Just one more...

Abram and I got another game of tennis in last night. We keep thinking each game will be our last for the year, then another sunny day will come and we jump in the car and head to the courts. We were even playing in shorts and t's. We have a lot of fun and I'm getting better just in time for winter... ah well. As cold and rainy as it is today it feels like yesterday was our last game, but we've said that before. so, maybe we'll get just one more!!!

Nonstop weekend

Friday afternoon and evening we moved Steven into his own home and helped him set up house a bit. Saturday was jampacked - house shopping in the morning, Purdue football game in the afternoon, and bonfire that evening. I was beyond excited about someone giving us tickets for the game Saturday. I love football and to be there in person, is of course, the desired spectatorship. Unfortunately, it appeared that perhaps this was Purdue's first opportunity to practice.. as Abram put it. What a terrible game. I was cheering for Wisconsin before the second half. The marching band had things together. They were fun to watch. It helped ease the pain, that the tickets given to us were club seats, so my giant had a place to lean his back. Bleachers would have been killer at a game where we had few reasons to stand and cheer :( But who's complaining - it was a great time and I am grateful for the opportunity!
The bonfire was nice to enjoy some friends and even shoot some clay pigeons.
Sunday was full morning at church, then to our deacon's home for lunch then a quick nap before heading to Steven's house for chili and a chillin' time with friends.

A personal victory

For Sarah Layer....and other runners out there.

I've never been a runner. I "tried" a couple times. but I couldn't breathe (go figure) and it hurt (again...). I had bronchitis, pneumonia and reactive airway disease and was hospitalized when I was three, then struggled with these sicknesses growing up. I just figured my lungs were too weak and I couldn't do it. A man on my extension one weekend in college, a runner, once told me I could strengthen my lungs, but I just figured he didn't understand and was OK with my state of being. I remember watching Sarah Johnson and Kelly (? shame on me... mk from Cameroon, long blonde hair) run cross country and I thought they were super-human. I walked. Well, around May of 05, I wanted to try again. I needed to "defeat" something, overcome something, accomplish something. I started with running around the pond in our neighborhood. I would come home and tell Abram "I ran FOUR laps this time!!!" ha ha. Then one day - let's see, it was about 90+ degrees out, I ran from my house to Sherry's, which at that time was two miles. I didn't make it, I had to walk the last half mile. When I arrived at Sherry's I was red as a beat and literally thought I was going to die. She gave me water and suggested I walk back and to wait till it cooled to try it again :) Well, I did try it again, and again and soon I could run there no problem. Then I ran 3 miles till I could do that with no problem. then 4. I remember the day I ran 5 miles without stopping. I felt like I had conquered the world! then I did 6 miles. 7. 8. 9. then 10. I wanted to run a mini marathon. These stupid things cost money tho. Abram said he would set up a mini marathon for me and all my friends could run with me and he would video and it would be just like the real thing! Well, then Sherry surprised me with a gift of paying for me to enter the Indy Mini. I was to run with her and Troy. One day I was excited, the next I was terrified and was that way for the six months till it finally came. May 6, 2006. Sherry was having problems with her knee and it scared me to think of running alone, but I was committed and there was no backing out. Abram was out of town working with Aaron,and the night before the race I was in Indy getting my packet, they called and said they might not make it the next morning for the race. hmmm, not a happy girl. But they said they would try. I stayed in a hotel room by myself in Indy. I passed the time shopping. I found a shirt that was unique - at the suggestion of Sherry, so friends could see me in the sea of people. I was so nervous I couldn't eat that night. Abram and Aaron showed up around 2 am. I got up at 5, showered and started my stretching for the race, starting at 7. My poor boys were exhausted, but were troopers and were ready to go on time. Aaron pinned my bib on me and they stayed at the starting line with me until it was finally time to start.
The anticipation was intense for me. I had many experienced runners offer lots of advice - one being to not jolt off at the start and lose my stamina by exerting all my energy in the first five miles. I told the boys that I was guestimating it would take me 2hours, 15 minutes to 2hours, 30 minutes. I had not run 13 miles yet and figuring 10 minute miles, I guessed that long. I had two goals in this run. 1. Finish. (I heard about the bus that picks up stragglers... not cool) 2. never stop running. I did NOT want to walk. when we finally got to the start line and I took off running, I was filled with so much purpose and single-mindedness that I knew I was going to accomplish this. I ran. and ran. and ran. I passed people left and right. I kept thinking I should slow down, but I felt so good, I didn't want to. I wanted to keep going. I remember thinking a lot - i cant believe I am doing this. and sometimes - we are stupid! we are all running for no reason!!! ha Mile 10, exiting the race track, my stomach was growling, I could feel myself running out of energy, but I wasn't even close to walking. Mile 11 my legs started feeling weak. mile 12 my feet were killing me. mile 13 I wanted to walk. People were passing me now. COME ON CURTIS, YOU CAN DO THIS. KEEP RUNNING!!!!! I did, I was half a mile from the finish line and it looked like a thousand miles away. Quarter of a mile left and I looked to my left and there stood my husband and brother, both with huge encouraging smiles on their faces - they had spotted my shirt :). Wow - talk about a burst of energy!!! I sprinted my way to the finish line, with Abram running thru the crowd off to the side to meet me. I crossed the finish line at exactly 2 hours on the nose. I got my metal, my bag of goodies and my sensor taken off my shoe, my picture taken then met the boys. We sat for a while and I stretched out and guzzled so much water and gatorade I about made myself sick. I did it. I ran a mini marathon. Some people there had done it a hundred times. But it was my first time and I felt on top of the world. When we left I called friends. I fell asleep in the car and was pretty well done for the day. The next day I felt fine! Hardly any soreness. Given the chance, I will do one again. Perhaps not the Indy Mini - 30,000 people is tooooo many for me. In retrospect, it was good that I ran alone. It was an outstanding experience for me. A personal victory. I know, I can do what I put my mind to. No excuses.

Dreamy day with a dreamy date

Although it didn't go as I had fore-planned in my mind, it was outstanding, nonetheless. The plan - awake at 545, make food preparations, pack the car, shower, dress and hit the road, be hiking by noon at the latest. Reality... missed the alarm altogether; showered, threw some food together, forgot the water in the freezer, drove to the office to reprint forgotten directions, left lying on the kitchen table, wait for printer to warm up, go back for coat, start down to Bloomington finally at 11 am. stop for coffee. stop for gas. Follow ridiculous directions taking twice as long to get there than needed. Stop for potty break. Creep thru Bloomington with the IU football traffic. Find Charles Deam Wilderness south of Bloomington. ahhhh, finally arrived. Eat quickly. Climb firetower. Now, lets set off for our hike.... should we bring food and water?? naaaaa. lets travel light. Quick swig o' water, three granola bars in Abram's back pocket, an apple in mine. 2:30 pm. The trail is easy at first, but pretty enough. Then 2.5 miles down a steep gully and up the other side. Abram reminisces about his horse riding days and educates me on how to make a good trail horse. 5.5 more miles to the lake. no mile markers, so altho we were close, we dont know it and I asked some hikers passing "much farther to the lake?" "nope, you're close." we were and we arrived at the lake around 5pm. One passer by said it was GORGEOUS, but perhaps he only goes to lakes in Indiana. It was pretty, but Abram and I were thankful we have experienced even better scenes! If you look closely, there is a dragonfly on the front of my shirt.
Well, of course, having taken two and a half hours to arrive there, and only one way back.... well we knew we were losing day light. Our legs were tired, Abram was parched, and we knew we had to turn right around and do what we had just got done doing. Abram ate two of his granola bars and we split the apple. We passed so many lucky persons with their tents set up, their fires burning and saw them sipping their hot coffee or whatnot. It was promised to be a "nice" day, but not trusting the weather men, we had brought a bunch of winter wear. We obviously didn't bundle up too much. You really couldn't have asked for better weather. The sky was blue and clear and the sun was shining strong. And at the rate we were hauling, we wouldn't have wanted to be heavy laden with winter accessories. When we finally saw a trail marker on the way back we pulled out our map and found out we are twice as far along as we thought we were. Nice feeling. Our legs were tired, as we knew it was a race against the fleeting sunlight, and we had no light of our own. we were deep in the woods and once we lost daylight there would be no seeing the trail. I had mental pictures of us huddling together thru the night to keep warm till we could find our way back in the morning. We kept each other entertained with stories of growing up - of course we had heard the stories from each other before, but it was fun, regardless. We knew we couldn't do the gully in the dark, the trail was hard enough to find in the daylight, so we cut down to what we thought would be a shortcut. We ended up on a gravel road for our last two miles. not easy on the feet, but at least with the swift approaching darkness we knew would be able to see the road. So, turns out, even on our tired old feet, we did 6 miles in 45 minutes, and thinking we were closer than we were, we dragged our last 2 miles, doing that in almost another 45 minutes. We were happy to see the firetower and our car. We guzzled some water, and I even talked Abram into climbing back up the tower to take a shot of the sun - tho already gone. Abram devoured his sandwich and we laughed as we drove out of the park. Our one hike we got in this year had to be a killer!!! We had a great time together and even tho I hiked most of the way with a pulled muscle in my right leg, we came out injury free. Our bed sure felt good that night!!

Kudos to Charbucks

I received a letter from Starbucks yesterday. While it was a lovely letter, I must say, I think they should hire someone to proof their correspondence before it goes out! :) But, I'll let it go this time since they did take the time to write and include some free drink coupons! Just think, if that gal at the register had just offered the drink free that day, that would have been one cheap drink they "lost". (I'm no fancy-pants, posh, swanky-drink starbucker) Instead, now I have three coupons good for anything I like. "Most expensive thing you've got, please....throw a little bit of everything in there"
So how about that, customer service still has a pulse. I must admit, tho, I have a strong desire to show up at the establishment every morning at 7 juuuuuust to keep them.... you know... accountable!

Breath of fresh slash smokey air...

Good friends, good fire, good fun.

Abram's hair is escew b/c he just got off the four-wheeler and dirt bike.

Our gracious hosts, Stephen, Rachel and Malachi

I believe this picture is right before they hauled off into the grass and wrestled to the death

Not a bad way to spend the evening, eh?

You try pouring coffee in the dark! huh, Troy :) - I still think you took the last bit.

Sherry Baby

I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to know Sherry for 12 years now. It has been good to deepen our friendship, share excitement, disappointments, and even get in a little trouble together. Sometimes we even make each other mad, but it doesn't last too long. I always know where I can find a good hug. A friend is someone who knows everything about you and likes you anyway. That's my Sherry friend. And Troy is a perfect addition. He has taken me with Sherry. (Its a package, you know...) Just wanted to put it out there, that Sherry is a pretty cool friend... as if you didn't already know.

Malaria

Abram's brother, Seth and wife Darla serve as missionaries in the DR Congo, Africa. Seth has been working diligently on building a home there for a year now... lots of hard work. Right now they all have malaria (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria). Seth gets it every year, and Darla has been able to care for him, but they all have it this time. All - Seth, Darla, Corban, 4 yrs, and Lael, 1 yr. I believe Corban has had it before, but it is extremely dangerous for children. They are supposed to be out of their rented home this month, if I remember correctly, and this illness puts a hault on his building, I'm sure. Malaria is not something that passes quickly. Even after you start getting "better" it takes a good deal of time to regain your strength. Would be wonderful if everyone who reads this would take them before God in prayer. And thank God for your health, plumbing, electricity, walmart and peanut butter today.

Since so many college friends have been blogging, I thought I'd put on this picture from Sherry's wedding last December 31. It was so fun to see friends from back in the day. Julie Churchwell is missing from our group photo as she was taking care of Sojourn at the time we all gathered for the picture. Several came to our house after the wedding to "celebrate" New Years. I put celebrate in quotes because none of us old fogies made it to midnight! Pretty pathetic, eh? I think we threw a movie in and Dave was the only one who watched it thru. Was so great to pick right back up after 6+ years... Good friends.

A good visit

In August my parents finally came out for a visit. Six years we've been married and we thought they'd never come. But they did, and it was wonderful to have them!
Thanks for coming Dad and Mom! We love you and hope its not another six years before you visit!!!!



I have to give them this tho, who would want to leave THIS, for Indiana.....

Sweet Child

This is Yuichan in Japan. She is three years old and the sweetest little friend you could hope for. She can sing absolutely phenomenally. She is smart, bright and funny. Tho we spoke different languages we seemed to understand each other just fine.
It was unfortunate she had parents. I wanted to put her in my pocket and bring her home with me.

Customer Service is dead

A very unfortunate annex to my coffee admiration.
The Charbucks on campus here opens at 7 am. Its a few blocks away, its getting ever so fridged out, but I needed a cup of coffee. I arrived at 5 till 7. I browsed the paper till 7, when I anticipated the gate going up and I could taste my coffee already (unfortunately this is the closest option this early in the morning, an essay on Charbucks is probably necessary). The line behind me quickly accumulated, some stayed, some huffed, gave up and walked away. We stood and watched as the 7 employees behind the counter laughed, meandered and otherwise pretended to be doing something of value. 20 minutes after the "store hours" sign reports the establishment to be open, they, what seemed begrudgingly, lifted the gate and allowed us to enter. I asked for my Venti Misto (the only drink I can generally tollerate there), fully expecting to be apologized to and offered my drink free, but no such luck. I wished very much I had some remarkable thing to say to them that might encourage them to embrace the ever-dying customer service, but I do believe that no words would have been sufficient.
Rest in Peace, Customer Service, its every man for himself.

Coffee

My Dad very openly hates coffee. He never had a good thing to say about it. So I had to keep it to myself that I secretly liked the smell of Grandpa and Grandma's coffee brewing. It wasnt' till I left the house and went to college... I bellied up to the dining hall table my freshman year with my brother and his friends. Their mugs were filled with steaming hot coffee. I thought I'd try the brew myself. Hold the cream and sugar, no acquired taste necessary. I liked it strong and black from the first taste.

Good things are better and difficult things are bearable with coffee. a movie, a book, conversation, sunrise, sunset, the paper, waiting in line, work... winter (spring, summer and autumn for that matter).

Some of my favorite moments are in a restaurant with a good friend, the meal is over and you are engaged in earnest conversation. But the moment is not complete without that piping hot cup of joe in your hand. "Warm your coffee up, ma'am? yes please...thank you."

Abram once accused me of being addicted. Well, its certainly not the caffeine, as I can drink a cup and go straight to bed. It is a comfort to me. Its just a good thing. And one I can't get enough of. When I'm sad, coffee can actually cheer me, when I'm happy, it adds to my pleasure, when I'm solemn, its a welcome companion.

So, sorry Dad, but in your greatest efforts to turn us all away from the strong drink, your son and youngest daughter hold coffee in a very high regard.

SuperSize Me

As much as we despise McDonalds, it would seem that Ronald exceeds all language barriers...






(our friends Yuri Tanii and Isaku Tanii)

Clouds

The end of September brought us some magnificent clouds. We would be outside and just have to stop and admire them. I have always been enamored by clouds and these were no exception. We had valiant intentions to take pictures of them, but they will simply remain snapshots in our minds as intentions are never as worthy as actions. It brings my favorite poem of all time to mind, The Cloud, By Percy Bysshe Shelley. I memorized it years ago and love to recall it still. It is a splendid picture of the detail that such a simple, over-looked and taken for granted entity achieves...

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their Mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under;
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.

II

I sift the snow on the mountains below,
And their great pines groan aghast;
And all the night 'tis my pillow white,
While I sleep in the arms of the Blast.
Sublime on the towers of my skiey bowers
Lightning my pilot sits;
In a cavern under is fettered the Thunder,
It struggles and howls at fits.
Over earth and ocean with gentle motion
This pilot is guiding me,
Lured by the love of the Genii that move
In the depths of the purple sea;
Over the rills and the crags and the hills,
Over the lakes and the plains,
Wherever he dreams under mountain or stream
The Spirit he loves remains;
And I all the while bask in heaven's blue smile,
Whilst he is dissolving in rains.

III

The sanguine Sunrise with his meteor eyes,
And his burning plumes outspread,
Leaps on the back of my sailing rack,
When the morning star shines dead:
As on the jag of a mountain crag
Which an earthquake rocks and swings
An eagle alit one moment may sit
In the light of its golden wings.
And, when Sunset may breathe, from the lit sea beneath,
Its ardours of rest and of love,
And the crimson pall of eve may fall
From the depth of heaven above,
With wings folded I rest on mine airy nest,
As still as a brooding dove.

IV

That orbed maiden with white fire laden
Whom mortals call the Moon
Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor
By the midnight breezes strewn;
And whenever the beat of her unseen feet,
Which only the angels hear,
May have broken the woof of my tent's thin roof,
The stars peep behind her and peer.
And I laugh to see them whirl and flee
Like a swarm of golden bees,
When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent, --
Till the calm rivers, lakes, and seas,
Like strips of the sky fallen through me on high,
Are each paved with the moon and these.

V

I bind the Sun's throne with a burning zone,
And the Moon's with a girdle of pearl;
The Volcanoes are dim, and the Stars reel and swim,
When the Whirlwinds my banner unfurl.
From cape to cape, with a bridge-like shape
Over a torrent sea,
Sunbeam-proof, I hang like a roof;
The mountains its columns be.
The triumphal arch through which I march,
With hurricane, fire, and snow,
When the powers of the air are chained to my chair,
Is the millioned-coloured bow;
The Sphere-fire above its soft colours wove,
While the moist Earth was laughing below.

VI

I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky:
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;
I change, but I cannot die.
For after the rain, when with never a stain
The pavilion of heaven is bare,
And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams
Build up the blue dome of air,
I silently laugh at my own cenotaph, --
And out of the caverns of rain,
Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb,
I arise, and unbuild it again.

MT. FUJI!!!

I wanted so much to see Mt. Fuji while in Japan. We went to Kofu for a couple of days to spend time with the Tanii family. Tanii Sensei drove us all over showing us all sorts of wonderful things. It rained all day but we explored nonetheless. On this, our last day with him, we were driving home, content to have taken in what we could, TaniiSensei started swerving the vehicle and shouting"APPEAR! APPEAR! APPEAR!". He kept looking over his shoulder and hollering what we couldn't decipher was English or Japanese (Generally he spoke Jenglish at best anyway).... But finally, in his excitement, he was able to manage "MT. FUJIIIIIIII!!!!!!" We turned and there she was, in all her beauty, Mt. Fuji.


He found a place to pull over and we spent a good deal of time just standing there admiring and appreciating the fact that we were allowed a time with Mt. Fuji. As you can see, the clouds parted just enough. It only lasted about a half hour, but it was enough, we were all excited and had a great time.

a sampling of Japan...

Fresh off the plane... or not so fresh


Good friends and good sushi


teaching the kids "cups"


tourists...


Scramble Square





I was forced to eat him


Pictures dont do it justice




Sweet TaniiSensei and his ceremonial tea and cake serving