a few blessings from the week ...

There were some very sweet things from this past week ... some I can share and some I cant.

However, there's enough I can tell that it will easily make a blog entry!

Tuesday our church voted on whether to build on an addition for a larger sanctuary. We've been packed to the gills for a LONG time now. Several times we've approached the idea of adding on, and then balked at the cost. But this week the decision was made to go forward. What was a blessing was the vote -- 141 to 7 in favor of beginning. So many churches split during building programs, and we've been praying that the Lord would give us unity in the decision ... whether to go forward or not ... just so we were in agreement. I think 95.3% is about as close to complete agreement as you could expect to see!

On a less corporate level ... I was blessed with some lovely flowers. A lady at church works for a commercial greenhouse, and her job is to shear the geraniums of all their flowers, and put them in baskets. (I'm assuming so they'll get bushier? Maybe?) I think she feels quite bad for all the flowers going to waste. Yesterday she brought me this pretty bunch.

And lastly, I've been thinking of putting down laminate flooring in my condo. I had a contractor from church come out and look at things this week. I was shocked that the cost was about double what I'd thought it would be. Gulp!

So afterwards, I was sitting at my desk, with floor samples spread out around me as I worked.
One of the deacons walked past.

"What are the samples for?" he asked.

"I was thinking of using it in my house."

"Really? I've got a ton of that stuff somebody gave me. Want to have a look at it?"

Well ... YES! :)

"Maybe you won't like it, but if you do, you can have it."

"I like it already!" FREE is my favorite style of laminate.

He doesn't have enough to do all that needs done (I need 450 square feet for the main area). But, hopefully I can buy something that matches what he has, and then I'll only need to pay for that and for installation. It's been through a fire, so I'll have to pull the padding off the back, before it can be used. But I think I can manage that quite nicely.

Lastly, yesterday I went down to a banquet at the Christian school I graduated from. (Note to my brother ... lots of folks asked about you.) I have my 20th class reunion this year, so it was interesting to see how the school, and the people, have changed! It was a good evening. A friend went down with me, so there was good visiting in the car going down, and coming back. A very nice evening.

lovely hair extensions ...

Last night I went to the Dollar Store just in between a couple other stores I needed to visit.

While there, I saw these funny headbands with hair attached, and picked them up for my nieces.

As I left, the lady at the cash register said, "did you find everything you needed?"

I replied, "yes," and then thought ...

Does that mean I went IN to the dollar store looking for orange and pink hair extensions? :)

weekend socks

My stepbrother and his wife (step-sister-in-law? ... lots of hyphens, but that must be right), gave me these socks two Christmases ago.

They don't match a thing I own. In fact, they don't match a thing I've EVER owned, or ever WILL own. (I'm a very conservative sort.)

I love these socks.

They're weekend socks ... I put them on Saturday morning, and they clash with whatever I wear. And I know it's the weekend ... nobody will see me, and I can wear whatever socks I like.

Some people rebel in big ways ... some people rebel in small ways. :)

I love my weekend socks.

feminist ear-worms

Hah! Now THERE's a unique subject line for you!

I've had an ear-worm for several days now. (For those who aren't familiar with the term, it's not a parasite, or at least not a physical one. It's an annoying song that gets stuck in your head and won't leave you alone.)

My current ear-worm is Helen Reddy's "I am Woman."

So not only is the tune annoying, but the general philosophy drives me crazy as well!

Feminism had a great beginning ....

equal pay for equal work? Great idea.

fighting pornography and domestic violence? Great idea.

But by the time I got to college, feminism had morphed into wacky-ness, and was more concerned with proving that --

a. women are just like men!

b. No! women are better than men!

c. actually, men should become LIKE women!

There was also a great deal of other absolute nonsense spouted in the name of women's rights. So my general opinion of feminism is that it has outlived its usefulness and become a refuge for bigger, slightly nutty, women.

This is why Helen's little ditty is making me crazy. It seems to embody the nuttiness I witnessed among the feminist college professors I knew.

However, that's not to say that I didn't USE the feminist rant on occasion while I was in school.

Being a firm believer that college papers don't necessarily need to agree with one's personal philosophy, since their purpose is only to prove that one can write, I decided to play with my philosophy a little when I wrote.

I started taking stands against things I genuinely disagreed with ... but doing it from the perspective of a feminist instead of as a Christian. The difference in reception was amazing!

There was a particularly offensive play on campus one semester, and I had to go and see it, and write a review, as part of a communications class. I protested the nudity and degradation of the female characters.

Now, the reason I really think these things are wrong is because God designed and desires our sexuality to be experienced within the context of marriage, and because human beings are created in God's image, and should not be treated in a degrading fashion.

However, what I wrote was that the women were objectified, and I was offended. Male domination, blah blah blah ....

It was fascinating to see the waves of sorrow ripple through the communications department over the horror that was that play (Robin Hood, oddly enough). I think, if I'd written from my real perspective, the response would have been quite different.

All these things brought to mind by one (annoying) song!

watching the robins

I've been enjoying watching male robins staking out the good spots for their nests. It's such a delightful thing to watch spring coming!

I cut up a rag, and put the scraps on my porch, and am hoping to entice them to come and pull them off for nesting material.

Simple pleasures for simple minds ... :)

a few sights from my walk today

The weather here was wonderful - high 60's in temperature, and sunny.

I heard a red-winged blackbird and a robin - two of the birds that come back in the spring, and the snow was melting off everywhere.

I was passed by a boy on a skateboard, being pulled at a very high rate of speed by a black lab on a leash, carrying a yellow frisbee. It was quite possibly the happiest-looking dog I've seen in a LONG time. :)

the curse continues

I tried again last night.

"What did you try?"
the eager blog-reading-community asks ...

"I tried to make Jell-O"
is my answer, "specifically, finger Jell-O."

"Um," the slightly puzzled blog-reading-community answers,
"and why is this blog-worthy?"


Because I can't make Jell-O.

Never have been able to.

Jell-O ... when made by me ... is a synonym for "overly-flavored, viscous, Kool-Aid."

When I was a kid, my mom made me finger Jell-O. I was prone to nose-bleeds, and someone, somewhere, had told her it would help. I don't know whether it DID help or not, but I very much enjoyed the treatment. :)

Sometimes, I get a real hankering for the stuff. I usually just scoop up plates of it at church potlucks, but last night I attempted to fabricate my own supply.

I'd have had better luck producing cold fusion.

Just don't EVEN tell me, "the water wasn't hot enough." or "you didn't stir it long enough" ...

I've tried all your remedies. Boiling is boiling. Dissolved is dissolved.

There is some kind of mysterious chemical, electro-magnetic, something.

Some people can't wear cheap jewelry.
Others are allergic to seafood.
Still others get claustrophobic on elevators.

I can't make Jell-O.

Anyone have a use for a 9x13 pan full of red syrup? I'd give it away cheap.

The funny thing is ... one of my readers has occasionally offered me a job in an industry at which ingredients are combined at high temperatures, and expected to solidify thereafter. I'm guessing ... if I were employed there ... within days they'd have nothing but vats and vats of science-defying sludge.

It's (still) snowing, and I'm looking forward to a quiet day of studying. I'm working on a study for D.'s class on the 12 tribes of Israel and the class my pastor is teaching on dispensationalism, and another study on John. Life is good. :) If I get my bathroom and kitchen cleaned too ... well ... there's a bonus.

And I suppose I'd better figure out what to do with that pan of ... well ... whatever-it-is.

Pssst ... if anyone is thinking of supplying me with a finger Jell-O fix ... let me just say ... raspberry and black cherry are FAR superior to any other flavors. :)