lower manhattan

battery park today
to see the statue of liberty &
be grateful for the provisions for
the ‘huddled masses yearning to breathe free’

[our subway stop, federal hall & the stock exchange]

[love that subway design]

[see the statue in the background?]

[clever advertisement for the new tiffany's next to the stock exhange]

ps – i popped into daffy’s for a moment
while cory & the kids were savoring some ice cream.
i saw possibly the most beautiful italian little girl’s
dresses i’ve ever laid eyes on.
il baule di elianne is the label.
oh, my. the fabric. the detail. the design.
if only i could find one on ebay…

weekend movie review

‘ratatouille‘ – 5 thumbs way up

betsy’s may be up only because of the m&m’s
we had at the movie theatre
and
caroline’s may be up mostly because she got
to ride the escalator up and down & up and down
but
nathan, henry & i thought it was very clever

‘a mighty heart’ – see it or read the book; they’re
nearly  identical.
she’s a strong woman. such a tragedy.
and i think angelina pulled it off impressively;
her beauty blends into the character
but doesn’t overwhelm the screen.

cory & i are going out tonight,
so maybe we’ll add a 3rd movie to the list.

ps – lisa’s in hawaii

sum-sum-summertime

yesterday was nathan’s last day of school.

the celebrating began today with a
walk down broadway,
apples & cider at the green market,
sauntering around the fountains at columbus circle,
straight into the heart of times square.
bingo.
consumerism-mecca,
t o y s
r
u s

four children + the crush of times square + a massive toy store =
a cheerful, squabble-free outing

(the sweaty walk took a bit out of them, eh?)

9 wks of summertime glory to enjoy
before school begins.




after you, into the sprinkler;
uncle jacob comes for a visit

this baby wears them o u t

happy birthday, abby! the party was in strawberry fields.
betsy swipes a drink.

party envy

sometimes as i’m working on citywrites
projects i develop a case of
party
envy.

parties in the hamptons,
an anniversary gala in a mountain house,
a wedding in a castle in australia,
or the 16th birthday party on a
rooftop garden in the village with a
band i’ve actually heard of.

the other night as i was writing this menu card
37 times (oye!), i got hungry.

“bibb lettuce with tomato and avocado,
proscuitto with green goddess dressing

chicken saltimbocca with lemon sauce
portobello mushroom lasagne
roasted asparagus

lemon chantilly cake
double chocolate cake”

those are for a surprise birthday in california
this weekend; she’s going to be one happy
birthday girl. vera wang paper (luscious),
unexpectedly surrounded by her family & friends, whew.

to keep me awake & focused,
cory was reading aloud to me.
first from utterance of the heart where
he was reading in an affected tone–i cannot
laugh or my handwriting goes wacko–and
intentionally butchering the greek words. nice.
so he switched to life together where he
was half reading, half commenting.
like to have drove me nutso, that boy.
with friends like that.

cookie mag’s list of favorite sites
whole foods gets it right

nathan came home with this
tucked in his pocket today:

“6-15-07
Dear Exxon mobil,

Is it true on march 24, 1989,
the Exxon Valdez crashed and
spilled if so in the future I myself
and all things that swim in the sea
ask you to make your tanks stronger.

from
Nathan Cates
8 years old
2nd grade”

shiny happy voices

the cates’ boys are on a road trip.

first stop, the staten island yankees game last night.
then on to the hinzman’s beautiful house in
newport, rhode island.
a quick sleep & then off to pick up uncle jacob
and
hit
the
beach
n&h were practically screaming in the phone:
boogieboards!sandcastles!bowling!’kj’s cafe’!

a swell adventure, indeed.

thanks for the splendid loan of your minivan, simmons’.
a dvd player? automatic sliding doors on both sides of the back?
things have come a long way since our blue volvo station wagon.

[clever reversible doormat]

[i'm thinking these might change my kids' lives]

could have been worse

big c on the mic – the original ‘big dr’, thank you very much …

a couple of notes – first it could have been worse, they could have done an endoscopic procedure, had trouble and inserted a tube that stuck out my nose for a couple of months in an attempt to flush the drain tubes, then those could have failed and then I would have needed the same surgery anyway – the mental picture of having a tube hanging out of my nose which required a syringe of fluid to be pumped down it every few hours is not attractive.

second – i guess this is not as big a surprise for me since i’ve been wrestling with the idea of requiring an invasive surgery for two months now – in some ways it is a relief because the thing i dreaded more than a surgery was an uncertain course of care which dragged out over month after month with no clear direction in site. i actually prefer that the doctors seem confident that i need surgery (even if it will knock me down a bit harder) rather than a lot of confusion and hypothetical scenarios and more trips to drink the nasty ‘berry smoothy’ flavored ct scan contrast.

over the last few months a theme has evolved for me through several scriptures – while in the hospital tim read psalm 37:4-7 to me which says we can trust in the Lord and he will act, but we need to be still and wait patiently for Him. After I got out of the hospital charlie read Isaiah 64:1-4 to me which ends with “no eye has seen a God besides you who acts for those who wait for him.” These timely words were a refrain of the end of my favorite Psalm (27) where it says, “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.” I always appreciated the repetition as if I was too slow to understand the first time (or more likely too proud to understand the first time)

The theme seems clear: we can trust with full confidence that God will act to restore health and justice but have to give up our demand for instant gratification or even scheduled gratification. I doubt you are getting the lesson to the same degree I have been recently – but I have utter confidence that the Lord will take action to make things right, and at the same time that I absolutely don’t deserve to dictate a timetable on his gracious actions.

I would be grateful if he could spare me the tube out of the nose thing – Amen

big surgery
big scar

those are the main words i remember
from cory’s call to me a bit ago.

the big doctor called to let him know
that it’s kind of a worst case scenario.
the pseudocyst is full of debris.
(aka toothpaste)
bypass endoscopy-anything &
go for the gold.
(remove pseudocyst & gall bladder
in one fell swoop)
he said to expect 6 days in the hospital
and 3-4 weeks at home.

we’ll claim henry’s verse from ps 138,
‘though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life…
with your right hand,
you save me.’

please

please join us in praying specifically:

cory’s case will be presented at the
doctor’s symposium tomorrow morning
@ columbia pres.

please pray for supernatural wisdom,
for the doctors involved to have the
energy & clarity to think this through
from every possible angle
and
to come up with a comprehensive plan.

we’re also praying that they will
communicate with us in a timely manner.

thank you, friends.
love,
c & kj

“to him who is able to do immeasurably
more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us,
to him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations,
for ever and ever, amen.”
ephesians 3:20-21

tidbits

no news on the cjc front
besides that he’s sitting next
to me listening to the yankees
on his trusty new am/fm radio
the kids gave him for his birthday.
(specifically so he can listen to the
game while he’s swinging his club
in the backyard after dark)

happy birthday, jennifer t!
texas sushi, mmmm.
do they serve it with bbq sauce?

information you never need to know:
what’s on the inside of my cupboard door

(clockwise from lower left)
-phone list
-isaiah 26:4,
trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord,
is the rock eternal.
-drink umbrellas for an instant party
you never know
-my nypl receipt in case i find the book
i just paid for (they’ll refund me)
-mrs. fliermans’ beautiful card where
she handwrote the lyrics to
‘how firm a foundation’ on the back;
i think i’ll save it forever.
esp. where she underlined,
‘he’ll never, no never, no never forsake’
amen.
-a beloved snapshot of a special memory:
tuck & stacy’s farewell brunch with the
fg staff. boy oh boy do i love that group of people.
-library hours, riverside branch

another night, another brotherly snuggle position

and now for the best ending to a great day:
tonight is the night i get to finish the hiding place.
it’s one of those precious books i like
to reread every handful of years. and lucky
me this is the year. that betsie! that corrie!
how they love the Lord Jesus.
happy reading & goodnight.

end of the season

coach cory hands out trophies
and hugs his favorite player

of baseball & yachting

thanks to the daichendt’s, we all have stylin’ eye wear.
henry: this is where i jumped my scooter off the ledge.
(and managed to land it)

as we were reading psalm 138 this morning, nathan hollered,
“this one’s for henry!” and then read v7,
‘though i walk in the midst of trouble,
You preserve my life.’

honestly, we were aiming for the zoo but
so many of the pathways are under construction
that we popped out of central park at 59/5th
and, well hey, we were obliged to spend a
happy hour in fao schwarz. caroline knows there’s
no substitute for good equipment.

our favorite scot, morven, sent us
ewan mcgregor & charlie boorman’s video,
‘long way round’ for cory’s birthday.

the dvd chronicles the two of them taking
bmw motorbikes from london to new york,
the long way. hello, siberia? the road of bones?
20 million people died building that road &
most of it doesn’t exist any longer.
scottish boys are c r a z y.

we cracked up as they’re meeting with
russian officials and explaining their idea
for the trip to them and the woman interrupts
them and lays it out plain.
“siberia? that’s where they sent people as a
punishment. they did not expect those people
to come back. it’s barren. you can’t go there.”
she was too gracious to call them idiots.

we absolutely felt like we had an adventure
right along with these guys. in fact, at the
end of the last segment, we started chatting
about what kind of adventure we’d like to plan.
(not that our adventure would bear any resemblance
to this one)

it aired as 10 television episodes on the bbc
and now they’re planning a second trip from
scotland to cape town, south africa.
you’re welcome to borrow the dvds.

and their accents made us miss miss miss you, dear morv.
hurry on over.

did you love that sermon today?
tim’s phrase about taking
‘His people out of slavery
but then needing to take the
slavery out of the people’
is running around in my head this evening.

weekend equation

playing with ethan + jane,
listening to the yankees game in the back yard,
dinner @ gigi cafe,
ice cream in the park,
the bouncer in the living room
+
the great escape for family movie night tonight
=
a grand & ordinary saturday

we enjoyed ourselves SO much
in the garden last night with
cayley, jordan, jen, tim, kara, james,
wendy, jason + baby madeleine.
it feels like the simmons never left.
‘drunken goat’ & yummy tidbits (wendy),
mesclun with edible flowers (kara),
salmon + pork loin on the grill (jen).
and jen used soy vay in the salmon marinade;
wow. and the name makes me grin.
hot apple pie with whipped cream (cayley)
a feast in every way.
christian community makes me breathe.

nathan had his first notable heartache today.
he and cory found a baby bird in the backyard
that had apparently fallen out of its nest.
only the teensiest bit of fur and her eyes weren’t
open. the bird’s tiny squeak squeak squeak squeak
& the sight of its little body (2.5 in long, maybe)
and still-developing wings broke his heart.
he cried and cried.
we prayed that the baby’s mother
would come and find her.
cory googled what to do to help (to touch it, not to touch it)
and then decided to pick it up and put it back in its nest.
nathan couldn’t watch it (he was afraid cory would drop it)
and when she was safely back in her nest,
nathan ran and hugged cory so tightly repeating,
“thank you, daddy; thank you, daddy”.
who do you think was crying then.

no mri results.
cory consults with yet another dr on
tuesday @ new york presbyterian.

brainiacs

nothing says 60 degrees +
cory’s in pain today
like a good
family
waterfight

ps – nathan just learned of the exxon valdez accident
today (1989 feels like yesterday) and has already begun
composing his letter to the ‘oil company’ & the EPA
(he likes what they do) re: ‘building tankers with thicker walls’.

pps – i like #27, right to the point
found grocery lists

pps – happy ideas for children’s rooms
from design*sponge

ppps – lovely prints from grace & go.
but i don’t think they’re in the us yet, right?

awkward

i’m comforted by the rather
awkward nature of the gospel;
always moving toward
not away from,
pursuing and wooing
even when being shunned
and avoided.
the relentless love of a
sovereign God.

‘keep me ever mindful of my
natural state
but let me not forget my
heavenly title
or the grace that can deal
with every sin.’
valley of vision

we’ve discovered something about our
very own jim holmberg: lgb train aficionado
and how about that orient climber

no MRI results today.

our third attempt at solving the
betsy-toothbrush fiasco:
hanging them out of her reach

tracy t is in the house; an afternoon snuggle while
watching superfriends

no news is…

or at least we have to wait a bit
longer for the MRI results.

rachel, patricia & i went to the view yesterday
(e.h. goes to our church & the show tapes about 4 blocks from our house)
see p dancin’? 2nd from right

moon sand with elena & jandro

carrie checks out elena’s remote controlled
(are you ready for this?) tarantula
wonderfully creepy

you say it’s your birthday

happy 33rd, babe;
i remember your 18th.

we hope to hear from the dr’s
today regarding the mri yesterday.
nothing says birthday like a good
diagnosis.

thanks to the box of bday goodies bebe
sent from texas, it’s a downright
birthday fiesta in here.
crowd favorite: a ‘belly milagro‘
with her note saying ” ‘gall bladders’ were sold out.”

after little league yesterday,
cory took nathan, henry & caroline
out separately in a double kayak
on the hudson river.
nathan’s smile was positively massive;
henry was all about the paddling;
and c was just along for a sweet ride
with her daddy.
(71st st/ hudson river, free kayaking
now thru october, sat & sundays)

thanks to megan, jules & katie for coming early
to help me get the kiddos to church while cory
was at the mri appt.
4:4, a wise ratio (esp when 2:8 are on scooters)

kathy k called last night with a good lead on
another gall bladder surgeon in the area.
she asked her doctor who the ‘best gall
bladder doctor in the universe’ was, in his opinion,
and he named someone local, offered his phone
number & said he’d email the doctor himself
after k described c’s situation to him in detail.
what a gift this community is, in countless ways.

happy birthday, cjc

birthday morning bible reading, isaiah 64

the simmons’ apt affords quite a view of
the huge construction site on 72/broadway;
annie, luke, eli, henry & caroline

MRI today

cory’s MRI is today at 3pm (sunday afternoon)
we’re thankful they squeezed him in
so quickly; cheers to the admin staff at columbia.

guess who had a total blast at harry’s pirate party?

pastor’s & elder’s wives brunch

tgif

whew, date night tonight
(you know those dates where
you try to run a few errands
on the way to the restaurant
without him noticing?
it’s not shopping, it’s a date, really)

cory’s MRI will be sunday at 3pm
(that’s right, sunday)

last day of co-op preschool
& music with miss suzie
we look forward to friday all week

caroline, jane, abby, mitch, hank & daniel (we need ben!)

you know when those lyrics just go
round and round in your head…
in christ alone
(thanks to the cd the tompkins sent)

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

ps – can you see how he painted the huge
design on the walls? i happen to love it.

animal house

the ol’ one two:
one, playing crazy with the couch cushions at 7:40am
two, listening to dad read the bible at 7:51am

meeting of the minds: ethan, luke, henry & harry
lunch of champions: cash, hank, luke, annie, c, h & b
(the simmons moved b a c k, three cheers)

today’s saunter to the central park zoo

nathan’s new spy watch from grammy & papa
(thank you) has a ‘telescope’ feature, very handy

*the very coolest thing
after watching them feed the sea lions
(betsy was screaming with excitement)
we were there just in time to see them feed
the fruit bats. they cut a cantaloupe in
half, hooked each half to the ’s’ hook of a
bungee cord & hung the bungee from the
ceiling. the entire flock (a flock of bats?)
was going n u t s and flying like crazy and
a lucky few of them actually landed on
the melon. it was pretty exciting.

nathan tested two of our friends’
math skills (mad math minute) tonight.
they both passed with flying colors,
thus the huge red star (from professor nathan)

for ten bonus points: who are the brilliant girls below?

cory-schmory

i’ve added a category,
‘cory-schmory’
where i will file all of his
updates.

you can just click that
category and  save yourself
from my
ridiculously ordinary &
utterly banal musings and
cut straight to the
Important Part

love,
kj

overheard

as lisa was reading toot & puddles
to the kids this afternoon
‘wait, wait–
someone drooled on the page!’

coach cory leads the cheer
(c & n facing us, left-center,
you can just see a smidge of cory’s face/hat)

how many shoes are we
going to lose in the hudson?
henry was only slightly upset
that he had to wear his sister’s
hot pink flip flop home.

’some sweet day’

‘…and please heal daddy.’
the children prayed one after the other
over breakfast this morning
and i was crying quietly in my oatmeal;
thankful for their tenderness,
my heart agreeing with their requests.

the prayers of children
before an eternal Father.

and our hymn was ‘victory in jesus’
so it sounded like an old fashioned
hoedown in here as we belted out,

‘i heard an old, old story
how a Savior came from glory
how he gave his life on Calvary
to save a wretch like me;
i heard about his groaning
of his precious blood’s atoning
then i repented of my sins
and won the victory.

O victory in Jesus
my Savior forever
he sought me and he bought me
with his redeeming blood…’

and the end of v3:
‘…about the angels singing
and the old redemption story
and some sweet day i’ll sing up there
the song of victory’

crying in my oatmeal.
the day is off to a fine start.

A guy walks into a doctor’s office…

So I spent a few hours this afternoon consulting with some new doctors
(after waiting for over an hour – doh).

Here are a few things I learned:

I’ll spare you the many drawings of my insides
(the first dr liked to draw while he spoke,
he went through three pieces of paper and
most of them were his interpretation of
possible pseudocyst scenarios -
this would have the consistency of toothpaste,
draining this one would be like putting a straw in whipped cream, etc)

It is highly likely that the pseudocyst will not go away
on it’s own and will require intervention at some point -
so part of the reason for getting it taken care of is to
avoid the need for two separate surgical procedures
when one would suffice. This seems to be a stronger
factor in the decision making than any technical
obstacles of having the pseudocyst in the way
of the gall bladder surgery.

An additional concern is that the part of my pancreas
which suffered the most damage was the body of the organ.
There was some portion at the tail which was still functioning -
but the enzymes it produces need to go out the duct
which runs through the rest of the pancreas.
It is possible that the duct is blocked in the body
and the tail is isolated and does not have a place to drain.
This would mean even if a psedocyst was drained the tail
could be a source and cause it to fill up again.

The bottom line is we will schedule an MRI / MRCP
(always easy to ask for another noninvasive diagnostic
rather than chance making a sub-optimal call).
Maybe I’ll see if I can sneak in one of those magnet
bracelets and see how far it flies when they fire
up the superconducting magnets.

mr. and mrs. justin cassity

they’re MARRIED
oh my
oh my!

2pm today
all angels episcopal church, 80th/broadway
(where we meet for mother’s group)
& walking to the reception @ cilantro, 83/columbus

cory, groomsman
caroline, flower girl
david bisgrove officiated, so encouraging, candid, godly
melissa, thank you for babysitting betsy
anita + that dress + married to our justin = breathtaking

we sang:
what wondrous love is this, o my soul, o my soul
what wondrous love is this
what wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of Bliss
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul

to God and to the Lamb, i’ll sing on, i’ll sing on
to God and to the Lamb, i’ll sing on
to God and to the Lamb who is the great ‘I Am’
while millions join the theme i will sing, i will sing
while millions join the theme i will sing

and when from death i’m free, i’ll sing on, i’ll sing on
and when from death i’m free, i’ll sing on
and when from death i’m free i’ll sing and joyful be
and through eternity i’ll sing on, i’ll sing on
and through eternity i’ll sing on

caroline’s favorite part:
‘the clapping at the end &
the no talking in church & dropping the flowers.
we can do that again tomorrow, right, daddy?’
no, sweetie, weddings are special things was his reply…
they certainly are, babe. and i’m so glad i married you, cjc.

come on over, george

henry & i agreed that geo. washington
would’ve been a prime nyc visitor
after reading this earlier today:

“Q. Where did visitors sleep?

A. Visitors slept anywhere there was room for them.
Many houses had beds in the hall, beds in the
dining room, and beds in the parlor. In those
days, people weren’t fussy about where they slept.”

If you grew up with George Washington
by, Ruth Belov Gross, pp. 22

summer prayers

for jennifer t & stacy b
leading women’s bible studies
in texas & in philly
this summer
(30-40 women total)

i’m posting this inside
my bathroom mirror
(don’t be offended,
it’s a good place for prayer)

ps – i’ve never seen this one before:
it’s a fitted sheet with a sewn-in
vest that you zip your baby into.
zewi bebe-jou

photo from swissmiss

sorbet soiree to say ‘aloha’

melikelikimaka to our dear lisa,
(well, that’s the only hawaiian i know)
nathan asked if we’ll have to ‘learn hawaiian’
to send her emails. perhaps.

note: pear sorbet won ‘crowd favorite’
hands down. fairway brand.
passion fruit was a close second

karis & erenei, jonathan on wheels

welcome, katelyn!
two boys and now a
sweet baby girl
for chris & melanie
(melanie was one of my
bridesmaids & they now
live in sunny arizona)