Group Participation

I have to admit, I don't really have anything on my mind right now, I'm just tired of seeing that patriotic Kelly doll pop up everytime I open my blog. Oh yea, I'm also hoping to generate some new comments as well. Maybe some great inspiration will hit me as I type.

I guess I am now experiencing both of the blog pitfalls my sister warned me about:
1. Writer's block
2. Comment addiction

I thought about posting a movie quote for readers to guess because that's an easy way to get a lot of comments AND it's the only way I ever get to play that game since I apparently have not seen very many movies, relatively speaking.

Oooh, ooooh, I have an idea! How about if everyone leaves me an idea for a future post you're just dying to see at this site? Or, if that's too hard, what is your favorite dinner? (I often have "what should I make for dinner" block as well as writer's block) Come on now, time for some real group participation!

Of Projects and Pots

Since my last post had to do with growing old, I thought I'd post a picture of myself when I was young...and blond...and pastic. Actually, this picture is not me at all. It is a picture advertising a free pattern to crochet this little doll dress. The other night, while the rest of us sat vegging in front of something, my daughter, Catie, did a little search on the computer, found this pattern, and then proceeded to make it. I swear, her finished product looked every bit as good as this one, complete with little tap pants below the perky skirt. When she showed me, my mouth hung open.

As nifty as it is to have a talented little girl in the family, the even niftier thing is to see her continue a legacy her great-grandma Della began in her when she taught her to knit and crochet. Two and a half years ago, my husband's grandmother, Della, moved in with our family. Even before this time, she was always good about teaching the girls how to make so many of the things she was always keeping her hands busy with. Her projects included quilts & more quilts, cake decorating, the best pies you've ever tasted, anything to do with yarn, porcelain dolls, painted plates, spool dolls, and more things than I can remember. She loved to teach others the things she had learned, and Catie was one of her best pupils.

On our recent trip to Ecuador, I took this picture during our flight out of San Francisco. I was shocked to see she had made it on to the plane with those huge knitting needles in her carryon--apparently honkin' knitting needles aren't as dangerous as chapstick has now become! But I got a kick out of her knitting away on her scarf -- another tribute to her great-grandma Della.

Grandma has occupied many of our thoughts this summer as we had to say goodbye to her on July 10 when she left this life and went home to be with the Lord. She was 96 years old. We were privileged to have such a wonderful, godly example in our life. Those busy hands of hers managed to make almost 400 baby quilts for the Pregnancy counseling center alone, many more when you add in all the others she gave away. To see part of her legacy live on in the things she passed on to our family is sweet indeed.

The same week Catie crocheted the cute little dress, I had two occasions where I left things boiling on the stove until the water had completely evaporated and the contents of the pot began to burn. This too reminded me of Grandma as it was something she was often guilty of as well. I began to chuckle as I thought of both Catie and I, continuing in the path of Grandma Della, her with her projects and me with the pots. Grandma loved to laugh and I think she would have gotten a kick out of this observation--right after she exclaimed, "Oh my, what are you going to be like when you're MY age?!?"

Feeling Young

Hey I had an exciting weekend--I tried something I'd never done before and took part in an airsoft war. I wish I could say I was a "high impact player" but it would be a gross lie. Still, it was fun and it made me feel a little younger. I even posed for several pictures like the young little things thinking I'd post some of those shots on my blog. You know the saying, "You're only as old as you feel", well it is balanced by the saying, "Pictures don't lie." The two pictures of my friend & I trying to look like James Bond babes with our guns & camo were just a little too unflattering--though I will tattle on myself for many things, you will not catch me posting as many chins & creases as those pictures contained!

Most of the time I feel like I've made peace with this getting old thing, but sometimes that streak of vanity catches me by surprise!

A couple of summer's ago, I had that vanity slap me pretty good across the face. I was counseling at high school camp and had just finished playing paintball in a counselors vs. campers round. (Once again, I couldn't brag at all about being a high impact player, but at LEAST I could say I'd done it!) It was at this point that our excellent camp speaker, who had also played, asked me, "Jennifer, I've just got to ask you, how old are you?"

Well, I have to say I was feeling pretty young. Like I said, I was hangin' with the high schoolers and after all I'd just played paint ball. I thought he'd be pretty shocked to find out how old I REALLY was. "I'm 39!" I answered, a little smugly, knowing how surprising he'd find that.

"Oh," he answered calmly, as if he'd guessed right, "I though you were my age."

This took a little of the wind out of my sails, actually a lot of it. "Oh," I responded, in a somewhat shrill voice, "how old are YOU?"

"I'm 43."

43!!! Not only did this abusive man think I was as old as I was, he THOUGHT I was older! FOUR years older! He thought I was as old as him. Was he delusional??? You know, I did not enjoy his preaching nearly as much the rest of the week.

That was two years ago. I praise God that because of His goodness and grace in my life, in addition to the extra chins and creases, I am maturing a little along the way. Why now I am even able to laugh at abusive, insensitive people, who think I'm as old as they are!!!

Yup, being young is pretty cool, but growing up is a good thing too.

The Silver Lining

Tonight I paid too much for dinner. On top of that, it wasn't even very tasty. We ate at the California Pizza Kitchen. There were only ten million things on the menu and it was hard to make a choice because they all looked so good. I finally decided on something that sounded really yummy. Unfortunately, the waiter returned a couple of minutes later to tell me they were out of that pizza. Pressure's on -- make a new order quick. So I did. It was a mistake. I pretended like it tasted good for a while, and even asked for a box to take home the pieces I didn't eat. But as we were leaving, I got more & more honest with myself. It wasn't even very tasty.

I was complaining (terrible I know) about it to one of the young men in our car (we drove down to Oakland for a high school soccer game and had five nice, sweaty fellows riding back with us). As I mentioned, for probably the third time, that my dinner wasn't even very tasty, my husband made an excellent observation, "Oh well, you can have fun blogging about it!" YES I CAN! YES I WILL! YES I AM!

I can totally relate to Kludge's observation the other day. Even as he was late to work and stuck behind a tour bus that couldn't get out of the way, he was already thinking about the blog he could write. It is possible we're becoming a little obsessive about this bloggin', but I prefer to think that maybe it is just a new way of seeing the silver lining behind every rain cloud! :)

BTW, I learned something tonight that should not have been revolutionary. Going to a California Pizza Kitchen with a bunch of soccer players that thought they would be stopping at In & Out on the way home is a really good way to get stuck with a big bill!

(Oh, the pictured pizza above is not the one I ordered. The one above looks like it tastes much better. Did I mention that my pizza wasn't even very tasty?)

Celebrating My Son

I have to admit that this post is somewhat of a reaction to the dare my son offered me. He was being a bit of a stinker -- those of you who know him will find that shocking to say the least -- and posted something potentially embarassing to his cousin on her "My Space" comments. I asked him, "How would you feel if I posted something embarassing about you on my blog for everyone to read?" His response is what turned into the dare.

"I wouldn't mind," he answered in the self assured, cocky way that only a 16 year old can muster, "no one reads your blog."

Okay, the wheels immediately started turning in my head. After I protested that at least eight people have left comments on my blog (wait a minute, I think that's seven) and besides that I know of two people that read it but don't comment (parents count), after I'd filled him in on those earth shattering statistics, I began imagining my next post.

Now I could tell some genuinely embarassing stories, but since I still have to live with the boy for at least two more years, I think I'll stick to some benign little stories from his early childhood.

We knew this child had real potential for style when he was still a young tot. One day I was in Safeway ordering something at the bakery. My boy, wearing his shorts & cowboy boots, stood at my side. A man waiting behind me apparently didn't know the child was dressing himself these days. He waited until I turned around and then informed me, "His boots are on the wrong feet." "That's nothing," I said, "his shirt & shorts are on backwards too."

He must have been about four then, but that keen fashion sense had already shown itself at the tender age of two. It was in October and we'd recently bought a McDonald's Happy Meal that had come in a pumpkin bucket. Most folks probably assumed it was for "Trick-or-treating" but my boy knew how to think out of the box, or bucket. He took off the little lid and put that pumpkin bucket on his head with the handle tucked underneath his chin. Then he set out with Scott for a spin around the block on his big wheel. Sure, anyone can wear a helmet. It takes a real Dapper Dan to wear a pumpkin bucket.

My last story took place when he was in the 4's & 5's at church. His teacher used to choose one boy and one girl each week as the good helpers. He came home with the "Good Boy" helper one Sunday. I was told later that his teacher liked to make all the kids guess who she'd chosen by giving them clues. She gave them this clue for my boy, "This little boy looks like he was in such a hurry for church this morning that he forgot to comb his hair." As soon as the words left her mouth, the class YELLED out his name. We took him for a professional haircut the next morning.

Now that his hair is always gelled and he takes all his showers voluntarily, it's hard to remember the days he never combed his hair and came back from camp with all his underware still folded. The boy's growing up.

The Dorrie Club

Finding Nemo was one of the few movies I actually saw in the theater. As much as I enjoyed it, we sat a little too close and that incredible Pixar animation left me a little dizzy. I honestly prefer it on our TV screen! (Weird, huh) Anyway, headaches aside, there was a character in that film that I immediately bonded with. In spite of having the voice of Ellen DeGeneres, Dorrie spoke to me. This was a fish I could relate to. I wasn't the only one to notice either, it wasn't long before my kids were calling me Dorrie. Not that I'm a natural blue, it's just that "remembering thing" that draws the similarities.

With that in mind, you will understand why I got such a kick out of an essay by Andrée Seu that I read recently. It was in the July 1/8 issue of World Magazine, but I didn't read it until last week. Andrée is a regular contributor to the magazine. If I were to state my goals as a writer, it would be a combination of Erma Bombeck and Andrée Seu. Erma has the humor I delight in, Andrée has the depth. Anyway, her essay was entitled "Absent-minded Professors" with this tag right below it: "Like goldfish, those who profess Christ are prone to forget".

Andrée begins her essay with a startling fact her son informed her of, "Goldfish have a memory of three seconds". While wondering how anyone could really know that, she did find that bit of knowledge reassuring..."[it] relieves the distress I felt over their bleak environment; the next curve on the fishbowl, or leafy plastic frond, is always a surprise to them."

The essay then transitions to the short memory that those who profess Christ tend to have. She ends with a paragraph describing the many times she forgets to trust God and instead gets overwhelmed by circumstances:
"Then suddenly there comes a quickening. Out of the blue I pronounce under my breath, 'I'll trust in His unfailing love.' I say it 50 times a day if once. The funny thing is that it always takes me by surprise, as if I've come upon it only now for the first time. Goldfish, you know."

I can so relate. I am Dorrie, not just in regards to my calendar, but also regarding the goodness of God. Yesterday I was discussing Philippians 3:12-19 with my girls over scones. Junior high breakfast club had to be cancelled because Pastor Jeremy was flat on his back, so we went home and discussed their study together and then prayed for their ailing pastor. In regard to verse 12, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me", we discussed the fact that we will never be perfect in this life, but are on a journey, headed toward a goal. We will stumble and fall but hopefully we will get back up and continue moving in the right direction. The fact that we are spiritual goldfish and need to constantly be reminded that God is God, is part of that journey. Someday we will be with Him and we will never forget.

Two more thoughts to leave you with:
1. Lest I leave you with a false impression of the idyllic conditions in our home, I must confess that though we began the morning with scones, steamed vanilla milk, and Bible study on the patio, the day was not without trials of its own. Have I mentioned how wonderful my dog is?
2. Did you know that the word for a pregnant goldfish is "Twit"? I learned that at Scholarship Camp last year -- I tried to verify it just now with my dictionary, but I couldn't find my dictionary. I am a goldfish living with four other goldfish and a very wonderful dog! :)

More Language Gaffes

Today my husband informed me that many folks at church are laughing at him to his face--who knows how many might be laughing behind his back--and he's laying all the blame at my feet. (Personally, I credit Andy for this since the readership of his blog GREATLY surpasses that of my own.) But I guess I need to appologize for having so much fun at his expense, it's not his fault he's not very good at foreign language. Tonight when he was teaching the high schoolers, he passed up an opportunity to get me good. He showed me grace I didn't deserve. All I can say honey is, "Grawshus".

Seriously, though he butchered the simple stuff, I made far more linguistic gaffes in Ecuador than he did. As I high schooler, my Spanish was quite good. I had two years in junior high, followed by two more in high school. But what really made it click was spending five weeks in Ensenada, Mexico, working at an orphanage. By the time I left Ensenada, I was very close to fluent. However, the saying "You don't use it, you lose it" is especially true of a second language. It is NOT like riding a bike--you DO forget! I remembered quite a bit of my Spanish in Ecuador, but just enough to be a little dangerous (to my ego that is!).

I have a few tips of things NOT to say:
1. When you want to know what kind of fruit is in the juice, do not ask, "Que fruta es en el juego?" You have just asked what fruit is in the game. Juice is "jugo".
2. When your host serves fish, do not exclaim, "Ah, pecado!" You have just called their dinner "sin". Fish, once it becomes food, is "pescado". While it is still alive it is "pez", but it is never "pecado".
3. When you want to introduce your husband, do not say, "El es mi esposa" -- you just said "He is my wife." Do not then correct yourself and say, "El es su esposo" -- you just said, "He is your husband."

I remember that at one time I knew something about "tenses" in Spanish. In Ecuador, I did not live in the past! All my sentences were in the present, except for a few verbs I looked up. Talking with me was probably similar to a "See spot run! Run spot run!" sort of conversation, with the occasional vocabulary blunder and a plethora of wrong gendered endings.

I had several people laughing at me because I carried my LARGE paperback Spanish dictionary everywhere! One time I was trying to carry on a conversation while looking up a word I needed. Kathy Sutherland, a HCJB missionary, started laughing at me. That distracted me to the point I couldn't remember what I was looking up--when I stated as much, it made me remember that I was looking up the word, "remember". I learned the phrase, "No recuerdo", ("I don't remember") very well. It was oft used as I struggled to remember the word my host had just told me minutes earlier. My advice - learn another language early while you still have memory to spare.

On a positive note, the Bible says that laughter is good medicine, and my Spanish gave many something to laugh about! They all ought to be telling me, "Grawshus".

Back to School Ideas

Recently I had the privilege of sitting with two teachers during a dinner fellowship. I learned something new. Amazing as it seems, teachers tend to get a lot of mugs at Christmas time. And even more amazing, teachers don't want anymore mugs. Costco already has their Christmas stuff out, so it is possible that someone might read this already thinking about what to get their children's teachers for Christmas. Steer clear of the mugs, and go for the Starbucks Cards. My sources tell me that is a very popular gift to receive. My theory on this is:
1. They can't afford to go to Starbucks often on teacher salaries, so the card is a BIG treat.
2. They NEED that Starbucks fix whether they can afford it or not, so every Starbuck's card helps the cause.
3. They need something to put in all those mugs. (My husband thought of this one)

Another thought I have as students and teachers head back to school is the importance of getting involved in a Bible study. This is the time of year when studies are starting up. I will be with the ladies at Santa Rosa Bible Church Tuesday mornings this year and am excited about studying the book of Judges, which we will begin the 2nd Tuesday in September (I think) . God's word always has something valuable for His children everytime we study it.

Bible Study Fellowship is also beginning in a couple of weeks. For the past 9 years I was a part of Bible Study Fellowship and I rejoice in all that God has taught me through that time. I have found that it is vital for me to be in a study that holds me accountable to really digging in to the Bible. It would be far more convenient and time efficient if I were to study on my own each day in that same way, but I am a person that needs outside accountability when it comes to Bible study. God has honored my recognition of that need and amazingly has multiplied my time in such a way that I am accomplishing more when I steal that time to spend together with other believers studying the Bible.

So there you go, two great tips to arm yourself with at the start of a new school year. If you want to buy a Starbuck's card, there's one on just about every corner and in most Safeways. If you want to get into a Bible study, contact your church for information, or go online and check out BSF International website (www.bsfinternational.org ) for class information.

Never Were There Such Devoted Sisters

Well, maybe there were more devoted sisters than Jody and I, but I sure am glad God gave me the sister He did! My girls were asking this afternoon what I might blog about today --I didn't have a clue. I threatened at one point to turn their less-than-savory behaviors into a humorous post (humorous for everyone but them). Michelle turned to Catie, the one who'd begged me to start a blog, and said, "Now see what you've done!!"

I am going to try to refrain from turning this site into an expose my children forum, so we'll just have a code for those days when motherhood is not exhileratingly joyful, it will be "my dog is sooo wonderful!"

Since I can't tease my girls today, I think I'll tease my sister instead. She is precious to me and makes me laugh like no one else can. I love whenever I can spend time with her, which is not often enough,since we live so far apart. My favorite time spent with her ever was December 2001 when she & I went on a cruise together.

My father had won the cruise in a golf tournament. However, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer about that time and opted to have surgery. The surgery conflicted with the cruise date, and so, not wanting to give the cruise to one daughter over the other, he offered it to Jody & I to take together. He had his surgery, which went very well, and was home recovering when Jody & I set out together for luxury on the high seas. We received great news of his post-surgical biopsy while we were still docked and waiting to leave. PTL!

My sister is so fun to be with--we had a blast! We scrapped most days, hauling enough supplies up to the poolside deck to make people ask if we were checking out early. We loved the buffets but made up for it walking a lot of stairs, partly because the elevators were so slow, and partly because we were trying to avoid a "friend" Jody had made one ride. She thought she was being kind to a man whom she honestly thought was a little "special" (in politically correct terms: intellectually challenged). Turns out he wasn't so special, but he did appreciate her interest in him and told her he hoped to see her more often!

There were many things to laugh about, including the pillow mints Jody sat on and melted two nights in a row, but perhaps the funniest incidents came about due to her lack of sleep. Jody has sleep apnea, and during our cruise it was very bad. She awoke each morning having had the equivalent of two hours of sleep. By day 3 of our 4 day cruise, it was catching up with her. That was the day we went to Catalina Island. We didn't do most of the offered excursions, but we did ride on the glass bottom boats--something I'd wanted to do for years. It was very relaxing sitting under the shade of the canopy, watching the sealife through the glass bottom of the boat, and listening as the captain explained everything we were viewing. I noticed near the end of the tour that Jody was snoozing behind her sunglasses. I poked her and asked her if she was wearing the sunglasses so no one would notice her nodding off. She got a startled look on her face and exclaimed, "Oh, I forgot I had these on!" She then whipped them off, looked again at the bottom of the boat and discovered, "Oh--there are fish down there! I thought the captain was making it all up!"
That night, her lack of sleep was showing again. After enjoying the karaoke lounge (as mockers only) we'd returned to our cabin to pack our luggage. We were getting it ready to set in the hallway as instructed. Jody was multi-tasking and changed partway into her pj's while packing. However, as I watched her zip up her suitcase and move toward the door, I was a little concerned and cautioned, "You're not going out like that, are you?" She ignored me. As she moved closer to the door, I tried again, "Jody, you're not going out like that, are you?" Once again, no response. Finally, as she opened the door, I hollered, "Jody! You're in your bra!" She immediately threw the door closed in a panic. She'd totally blown me off, thinking I was making a big deal of her heading into the hallway in her pjs and forgetting she wasn't completely in them yet! Yup, two hours of sleep is not a good thing!

Four months after that cruise, Jody & her family moved to Indiana. I think that time together was a special gift from God. Of all the things I love about my sister, the best is that she is also my sister-in-the-Lord! God has given us both truly more than we deserve.

"Losing it" in Ecuador

Today I walked with two friends and we chatted often about our recent trip to Ecuador. My honest friend made mention of the fact that it was the first time she'd seen me "lose it" then she went on to recall she had not seen anyone else "lose it" the entire trip. It's true. Our mantra for the whole trip was:
Be Flexible!
Be Positive!
Be a Servant!
At the moment she was refering to, I was not flexible. I was not positive. I was not a servant. So time to tattle on myself again. The absolute low point of the entire 11 days came near the end of our first travel day. We were praising God as we stepped off the airport into Quito, thankful that everything had gone so smoothly. I took pictures of the giant bouquets of roses positioned right next to the lines for customs. The long lines did not daunt me and I was excited to be there. One of my offspring, who will not be named because it might embarass him, told us he needed to go to the bathroom, or now that we were in Ecuador, el bano (just pretend that "n" has a tilde over it), and he had to go REALLY bad. Apparently he'd not visited that important place since we'd left Santa Rosa a LONG time ago. I wasn't too worried as we waiting in the long lines, he could go soon. I was actually more concerned about beating the Schneider's through customs since I'd led my husband to a different line than the one he'd chosen, which was right behind those kind folks. By the time we made it through showing our passports and declaring our intentions, (we didn't beat the Schneiders -- I hate it when he's right) our boy was near panic. He rushed off to ask directions only to be told the bano (imagine that tilde again) was out a door we had no assurance we would be able to return through. The only choice was to get all our luggage and drag it through and finish the process before we could search for the little boys room. We each had a large carryon, a large checked bag, and also had to gather one group bag each. Since our two girls were not physically able to handle any group luggage, that meant Scott and I each had four bags. We were one of the last families to get to this point, so the smaller group luggage on wheels had already been claimed. What we ended up with could have passed for body bags--heavy body bags--heavy body bags with no wheels. As I was desperately dragging these enormous bags, inch by inch, closer to the finish, spurred on by the panic in my son's eyes, which by now had begun to turn yellow, my attitude plumented. I don't know if it was my muttering or the look on my face that keyed Stan in that I was "losing it". He graciously offered to help me drag one of the body bags. Later I reflected that it was a wise choice on his part to offer help rather than remind me:
Be Flexible!
Be Positive!
Be a Servant!
Had he chosen the latter, I might have thrown something at him.
Once we made it through that airport and out to the group waiting for the bus, we began looking for that bano ("n" with a tilde) in earnest. It took several tries, but alas all was right with the world once again. The worst part now was knowing I'd pretty much crumbled at that first big obstacle. It is God's grace that I never descended to that point again for the rest of the week, God's grace that He loves me inspite of my weakness and pride, and God's grace that no one else "lost it" quite like that. (I might have felt better if they had, but it is to the glory of God that they didn't!)

Deep Thinking

Hey, I'm on a different computer today and I was able to put in a photo of my girls and I with our sweet dog, Beamer. Considering I did not want this little fellow, it's amazing how much I enjoy him. In fact, when the rigors of raising teens become a bit overwhelming, my opinion of the dog rises exponentially.

Maybe tomorrow I'll post some more stories from Ecuador. Today I'll take an introspective look at the deep components of my mind. If you've had opportunity to glance at my profile, you are probably wondering what deep components I could be refering to. I have to admit, as I was filling out my profile, I was wishing it looked a little better and reflected a deeper thinker. The truth is, apart from the Bible, most of my favorite books and movies don't stretch my mind incredibly. One of my key criteria for a good book/movie (I translate good "enjoyable") is a happy ending. That eliminates an awful lot of what greater minds consider good.

My husband walked in on the girls & I as we were watching the new Pride & Predjudice the other night. He watched Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy verbally sparring and asked, "So do they fall in love eventually?" "Of course they do," I answered. A minute later, after observing Jane and Mr. Bingley's misery, he asked, "So do they end up happy together?" "Of course they do," I answered again, and then added, "do you think I'd be watching this if they didn't?" Yep, I'm pretty deep!

It's not that I haven't read what are considered greater works --I waded my way through War & Peace, by choice mind you, in college. But oh my, it just got a little too depressing. For the last several years, I have always had something I NEEDED to be reading in order to school my children. So when it comes to CHOOSING something to read, I want it to be happy, wholesome, and something I can finish with a smile on my face.

The fact that I love the Bible and love to read it is proof that God's unmerited favor is at work in my life. He takes His ADD aflicted child and opens her mind to the wonderful things in His law. Although I cannot even begin to wrap my mind around many of His truths, He shows me His greatness, His faithfulness, and allows me to trust what I cannot completely understand. It is a work of Him for which I am profoundly grateful.

Feeling Like Charlie Brown and Drinking Gasoline

Well I tried my darndest to get a photo onto this post but what worked two nights ago, just won't work tonight. I even got my very capable husband to help me and he gave up as well. So here I am, feeling like the Charlie Brown of bloggers...everyone else has cool photos and graphics on their blog...I probably won't get any Valentine cards either!

While in Ecuador, we drank only bottled water. We brushed our teeth only with bottled water. We didn't have ice in our drinks, because it might not have been made with bottled water. We were very careful. We were told to bring our water bottle to the church each day and there would be very large bottles of water to refill our individual ones. That first work day, after draining my bottle as I sanded desktops, I spied three very large water bottles across the courtyard. I set down my sander and walked over to refill my bottle. I thought it was not very good that the large bottles had sawdust on them, but as the first part of our team mantra was "Be Flexible", I was certainly not going to complain about a little sawdust. So I sat down on the courtyard steps, set my own bottle between my legs and began pouring from the very large bottle. Pleased that I'd only spilled a little, I recapped my bottle, stood up, and took a swig.

The second I had it in my mouth, I knew this was NOT water! I gracefully spewed out my mouthful and sputtered, "What is this?!?" I think it was my daughter who told me, rather horrified at what I'd done, that the bottles had been filled with gasoline! In a bit of a panic, I ran into the kitchen, where the REAL large water bottles were. I explained to the ladies, in my limited Spanish, what I had done. After they were through showing concern and realized I appeared to be fine, they began to laugh.

The next thing I did was rather practical--maybe gasoline fumes agreed with me--I grabbed my sharpie marker and labeled each of the very large bottles in the courtyard, "gasolina". It ended up being a good thing I did, because my husband started to fill his water bottle about five minutes later. He'd seen me filling mine and thought that was a good idea.

As I said above, we drank a lot of bottled water in Ecuador. You can buy carbonated or non-carbonated, or as they said on our Ecuador bottles, "gas" or "sin gas"--for me, that had an entirely different meaning! One thing I must say though in defense of my odd drinking habits, I was quite healthy for most of the week--maybe the gasolina (it was actually paint thinner we were told later) killed some of that harmful stuff. Also, I gave the ladies in the kitchen a running joke to tease me about all week! That can be a very helpful thing when a language barrier limits the extent of normal conversation--by the end of the week when I was having my picture taken with one of the ladies, she told me to smile and say, "gasolina".

How do you say thank you?

I know the reason my daughter wanted me to start a blog was to fill it with funny stories - so today I think I will poke fun at one of my favorite targets, my sweet, wonderful husband! It amazes me how good and capable he is in so many areas. However, the Spanish language is not one of those areas. He seems to have spent too much time around my father, who loves butchering language in general, and has a special fondness for "gracias", which comes out "graw-shus".
While in Ecuador, my huband often paid tribute to my father when he attempted to say thank you. Being the encouraging wife that I am, I laughed everytime I heard him tell someone, "Graw-shus". I'd even ask him how to say "thank you" just so I could hear him mangle it again. Occasionally it would come out "grawSEEus" but rarely did it come out right. He thought he knew how to say, "Let's go" before we left, but "Vamoose" sent my son and I into more giggles. One night he asked the father of his host family if he was growing a "mustachio"--Milton had a puzzled look on his face for a second, then it cleared as he hopped up from table, walked over to the counter, and returned with a napkin for my sweetie. God was gracious to him though and allowed him to make many precious friendships in spite of the language barrier; additionally, he may have discovered a new way to request a napkin should he need one!

Ascent to the Andes

Although my man has traveled to Japan and France on business, the other four of us had never left the continent. That is until we all joined 40 other members of the Santa Rosa Bible Church on a mission/service trip to Pifo, Ecuador, high in the Andes mountains. We returned six days ago. There's no way to sum up the trip quickly - so suffice it to say I feel incredibly privileged to have been able to share in the experience. Most likely it will be the subject matter of many posts to come because it is was such an obvious recipient of God's unmerited favor, God's glorious grace!

Unmerited Favor

I thought I'd better write at least something about how I chose the title of my blog. A large part of it was being put on the spot to chose a name quickly. As I said before, my sister's blog, The Indiana Update, was a major inspiration for starting one myself, but when my daughter suggested I call mine, The California Update, it just wasn't quite what I was looking for.

Even though it was a spur-of-the-moment pick, I love the idea of looking for ways I see God's grace, unmerited favor, displayed in my life and then translating those thoughts to written words.

I also look forward to when I figure out how to add photos and graphics to this blog. Not only will they spruce up the general appearance tremendously, they will also make my shorter entries look more impressive!

Amost as Good as Published

Yesterday my daughter Catie told me I should get my own blog. She was reading archives of her Aunt Jody's blog, The Indiana Update, and wishing for some new posts. During our recent trip to Ecuador, Catie had observed that I have funny things happen to me like Aunt Jody. I think her reasoning was that if Aunt Jody isn't going to post more often, she needed another writer expounding upon her goofy experiences in life. Today her suggestion turned to begging, "Please get your own blog...you'd have lots of good material for it." Tonight I am granting her wish, as well as granting one of my own. It has been my desire since college to one day be a published writer. Having a blog must surely be almost as good--hey do we get royalty checks for these pearls of wisdom???