Communion, Cats, and Coconuts

Bum bum BUUUMMMM!!!! I'm baaaackkk!

Yes, I've been away for, well, a little while. Some Many of you have noticed that it's been almost three months since my last entry. Several reasons for that:

1) As mentioned in the previous entry, I've been concentrating time back in the gym. I realized that the holiday pounds were sticking around, and I was already back from my spring break trip with the kids -- in March. I've kept up my committment to pilates and stepped up my cardio to three days/week. I ended up scrapping the CrossFit because it was really bulking me up. I looked like a ghetto girl sans ghetto, bootily speaking. Wasn't pretty. Had to drop weightlifting altogether, and my joints were happy to hear the news.

2) My former pastor officially left at the end of February, leaving me to stand in the gap for a crucial area of ministry that had been neglected -- fellowshipping with and taking communion to our shut-ins. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a "shut-in" is someone in ill health or has any sundry other reason(s) why they are unable to come and worship with us at Sunday services. Many times these people are in nursing homes or assisted living facilities; other times, they are simply home-bound and it isn't safe for them to venture out of the house or be around crowds of germ-toting people. This item right here is an entire series of blogs that have been simmering in my heart like rich, hearty gumbo -- it's worth blogging about, but I will have to be careful to be confidential. So so so many things I want to share that I have learned while serving in this capacity. Needless to say, since we have not had a full time pastor, I'm the one making hospital visits and making sure these people are not forgotten during times of transition.

3) Spring break came in March, and we braved the wet and cold to spend time with R. These trips are so much fun. The kids are old pros now at navigating airports, long lines at security, and moving walkways. Flying through Denver feels like stopping at an old friend's house at this point.

4) We had to find a new home for the cats. This was a significant emotional event at my house. I spent many a sleepless night in prayer, which may seem silly considering what a burden and source of annoyance Newman in particular has been (the white one), but they have always been family nonetheless. Blog forthcoming on this topic for sure.

5) The month of April is a nightmare some years. This year really wasn't too bad, church-wise. The lenten season brings with it extra fellowship opportunities during the week, as well as contemplative worship time. Unfortunately, extra rehearsals for church musicians can wear out small children and their already-worn-out parents. My nephews also have birthdays two weeks apart in April, so we are always pulled in many directions this month. Went by in a flash.

6) We just went to Hawai'i for eight days and partied our coconuts off! We came home feeling like solar panels for the lush, tropical sun. We made sure R. wasn't lonely over there as he worked, and we also made sure that the beaches and pools were well-supervised. I was repeatedly hit on by a homeless diabetic man who wore a wool beanie to the pool and claimed to be Sean Connery and wanted to spread the Good News of the gospel. Apparently, God had only called him to spread said Good News to women in two piece bathing suits, so poor R. missed out on the fun.

The bummer of this trip is two-fold. Readjusting to the time change, which for us is five hours this time of year. The kids, as per usual, did fine. I was dragging for a couple of days. But I came back to a calendar with nothing on it, and I was so bored not having R. around. Also, switching from having someone with whom to share your time, even the mundane everyday sort of stuff, to being a single parent who sits in a quiet house alone every night is nothing short of bizarre. And even though there's always conversation over the phone, nothing beats having a shoulder to curl up next to as you laugh hysterically at "King of the Hill."

Am I sorry for the lag time here? No, not really. I have missed all the people that read my blog and leave comments. I will confess: I haven't actually been keeping up with my bloglines. I'm sure the post count is well into four digits at the rate most of you guys blog. But to be quite honest, I love working out. I love the smell of fresh-cut grass and something cooking on the grill. I love hanging out with 90 year-olds who are raging against the dying of the light or have served proudly in WWII and Korea. I love chaperoning field trips (sometimes). I love ripping weeds out of my yard and re-discovering my flower bed. I love watching the sun set as I drink a frozen sangria-swirled margarita while the kids chase bugs and watch the boats go by at one of my new favorite restaurants. I love spending time, even if we don't speak with words, with my sweetie. I love rescuing garden snakes from being run over in traffic. I'd trade real life for a computer screen any day of the week.

Accountability Post #3: "Runnin' With It"

**TMI WARNING TODAY!! DON'T READ THIS FIRST PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T LIKE DETAILS!!

I am enjoying being on the bike, but I didn't think today was going to pan out. I have had some weird stomach ache-y thing going on all week and I can't quite nail down the culprit. I've recently started a different hormone pill, as well as a multi-vitamin, and I've noticed I've started early on the post-nasal drip that is a sure sign that fall (or what passes for fall in Texas) is coming. So between these three offenders, one of them has had me doubled over all week. You know those commercials for bladder control drugs where they can't be out in public for long, or if they do, they have to be near a bathroom or know where one is? That's me this week, except it's not my bladder that needs controlling. So as the kids are getting helmets on and practically already down the road, I'm in the bathroom, bargaining with God to make the stomach ache go away.

Please, God, have mercy. I would do anything at this point, ANYTHING, to convince you to heal my poor bowels and make the stomach ache go away. I'll even quit making fun of Democrats (at least until the end of the convention). OK? So if you could just go on ahead and, ahhhh, take away the stomach ache, that'd be greaaaaaat.

At any rate, we got Lil' G to school (that's a WHOLE other blog today, BTW) and here's what we got:

Report #3: 29 AUG 08. Went approx. 5.25 miles this morning, including the trip to school. 4.25 miles count towards training. Completed in approx. 23.5 minutes for an average of 5.53 min/mi. (Note: I think I may have miscalculated the first two days, but that should only affect the averages by half of a minute or less.) I did 2.5 miles on a walking/biking track today and did less in the way of hills. With the stomach and all, I thought it prudent to be near tree cover in case I had to use nature's bathroom. :) (S4J, that was just for you, haha...)

On a happy note, we have met neighbors that are biking to school as well. The mom pulls her little guy, who is Bud's age, on a trail-a-bike, too! Turns out we've been stalking each other. When we saw them pass by the house the other day, we all pushed our faces up against the windows to gawk like we were hunting down the ice cream man or something, completely incredulous that there was another family out there like us! I think they're a military family, which warms my heart. I can't wait to get to know them better.

I'm off to do some Pepto Bismol shooters and get my day off and running, no pun intended. I've two other posts in the works, so be sure and check back soon. And please keep those crazy cajuns in your prayers, and really anyone who lives on the Gulf Coast these days. Even as irriated as I permanently am with all things Louisiana or New Orleans, hurricanes are serious stuff. Let's pray there are no repeats of 2005, in more ways than you all could imagine...

Cascade Mountain High

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber." --Psalm 121:1-3 (NASB)

R. and I took the kids up to Mt. Rainier yesterday and had such a great time. Everywhere you go around here, Rainier stands patiently, majestically, always seeming just out of reach but always nearby. Bud and Lil' G affectionately call it, "Snowy Mountain." By the first five minutes out of the car, Lil' G was completely frustrated by slipping on the snow, but Bud wanted to ski. It's a weird feeling touching the snow and being insanely cold, yet baking in the sun because it's 85 degrees outside...







Despite the kids simply acting their ages, all four of us are having a wonderful time, enjoying being together and in one anothers' presence. I would love to report that we were enjoying cooler temperatures, but that would be a bold-faced lie. I can report that we are not having the same kind of intense, melt-your-brain-to-your-skull heat up here, but in a part of the country where homes are built with no air conditioning, even the slightest amount of unseasonable heat can seem ridiculous.

To top it all off with a heapin' helpin' of gravy, the sixth and best food group, I get to have a "MIRL" (read: Meet In Real Life) with the one and only, the bloggy queen of the Pacific Northwest, none other than Gretchen herself!!! She has most graciously opened up the hospitality of her home at the beach, complete with sand dollars and bald eagles, and we are anxious to take her up on it. Photos and details upcoming...

I leave you with what R. and I like to call a "Pookie Pic." We have collected these from all around the world. Now we have one on top of a dormant North American volcano, a.k.a., Mt. Rainier...

Today's Verse: Psalm 4:8

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."

Is That GGG Trying to Mow Her Lawn Again?!?

Almost, but not quite. While some of you may think I bear some off-the-wall resemblance to Prince Harry (see picture), I assure you that I am not any blood relation, haha... HOWEVER!! That is almost the appropriate gear to don when attempting to do yardwork at my house these days.

Now let me just set the record straight: I do not live in a rural area. Granted, the town in which I live has a high ratio of farmers/rednecks:normal human beings, but I do live in a bona fide subdivision within incorporated city limits. That being said, I simply have the thickest, most dense St. Augustine grass in the south and it laughs at me when I crank up my lawnmower. It scoffs at my naive attempts to manage or manicure my property.

Two weeks ago, as I stand in the mid-90 degree, 75% humity-infused, central Texas heat, trying for a solid 10 minutes to crank my buggared, old green lawnmower, I nearly had a stroke from the effort it took just to crank the darned thing. I had run out of gas after mowing the front yard and had made one pass around the back when it gave out. Once it was filled up with about $3.50 worth of gas, I went through the aforementioned cranking ordeal and then had a breakdown: "NOOOOOOO!!!! I don't have to take the abuse any longer!!" I walked away from the monster, leaving it in the backyard and marched to Lowe's to buy a fancy-schmancy new lawnmower. She's candy-apple red, with an electric start AND a manual crank. I feel like I just bought a Corvette! (It should've come with leather hand grips for what I paid for it, but that's a totally different story. Just as you should NEVER go grocery shopping when you're hungry, NEVER, EVER, EVER go shopping for major appliances or power tools within 24 hours of your old one claiming victory over you -- it's not pretty... But I digress...)

Fast-forward to today. I have given up precious time at the gym to get back to my lawn, which is tall and out of control. It's too thick to let it go so long, and the poor Corvette/lawnmower kept gagging on all the clippings. Mulching blades are apparently a mixed blessing. As I looked back on the side yard just after mowing it, it looked as if there was green snow on the yard. Silly me, I think, "Maybe if I put the bag on it and go back over it all, it will suck up the clippings into the bag, kinda like a vaccuum for your yard!" Girls, apparently this is something that boys are figuring out while we're watching the period film in the 4th grade: lawnmowers are not, in fact, vaccuums for your yard. I had to hand-scoop this miniscule stuff into the dang bag.

Then, to add insult to injury, just as I get into my Amazonian back yard and make that initial pass around the edge of the yard -- mind you, the same stretch done two weeks ago, while the center 80% of the yard has gone unruly and untouched for three weeks and is now practically halfway up Bud's legs, still rests unscathed -- it begins to rain, and I mean pour. The gardener in me is thankful for the rain, but the homeowner in me wants to throw a grade-one FIT!!

So if any of you should catch me skulking about in the backyard all camo'd up and low crawling, I'm probably just venturing out to either find my children or tend my garden...

Random Thoughts While I Wait on the Grass to Dry...

Outside My Window … some overgrown nandinas are waving in the crazy wind we've been having for several days now. And the rainshower we got this morning that foiled my idiotic attempt to put the smack-down on the lawn filled up my empty birdbath in about five minutes. Waiting on my birdie buddies to come and entertain me...

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I am thinking … about a website I looked at earlier today, Aish.com . Kinda interesting. It's a Jewish website. They had a funny "Yiddish-Yinglish" dictionary and even a dating advice page, not to mention educational info and virtual tours of the Western Wall and tunnels.

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I am thankful for … naptime; a 3 year old who is *almost* potty trained; Pilates; fresh fruit; summertime berries; my children; Pookie, in all his quirky goodness; cold Pinot Grigio; my garden; lovely sunsets from my backporch during the summertime, when there's a nice breeze and a good deal of humidity in the air...

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From the kitchen … I have fresh mangoes that I can't wait to dive into; have to use the ground meat in the fridge today or it will be too late to use it; been craving homemade bread to go with the strawberry preserves I made, all of which make me miss my grandmother and wish I'd been born in 1905...

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I am wearing … Texas A&M basketball grey t-shirt, maroon workout shorts; running shoes; obnoxiously large blue topaz ring that R. gave me for our first anniversary :)

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I am creating … nothing at the moment, which isn't good. I've got too much to be doing to not be doing anything!

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I am going … to try and relish my kids and the ages that they are and live in the moment with them this summer; to give God more of my worries and quit hanging onto them like dirty little scraps from an old security blanket; to get caught up on unfinished sewing projects this summer; to read more books and watch less TV (which I don't get to do much of now that Noggin is 24/7...)

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I am reading . . . too many things at once! Look at my Shelfari over there... I don't think, "Wide Open Spaces," by D. Palmer made it onto that list, but it's along the lines of a Don Miller kind of book... I guess I'm a real non-fiction kinda girl. I want to get into fiction more often; it might contribute to a lighter mood, i.e. "relaxed and groovy..."

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I am hoping … that my children will forgive me for all my shortcomings and remember their childhood with smiles rather than tears...

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I am hearing … the quiet, subliminal white noise of the air conditioner pushing chilly air through the vent in my office


Around the house... looks like a bunch of busy people live here; need to tackle that and re-organize some stuff...

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One of my favorite things … isn't things -- it is people, music, nature, geography, foods, love...

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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week … nada; taking kids to the pool tomorrow with my brother and his girlfriend; church as per usual on Sunday...

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Here is a picture thought I am sharing . . .

This was taken as R. and I were walking into St. Peter's Square in the Vatican last November. This is peeking through the columns at the huge basilica... Ciao, bellas!

Carpal Tunnel Lawnmower

Mowing a lawn isn't supposed to hurt this bad. I'm only 31 -- this is as healthy and fit as I'll ever be!!

I have spent the better part of the last week "springifying" my yard and garden. I have worked like a man and weeded, hauled soil and compost, mowed, and am getting ready to plant my garden and fertilize my yard. Rather than basking in the soft glow of a Central Texas sunset with a co'beer in one hand, looking out as the successful master of my domain, I feel like I've got arthritis already!

I'm actually quite proud of myself. I have prepared my soil and selected my plants in preparation to enjoy more homemade salsa and fresh herbs for my ventures into Italian cooking. My garden yielded a great harvest last year, so here's hoping my green thumb hasn't turned gangrenous and rotted off yet.

As for the lawn, it's been mown and mulched and after tomorrow, will be properly fertilized. I have this sickening obsession with having the most awesome yard in the neighborhood. The main reasons why I care are twofold:

1) There are several widows and single women of all ages living on my street. 100% of them, except for yours truly, has a lawn service taking care of their lawn. We all have sprinkler systems, so they basically have lawns that survive (I won't really say thrive) with little to no interaction on their part. I take pride in the fact that I do all of it myself with no assistance and no childcare. It's just a part of being a homeowner, and I take massive satisfaction and pride in knowing I'm not only doing it, but doing it well.

2) The majority of lawns that are maintained by the owners are done by the man living there, and of course, they all seem to know what they're doing, and their lawns are always green, mown, and look great. I've declared an unofficial war on the men -- I want to have a lawn that even the guys are envious of and even would assume that a man is taking care of. Take that!

Let me take a minute to throw something spiritual in here: one of the biggest struggles with sin that I have is with pride. I am uber-competetive, to a fault, and oftentimes my pride is what fuels this characteristic. I have never before taken the time to properly care for my lawn, so I'm trying to use my competetive nature as motivation to be more consistent without letting pride gain a foothold here. Isn't it irritating when the Holy Spirit gets you all convicted over yard work?!?

I had to get all of my outdoorsy responsibilities checked off my list before this weekend, as I enter my third semester of Parish Lay Ministry Academy. To figure out just what the heck I'm talking about, take a peek. I am officially halfway through my training and on the down-hill stretch. If I can just pin down my internship project and get that monster under way, I'll be money. (Boy, is THAT a whole other blog...)

Here's to spring and being a better steward of my little piece of dirt...

**The evil lawnmower picture was snarfed from a fellow blogspot site called Toon Club.