BECAUSE I SAID SO!

{ September 11, 2007 @ 10:23 pm } · { family, goodie, home, sassy, write }
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This gal has got it goin’ on. You may remember an email forward being sent around about Pokemon cards for sale on eBay, attached to the ridiculous story of this mother of 6 who found them in her bags of groceries after shopping at the supermarket with her brood.

Dawn’s blog, BECAUSE I SAID SO!, has me addicted, along with seemingly thousands of others. I don’t even have kids yet, but her brave and humorous attitude make me look forward to the challenge of looking at those crazy kid situations-to-come with an appreciative and forgiving fresh perspective.

 She’s the greatest since Erma Bombeck. Have a read – warning, it’s as addictive as Facebook…

Frenemy?

{ August 29, 2007 @ 5:11 pm } · { conflict, exasperation, feelings, friends, guilt, jealousy, sarcasm }
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<sigh> This is sad, but so true. A post from the blog of the editor of Radiant magazine:


Have you ever had a frenemy? A friend-enemy? This article takes a look at the interesting frenemy relationship and how women, much more so than men, are likely to have these types of relationships. One theory about why this may be is that on a certain level, women often feel competitive with their friends, not wanting to be outshone—but unlike men, who seem to have much less difficulty displaying their competitive feelings, women guiltily keep these feelings to themselves, creating a hotbed for viral jealousy. At the same time, women are more likely to want to maintain a relationship they’ve invested so much in emotionally. Thus the conflicting—and very complex—intertwining of positive and negative feelings.

I identify most with the gal quoted in the CNN article, Maria Calderon-Saban. But exactly how does one “lose all will to continue the friendship” with someone who has played such a big part of one’s past? Suddenly, this person becomes disposable & invisible, either by way of a massive betrayal, like Calderon-Saban’s friendship, or a slow but steady erosion of trust, love and grace. In my current “frenemy” situation, a loss of trust in one’s commitment to the preservation of my identity and my vulnerability has slowly created a chasm so wide, I hardly think it crossable. And what’s a girl to do but wait it out? And after more than 4 months of waiting it out, I have loudly received the answer I expected: silence.

 

small ‘B’ baptist, big ‘C’ Christian?

{ August 21, 2007 @ 5:10 pm } · { family, fun, home }
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So, our pastor at Cedar Grove has always called us “small ‘B’ baptists, big ‘C’ Christians.” That means, “Don’t get into futile and trivial arguments over denomination. If that’s what you’re holding on to as your Christian identity, you’ve got it all wrong.” (Well, that’s what I take from it, anyway). Nonetheless, a wicked co-worker of mine took it upon herself to forward my appeal for “Christian jokes” for November’s magazine to her oh-so-witty (and probably Baptist?) friends. The following was part of their replies:

Guy walks down his street to get to the bus one day and sees a little boy with a wagon full of puppies. Next to it is a sign that reads: “Orthodox Puppies – Free!” He asks the boy about them and is told they were only born yesterday. The next day he sees the same boy and stops to look at the puppies. Then he says, “Orthodox puppies?” The boy looks up and says, “Yes sir they are” and then goes back to tending the puppies. The next day the boy is there with the puppies but this time the man sees that the sign has changed:  “Baptist Puppies – Free”. The man is intrigued and asks the boy, “Um, weren’t these Orthodox puppies yesterday?” The boy smiles and says, “Yes sir, they were. But today their eyes are open.”  

So a guy walks into a Catholic church and asks to use the phone to call God. The Priest points him to a gold phone and says, it’s a direct line, but it will cost you $10 in long distance fees.The next day same guy walks into a charismatic church and asks to use the phone to call God.  Pastor points at a beautiful phone under a huge bank of flags and says, it’s a direct line, but will cost you $10 in long distance charges.

The next day same guy walks into a Baptist church and asks to use the phone to call God. The pastor points to a phone on the reception desk. The man reaches into his wallet and pulls out a $10. He hands it to the pastor and says, “here’s for the long distance charges.” Pastor laughs and says, “Don’t worry about it – it’s a local call.” 

… continue reading this entry.

Martha vs. Mary

{ August 3, 2007 @ 5:57 pm } · { Christ, family, grace, home }
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Last night we hosted our 2nd official dinner “party” in our new home. My lovely grandparents, Barb & Stan, and my parents and brother~ Neil, Sandy and Zach ~ blessed us with their presence in our new home. What a neat feeling to stand with my husband’s arm around me at the end of the night, waving goodbye to family and retreating together into our home.

Wayne and I spent the better part of the evening prior cleaning up, prepping food, going to bed early so we wouldn’t be so tired. I even came home at lunch yesterday to make one of the appetizers (marinated bocconcini wrapped in prosciutto, speared with a basil leaf and half a grape tomato – delish!). As soon as I came home from work , I was off and running! Racing around finishing laundry, putting away ugly practical things that tend to invade our more stylized spaces out of function and necessity, bringing the pork up to room temp, cutting potatoes, Windexing mirrors, queing up music, lighting candles, deciding which apron to wear…it goes on and on! I did this so that once everyone arrived, I’d be able to sit and chat, knowing how *rude* it is to be constantly in the kitchen, fussing (bad hostess!). Fortunately, we have an open floor plan, allowing me to chat with my little brother who sat at the breakfast bar on the opposite side of the island, while I prepped some more. The chitter chatter of Mum and Nana at the table to my right brought back a rush of teatime memories, while Wayne and Dad listening to more of Grandpa’s stories about the war and meeting jazz greats back in Montreal long ago filled my heart with a combination of pride and gratefulness.

My family always cracks jokes about trying to be Martha Stewart: if Mum does a good job on a particular dish (which usually is the case), and someone compliments her, she’ll say, “Just call me Martha!” In my case, after a particular failed recipe, I’ll hang my head and mumble, “I am no Martha” (though I try my darndest!).

Funny thing about that name, Martha, isn’t it? That in the book of Luke, Mary is attentive at Jesus’ feet while “Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made” (Luke 10:38-42). I can only assume that Martha, worried about how Jesus would view her home and hospitality, instead of her heart, busied herself the only way she knew how to serve others: through entertainment.

I don’t think her desire to serve and bless and entertain her Saviour-to-be were wrong; only that her priorities were misplaced. Jesus told her “only one thing is needed” – to stop all worldly pursuits and give our full selves to the leading and teaching of Christ. Mary understood the power and authority before her, while Martha, though a believer and follower, preferred (or perhaps, defaulted out of nervousness?) to show her respect and reverance through acts of service.

This resonated deeply with me last night. When I am so obviously presented with an opportunity to learn from Christ or to exercise His teachings, I mustn’t let the daily to-do lists get in the way of receiving from Him and blessing others in His name. When given the choice between immediate or eternal, I need to stop and think before proceeding. I had to force myself last night to look up from the green beans and broccoli, the candles and the music, to look my guests in the face and ask how are they are. To inquire about what’s new, to show compassion and grace, and attempt to open my heart to God’s love so I could be used for His purposes.

So maybe I don’t want to be Martha afterall. It’s Mary who did it right.

New home

{ July 26, 2007 @ 3:35 pm } · { happiness, home }
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Well, since I’m too lazy to figure out how to post photos attractively on this thing, here is the link to my Facebook album, where I’ve posted some amateur photos of our new home: Kew Living.

Yum!

{ July 18, 2007 @ 8:37 pm } · { Wayne, home, husband }
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I made my first roast chicken the other night (last time was a couple weeks ago at the Baxter’s and dad-in-law had to give me direction – sad, I know). I made a garlic, olive oil, shallot, fresh rosemary and whole lemon “stuffing” – shoved the whole mix right up its rear and poured the juices on top, buried garlic cloves in the meat and then served it with a carrot/raisin salad and homemade basil beer bread (my first loaf of bread, too). Can you tell we watch far too much Food Network?

Then Wayne made his first soup out of the carcass! So thrifty, we are. :) It was very good. We could have let it simmer longer…and we didn’t have a bay leaf either. Next time! Moms always know best about these things, don’t they?

On Saturday we went to a U-Catch and caught four 13-inch rainbow trout and grilled them up for an early dinner. Our new neighbours ended up coming over and joining us. It was delish! I also spent yesterday’s lunch attempting to take some stylie pics around the house…we’ll do an American Gothic replica soon, I promise. 

If I could only figure out how to post them properly…

God’s pies

{ July 16, 2007 @ 6:54 pm } · { God, Lord, church, grace }
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Mark Petersen, one of my favourite bloggers, posted this yesterday. A stark reminder that “every good and perfect gift is from above.” (James 1:17)

puppies!

{ July 16, 2007 @ 4:29 pm } · { cute, happiness }
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Meet Paige, the mum of our puppy, which is one of the liver & white females in this brood. Paige is a fantastic gal and we can’t wait to pick up our “baby” at the end of August. What a great anniversary present that will be!

Copy goes here

{ July 16, 2007 @ 3:56 pm } · { cute, edit, goodie, write }
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Oh, dear. <sigh>

This is fabulous. This is, in fact, often the way us writers feel. Word geeks we may be. But we keep you designers employed! ;)

Movie: “Copy Goes Here”

For writers and all their illiterate associates. (designers)

http://www.coudal.com/cghfilm.php   

8 random/not-so-random (?) facts

{ June 6, 2007 @ 10:35 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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I’ve been tagged. Odd – no one told me. Anyhoo…Here’s the skinny:

-Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
-People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
-At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
-You may need to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

 And now i begin…

1. I have never rec’d a speeding ticket – and I’m deathly afraid of cops. (Except for Jill and Jordan, of course). [Firefighters are no good, either, no matter who's staring at you from your calendar.]

2. Although I’ll try almost anything (food-wise) once, the texture of mushrooms, eggplant and zuchini grosses.me.out. They all resemble styrofoam to me – void of taste and oddly lightweight in spite of their respective sizes. Lack of density, I suppose, is not desirable to me.

3. My husband has the softest skin on his temple. That may not be about me but I could spend all day with my lips pressed against that spot! 

4. If I could be paid to work from home with consistently incoming assignments (none of this “send your query to the editor” stuff), I would. And I’d love it. And kick a** at it!

5. I always wished I was the dainty, flexible, pretty, small ballerinas in my jazz dance classes when I was young. If I could have pursued dance the way they did,  from the young age they did, I think I could have been great. But I was quite aware of the fact that I was there for recreation and they were in my class simply to be more “well-rounded” for their more important ballet and tap and lyrical classes (sorrow!).

6. My super-anal mother had a housecleaner visit every other Friday for the first 12 or so years of my life! How I miss Meike.

7. I want to live and work and breathe and travel and give birth and experience life’s milestones . . . all in Europe.

8. Marriage has been the most eye-opening and spirit-strengthening experience of my life.

I tag Julie, Danya, Ann-Margret, Shari, Molly, Matt, and uhhhh that’s all I got. 

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