing commenced while we were engaged in our rescue. It was a heroic feat not to blow trumpets of water from the straw or stirrer when we started to laugh. A little voice in my head kept saying, "Don't hose the cake, please don't let me hose the cake."
Whew! I finally can't stand it anymore...mostly because the laughter has rendered us useless... and God directs me back behind the snack counter again and I find a little paper cup that I can dip into the fountain and use to pour water back and forth to the bigger cup until we finally get the level right. Oy. Note to self: no tiny cake fountains at my wedding.
The actual cake results are lovely and Becky received much praise for her work. And I can claim that I pointed out where icing holes were, and I stuck some of the tiny blue fabric flowers in...the ones in the back :)
Vanna and Vanna with the completed masterpiece.
And, yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and indeed there comes a point where you have watched enough icing be scraped around, wiped on surfaces, and treated like paste that you decide you can take a break from eating it for a while. Who knew?
Two late nights and one afternoon after first commencing "Operation Get Cake to Church before MAF Game Night on Friday", we were off to the church with the cakes and gear in the car. And me riding in the passenger seat, holding the white roses you see in the back...the blue ones could stay back there because we didn't care so much if they got munched. The white ones...very important.
We arrive and there is a table waiting. There are little pillars already inserted in each layer, so icing gets squirted in between to act like glue.
Becky tried to tell me that if I ever worked with icing enough, I might not be so inclined to chomp the little rosettes of sugary delight. She said it loses its appeal after a while. Yeah, right. I told her about my colored-frosting-tongue photo collection (currently available in blue, maroon, and black). I have many colors yet to capture.
More icing gets piped around the edge of each layer to fill the gaps created by the pillars. What did I contribute thus far? Ever seen those guys on ships landing planes with orange, glowing sticks? Picture me doing the equivalent of that for Becky to stack the layers, making sure they were centered well. But instead of orange sticks, it was lots of, "Go, go, wait, back, no, this way, hold on a sec, more this way" and fingers pointing while I did laps around the table and the cake. I was also a human lazy susan for the individual layers for last minute touch ups before stacking. Becky said my speed was excellent :)
I also found a place to stash the roses so they would not get all soft and thus very difficult to attach to the cake. Classy, huh?
Oh, and I helped assemble and fill the fountain. We wanted it nice and full. So we filled. And filled. After we had it running for a bit, we noticed that the little holes were not able to keep up with the volume, so water was also running over the edges of the tiers, lessening the effect a bit. We want the bride to have the perfect little fountain of her dreams...but it's already assembled under the cake and surrounded by tulle...so....
We are set up in front of the church's coffee and snack bar, so Becky grabs a coffee stirrer. And starts sucking. And swallowing. Water from a plastic fountain that I am sure must have had some warning in the directions about "Do not use this to drink from. Made in China and coated in melamine." or something.
I at least find a regular size straw. After a few swallows, I realize this cannot be the most efficient way to do this. However, I am not a particularly efficient girl...just better than Bekcy. So I grab phase three of "Rescue the Fountain", which is a cup to spit the straw-sucked water into.
I have to tell you that while I was sucking and spitting, Becky just kept using the skinny little red stirrer to drink. Between my sucks and spits, I am yelling across the cake that she is nuts, get a regular straw for God's sake, and really, I don't think you should be drinking that water, there are more cups behind you, woman. Oh, and Becky, I don't think it has to do with the amount of water in here...isn't it just a pump power issue? If it wants to be a volcano with this little ridiculous motor, then so be it, don't you think? And do people think we are getting snockered right now because this fountain has a light in it which makes the water look kinda beige, like champagne? Also, does she need her car's gas tank siphoned any time soon? I am becoming a pro in a matter of minutes...plus, I am a little light-headed. Is she still standing over there?
Of course, as evidenced by the above photo, much laughing commenced while we were engaged in our rescue. It was a heroic feat not to blow trumpets of water from the straw or stirrer when we started to laugh. A little voice in my head kept saying, "Don't hose the cake, please don't let me hose the cake."
Whew! I finally can't stand it anymore...mostly because the laughter has rendered us useless... and God directs me back behind the snack counter again and I find a little paper cup that I can dip into the fountain and use to pour water back and forth to the bigger cup until we finally get the level right. Oy. Note to self: no tiny cake fountains at my wedding. The actual cake results are lovely and Becky received much praise for her work. And I can claim that I pointed out where icing holes were, and I stuck some of the tiny blue fabric flowers in...the ones in the back :)
Vanna and Vanna with the completed masterpiece.
And, yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and indeed there comes a point where you have watched enough icing be scraped around, wiped on surfaces, and treated like paste that you decide you can take a break from eating it for a while. Who knew?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wedding Cake in The House
I love when my house is helpful. I bought it with the hope that it would be a blessing to people. The house certainly had a fun and busy summer with lots of visitors. I think it's happy when people are here :)
It's had some fun the last two nights that I confess I had not imagined when I signed the escrow papers...wedding cake!
No, no, not mine. Put the confetti away, people.
Becky is the queen of wedding cakes, and she is making one for someone at our church. It needs to be delivered Friday night to a church in Boise. Rather than have Becky drive all the way to her house from work or bring the cake to work, then drive to Boise to set up the cake, then back to Nampa for our MAF game night (I made her promise to find me people I could play Mexican train dominoes with), I suggested she decorate the cake at my place since it's only 15 minutes from the church. She toted everything over here last night and the baking began.
Last night ended late. Tonight not so late, but we'll be back at it tomorrow, and she has decided she would like me to help her deliver it, too.
Has she ever seen me try to carry anything delicate? Yikes!
The above was just practice assembly to see how things will fit together. Piping and roses and decoration went on tonight and we'll assemble and pipe, pipe, pipe more icing tomorrow to make everything fit together.
I do the dishes, by the way. Not the piping. And I eat the tops of the cakes that Becky cuts off to make them flat. I have my own eight-layer cake-top cake in a pile on a plate :) And I woke up this morning to a house that smelled like chocolate cake...now that is a great way to meet the morning!
It's had some fun the last two nights that I confess I had not imagined when I signed the escrow papers...wedding cake!
No, no, not mine. Put the confetti away, people.
Becky is the queen of wedding cakes, and she is making one for someone at our church. It needs to be delivered Friday night to a church in Boise. Rather than have Becky drive all the way to her house from work or bring the cake to work, then drive to Boise to set up the cake, then back to Nampa for our MAF game night (I made her promise to find me people I could play Mexican train dominoes with), I suggested she decorate the cake at my place since it's only 15 minutes from the church. She toted everything over here last night and the baking began.
Last night ended late. Tonight not so late, but we'll be back at it tomorrow, and she has decided she would like me to help her deliver it, too.
Has she ever seen me try to carry anything delicate? Yikes!
The above was just practice assembly to see how things will fit together. Piping and roses and decoration went on tonight and we'll assemble and pipe, pipe, pipe more icing tomorrow to make everything fit together.
I do the dishes, by the way. Not the piping. And I eat the tops of the cakes that Becky cuts off to make them flat. I have my own eight-layer cake-top cake in a pile on a plate :) And I woke up this morning to a house that smelled like chocolate cake...now that is a great way to meet the morning!
The CEUs of Life
When I was teaching, like lots of people in lots of professions, I had to keep my CEUs up to date. I had to have enough Continuing Education Units every five years to convince the State Board that they should renew my credential.
I am enjoying the CEUs of Life these days. Sometimes they are challenging, difficult things, but sometimes they are just downright happy and crack me up.
A recent CEU was in one of my favorite areas of course and lab work: Introverts and Extroverts: How to Be Friends, or, Kathie's Perpetual Amazement at The Differences and How She Blows Right Past Them.
The other day, my sweet buddy Becky, my smiling airplane seatmate from the airstrip dedication, lost her keys. An email popped up at work right at the end of the day, sent by another friend in the office, saying that Becky could not find her keys and asking if anyone had seen them. Becky was looking forward to heading home and voting (now you know what day it was) and could we help out by taking a look around?
A few minutes later I toodled over to the other side of the building to see if there had been any success. Nope. Someone had volunteered to pick her up in the morning, and another person had volunteered to drive that evening and drop Becky off at her polling place, but they had to get home and couldn't stay to wait for her to vote. Becky said she would just walk the couple of miles home after voting.
The sun sets here in Idaho at 6:00 PM this time of year; can you say dark and cold? I couldn't stand it, so like the helpful-whether-you-want-me-to-be-or-not girl that I am, I told Becky I was taking her to vote, would wait for her, and would drive her home. Yeah, I am gonna let my friend walk home in the dark and cold and rain...right.
As we head to the car, Becky relates to me the saga of looking for the keys and their inexplicable disappearance. She, along with a couple of other folks, searched every inch of floor and drawer in her office. Nothing. She sheepishly confesses that she does have a theory...do I remember that morning when I opened the front door for her because her hands were full with a huge box and other goodies because she refused to make a second trip out to the car? Well, she thinks perhaps her keys fell into the box while she was carrying so much stuff...a box filled with smaller boxes she was sending to a friend for Christmas...which she sealed and mailed that afternoon...to Portland.
Tee hee hee! Becky might have mailed her keys to Portland! I am cracking up, and reminding her that at least the box is headed to her childhood best friend and not a stranger!
As we get to the car, Becky tosses her things in the backseat and climbs in front. As I am still loading a few things into the back, a colleague comes out to her car and asks if Becky found her keys. I leap up to stand on the side where the back door is open and yell over the roof of my car, "No, no keys, but guess what? Becky thinks she might have mailed them to Portland! Ha ha ha!"
I plop myself into the driver's seat and find Becky looking at me, eyebrows up. "Um, not everyone needs to know I might have been a dunce and mailed my keys away."
Oh. I stare back, my eyebrows furrowed down. What? "I was aleady kind of horrified when they sent the email asking for people to help look for my keys...I finally gave up out of desperation, but I would have been perfectly happy for no one to know."
Oh. Ohhhhh. I pull my mouth down into a sad face. Oh, yeah. There are introverts in the world.
I apologize. She laughs and tells me it's fine...she needs to learn to chill about things sometimes. I sheepishly confess, "I forget that introverts don't want everyone to know every time they do something foolish or embarrassing. I, on the other hand, like a good extrovert, have a blog where I can broadcast all the stupid and humiliating things I do. Anything for a laugh. I'm kind of a laugh ho."
By now we are both laughing hard. And I get her permission to tell this story using her real name :)
And she treats me to dinner at Bardenay after voting! Apparently, extroverts pick exceptional friends!
The keys, by the way, did not end up in Portland. They were cleverly hiding under a folder, waiting to be found when Becky sat in just the right spot at her desk the next morning. We think God wanted us to have a great dinner together so he hid her keys :)
I am enjoying the CEUs of Life these days. Sometimes they are challenging, difficult things, but sometimes they are just downright happy and crack me up.
A recent CEU was in one of my favorite areas of course and lab work: Introverts and Extroverts: How to Be Friends, or, Kathie's Perpetual Amazement at The Differences and How She Blows Right Past Them.
The other day, my sweet buddy Becky, my smiling airplane seatmate from the airstrip dedication, lost her keys. An email popped up at work right at the end of the day, sent by another friend in the office, saying that Becky could not find her keys and asking if anyone had seen them. Becky was looking forward to heading home and voting (now you know what day it was) and could we help out by taking a look around?
A few minutes later I toodled over to the other side of the building to see if there had been any success. Nope. Someone had volunteered to pick her up in the morning, and another person had volunteered to drive that evening and drop Becky off at her polling place, but they had to get home and couldn't stay to wait for her to vote. Becky said she would just walk the couple of miles home after voting.
The sun sets here in Idaho at 6:00 PM this time of year; can you say dark and cold? I couldn't stand it, so like the helpful-whether-you-want-me-to-be-or-not girl that I am, I told Becky I was taking her to vote, would wait for her, and would drive her home. Yeah, I am gonna let my friend walk home in the dark and cold and rain...right.
As we head to the car, Becky relates to me the saga of looking for the keys and their inexplicable disappearance. She, along with a couple of other folks, searched every inch of floor and drawer in her office. Nothing. She sheepishly confesses that she does have a theory...do I remember that morning when I opened the front door for her because her hands were full with a huge box and other goodies because she refused to make a second trip out to the car? Well, she thinks perhaps her keys fell into the box while she was carrying so much stuff...a box filled with smaller boxes she was sending to a friend for Christmas...which she sealed and mailed that afternoon...to Portland.
Tee hee hee! Becky might have mailed her keys to Portland! I am cracking up, and reminding her that at least the box is headed to her childhood best friend and not a stranger!
As we get to the car, Becky tosses her things in the backseat and climbs in front. As I am still loading a few things into the back, a colleague comes out to her car and asks if Becky found her keys. I leap up to stand on the side where the back door is open and yell over the roof of my car, "No, no keys, but guess what? Becky thinks she might have mailed them to Portland! Ha ha ha!"
I plop myself into the driver's seat and find Becky looking at me, eyebrows up. "Um, not everyone needs to know I might have been a dunce and mailed my keys away."
Oh. I stare back, my eyebrows furrowed down. What? "I was aleady kind of horrified when they sent the email asking for people to help look for my keys...I finally gave up out of desperation, but I would have been perfectly happy for no one to know."
Oh. Ohhhhh. I pull my mouth down into a sad face. Oh, yeah. There are introverts in the world.
I apologize. She laughs and tells me it's fine...she needs to learn to chill about things sometimes. I sheepishly confess, "I forget that introverts don't want everyone to know every time they do something foolish or embarrassing. I, on the other hand, like a good extrovert, have a blog where I can broadcast all the stupid and humiliating things I do. Anything for a laugh. I'm kind of a laugh ho."
By now we are both laughing hard. And I get her permission to tell this story using her real name :)
And she treats me to dinner at Bardenay after voting! Apparently, extroverts pick exceptional friends!
The keys, by the way, did not end up in Portland. They were cleverly hiding under a folder, waiting to be found when Becky sat in just the right spot at her desk the next morning. We think God wanted us to have a great dinner together so he hid her keys :)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Good News This Morning
I woke up to discover I was not the one who let the tool bag float away during a NASA space walk this morning at the ISS.
Just hearing that story on the news made me check to see that it wasn't me that did it. The gal was cleaning up one mess and another resulted in the meantime. That would be a classic Sluss move.
Whew. I knew there was a reason I scrubbed out of the space program.
Just hearing that story on the news made me check to see that it wasn't me that did it. The gal was cleaning up one mess and another resulted in the meantime. That would be a classic Sluss move.
Whew. I knew there was a reason I scrubbed out of the space program.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Marley Is In The House!
Okay, first off, I am completely giddy about this holiday season. Giddy, I tell you. I love the holidays every year, but this year has both some new things and some simplicity compared to last year.
Last year was special and good, and having Tony enjoy December in the States was a blessing. But I won't deny the challenge of it all, especially since four days into his three-week visit, we knew we would not continue pursuing a romantic relationship. God knew the amount of time he had planned for Tony to be here and all the people Tony would meet, which was wonderful and I am very grateful for the opportunities he had while he was here. Hosting any guest always has some surprises, and if you toss some cross-cultural differences into that, it means my filters were never really all the way down, plus we had a crazy schedule to keep, so I didn't really relax into my family time in California. I had also just bought my house and moved in, and I was TIRED! (My parents should have been exhausted, too; they helped me move and then hosted guests in addition to all the usual fun.) Basically, the holidays flew by and I felt like I hardly got to experience them.
This year...I am giggling at every bit of garland and lights and big snowflakes on the lampposts throughout the city, tickled pink every time I see a house adding fall or Christmas decorations, dancing in the car with the steering wheel when the Muppets and Miss Piggy sing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" ("ba-dum-bum-bum!") on the CD Corrina sent me, and skipping with the shopping cart in the grocery store as I buy ingredients to make fudge and things to munch, munch, munch for dinner and snacks with Granny and Bud and Mom and Dad for Thanksgiving!
I am giggling while I grab the cute flannel sheets to make beds for my guests, buy Thanksgiving Blend Coffee at Starbucks, pick up my first free range, antibiotic-free turkey (thanks for the idea, Wendy!), realize that my bright idea that I don't need a cart when I am picking up only one item at the Boise Co-op is not a bright idea if the one item is a 17.5 pound frozen bird (brrrrrr!), put away more groceries than I have ever had in my possession at once since I moved to Idaho, arrange my fall decorations that my parents drove up this summer, and make sure there is Bailey's in the cupboard so Daddy and I can have Irish coffees in the evening.
Thus, Marley has arrived and is the freezer, the sage is in the cupboard, there are breakfast and lunch goodies in the house for my grandparents who are arriving this weekend (hooray!!!), the Mexican train dominoes are ready to go, and Duffy the car is ready to pick Mom and Dad up at the airport next Tuesday...I am the luckiest girl on the planet.
Last year was special and good, and having Tony enjoy December in the States was a blessing. But I won't deny the challenge of it all, especially since four days into his three-week visit, we knew we would not continue pursuing a romantic relationship. God knew the amount of time he had planned for Tony to be here and all the people Tony would meet, which was wonderful and I am very grateful for the opportunities he had while he was here. Hosting any guest always has some surprises, and if you toss some cross-cultural differences into that, it means my filters were never really all the way down, plus we had a crazy schedule to keep, so I didn't really relax into my family time in California. I had also just bought my house and moved in, and I was TIRED! (My parents should have been exhausted, too; they helped me move and then hosted guests in addition to all the usual fun.) Basically, the holidays flew by and I felt like I hardly got to experience them.
This year...I am giggling at every bit of garland and lights and big snowflakes on the lampposts throughout the city, tickled pink every time I see a house adding fall or Christmas decorations, dancing in the car with the steering wheel when the Muppets and Miss Piggy sing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" ("ba-dum-bum-bum!") on the CD Corrina sent me, and skipping with the shopping cart in the grocery store as I buy ingredients to make fudge and things to munch, munch, munch for dinner and snacks with Granny and Bud and Mom and Dad for Thanksgiving!
I am giggling while I grab the cute flannel sheets to make beds for my guests, buy Thanksgiving Blend Coffee at Starbucks, pick up my first free range, antibiotic-free turkey (thanks for the idea, Wendy!), realize that my bright idea that I don't need a cart when I am picking up only one item at the Boise Co-op is not a bright idea if the one item is a 17.5 pound frozen bird (brrrrrr!), put away more groceries than I have ever had in my possession at once since I moved to Idaho, arrange my fall decorations that my parents drove up this summer, and make sure there is Bailey's in the cupboard so Daddy and I can have Irish coffees in the evening.
Thus, Marley has arrived and is the freezer, the sage is in the cupboard, there are breakfast and lunch goodies in the house for my grandparents who are arriving this weekend (hooray!!!), the Mexican train dominoes are ready to go, and Duffy the car is ready to pick Mom and Dad up at the airport next Tuesday...I am the luckiest girl on the planet.
Happy Dance!
Anyone who remembers our dog Scooter will likely recall his happy dances. If he thought he was getting food, he would do this crazy, scampery jig around the kitchen, his little nails click-clicking on the tiled floor. And his legs frequently almost splaying out from under him...both sad and funny.
I am doing a happy dance this morning! And, yes, I also do one when I think I am getting food, but this morning is for a different reason.
Remember the Smack post? I had booked my Christmas tickets in October for just over $400, thinking I was pretty smooth, then found fares later for the mid $300s. Well, this morning, I found new, even lower fares for the very same flights on the airline I had originally booked and was able to rebook at the lower price, saving over $80! Whoo-hoo! Happy dance, happy dance, happy dance! (In my head, that sentence sings like, "Humperdinck, Humperdinck, Humperdinck!" from The Princess Bride :) There's no clicky noise, though, 'cause I don't have puppy paws and I am in my carpeted cubicle at work...but it's still a happy dance!
I can't get a refund on the credit difference, but I can use it toward a later purchase, which of course I will do within the coming year. Thanks to a friend I had coffee with on Saturday who told me rebooking was worth looking into (she had seen prices dropping like crazy), and thanks God!
I am doing a happy dance this morning! And, yes, I also do one when I think I am getting food, but this morning is for a different reason.
Remember the Smack post? I had booked my Christmas tickets in October for just over $400, thinking I was pretty smooth, then found fares later for the mid $300s. Well, this morning, I found new, even lower fares for the very same flights on the airline I had originally booked and was able to rebook at the lower price, saving over $80! Whoo-hoo! Happy dance, happy dance, happy dance! (In my head, that sentence sings like, "Humperdinck, Humperdinck, Humperdinck!" from The Princess Bride :) There's no clicky noise, though, 'cause I don't have puppy paws and I am in my carpeted cubicle at work...but it's still a happy dance!
I can't get a refund on the credit difference, but I can use it toward a later purchase, which of course I will do within the coming year. Thanks to a friend I had coffee with on Saturday who told me rebooking was worth looking into (she had seen prices dropping like crazy), and thanks God!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Monday, Monday: The Sequel
Finally, the finish. I know you have just been waiting...
The surprise blessing in Monday #1: Turns out that I never would have known it was the exact day between my colleague's two meetings and that my Monday evening was going to be the Tuesday morning before the presentation to all the pastors if I had not called when I did on my Monday morning (got all that?). What it means is...
when I called that night, after fretting all day, I was able to pray for him on the phone before he started a really big day. To thank God for him, for his family, their sacrifices, the work God has done through them (which is terrific), and that the Spirit would work through him during his presentation. I found out later how touched he was by my "out of the blue" call to pray for him.
That call was so only a God thing. I never would have called Southeast Asia that day if I had not gotten that crazy, frustrating call in the morning.
The surprise blessing in Monday #2: Well, um, I don't actually know. Turns out many people thoroughly enjoyed our chapel speaker that morning, and I gave people plenty to chuckle about for the rest of the day--bonus. The weirdness of that Monday is the friend who told me, after reading the blog, "You know, I just kinda had a feeling that something like that was going to happen to you that morning." New rule--speak up, people! If you got foreboding hanging around, let a girl know!
Oh...I also learned that this is why you always make sure you stay friends with the base operations guys, so they can pull your chestnuts out of the fire when you surprise them with things you should have told them a week before. It's why you let them eat all the chocolate out of the candy dish on your desk whenever they drop by. And when necessary, pay them off later with Hostess Fruit Pies and Monster Energy Drinks :)
(Okay...I gotta confess my secret shame on here...'cause it's on TV while I type...I hardly ever watch it, but when I catch a moment of it, My Name is Earl makes me laugh every time. Every time. It's like a test now when I catch a few minutes...will I laugh? Yup. Humiliating, but true. Please, someone else confess a secret shame [not too secret...this is for public consumption, people] in a tiny font so I don't feel so badly!)
The surprise blessing in Monday #1: Turns out that I never would have known it was the exact day between my colleague's two meetings and that my Monday evening was going to be the Tuesday morning before the presentation to all the pastors if I had not called when I did on my Monday morning (got all that?). What it means is...
when I called that night, after fretting all day, I was able to pray for him on the phone before he started a really big day. To thank God for him, for his family, their sacrifices, the work God has done through them (which is terrific), and that the Spirit would work through him during his presentation. I found out later how touched he was by my "out of the blue" call to pray for him.
That call was so only a God thing. I never would have called Southeast Asia that day if I had not gotten that crazy, frustrating call in the morning.
The surprise blessing in Monday #2: Well, um, I don't actually know. Turns out many people thoroughly enjoyed our chapel speaker that morning, and I gave people plenty to chuckle about for the rest of the day--bonus. The weirdness of that Monday is the friend who told me, after reading the blog, "You know, I just kinda had a feeling that something like that was going to happen to you that morning." New rule--speak up, people! If you got foreboding hanging around, let a girl know!
Oh...I also learned that this is why you always make sure you stay friends with the base operations guys, so they can pull your chestnuts out of the fire when you surprise them with things you should have told them a week before. It's why you let them eat all the chocolate out of the candy dish on your desk whenever they drop by. And when necessary, pay them off later with Hostess Fruit Pies and Monster Energy Drinks :)
(Okay...I gotta confess my secret shame on here...'cause it's on TV while I type...I hardly ever watch it, but when I catch a moment of it, My Name is Earl makes me laugh every time. Every time. It's like a test now when I catch a few minutes...will I laugh? Yup. Humiliating, but true. Please, someone else confess a secret shame [not too secret...this is for public consumption, people] in a tiny font so I don't feel so badly!)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Idaho Slussers on the Same Wavelength
This was just cute and made me laugh at 7:20 AM. Anything that does that is worth posting.
Our local Christian radio station is doing their yearly Sharathon. Today is the last day for it, and they were doing a fund-matching thing, so I called in with my annual contribution. I hang up and turn the radio back on. A song ends, the announcers come on, and one starts reading names and thanking people who have just called in to donate since the last song.
"Thanks to Mark and Karla from Eagle for being half-day sponsors. Thanks to Kathie from Boise for her gift..."
I start cracking up and grab the phone, calling Mark and Karla from Eagle. You see, Mark and Karla are the Boise Slussers who "adopted" me when they heard I was moving here with MAF (I was introduced to them via the Tizekker family). They are ministry supporters of mine, and dear, dear friends. Karla introduces me to people as her daughter; Mark introduces me as his sister (he says he's not old enough to be my father :)
When Karla answered the phone and I told her I knew she was awake because I had just heard our names right in a row on the radio, she started laughing, "I didn't know the 'Kathie from Boise' was you! That's great!" Apparently we hit "The Slusser 10-Minute Pledge Window" out of all three days!
Our local Christian radio station is doing their yearly Sharathon. Today is the last day for it, and they were doing a fund-matching thing, so I called in with my annual contribution. I hang up and turn the radio back on. A song ends, the announcers come on, and one starts reading names and thanking people who have just called in to donate since the last song.
"Thanks to Mark and Karla from Eagle for being half-day sponsors. Thanks to Kathie from Boise for her gift..."
I start cracking up and grab the phone, calling Mark and Karla from Eagle. You see, Mark and Karla are the Boise Slussers who "adopted" me when they heard I was moving here with MAF (I was introduced to them via the Tizekker family). They are ministry supporters of mine, and dear, dear friends. Karla introduces me to people as her daughter; Mark introduces me as his sister (he says he's not old enough to be my father :)
When Karla answered the phone and I told her I knew she was awake because I had just heard our names right in a row on the radio, she started laughing, "I didn't know the 'Kathie from Boise' was you! That's great!" Apparently we hit "The Slusser 10-Minute Pledge Window" out of all three days!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Sticky Notes
A brief interlude before we resolve our previous post...
It started with one on my desk late this afternoon. It turned into a train of yellow sticky notes, running down from the top of my desk toward the edge where I sat, scribbling note after note, one by one, each one a reason. It had suddenly dawned on me why I felt so weepy today, so achy inside. Not despairing, not even really sad, but this ache. An email had popped up that finally made the click--my life is brimming with exceptional people whom I love and appreciate; I have been changed for the better by knowing them. But so, so many of them are far away.
It started with one on my desk late this afternoon. It turned into a train of yellow sticky notes, running down from the top of my desk toward the edge where I sat, scribbling note after note, one by one, each one a reason. It had suddenly dawned on me why I felt so weepy today, so achy inside. Not despairing, not even really sad, but this ache. An email had popped up that finally made the click--my life is brimming with exceptional people whom I love and appreciate; I have been changed for the better by knowing them. But so, so many of them are far away.
- Kenya--a few months ago, I connected a friend in Kenya with a friend in Spain. It was an introduction with the intention of two professionals discussing work, but when they finally met last week it wound up being a well-timed encouragement for one of them, with lots of laughter about shared inter-cultural experiences. I am so touched God let me introduce them so that moment could happen.
- Indiana--a new teammate is raising support and is headed west eventually, but in the meantime he is watching God unfold goodness in his life in ways he has always thought he was just meant to be used for good for other people. I am blessed to be sharing in some of the laughter and light bulb moments along the way.
- So. Cal.--I get to share laughter on the phone once in a while with a friend who is longing for a huge paradigm shift in her relationship with God, asking to see things as he sees them. We both want more and more of him, and talking about how he is answering that longing is terrific.
- Oregon--I have a friend who leaves comments on my blog that make me laugh out loud, but more than that, she always knows exactly what to pray when I need it. She knows the inside of my head and the inside of my heart when I can't even say it myself. Amazes me every time.
- So. Cal.--I have the good news of a friend that her dad is hanging in there through cancer treatment and that his sense of humor has remained intact (he wouldn't be him without it!), and we have had some wonderfully comforting phone calls for one another in the last month, but it would be so much better to see the relief on her face over a piece of cheesecake (or a lemon drop :)
- No. Cal.--a friend with a donkey in her yard who prays so beautifully and asks the right questions so gently, you can't help but spill your heart to her and feel better for it. She, too, lives in the world of constant hellos and goodbyes and her heart aches a bit for it, but she has learned to trust him in the ache, and I am learning from her.
- Oregon--a friend who misses me...and she is so special, it makes me feel like I have wings to know she loves me and enjoys having me around. She brings out a little light in my heart I did not know was there.
- So. Cal.--a friend who prayed for me almost three years ago to feel "kisses of his grace". I had to look at her after the most amazing time of prayer once and say, "You are going to think I am insane, but I heard him say, 'blog'." She said, "You better do it then!" (I point out here that Skaggs had asked me to blog several months before; I sent him an email firmly stating that I had nothing to say; he emailed back to ask me if I noticed that it took me four paragraphs to tell him that I had nothing to say.) She has continued to pray for me and celebrate with me when God whispers in my heart of being his beloved.
- Germany--a friend who made a surprisingly deep impression on me in the one night we shared dinner. Another single woman, but one who talked about God's intimate presence in ways I had never let myself think about. She cracked open a part of me that hadn't found a voice for that longing yet. And she still encourages and builds me from afar.
- No. Cal.--a friend who was unexpectedly deeply touched as I talked about some of my struggles this year over a breakfast we shared. It turned into a surprising, Spirit-touched time together, with her speaking to me the exact words I needed to hear before I was alone in my car for an 11-hour drive after a week and half of some of the most heartbreaking moments of my life.
- Kenya--a dear African brother in Christ and his wife, who spent who knows how much, to call me the day before the elections and say they were praying for me, praying for our country, missing me, and when will I be joining them next for fellowship and "our long walk" together?
- So. Cal.--parents who may not always agree with me, may not always "get" me, but who always, always, always, always, love me like no others on the planet. Their hugs restore me more, their laughter cheers me more, their faithfulness warms me more than any other thing on this fallen earth.
- Costa Rica--a teammate who I am surprised to miss so much. He is young, introverted, and kinder, gentler, and smarter than me. He should drive me nuts or make me feel awkward and loud in his presence. But he has the most extraordinary heart for others and such quietly dazzling ways of demonstrating Christ's love, I could not help but find him wonderful, and God bless the young'un, he calls me a friend. I used to be able to toss chocolate over the cubical wall at him; now he's learning Spanish in Latin America, getting ready for more ways to serve.
- So. Cal.--dear me; heart-squeezingly cute nephews who are fun and smart and know how to read and swim and build things. And a niece who actually likes to see me now, and even asked for her hair to be especially pretty when her mom told her I was coming to visit last time. How completely toast-monkey-poopy-poop is it that I live so far away from these three little people?
- I could go on for a long, long time with this list...
- A God who loves me so much, but who, like all of these, I long to see face to face. And I long to see him free from my fallen encumbrances of worry, doubt, fear, impatience...so many things...free to be enveloped entirely in him, the one who loves perfectly. Finally loved and loving without a tinge of ache, a tinge of loss. Completed in love.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Monday, Monday
The last two Mondays at the office have started off in ways that have made me consider getting back in the car, driving home, and climbing back into bed. I seriously could not believe that after last week, a moment like that happened again today! In the deep discomfort of the moments, though, there have been unexpected gifts, laughter, and moments of humility that God brings. Humility, mind you; not humiliation. Actually, humility from God makes me smile, kind of shy and giggly-like, 'cause I feel his love and presence in it, like someone whispering to me, with a smile, real close, "See, Honey? I got it under control. No need to fret so much, Sweetie. P.S. You're kinda cute when you get all squirmy like that and you know you can't fix things yourself."
Keep in mind here, the natural person I am can't stand looking unprepared or stupid (I almost typed foolish, but, no, I mean stupid--sorry Mom). When I don't look like I know what I am doing, unless I have p-l-e-n-t-y of time to explain myself and present my case, I feel stupid.
Monday #1: I arrive at 8:00 AM, my phone rings at 8:30 AM, and it's two colleagues calling from the Midwest, where they have flown to meet with significant financial donors. They need some information I don't have and they need it in 30 minutes. Not only do I not have it, there is an awkward moment of misunderstanding regarding what I feel I can give them versus what they want, which seems to reflect an underlying sense of confusion about goals and results that need to be communicated...to people in 30 minutes. And the information they need...is with a colleague in Southeast Asia. Can you say, "14-hour time difference"?
I call overseas. The person I need is unavailable, asleep and exhausted, but his kind wife lets me know I can call at 5:00 PM my time and try to catch him in a morning window after he has been part of a huge meeting the day before and before he does a presentation to hundreds of pastors. Not only will I not be able to provide the people who called me with what they need when they want it, not only have we had a misunderstanding, but I now have to call and interrupt the plans of someone else later in the day, and I can't promise that he'll have the information these other folks want since we still have the confusion about what needs to be gathered and reported. But there's the high potential to make him feel awkward and confused like I was in the morning, create a new misunderstanding, and all just before his presentation. And, hey, now I get to stew in the anticipation of the fun all day!
Great.
Monday #2: I come in the door this morning before 7:30 AM. I am on our committee that helps plan our weekly chapels. We have a special chapel today (normally Wednesdays), with a special guest speaker. I spent the last month and a half arranging it, connecting with a representative of the speaker, finally connecting with the speaker himself, confirming his arrival, letting him know what audio/visual capacities we have for his presentation, getting a check cut for an honorarium, filling out forms for him with details for his ministry and planning, etc. We are meeting this morning at 7:30 AM so we can get him set up with everything for an 8:00 AM start. I am a good girl; I know that you get the speaker there with enough time for the audio/visual guy to feel comfortable running sound and projector checks and all that good stuff.
First foreboding moment: last Friday evening when I realize I have forgotten to send a reminder to our staff about this special, atypical-day, chapel. I send an email to all staff at like 6:00 PM, praying everyone will pop into the office Monday, open their email, and hop immediately over to our chapel room. I pray about it during the weekend, as well as praying for the speaker and the presentation and the audience and me...I have to introduce and start the service.
Second foreboding moment: this morning, I get there on time, drop my stuff in my cube, grab my name tag, and head back to the front entrance of the building to meet my arrivals. Literally, as I am striding the hall toward the front desk, it dawns on me that I... never... told.... our.... A/V..... guy..... that...... someone...... was....... coming....... to........ speak........ today. Oh. My. Gosh.
We have a speaker arriving, I have people headed into chapel in 30 minutes (apparently my new doomsday time window), and I have told no one that I need the projector and microphones set up and a table ready for him to display his ministry materials. "Ugh," doesn't begin to cover it.
I head to the front desk, manned for the moment by our base operations manager, the boss of the A/V dude. Also sitting there is the college-age son of another colleague who is waiting to be picked up to go to his work, and walking in the door at that moment is another colleague who is on the planning committee with me. I grab him by the arm and say, "You have to stay here. Ken is about to kill me." All three men stare at me while I spew and apologize, completely wide-eyed and white-faced, that I totally forgot to let anyone know about any technical needs for chapel on this day. HELP!
College-age kid gets up and says,"I'll go get the projector going." Ken, the boss, smiles at me and says, "Yeah, we'll get it. You're face looked so awful I thought you were going to tell me someone had broken into the office and stolen everything off your desk." I said, "That would not have been nearly as bad! This is like forgetting to put on pants! Who does this?"
So, off people scamper to rescue my poor planning, joined very shortly by the actual A/V guy, who comes in the front door grinning at my horrified face, chuckling about how he saw the email about chapel that morning and wondered if someone had forgotten to tell him something...
Staff are now coming through the front doors consistently, filling the building, and curious to find me at the desk greeting them all...not normal. I am smiling big, saying, "See you at chapel at 8:00!" like it's completely typical. They smile back, brows a little perplexed, "There's chapel this morning?" "Oh yes!" says I, "You'll see all about it in your inbox...scurry, scurry, scurry!"
People continue to stream in. But guess who is NOT streaming in? That's right...my guest speaker! By now, all I can think about is I have people hustling to be at chapel at the last minute, people hustling to set up for chapel at the last minute and there will be nothing going on after all. Good heavens.
The people who know me best are stopping in their tracks the moment they come in the door: "You look awful. What did you do?" One knows right away that I want to go home and go back to bed and start again. I begin nominating people as they come in the door: "You there, you know any Vaudeville stuff? Hey, you, you wanna sing this morning? Mister, you know any cool magic tricks?"
No kidding...the speaker arrives at 7:55 AM. He's very nice, and I hustle him and his assistants straight into the chapel area, turn him over to the A/V guy to get his microphone and computer hooked up. The room is filling, and people are watching us get set up right then. I have nothing to do but stand in the front of the room and smile at people, hugging to my chest my file folder of well-planned and executed emails that led to today. Well, at least his late arrival allows people to see their email from Friday and get in here...and someone else (the guy I tried to use as a human shield) has sent runners down each side of the complex to make sure people know about chapel this morning. And of course, in the background of all this, the technical stuff is being a headache and they can't get his presentation up on the screen.
Great.
The happy resolutions and unexpected blessings? In our next post...
Keep in mind here, the natural person I am can't stand looking unprepared or stupid (I almost typed foolish, but, no, I mean stupid--sorry Mom). When I don't look like I know what I am doing, unless I have p-l-e-n-t-y of time to explain myself and present my case, I feel stupid.
Monday #1: I arrive at 8:00 AM, my phone rings at 8:30 AM, and it's two colleagues calling from the Midwest, where they have flown to meet with significant financial donors. They need some information I don't have and they need it in 30 minutes. Not only do I not have it, there is an awkward moment of misunderstanding regarding what I feel I can give them versus what they want, which seems to reflect an underlying sense of confusion about goals and results that need to be communicated...to people in 30 minutes. And the information they need...is with a colleague in Southeast Asia. Can you say, "14-hour time difference"?
I call overseas. The person I need is unavailable, asleep and exhausted, but his kind wife lets me know I can call at 5:00 PM my time and try to catch him in a morning window after he has been part of a huge meeting the day before and before he does a presentation to hundreds of pastors. Not only will I not be able to provide the people who called me with what they need when they want it, not only have we had a misunderstanding, but I now have to call and interrupt the plans of someone else later in the day, and I can't promise that he'll have the information these other folks want since we still have the confusion about what needs to be gathered and reported. But there's the high potential to make him feel awkward and confused like I was in the morning, create a new misunderstanding, and all just before his presentation. And, hey, now I get to stew in the anticipation of the fun all day!
Great.
Monday #2: I come in the door this morning before 7:30 AM. I am on our committee that helps plan our weekly chapels. We have a special chapel today (normally Wednesdays), with a special guest speaker. I spent the last month and a half arranging it, connecting with a representative of the speaker, finally connecting with the speaker himself, confirming his arrival, letting him know what audio/visual capacities we have for his presentation, getting a check cut for an honorarium, filling out forms for him with details for his ministry and planning, etc. We are meeting this morning at 7:30 AM so we can get him set up with everything for an 8:00 AM start. I am a good girl; I know that you get the speaker there with enough time for the audio/visual guy to feel comfortable running sound and projector checks and all that good stuff.
First foreboding moment: last Friday evening when I realize I have forgotten to send a reminder to our staff about this special, atypical-day, chapel. I send an email to all staff at like 6:00 PM, praying everyone will pop into the office Monday, open their email, and hop immediately over to our chapel room. I pray about it during the weekend, as well as praying for the speaker and the presentation and the audience and me...I have to introduce and start the service.
Second foreboding moment: this morning, I get there on time, drop my stuff in my cube, grab my name tag, and head back to the front entrance of the building to meet my arrivals. Literally, as I am striding the hall toward the front desk, it dawns on me that I... never... told.... our.... A/V..... guy..... that...... someone...... was....... coming....... to........ speak........ today. Oh. My. Gosh.
We have a speaker arriving, I have people headed into chapel in 30 minutes (apparently my new doomsday time window), and I have told no one that I need the projector and microphones set up and a table ready for him to display his ministry materials. "Ugh," doesn't begin to cover it.
I head to the front desk, manned for the moment by our base operations manager, the boss of the A/V dude. Also sitting there is the college-age son of another colleague who is waiting to be picked up to go to his work, and walking in the door at that moment is another colleague who is on the planning committee with me. I grab him by the arm and say, "You have to stay here. Ken is about to kill me." All three men stare at me while I spew and apologize, completely wide-eyed and white-faced, that I totally forgot to let anyone know about any technical needs for chapel on this day. HELP!
College-age kid gets up and says,"I'll go get the projector going." Ken, the boss, smiles at me and says, "Yeah, we'll get it. You're face looked so awful I thought you were going to tell me someone had broken into the office and stolen everything off your desk." I said, "That would not have been nearly as bad! This is like forgetting to put on pants! Who does this?"
So, off people scamper to rescue my poor planning, joined very shortly by the actual A/V guy, who comes in the front door grinning at my horrified face, chuckling about how he saw the email about chapel that morning and wondered if someone had forgotten to tell him something...
Staff are now coming through the front doors consistently, filling the building, and curious to find me at the desk greeting them all...not normal. I am smiling big, saying, "See you at chapel at 8:00!" like it's completely typical. They smile back, brows a little perplexed, "There's chapel this morning?" "Oh yes!" says I, "You'll see all about it in your inbox...scurry, scurry, scurry!"
People continue to stream in. But guess who is NOT streaming in? That's right...my guest speaker! By now, all I can think about is I have people hustling to be at chapel at the last minute, people hustling to set up for chapel at the last minute and there will be nothing going on after all. Good heavens.
The people who know me best are stopping in their tracks the moment they come in the door: "You look awful. What did you do?" One knows right away that I want to go home and go back to bed and start again. I begin nominating people as they come in the door: "You there, you know any Vaudeville stuff? Hey, you, you wanna sing this morning? Mister, you know any cool magic tricks?"
No kidding...the speaker arrives at 7:55 AM. He's very nice, and I hustle him and his assistants straight into the chapel area, turn him over to the A/V guy to get his microphone and computer hooked up. The room is filling, and people are watching us get set up right then. I have nothing to do but stand in the front of the room and smile at people, hugging to my chest my file folder of well-planned and executed emails that led to today. Well, at least his late arrival allows people to see their email from Friday and get in here...and someone else (the guy I tried to use as a human shield) has sent runners down each side of the complex to make sure people know about chapel this morning. And of course, in the background of all this, the technical stuff is being a headache and they can't get his presentation up on the screen.
Great.
The happy resolutions and unexpected blessings? In our next post...
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Mwa-ha-ha-ha!
Chris gave me hope! I dreamed something like a liquid fence might exist to keep generous, present-leaving dogs out of my yard. I had tried to internet search for such solutions, but my usual powers seemed muted.
A quick little stop this morning at my favorite, most helpful garden/pet store in this area yielded success! They had four different products to choose from...why did I wait so long?
And, Kathie, now home with her purchase, is doing her best Snidely Whiplash imitation...if I had a handlebar mustache, I'd be tweaking and twisting the ends right now...
I bought this stuff that is a type of pepper. How cool is that? You sprinkle it around, it lasts 90 days, and who knows, I may catch the evil little pooper running through the neighborhood sneezing his head off. Mwa-ha-ha-ha!
I feel a hunter's thrill akin to the kind I have seen on three generations of McCreery women when they talk about going after gophers and squirrels...ah, the thrill of the stealthy, stay-out-of-my-yard hunt!
Now, I just have to wait for the rain to go away and the lawn and flower beds to dry. Hrrmmm.
A quick little stop this morning at my favorite, most helpful garden/pet store in this area yielded success! They had four different products to choose from...why did I wait so long?
And, Kathie, now home with her purchase, is doing her best Snidely Whiplash imitation...if I had a handlebar mustache, I'd be tweaking and twisting the ends right now...
I bought this stuff that is a type of pepper. How cool is that? You sprinkle it around, it lasts 90 days, and who knows, I may catch the evil little pooper running through the neighborhood sneezing his head off. Mwa-ha-ha-ha!
I feel a hunter's thrill akin to the kind I have seen on three generations of McCreery women when they talk about going after gophers and squirrels...ah, the thrill of the stealthy, stay-out-of-my-yard hunt!
Now, I just have to wait for the rain to go away and the lawn and flower beds to dry. Hrrmmm.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Just 'Cause It's Green
...don't mean it belongs in the garden.
Apparently I spent the entire spring and summer figuring that almost anything green out in the garden areas around the house was a plant that ought to be there. Wrong! I did pull stuff every so often, but today I filled three big trash bags with weedy things and rose bush trimmings. I think part of my challenge is that I didn't grow up with weeds (a happy thing, actually). We had vinca and pine trees--easy. I found things out there today that look exactly like the "rumor weed" in Veggie Tales. Ugly!
Also, note to self: Always buy the non-sprouting seed for the wee little birdies in the backyard. My first bag this year was non-sprouting, but the second was normal stuff. I had the craziest things growing under the bird feeder for like a seven-foot diameter. I still have some stuff out there now that I have no idea whether I should pull it or not. It looks like giant pumpkin leaves, but when I tried to pull the stems from the ground, I discovered that I could use the vines to swing from an airplane, they're so strong and embedded so deeply. So, stay they shall!
I was thinking I might do some Thanksgiving grocery shopping tonight, but yard work and putting away the patio furniture for winter has convinced me otherwise. I am very happy it's done, though; I think I picked one of the last dry, not freezing weekends left--whew!
The final lawn/garden need I have? To figure out how to keep some neighborhood big dog from using my lawn to leave his "presents" on, and some smaller cat or chihuahua-thing from using the dirt on the side of my walkway to my front door for its smaller "presents". Rude! Blech!
Off to continue making the Thanksgiving ingredient list! We've been in the habit of adding ham to the table for Thanksgiving since we discovered I have a slight allergy to fresh turkey (ridiculous, I know). Since it's just the three, maybe five, of us this year if Grandma Mel and Bud come, we won't buy a big ham, but we need a little ham chub. Since the turkey has always been named "Marley", Dad and I thought we needed a name too for the little hammy guy. We wanted to stay in the A Christmas Carol theme, like Fezziwig or something. Mom said it has to be Babe or Hamlet, so Hamlet it is (I think it ought to be spelled Hamelet, like Omelet), 'cause there is no way I am eating Babe!
I just noticed the wee little birdies are now out pecking the ground where I yanked up the weeds from under the bird feeder. I must have churned up something yummy for them. Nibble away, little birdies!
Apparently I spent the entire spring and summer figuring that almost anything green out in the garden areas around the house was a plant that ought to be there. Wrong! I did pull stuff every so often, but today I filled three big trash bags with weedy things and rose bush trimmings. I think part of my challenge is that I didn't grow up with weeds (a happy thing, actually). We had vinca and pine trees--easy. I found things out there today that look exactly like the "rumor weed" in Veggie Tales. Ugly!
Also, note to self: Always buy the non-sprouting seed for the wee little birdies in the backyard. My first bag this year was non-sprouting, but the second was normal stuff. I had the craziest things growing under the bird feeder for like a seven-foot diameter. I still have some stuff out there now that I have no idea whether I should pull it or not. It looks like giant pumpkin leaves, but when I tried to pull the stems from the ground, I discovered that I could use the vines to swing from an airplane, they're so strong and embedded so deeply. So, stay they shall!
I was thinking I might do some Thanksgiving grocery shopping tonight, but yard work and putting away the patio furniture for winter has convinced me otherwise. I am very happy it's done, though; I think I picked one of the last dry, not freezing weekends left--whew!
The final lawn/garden need I have? To figure out how to keep some neighborhood big dog from using my lawn to leave his "presents" on, and some smaller cat or chihuahua-thing from using the dirt on the side of my walkway to my front door for its smaller "presents". Rude! Blech!
Off to continue making the Thanksgiving ingredient list! We've been in the habit of adding ham to the table for Thanksgiving since we discovered I have a slight allergy to fresh turkey (ridiculous, I know). Since it's just the three, maybe five, of us this year if Grandma Mel and Bud come, we won't buy a big ham, but we need a little ham chub. Since the turkey has always been named "Marley", Dad and I thought we needed a name too for the little hammy guy. We wanted to stay in the A Christmas Carol theme, like Fezziwig or something. Mom said it has to be Babe or Hamlet, so Hamlet it is (I think it ought to be spelled Hamelet, like Omelet), 'cause there is no way I am eating Babe!
I just noticed the wee little birdies are now out pecking the ground where I yanked up the weeds from under the bird feeder. I must have churned up something yummy for them. Nibble away, little birdies!
Friday, November 07, 2008
Swoop!
Tee hee hee! Just a little over six weeks until SWOOP Day!
Winter break will have started and Mommy will be Christmas shopping down the hill...and then...
Swoop! I fly into Ontario about lunchtime!
Swoop! Mommy scoops me up from the airport!
Swoop! We land at Cheesecake Factory (or somewhere equally scrumptious)!
Swoop! We dance right back into Christmas shopping, giggling in the car, getting lost in the wrong parts of town, seeing Christmas lights, and buying goodies for people we love!
Yes, I am giddy over the thought...I can't WAIT!
Winter break will have started and Mommy will be Christmas shopping down the hill...and then...
Swoop! I fly into Ontario about lunchtime!
Swoop! Mommy scoops me up from the airport!
Swoop! We land at Cheesecake Factory (or somewhere equally scrumptious)!
Swoop! We dance right back into Christmas shopping, giggling in the car, getting lost in the wrong parts of town, seeing Christmas lights, and buying goodies for people we love!
Yes, I am giddy over the thought...I can't WAIT!
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
More Little Happies
I don't know what's up with the pictures and quotes thing from me at the moment. Just roll with it :) At least, that's what I am whispering to myself...
On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it.
- Jules Renard
The poetry of the earth is never dead.
- John Keats
The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be.
- Marcel Pagnol
I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
- Robert McCloskey, author of Blueberries for Sal (a favorite of someone I know!) and Make Way for Ducklings
Smack
I want to smack my head into my desk. I bought my airplane tickets for Christmas last week and felt like I had found a good deal for the season, just a little over $400.
I just clicked on an ad in a sidebar of a news story here in Idaho, and found fares for the mid $300s.
Smack.
I just clicked on an ad in a sidebar of a news story here in Idaho, and found fares for the mid $300s.
Smack.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Taking Pictures
Just me, snapping pics, gathering quotes, embracing the beauty and ache and change and glory of autumn...
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
— C.S. Lewis
Youth is like spring, an over praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes. Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.
— Samuel Butler
— Samuel Butler
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
— John Muir
Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.
— Albert Camus
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Eh Gad!
I have the nicest memories of making fudge with my Grandma Mel. I remember being little and being in her kitchen in the house on Moon Drive, and all happy and chatty with Grandma while we made one of her favorite treats (and mine!), some with walnuts and some without.
I have vague memories about the ingredients. Marshmallow creme, chocolate, evaporated milk, something, something.
Today I made Alton Brown's Stove Top Mac-n-Cheese. It calls for 6 ounces of evaporated milk, and I always wind up with the other 6 from the can going bad in the fridge; I can never use it fast enough. In fact, I never use evaporated milk except when I make this recipe. Today I decided, enough. There must be something to make with that silly other 6 oz.
I Googled "recipes '6 oz evaporated milk'". Of course, I found fudge. I found a recipe that needed the right amount of evaporated milk, told me how many big marshmallows I could cut up since I didn't have minis or creme, and could use chocolate chips instead of baking chocolate. We're in business!
I start cooking. Holy cow. So, fudge is sugar, sugar, sugar, and butter? And enough evaporated milk to make it kinda liquid I guess. I stirred 2 cups of sugar with 10 big marshmallows and added that to 8 ounces of chocolate chips and a full stick of butter--good heavens!
Guess I'll be taking a pan of fudge to unload on everyone else at work tomorrow! That thing certainly can't stay here alone with me...
I have vague memories about the ingredients. Marshmallow creme, chocolate, evaporated milk, something, something.
Today I made Alton Brown's Stove Top Mac-n-Cheese. It calls for 6 ounces of evaporated milk, and I always wind up with the other 6 from the can going bad in the fridge; I can never use it fast enough. In fact, I never use evaporated milk except when I make this recipe. Today I decided, enough. There must be something to make with that silly other 6 oz.
I Googled "recipes '6 oz evaporated milk'". Of course, I found fudge. I found a recipe that needed the right amount of evaporated milk, told me how many big marshmallows I could cut up since I didn't have minis or creme, and could use chocolate chips instead of baking chocolate. We're in business!
I start cooking. Holy cow. So, fudge is sugar, sugar, sugar, and butter? And enough evaporated milk to make it kinda liquid I guess. I stirred 2 cups of sugar with 10 big marshmallows and added that to 8 ounces of chocolate chips and a full stick of butter--good heavens!
Guess I'll be taking a pan of fudge to unload on everyone else at work tomorrow! That thing certainly can't stay here alone with me...
Saturday, November 01, 2008
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Elizabeth ought to recognize all the potential fun in that title immediately.
I received a happy little package in the mail a couple of weeks ago: DVDs that Daddy made from our vacation in Idaho this summer! Now, after learning how to convert the DVD format video into web-friendly video (Kathie does little happy dance here), I could show you the splashing around in the wading pool on my patio (Michael included) or fun experiments at the Discovery Center or amazing shots while miniature golfing or LOTS of playing ladder ball at our cousin's house in McCall...but, no. While fun-a-plenty, the best stuff is my sweet mom (who gave me permission to post these--yes, I asked!) watching television with her grandsons.
Why television watching, you say, as the recipient of the hilarity award from the summer plethora of fun? Because we watched Planet Earth, a fascinating series about animals and environments all over the planet, on it, under it, and around it. It really is an amazing series, and one I highly recommend. The boys LOVE the episode about caves and the unusual critters that dwell therein. They wanted to share that fun with Grandma.
Grandma turned out to be more fun to watch than the Planet Earth episode :)
For your enjoyment, I present four brief snippets of "Grandma Nancy Tries to Be Brave." And not scream. And hide behind a six-year-old. And not run away.
Trying to be brave...
Trying not to scream...
Hiding behind a six-year-old...
Trying not to run away...
Thanks Mom and Michael for letting me post these! They make me laugh every time! And I love listening to the boys using giant words in here. Mom, you are the best...and I am sure right now Liann is realizing that I get my toe-curling that she has teased me about for years from you...it makes us family :)
I received a happy little package in the mail a couple of weeks ago: DVDs that Daddy made from our vacation in Idaho this summer! Now, after learning how to convert the DVD format video into web-friendly video (Kathie does little happy dance here), I could show you the splashing around in the wading pool on my patio (Michael included) or fun experiments at the Discovery Center or amazing shots while miniature golfing or LOTS of playing ladder ball at our cousin's house in McCall...but, no. While fun-a-plenty, the best stuff is my sweet mom (who gave me permission to post these--yes, I asked!) watching television with her grandsons.
Why television watching, you say, as the recipient of the hilarity award from the summer plethora of fun? Because we watched Planet Earth, a fascinating series about animals and environments all over the planet, on it, under it, and around it. It really is an amazing series, and one I highly recommend. The boys LOVE the episode about caves and the unusual critters that dwell therein. They wanted to share that fun with Grandma.
Grandma turned out to be more fun to watch than the Planet Earth episode :)
For your enjoyment, I present four brief snippets of "Grandma Nancy Tries to Be Brave." And not scream. And hide behind a six-year-old. And not run away.
Trying to be brave...
Trying not to scream...
Hiding behind a six-year-old...
Trying not to run away...
Thanks Mom and Michael for letting me post these! They make me laugh every time! And I love listening to the boys using giant words in here. Mom, you are the best...and I am sure right now Liann is realizing that I get my toe-curling that she has teased me about for years from you...it makes us family :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)