Random Things That Make Me Happy

Boomama did this over at her blog today and I though, "What a great idea!" Today I definitely need to focus on the little blessings in my life.

1. brownies
2. friends that are like family
3. snow
4. my down comforter
5. good pajamas
6. sock monkey slippers
7. my husband's jokes
8. listening to my sweet nephew laugh
9. seeing plants sprout from seeds
10. producing vegetables in the garden
11. cruising
12. witnessing someone open up and understand about their Savior
13. acupuncture
14. Douwe Egberts koffie
15. talking to my sister
16. a clean car
17. a new haircut
18. hiking in the mountains
19. cooking good food for friends
20. A&E's Pride and Prejudice

What are some random things that make you happy?

It is still winter.

I almost changed the photo at the top of the blog again because, well, the warm weather around here lately has made winter and snow seem like a distant memory.

But then I realized it is still January, and it might be OK to leave the snow picture. After all, technically it's still winter.

And then it turns out it might actually snow here in the next couple days. Or at least get icy. Yep. Welcome to Texas, where it's in the 70s today and in the 30s tomorrow.

I didn't really mean to talk about the weather so much. I actually started out wanting to express my love for acupuncture...again. I know there are lots of skeptical people out there so I just like to report actual changes that take place after acupuncture (and/or Chinese herbs, and since I'm doing both simultaneously it's hard to separate out which affects what).

So, after my acupuncturist treated me last week for the heartburn created by all the infertility treatments I have not had a single day with heartburn since. I even ate Mexican food Sunday night - no heartburn! It is amazing.

I know it seems completely opposite of what I really want to happen (that is, get pregnant and thus not start a period), but I started a real cycle on my own after a very average amount of time. As we all know, pregnancy will never happen unless I'm having fairly normal cycles. So, this all seems like a small miracle!

I will always attribute any healing that takes place to God, ultimately. I pray about all this. I spend time with Him. I trust that He can heal me because He is the Creator. When I go for acupuncture, when I'm lying there after the needles are placed, I meditate on God and try to be really aware of the Holy Spirit in me. It's one of my favorite times for just that reason.

Maybe the acupuncture can also help me avoid getting the full-blown flu that seems to be going around my office. I'm not so sure about that so I've been washing my hands and using Lysol like there's a plague. I definitely want my sore throat to just quickly go away without turning into anything else. I've also been trying to sleep as much as possible this week, which explains why I don't have anything more interesting to write about.

Oh, one more tidbit. I have refused to read The Pillars of the Earth simply because Oprah recommended it and I am generally against anything Oprah because she just annoys me. However, I've had so many people tell me it's a good book that I finally started reading it. I'm only about 1/3 way done, but it inexplicably holds my interest. Of course, I loved learning about the middle ages in school and that's the time period in which this book is set. Who would have thought a book about castles and cathedrals and poverty in the Middle Ages could be entertaining? Since I'm not even quite 1/3 way through, I can't recommend the book, just wanted to let you know what else I've been doing besides sleeping!

Just Ignore It

So, no thanks to me I am growing broccoli, y'all!!!

(I am apparently now saying "y'all" again, after being broken of that habit in Europe, because I'm virtually a bona fide Texas farmer.)

OK, so I actually did till the soil. And I did plant some seeds. And I also did some watering with some organic stuff that did something that I can't remember about now. (That was back in October, before the last unsuccessful IUI, the fabulous Thanksgiving with my family, and the spur-of-the-moment kitchen remodel!)

But then the weather decided it wanted to be below zero and snowing for a week, then not rain for weeks on end, and then be a balmy 70 degrees with lots of sunshine. And after all the covering up then uncovering the garden for the harshest of the winter weather, I decided to quit messing with that foolishness every night in the 30-degree temperatures and arctic wind. I figured the broccoli was a complete loss.

I also thought that three months after planting seeds I should have been getting some vegetables already, but not a single plant was producing anything but leaves.

Since the weather has been rainy, snowy, freezing, or just gloomy outside most days, I haven't even ventured out to the garden to check on things.

Until today. Seriously, it couldn't be more beautiful today.

Today, my broccoli looks like this:

That sucker is ready to be harvested and eaten. We're having home-grown organic broccoli for dinner this weekend!

Here's one of the other plants:


I definitely also see lots of other small heads of broccoli cropping up on those two big plants and a couple of the smaller ones, too! Here's a baby broccoli (you'll have to take my word for it since I made no attempts to add anything for comparison purposes to the photo):


Maybe it's all thanks to this Christmas gift addition to the garden:

(Isn't it cute?)

Or maybe I should really just ignore the garden as much as possible after the planting and pray for the right quantities of sun and rain...like farmers probably did 8000 years ago.

On the Road Again

I know you've all been so concerned about my tire issues that I thought I'd give an update.

I recently filled my gas tank up and calculated mileage; it seems all is well. I think maybe the dealership was running the car in idle A LOT whilst attempting to fix my squeaky glove box, which is still covered under warranty (just barely). I guess since I have a "just barely" warranty they decided to "just barely" fix the glove box. It still squeaks sometimes, but not enough to make the repairmen hear it during a test drive.

Anyway, all that idle running probably caused the bad gas mileage. And I believe the below-freezing temperatures of late caused some low air pressure issues.

Now that it's back in the 70s, or 22 Celsius, (what month is this?) the tires seem back to normal.

Changing lanes (I have no good segue) ----

I have rarely spoken of infertility in the last couple months. That's because we're not doing anything about it currently. I get acupuncture and take herbs, but so far that's affecting my cycles, my mood, and my blood flow NOT fertility per se. I'm just happy to feel better emotionally, have a stronger pulse, and maybe get rid of the heartburn that has been plaguing me for a year now.

Let me take this opportunity to say, for all those going through infertility treatments, that you may develop long-term heartburn from all those synthetic hormones. And even though your doctor may say it's completely unrelated and you should go see your general physician about it, I'm here to tell you it's completely related. My hypothesis has been confirmed by my acupuncturist. She's seen it quite a bit. And I'm experiencing it. Never had heartburn before - now I have it all the time. The good news is that she says it will not last forever.

I believe God can work miracles if and when He wants to. However, at the same time I am coming to terms with the fact that I cannot get pregnant. Some days I do better than others. Adoption is still in our vague future plans. Honestly, I can't deal with all the adoption decisions right now. Thinking about choosing the age, color, health, ethnicity and cost of your child makes me angry right now. I wouldn't have to make those ridiculous decisions if I just got pregnant. Is it even right that some children cost more than others? Uuughh.

When God has a child for us, He'll let us know. I have no doubt.

So, we're just trying to figure out how to live life the way it is right now. Welcome to the thoughts going on inside my head! It's not always pretty.

At least now I don't have to also worry about the tires on my car going flat or exploding!

Blast from the Past

There must be a lot of things about my childhood that I don't remember. I worry that this lack of memory makes my blog a little less interesting than it could potentially be.

For instance, Jon on "Stuff Christians Like" mentioned "choose your own adventure" in his post today. And suddenly I remembered that I used to read "Choose Your Own Adventure" books! I loved reading through as many different story plots as possible and often finally just ended up reading various endings to the story before moving on to the next book.

If only I could remember minor details of my past then maybe hundreds of people would flock to the blog to reminisce and wonder to themselves how they could have forgotten about watching "Today's Special" as a child.

Or not. Let's face it. The fact that I used to read "Choose Your Own Adventure" books is kind of a red flag that I was a nerd. I read A LOT. Sometimes I was reading two or three books at a time. For fun, not for school. Although, I did also read all the books I supposed to read for school. Because I was a nerd. (As opposed to my husband, who I don't believe ever read a book in its entirety for school...or for fun, come to think of it.)

So, most people would probably not find my childhood memories terribly entertaining.

I do remember that despite the fact that I was a nerd who loved to read and did all my schoolwork, I pretty much always hated school...until college. But let's face it: college is not like regular school.

Now that I'm far removed from college (I don't feel like counting the years), I wouldn't really want to go back to all that studying and readings textbooks and final exams. Have I rambled enough for today? I believe so.

Leaving this post in such a state of rabbit trails and unimportant flashbacks does have an upside: it will force to come up with another post soon because I hate to leave this as the first post at the top of the page!

Imagine

There was a devastating earthquake in Haiti.

I want you to think about that for longer than five seconds.

This morning, driving in my car, I still had scenes from the news playing in my mind. Buildings in a heap on the ground. A woman half buried in rubble, slumped over, blood coming from her eyes, nose and ears. People milling about in the street, glazed eyes, covered in a gray dust created from tons of concrete being smashed to bits.

What a contrast to what I was physically seeing with my eyes as I drove. Neat, brick houses lines up along either side of the street. Moms walking down the sidewalk with their babies in strollers. Clean, sparkling cars driving down the road with their drivers comfortably warmed by their vehicle heaters.

Our world is so incredibly different from so many other people's experiences in life. Take a minute to imagine it with me.

Imagine you lose everything - your house, your belongings, your car. There is no insurance to help you recover what was lost. Your cell phone doesn't work, public transportation doesn't work, and the airports are shut down. Everyone around you has also lost everything.

Oh, and you have no bank account. No retirement, no investment portfolio, no savings. So, you have no means to travel to an alternate location where you might find shelter, running water and food. There is no way you can go "wait it out" in another state.

The government? Imagine the government is so corrupt and incapable that there is no way they will be able to pull things together enough to offer any kind of help. No FEMA, for sure.

Let's just imagine your entire family is still alive. Maybe someone has a broken arm. Maybe your child has a huge gash in their head. The hospitals and clinics are in such disrepair that you'll have to wait days to be seen by a doctor. In the meantime, there's no water to clean the wounds and no bandages to cover the cuts.

And now it's a little easier to understand why people are milling about in the streets with glazed looks, no clue what to do next or where to go.

This is what millions of people are experiencing today after a devastating earthquake in Haiti. Now, is there anything you can do to help?

PRAY. There are so many mission organizations in the country trying to do what they can to help. Pray for God's great mercy and grace.

GIVE. There are so many organizations you can donate to. Compassion International is working to provide food, clothes, and basic supplies to the children and families in their programs in Haiti. World Vision is doing the same. Doctors Without Borders needs help to get their emergency medical clinics in Haiti fully-staffed and fully-supplied. Mercy Ships is mobilizing to get medical and non-medical aid to Haiti's shores. Of course, the Red Cross is also working to provide relief to the people in Haiti.

Imagine depending on other nations to come help you after such a disaster. Think about it for longer than five seconds.

Warning: Inane subject to follow

You know what I've decided I don't really like doing?

Checking the air pressure in my tires when it's 30 degrees outside.

In all honesty, I dislike checking the air pressure in my tires at any time of year. I like to think I'm fairly capable of doing many things, and how hard can checking air pressure be anyway?

I just never can get a precise reading. I can put that little air pressure gauge in the tire three times and get readings that are 5 lbs different each time! It's so annoying. And then, since I'm a recovering perfectionist, it's impossible for me to figure out if each tire is exactly at the same pressure.

In the back of my mind I hear a voice telling me I read somewhere about how if the tires aren't calibrated equally your tires will explode...or something. So even as I'm adding up to 5 lbs of air to a tire, I'm wondering if that fifth measurement really confirmed that the tire is that low. Am I adding too much air to this one tire?

Either I have a slow leak in one or two of my tires or my air pressure gauge skills are woefully awful and I've now inflated two of my tires to dangerous levels. An explosion could occur any day.

Or maybe it can all be blamed on a faulty gauge. This is just not a topic that comes up in conversation, so I really have no idea if others have these kinds of problems. I could just be crazy.

(Crazy like you probably are right this very minute for having read so much about such an inane subject!)

Just one more thing. The cold weather makes screwing those little caps on and off the tires almost unbearable: it can't be done with gloves on, so your hands are destined to be frozen.

I wish I had some more interesting subject to write about this evening, but, alas, I'm either too tired or my life has been too boring to come up with anything more entertaining. Come back tomorrow and check to see if life has become more exciting.

And feel free to comment if you also have tire air pressure frustrations - maybe I'm not alone.

Bloggy Links

I waited all morning for the cabinet painter to come finish one lonely cabinet in our kitchen. Turns out he wasn't really going to come today anyway, but didn't feel it necessary to call. Thankfully, my husband finally called him. So I crammed everything I was going to do all day into the afternoon.

To sum the day up: I spent a leisurely morning doing laundry and dishes and reading blogs, then a whirlwind afternoon shopping, going to the gym, and keeping tabs on my husband. Oh, and it was bitterly cold.

So, here are some more interesting posts to read today.

Today's Fashion Friday edition of The Big Mama Blog got me motivated to go look for some deals to spend my Christmas gift cards on. (Mission accomplished, by the way.)

I'm a little behind, I know, but Matt's post predicting the future made me laugh out loud.

And Shaun's post made me want to be like his mom when I grow up.

Weather Preparedness

It rarely gets to freezing or below in this part of Texas. So, it's a good thing I was actually home and watching the 5:00 news here yesterday. That's where I was reminded of the need to cover and insulate your water spigots outside your house in cases of extreme cold.

And let me tell you, we are experiencing some arctic cold around here today. I can hear the wind howling, and it looks like the wind chill is 12 degrees (that would be -11 Celsius)! I bet even our experiences in Berlin and Paris at Christmas did not approach this kind of cold.

So, thanks to the evening news (and my dad who gave me some pointers), I took the necessary precautions just before it got dark.

The two water spigots attached to the house got wrapped in newspaper and plastic bags.

This water spigot is a pipe sticking up out of a flower bed. I'm not sure if the bucket adds anything to this winter weather protection, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

These are my broccoli plants. For some reason, my garden plants seem to take three times longer than normal to start producing fruit so I just started getting tiny broccoli a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure a sheet will have no effect against the arctic, biting cold we are experiencing, but why not try?

It turns out we have special store-bought protective covers for the water spigots. My husband tells me this later. But really, it's probably best that I didn't know that. I'm sure finding them and then figuring out how to attach them to the spigots would have taken twice as long as my newspaper-plastic bag solution.

Now, as I face going out in the below-freezing temperatures, I need to find some appropriate winter protection for myself. I'm just not sure I have anything warm enough. Because I am not accustomed to living in Canada. Or Antarctica.

Confession #3

It's been a while since I've done this, but I have a confession. (For the previous two posts, you can look here and here.)

I don't take sermon notes.

I think about this topic every once in a while when I notice someone sitting near me in church scrawling copious notes as the preacher gives the sermon. And I have to wonder, especially in churches with an inordinate amount of note-takers, if everyone else sees me just sitting there listening and thinks maybe I'm not very holy. There is, after all, an entire section in many bulletins nowadays with space for jotting down memorable bits from the sermon. Some churches even have handy fill-in-the-blank outlines to work through as you hear the sermon.

But I'm at peace with my decision.

I've tried to take notes once or twice. The church bulletin with the notes ends up either stuck into my Bible or laying on the floorboard of the car, never to be looked at again. Eventually it will just end up in a trashcan somewhere. Honestly, I just never look at the sermon notes again.

And then I wonder if anybody who practices sermon note-taking really reviews their notes later in the week. Or ever again.

I like to think I'm being green by not taking notes in my bulletin. Then my bulletin can be reused during the next service - good as new!

But then again, maybe I'm really just spiritually lazy. I often do have something to say about the sermon to my husband in the car on the way home, so I really do listen. Although, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that sometimes the only thing I can remember is that when the pastor said he's using the new catch phrase 2010. All in. "because it rhymes", I thought, "It really only rhymes if you're from the South."

I probably should have been taking some notes last Sunday.

The Wilderness

Sometimes I think the trade-off for a year of no big changes is disappointment and sadness. As mentioned before, 2009 was a lot of waiting for us...but no big changes.

We didn't get pregnant and have a child. We didn't move. We didn't change jobs. We didn't change to a different small group during the year. I continued all the same doctor appointments I started in 2008. We didn't even do anything different to the house (until last week). We didn't take any big trips.

So, even though change is not easy, I'm starting to think maybe it's a little better than waiting. I also have a feeling this New Year will be a year of change. I can't say exactly what those changes might be yet; I just think maybe we're in for some adventures.

As difficult as 2009 was, I read something today that really struck me to change my perspective a little bit. "For the Lord your God has blessed you in all that you have done. He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing." ~ Deuteronomy 2:7

Now, my first gut reaction as I think back over the Israelites leaving Egypt and journeying in the wilderness for 40 years, ultimately ending with the curse that they will never enter the promised land (though their children will), is how it was all a bunch of suffering, making big mistakes, waiting, and disappointment. Kind of like my gut reaction as I look back on 2009.

But then, isn't it odd that in such barren, screwed up, disappointing circumstances, God Himself was actually present with His people...right there, closer than He'd ever been and more visible and audible to humans than He would ever be (except for Christ's life on earth)?

So, He really did understand their wanderings and how vast the wilderness was because He was there. It ended up that the Israelites had enough money to buy food and water as they sojourned and even won some battles, so the things they did (when they were not being rebellious toward God) really must have been blessed. Even though sometimes God's provision was not quite what the Israelites wanted, many of them made it the entire 40 years alive and kicking.

How quickly I forget amidst all my emotions that God has blessed so many things I've done this year. He's used me...even in the broken state I'm in. Like the Israelites, I feel that God has been nearer and closer this year than ever before. He understands. He knows about my wilderness because He's been here the whole time. How easily I forget, while focusing on all the things that didn't happen, that I do not lack anything I need. In fact, in other ways I am abundantly blessed: my husband, my family, my friends, my job, opportunities to serve and give, no real financial worries.

Today Deuteronomy 2:7 put 2009 in perspective so I can move forward with hope. I will not lack a thing. God will be with me. That is everything.

Hello, 2010!

In the back of mind all day I've been contemplating all the things I could wax eloquent about in a post bidding 2009 farewell and welcoming in 2010. But now as I sit here, with only a precious few minutes to myself before I climb into bed, I know this post will only be a short summary of the non-familial activities that have taken place over the past week and a half.

Perhaps I'll find time to sit and reminisce tomorrow.

For now, I am content to tell you all that I'm starting 2010 with a "new" kitchen. A week and a half ago, before John got home and decided he needed to spend his vacation orchestrating home renovations, our kitchen looked like this:


And, as of yesterday, it now exudes a whole different personality:


(I almost forgot I ever had that healthy green houseplant on top of the refrigerator. That "before" picture was taken about four years ago. I have long since killed that ivy and made a second failed attempt at growing another one. Something green would look nice in the new kitchen though. However, my record with the houseplants is poor.)

I cooked in the remodeled kitchen for the first time today (black-eyed peas and cornbread, of course!) and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Of course, a tiny bit of the enthusiasm probably had something to do with the fact that my kitchen has been a disaster since last week and I have not been able to do any cooking at all (save for the crockpot soup about a week ago)! But the bright white and freshly painted walls are a delight!

Here's to lots more fresh starts and new delights for 2010!