pin-drop quiet

it’s uncannily quiet
in apt 1 tonight.

the boys are at a cub scouts
banquet
with cory.

the girls are asleep.

emily is seeing the other boleyn girl.

the house is tidy &
the candles are lit.

and i’m practicing my penmanship,
for fun.
(i basically finished all of my paperwork
during the girls nap time,
so besides reading the last dregs
of the new yorker,
i’m painting letters
on big sheets of white paper.)

i’m using my old calligraphy set from
when i studied in japan one summer,
so it’s a proper
brush + ink
situation.

wish you were here?
i bet not.

but i’m enjoying it.

ps – cory could use a few of these lessons.
the boys are about to surpass him
in the legible-handwriting arena.

pps – google ‘job wouters’
for additional handwriting inspiration.

a sunny thursday afternoon

i’m impressed that julia
was able to get the pie finished,
what with all the ‘help’
she had.

and i have to give a shout out to our
fellowship group;
what an eager, humble group you guys are.

we looked at john 18 last night,
jesus before pilate.
christ’s response to power.

tim’s sermon on this passage
from last sunday.

taking chris for a spin

‘i promise we’ll go slower this time’
caroline implores
as betsy recovers from
a nasty ring-around-the-rosy spill;
still hesitant,
but ultimately game.

ps – i spy with my little eye:
can you spot our newest living room addition?
rock on, ork design.
(and the nice owner of art care
on 72nd st who matted it for me)

pps – ‘dodgy tasting london meat pie‘
just rolls right off the tongue, j.
you’re killing me with this one.

and don’t worry,
they’ll grow back faster than you think.
but you can hold the story over morven’s
head for much longer.

ppps – remember the green and white stripe shirts
the girls had on yesterday?
betsy decided to store
her chewing gum
in the front pocket of her shirt.
which i didn’t notice until
pulling it out of the dryer
this morning.

tips on hot-gum-removal?

read alouds

jenny asked what we’re reading aloud
to the girls (c – 3 yrs, b – 2 yrs)
right now we’re in
-winnie the pooh, by, a.a.milne

next on the list:
-the trumpet of the swan, by e.b. white
-charlotte’s web, e.b. white
-pippi longstocking
-little house on the prairie (probably the first two and
then resume those later)
-homer price (it cracks me up)

we read narnia to the boys’ early on,
so caroline’s heard
bits and pieces,
but we’ll save those for
a little later.

your favorites for this age?

the boys are at the end of tom sawyer
and i think c’s starting
‘the railway children‘ (e. nesbit)
with them next.

cory is finishing tim’s book
and
i’m just getting my weekly
new yorker fix.

stripey crew

people in stripes
make me
happy.

my children in stripes
makes me
way too happy.

uber-happy.

but sometimes i go a
teeny
bit
too
far,
perhaps.

(big surprise? i think not.)

post mom’s group lunch @ gray’s papaya;
we are polite new yorkers.

minus the bucket of whitewash

i might have pulled a tom sawyer
on emily & meghan today.

somehow i persuaded them to
‘race’
to see who could assemble
our new lamps*
the fastest.

and they went for it.

thanks, ladies.

believe it or not,
these lamps start out
in these tiny, flat packages;
even the cord is in there.

voila!
superimpressive.

a peaceful evening
was had by all.
(even the screaming was happysquealing
which i think still qualifies as ‘peaceful’)

ps – remind me to tell you about
the slow-speed car chase
we were driving beside on our way
back from ikea today.
no white bronco, but a similar feel.
(1 badguy car + 9 policecars in full ‘police-mode’)

*i finally wised-up.
i realized that
6 permanent residents + this apartment =
we just destroy floor lamps.
we (accidentally) bang them
and knock them and
we just can’t coexist peacefully with them.

so we’re eliminating all but one of our
floor lamps and hanging these babies instead.

(in our bedroom, over the yellow couch &
over the blue couch downstairs)

i hope it works out as well
as i think it is going to.
we’ll see.

monday afternoon

q. what comedian did i have a
random moment with today?

have you already seen this?
the brand new kate spade store.
20th + 5th
adorable, of course.

credit suisse in the sunlight;
hi, cor

check out emily’s sassy new haircut.
i can’t believe it’s been a year since
her last spring break.
we sure do love having her here.

a. tracy morgan

i can’t exactly explain how i was
walking down our street
and then stopped when the
guys in front of me
started talking to a guy in this car
and then i realized
i had stopped walking
(they were in front
of me taking up most of the sidewalk)
and i was staring at this smiling face
when all of a sudden he
looked at me and said ‘hey!’ and
i said ‘hey!’ back
and then i just
blurted out the obvious,
‘we love 30Rock. you are hilarious.’
and he said
‘yeah, i love it, too.’

cheers to the 30Rock funnyman.
on my street
in his shiny silver jag
with loudloud speakers
and his big smile.

he caught me off guard.
in a good way.

good vibrations

2:44pm

now, before you see the photos
and then make well-meaning
comments about
‘oh, don’t worry, you’ll get it done’

i should tell you
that i consider this done.

for today.

thanks for sending the
good vibrations my way,
they’ve kept the swat team at bay,

for today.

with all of henry’s project-making,
the hall closet had positively exploded.
the linens had fallen down and been
restuffed on the top shelf countless times.
they’re breathing easier tonight.

former public enemy #1:
the closet that the six of us share
(hey, you can see the floor now!
cheers)

hey, it wouldn’t feel like ‘home’
without a little pile of stuff
on the counter next to the stove.

i really should’ve taken a
before
picture.

off to get the boys.

explosion alert

did somebody phone the swat team?
because after having 6+ humans in
this apartment for a loooong time
(read: the boys have been on winter break)
this apartment is
Code
Red.

so cory has taken the girls to
his preschool at work
and
i am getting a
fire hose.

top to bottom.
wall to wall.
load after load after load
in the various washers.
take no prisoners.

i dropped the boys off at school
(a little too cheerfully?)
at 8:30am and
i have until 2:50pm
to work a
miracle.

wish me luck.

(and if you don’t hear from me,
phone me in as a missing person
and give my apt as the address.
i’ve
fallen
in.)

ps – barb, a million thanks for
your help & cheer this week.
we made it, thanks to you.

oh, no, we didn’t

oh, yes, we did

we were having a little
house dance party
and we needed some
New
Moves

so, of course,
i youtubed
justin
timberlake
to pick up some
new moves
for nathan, specifically.
(he really is our best dancer,
though betsy can catch a groove)

all four of them would watch
the screen
and then we’d
imitate what we saw.

luckily the bass was so heavy
we couldn’t make out the lyrics,
which is for the best, surely.

indoctrinating emily, jules & greg

c & g, i’ll get you copies
of this photo for your
modeling portfolios.
nice.

backyard bombers

them’s fightin’ words
on our answering machine=
‘cates,
it’s the kramers.

we launch in 30 seconds.
click.’

these have your names on them, kramers

it’s a family affair;
i took a few good hits,
but i won’t give dk the
pleasure of knowing that.

ps – they’re still out there going at it;
we think their yard is going to run out
of good snow before ours will, though.
that’s our long-term strategy.

pps – evidently we were schooling them
because they had to call in the
easterlings as reinforcements.

matt + kirsten sitting in a tree

congrats, you two.

just one month from now….
mr. and mrs. rose

ps - cory pointed out the obvious,
that i didn’t manage to get a close up
of kirsten. who can send me one?

high comedy

albeit unintentionally.

last night, c and i went to see vantage point.

they had the movie’s premier at this actual
theatre just a night or two ago;
we walked on the actual red carpet as we
were exiting gracious home since they set up
the tent hours ahead of time in preparation.

remembering my faux red-carpet moment,
i suggested the movie to cory.
i take full responsibility.

you see, the movie is a series of flashbacks;
widening the lens so you can figure out
what actually happened.

when the second flashback started,
there was audible chuckling in the audience.

third flashback, more chuckling.

as it progressed,
the audience was guffawing.

(and i’m thinking,
didn’t they use a test audience?
didn’t they see this coming?)

my personal favorite scene:
the high-speed chase between
dennis quaid and matthew fox
in what appear to be
geo metros.

i mean, nothing says
‘sexy high-speed chase‘ like
a geo metro.
(‘fuel efficiency’ perhaps,
‘movie-star-intense racing‘, not so much.)

at the intended climax of the movie,
a large part of the audience broke out
in mocking applause.
loud applause.

and when dq says his ‘dramatic’ final line,
we were engulfed in the hilarity of it all.

too bad about the wasted $23.50.
but we did get to cuddle up and
have a good laugh together.

downhill

barb gave karen and i the nicest gift today:
she took these four sledding.
for two hours!
while we snuggled up with
the little girls and cups of tea.
bless you, barb


grandma’s post-sledding recovery:
a power nap, er, reading time

ps – booktrust names top 20 children’s books
and top books for boys.
why have i never heard of enid blyton?

maybe c and i will swing by b&n on our
date tonight and snag a few titles for nathan,
our bookivore (bibliophile?).
pps – stuck inside on a snowy evening?
let’s learn to draw some dinosaurs.

frosty

hands down,
the best part is that it’s
still
snowing.

sound track:
everyone is yelling back and forth
with the adam + eli in the yard
behind us
(betsy: eeewwiiii! eeeeewwiiiii!)

thanks to p’s mom for this sweet
polar bear puppet

getting warmed up for
the next round

the first supper

last night was our first time to host
lucy anderson
for dinner.

and what a stellar little guest she was,
making splendid eye contact
and then dozing for the
rest of the evening.
(she doesn’t know what she was missing;
the salmon was quite tasty)

lovely to have paula’s mom & sister, as well,
from hong kong & england respectively;
i hope my girls have even half of the
sisterly affection that p & n have;
two of the most clever, delightful women around.

and thanks to cs for the carnegie hall tix
that cory’s mom enjoyed.
bobby mcferrin guest conducted;
sounded like a happy affair.

henry is a reading machine.
and we can’t get enough of it.
napping house by don & audrey wood

daniel & betsy’s favorite spot
1. light switch to the closet
2. thermostat
3. light switch to the boy’s room

press on

how significant these words are
to me today,
esp as we finish out the boys’
school vacation:
‘press on’

they came in an email from
around the world this morning
and
they’ve settled in my heart,
a benediction,
an exhortation.

“may the God of peace,
who through the blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead
our Lord Jesus,
that great Shepherd of the sheep,
equip you with every good thing
for doing his will,
and may he work in us
what is pleasing to him,
through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory for ever and ever.
amen.”
hebrews 13:20-21

press on, indeed.

ps – celebrity sighting:
grandma barb (cates) is in the house

youthful sherpas

after schlepping to 34th st to
take cory’s watch to the tissot shop,
the boys then cheerfully carried
his dry cleaning home.

they sure do love you, cjc.

ps – don’t miss the eclipse tonight.
ideal time btwn 10 and 10:50pm EST.

pre-eclipse read-up
(aka. explaining it to henry)

just a small crescent left
(not that my photo accurately
depicts what we saw,
but imagine with me)

a romantic eclipse-moment

you see what you want to see

henry, exiting the shower, excitedly:
mom, did you know that our
shampoo makes you not p**p for,
like, 100 weeks?

?

i hate to burst his bubble,
but the shampoo we use
(and morv, and lisa,
and chris w, and paula,
and about 1000 others of you)
is made by the curly girl salon,
devachan, and it’s called
‘no poo shampoo’
as in,
no chemicals
or anything ‘bad’ for your hair.

but henry’s interpretation is
much more scandalous.
you know i love it.

of boulders & sweets

a crisp february morning
in central park;
the boys are out of school this week.

betsy prefers to climb in
her black patent leather
dress shoes, a fancy touch.

guess who just moved into the neighborhood?

oh, yeah, baby

ps – thanks, jeff, for forwarding this;
i love me some tim & kathy.
tim’s take on the newsweek article

the ocean state

what a holiday we’ve had.

we Love our annual president’s day wknd trip
to the hinzman’s house in newport, rhode island;
you can see the ovean from their front porch
and cliffwalk is a stone’s throw away.

the salt air,
the beautiful architecture,
extended time with good friends,
mmmmm.

the hilights:
-enjoying scott, sara & harry
-henry’s polar bear club-like dip in the water
(shoes, socks, jeans and all;
evidently his enthusiasm got the better of him
and he just plunged in,
to our surprise & amusement)
-scott’s shrimp risotto
-holding hermit crabs, sand crabs, sea urchins,
starfish and spider crabs at the save the bay center
(narragansett bay)
-scott, cory and i got thru the better part of
tim’s book and enjoyed ourselves
hashing it out.
i can already tell i’m going to
wear my hardback copy out.

thank you, thank you, hinzman fam

taunting the girls by
riding on the back + front
of the hummer

cory’s sunny reading spot

proud of her swag;
caroline’s new shoes,
ring, bracelets + earrings

sunset at the beach

cjc + eac (b)

cory looked like a pro cooking
the usual sunday morning fare
on their garland

sunrise crab hunt

shetland ponies

gutsy gospel

yesterday morning at the breakfast table,
the topic came up about how we’re
to ‘wrestle’ with the scripture:
(henry was all ears & really took to this idea)
to think about it,
to pray it,
to meditate on it,
to ask Christ to reveal it to us,
to memorize it
until it
bursts
open
in our hearts.

last night at some point,
nathan was talking about
how he has been learning that
actually experiencing Christ
in our heart
is different from
simply believing in him.

i am grateful
that our family,
adults and children,
are sitting under a pastor &
spiritual leadership
that aren’t afraid to tell us the truth
and
that they have so saturated us
with the gutsy message
of the gospel
that it comes out in our
casual conversations.

(recently, specifically:
about suffering,
about spiritual dryness,
about God’s silence.)

the massive redemptive work of God
is present in the mundane
of family life
and i
don’t
take
that
for granted.

whew.

tim’s book just came out,
the reason for God
+
tim is in
newsweek this week*

*it’s not necessarily an interesting article
in my opinion,
but i actually did laugh
out loud a few times.

she got this right:
“This is the Rev. Tim Keller,
a Manhattan institution,
one of those open urban secrets,
like your favorite dim sum place,
with a following so ardent and
so fast-growing that he has
never thought to advertise.”

(though i thought she would have been more
correct to introduce him as
the ‘rev. dr. timothy keller’,
but hey.)

and i liked:
“Keller is a pastor for people who
like their Christianity straight up.”

i didn’t really care for the way she
said the ‘callow junior minister’.

unfortunately, this article almost made
it sound like the goal is to replicate a
‘rick warren’-style ‘megachurch’
which isn’t redeemer’s vision,
as i understand it.

anyway.

(remember the times article
from awhile ago?
i thought they portrayed
him/rpc more accurately +
i liked the groovy slideshow photos.)

waiting

as we anxiously await our Beloved’s return,
we’ve posted this on the front door:

and i’m rereading what jen shared
with us at mom’s grp lunch today
from turansky/miller (they are genius):
anger confuses correction

and (random) here’s what i used to lead
worship the past three times
@ the big mom’s group on wednesdays:
worship 1
worship 2
worship 3

our roommie

cjl,
you cheerful friend, you.
thank you for keeping me
company this week +
singlehandedly
keeping the boogeyman at bay,
as well as helping maintain
the high level of humor
necessary in a home with
four young children.
whew! we made it.

we
love
you
like crazy,
kj & crew

thisisdedicatedtotheoneilove

cj +
kj =
xoxo

do you remember the first
love note you ever wrote me?
who knew my big baseball playing
brainiac boyfriend was a
romantic at heart.

oh, wait,
i have to tell them this one story.

for many of our initial dates,
we doubled with his good friend, m
and my good friend, t.

for our second date
(we were 17),
the boys rented cyrano de bergerac
for us all to watch together and
then they wanted to serve
us something ‘french’ (per the movie),
something classy, so…

they served us chocolate eclairs
on iceberg lettuce
on a silver tray.

iceberg lettuce?!
classy.
very classy*.

+ +

happy valentines day, babe.

from this side of the pond
to that side

ps, and i repeat, PS -
do notnotnot
miss your plane tonight.

*classy enough to win my heart, love.
good job.

be our valentine

we take valentine-making seriously
’round these parts

“we love you, carrie!
have a good night.
you are good.”
(from henry)

ps – henry wants to have a
‘valentine’s day store’
where we ‘give away’
1. valentine’s cupcakes,
2. brownies
and (get this)
3. cornbread
out in front of our house
tomorrow afternoon

(think: lemonade stand
minus the sunshine and warmth)

?
i’m thinking not so much.

brainwashed siblings

nathan floated a theory in
our household that has now become
Truth.
apparently.

the issue:
when the dvd skips in the player

n’s solution:
clapping your hands
in front of the player
fixes it.

cory and i roll our eyes and
smirk at eachother whenever
we see someone standing
in front of the dvd player
heartily applauding
and awaiting The Magic.

this weekend,
the sound stopped working
on the dvd player.

so the children enthusiastically applied
Nathan’s Method,
clapping and clapping.

cory and i were chuckling out loud
and
shaking our heads,
how juvenile,
how silly!

and all of a sudden,
the sound started.

shaking his head slowly in admiration,
henry deadpanned,
‘nathan’s a genius.‘

The
Magic
Lives
On.

happy 100th day of school, toothygrin

slow-motion soldiering
(mom,takeapicture!takeapicture!)
with daniel & harry

whiteout

what fantastic snow today;
the kids couldn’t get enough of it.

playing outside with adam & eli,
the boys’ snowball fight with julia
(+ post-snowball hot chocolate
at the cafe)
followed by in-the-dark
romping in the snowy sleet
in the backyard
(and trading snowballs
and happytaunts with a+e
who just so happen to live behind
our back fence)

uber-happy smiles on
faces all around tonight.

and all four of them
collapsed into their
respective beds,
instantly in dreamland.

sweet dreams,
snow angels.

new york to london

here’s what we’re missing about
you tonight, cjc:

happy start-to-your-workday, sweets;
we’ll listen for your call at breakfast time.
xoxo

thematic play

today’s toys include:

black taxis
(ours are doorless due to
some rough loving)

our bobby helmets,

a few rounds of
‘london bridge is falling down’

and a little m. sasek

you guessed it;
cory is in
london
this week.

a nathan-sandwich
on a cold winter’s night,
too bad it was my bed
they snuggled in.

and three cheers for carrie,
our sleep-over buddy!
she helped make sure
the boogeyman didn’t get me.
seriously.
and i’m tres grateful.

sayonara, sweetie

my least favorite view of cjc:

after 11 yrs of marriage
(and 5 yrs of dating),
i am certainly not used to
being without this
handsome man,
if even for a week-long
business trip.

happy trails, love;
see you friday morning.

ps – cue ‘where in the world is carmen sandiego‘ music:
more clues to come as to
where mr. kj has gone.

for now he’s here:

australian birthday girl

happy birthday around the world, morv!
(i think it’s already
your birthday now)

morven’s birthday movie

produced by henry, caroline, cory & kj
musical selection by nathan

this is us
making goofy faces
as we skype the bday girl
after church
(in the blizzard!)
and eating the
bday pie we made her
(see the lone candle &
demolished chocolate pie?
mmmmm. love you, m)

the color of money, not so much

shooting pool
on a saturday afternoon

you can imagine how
many disputes there are
in a game with no actual rules;
where it’s not only acceptable
for two people to be hitting the
balls at once,
but downright encouraged.

shelve-alicious

cory built the shoe shelves,
henry organized them,
and i could’ve kissed them both
when i rounded the corner and
saw this:

official tally:
nathan . 1 pair
henry . 1 pair
kj . 1 pair
caroline & betsy . 8.5 pairs

but, hey, who’s counting? 

family movie morning?

somehow after breakfast
they just couldn’t wait
Any Longer
and cory obliged,

so i’m confused to say that
family movie night is
right now.
at 9:17am on a
saturday morning.

they’re all in a big pile,
the five of them,
watching ‘princess bride’
with cory answering all of
caroline’s questions
and the boys in peals of laughter.

so i’ll sneak away to do the
grocery shopping and
no one will even notice
until i return with cold hands
and full grocery sacks.

i like.

happy birthday, aunt katie
happy birthday, anita

. lucy jacqueline anderson .

#1 most important thing today:
guess who is coming home
to 255 w 70?!

that’s right, paula had
her baby yesterday.
welcome home, sweet little lucy;
we’ve all been waiting for you.

now, on to lesser pursuits.

if you’re plan-less on a cold friday night,
here are some ideas:

1. chuckle with me:
cookie magazine
(geared specifically at parents)
offers this sure-to-win one pot meal.
salmon chowder.
?
did they actually ask any parents
if their children would come within
10 feet of salmon chowder?
it probably sounds like a good idea in
a conference-room meeting full of
hungry grown-ups. but alas.
i’m seeing 20 bucks worth of ingredients
+ 1 hr of prep time
=wasted.
sorry, cookie.

2. hum along:
whether this is your candidate
or not, it’s catchy
‘yes, we can’

3. trace your route:
i’ve always wanted to map out
‘our new york’ with
friends’ houses,
cory’s commute,
our weekly paths, etc.
‘living patterns’

4. swoon with me:
oneity store,
how are they able to sell
these dresses at these prices?
order.
quick.
you’ll be seeing us in these soon.

5. shake your head with me:
weiner poopie + cement jesus:
she’s serious.

6. laugh So Hard with me:
time to cue up your itunes
and download as many episodes of
arrested development
as you can afford on the rest of
this week’s leftover lunch money.

twist o’ lime

reason #1086
why i love my mac:

betsy poured 1/2 litre of
lime seltzer on the keyboard today

and
it
still
works.

?!!!!!

+

(turn upside down to let the water pour out,
wipe down, wipe down, wipe down +
hairdryer on cool setting +
fingers crossed and
voila)

‘yesterday’

some days i’m seriously hesitant
to get out of bed in the morning,
afraid that the day will hold ‘too much,’
that God’s grace somehow won’t be ‘enough’
to get me through whatever lies ahead
(often regarding the children +
their emotional/spiritual/physical needs).

but when i look at ‘yesterday,’
it’s obvious how He provides.

i can clearly see His hand in ‘yesterday;’
it’s ‘today’ and
‘tomorrow’
that make me nervous.

will i never learn?

yesterday’s grace:

henry & ethan enjoy a
meeting of the creative minds

though the basil pesto was scrumptious,
you know only one brave kiddo tried it.
how much time is spent separating out
the meals i make into their less-scary
individual ingredients? nice.

celebrity sighting: uncle danny’s in town!

fg prayer groups

hopefully, tomorrow i’ll remember.

a cozy thursday

the ballerinas spin
while the mom’s lunch and
talk about the Lord
(and the challenges of life,
and then the Lord again)

charlotte, betsy, caroline, the back of peter’s head + brennan

future glory

right now, this is just an
wonderfully normal block
with an
ordinary parking garage.

but in a while,
it’s going to be quite the
Center of our Life
in many ways
as redeemer is purchasing
this sweet garage and
turning it into our church.

so when we pass this block now,
i sort of get this
secret smirk,
this private joke in my heart,
“hey, random people walking by,
pretty soon, something Amazing
is going to be Right Here.
right here.
and it’s for you!”

and then i keep walking
and try not to bump into anyone
while my eyes are tearing up
with grateful tears,
expectant tears.

ps – one of my favorite fantasies
about our future-life-in-this-bldg
involves a youth-group-age nathan
walking to activities
all by his grown up self,
an anticipatory skip in his step
and a few neighborhood friends
by his side;
the future of the Church, indeed.

‘complete madness’

as ryan so aptly put it:
(in the most complimentary of terms)
rem koolhaas’ new building
in beijing

they built it from two sides
and then connected it in the middle.

can you imagine?
i wouldn’t sleep a wink the night
before the big MeetInTheMiddle
affair.
my side would surely be off by a foot.
or ten.
oye, the pressure!

no more monkeys

henry, eli & caroline
i love how the boys can
conduct official pokemon business
without missing a beat.

and what did we owe the honor to today?
cory fixed banana waffles for breakfast.

and an energetic rendition of,
‘nothing but the blood of jesus‘
loud enough to confuse passersby,
i’m sure.

ps – it’s worth mentioning:
there were
no
squabbles
this morning.
no ‘that’s mine, no mine, no mine, no mine…’
or anything of the like.

?!
now that’s a nice way to start the day.

verklempt

i am my mother’s daughter:
i cry when people sing the
national anthem before the big game,
i tear up at the fourth of july parade.
and i most definitely
get choked up at the voting booth.

seeing people eager to help
me participate in my civic duty,
explaining it to the children;
the beauty of the privilege
can not be understated.

caroline helped me pull the lever today
to ‘make our choice
to choose what side you want
on the person who runs the treehouse.
treehouse means country.’

?

but what they really loved =
the bake sale +
seeing henry’s teacher
(‘say hi to henry!‘)

have i mentioned that grandma cates
made these coats? (go, barb)

super tuesday, indeed

today’s ny times:
physicists hope u.s. budget
will mean an end to research cuts

research physics professors
could use some hopeful news, eh?
(go vote!)

now, let’s see what actually happens.
(vote today)

ps – c, i was looking for a sexy tokamak image
to post and look what i found.
3rd paragraph.
have you seen this before? you cool.

(don’t forget to vote)

curious

lafayette + canal

the boys and i were curious about
the timing of the fire hydrant release,
what with the snow and all this morning.

?

it’s coming

‘that mitchell & webb look‘
from the bbc,
and they’re about to hit bbc america

on writers + editors:

cheeky mac vs pc ad:

(not having tv,
we won’t actually
be able to confirm this one,
but be on the lookout nonetheless)

ps – manning + tyree = magic

pps – do not, i repeat not,
get addicted to this game.
like cory and i might possibly be.
(dc in co, watch out)

a monday smoothie

instead of mentioning
how elusive
endurance
feels to me today
(the hamster wheel called
‘CleanUpTheHouseYetAgain.
and Again.
and Again.
and then after you go to sleep now,
you’ll wake up and
DoTheSameTomorrow’
is getting the best of me),

here’s what is feeding me on this
rainysnowy monday morning,
when said hamster wheel
threatens to make me want
to throw up my hands and
shake my head slowly
(and then sit down and cry.
theoretically, of course).

remember when elisabeth elliot
quoted that poem when she spoke at
calvary baptist several years ago
and the 2nd para. goes:

“do it immediately,
do it with prayer,
do it reliantly,
casting all care…”

and then combine that with
amy carmichael’s poem where
she gently says,
“…make me like thy clear air
through which unhindered, colors pass…”

and the most powerful help,
christ’s example,
‘for the Son of Man
did not come to be served,
but to serve…’

if my kids can see me face
the everyday responsibilities
(privileges?) by resting in
the power of one who
was humiliated on my behalf,
who served more than i will ever
be called on to serve,
and did so faithfully…

okay, i’ll give it a go,
Again.

let me clean it up
for my mathematically-inclined husband:

honey, today’s equation reads like this:
elis. e + amy c + scripture =
a holy spirit perseverance smoothie special

(maybe the scripture should
go in the mixer first?)

ps – go, giants!

valentine’s cheat sheet

dear husbands-at-large,

i know that formal holidays
can strike fear in your heart
at the overwhelming nature
of the whole ‘expectation vs. reality’ thing,
so here are some ideas
that are sure to be a ‘win’:

1. loving the Lord and
loving your family;

no additional gift required.
ever.

that is the Big One
that trumps all others.

now, since you’re giving her gift #1,
you’re all set.

but if you want to just put that
extra icing on the cake…

2. ‘you+me’ print at village .
cocoa or thistle,
it’s a win-win.

or

3. vera wang perfume .
(pop into sephora)

or

4. personalized stationery .
of course.

or

5. almost anything from cb2 .
(cory’s been there – it’s somewhere
in soho, next to the new muji store)

or

6. make a youtube video of yourself
singing ‘wild thing’
dedicated to her
(note: be sure to have a paper bag handy
as she just might hyperventilate at the sight
of you gyrating like that
in that skimpy costume.
better safe than sorry.)

or

7. caldrea home fragrance
lavender pine scent

(2nd floor of gracious home,
right next to the register)
kathleen c. gave this to us as a
housewarming a few years ago
and i love it so much i’m
tempted to spritz it on my wrists
if it wouldn’t drive away my friends.

or (not really)

8. i have to include this
toocheesyforwords idea
just to make cory cringe:

the tandem umbrella

or

9. the 12 cup french press

walkabout

it was massively refreshing
walk about the west 60’s
in the cold last night
with the one i love;
admiring technology at the
new best buy @ columbus circle (cjc)
meandering conversations,
and then a teary-eyed chat (me)
at a coffee shoppe
near lincoln center.

i was detailing the concerns that
are weighing on me,
(parenting, specifically)
and he was listening and
then reminding me
of God’s provisions.*

His past,
present
and future provisions.

my heart was dramatically lighter;
i was reminded of the Truth
rather than my homemade recipe
of self-pity, with a sprig of worry, soup.
(you don’t want the recipe)

thankfully i have a Father
who doesn’t leave me
where i am
but sends counsel
to point me to Him.

thanks, jules, for watching the kiddos.

and afterwards,
we watched once,
which was as good or better
than our friends’ ravings about it.

*the israelites’ mumblings
came up at one point.
ouch and poignant.

luckily, it was me bringing up
the forget-His-goodness and
complain-about-how-i-don’t-deserve-this
people group,
and not cory.

ps – i think
‘broken hearted hoover fixer sucker man’
was one of the most endearing
parts of the movie.

listen to this

at morning church,
before the last verse of the last song,
the string quartet played an
ethereal yet energetic interlude
and then we sang:

i will not boast in any thing,
no gifts,
no powers,
no wisdom.
but i will boast in
Jesus Christ,
his death and resurrection.

why should i gain from his reward?
i cannot give an answer.
but this i know with all my heart,
his wounds have paid my ransom.
his wounds have paid my ransom.

gulp.
and
hooray.

happy Lord’s day.

trashy

that mid-winter,
gray day,
the-walls-are-closing-in-on-me
feeling

led to
dragging
a black trash bag
around the apartment this morning
and repeating, semi-audibly,

“i won’t even miss it”
(toss in item #1)
“he won’t even miss it”
(toss in items #2-5)
“we won’t even miss it”
(toss in items #6-7 and breathe a sigh of relief)

whew.

i’m feeling better already,
and i really don’t miss it.

ps - happy birthday, dad & luke