Grape Soda Jesus

Wouldn't you think I would have something God-breathed to share on a Sunday? I'm sure I could come up with a topic, God's always at work in my life --- but maybe not in ways I care to rehash in my blog. At least not every Sabbath.

So, instead, I want to share that yesterday I got to drink a Grape soda. I love Grape soda, and I haven't had one since I lived in Hanford and was pregnant with Cayna. My good friend Colette had one on hand when I was having a craving. Bless her.

Bought a whole 12-pack yesterday with a friend who recently confessed she, too, loves Grape soda. And her family growing up, like mine, rarely had soda in the house. So Grape soda was for her a treat they got when they took family camping trips. While the guys went out to BWW for football and chicken last night - the girls (and many many children) had dinner together. Dinner included Grape soda (for the grown-ups - the kids had water -- they have to have the same experience of soda being a rare treat, right?). It was sooooooo good. Even with the freakishly unnatural bluish-purplish foam forming at the top reminding me of a nuclear accident, it was delicioso!

Jesus gets mentioned in the post title because it's still His day...even if I decide to blog about other things. Amen!

We worked well together

Recently, I gave a talk on Marriage at church. I've given a similar talk before, but this time the format was different. This time, I gave my portion of the talk following our pastor, Father Mark. Father Mark is a canon lawyer. He's also funny, and those two qualities made me look forward to hearing what he had to say on the topic. After he spoke, I got up to share what largely amounted to a testimony of my experiences with the annulment process and learning what the church teaches on artificial contraception and why.

Today I saw him and he told me he thought I did a good talk and that we worked well together. I thanked him and agreed that we made a good team. Canon law compliments a newly-Catholic woman in the trenches, and vice versa. And the cool thing is we'll be repeating it for a different group in the near future.

Just chalk this up as one more new experience for me in my Catholicism - sharing a podium with a Priest! I'm honored, and it was just darn fun, too.

Stay tuned for reports on how my first talk on Mary goes. It's a couple months away, and I have a bit more reading and some serious prayer ahead to get prepared.

Walk, don't run

I do like running. But I like having company better, and I can't find running buddies. So I'm walking. Walking terrifies people less than running. And now I have two friends willing to go out walking a few times a week. We go just over three miles, and we end up jogging a bit because one walking buddy (Kristi) is convinced it's easier on some of her achy leg muscles. Fine with me! Maybe this will catch on and I will have developed running buddies accidentally.

I'm afraid their interest in exercise is going to fizzle out, so I feel this need to make it as exciting as possible. You know, pointing out the beautiful scenery, providing stimulating conversation. And, once last week as we set off onto a scary dark path I blurted out the line from Ferris Bueller's Day Off: "I have a gun! And a scorching case of herpes!" It worked. No one attacked us. Apparently I scared Sharon Anne to death, though because I yelled so loud.

Our next walk involves flashlights, off-roading, and mountain lion repellant. Wish us luck!

One of the stranger memories

Very shortly after Kevin and I were married, one of the students I knew well in InterVarsity said her grandfather was in town and wanted to meet me. He was a high-stakes gambler. I'm sure there is a more polished word for that, but I don't know it. So when he came to Vegas, he was given a room, as was his granddaughter. Kevin and I dressed up and went to meet them at a fancy restaurant in Caesar's.

The grandfather was short, well-dressed, curt. His chauffer/attendant and two other men accompanied him. We all sat around a large semi-circle booth and he ordered our food. We began with shark fin soup. I was torn between the tense formality of this dinner and the urge to giggle that Kevin had to ingest shark fin soup.

I have no memory of what we talked about. What would a twenty-something newlywed Las Vegas missionary say to a Philippine gambling grandfather? At the end of the meal, he gave us three hundred dollars. It was after he left that his granddaughter handed it to us. We used it to buy dining room chairs, as we had none. I believe he loved his granddaughter, knew of her involvement in this "Christian group" and wanted to check us out.

Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

Four Women*

* Names have been changed to protect me.

Leigh - Born in a rainy part of the country, the oldest of more than half a dozen children. A bit resentful of her upbringing, for a million reasons, big and small. Her dad was abusive, though not tremendously so. Abusive is abusive, though, right? Married young. Just one child. Then a divorce, and more marriages and divorces. For decades, she has worked in a job she isn't happy with, but it mostly pays the bills. Friendly as all get out. She'll smile and talk to anyone she meets. Has a penchant for shopping. Likes to be shopped FOR, as well. Doesn't like herself in pictures, and rolls her eyes a LOT.

Natalie - Moved around a lot in her childhood, even out of the country. Father was an alcoholic, but he managed to (mostly) hide it during Natalie's young adult years. Married right out of high school and into a military life. Relocated internationally again. Close relationship with her mom, so she missed her while overseas. After years of being unable to conceive, she (they) adopt children. Then the marriage falls apart and she quickly marries the opposite of the first husband. Unsure of herself, but given a few raw materials, she can make beautiful things.

Summer - From a very broken, confusing family in the Midwest. Not a lot of money. Still makes it to college a little uncertain how to make it in the world (aren't we all at that point, probably even with good family background?) Marries. Works. Has kids. Divorces. Marries again. Divorces again. Marries again. Not quite ever sure where she's going. Turning to God, but burdened with guilt over those divorces and even things before the divorces. Has a deep, almost tragic desire to reach out and be needed at the same time.

Bridget - Hardworking Catholic parents. Kind of a gray childhood. Marries young. Husband takes her for granted and even cheats on her. Two children. Many years, then divorce. After all she's been through, she's more careful the second time around. Also, way more focused on herself, and this probably doesn't bode well for the children. Stays married, but some part of her past makes it difficult for her to just sit down and breathe sometimes. People like her and are drawn to her. She's fun, and generous. And longs for a part of her past that it turns out she never really understood.

These are women in my life. Some of the closest. And I'm pulling their stories together into one big story, and wondering how some of the common patterns have affected my life.

Comfy School

The school my kids are enrolled in provides me with a "consultant". Our consultant lives on a dairy farm in the midwest. She told me once that when she was homeschooling her daughter they would occasionally, in the winter, stay under the warm covers in the morning with some books and tackle a few subjects in their pajamas. That always sounded fun to me, but it didn't happen until today.

Joe woke up earlier than the other kids and asked if we could go downstairs and do some school before the girls woke up. I was enjoying being lazy on my bed, so suggested he bring books upstairs. He did. We finished history, Latin, geography, and poetry before eight o'clock a.m. Granted, three of those subjects demand only a few minutes each for memory work - and I was dressed and lounging on my already-made bed - AND we don't live in the cold midwest. But our house is at least a bit chilly and my bed is comfy even when it's made and it was nice and felt VERY productive to cross four subjects off the list before breakfast. So I had my homeschool fun for the day.

Join us later this afternoon when we plant TWO cactus/succulent gardens for a science experiment.

Jump on the Furniture

Ready... set...



...Go!!!