Let's try this again...

The abundant life

Now, I am usually not one for kicks or programs, especially on the Christian scene, so it may come as a surprise that I am as of this week enthusiastically embarked upon Dr. Charles Stanley's 49-day Abundant Life Challenge. But this is not so surprising when one discovers that this program (for so I must resort to calling this collection of books and the study guide, including a thorough online assessment) was given free to all employees of InTouch Ministries.

The course starts with an online assessment to gauge one's fitness in the spiritual, financial, and physical arenas. (It is a very thorough, comprehensive personality/behaviour-type assessment quiz, which I find particularly irresistible, as I love answering questions about how I think or feel.) The study guide directs one's progress through the assigned books, which are Dr. Stanley's Living The Extraordinary Life, Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, and Jordan Rubin's The Great Physician's Rx for Health and Wellness.

I must say that this whole challenge is an excellent and fascinating idea. There is something very powerful in the agreement of a body of believers to commit themselves corporately to seeking God's will, like the weekly prayer times at HSLDA, and I'm very glad that Michael works for a place that encourages employees to spend time in pursuit of excellence. Now for the subject material itself, which is so enthralling that I feel as if I'm simply bursting with new ideas and insights (Ugh! What a pity 'Insight' is such a loaded word to my subconscious!)

Dave Ramsey is a popular money advice guru, though I hadn't heard of him before; I read his book on Monday (very easy reading) and am quite impressed with the way he combines sound financial advice with strong scriptural principles. The premise of his book is that you want to build wealth to have money to give away. Very good point. Much of his total money makeover seems directed at people who are in financial straits, and he has a solid strategy for digging out of holes. That doesn't seem to apply to my situation so much, although I gather that it would be a lifesaver for most Americans, who are according to the statistics drowning in consumer debt. Some of the stuff he says just makes sense, and some of it was rather eye-opening. All in all, it gave me a lot to think about. I always enjoy expanding my horizons and learning about everything I can, so I was glad to learn his recommendations on retirement savings, at which point to concentrate on retirement v. paying off the house, etc.

Jordan Rubin, who also wrote The Maker's Diet, is also a strong Christian who approaches his topic from the perspective that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and his mission is to encourage Christians to be vibrant, healthy witnesses to the power of God, like Daniel and his companions. Why don't people look at Christians and say, 'Wow, he is so strong and healthy and glowing! What is his secret? How can I have what he has?' Instead, Christians are just as plagued by obesity, cholesterol, heart disease, and other problems, much as divorce runs as rampantly through the Church as through the secular world.

I just finished the introduction and the first chapter, so I haven't much to report beyond the fact that I am simply brimming over with new ideas. I am not about to make any drastic changes to my diet, of course, but he has such harsh things to say about pork, catfish, shrimp, and lobster (filthy, polluted, corrupt bottom-feeders living off the waste of other creatures - nature's toxic waste dump) that I may just find myself naturally avoiding them in the future, much as I gradually and without any internal conviction weaned myself of ever eating hot dogs again just by virtue of learning exactly how nasty they were.

The biggest drawback to eating natural and organic foods, of course, is not convenience, preference, taste, or habit - it is cost. Most people are hooked on junk food because they're addicted to the cheap pleasures of hamburgers and pizza. I'd gladly trade in my canola oil and peanut butter and homogenized cow's milk for a Mediterranean diet of olive oil, feta cheese, and alfalfa sprouts if it didn't mean my grocery budget would triple. I'd happily buy tilapia and mahi-mahi if my local Super Walmart ran sales on that instead of catfish. Some whole grains and fresh, organic foods simply aren't available most places, and the ones that are are prohibitively expensive. So for now, I'll muddle along as best I can and slip as much whole wheat flour into my muffins as I can get away with and plant LOTS of blueberry bushes in the meantime.

That was odd

For some reason, Blogspot didn't like the last batch of pictures I posted, the really cute ones of Jane in the sand wearing a swimsuit. The internet would crash and send an error report every time I tried to log in, and I was on the brink of asking Michael to fix the computer for me when a call to a friend confirmed that this was a universal problem with the blog site, not my individual computer. What a pity.

Saints alive

Recently I heard that an old family friend, an elderly lady in Oregon, had died. She had always told us, 'When you hear I'm gone, don't be sad - be happy for me! I know I'll be happy!' I almost forgot to mention it to Michael, and just remembered before falling asleep, at which the following conversation (if you can call it a conversation, as one-sided as it was) took place:

'Oh, by the way, I heard that Blanche B- died....You remember her? We visited her last time we were in Oregon, in that red farmhouse....She was quite elderly, so it was to be expected, and she always told us not to be sorrowful at her death....Her husband was quite the inventor...patented lots of useful things, I believe, and was a very brilliant man - he died a few years ago...so she's with him now...not that she cares....he's just another saint to her.'

That's the one drawback of heaven: the universal specialness of everyone. As far as my mortal mind can comprehend, I don't want to be so ubiquitous, nor do I want everyone to be so equally special to me.

As requested

We're baaaaaack!

Vacations are wonderful things, but they absolutely ruin you for real life. I feel so ripped off now that I have to put my own dishes in the sink again.

We had a fabulous time visiting with family, and everyone doted on Jane, who really was a model child. ('I think I could be a model child if only I were invited to tea at the manse every day.') She took everything in stride, and we got some adorable shots of her on the beach, in a very cute swimsuit, playing with sand.

Yes, Janice, I did do the acrobat thingy, but only a few times. Brother Benjamin and cousin Walter were the stars of the show, meaning they actually performed in the flying trapeze show one night. Which meant that they got to wear tight, shiny pants and do tricks under bright lights with loud music. We were very proud of them.

We went sailing, played putt-putt golf (thank goodness for the rule that you max out at six shots per hole!), went roller-blading, played tennis, and ate lots of good food. I always mean to weigh myself at the beginning and the end of the week to see if I gain weight (lots of good food) or lose weight (lots of exercise) or gain weight (because muscle weighs more than fat). But once again I forgot until nearly halfway through the week.

Today we will slowly ease ourselves back into our normal routines. It is very cold and cloudy out. We are glad that we live no farther north than we do.

Tally ho - and away we go!

Tomorrow we're leaving to spend a week with family in sunny Florida. Well, in Florida, at any rate. I've decided that traveling with a baby is just about as much of a bother whether you're going for a week or a weekend; this is our first long trip with her, and it seems like I'm packing just about as much as I've packed for her during our two other weekend trips. So it's a good thing it's worth our while.

Bad things about Florida:

- Fire ants
- Alligators
- Jellyfish
- Closer to the West Nile virus
- More UV

Did you know that UV actually shoots tiny holes into your body? That's exactly how x-rays work. And you're body is constantly at work repairing the damage, but eventually your skin loses the battle. Eek. And yet I'm still excited about going. Adios, everyone! Have a happy week while we're gone!

The day is not sunny...and teether am I

By Jane Victoria

Cutting teeth is not nearly as wonderful as the baby book made it out to be. Oh, sure, fresh sharp teeth can provide hours of amusement for an idle tongue, but I think I'd just as soon go back to scooting around and licking the carpet for fun. Mama says that cutting teeth is not so bad, but that is not true. It is terrible. It is the worst thing that has happened to me in my entire life.

The one advantage, you would think, is that now I can gnash my teeth. But the irony of it is that, with no teeth on top, I simply end up biting my gum. Ow! Hence the wailing.

Apparently teeth are supposed to help me eat my food, but I can't see that I need any help. I've been eating food for three months now just fine. Why couldn't things just stay the way they were??

More on aging

Sometimes I try to catalogue all the things in the world to decide if I fall over or under the average age of stuff. For instance, all products of anything that was invented in my lifetime are going to be younger than I am. That means that I am automatically older than every single VCR, DVD, DVD player, microwave, and MP3 in the universe. Then, of course, there's all the stuff that has been around for awhile but whose individual lifespan is less than mine, so it's likely that I am older than most light bulbs, SUVs, hamsters, etc.

It comes down, of course, to whether you count the recycling of materials into something new as the date of origin, since all matter is constant, and whether you count things in terms of numbers of items or absolute mass. So in terms of absolute mass, I am probably toward the young side of things, considering the earth's molten core; but if you count all that as one object, and factor in the trillions of insects that have lived and died since I was born, then I'm probably on the aged end.

A merry heart

I've read in many places of the documented health benefits of laughter, even forced and unspontaneous, and for a time (usually concurrent with my other Being Good kicks of exercising and flossing) I practised the discipline of daily laughter. It is surprisingly hard to laugh voluntarily: you pretty much have to be in private to feel uninhibited enough, and even then you usually end up feeling a bit silly at first. I used to try for at least two minutes of laughter on my drive to work every morning.

But now I've found the perfect outlet for this very healthy and desirable pursuit: make a baby laugh. Laughter is so contagious that you feel right at home, and the silliness of breaking out into sudden, maniacal laughter isn't nearly so potent when you're already doing silly stuff like making funny faces and using funny voices around said baby anyway.

On aging

Michael remarked that this was a very pleasant birthday, although nothing spectacular. We've pulled off surprise parties for each other for the last couple of years, and I think we both sensed that it was time to end that genre, since we can't possibly top every masterpiece. Better quit while we're ahead. So no more surprise parties, and the major milestones only come around every five or ten years at this point (Twenty-one is, I think, the last major non-divisible-by-five milestone birthday).

But that's all right. We decided that the antidote to not-so-special birthdays anymore is the more special everyday existence. Sure, the cards only come from family and the obligatory co-workers now. But what's a bit of fleeting recognition compared with overall quality of life? I couldn't buy Michael anything that spectacular because he doesn't really need anything. Which means, by implication, that everything he needs/wants has come along throughout the year, instead of having to save up all year hoping and waiting, like the bike on a tenth birthday or something. I did bake a layer cake for him, which was special, as I've never done an actual layer cake before, with frosting between the layers, but not that spectacular, as I bake fresh yummies every week anyway. I cooked his favourite meal and set the table nicely with all the silverware and candles - but I've been setting out all place settings at every meal anyway for the last few months. That doesn't make his birthday seem any more special by contrast, but it does make our everyday living style more elegant.

So I guess the moral of the story is, birthdays for kids are really grand because the rest of the year is miserable enough to provide a sufficient contrast. Adults, by comparison, can have a nice enough life that birthdays are only marginally more exciting.

Octophobia

What is it about spiders, giant squid, and octopus that makes them so universally horrible? At first glance one might think that it must be their eight-leggedness. But that can't be the only factor, because the 50-foot squid arm they found in the stomach of a sperm whale means that there's a seven-legged giant squid swimming around out there, and that's just as bad.

Tag time

So Sara is passing the torch to me, and I, nothing loath, am happy for the opportunity to toss off another list.

Four Jobs I Have Had in My Life:
1) Pig-sty swiller
2) Ball chaperone and greeter
3) Office mover
4) Proofreader

Movies I Could Watch Over and Over Again:
1) Princess Bride (of course!)
2) Ever After
3) Mary Poppins
4) Star Wars Trilogy (at least I think so; I watched it 37 times the first summer I saw it) (but that may just be a sixteen-year-old thing)

Four Places I Have Lived:
1) Dallas, OR
2) Alexandria, Egypt
3) Leesburg, VA
4) Atlanta, GA

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:
Love? That's a bit strong of a word for the occasional Frasier re-run and the Alias kick we were on a few months back

Four Places I Have Been on Vacation:
1) Cyprus
2) Holland
3) England!
4) Florida

Four Websites I Visit Daily (or at least weekly):
1) Amy's blog (because she has the links to all the other blogs I like to read)
2) The Wondering Minstrels (not quite every day, but it's a wonderful website)
3) Modesty Zone
4) The Daily Su-do-ku (we'll see how long this kick keeps up)

Four of My Favourite Foods:
1) Ice cream, of course
2) Pineapple pizza
3) Lasagne
4) Oreos

Four Singers I Can't Live Without:
1) Enya
2) ABBA
3) Pat Benatar
4) The Beatles

Four Places I'd Rather Be:
1) England!!
2) Scotland (because then I could hitchhike to England)
3) Italy
4) Heaven

Four Bloggers I Am Tagging:
See, well, now, that's the tricky part. Tagging someone is kind of like a Tupperware party: I'm always eager to go, but I'm reluctant to invite anyone because it may not be their cup of tea, and besides this little quiz has been circulating for long enough that it's likely most people have already had the opportunity to play. I'd tag the Queen of Carrots, who's such a good sport and so up for tagging that she even went out of her way to tag herself recently, but for the fact that I think it might have been this very quiz she answered. So I'll throw in this twist: O Queen, answer as if written by D1 and/or D2. Hee, hee! Won't that be cute?

Many happy returns...

...to Michael, the love of my life, who celebrates yet another birthday today!

Things We Still Like To Say And Think Are Clever, No Matter How Often We Say Them:

Michael: I'm afraid that's the last one.
Me: Oh, don't be afraid! Everything's going to be all right!

Michael: Well, to be honest-
Me: I want you to be honest with me, Michael.

Me (coming home from church or something): Well, I think I'm going to go change.
Michael: Oh, don't change, Love! I like you just the way you are!

A-pun my word

Recently we were trying to eat our meal in peace and quiet, and Jane simply would not settle down. She had been fractious all day, and I was writing her off as tired, but I feared that her peevishness would adversely affect Michael, who, like most men, tends not to tune out the sounds of a baby's crying so well. I apologised for her behaviour. 'I don't know why she's being so cantankerous,' I said, and went on to make such excuses for her that he finally assured me such excuses were unnecessary, adding, 'I hope you don't think I'm being cantankerous.'

'Well, no,' I admitted, 'but you were looking so tense that I figured you were getting a bit can't-take-her-ous.'

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For a very long time, puns were considered strictly lowbrow humour. Their obvious play on well-known words guaranteed a wide and appreciative audience, and a form of humour that was readily enjoyed by people of all education and literacy was not considered highbrow or subtle enough to entertain those of refinement. Any self-held wit could transform himself into a punster, and cheap puns appeared en masse in the daily papers for the guffaws and amusement of the common readership. High-class society entertained itself with such dainties as the double-entendre, which we already know must be far cleverer and more refined because it has a foreign name. Those who did venture a pun were quick to disavow their wit, insisting 'No pun intended,' which became quickly seized upon as a humble form of saying, 'Did you catch that? You may be too thick-headed to notice that I just made a pun, but I simply cannot let this example of my cleverness get by without acknowledgement.'

I am glad that in our less class-conscious society, puns are making a respectable comeback, because I think they can evince such cleverness of word tricks and give us an opportunity to play with the language. Tom Swifties are among my favourites of the genre. I think I may have mentioned these before:

'That's my gold mine,' Tom claimed.
'But that used to be my gold mine!' Tom exclaimed.
'I used to be a pilot,' Tom explained.
'I dropped the toothpaste,' said Tom, crestfallen.
'I lost a fight with a lion,' Tom said off-handedly.

Tooth and consequences

Yesterday Jane sprouted her very first tooth, a sharp spar protruding from the bottom gum. Henceforward no inflatable toy shall be safe from her. I discovered it while she was chewing on my finger yesterday morning, and all last evening as we fed her a practise cup of water we could hear the chink of tooth on glass. It's the end of an era...and the beginning of a new one.

For his birthday, Michael is teaching me how to play Axis and Allies. At first I asked him to teach me as a splendid gesture on my part, because I thought it would be such an incredible Good Wife thing to do. But I find I'm not doing any martyristic favours, because the game is really riveting in its own right. It's very hard to learn, and very difficult to pry one's mind away from; I'm seeing East Front maneuvers in my mind's eye as I fall asleep. I just wish it weren't so intense and so absolutely emotionally draining. (No! No! You can't sink my transport! I'm on an island - I need that transport to move my troops!)