First I hear that today is the last ever episode of Reading Rainbow...there will be no more butterflies and no more flying twice as high...

Next my cell phone is missing and some strange man is answering it.

Then I have this extremely helpful conversation with the online Verizon agent:

You: Hi Derrick

derrick: Hello. Thank you for visiting our chat service. May I help you with your order today?
derrick: Hello.
derrick: How may I assist you?
You: Well, I don't need an order. I lost my cell phone and one of my friends called it and somebody answered. Is there a way of shutting down my service without using a phone?
derrick: You need to contact customer care at 1-800-922-0204 and it can be suspended.
You: But there isn't a way of contacting them without a phone, since I obviously do not have mine on me?
derrick: You will need to use someone's phone to call.
You: Okay, thanks for your help
derrick: Thank you for visiting Verizon Wireless, I look forward to speaking with you again. Have a great day!

So here are my questions:
1. Who answers a cell phone that they found when they obviously do not intend to return it?
2. Why does derrick with a little "d" want to speak to me again when I just asked him about a problem I was having...is he hoping I have more problems in the future?

Now I'm going to go to the grocery store in the rain.

Goodbye, Reading Rainbow and LeVar Burton. You will be missed by generations and future generations will suffer without you.

Picture Project Post, August 3-August 26

August 3, 2009: Yum. On the way home from my Grandma's birthday celebration we stopped at Country Cupboard for some raisin-filled cookies. I love some raisin-filled cookies!

August 4, 2009: I made home-made bread it was honey-wheat and it was delicious.





August 5, 2009: We found a pretty exciting toy at the house where we were house-sitting. I think it's supposed to be used to make coffee foamy. Luke used it to make tornadoes in his water cup.






August 6, 2009: We made delicious milk shakes and watched Angels in the Outfield in honor of the Nationals 8-game winning streak. Unfortunately, the winning streak was short-lived...






August 7, 2009: ...but it wasn't too short lived! We rallied against the Diamondbacks late in the 7th inning. We were in our rally caps and pretty excited.



August 8, 2009: We went to give blood at the Nationals stadium and Screech and Teddy Roosevelt were there to give their moral support. We also got 4 free tickets to Nats games!






August 9, 2009: We spent the day (after church) hanging out in the air conditioning of the house we were sitting during the first three weeks of August. We were pretty lucky, that's for sure.





August 10, 2009: The time before small group is mostly spent talking or laughing at Henry and Jane. On this Monday, Jordan spent the time before small group spinning them around while the giggled until they cried out "Mommy!". It was pretty entertaining.


August 11, 2009: Edison and I spent Tuesday afternoon picnicking on the mall and visiting museums downtown. This picture is a movie in the Sculpture Museum of a ship moving in behind a man...Edison was adding a little bit of color in the reenactment.

August 12, 2009: Happy birthday Katie and Christie! I spent the morning in the garden. There's lots of things growing throughout the garden so I walked around and took pictures of other's gardens with the bright vegetables in the wealth of green. I love the colors of nature.

August 13, 2009: I spent the day making and writing birthday cards for my sisters, thank you cards and appreciation cards. I really like making things...especially when I have a wealth of supplies. My sisters all came late on Thursday night! Hooray!


August 14, 2009: On Friday my sisters and I did some exploring around Washington, DC. At night we had a birthday celebration cookout, complete with a delicious cake, friends (Zack and Edison) and Bible Apples to Apples. It was a fun night.

August 15, 2009: We went kayaking on the Potomac on Saturday. We also went to a delicious restaurant Oyamel...complete with grasshoppers! Pictures can be seen here.

August 16, 2009: Before the sisters left on Sunday we listened to Katie play the baby-grand.




August 17, 2009: I babysat for Henry and Jane on Monday afternoon. Henry spent a long time playing with his dinosaurs. So long that he forgot that he needed to use the potty....

August 18, 2009: I worked in the garden again Tuesday morning. And there was a pumpkin growing next to our plot! It's almost fall!


August 19, 2009: Walking around Chevy Chase, NW DC I saw this "Captain Arturo: Fighting for Non-Violence" flier in the Employment Guide Distribution box. I should apply for that job.





August 20, 2009: Jacob came to visit and we spent the night talking into the wee hours in the morning. It was so good to see him. I love getting together with old friends.

August 21, 2009: We went to the Nats game in the rain. They had to stop the game briefly because it was raining to hard, I've never seen them put

the tarp out before! It was pretty cool. But it took them a looong time to put it away. We were a little bit annoyed (as shown to the right in the alternate picture of the day).

August 22, 2009: We finished house sitting on Saturday night. After moving and without AC we were looking to the fan to make us cool. Lucky for us, the nights are cooling down considerably.

August 23, 2009: I gave myself a pedicure while watching The Other Boleyn Girl (again, the book...so much better...). I like trying to give myself pedicures...though I'm not to great at painting flowers on my own feet...





August 24, 2009: Otto died on Friday night (it was a sad, sad day...but now he's all better!). Walking to and from Small Group we passed this VW Bus that is painted like The Mystery Machine from ScoobyDoo. Kind of creepy...

August 25, 2009: Since Otto was still in the shop on Tuesday I walked 2 miles to and from therapy. It was a pleasant walk, especially when I walked under these trees that are already shedding their leaves and smelling especially like fall! Four days until September!




August 26, 2009: We had dinner with our friends, Jordan and Valerie Sallis. We spent the rest of the night making Dungeons and Dragons characters for our first ever role-playing game on Friday. I was excited before we went, but I'm more excited now!

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I apologize for the recent delay in pictures...my computer has been messing up recently when I try to download them, so I have to use Luke's slow computer and so I tend to avoid it...

wasting water.

i'm sitting here trying to decide what to write while i listen to our shower going (that wouldn't turn off) and listen to luke read me nats stats that i only partly care about (but love hearing him read). this morning is warmer than the last two mornings have been, but it was still cool enough to wrap up in a sheet when waking up and not want to emerge. i am so ready for fall.

i just called our apartment complex emergency number for the second time in an hour to try to get them to turn off the water in our apartment. the first time i called i told them we couldn't turn our shower off and we needed someone to come fix it.

she said "so you can't turn the water off?"
i said "that's correct. the water is running and we cannot turn it off."

the second time i called it went something like this:

"hi, i called about 45 minutes ago about getting the water in our shower to turn off."
"yes, we called the property manager and he said he would take care of it."
"is this mike? (sidenote: i really hate mike...he's a sleazy jerk...)"
"no."
"who is it then?"
"hold on one minute."
new lady: " hello?"
"yes, we cannot get the water in our shower turned off. it's wasting a lot of water."
"oh, you can't turn it OFF? we'll send someone right over."

at this point i am just happy that we are not paying for our utilities. because it's been another 30 minutes and still there is no one knocking on our door...

i was going to write an actual blog here, but right now i'm too aggravated by the shower and the lack of someone fixing it and the fact that i HATE wasting water and i am being forced to right now...

i will let you in on the book list i've started...it's full of books i want to read for the first time and again. i just finished the other boleyn girl. which was amazing...and 100% better than the movie. if you have any books for me to put on my list let me know and i will gladly do it. my goal is a normal sized (300 pages...) book a week. and i want to alternate between fiction and non-fiction...right now i'm reading the slippery year by melanie gideon (i heard about this one on the diane rehm show) and it's pretty good. next is cry, the beloved country (because rachel mentioned it in her blog and i absolutely love it...)

but right now i have to go call mike.

The Free Design

I know, I owe you a picture post and a discussion about the book of Micah that I've been working on for a week.

But right now I've just been listening to this song and watching Luke "dance" and I just want to be like this:

Entitled.

This quote appeared on my gmail page today:

"God help those who do not help themselves."

-Wilson Mizner

I decided that I do not agree with this statement, and here’s why. I think that it implies that we can help ourselves...which I’ve decided I do not agree with for several reasons. The first being that if we believe that some help themselves and others do not, and we (naturally) believe that we are in the former category it automatically places our thoughts above those who do not wish to help themselves.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the situation of poverty lately and I think that poverty is the dependence on others to tell you what you do or do not need. So, for example, if I am walking down the street and I see a community member in need of housing who asks me for money, and I instead offer to take him or her to lunch with me, it is possible that I have just put that person in a situation of poverty.

Sure, they were in need before, but I think they enter poverty when I tell them, no, you do not need money, you need food, and I, being my benevolent self, will therefore decide that you need food and get you some food.

Now, I'm not saying that what I am doing is necessarily wrong. I mean, in all honesty, they do need food...and if they ask me for money to get something to eat and I offer to get them something to eat then it may or may not be the same thing (they may, in fact, be lying to me). But it is taking away that choice that they have when I give them money—in a way it is disempowering them to make a decision.

I also think that there is a theme of entitlement that comes into it as well. On both sides—those who are in immediate need of the basic necessities of life and those who are not.

There are community members who have and those who don't...

Generally, community members who have believe that they are entitled to what they have because they worked hard for it and community members who do not have obviously did not work hard for it, and therefore do not deserve what those who have own.

I've also met community members who do not have who think they are entitled to what those who have own because there is some system in place where they cannot achieve the same level of ownership as those who have acquired (which, in all honesty, is probably true). However, whether this is true or not--the real thing is, I'm not so sure any of us are entitled to anything, whether we worked for it or not. (I know, I know, easy for me to say…I’m unemployed…).

I’m not really sure exactly why I think this yet, but reading the Old Testament and Acts, it seems that, at least those of us who claim Christianity, should be living for the community, not for ourselves. Just think of what it would be like if Jesus acted as entitled as most citizens of the United States who also claim the name of Christianity (myself included). In my opinion, we’d all be in pretty big trouble.

Except here’s the thing: Jesus really was entitled to stay in Heaven, away from us, at the right hand of God...

I don’t really know where all of these thoughts will lead quite yet, but I think it has something to do with being open with everything...but I don't know what that looks like, really...

Some of you may think that I’m aiming at communism.

I don’t really think that’s it. Not communism in general. I think that the Christian community should resemble the basic thoughts of communism, but people aren't perfect (including Christians), and I'm not expecting the community at large to live as a communist society. But I think that if Christians started to live as if all we own belongs to the Lord it would catch on with other Christians, at least. Because it doesn't really work if you have like one family giving everything--when one person gives, there have to be others who will support them.

Though maybe if I just start giving like I am imagining, it would just start happening…

A couple of weeks ago a community member in need of food and housing asked me for some food. All I had in my bag was cookies and a couple of pennies, so I gave him what I had. He asked for more and I got irritated. It's frustrating when a community member in need doesn't accept your charity...but is it upsetting because I couldn't provide for them what they needed or because they didn't accept the charity I wanted to give them?

Because if anything else, it should not be the second.

On a lighthearted note, the next quote that came up was this:

The trouble with a kitten is that when it grows up, it’s always a cat.

-Ogden Nash

Sorry, Anna, but that one I whole-heatedly agree with.

Waiting with laughter...Also, a picture post (July 20-August 2).

We're housesitting for the next several weeks for some members of our church and they have this hanging in the basement:

i used to wait for a sign, she said, before i did anything. then one night i had a dream and an angel in black tights came to me and said, you can start any time now and then i asked is this a sign? and the angel started laughing and i woke up.
now, i think the whole world is filled with signs, but if there's not laughter, i know they're not for me.

There are several situations in my life right now that I feel like I am sitting around waiting on. I'm not necessarily waiting for a sign--more like an email or a phone call or for the bread to rise...(I'm making homemade bread...Kristen will be proud...). I'm waiting for some kind of change to happen. Really, I'm waiting to change myself. But God is reminding me (again...) that I am not in control of this situation. He is. And in the meantime, though I am tempted to try to change myself, I really know that nothing will happen until He is ready.

So I'm trying to learn to enjoy the waiting. To learn patience. And to take it with a dose of laughter.

How lucky I am that I am surrounded by friends and family and a wonderful husband who will make me laugh.

Speaking of, here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks:

July 20, 2009: This is our first "official" crop from the garden that we actually got to eat. (We gave away our first crop of green beans to a neighbor...). We didn't eat any of it until later in the week, though...

July 21, 2009: We met Uncle Dave and Uncle Jim at a delicious restaurant "Fogo de Chao". It's a Brazilian-style meat restaurant and it was amazing. Basically they had the best salad bar ever, they walked around with meat on spits and cut off whatever you wanted onto your plate (like 13 different choices!), plus the side items were pretty amazing as well. It was delicious food and it was really great to see Uncle Dave and Uncle Jim!
July 22, 2009: Apparently next to our grocery store on Wednesday nights there is a farmers market with fresh vegetables, food cooked on the spot and live music. Who knew?
July 23, 2009: I worked at Polaris during the day on Thursday and Friday. After work I went to the dog park while I waited for the bus. I love dog parks! This little guy was my favorite for the day.

July 24, 2009: I know that you all are probably skeptical that we actually have friends because I never have pictures of them. It's just that I usually forget while we're hanging out to take one. Nevertheless, we do have friends, and on Friday night Jordan and Valerie came over for dinner and to watch Citizen Kane. Which was amazing. And reminded us eerily of Michael Jackson...

July 25, 2009: When we got home this little dead guy was waiting for us in the yard outside our apartment. I almost stepped on him. Since I hadn't taken my picture of the day yet, Luke prodded me to take it of him (ew, gross). Luke also wanted it to be Sunday and Monday's picture...Anyways, next to the dead cat is a beer bottle. Luke's theory is that curiosity did not kill the cat--alcohol did...and that, my friends, is my husband in his prime.

July 26, 2009: As previously mentioned, I made apple butter and biscuits for our small group. These are the apples before they were apple butter. It actually turned out really well (and smelled deliciously like fall in the process...). I really like making things in my Crock Pot. A whole lot. I could write a poem...and it would start out like that. It would be a way cheesy poem...

July 27, 2009: Again, I forgot to take a picture of our small group eating the apple butter so this is the end result. I made 30 biscuits to take...there were six left. Success indeed! Also, Luke brought me flowers and our wedding pictures came in the mail. All, of course, had to be included in the photo of the day (according to Luke).

July 28, 2009: We ate our first batch of okra. Fried, of course, like good Southerners. Honestly, before I got married, I never thought I would ever fry okra...I do like the way this picture looks...like little stars of flowers on a cutting board.

July 29, 2009: I left Luke alone for Thursday and Friday so I cooked him dinners to eat while he was alone and made him eggsalad to eat for lunches. I was cooking and chopping all day...but this is the result!
July 30, 2009: This is my wonderful Grandma who was delightfully surprised by all of her children on Thursday night for her 85th birthday party! Isn't she beautiful? And adorable?

July 31, 2009: My sisters and I went to State College (where Penn State is located) to eat with my other grandma on Friday. We drove around the campus after lunch and stopped to take a picture with the beloved Joe Pa.




August 1, 2009: My Pappap arranged bikes for my sisters, Luke and I to ride through the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, which was absolutely gorgeous. It was such a pleasant ride! And also we went to Eder's Ice Cream (6 cones of homemade goodness for less than $10...beat that Cold Stone...). A trip to visit Grandma and Pappap is not complete without Eder's, and we just had to introduce Luke to it's wonderfulness. Christie's face pretty much captures the excitement of us all. I couldn't decide between these two pictures...

August 2, 2009: I know that most of you have not been to Hoss's before, but my grandparents (all around...) love it. I was in Pennsylvania for four days...guess how many times I ate Hoss's amazing soup, salad and dessert bar? You guessed it...four. Good thing I love both salad and soup (and I do...oh so much!). I actually really didn't mind. Their salad bar is pretty delicious.

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Christie got me a Pig plush from Pearls Before Swine as a present. He rode in the back seat on the way home:


Pearls Before Swine always makes me laugh. So here are two for you to end with:

Also, if you want to see more weekend pictures you can click here.