Wednesday, August 30, 2006
The bloggy word cloud
An overview of my blog... interesting to see what words it found repeated a lot. Is it bad that the word "like" was highlighted? Bad habits revealed. (Thanks to Snapshirts.com)
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Flawed logic seeping through
I had a little conversation with a woman in my bible study the other day. While I'm quite sure she doesn't adhere to prosperity gospel, it must be in her background somewhere... every so often I hear it seeping through.
We have both taken up jogging and are both training for our first half marathon. We discussed how we are having to be more careful now that we are needing to do longer training runs, and it's getting darker earlier.
Paraphrased conversation:
Me: It's getting harder to plan for the long runs now that it's getting dark earlier...
Friend: Yeah... I went the other day and it was getting dark...I almost tripped on the sidewalk...
Me: I know - we timed the daylight wrong the other day. I ended up running in a pitch black forest. When my husband met me that the end, I was sobbing. It was so scary!
Friend: Yeah, although I need to remember that God will protect me, so I'll be fine.
Me: (Laughing gasp!) Only in heaven! You'll be protected eternally, but you aren't protected on earth!
Friend: Hmmm... I suppose that's true (laugh)....
I know she doesn't hold to a prosperity gospel and doesn't truly believe that God will prevent suffering. However, it's obvious that it was somewhere in her background and it comes seeping out every now and then.
It makes me wonder what is deep rooted in my belief system. He has shown me some wrong thinking I've had - He has been digging it out the last couple years. I wonder what He will reveal to me this year. I want all of that false logic gone!
We have both taken up jogging and are both training for our first half marathon. We discussed how we are having to be more careful now that we are needing to do longer training runs, and it's getting darker earlier.
Paraphrased conversation:
Me: It's getting harder to plan for the long runs now that it's getting dark earlier...
Friend: Yeah... I went the other day and it was getting dark...I almost tripped on the sidewalk...
Me: I know - we timed the daylight wrong the other day. I ended up running in a pitch black forest. When my husband met me that the end, I was sobbing. It was so scary!
Friend: Yeah, although I need to remember that God will protect me, so I'll be fine.
Me: (Laughing gasp!) Only in heaven! You'll be protected eternally, but you aren't protected on earth!
Friend: Hmmm... I suppose that's true (laugh)....
I know she doesn't hold to a prosperity gospel and doesn't truly believe that God will prevent suffering. However, it's obvious that it was somewhere in her background and it comes seeping out every now and then.
It makes me wonder what is deep rooted in my belief system. He has shown me some wrong thinking I've had - He has been digging it out the last couple years. I wonder what He will reveal to me this year. I want all of that false logic gone!
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Starting soon!
I'm SO excited! My bible study is about to start again for the year (ok...really, in another 2.5 weeks...but soon!) and I CANNOT WAIT (yep, I'm yelling). I just called all the ladies in my group to see if they will be attending and got ahold of 8 and need to call 4 of them back. Every single one I got ahold of said YES. I can't wait!
We are going to cover Romans this year and I'm very excited. I'm sure it will be a great study. I'm so excited to get back to my homiletics assignments, the lectures, and the good friends. I love it, love it, love it!
We are going to cover Romans this year and I'm very excited. I'm sure it will be a great study. I'm so excited to get back to my homiletics assignments, the lectures, and the good friends. I love it, love it, love it!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
joy
I've been starving.
My husband is my best friend, and a friend who, like most men, does not have a great need for a multitude of relationships. I love him and I love spending time with him. I get so wrapped up in my husband, our projects, our house, our dog, that I forget how hungry I am for relationship. It isn't until I have a day with a girl friend, or evening with another couple, that my appetite is satiated and I realize how hungry I really was.
Tonight we went to a BBQ with other "young couples" from our church. I had SO much fun! There were a few people I hadn't known at all, and some I've only met a couple times. We had a great time of food, discussion, and husband vs. wives pictionary. Very, very fun, and very filling. You could tell that all the people were starving for conversation. We all longed for relationship so much, that without any planning, we ate dinner at two tables - the men all at one and women at another.
Of course, of all the "young couple," we were the youngest and the only without children. Sigh. I can't wait until that doesn't define our uniqueness. Usually when women find out that I've been married for seven years, AND we don't have children, they just pause, give me a confused expression, and then don't know what to say. I don't blame them. They are probably confused about if they should ask why... is it a medical problem? Do we hate children? Is there a reason? And then they decide it's too personal and they shouldn't ask...but they can't help but wonder.
I've been telling people at work that I'm going to be changing jobs and working at home soon. There are two common questions: 1) Am I pregnant (no), and 2) Do I think I will miss the social aspects of work?
My current life exists within a hampster wheel: Hubs and I work diligently (very focused always, sometimes extra hours), when we are home we are exhausted, we become very insulated and self/home focused and have no time for other people or relationships as we try to self-protect (and marriage-protect) ourselves. So, I have some social contacts at work, but none outside of work because I'm too tired. Weekends are preserved for self-restoration. Self, self, self. Not much relationship there.
People are concerned that I will miss the socialization of work after I start working from home. But... I think we've got it all backwards. I want to work diligently, get my work done, then have time/energy to be social in the evenings. I want to be confident enough in my cooking and cleaning ability to have friends over for dinner frequently. I want to get chores done during the week, so that we can easily make plans with other people on a Saturday, rather than retreating to our insulated cocoon.
Why should I rely on socialization and work, but neglect it in the rest of my life? Shouldn't it be the other way around? It's even more odd when you consider that you don't choose your co-workers, but do choose your friends. So, in the current pattern, I'm building relationship with people that I may not choose otherwise. They are convenient relationships. Yet, in effect, I'm choosing the convenient relationships only at the neglect of my non-work friends. (For my work friends who may be reading this... I do choose you, and love you dearly! I want you to be a non-work friend too!)
There was one couple in particular, the one who hosted the BBQ, that I really enjoyed and would love to get to know further. Maybe one evening, when we have food, clean house, and energy, we will have them over for dinner. Thankfully, maybe "some day" won't be so far away.
My husband is my best friend, and a friend who, like most men, does not have a great need for a multitude of relationships. I love him and I love spending time with him. I get so wrapped up in my husband, our projects, our house, our dog, that I forget how hungry I am for relationship. It isn't until I have a day with a girl friend, or evening with another couple, that my appetite is satiated and I realize how hungry I really was.
Tonight we went to a BBQ with other "young couples" from our church. I had SO much fun! There were a few people I hadn't known at all, and some I've only met a couple times. We had a great time of food, discussion, and husband vs. wives pictionary. Very, very fun, and very filling. You could tell that all the people were starving for conversation. We all longed for relationship so much, that without any planning, we ate dinner at two tables - the men all at one and women at another.
Of course, of all the "young couple," we were the youngest and the only without children. Sigh. I can't wait until that doesn't define our uniqueness. Usually when women find out that I've been married for seven years, AND we don't have children, they just pause, give me a confused expression, and then don't know what to say. I don't blame them. They are probably confused about if they should ask why... is it a medical problem? Do we hate children? Is there a reason? And then they decide it's too personal and they shouldn't ask...but they can't help but wonder.
I've been telling people at work that I'm going to be changing jobs and working at home soon. There are two common questions: 1) Am I pregnant (no), and 2) Do I think I will miss the social aspects of work?
My current life exists within a hampster wheel: Hubs and I work diligently (very focused always, sometimes extra hours), when we are home we are exhausted, we become very insulated and self/home focused and have no time for other people or relationships as we try to self-protect (and marriage-protect) ourselves. So, I have some social contacts at work, but none outside of work because I'm too tired. Weekends are preserved for self-restoration. Self, self, self. Not much relationship there.
People are concerned that I will miss the socialization of work after I start working from home. But... I think we've got it all backwards. I want to work diligently, get my work done, then have time/energy to be social in the evenings. I want to be confident enough in my cooking and cleaning ability to have friends over for dinner frequently. I want to get chores done during the week, so that we can easily make plans with other people on a Saturday, rather than retreating to our insulated cocoon.
Why should I rely on socialization and work, but neglect it in the rest of my life? Shouldn't it be the other way around? It's even more odd when you consider that you don't choose your co-workers, but do choose your friends. So, in the current pattern, I'm building relationship with people that I may not choose otherwise. They are convenient relationships. Yet, in effect, I'm choosing the convenient relationships only at the neglect of my non-work friends. (For my work friends who may be reading this... I do choose you, and love you dearly! I want you to be a non-work friend too!)
There was one couple in particular, the one who hosted the BBQ, that I really enjoyed and would love to get to know further. Maybe one evening, when we have food, clean house, and energy, we will have them over for dinner. Thankfully, maybe "some day" won't be so far away.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Door Update
Well, we hit a snag already. With our one hour of daylight we wanted to work on priming and painting. Turns out you have to hang the door, take off the door, paint the door, then put it back on. Oh well... in the dining room it shall sleep.
Instead, we shall work on putting together my new desk from Ikea. I can't wait until I have a bit more desk space here. Also, we went on a little Fry's shopping spree last night. So fun! We bought a snazzy all-in-one printer (copy, scan, print), that was essentially $29, since it has a rebate and comes w/ $50 worth of ink.
I also got a super snazzy wireless keyboard and mouse. They came with a poem...that went something like this:
Instead, we shall work on putting together my new desk from Ikea. I can't wait until I have a bit more desk space here. Also, we went on a little Fry's shopping spree last night. So fun! We bought a snazzy all-in-one printer (copy, scan, print), that was essentially $29, since it has a rebate and comes w/ $50 worth of ink.
I also got a super snazzy wireless keyboard and mouse. They came with a poem...that went something like this:
New Toys
I got a neat keyboard and mouse
They have laserbeams
That will get you
When you look at them
With envy
Ok, really I was being a dork and just wrote that little ditty on one of the demo computers at Fry's and then laughed for a long time because I thought I was so stikin' funny.
When my new office space is all setup, laser beams included, I shall post a picture.
Toodles,
kel.
Dare to Door
When we bought our house, we couldn't afford much, thanks to the THRIVING Seattle housing market. We bought based on location and potential. I'm pretty picky about decor, so I really don't want to pay for decor twice - once for when it was done originally, and once for us to re-do it. We bought a house that needed some fixing up, but was priced for it, rather than a house that was priced as a nice house, but was still going to need to be "fixed" for my tastes. It is a 1960 modest little house that is slowly being remodeled room by room....by two people who have no idea how to do home re-modeling. Learning comes with frugality.
Our challenge is that this isn't our "forever" house. We want to put things in it that are nice, are value-add to the over-all new style, but are also modest. We don't want to fill it up with the top end of anything, not when a middle-ground product will look just as nice and work just a well. We aren't going to the bottom, but trying to pick a middle ground. I've read so many articles about how expensive re-modeling is, and I'm daring to prove them wrong.
This weekend we are putting in a new front door - we just brought it home from Home Depot. The front door market is a bit depressing. There are a few basic doors that they order in quantity that are a reasonable price. Any other door (even if it's no more fancy or complicated), must be custom ordered and are at least twice the price. We picked one out that was in stock, but a little fancy. It has a window at the top with leaded glass in a nice, traditional but not too froofy, design. So, not a plain six panel door, but not custom ordered. End result? $249.
This choice was a little bitter sweet. We were glad to not pay $500 for the door we really loved(different design in the window), but a little bummed because the glass design is really not one that we preferred. It's a little more wavy (I'd prefer geometric straight lines) than we'd really like. However, it's not BAD...just a hint of traditional. It doesn't 100% match our house's style (pretty modern), but oh well. We were not going to pay $500 for a door. It's a door. No one will think this door is bad, in fact, I bet most will like it. We decided we'd rather save a couple hundred dollars than LOVE our door, and I'm glad we made that choice.
If we valued the LOVE of all items in our home more than we valued frugality and middle-ground purchases, then I wouldn't be able to remodel our home at all. Besides, I'm saving my "I don't care what it costs, I have to have THAT one!" card for the refrigerator when we re-do the kitchen. I will happily compromise on every other purchase.
And now... off to learn how to install a new front door.
Our challenge is that this isn't our "forever" house. We want to put things in it that are nice, are value-add to the over-all new style, but are also modest. We don't want to fill it up with the top end of anything, not when a middle-ground product will look just as nice and work just a well. We aren't going to the bottom, but trying to pick a middle ground. I've read so many articles about how expensive re-modeling is, and I'm daring to prove them wrong.
This weekend we are putting in a new front door - we just brought it home from Home Depot. The front door market is a bit depressing. There are a few basic doors that they order in quantity that are a reasonable price. Any other door (even if it's no more fancy or complicated), must be custom ordered and are at least twice the price. We picked one out that was in stock, but a little fancy. It has a window at the top with leaded glass in a nice, traditional but not too froofy, design. So, not a plain six panel door, but not custom ordered. End result? $249.
This choice was a little bitter sweet. We were glad to not pay $500 for the door we really loved(different design in the window), but a little bummed because the glass design is really not one that we preferred. It's a little more wavy (I'd prefer geometric straight lines) than we'd really like. However, it's not BAD...just a hint of traditional. It doesn't 100% match our house's style (pretty modern), but oh well. We were not going to pay $500 for a door. It's a door. No one will think this door is bad, in fact, I bet most will like it. We decided we'd rather save a couple hundred dollars than LOVE our door, and I'm glad we made that choice.
If we valued the LOVE of all items in our home more than we valued frugality and middle-ground purchases, then I wouldn't be able to remodel our home at all. Besides, I'm saving my "I don't care what it costs, I have to have THAT one!" card for the refrigerator when we re-do the kitchen. I will happily compromise on every other purchase.
And now... off to learn how to install a new front door.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Works For Me Wednesday
I enjoy reading all the Wednesday tips on Shannon's blog and today I thought I'd add my own. It's my very first WFMW!
My tip is about salad. I love salad, but only if I have a large variety of ingredients and they are all fresh and crunchy. Hubs will tolerate salad, but will eat very, very few ingredients. I hate left over salad that is already all mixed up. Some ingredients go bad faster than others, then you have to toss the whole thing. I used to not prepare salads at all. It just seemed like they went bad too fast, for just the two of us.
Then I changed how I make salads and the new system works really well. First, I make a big bowl of lettuce. I prefer a mix of romaine and spinach, but will sometimes add other baby greens. I can just pick and choose what looks good and is on sale and mix it up at home. In the TW bowl I keep it in, it actually stays fresh for a very long time, much longer than if it were stored in the bag or with other ingredients.
Then I pre-chop all the other ingredients and put them in individual containers, even the little ziplock/glad containers work well for this. I like to have a large variety: olives, bell pepper, carrots, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. There are only 4 containers shown above, but sometimes there are more.
When we make dinner, there is no extra time spent making salad - it's all already in the fridge. I just get out all the bowls and we each get to make the salad we want, and if one ingredient is looking a little suspicious, you can toss it without tossing all of it. Recently we went to some friends' house for dinner; they asked us to bring the salad. My containers were still pretty full so I just put them all in a bag and headed over. They were so impressed that we all got the salad we wanted, with really gourmet ingredients. When we were done, I packed up my containers, put them back in my fridge, and they still lasted a long time more.
Works for me!
http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2006/08/works_for_me_yu.html
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Thank you, thank you very much!
I must be feeling rather bloggy today - 4 posts in one day! Crazy! Ok, I think it's that I really feel like talking, but hubs doesn't. I think that's because he's super tired because I've been up half the night the last two nights, so he hasn't slept well. Anyway...
I'm super cool. I FINALLY got off my tush and ran. I only went for two miles (thought I'd ease back into it after 11 days off), and I ran really fast for the first mile. I just calculated it and I ran my two miles at a 10.3 minute mile. I think that's a record for me! I can hear the fans cheering! Hurray - go me! For me, that is FAST.
So, today I rock because I went running after I put it off all evening AND I ran super duper fast.
I'm super cool. I FINALLY got off my tush and ran. I only went for two miles (thought I'd ease back into it after 11 days off), and I ran really fast for the first mile. I just calculated it and I ran my two miles at a 10.3 minute mile. I think that's a record for me! I can hear the fans cheering! Hurray - go me! For me, that is FAST.
So, today I rock because I went running after I put it off all evening AND I ran super duper fast.
test 2
This isn't working. I want my name changed to just kel. This is the last attempt and then I'm REALLY going to go jog... in the dark now. That's what I get for playing too long. =(
testing
I'm just testing some stuff... this post is completely non-interesting.
Ok... I admit it. I'm playing on my blog instead of jogging. Get off my tush!!! Go run!!!
Ok... I admit it. I'm playing on my blog instead of jogging. Get off my tush!!! Go run!!!
Frankenstein
Today is the day to start running again. I don't really feel like it right now, but I have to. I HAVE to because something freakish is happening to my body.
I was gone boating last week (9 days) and didn't get to run, I figured I start up again when I got back home and things got back to normal. However, something happened the last two nights that tells me that I have permanently messed up my body, turning it into a running frankenstein. The last two nights, I was tired after work, but as it got later and later, I couldn't sleep at all. Not at all. None. I was just silly and antsy instead. That's not me - I'm the one who falls asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. Insomnia is not an option. I'm way tired in the morning, take no naps, but then come sleep time, I just have too much energy inside.
This probably sounds stupid, but it's really a problem! Last night I was fully awake until about 2:30 am, for the second night in a row. I got to read all the back posts from my favorite blogs during vacation, but 6am comes awfully quickly. I noticed this once a few weeks ago when I hadn't gone jogging. My body just had more energy than it was used to and I couldn't sleep, and here it's happening again. It's horrible!
So...tonight I must go jogging. If for no other reason than I want to sleep tonight!
Sleepy,
kel
I was gone boating last week (9 days) and didn't get to run, I figured I start up again when I got back home and things got back to normal. However, something happened the last two nights that tells me that I have permanently messed up my body, turning it into a running frankenstein. The last two nights, I was tired after work, but as it got later and later, I couldn't sleep at all. Not at all. None. I was just silly and antsy instead. That's not me - I'm the one who falls asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. Insomnia is not an option. I'm way tired in the morning, take no naps, but then come sleep time, I just have too much energy inside.
This probably sounds stupid, but it's really a problem! Last night I was fully awake until about 2:30 am, for the second night in a row. I got to read all the back posts from my favorite blogs during vacation, but 6am comes awfully quickly. I noticed this once a few weeks ago when I hadn't gone jogging. My body just had more energy than it was used to and I couldn't sleep, and here it's happening again. It's horrible!
So...tonight I must go jogging. If for no other reason than I want to sleep tonight!
Sleepy,
kel
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