A memory from 1988

This picture has nothing to do with the aforementioned memory. I just thought people might like my blog better if I put up more pictures. I have trouble posting pictures, because for some reason my camera software thinks my camera is incompatible with my computer, and it only works about 30% of the time, and I don't have hours and hours of spare time in which to sort it out. In the spirit of yesterday's post, here is one more thing I grew this past summer--columbine. I like it. So, unfortunately, do the rabbits. It has since been eaten down to the ground.

Amy recently moved to Kentucky and can't find her shower curtain. This sparked in me a memory of my past, which I mused on over in her comments, but I'd like to keep it for posterity and the pleasure of my chidren and grandchildren and all that, so here I'm putting it down again:

In 1988, my husband and I graduated from the University of Minnesota, and he got a job with GE in NY. GE sent packers to put all our wedding gifts (still mostly in boxes) into their moving truck. We drove our car and knew we would arrive in NY a day ahead of the truck. We took a couple of suitcases, two sleeping bags and… a shower curtain. That was what we moved into our empty appartment on the day we arrived. Although we had to sleep on the floor and eat our meals sitting on the floor, we were able to shower.

Later, when the truck showed up, we had a whole lot of china, a bed, a card table and two lawn chairs. Beautiful.

We never even thought to bring any money. As in, liquid money. We had a cashier’s check in the amount of our life’s savings, and approximately $7 cash left after the cross country drive. When we deposited the cashier’s check at the bank, they told us it would be a week before we could draw on the account. We bought a gallon of milk and a bunch of boxed macaroni and cheese, and rationed it until our checking account became active. Oh, young love. Actually, I don’t miss it.

Things I grew this year

Hypochondria

I don't feel very good very often.  I have chalked it up to fibromyalgia, the mystery disease, and taught myself to bear up under it.

Lately I've developed a paranoia.

I have a fair number of diabetes symptoms:

flu-like symptoms (achiness, lethargy, etc.)---check

extreme fatigue---check

bad circulation (cold extremities; feet, legs, arms falling asleep)---check

troublesome gums---check

bladder issues---check

excessive thirst---check

retinal (eye) problems---check

irritability---check (um, yes, and especially when I haven't eaten for a long time and my blood sugar dips)

OK.  So.  This is really scary.  Especially for someone whose favorite lunch is a serving of chocolate milk.  I looked up the diabetic diet, and you can't eat anything.  Literally.  You have to totally moniter your carbs, obviously, because they mess with your blood sugar levels.  You can't have too much protein because it is hard on your already over-stressed kidneys, and you can't have too much fat either, for the same reason.

Low carb, low protein, low fat.  Um.  Hello?  Is there a kind of nutrition that doesn't fall into one of these categories?  I suppose vitamins (they never filled anybody up--also here's betting that vitamin metabolism is hard work for your kidneys, too, if you don't take exactly the right amount).

They suggest eating unlimited amounts of things like chopped onions with chili powder and shredded cabbage with vinegar.  I really don't think I can do this.

To be truthful, I don't need to lose a lot of weight.  And already there are only so many things I can eat with braces.  I've lost apples and almonds, which used to be staples in my diet.  I get hungry just thinking about it all... then I get sick to my stomach.

Here's to V-8 juice.

Oh wait, that's high sodium.

The Problem

The problem with keeping up my online journal is this: I use up all my computer time trying to take care of email business.


I am going to try to discipline myself better in computer usage; a certain amount of time allocated to email, and then... STOP.


Also, a certain amount of time to blogging and then... STOP.


I hope I can do it.



Here are some random pictures from our Texas vacation. This first one shows Shawn at the beach near the house we rented. We had this beach basically all to ourselves, which was pretty nice. There were some people there on the weekend, though. The beach was on a calm bay, and it was very redneck. I hope it is not too discriminatory to say that. The people could drive their trucks right up to the water, which they did! There were lots of coolers of beer and boats being docked right off the back of trucks. At one “beachsite,” we drove past just as a pet pig was trotting around from the far side of the truck. What a hoot!



















This is a picture of Jon, Laura and Shannon in the water at the beach. It reminds me of a lagoon. The water was very warm. Very warm. The only problem was all the sea life. Lots of little fish nibbled on one's legs as one tried to frolic in the water. When a jellyfish stung my ankle and left a big, ugly red mark, I was done with this beach. Fortunately, that was near the end of our stay, because I had trouble relaxing in the water after that.



















Here are our four kids with their great grandparents. Actually, GD is Great Grandma's second husband. Her first husband died a couple of weeks before Shannon was born. GD and Great Grandma have been married for nearly 19 years. The dog's name is Buffy.

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school.  Well, Shannon has been commuting to college for awhile, but the other three began today.

The first day of school is not my favorite day of the year.  I guess it is for some moms, but not for me.  To me it spells the beginning of stress, deadlines, homework battles, missing assignments, teacher conflicts, scheduling conflicts, and relentless trips to the store to buy supplies.

I'm lazy, that's the problem.  Lazy and unorganized.  And the beginning of school smashes these facts right in my face and twists them around like a lemon in a juicer.

Also, I am just a little bit crazy, and I feel much safer going shopping if one of the kids is with me.  Laura is the ultimate shopping buddy--she always knows what we need and is a great reminder.  She never loses my list (like I do).  Also, when she is with me, I can talk to her.  If I am alone, I sometimes talk to myself, which is disturbing to me and to others.

So here I am at home with miraculous time to, say, clean the kids' bathroom and tidy the kitchen (which miraculously STAYS tidy for a few hours) and do a little writing.  It's not so bad.  Is it?  Plus it's the first day of school, so I am basically caught up on the laundry... it does happen once or twice a year.

And yes, I suppose I could save myeslf some of this angst if I would homeschool.  That is theoretical, though.  I am not a good homeschooler.  I think to be a good homeschooler, you need to enjoy getting out once in awhile.  I hate getting out.  I am, truth be told, a little weird (or maybe more than a little).  I'm a loner.  I do not think it is healthy to instill this personality trait in my kids any more than it already manifests itself.  None of us, except Jonathan, really likes to go out and socialize.  So going to school is a good discipline for them.  They meet people--people besides me, who might actually help them to have a little more balance in who they become.  They learn to face their fears and stretch themselves and get out there for a few hours every day.  

Ugh.  Why can't we just live in a cottage in the woods with a lake and a stream, fruit trees and a garden, chickens, a cow and a woodburning stove.  Hey, if we had all that, we would never have to go anywhere or see anybody.

I suppose that's why God is holding back.

Priorities

I believe that a church that puts evangelism in first place is like a family that puts the children in first place.

It isn't healthy.

I'm NOT saying that churches should not evangelize.  Clearly, evangelism is commanded and important.  Just as parents are called to love, protect and care for their children, so churches should evangelize.

BUT it has to come in the right order.  The priority relationship in the family is the marriage relationship between the father and the mother.  The priority relationship in the church is the relationship between the believer and the Lord.  The priority relationship must be nurtured and not neglected.  If the priority relationship is neglected rather than nurtured, the secondary relationship is doomed anyway.

If you love your children, nurture your marriage and make it strong.

If you long to reach the lost for Christ, nurture your relationship with Jesus and grow in faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love (see 2 Peter 1:5-7).  Find a fellowship of believers who will love you and encourage you to grow in holiness.  Contrary to what sometimes seems to be a growing new popular belief, this is neither self-absorption nor legalism.  This is good spiritual wisdom.

On the airplane, they always tell you, in case of emergency, to get your own oxygen mask in place before you try to help someone else with his.  If you do this, you may be able to get an oxygen mask onto even an unconscious person and bring him back.  However, if you neglect yourself, you may expire before you finish helping the other person, causing great harm to both of you.  If you don't nurture the priority relationships in your life, you will be unable to help others.

In a family or in a church, when the main focus is shifted a few degrees off the main thing, the institution is headed down a path where health and functionality will be short-lived.

Notes

I finally finished reading The Pickwick Papers. Interestingly, it is in some ways the same plot as Bleak House, but written as a comedy rather than a tragedy. In any case, I am ready to watch our movie of it now.


Lately I've been thinking:
1. Politics stink.
2. Life is political.
3. Therefore...

Also, here is where I really wish I had a readership, because I would like to take a poll.

Many people say that music is "The Universal Language" and that, through music, life's deepest (and not so deep) emotions are expressed in ways that transcend the spoken word. They say that people from any language in the world can communicate through music. Joy, excitement, sadness, anger, peace--these emotional responses are implicit in different types of music.

At the same time, when someone doesn't like someone else's music (particularly when traditional people don't like the messages they perceive as being portrayed through contemporary music) the people whose music has been criticized say, "It doesn't matter what the music sounds like--what matters is the words, and the words are great, so you should accept our music."

Is this true?

Is music a "universal language" that communicates things in and of itself by the form it takes? Or is music an arbitrary vehicle, where any style can be combined with any words to successfully and appropriately convey any message?

Which is it?