Snippets (Marie Pilgrim)

Winter? Hello, Winter?

2012-02-06T19:51:00.001-08:00

So, I hear that Groundhog's Day came and went and apparently Punxsutawney (yep, I googled that; nobody knows how to spell Punxsutawney cold, not even the inhabitants of Punxsutawney) Phil saw his shadow and the whole Northern Hemisphere will be experiencing six more weeks of winter.

Um, that is so not a problem because my area of the No Hem has yet to experience six weeks of winter, six days of winter, maybe not even six hours of winter.

Yeah, yeah, I know I shouldn't complain. That when it's pouring rain later this month or sometime in March, I will regret regretting the lack of winter.

But my skin is so dry! The grass in my yard is so brown! The rain didn't come so the wind stayed, instead!

Darn La Nina years. Now we'll be hearing about the drought crisis for the rest of 2012. On the plus side, however, my husband, a confirmed summer-lover who could live his entire life outside in the sun, is a happier camper.

5 Years

2012-01-06T14:26:00.000-08:00

Robin Ann gave me a 5 year diary for Christmas. Five years! She said she's into her second year and it's worth it because now she can look back and see where she was at this time last year and this is a fun thing to do.

Five years! I can't even faithfully keep up this blog! And now I'm supposed to write something down every, single day for five years?!?

Five years. I mean, really.

Being me, I decided to not only do this 5 year diary thing but also get a SECOND 5 year diary called Q & A a Day, in which I will answer the same question on the same date for five years.

Yes, when given a crazy project, I have to make it even crazier.

Now I kinda want to get one for all my girlfriends and make them join me in the craziness.

Welcome, 2012

2012-01-01T21:52:00.000-08:00

Ohhhhhh, 2011 was so not my favorite year. Beasley died. Jon 's job is driving him crazy. We didn't get the house. The car. Harlows moved to Chicago. Back on birth control; gave up on the baby-dream.

Nope, not the year I'd play on repeat.

But that's ok.

There was some good stuff, too. The trip to DisneyWorld. Lots of date nights. Our sixteenth wedding anniversary. Books, movies, and tv shows. Good food. Time with family. Time with friends. Our twentieth December together.

And that's that. 2011 is in the can.

I am so ready for 2012.

And my one little word for 2012 is "peace". I've given up on contentment and I know full well that happy comes and goes. I'm going for peace. For a calm spirit even when things get crazy. Even when I'm not content. Even when I'm not happy.

In 2012, I'm choosing peace.

Bringin' Back Optimism

2011-05-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

Sheesh, it's been a drag around here lately.

No more! I'm bringin' back optimism. I'm bringin' back chipper.

I mean, c'mon, it's May! You know, springtime! Birds chirping, flowers blooming, puffy white clouds in a bright blue sky, and me, twirling around in a springy full skirt!

Except that reality is it's really, really cold! And the sky is filled with rain clouds! And it's supposed to pour tomorrow! And Wednesday!

What is with this weather? This is not the global warming people keep warning me about.

None of this matters. Why? Because tomorrow I'm taking my mom to tea to celebrate Mother's Day. There have been a lot of postponements for various crazy reasons but tomorrow we are doing it! We are celebrating my mom being a wonderful mom!

Woohoo, Mom!

Unless there is hail. Or sleet. Or maybe even snow. I don't think there will be snow but it's really, really cold!

But, no! I'm bringin' back optimism! It will not hail, sleet, or snow! We will have tea! It's gonna be great, I tell you, great! I AM optimistic!

If it snows, we're postponing.

If it's just hail, well, then, we'll see....

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

I survived it.

That's really all I've got.

At some point, I do have to get over feeling like an infertile failure on Mother's Day. It's not all about me. Well, technically, since I'm not a mother it's not even kind of about me.

Moving on.

National Scrapbooking Day

2011-05-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

Yep, there's a holiday for scrapbooking. And, in honor of NSD, here's a recent page.

Can't the 70s get a little love?

Top pic: me and my kid sis. I was off to K, so I don't know why she had my lunch box. But, whatever. Bottom pic: me and my kid sis and our cousins in front of Grandma's house. So much 70s awesomeness in that shot: Ann and me in matching velour shirts, Bobby and Danny in matching striped shirts, Steven in knee socks (heh, heh, heh, knee socks). And the little cutie on the right? That would be Jon's K pic. Even back then, he was the most adorable guy around.

Blindsided

2011-04-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

It's the last day of April and I'm glad to see April go. See you, April 2011. Glad you won't be coming 'round again.

I had high hopes for April. Jon would go on Easter Break and then, a couple weeks later, I would go on Easter Break. We would celebrate Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter. The weather should start becoming less wintery and more spring-like. Maybe we would get outside for a hike or a day-trip, or visit friends at the beach, or spend some extra time with the nephews.

But on April 2nd, we were blindsided: Beasley died.

And that pretty much finished April for me.

Sure, we went on Easter Breaks but we were both so lonely during our respective times off. Yes, we celebrated Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter but we were still sad. Got to spend time with the nephews, too, but even those sweet little boys couldn't fill the hole in our hearts.

We just really, really, really miss our dog.

Love you, Mr. B. Thanks for twelve great years. See you in heaven.

A Spring Haiku

2011-03-02T07:26:00.001-08:00

Spring is on its way!
No, it's not; oh, yes, it is!
No, it's really not.

Stay-At-Home Housewife

2011-02-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

I've been at home for an entire work-week, due to the school break known as "Presidents Week" in my district. I love Presidents Week; it is my kind of week. No presents to buy or wrap. No decorations to put up. No special treats to bake. Just an excuse to stay home.

And to wish I were a full-time stay-at-home housewife.

Here's my week in review:

Monday: Honestly, I can't remember what I did on Monday but it doesn't really count because Jon was home, too. His district takes two Presidents Day holidays instead of Presidents Week, like my district. There is much bitterness in our home over this simple fact but he's trying to rise above it and I love him for that.

Tuesday: I weeded! Like a fiend! So satisfying to get all those disgusting weeds pulled up. So discouraging to realize that, with the advent of spring, they will all just grow back. After Jon got off work, we met with our realtor and put an offer on a house. It's the back-up offer, so we have no hope that it will actually go through, but, still.

Wednesday: Lazy day. Didn't do much. Watched flaky tv. Hung out on the computer. Should've worked out but didn't. I did go to AWANA that night and taught the 3rd through 6th grade crew. A bitter crew, because they had had to go to school that day (no Presidents Week in their district).

Thursday: Baked cookies for Bible Study before 8AM. Drove to award-winning cupcakerie in Riverside to pick up cupcakes and drive them to my sister's house in La Mirada. Not that my sister was there, she was at work (more bitterness over the fact that my district has Presidents Week and hers, like Jon's, has two Presidents Days). But her husband was there and her baby Zac was there (big brother was at kindergarten, again with the bitterness) and my parents were there. I left her three of the cupcakes and brought one home to Jon so they can't stay mad at me. I got to play with Zac-Attack (yes, that's what I like to call him), have lunch with Kurt, Mom & Dad, and Zac, and then I drove home. No traffic on a work day, coming or going, because my leave times were so luxe! As soon as I got home, I cleaned the bathrooms. That night, we went to Bible Study, with the aforementioned cookies.

Friday: Did all the laundry. All. Vacuumed and mopped. Now I'm killing time before I dust.

I soooooooo want to be a stay-at-home housewife!

BTW: I also want to point out that every single morning, I got up at least fifteen minutes before Jon (so, 4:45AM or 5:15AM), made his lunch, started the kettle for his cocoa, and got the paper for his reading pleasure. I do that every single morning, whether I'm on Presidents Week or not. I'm not always the sweet, loving non-stay-at-home housewife I'd like to be but I do try to throw the poor guy a bone.

Sister and I are pretty serious about our cupcakes! And, yes, I've heard that pie is the new cupcakes. But I have room in my heart for both.

Freaking Out

2011-02-22T07:28:00.000-08:00

This afternoon we will be meeting with our realtor to make offers on two houses. Two! Not that we are buying two houses but we found two houses we love for different reasons at different price points and we're offering on both and seeing where our offers go.

I am totally and completely freaking out. Like, sick-to-my-stomach freaking out.

I will deal with the freaking out and the sick-to-my-stomach feeling in my usual fashion: completely ignore the whole thing and pretend that nothing unusual is happening.

Yes, I am an ostrich.

And, please, in this market? Both houses could easily get away from us! So, really, what's the point in freaking out anyway? Today really isn't that big a deal.

Except that it is. And I am freaking out!

This is our current house. There is nothing wrong with it except that we have outgrown it. We have lived in our starter house for twelve years. I think it's safe to say that "starting" is behind us. We're looking to move on to "establishing."

Casual Chic

2011-02-17T16:11:00.000-08:00

Can I just say that Brian Andreas over at Story People has a quote for everything? And I mean everything. This just about sums up my approach to getting dressed for 355 out of 365 days of the year: "Ready for just about anything in a casual chic sort of way." Uh, huh, that's what I'm going for (allowing for ten days on which I might be sick and not get out of my pajamas or I might have to get all gussied up in a dressy chic sort of way). I don't always hit it, but I give it a go.

So, we're heading into a transitional season and I hate transitional seasons. Hate them. With a fierce and abiding passion. Fall to winter? What? I don't need a coat, or wait, I do need a coat; no, no, I don't need a coat. Bummer, I needed a coat. Winter to spring? Yes! It's the perfect day for a light jacket! Oh, no, the clouds are rolling in; where's my coat? Nope, they're rolling back out again! Rats, now it's raining.

I do not know how to hit the "casual chic" mark in a transitional season! I know, I know, light layers. Look, I'm short. Too many light layers and I start to look kind of puffy. Like a snowman. And, let me tell you, during these transitional seasons? A snowman could melt. Easily.

I've been looking at my closet and it is not helping me. In passing, is it wrong that, while we're house-hunting, my primary fixation is the size and layout of the master bedroom closet? It's not like a have a humongous wardrobe. And I cull it regularly. But it has reached capacity and it's driving me a little crazy. Anyway, the closet is not helping. Lots of pants, not enough tops. Lots of skirts but it's still too cold for skirts. Lots of solids, not enough patterns. But I don't really like patterns. But lately I'm kind of craving patterns.

Casual chic, maybe it's all just too much work. Maybe what I really need is a uniform.

Nope. I'm bored just thinking about a uniform.

Maybe I should just go shopping!

Or maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should put all the shopping money into our savings account toward a bigger and better closet. I mean house. A house built around a bigger and better closet.

As of lately....

2011-01-26T07:46:00.000-08:00

We are:

looking at houses.

trying to decide if we can afford the houses we like.

pretty sure we can't yet afford the houses we like.

saving.

watching a lot of NetFlix.

loving having friends over for dinner and games.

still using the car as our "talking place".

consistent at Thursday night Bible study.

seeing the occasional in-theater movie.

eating out on Friday night, sometimes followed by an in-theater movie.

working and trying to pretend that we like it.

reminding ourselves that we should be grateful that we have jobs.

ambivalent on the baby-issue.

loving our church.

getting a kick out of our fourth-grade Sunday school crew.

trying to figure out what's next in our life.

loving each other. No matter what's going on; always, always loving each other.

The Best Gift of All

2011-01-14T12:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas is long behind me and now it's just January.

Not that there's anything wrong with January, but there's nothing all that right about it either. It's cold. It's gloomy. I'm back at work.

Not that I hate my job but I'd always rather be not working. Because, well, I'd always rather be playing.

The other problem with January is that all the cheerful Christmas decorations are put away and my house looks a little bereft. Clean and tidy, but bereft.

I finally completed a Christmas layout and, in passing, I tried out the new collage photo feature from Walmart and I'm a fan. I don't think it would work when ordering a bunch of random photos from different occasions but if you're ordering prints from one event, the collage is pretty cool!

I was looking at my completed layout, when I realized what the best Christmas gift of all had been: Mom didn't wear a wig, cap, or scarf for the entire evening.

Her hair's not growing back as quickly as she'd like and I know this is a source of frustration for her but I think she looks beautiful. And so very, very valuable, in the literal sense of the word, meaning "of value." We came so close to losing her. She had a fairly aggressive form of breast cancer and it was scary. But she's here, she's with us, she's in remission, she's healthy, and I will always be grateful.

And I'm so glad that she felt confident enough to be in photos without a head-covering. The hair that is slowly growing back on her precious head is prettier than any wig, cap, or scarf could ever be.

"The Holiday Season"

2010-12-10T08:37:00.001-08:00

Well, we've had Thanksgiving

and now we're speeding toward Christmas so it is officially "The Holiday Season."

I'm starting a campaign to differentiate between "The Holiday Season" and Christmas. You see, at some point a religious holiday (Christmas) became a secular holiday. People call this secular holiday "Christmas" but I really wish they wouldn't. I'm lobbying to call it "The Holiday Season" and leave it at that.

"The Holiday Season" is about obligation. Participants are obliged to feel festive when they, in actuality, are stressed. They must decorate their house when it is just too cold to be standing on a ladder, clipping lights to the eaves. "The Holiday Season" celebrants must buy many, many presents to give to each other. They must bake, even if they are not people who like to bake. Or are good at baking. During "The Holiday Season", they must send out festive holiday cards to family, friends, and acquaintances. All of this could really be summed up as follows: "The Holiday Season" is about doing our bit for the economy. Toy stores, supermarkets, and the post office benefit greatly during "The Holiday Season."

And I am not begrudging the retailers this surge in profits! I like "The Holiday Season"! I bake treats and wrap gifts and trim a tree and send cards

and join in all the jolly holiday fun going on around me. I like it!

But I wish we wouldn't call it Christmas. I wish we could reserve "Christmas" for that one day in the year, arbitrarily assigned to December 25, when Christians remember the advent of the Christ child: He who came into the world to seek and to save the lost.

Yes, I am (mostly) enjoying "The Holiday Season". But my heart is longing for Christmas.

Fall Activities, Part 2

2010-11-08T06:40:00.000-08:00

I can hear the rain dripping outside my window and it finally feels like fall might have arrived. I'm already envisioning myself in tights and boots and a sweater--fall fashion at its most cliched and best! I don't mind being a cliche as long as I'm a comfy cliche.

A couple of weeks ago, the Fabros Family made the trek out from Culver City to the rustic environs of the IE. Jon and I met them at Chipotle for a quick lunch and then we caravaned up to Riley's in Oak Glen for pumpkin and apple picking. That was a perfect fall day; so much so that the West Side Fabroses were too cold! I'd suggested dressing in layers but Robin didn't take me very seriously. So they all ended up wearing Jon's and my clothes: Edwin in Jon's jacket, Robin in Jon's snow jacket, Ali in Emma's jacket, Emma in my jacket. Good thing Jon always has spare jackets in his trunk! Even then, I thought Emma was going to turn into an ice princess from the "cold". It wasn't that cold but you know how it is with these effete L.A types.

We picked the perfect pumpkins and then hiked up and into the orchard to gather apples. Apple-picking devices were forbidden but we found an apple-picking pole and, well, it just would've seemed silly to leave it lying there and just jump up and down under the trees to try to grab an apple. I mean, really, we're all well under 6' tall and this was pretty late in the season; we didn't have a chance of getting any apples without using the apple-picker.

Before we left Riley's, we bought some apple desserts and then headed down the hill to our house for dinner and, oddly enough, Rock Band! Emma wanted to play and it was a fun way to end a fall day.

Fall Activities, Part 1

2010-10-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

Every single September, we go to the fair. Why? We just do. Ann likes to say it's part of my birthday extravaganza but it's really not. My birthday and the fair both come around in September and that's that. Sure, Mom and Dad spring for admission and food and anything else for their darling daughters and the families of said darling daughters but that's not 'cause it's my birthday. Besides, technically? Mom and Dad spend more on Ann at the fair because, in addition to a husband (I have one of those), she brings two kids (I don't have any of those). Zac's still a baby so he's not yet in full fair mode but Luke is a "big kid" and we all adore Luke so he pretty much gets whatever he wants. Within reason. Kind of.

Next up? The pumpkin patch and apple orchard expedition.

Styling Fall

2010-10-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

I looooooove fall! I just wish we actually had fall in Southern California. Because, let's face it, we really don't. The weather goes from freakishly hot to downright cold and rainy overnight. And then back again. And then forth again. And again and again and again until I wake up one morning and realize that it is plain and simply winter and I wonder where fall went. I usually have this epiphany in, oh, say, February.

But I love the idea of fall. Bright, crisp days. Sweaters, tights, and boots, but no need for a heavy coat. Orange, brown, camel, and denim. All those beautiful grays. Fall, in theory, seems perfect! So much richer than the pastels of spring. Not that I wear pastels. Have you seen my coloring?

I'm always lobbying to move to somewhere that has a beautiful fall but then my husband points out that the price you pay for a beautiful fall is a serious winter and that would probably kill us, as we are tried-and-true Southern California wimps.

Ah, well, a girl can dream.

I wear nice, heeled sandals to school when it's hot. You can tell that the weather is shifting if I've moved to anything with a closed toe. Besides a ballet flat, that is. I love ballet flats and wear them year-round. This page with these totally awesome Frye almond-toe t-straps was part of Dare 169 at Effer Dares. Shoes were my back-to-school indulgence this year. And this was also the year that I discovered Frye and now I'm a bit obsessed.

I also had an outfit featured in Academichic's Interview Symposium. Scroll down; I'm Submission Four. This is very much a classic fall work look for me, especially if I'll be in an IEP meeting, attending a conference, or sitting on an interview panel.

So, what's everyone else wearing this fall?

Missing Summer

2010-10-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Summer rocked but, then again, it almost always does. That's just how summer is. When you work on an academic calendar, you never outgrow the feeling of euphoria that is the very essence of summer. There's just so much time! Time to be lazy. Time to be busy. Time to have fun. Time to do house/yard work (yech). Time to visit family. Time to stay home. Yes, yes, this is all starting to sound like a poor imitation of Ecclesiastes.

One of the best things about summer is that there's more time for the random. During the school year, my days are pretty straightforward:

M-F: Get up (earrrrrrrly). Make breakfasts. Iron clothes. Get ready. Go to work. Work. Come home. Make dinner. Collapse in exhaustion on couch and watch mindless tv. Repeat.

Sa: Housework. Laundry. Try to squeeze in something fun.

Su: Church. Football. Get ready for Monday.

But during the summer, there's a lot of random going on. Double feature at the matinee price? Sure! Roach coach tour through L.A. midweek? Uh-huh! Spend the entire day reading a book? Why not! Open the front door to see my dog's doppelganger on the porch? Ok, weird. And random. But true.

Kind of makes me wonder how often the chocolate-lab-across-the-street breaks free and comes over to hang out on our porch during the school year!

I really love the random.

Chirp, chirp, chirp

2010-10-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

Wow, there's really nothing happening around here, is there. The entire month of September came and went and, well, nothing here to show for it.

I have got to get a life.

Currently

2010-08-25T20:10:00.000-07:00

Wait, haven't I been here before?

2010-08-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

If you had told me, twenty-one years ago, that I would find myself on a road trip from Boston to Montreal and back again in a big white van with my primary Sunday School teacher, my children's choir director, my high school PE coach, and my oldest friend (second grade to present), as well as my husband, said-friend's husband, and said-friend's husband's in-laws, I would've told you that you were a crazy person.

And I would've been wrong. Because I was the crazy person and that is precisely how I spent my summer vacation: on a road trip from Boston to Montreal in a big white van with my primary Sunday School teacher, my ... well, you read it above.

Roach Coach Tour

2010-07-28T20:30:00.001-07:00

Summer highlight: Sister Days! No boys allowed, just me and my sister.

This summer's big event? A tour of some of the gourmet roach coaches (aka lunch trucks) in the greater LA area.

Don Chow's: Mexican-Chinese fusion. Um, oh, yeah! This stuff was wicked good.

Coolhaus: Outrageous ice cream sandwiches. Mascarpone cheese and fig ice cream? Uh-huh! Salted caramel ice cream between snickerdoodles? Soooo good! Ice cream sandwich heaven.

South Philly Experience: Shared a cheesesteak. Pat's and Geno's have nothing to worry about but the guys in the truck were very sweet. And they had Tastycakes!

We finished up the day shopping at the Santa Monica Promenade and eating Yummy Cupcakes. Yummy Cupcakes makes the best cupcakes in the world. That's right, Sprinkles, you heard me.

I so love doing crazy things with my sis'!

Summer: The Half-Way Point

2010-07-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Mid-July is the half-way point of my summer. School gets out in early-June and starts up again in late-August so mid-July is right in the middle of summer. This is the point at which I have to fight my natural inclination to get depressed because summer is "almost over." Yes, I know it's not really almost over. I still have days and weeks of summer left to enjoy. I still have one big vacation to take. I still have ice cream to eat and books to read and home projects to complete.

But summer is offically waning. Good thing we're making it fun!

I know nothing about baseball. I take that back; I know that you have to hit a ball with a bat and run from base to base while players from the other team try to tag you with the ball to get you out. I don't go to baseball games for the love of the game. I go for the food, the camaraderie, and the cheesy mascots. This time, we took Jen and Dean with us. Dean actually played baseball so he takes it way more seriously than I do.

I loooooove county fairs! We go to the LA County Fair in September, right around my birthday. But lately Jon and I have been going to the San Diego County Fair at the start of summer. It's right by the beach, which is so cool. The only thing that would make it cooler is if they opened a train depot at the fairgrounds. Any excuse to take a train is a good excuse. We got in free this year, thanks to Kim and Danny. They gave us free tickets from Danny's mom and we met them and the kids for a day at the fair. I got to ride the kiddie rides with Caroline (Kim's not a big fan of carnival rides) and Jon got to ride the normal rides with Danny and the boys and then we all saw Switchfoot (a pretty awesome "free" concert). Plus, we all got to eat fair food. Ahhhh, fair food!

San Francisco! I haven't been in years and Jon's never been so this was an especially fun trip. We just spent a few days in the city and our stay at Le Meridien was a graduation from gift from Michael and Becca. Who knew that agreeing to become godparents for an adorable little boy would also net us free hotel stays? Loved San Francisco. While the east coast was sweltering in 100 degree heat, we were buying sweaters and tying on scarves. We ate sourdough at Boudin (and the best stew I've had in my life) and ice cream sundaes at Ghirardelli. We rode every form of public transportation we could find: BART, MUNI, bus, streetcar, cable car. We walked up hills and down the crookedest street in the country. We explored the CA Academy of Science and stepped out on the Golden Gate Bridge. It was an excellent trip and I'm ready to go back, right now!

Apparently my longing to return to San Francisco communicated itself to Blogger, which decided to publish my San Francisco page twice. I don't know why and multiple attempts to remove the second page have failed so I'm leavin' it.

The Graduate 6-13-10

2010-06-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Three years to get the degree. And don't be thinking that he was slow, that a master's should only take two years. That is the case for some master's degrees but not this one. In order to even start a master's in speech-language pathology, you have to have one of two things: 1) a B.A. or B.S. in communication disorders--this is the way I did it, praise God--or 2) a B.A. or B.S. in anything else PLUS one full year of most of the undergraduate comm dis classes, which is called the transitional year.

And Jon, who doesn't really do anything the easy way, added all sorts of fun stuff to the prereqs for the master's program. Like his fifth year, because he was a teacher for ten years. Two credentials: 1) single-subject Social Science and 2) multiple-subject. He passed the CSET for the multiple-subject credential and I think he deserves an award for that. It was a killer. CBEST? Please. LSAT? NBD. CSET? Arrrrrgh! But he passed it first try. I would've died. Then his CAD certificate because he didn't want to set foot in a school as an employee ever again. Then the LSAT. What, you thought I was just referencing that for the fun of it? Nope, he took it, rocked it, and got into two law schools. Which was great, until he decided he didn't really want to be a lawyer. And I am sooooo praising God for that because, let's face it, this is not a good economy for lawyers.

So, with all of that out of the way, he gave speech-language pathology a try (as a Teacher On Assignment-Language Intervention) and decided that this was something he could get into.

Now, three years later, here he is. Graduating with a 4.0 GPA. He's got a very sweet contract with Riverside USD. Yep, that's right, he'll be back in the schools as a full-time SLP! Lucky RUSD; he's worked with me in Banning for the past two years and I am really going to miss him. But Banning just couldn't match RUSD's offer. Sigh.

I took a million photos that weekend and the quality of this shot isn't the best but I love it so much. It was taken at baccalaureate and I Photoshopped the heck out of it and even then the developer showed it to me and said, "This is how it came out; I'm sorry." (No, no, photo developer guy, I spent a lot of time to get it to look like that!) There's just something about this photo that shows the peace and anticipation that I felt from Jon all weekend long.

Jonathan D. Pilgrim, M.S., CFY/RPE-SLP.

Not-A-Mother Day

2010-05-31T11:39:00.001-07:00

Hmmm. I posted on the first day of May and now I am posting on the last day of May. Not-so-good. I need to do better.

There was a lot going on in May! Jon started interviewing and receiving job offers. We went to the March Air Show party at Scott and Leslie's. The washing maching broke. Boy, did it break! You should've seen the shards of metal and the giant circle-shaped hole that just, well, blew out! Now I have a new washing machine (and dryer, because Jon likes to have a matched set). We went to the LLU Spring Banquet and got an award for, wait for it, "cutest couple." We're definitely cute but "cutest couple" seems more like a high school award than a graduate school award. We made soup. This may not seem like a big deal but we're not a cooking couple and the soup turned out great so it was notable. I took the train and subway to visit Robin Ann in Culver City (I am a huge fan of the train and subway). I helped Ann make flowers for a wedding (they were amazing).

But, for me, surviving another Mother's Day was a big part of May. When you're not a mom and you want to be a mom, Mother's Day can be difficult. So Jon and I have a deal. We honor our mothers on the day before Mother's Day. And then on Mother's Day, itself, we run away. We don't go to church (arrrgh, the passing out of the carnations for all the moms in the congregation!) and we try to do something outdoorsy. If we meet any moms and kids on a hiking trail, well, they're usually sweaty and grumpy so it's not so bad for me.

This year I finally got Jon to go to the Santa Rosa Plateau with me. He'd been resisting and I have no idea why. It's beautiful: vernal pools, adobe ruins, wildflowers, tons and tons of trails, etc. You would think he'd be all over that and, after we got there, he was. So we had a beautiful day hiking around and looking at flowers and caterpillars and the views.

It turned out to be a really great not-a-mother day.

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

2010-05-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's not a hobby that gets a lot of respect. And spouses seem to think it takes up too much room. And time. And, really, the only person who looks at the final product much is, well, the scrapbooker herself. But I love it.

And I've never been too worried about being cool.

CSHA 2010

2010-04-24T11:02:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I was in Monterey, California, which is probably one of the most beautiful cities in the country. Today I'm typing at my desk in So Cal, having just finished weeding the backyard. I wish I were back in Monterey.

We went up for CSHA, which we usually don't do when it's in No Cal because it is expensive! We drove instead of flying which kept the cost down somewhat, but still. CSHA is the state convention for speech-language pathologists and it's where SLPs get most of the CEUs needed to renew the state license, national certification, and teaching credential. Basically, SLPs have to maintain a lot of paperwork in order to practice.

Anyway, Jon's graduating this year so we decided to go so he could check out the job fair and make some contacts. I went because I can always use the CEUs and, hey, any excuse to go to Monterey is a good excuse.

The weather was gorgeous! Two days later it would be freezing cold and pouring rain but while we were there it was beautiful. We did two full days of sessions and overall they were pretty good. I actually attended one excellent session! Like any other conference, the sessions typically range from poor to good with lots of fair. This year I attended one excellent, one good, one fair, and one poor. Honestly, that's not bad.

We managed to squeeze in some fun, too. On the way up to Monterey, we stopped in Cambria to revisit Moonstone Beach. Jon proposed to me on that beach, so I have a soft-spot for it. A few miles up the coast, we checked out Elephant Seal Beach. You think you've found the beach and you go, "Awww, look at those three seals; they're so cute." And then you look to the south and, well, it's all elephant seals as far as the eye can see. They're squished together and lying on top of each other and it's a little crazy.

After the sessions on Friday, Jon took me for a romantic dinner at Cibo. We chose their prix fixe menu and it was delicious! Then we saw "The Joneses," which we both really enjoyed. On Saturday we had another full day of sessions and then we drove to Pacific Grove to take the 17-Mile Drive. We've driven it before but it really is worth the money. That is some unbelievable coastline, including the Lone Cypress and the Ghost Tree. Part of the coast was temporarily blocked off because it was seal calving season. Fine with me, new mothers deserve their privacy!

On Sunday, we got up and packed, did a little shopping, and then drove home. I've got to admit, everytime we're up there I find myself checking out job opportunities and home prices and wishing we could stay forever....

Family-Wide Fire Alarm Day

2010-04-20T18:27:00.001-07:00

They call it "Easter" but for us it was "Family-Wide Fire Alarm Day." Let me just say that finding yourself in the middle of "Family-Wide Fire Alarm Day" when you were expecting "Easter" is kind of disconcerting.

It went something like this.

Jon decided that we should host his mom for Easter lunch, which was great because I love his mom, but he decided kind of late. No big deal. After much discussion, we ended up deciding to go with a roast, oven potatoes, and various sides. Ok, I can do this. I wanted to go for easy, so I bought a Costco tri-tip roast (it comes in a bag, it's pre-seasoned, it is so easy) from my sister. She has a Costco membership and I don't and she always stocks important food items like Costco tri-tip roasts. Cool, we were good to go.

Except that we were going to church on Easter (not just because it was Easter, we're church-going folks) and I couldn't figure out when to cook the thing. I didn't want to throw it in the slow-cooker and I hadn't planned to throw it in the slow-cooker so it became a time crunch issue because we would be going to my parents for Easter dinner. Best idea seemed to be to cook the thing before church and then throw it in the slow-cooker just to keep it warm while we were in church.

Which seemed like a genius idea until, at 8AM on Easter morning, the fire alarm was screaming its head off at my house. Not just any fire alarm, the one that's at the tippy-top of my cathedral ceiling. And Jon was in the shower. Arrrgh! Opened all the doors and windows. Jon got out of the shower, threw on some clothes, and went up the ladder to quiet the alarm. Yeah, I bet the neighbors weren't expecting that on Easter, make that Family-Wide Fire Alarm Day. Bet they weren't expecting it to go off a second time either. Into the slow-cooker went the roast and I did my best to convince myself that Easter was not the best day to develop a serious swearing habit.

Off to church. Lunch with Mom Pilgrim. Off to my parents' house. Where my mom was cooking, wait for it, a Costco tri-tip roast! With oven potatoes! Huh? Seriously? We all thought that was weird enough until, yes, the fire alarm went off at my parents' house. Multiple times. Jon was upstairs entertaining Luke who was complaining that the sound hurt his ears (well, yeah) but finally we had to bring him downstairs because he was the only one who could quiet the alarm. And keep it quiet.

Maybe it wasn't Easter or Family-Wide Fire Alarm Day. Maybe it was "Groundhog Day." At least the Easter egg hunt went as planned.

Here

2010-04-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes just being really happily married is enough for any given day.

Fooled

2010-04-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

Me: Ok, girls, pretzels or goldfish?

[Pretzels or goldfish is the good-job-in-speech-therapy snack since the governor took candy out of the schools.]

C & L: Pretzels.

Me: Here you go; have a great day!

L: You, too.

C: Hey, you gave me five.

[Four pretzels or goldfish is the allotment of good-job-in-speech-therapy snacks.]

Me: Oh, ok. Here, L, have another pretzel; now you both have five.

C: April Fool's!

Me: Huh?

[Yes, not always quick on the up-take; that would be me.]

C: You only gave me four!

Me: Ok, here's another one for you, C, now you both really have five. And, you know what? That was pretty funny!

That was the only April Fool's Day prank pulled on me this April 1st. And I really did think it was pretty clever.

Dysphagia 1 feeding

2010-03-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Well, not really, but a dysphagia 1 diet consists of pureed foods and that's exactly what early baby foods are: puree.

So, after he took the Praxis, Jon came back for some hang time with the nephews. I got to take Luke for the non-existent whoopie pies and he got to feed Zac.

The last time Jon fed a baby, he was in the NICU at St. Bernardine's, feeding preemies from a bottle. This is not as easy as it sounds. You would think, "Hey, feeding a baby; no big deal. And, hey, feeding a really small baby; even less of a big deal. Because the baby is, you know, smaller. And probably less feisty." But no.

Bottle feeding a preemie involves teaching the baby how to swallow. Early preemies are born before the swallow reflex has developed, which is why they are tube-fed until they are old enough to learn to swallow. Plus, preemies are already medically-fragile and have compromised respiratory systems. One of the easiest ways to really mess with a respiratory system is to allow someone with any kind of swallowing disorder (including not yet knowing how to swallow) to eat. If you don't swallow correctly (and this involves timing and laryngeal elevation and coordination with the respiratory system and the ability to cough to clear if all else fails), then you can aspirate and end up with food in the lungs. Let me assure you, this is not good.

Preemies who don't know how to swallow have to be taught. You have to stroke the palate to get the tongue moving. You have to stroke the cheek to encourage them to root. You have to position them correctly (generally, in front of you, head in your hand, body on your forearm, at a steep upward angle). You have to check the monitors to make sure the O2 sats don't fall to low. Preemies will often find feeding so new and challenging that they, well, for lack of a better term, forget to breathe!

After you feed them, you must burp them. They must burp! Upright! This is crucial because, again, they don't really know how to swallow and if they burp in a supine position, they are likely to aspirate. After all that, you'll probably have to change their diaper. Jon changed his first diapers in the NICU (talk about a pressure situation but the nurses and his supervisor all found it very amusing).

Feeding preemies is definitely not for the faint of heart. But feeding Zac? Piece of cake. The kid loves to eat. And he knows how to swallow. The worst thing that can happen with this little guy is that he will start to get fussy if the spoon arrives at his lips too slowly. He should be working his way up to a dysphagia 2 diet (minced) before we know it.

No whoopie pies?!?

2010-03-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

Ann and the nephews came up on Saturday while Jon and Kurt were both taking tests (Jon--Praxis, Kurt--single subject tests for math and physics). One of Luke's favorite treats is only twenty minutes away at West Coast Whoopies! Seriously, the kid talks about the whoopie pies and knows his favorite is mint and he's probably only had them about three times in his life. Well, he's four and he's been on solid foods for only three-quarters of his life so maybe that's not unreasonable.

Anyway, I decided to take him to West Coast Whoopies all by himself. That's right, just me and the four-year-old. He's toilet-trained now, so I figure what's the worst that can happen?

I must have had some sort of premonition, though, because I didn't tell him we were going to West Coast Whoopies. I just told him we were going to go get a treat. We got in the car (Luke looked at the booster seat and said, "Hey, we have one just like that;" ummmm, yeah--that one is yours Luke-o) and headed down the freeway to WCW! We talked the whole way. Luke is a talker. He's got opinions on everything. For example, he prefers Kutless to Chris Tomlin. My kind of kid.

We got off the freeway and pulled into the parking lot of WCW and I just about had a heart attack! It was closed! Permanently closed! The storefront was empty and it was just ... gone. No more whoopie pies. I hate this stupid economy.

See? Lucky I hadn't told the child we were getting whoopie pies. It would have been a huge let-down. As it was, he's four. He was busy talking and listening to Kutless and looking at the liner notes from the rejected Chris Tomlin cd. So I was able to quickly pull out of the WCW parking lot and take us straight to Frugo's for frozen yoghurt. He was a happy camper (and put together a totally disgusting concoction of chocolate and vanilla yoghurt with gummy worms, white chocolate chips, Captain Crunch, and Fruity Pebbles) and I quite like Frugo's, too.

But no more whoopie pies?!? What is wrong with this country?

Jury duty

2010-03-15T18:27:00.000-07:00

I didn't get picked for the jury. Is it weird that I kinda felt bummed? It was like a flashback to all those softball and kickball games when I was the last to be picked. And, even as I was picked, you could tell the team captain was wishing it was like jury selection and he could tell me the team was full and I was excused for another year.

It's ok to cry

2010-03-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

It's ok to cry, buddy.

I know this has been a traumatic week for you. On Monday, you said good-bye to your teacher and your friends and your RSP teacher and me. You said good-bye to your school. Then you moved with your mom to a new house in a new city. We had talked about the move and you were excited. And then, yesterday, I got the notification that you were back, three days later, and now you were living with your dad.

I don't know what happened, K. I don't know what changed. All I know is that I found you, sobbing your heart out all by yourself outside the cafeteria. You're a tough guy and you can be a bit of a challenge but today you were just broken. Just really, really sad. You were back at your old school but now you had a new teacher and different classmates and everything was all wrong.

I'm glad I was the one who found you. I'm glad I could hug you while you cried into my shirt. I'm glad you let me hold your hand and walk you up to the office so I could find out who your new teacher was. I'm glad you let me walk you to your new room and then talk you inside. I'm glad you were brave enough to sit back down and just cry quietly.

You're gonna make new friends in your new room, K. And you'll find your old friends waiting for you on the playground. I think it's all gonna be ok.

But for today, on such a scary, confusing day, it's ok to cry. Truth be told, I wanted to cry, too.

First Look

2010-03-12T06:53:00.000-08:00

I found this truly old photo the other day and had to laugh because it brought back so many memories! Not necessarily of falling in love with Jon, although I have lots of other photos that bring back that, mmmmm, yummy time. Nope, this photo makes me remember the way he looked when we first met!

This was back in the early 90's. Yes, we are that old. He was sporting jeans rolled and tapered at the ankle, surf-brand tees and sweatshirts, graphic-print sweaters, and ... an earring! The earring didn't last long but I still can't believe I fell in love with a guy with an earring! Ah, yes, the fashion joys of the 90's. Not that I'm one to judge. I was rolling and tapering my jeans, too, wearing truly enormous, oversized sweatshirts, and had my hair pulled back in the ubiquitous scrunchy.

Back to the photo. It was taken while he was on a college floor retreat in Joshua Tree. He's holding a purple ski jacket; we still joke about that. I don't think he'd be caught dead in anything purple today. And he's wearing a bandana! We've been together for 18 years and I have never seen the guy in a bandana.

Today his ski jacket is army green and he's more likely to pull on a cashmere sweater than a sweatshirt. And that old earring is rolling around in my jewelry box. Can't say I was sorry to see it go.

Consonant blends

2010-03-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

I was picking up one of my kindergarten groups on Tuesday, when the following conversation took place between H and me.

Me: Hi, H, ready for speech?

H: Yeah. Mrs. Pilgrim, you got sex?

Me: What?!?

H: You got sex?

Ok, I admit it. I had absolutely no idea what she was trying to say but I knew it wasn't "sex." So much for a master's degree in speech-language pathology.

Me: Um, no (thinking that was the safest response).

H: Well, you got lunch?

Ahhhhhhhhh, the light finally dawns.

Me: Yes, H, I had lunch. And I have snacks. After speech we'll have a snack, ok?

Consonant blends are a big deal. And, for that matter, so are short vowels. H and I will be working on that in the upcoming months. Could be worse, however. I have no idea why, but "f" is a very common substitution for the "tr" blend. And there are a lot of little boys out there who like to use the word "truck." And the parents of these little boys are usually asking me to fix that word before I fix anything else. Yep, consonant blends are a very big deal.

Here's Jon, administering the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation with Luke as his practice client and establishing that, lucky for his parents, Luke wasn't producing the f/tr substitution.

Valentine

2010-02-27T15:20:00.000-08:00

On the next-to-the-last-day of February, I figured it was time to document our Valentine's Day.

Yup. We got each other the exact same movie. But I returned the one he gave me because we had agreed that he was only to give me chocolate, so the movie he gave me was the one that had to go.

We might know each other just a little too well.

Las Vegas!

2010-02-19T16:57:00.000-08:00

My husband is finally done with comps, which is a good thing because I was pretty sure that his comps were going to be the death of one or both of us. Well, he's sort of done. He's contesting his grade on one of his comps and I couldn't be any more supportive of this. Heck, if he wanted to take it all the way to the dean I'd support him. I read the comp question and I read his response. It's a perfect response. Well-written, well-reasoned, and well-supported. It should've been a high pass. And, yeah, I'm qualified to judge. I went through the same program, I work in the field, and I've actually had situations very similar to that in the question. He's got a meeting with the profs who graded the comp and the comps coordinator. I'll be interested to hear the outcome of that meeting. The guy does very well in an oral argument. Almost as well as he does in a written argument.

Anyway, comps are behind him (us).

We were heading out to dinner to celebrate the end of comps and were trying to decide where to go, when Jon said, "We should just go to Vegas."

And I said, "Works for me."

And he said, "Seriously?"

And I said, "Yep."

So we went to Vegas.

First we had to go back home, make reservations, and pack. We got a great rate at the Hard Rock Hotel. After we got the room, we threw some stuff in a suitcase and jumped in the car. Jon got us to Vegas just before midnight.

Our room was, well, thumping. I mean literally pulsating with the music from the club. So we asked the front desk to switch us and they very kindly did. The next room was nice and quiet and had a great view of the pool and the Strip. We took a moment to take in the amenities, noting in passing that, in Vegas, the mini bar comes with water, mixed nuts, condoms, and a vibrator. Oh, and room service includes lingerie items.

The next day, we headed out to the Strip to find something fun. We saw Bodies: The Exhibition at the Luxor and it was very cool. Mildly nauseating but very, very cool. Jon, having just had comps, wandered around the bodies and named all sorts of different nerves and muscles and regions for me. Much better than having one of those audio tours.

After thoroughly examining Bodies, we looked around for the next fun thing to do. We decided to get tickets for Criss Angel with Cirque du Soleil's Believe show. I've always wanted to see a Cirque show and Jon is interested in magic. He's got a nice, big grad school bill that we'll have to pay off, so we went for the cheapest seats possible. Totally good decision, because, once seated in the second row from the top and off to the side, we got upgraded to sixth row, center stage! Ummmm, ok! The show was good but greatly enhanced by the fact that the seats were awesome!

When the show was over, we went back to the hotel for a late dinner. The next morning, we got up and headed home right away (so as to avoid the infamous "Leaving Las Vegas on Sunday" traffic).

It was a perfect little getaway and a great way to celebrate the end of comps. Love that we have the freedom to just run away to Vegas on a whim!

Snow

2010-01-26T19:57:00.000-08:00

It's cold in my house! Granted, not that cold. I live in So Cal, not Minnesota. But it's still cold and Jon and I don't believe in cranking the heater.

Work is a different story. Today the heater and the air conditioner (AC--in January?!?) alternated throughout the day. On with the jacket, off with the jacket. And this in a bad economy. My district is going to end up pink-slipping employees because of the stupid thermostat situation in my room. Mind you, they don't trust me with the thermostat. Nope, it's under lock and key.

All of which to say that it is cold in my house. Last week, it actually snowed! It didn't stick but I woke up to snow. Two of the neighboring districts cancelled school (woohoo--oh, wait; my district didn't cancel school) and on Sunday, on the way home from church, Jon and I took the scenic route and watched all the families building snowmen, throwing snowballs, and sledding. I can't believe the snow lasted that long!

It's supposed to rain again this week. When it wasn't snowing last week, it was raining. I so very much prefer the snow. After all, if it has to be cold in my house, at least the view through my windows could be pretty....

Girls and boys

2010-01-21T19:20:00.001-08:00

I read a lot of blogs on various topics but Christopher's blog, The Warrior Poets, is my favorite. It's just really good writing.

Today, his post was called "The Break-Up." Great post. Almost perfect. It should probably be required reading for any pre-teen/teen girl who is contemplating her first date. Because the first date could lead to the first relationship which could lead to the first love which could lead to the first break-up which could lead to the first moment in life when you wish you could take back everything you said.

Here's the one thing I would change from "The Break-Up": Christopher says it's ok to show hurt and even cry when you're being dumped. I say, if it's at all possible, swallow your tears, put on a smile, and just let it go.

Because here's what I've found. If it wasn't meant to be, all the tears in the world won't mend it. If it was meant to be, he'll call back. And you'll marry him. And that's that. Either way, you kept your dignity and you'll have no regrets.

Basically, it's the difference between a boy's perspective and a girl's: boys expect and accept tears from girls. As a girl I say, why give them what they want? Much better to keep them guessing....

I've been talking high school and college girls through relationships since I was in college. One of these days, I'm going to write a book called The Good Girl's Guide to Guys. It will include a chapter on break-ups. And in that chapter, I will quote Christopher: "And if he initiates contact with you (post break-up), be friendly but aloof." These words should be engraved on sterling silver bracelets and handed out to every girl who has to suffer through a break-up. You think I exaggerate? Then no one has ever broken your heart.

Thoughts in a pew

2010-01-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

I was late to church yesterday because I was being held captive in my house by the two pit bulls outside. When they finally wandered down the street, I sped off to church and arrived late. I didn't go to our usual church. Jon was out of town, helping the Punt, Pass, and Kick kids at the Chargers-Jets playoff game, and I had some errands to run out-of-town, so I went to church in that town.

Here are some thoughts:

The guy leading worship was Jon's dorm RA during his freshman year at Biola. Bill taught Jon to play the guitar and playing guitar is one of the joys of Jon's life. Watching Bill lead worship (with his acoustic guitar) made me feel so very grateful. The little things we do in life, like showing someone a few chords on a guitar, can have lasting impact.

Why do so many pastors seem to feel that they need to embellish the Bible? Look, either you believe the Bible is the inspired word of God or you don't. If it is, it doesn't need embellishing. It can stand alone. If it isn't, then you're probably not going to be a pastor. This seems simple to me. All I have to say is, poor Philemon underwent a character assassination yesterday. And I didn't see any support for it in the actual book of, well, Philemon.

I love taking communion. When I was a Baptist, we took communion monthly. This was supposed to make the sacrament more meaningful. In our current church, we take it weekly. To me this is more meaningful. Taking the elements reminds me to be actively thankful for Christ's atoning work. It also gives me a weekly chance to get my spiritual house in order. I take the time to confess, to repent, and to ask God to help keep me in the very center of His will as I begin the week. Communion is a good thing.

People who sit in the center of the pew, rather than on the end, leaving the end available for those of us who were being held hostage by pit bulls and were consequently late to church, are saints. I should make it a point to do this for others when I am at church.

Here's Jon on his Gretsch. He also has a Taylor acoustic. I love to hear him play. I love it even more when he sings while he plays. He has a really nice, mellow voice. Thanks for all this, Bill. I'm so glad that you took the time to teach him.

Catastrophic earthquake

2010-01-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

When I see the devestation that took place in Haiti, I feel enormously guilty that the tiny little earthquakes I experienced earlier this week even gave me pause. The Bible says that the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike and I understand that. I've had some rain in my life and looked around to see the wicked flourishing like a green bay tree (more biblical allusions) and I didn't like it but I accepted it. This just seems so much worse. No use to tell myself, yes, but it could've been Haiti that had the tiny little earthquakes and my town that was felled by a catastrophic earthquake. The fact of the matter is, it wasn't. Haiti, and all its impoverished inhabitants (as well as, its rich inhabitants, I guess) took the hit. While I, in all my boring middle-class comfort, jumped because a jolt rocked my house. And whenever I think about that, I just feel unbelievably guilty. And sad.

Earthquakes

2010-01-11T20:07:00.000-08:00

So not my idea of fun. Especially when they're centered in my actual city. And this is not much of a city; more like a town. A small town. Too small to have three earthquakes in three hours centered in it. Even if the earthquakes were small. Mr. Beasley and I did not find that last one to be small.

Predictions for my 2010

2010-01-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas vacation went way too fast. But, then, it always does. And, as my friends who work outside of education remind me, I'm lucky to get two weeks of Christmas vacation. They, on the other hand, are lucky to get one week of Christmas vacation. If that.

So, Christmas is behind me and 2010 is upon me and what the heck am I gonna do with it?

My college roommate and I have been writing weekly notes (that's right; actual notes in envelopes with stamps and the whole bit--just doing our part to support the US Postal Service) to each other for, sheesh, a year now? And her last note contained her predictions for 2010. Not resolutions, mind you; predictions. Here's her take on the whole issue of resolutions:

You know I'm a goal person so a fresh start of a new year is always inspiring to me. But, I think a "prediction" is better than a "resolution" cuz I'm not sure how resolute I am on these things.... Just some ideas I'd like to have a go at this year....

Well, ok, then. What would I like to have a go at this year?

Get an actual hairstyle. Because, currently, I don't have one.

Keep my weight under 118. I look my very best at 110 but, please. I'm trying for realism. I look quite nice at 115 and I look good enough at 118. At 120, I start to despair.

Start writing the book that keeps rattling around in my head.

Buy less clothing for myself. I am prone to retail therapy and I buy way too much clothing for myself. I need to focus my purchases on the house.

Read one real book a month. Not the light books that catch my eye. Nope, it's time to try something a little more meaty.

If those seem like self-centered, light-weight predictions, that's because they are. And I'm ok with that. I have other things in mind, too, like having a baby, being more consistent with my devotions, supporting and encouraging Jon more, etc. But those things are ALWAYS on my mind. They're not really predictions or resolutions. These are just five little things that, as Robin Ann put it, I'd like to have a go at this year.

This is Robin Ann, she of the "predictions, not resolutions" school of thought, and her adorable little girls. And me. Robin Ann and I were college roommates for all four of our years at Biola University. I've known her since 1990. I cannot even believe it's been that long.

No green tortillas

2009-12-25T21:17:00.001-08:00

Bummer.

So close to Christmas

2009-12-23T14:19:00.000-08:00

I had to do some last-minute shopping today (including shopping for my guy, which involved going to multiple stores, e-mailing him photos--thank you, iPhone--of the items under consideration, and talking on the cell to narrow down the choices) and it wore me out. Nothing bad happened. I got an awesome parking space. Everyone was very kind. The lines weren't long. But, for whatever reason, I was spent. Dead-tired. Blehhhh.

I still have to go out and do all the food shopping but I came home to take a break. And, while taking this break, I found myself thinking about all the blessings at this time of year.

Here are just a few:

A cancer-free mom
Watching Christmas movies (Home Alone, Elf, etc)

Finding the perfect gift for that special person

Two weeks off from work

Sweaters and coats (fall and winter clothes are my favorites)

Frosting a gingerbread house (well, mostly watching Jon frost it)

Cuddling up on the couch under a cozy blanket

Enjoying the Christmas decorations

Giving: a parking space, a secret Santa treat, $20 to the older gentleman at the gas station who had left his wallet at home (been there, done that, and had to chase down my mommy in the grocery store parking lot to bum cash off her to pay for my groceries)

Looking forward to the delights of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Knowing, really knowing, that over two centuries ago, a baby was born in a stable, a baby who was God incarnate, come to offer salvation to all who would receive it.

So much to be thankful for. Pretty silly to let a little shopping wear me out. So I'm off again. And hoping to add "Finding the green tortillas" to the list of blessings. Because, really, what's a Christmas fiesta without green tortillas for the tacos?

And, no, not a single person in my family has a drop of Mexican or Hispanic blood in them. But, yes, it's our Christmas fiesta tradition, complete with fried ice cream and a pinata!

Christmas cards

2009-12-16T16:59:00.000-08:00

For the first time in years, I will be sending out Christmas cards before Christmas! That's right, before Christmas! As in, not after Christmas!

Historically, I send out Christmas cards between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. The reason for this is simple. I work in the public schools. We get two weeks off for Christmas break. I am usually in a mad rush throughout the month of December and I always tell myself that the Christmas cards can wait until I am on break. Then, once I am on break, I realize that I have to buy presents, make presents, wrap presents, bake, clean the house, visit friends and family, etc. So the Christmas cards get pushed back until after Christmas.

When the Christmas cards finally leave my house, they have become Christmas/New Year/thank-you cards. The message usually says something like,"Hope you had a very merry Christmas and wishing you a blessed New Year. Thank you so much for the (insert name of gift)." Honestly, I kind of think this system is genius. One card for three purposes. Not bad.

But this year I designed and am sending out a digital card. The cards are on the table, the box of envelopes (sized to hold a 4x6 photo--who knew this was not a standard envelope size?) is beside them, and I've even purchased festive Christmas stamps.

Now I just need to start addressing the envelopes....

In All Things

2009-11-23T15:38:00.000-08:00

Jon and I were at church on Sunday and the message, oddly enough, was on thankfulness. It was a great message, challenging and affirming. Straight from the Bible (with a little gratuitous narrative stuck into the account of the healing of the ten lepers--I personally believe the Bible can stand on its own without elaboration but, hey, that's just me) with a good balance of teaching, exhortation, and application. I've been going to church since birth, I'm a preacher's kid who married a preacher's kid, and I've got a Christian university education with a minor in Bible so I feel that I'm at least somewhat qualified to judge a sermon on an objective basis. And this was a good one.

At the very end of the message, Pastor Don threw out a challenge. He suggested that we all write down ten things that we are thankful for, including one thing that is rough or difficult in our lives. So far, so good. I can handle that. Then came the kicker. He wants us to complete this exercise every day from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas Day. EVERY DAY! Ten things! Including one per day that is rough or difficult and not transparently something for which one would give thanks! That's, like, three hundred things! Thirty of which are supposed to be toughies! Sheesh!

Well, we're gonna try. Jon and I talked about it and we're a little wimpy because we've decided to come up with our daily ten things together. We figure, two minds are better than one, right?

Honestly, I have no idea if we'll get through this. But we're gonna give it a try.

First Thessalonians 5: 18 says, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." The circumstances themselves aren't necessarily His will. I'm no Calvinist and I believe that many of the things that happen in this life just happen. Not because they were meant to happen or predestined to happen but because life is life. Stuff just happens. But it is His will that I find a way to give thanks in any situation in which I find myself. These are the toughies. And I'm gonna have to come up with one a day from Thanksgiving Day until Christmas Day. Jon and me, giving thanks in all things. Not just the easy ones.

Kid Art

2009-11-21T10:57:00.000-08:00

One of my pet peeves is the way children's artwork is depicted on tv. I've seen many a movie or tv program that shows a six year-old at a table (in the kitchen, at school, in the police station, etc), hunched over a piece of paper, carefully drawing a picture. That part is fine. Most six year-olds love to draw and take the whole process very seriously. It's the finished product that gets me. The pictures attributed to six year-olds in movies or on tv are nothing like the art a six year-old actually produces. Seriously, kids just don't draw like that!

Now, me? I work with six year-olds. I know how they draw and what their pictures look like. And I don't see any problem in validating six year-olds and their art by, oh, I don't know, actually letting a six year-old draw the pictures for the movie or tv show!

Here's a sample of actual six year-old artwork. It was drawn by one of my students and she took the whole process very seriously. We had read the book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff, and now the kids were drawing pictures of their favorite part of the book. (This is speech therapy--we do more talking and drawing than writing.) This little munchkin kept referring back to the book and adding details here and there. The finished product is classic six year-old art. Including the hand-blocked title. (I hate it when kids do that; it takes forever and is a complete time-waster. But she really wanted to do it and I caved.)

See? How great is that? There's the mouse; he's wearing his overalls just like he does in the book. The boy is sitting on the rock with his book and cookie bag beside him and he's handing a cookie to the mouse. You can see the house indicated by an elaborate front door. The whole thing just makes me feel happy! Yep, this is six year-old art. This is the real deal. Not like that faux six year-old art that keeps popping up in movies or on tv.

Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T15:34:00.000-08:00

I sat at the breakfast table last Sunday morning, quietly weeping as I read a newspaper article called "Bringing Michael Home." The article told of the return of Army Spc. Michael Dahl Jr's body to his hometown, after Spc. Dahl had been killed in Afghanistan. It was a sad but beautiful story. The honor given to this soldier at his passing and the support given to his family was just as it should be for those who die in the service of our country.

But I think too easily we forget that most who serve our country at home and abroad do not die in that service. Instead, they ride in a dusty armored vehicle, scanning the horizon for trouble. They work on base, quietly doing small tasks to forward the mission of the armed forces. They come home on leave, with stories to tell or not tell. They linger in VA hospitals, the young and injured beside the old and infirm.

Yes, we should give special honor to the beloved dead who died while serving. But this is not Memorial Day. This is Veteran's Day, a day to also give special honor to those who live while serving. And my small contribution to this day was to teach some of my students what it means to be a veteran.

One of the biggest regrets of Jon's life was that his eyesight wasn't good enough for him to try to become a Navy pilot. He gave serious consideration to working toward becoming a RIO and took the test for Officer Candidate School, and did very well. But, in the end, he decided to stick with education. He's never lost his love of planes, however, and our nephew Luke seems to share his fascination. I love the photo of the two of them sitting on a bench, Luke eating a snack and Jon demonstrating the job of a ball turret gunner.

Cool, Old Parents

2009-11-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

I am home from work. Again. Recovering from minor surgery. Sheesh, I'm only 37 but this has not been my year for good health. I've got an appointment later this month with a nurse practitioner, who is part owner of a women's medical practice in Palm Springs, to discuss conception options. I hate that I have this appointment. I hate that I have to discuss conception options with anyone but, well, Jon. I'm afraid that, even if I get pregnant and we have a baby, we're going to be these sad, old, decrepit parents. Too tired to be fun.

But then I was checking out Tara Whitney's blog. If I ever get pregnant, I am going to fork over the bucks and get a photo session with her. And Jon is going to have to suck it up and do it with me! Anyway, I was reading Tara's blog and I came across the photos of this incredibly happy family and then I noticed that the dad has grey hair. Grey hair! And their youngest kid is still pretty young! And they don't look sad or decrepit at all. They look cool.

So, thanks Cirjak parents. I'm not saying that you look old, or anything, but there is that grey hair. The important thing, however, is that you look cool. And vibrant. And full of joy and happiness with those three kids.

Maybe someday Jon and I will be the cool, old parents. Yeah, I think we could work with that!

Competitive, much?

2009-10-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I had the flu. It absolutely flattened me. I ran a fever for five days, which is very unlike me. And, what with this flu season being what it is and my working in the public schools, I wasn't allowed back at work until 24 hours after I stopped running a fever. So, I was out from work, Monday through Friday. Crazy.

I am not the only one who lives in this house. There is a dog, a big ol' chocolate lab who can't catch the flu from me, and a husband; a frenzied, harried, second-year grad student who is anticipating graduation in June but has to jump through the hurdles of a research project, comps, classes, and clinics before he dons cap and gown and walks up to the dean to receive his M.S. A husband who also works part-time. As everyone knows, part-time usually turns into full-time work for part-time pay. We were praying that the flu would skip Jon but, no. And, being Jon, he had to do it one better than me. He is running a higher fever. He started his flu while we were on vacation in Vegas. And, stinker, he's been going to work. At a school. With a fever! Where are the flu police when I need them? He should be in bed, drinking lots of fluids and resting, but is he? Noooooooooo! I lobbied for his taking time off. I pleaded, I cajoled, I scolded. And then I gave up. He's accruing clinic hours at work and he swears he can't give up those hours. I get it, I really do. I went through the exact same program and I know that clinic hours are like gold and not to be taken lightly. But, seriously?

That's my husband: tough guy. Can't just stay at home in bed like his lazy, flu-ridden wife did. Nope, he's got to soldier on and head out to work/clinic/classes. Competitive, much?

Here's my guy in happier, flu-less days. Trying out his stethoscope before a clinical rotation at St. Bernardine's and studying on the back porch.

Crazy People

2009-10-20T17:47:00.001-07:00

We had just finished up a Student Study Team meeting with a parent. (An SST is a meeting with the parent of an at-risk kid to develop strategies, interventions, and supports to help the kiddo succeed before we proceed to drastic measures like testing for special ed placement.) It was a good meeting and the kid is making good progress and everyone was pleased. As the parent was packing up her things and getting ready to head out, she said, "Well, I'm off to work with crazy people!"

And I replied, without thinking, "Me, too!"

Possibly not the best reply to the parent, when her son is one of the "crazy people" I would be working with today. In my defense, it was still pretty early in the morning. And I don't drink coffee. But after a brainless comment like that, maybe I should start.

Fall Decorating

2009-10-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not much of a decorator. Basically, my decorating philosophy is encapsulated into the following: "If you've got a lot of books in the room, then it's decorated." Not that I want to be the kind of person who pulls out 200 different Santas right after she washes up the Thanksgiving dishes. I think that's overkill.

Luckily, Jon is willing to paint. So some of the rooms in our house are painted and I love them. The rest of the walls are white and I'm ok with that, too. The books are tastefully arranged in an enormous bookshelf unit that Jon built. Well, some of the books are tastefully arranged in an enormous bookshelf unit that Jon built. The rest are tastefully arranged throughout the rest of the house in bookshelves, nightstands, the linen closet, and random stacks.

I like to think the net effect is one of coziness. Probably because I find the presence of a whole bunch of books indescribably soothing.

But yesterday, the last day of my stay-at-home-with-the-flu days, I actually did a little bit of decorating.

Angela Harris makes the most gorgeous trim tags. The are simply lovely and she has a bunch of different designs and color combos and I adore them. So I ordered two sets and when they arrived I just looked at them for a bit and sighed because they were so sweet and then I put them away because I realized that I had ordered these two sets just because I loved them, not because they went with the colors in my house! Bummer.

Yesterday, I gritted my teeth, pulled my tags out of their bags, and disassembled two of them. Honestly, it was hard. I gathered a bunch of supplies (ribbons, feathers, twigs, charms, etc) that went with the colors in my house and also made me think of Fall.

From my assemblage of stuff and Angela's base tags (how does she achieve that deep color?), I put together my own trim tags. They are nothing like Angela's; I just don't have her eye. But I really like them. And when I put one tag in each shadowbox and added a couple of leaves, I took a step back and said to myself, "There, I've decorated."

Surprise!

2009-10-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the doorbell rang and there was a beautiful priority mail box on the doorstep and it was my free Scarlet Lime kit in all its turquoise and orange and brown glory! And that, yes, was a run-on sentence.

Back to my kit. It all started when I got the Scarlet Lime newsletter and saw that Erin Clarkson was going to be the guest designer for October. Erin Clarkson! I have loved her scrapbooking for years. Literally, years. She has designed for Scrapbooks Etc and Making Memories publications and it's always good. Very colorful but still very clean designs. Great photos. And she's the mother of one of the cutest little girls on the planet; it can only elevate your pages when the photos are of one of the cutest little girls on the planet.

All of which makes me sound a bit like a "Swimfan." It's only going to get worse when I say that, years ago, I sent her a card, telling her how much I loved her work (see, even more "Swimfan") and she sent me back the sweetest card, thanking me for my card. I've still got that card up in my scraproom. We started a bit of a correspondence through e-mail and she told me about a book she was working on for Scrapbooks Etc and invited me to submit a project for it. Ummmmm, ok!

So I did. I dragged Jon to Best Buy (yeah, sure, like any man has to be dragged to Best Buy) and we bought a scanner. I created some projects, scanned them, sent them in, and Erin picked the one she liked best. And it was published! In a book! If you pick up a copy of Scrapbooks Etc Photography and turn to page 137, you can see the very first project I ever had published.

Since that time, I've had other projects published in various magazines and idea books. Not a ton, but enough to keep me submitting. It's so much fun to see your work in a magazine. And it's also fun to get a check for doing something that you already love.

Who here doesn't see the connection to my free Scarlet Lime kit? Just wait, it's coming.

Erin and I lost touch a while back but I still leaf through my latest issue of Scrapbooks Etc looking for all her pages and smile when I see them because they are still the best. And when I saw that she would be guest designing for Scarlet Lime, I went straight over to the SL website to check out her projects. And came to discover that Erin has a blog! I clicked straight over to Erin's blog and read the whole thing (luckily, she hasn't been blogging long so I wasn't too far behind). And, since she was guest designing for SL, she was offering one of the October kits as a giveaway for leaving a comment on her blog! Not that I needed an incentive to comment. So I commented and the Random Number Generator picked my comment number as the winner of the giveaway!

See? It's all coming together now, right? The kit arrived yesterday, which is the fastest turn-around time ever. I only got my contact info to Erin over the weekend and she got it to SL and the kit was in my hands by Thursday? That is customer service, people. The kit itself is, well, dreamy. Arguably one of my favorite color combos, ever. And all the little details (the buttons, those trims!) and the patterned papers and the fact that they don't include cardstock (every scrapper has more cardstock than s/he could use in a lifetime); it's all so very good! If you like what you see, I think they have a few more left. Go pick one up; I highly recommend it. As for me, the first order of business is to sit down and create two thank-you cards. One for the awesome people at Scarlet Lime! And the other for Erin. So glad I found her blog.

Summer in Fall

2009-10-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

I am still home with the flu!!! What is this?!? Let me tell you, I am so over being sick. And the cough? Now I sound a lot like a seal.

It's been chilly the past few days, which is perfect for people with the flu. I mean, I'm already feverish, right? So a chill in the air helps tone me down a bit. (Not that Jon's 600mg ibuprofens weren't doing it, too, but a natural cool is even nicer.)

But today I woke up to weather in the 80's. Ummmmm, no thank you. I don't want to feel warm when I'm already feeling warm. Besides, it's October! I don't want to be sporting shorts and t-shirts (ha! like I'm sporting anything besides pajamas with this stupid flu) in October. I want to be pulling out my sweaters and anything corduroy and, dare I say, tights! That's right; I'm ready for tights!

Well, ok. If it's going to feel like summer around here then I am going to engage in a Summer 2009 retrospective.

First up, our trip to San Diego in June:

Oh, wait, that's not our trip to San Diego in June. That's our trip to San Diego in April. Oh, well. I have the flu; I can make a mistake or two, right? And I'm new to blogging. I seriously can't figure out how to delete this page and put up the right one. Not that it matters. Because, is that kid cute, or what? That's my nephew, Luke. He's holding tight to Shamu. And her baby (What, you didn't know that Shamu was a girl? And a mom?), Bamboo. That's right, Bamboo. Luke's choice. The two guys in the background of the photo are Kurt, Luke's dad (my brother-in-law) on the left, and Jon.

Well, all that posting the wrong page and trying to figure out how to delete it to put up the right page and then giving up was exhausting. Usually I have more stamina but, what with this stupid flu, now I am so tired that I have to go lie down. And probably cough some more.

Flu

2009-10-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Urrgh. I have the flu. This is so wrong. But ... I actually went to the doctor early. And I'm taking my antibiotics faithfully. And I'm hoping to be over this soon. You should hear me cough; I sound like some strange animal at the zoo.

The silver lining to the flu is that I get to stay home from work! Not that yesterday was much fun. All I really did was writhe around and moan and ache all over. But today the writhing, moaning, and aching are greatly reduced; all I'm really dealing with at the moment is the cough! And, in computer-land, nobody cares if you cough. At work, people care. People care a lot. People do not want to be around a cough like mine. It seems like step one toward H1N1, which I do not have. Jon had a couple of patients with H1N1 during his summer clinic so he's keeping tabs on me to make sure that I really, truly do not have H1N1. He read in the paper that the average age of patients with H1N1 is 38 and I said, "Ha, see? I could not possibly have H1N1. I am not 38. I am 37!" You can see why he'd be concerned.

This is my stay-home-from-work buddy. Actually, he's my any-time-Jon's-not-around buddy. Because Beasley's heart belongs to Jon. But when Jon's not at home, then he's totally devoted to the person who's next up on his list. And that would be me!

Day One

2009-10-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm starting a blog. Why me? Why today? I guess I'm writing this blog because my memory has never been the best. I find that I can't remember the details of the funny stories, the happy moments, and all the little things, the snippets, if you will, that make up this life of mine. This is my one life and I don't want to forget any of it! So, it looks like I'm starting a blog.