At the Dentist

I am suffering still from the three fillings I had done today, but as I think about the experience I had at the dentist I can't help but find it somewhat amusing. Upon entering the building I noticed two very tanned (possibly Latino) men on the roof working. It didn't dawn on me until I was sitting in the waiting area and heard the groanings of a drill--not a dentist drill mind you, some kind of industrial power tool that sounded as if it would bore right into my head from the ceiling above--that this would not be "easy listening" during the procedure. At one point the whole situation just seemed so absurd, I began to laugh (on the inside) and I was thankful that I am not one of those people with a dental phobia. To top it off, after an hour or so, a strange chemical odor resulting from the roof work, much like that of rubber cement, began to permeate the office. The receptionist kindly opened the front and back doors to allow for some fresh air, but it made only a little improvement.

The Truth about Allium

A couple of days ago while playing outside, we noticed how lovely the allium are getting on. (For those of you unfamiliar with this plant, it looks like a giant chive in blossom, about four feet tall with purple pom-pom type flowers the size of a fist.) First the Artist went over to sniff them, and then I and little Prettiness, and while we were admiring the new fish pond arrangement, the Stuntman came over with a purple fist-sized pom-pom flower proudly in hand. When asked, he said he didn't do it...he said it was already broken....hmmm. Well we (Oma and I ) were a little suspicious, but wanted to believe him, so we thought it must have happened accidentally.

A little while later, while preparing the children's lunch, Oma informed me that there was not just one snapped allium, but two....she suggested I get to the bottom of this. And so I had a private little chat with my very physical second born son. I said, "I know you broke the flower."
"How do you know?" he asked.
"I just know..." I replied, "why did you pick it?"
"It was pretty and I wanted to have it, " he said looking very serious with his deep brown eyes.
"It is pretty, but it isn't yours, so it is wrong to take it. Those flowers are special to Oma, and if you ever want to pick her flowers, you need to ask her first. " Then I added, "Oma said two were broken, did you pick two of them?"
He nodded looking rather worried.
"Okay, I am glad you told the truth this time. It is very important you tell the truth. It was wrong to take something that wasn't yours, and it is very wrong to lie about it." Then I proceeded to explain how important it is to be truthful and sent him out to confess his crime and apologize to Oma.

I am not sure how well the four year old conscience and mind process the whole concept of truth and lies...but that isn't really the point. What matters is that he learns the difference and that he needs to choose the truth, or else there will be unpleasant consequences. In this case his unpleasant consequences were confessing and apologizing to Oma. Of course if this kind of incident repeats, the consequence will have to be even more unpleasant, so that he is guided to make better choices.

Karaoke convert

Ever since I saw "Lost in Translation" I have wanted to give karaoke a try...
...and last night that opportunity arose. I was prepared to sing "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell, but had so much fun I also went up two more times with "Brass in Pocket" by the Pretenders and "Would I Lie to You?" by the Eurythmics. Needless to say it was all very theraputic and I am sure entertaining for those watching...Congratulations to Greg who won first prize in the karaoke contest with "Rock this Town" by the Stray Cats (me-ow!).

Requests anyone?

In my garden

This year I have a beautiful new garden. My dad handcrafted a cedar picket fence to keep out the deer and varmits, and also built raised beds to make planting and weeding easier. He even built a little seat into one of the corners as well as an arch for the clematis to climb on. The children have all taken an interest and participated in the cultivating of our little sprouts of spinach, peas, pumpkins, sunflowers, tomatoes, peppers, beans and various herbs. We also have a little strawberry patch and a blueberry bush.....yummy. The weather has been great lately, so we have all been taking advantage and spending long hours out of doors. While the boys romp around the grounds, Prettiness' favorite activity is dropping stones and dirt into a bucket of water and stirring it with a spoon. Mud pies anyone?

Groups

Tonight I attended the first session of the Fresh Start Seminars for divorce recovery...

Upon entering the church building where the weekend-long seminar is being held I saw a colored paper sign pointing me in the direction I needed to go. There were other colored paper signs pointing arrows in other directions for other groups also meeting in the church. I walked up to the registration table, announced my name and was presented with a manila envelope and a workbook and directed to another table to procure my name tag. At the name tag table, the nice man pointed out where the refreshments were and I wandered, somewhat bewildered over to the spread of fruits, veggies, shrimp cocktail and deep-fried appetizers. I collected a few things to nibble on fetched a glass of water and then dread washed over me as I looked into the "fellowship hall" where multiple round tables were set up for people to sit and eat. It was the high school cafeteria on the first day of classes all over again. I scanned the room thinking, "Where should I sit? Who looks interesting? I could choose an empty table, but that looks pathetic and anti-social." I picked my way through and found a seat at a table with an even male-female ratio. Immediately "Don" introduced himself and I am struck with with the thought "Do I really need to do this again?" [I get so tired of meeting new people and making small talk, it really exhausts me. This was one of the aspects of the Women's conference that did me in...] I shared my name, and Don said, "Oh, I see you got the shrimp." "Yes," I replied not knowing what else to say, "they're enormous."

Okay, on to the business of the evening: The Stages of Divorce and Recovery

The first stage after a crisis (in this case separation/divorce) is DENIAL...denial leads to and stems from fear which in turn develops into ANGER. Next comes BARGAINING, and I wish someone had told me about this one, because perhaps I would have done some things differently. After bargaining you hit "the Pit" and DEPRESSION ensues, gradually comes ACCEPTANCE and eventually FORGIVENESS (the "F" word of divorce) and finally one is fit and able to healthfully move into a new lifestyle.

We learned that these stages aren't rigid and often times are "slippery", meaning you can slip from one stage back into a previous one within minutes, days, or weeks, and then back out again. But the key factor here is to be aware of them and not get "stuck" in any one particular stage, because that does not promote emotional healing.

Pictures from San Diego

How cool is that? I can take pictures with my phone and post them on my blog! Enjoy.

Tif and I taking our "Art Walk" in Little Italy, San Diego. 

Tif sipping coffee on the patio of the Sunshine Deli on the premises of the "world famous" Town and Country Resort in San Diego. 

A view from the balcony of our hotel room at the "world famous" Town and Country Resort in San Diego. 

Roses the size of my head at the "world famous" Town and Country Resort in San Diego. 

Super-cool flower on vines growing outside of San Diego airport 

Welcome to the 21st century, Joyella!

I am now the proud owner of a mobile phone....I purchased one to ease my anxieties about being so far away from my children during my San Diego trip. Since I can not seem to get a grasp on more than two months into the future, I purchased one of those pre-paid phones...where you have no committments, you just pay for your minutes in advance and then use them...no monthly bill. Being that this is my first mobile phone, isn't it appropos that it is a Virgin Mobile?

Sunny California

I am presently here in San Diego, California at the Navigators Women's Conference....
The weather is gorgeous today, and Tif and I have the afternoon to check out the cool sights. The conference has been a good change of pace for me, however, I miss my little cutie pies sooooo much!

Here is a rundown of the best things from the conference:
1. Delicious food
2. Chocolate desserts at Thursday dinner, Saturday lunch, and Saturday dinner (the other desserts were yummy too--but not chocolate)
3. Kick-boxing class
4. Ditching Plenary session #3 to see "Hitch" with Tif
5. Sunning by the pool
6. Taking the trolley to Little Italy for "Art Walk"
(anyone noticing these aren't directly related to the conference?)
7. Giving myself a mani and pedi-cure and not having it ruined by washing dishes or little children stepping on my toes
8. Babbie's concert
9. Sitting at the only table with the cute sound-tech man at it for the banquet was also a highlight...heehee (there was a 10-1000 ration of men to women)
10. Smelling the humongous roses growing in the gardens around the resort...some roses bigger than my head!

I opted for the Workshops titled: Deepening Intimacy with Christ, Identifying Root Obstacles to Spiritual Renewal and Planning a Personal Retreat. I found that for where I am in my life journey the first two workshops were too heavy...they should have been more accurately titled "Listening Prayer 101: You too can learn how to hear God's voice in seven simple steps" or "Digging into our deep inner pain and laying it on the table for strangers (and God) to see". Okay, I am being a little harsh, I am sure that several (possibly many) women found those workshops very enriching and helpful...I just wasn't one of them. "Planning a Personal Retreat" was a good choice for me, because it is something I have wanted to do for years now...ever since having children. I have a lot of big decisions in front of me and I need to make sure that I make them wisely with God's leading and not my own selfish desires at the forefront.

You spin me round....

I just happened upon my young daughter, whom I call Prettiness (in here), standing on the turntable of the stereo... I couldn't help but be reminded of this old favorite tune by Dead or Alive. If you know it, you will probably be humming it all day....hehe

...You spin me right round baby, right round, like a record baby, right round, round, round.....

joie de vivre

joie de vivre : keen enjoyment of life

This is my goal. I have it pasted on my latest journal cover, to remind me of what I am working towards. The very first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, "What is the chief end of man?" is answered, "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever." I think that in enjoying our God and Creator and trusting in His word we find this joie de vivre.

Taking time to breathe deeply the crisp Spring night air, tilting my head back to marvel at the wonderment of our cosmos helps me to enjoy God, and I suppose that in my enjoyment of Him I give Him glory as well.

Maritime

FIELD TRIP!!!!!!!
Finally, I actually made it to one of our homeschool field trips, and just barely. Still messed up by DST, my children awake at 8am instead of 7am, which makes leaving the house by 9:45 rather tricky. Maybe if I actually used an alarm clock this wouldn't be a problem, but it reminds me too much of my own school days of hitting snooze and sleeping in until the very last minute. At least this way, we can all wake up grumpy together....

We didn't actually make it out the door until closer to 10am and I needed to visit the ATM first. Knowing how parking is downtown, I was cutting it close. But we made it only 5 minutes late (don't ask me how) and then we waited a while before our tour started. It was great fun to go aboard the US Lightship Chesapeake, US Submarine Torsk, US Coast Guard Cutter Taney and visit the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse all part of the Baltimore Maritime Museum. The US Submarine Torsk was by far our favorite. The exterior is painted like a black shark baring its dagger like teeth in front, but I was impressed with how complicated the interior is with guages, levers, knobs, pipes and switches. I especially liked the shiny copper pipes and brass cranks. We were amazed that this 311 foot long vessel contained a crew of 80 men. I have no idea where they all fit. But I pity the sailor who was a lick over 5'5" and 150 lbs (which was probably most of them). The Taney and Chesapeake were much more spacious, K noticed that their beds looked more "comfy" too. I'm not sure how soundly I'd sleep suspended over a sub torpedo.

Spring has Sprung

So glad for the warmer, sunny weather this week. I've been able to wear the kids out in the great outdoors, and they are sleeping so soundly at night. (yay!) I'm having trouble adjusting my own internal clock to daylight savings time, however. I seem to have this problem every Spring since I have become a mother. Losing a precious hour throws me all out of whack as well as the bedtime routine, but I'm sure I'll get used to before it is time to change the clocks again. Why do we do this anyway?

The trees are starting to show the fuzzy yellow-green haze and pollen is beginning to accumulate on my car. It is the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C. this weekend, and I may actually attend, that is still to be decided... but oh, those cherry trees are gorgeous this time of year.

Spring chicken

I ain't no spring chicken, but spending an afternoon with my aunts and great aunts sure makes me feel like one. No one believed that I had three children (thinking I look way too young), of course some of them are losing their sight and their minds. You know you're in the company of old people when you have the same conversation repeatedly with the same person. But I enjoyed it, they are dear ladies, and since I have no living grandparents, it's the closest I've got. I only see most of these women once a year, and it is pretty much the same each year, but it helps me to connect to my past, my heritage, my bloodlines. What a different world they grew up in! I wish I could remember more of their stories. Perhaps my mother, the writer, will document some of our family history before she begins to forget it too. I hope so.

I can't talk...

No, really I can't talk. My voice left me tonight. It has been fading all day, getting raspier and raspier, I just can't win with this virus! I couldn't even sing Adelweis to the Artist or Six little ducks to the Stuntman when I tucked them in. Oh, well. If you want to talk with me, better email instead.

Went on a "hot date" with the two most handsome guys I know. Okay, I took my sons to see Robots on Monday night, and we had a lovely time, fun movie, by the way. I think I enjoyed the humor more than they did, but it was great "eye-candy" and the soundtrack is excellent.

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!

It's been raining for days and days, not constantly, but consistently it has been damp and cold. It is great sleeping, tea-drinking, and feeling blue weather. I think I am coming down with a cold. Sniff. Yuck. I wonder why it is that my mood seems to reflect the weather, perhaps this is so for most people? When I am stuck in-doors due to inclement weather, I want to sleep and "veg", and when it is sunny and bright outside I am motivated and energized. I really need to do some big-time Spring cleaning. The clutter is beginning to take over and I can no longer see the surfaces of my desk, microwave, dishwasher, dresser, and kitchen table. My closet needs an overhaul and I need to determine where and how to store the kids out-of-season clothes. The boys room has been in a constant state of disarray. I would love to have an indoor yard sale and get rid of some of their junky toys. There are heaping piles of laundry to wash, fold and put away. Ironically, if it were sunny, I would feel like tackling all of these tasks, but it is not. I did however, muster enough gumption to sift through L's baby clothes for my expectant sister-in-law while K and D played educational computer games. (I now have four pregnant sister-in-laws! I already have 13 nieces and nephews plus 4 (no multiples are expected) makes 17!) It pours down rain as I sit and type, and instead of getting dressed and getting to work, I am fighting the impulse to climb back into bed and get lost in slumber.