Wisdom of our Mothers

My mother has recently broken her knee. Really, it was broken for her. By my father's dog. Yes, my poor hapless father, god bless him, bought a German short haired pointer earlier this year because he "likes they way they look." And he is a haunter. Always out for the latest accessory. So of course he would get a haunting dog. A dog that he wants to keep in the house. A dog who is being trained to point birds. A dog who is not being trained to live with people in a house. For whatever reason, when it came to the insistence of my sisters and I that our father teach his dog to sit, stay, not jump on people, he refused.

Nothing is his dog's fault. Not even my mother's knee. You see... she wasn't using the proper leash when she tried to bring her inside before she went off to work. So my mother was careless. Never mind the dog who doesn't know to come, sit, stay. The dog who, when she stands up on her back legs is taller than my mother.

Of course my mother didn't see the sequence of events quite the same way as my father. She was quite sure that it was the dog pushing her over, and then sprinting into the leaving room that caused her to fall, hit her head on the arm of a chair and land hard on the tile floor.

To make amends my father has had an extra cable box installed in my mother's room while she recuperates. While this is a nice little plus, I know the women is going stir crazy. She calls us all the time. Wants constant company, and yesterday morning when I dropped by she was yelling at the cable company. "When are you people going to find them? Where could they have gone to? My Fashion Police are on right now and I am going to miss the best and worst dressed if you don't get them back now!"

Apparently something went wrong during an overnight upgrade and some channel's were "lost". My mom just could not understand how they lost track of them. "You would think they would keep them all together in one spot." Like the channels are not data in a computer system, but naughty sheep who ran away while the farmer wasn't watching them.

I called later in the day to check in and see how things were coming. The channels had been found. They were safe and sound back in their little box. Mom had even been able to watch another Fashion Police re-run.

The Journey Continues

Lent has arrived. I attended an Ash Wednesday service yesterday morning. I was short and sweet. Two song and a 5 minute cartoon before we had communion and had ashes smeared on our foreheads in the shape of a cross. Honestly the only time I felt weird about it was when I was on the bus, both coming and going. I was aware of all of the different people around me. Aware that many of them are probably not Christian. Aware that I probably looked ... odd.

Like most Christians, I don't wear my religion on my sleeve. I don't even wear a cross. I feel like the world has enough people screaming in their faces, I don't need to add to the noise. That is what a lot of evangelism is to me. Hollow noise.

Yesterday, as I got on the bus and looked at all of those faces, I wondered if I was becoming part of that noise. Upon reflection I don't think that I was. There is something to be said for the silent witnesses. Those that go about our day just trying to live how Jesus lived. Just trying to help were we are needed.

When Mother Teressa was working in the slums. Helping the poorest of the poor in a mostly Hindu population she told her fellow sisters never to mention Jesus' name. That was not why they were there. They were there to help, feed and to offer hope. She didn't need to say why she was doing her work. She was a nun. Everyone new she was married to Jesus.

After some reflection I have come to a conclusion. Yesterday was the start of Lent. The start of our journey through the wilderness before the celebration of Easter. It was also my day to show that I am one of the people who follow the teachings of Jesus.

Lent is the time where people talk about what they are going to give up or what they are going to add. Maybe someone will do more volunteer work, maybe a person will stop eating chocolate or drinking sodas. Richard Rorh has challenged people to give up the need to be right. I'm not sure what I am giving up this year. If it will be anything at all. I'm really just focused on continuing the Journey.

Girls Are Better

The other day I was sitting with my daughter Alex, watching High School Musical 3 which just came out on DVD. Troy Bolton once again finds himself wondering what he really wants to do when he graduates from high school. Will be in the theater, or will he play basketball?

In the middle of all of this Alex turned to me and said:

"I am so glad I am a girl because girls can do so much more than boys can."

The comment caught me off guard. When I was her age I really wanted to be a boy. Like Jo March in little women I saw that boys always got to do more, be more than girls did. In stories, boys were always the heroes and girls were always the whinny ones who followed them around telling them how dangerous everything was or how much trouble they were going to be in. Boys could do whatever they wanted when ever they wanted and they never had to worry about how they looked. I was proud that my daughter didn't see this stigma. She has the confidence that girls are better than boys. Its not just a slogan.

So I replied to her statement with: "Of course, you are right. Girls can be anything they want."

"Yes," she agreed. "Boys can only be things like policemen or sport stars or pirates, but girls can be those things and be princesses and fairies. Girls can be super heroes but boys CAN NOT be fairies or mermaids."

And she is right. In the world of make believe a girl can be whatever she wants, but boys still have to stick to their masculine gender roles. Yes, there are merman's in the world, but it would take a very secure father to let his son dress up as a merman for Halloween. I kind of fell sorry for boys now. They miss out on at least half of the fun.

This same thing came up not to long ago when I was talking with friends about Disney World. There are more dress up/make believe things geared towards girls than there are boys. And the sad thing is, there is a reason for that. By the time a boy is 8 or 9 they are "too manly" for that kind of thing. Good luck getting a 10 year old boy to want to dress up as Peter Pan, but try telling a 60 year old women she can't have her make-up done at the Bibity Bopity Boo Boutique.

Wall-E Takes an Oscar Home

I'm not going to lie. Wall-E and Kong Fu Panda are the only Academy Award Nominees that I have seen. Not that I don't want to see the others... I just haven't.

So that said, I have to say that I am disappointed. Out of 6 Nominations why did Wall-E only take home one Oscar? I love that it won Best Animated Feature, but I think it could have, and should have been nominated for Best Picture. It was that good. It honestly isn't often that I see a movie with my daughter and I end up liking it MORE than she did. Wall-E was what people mean when they talk about the magic of movies. Here is story about a robot. The last robot on Earth. There isn't a lot of talking going on. Most of the story is told through music, robot noises and action and yet, there is something so deep and profound about it that there is no real way to describe it. You just have to see it. I have heard some critics compare Andrew's direction of this film to Charlie Chaplin. Really that is the best metaphor out there.

Like I said, I haven't seen anything else out there so I hate to bash the winners. I just wish the Academy get back in the business of awarding outstanding movie making and stop being a broken record by giving into the cliche of heart-wrenching dramas.

Spiritual Window Shoppers

These spiritual window-shoppers,
who idly ask, How much is that? Oh, I'm just looking.
They handle a hundred items and put them down,
shadows with no capital.

What is spent is love and two eyes wet with weeping.
But these walk into a shop,
and their whole lives pass suddenly in that moment,
in that shop.

Where did you go? Nowhere.
What did you have to eat? Nothing much.

Even if you don't know what you want,
buy something, to be part of the exchanging flow.

Start a huge, foolish project,
like Noah.

It makes absolutely no difference
what people think of you.

By Rumi


I was given this poem this morning. During my time of prayer. I read the psalm. I read the passage. I read something from Keating. And then I picked up a book of poems given to me by a friend. I opened it to this. And the words jumped out of the page. How often do I let myself fail? I often do I do something then later think, well, that was stupid!? I learned this morning that at times I need to just be foolish. Put my foot in my mouth. Go one step too far. Maybe the whole thing ends in failure, maybe I realize latter that it wasn't the best choice in the world, but it was a choice. I did something, and sometimes that is all you really need.

Food Waste Report

I didn't do well this week.

In my defense, my mother fell on Tuesday, broke her knee, bruised her face and gave herself one heck of a black eye.

So while I was spending a lot of this week at my parent's house doing damage control, my food was rotting away in the refrigerator.

The half pound of meat I had taken out of the freezer on Tuesday to thaw died a second death in my sink. I forgot all about it until Wednesday morning when I went to make myself a cup of tea. By then it was brown, and gross. I also had to pour the last few drops of milk down the sink. Then ones I had saved for Alex to finish up at dinner, but didn't get to.

Oh, and there was a fruit tray I took home from a party. We ate on it, but there was A LOT left and by Saturday afternoon I gave it up and tossed the rest out.

So there you have it. I promise to do better in the days a head.

I anyone out there?

I have not asked this question before because at first I didn't really care about the answer. Then I just didn't want to know the answer.

Now since I have actually had comments, I'm curious. Is anyone out there? Is anyone reading this blog besides me? If you are can you say something? It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Hi would suffice.

Thanks for indulging me.

UPDATES

HEALTH UPDATE: I saw my oncologist today and I am still cancer free, almost 2 years after my last tumor. Gosh time does fly when you are having fun! Now blood tests are every three months instead of every two and I see him again in 6 months. Next month is an MRI. Here's hoping that will be the last one.


UPDATE and Recap: I am sitting in my office. FREEZING MY BUNS OFF! Seriously, I feel like I am in a meat locker. Fortunately for us, its not that cold outside. This winter was crazy. Down here in Texas, it got colder sooner than it ever has before and we had more below freezing days than we have had in years. Still, Alex and I bundled up and got to cuddle under lots of blankets. It wasn't always fun getting out of bed in the morning, but somehow we made it through. I know this summer when I have all my windows open and the fans going, I will look on those winter days with more fondness than I should. Thanks for the challenge Crunchy. I am glad to report that we made it through alive!

NO WASTE CHALLENGE UPDATE: I did pretty well. I have been eating left overs. I will have to confess and say that I threw out one strawberry and some cantaloupe. Alex and I went to Deli one night after her Karate practice. I didn't eat all the fruit that came with the sandwich I ordered so I took it home. Unfortunately I didn't get to all of it before it started to not look "right" so I threw it out. Also we had canned green beans last night. Store brand. And there was something funky about them so I didn't keep them. Maybe I have gotten too used to eating fresh? I'm not sure.


DISNEY UPDATE: If anyone keeps up with entertainment news you will have heard that as of today Disney has the distribution rights for Steve Spielberg's Dreamworks Productions (the live action end of things). Spielberg has done things with the Mouse in the past, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The deal will mean that 10 Dreamworks movies will be made for Disney over the next 5-6 years. I'm excited for the possibilities. And, even though the deal doesn't include the animation studios, here's to hoping that this is one step closer to Katzinburg forgiving WDC for Czar Eisner.

BOOK GROUP UPDATE: Movement 2 of Rob Bell's book was interesting. To sum up quickly he was basically talking about how we read the bible. Early in the chapter he talked about how different Rabbi's interpret the scriptures differently. How they "bind and loose" certain things differently at different times in different places. Much like the different Christian denominations. Bell defines "binding and loosing" as "forbidding and permitting." That kind of thing just didn't jive well with me. Maybe its just me and my own issues with the words forbidding and permitting, but I don't go to the bible to see what it is I am allowed to do and what I am not allowed to do. Scripture to me is not a rule book. Bell does touch on that some, but I wish he would go deeper in talking about why. He spends so much time talking about questioning what is forbidden and allowed that he never really gets into talking about reading the bible as a journey of the soul. There are parts where I see glimpses of this. I just wish it had been the main theme. Again it created good discussions.

untitled

the trees gathered
in the city and resolved
to form a forest.

"here we will live"
they said,
"beside the swish
of rushing cars.

here our brown leaves
will be a blanket
for the concrete earth.
And birds will rest
on our naked branches.

Perhaps one day a lost
soul might come looking
for a blanket and a song.


by Katy

Picture this:

Okay, I wasn't tagged, but Iota at Not Wrong, Just Different posted this on her blog so I am tagging myself. Here are the rules:

Go to the 4th folder in your computer where you store your pictures Pick the 4th picture in that folder Explain the picture Tag 4 people to do the same.

First off.. I'm not naming any taggies. No one tagged me and I have no one to tag so if you are reading this and you want to add it to your blog consider yourself tagged.

Second... I am at work. I don't have pictures in folders on this computer. Only stray ones that I have downloaded from my snapfish account or other random places on the Internet. So I'm not going to the 4th folder. Just the 4th picture. When I saw what it was I thought myself very lucky. I have had more than one person ask me about it and now I can explain:

This is a picture I took while I was on vacation in Walt Disney world. To be precis I was in Disney's Animal Kingdom. The lady in the picture is De Vine. Isn't she though?

She is a vine. Part of the living breathing landscape of the theme park. You can find her in and around the lane that leads you from Africa into Asia. She is often wrapped around a pole or snuggled up in a tree. She is not a complete living statue because she does move, but she does so in slow graceful movements. She is a marvel to watch.

It is not an easy job. I have seen De Vine played very very poorly. But the girl who was playing her when I took the picture was the prettiest I have ever seen and moved just as you would imagine an enchanted vine would more. A very organic creature.

So there you are. One of the marvelous touches that makes Disney World a place I want to visit over and over again.

Things I Have Heard, Seen and Read...

At the bus stop:
On fellow passenger helping out another who is blind...
"Our bus is over there."(he points)
"Where?"
"There!"(he points more emphatically).

Alex's comment when she learned she would be going out to eat with my mom...
"She's fun to hang out with, but you don't even know the whole story!"
"What's the 'whole story'?"
"She never lets me pick where we go! END OF STORY!"

For the first time in my life I saw someone get arrested. It wasn't dramatic. They walked the guy out of an office building in cuffs and put him in a patrol car. Still, it was a first.

Its almost spring. I am starting to see the sun more and more each day.

Yesterday I participated in a discussion about Christianity with Christians of many different points of view. We listened to each other. No one tried to back anyone into a corner. No one told anyone they were going to hell.

I learned that Alexander the Great died of a fever. Some think he may have been poisoned. I always assumed he died in battle.

The other day Alex told me she wants to be Ice Cream Taste tester when she grows up...
"I thought you wanted to test message chairs."
"I can do both at the same time!"

Nick Hornby recently observed on his blog...
"...These words are perhaps the truest and wisest to be found in any contemporary fiction - maybe any fiction from any age:
'The guard barked, ‘No diving’. But the guy, crash-landing, didn’t hear her. He had already gone into the butterfly, the stroke of assholes.Anyone doing butterfly anywhere is an obnoxious idiot, but to do it in a small hotel pool is beyond endurance. Arrogant, preening,beady-eyed little pricks in muscle shirts do butterfly. Marines and state troopers, premature ejaculators. The kind of men who clap between push-ups.'"
~passage from Lisa Zeidner’s novel Layover

I once read... not sure where... (Cloud of Unknowing I think)
"Our need for understanding separates us from God ."

Last Friday the birds downtown by the Alley Theater were dancing in the air.

Okay. The Challenge officially started on Sunday. Full disclosure... I took Chruncy's advise and emptied my cabinets of things that had gone bad so as to have clean slate.

What I got ride of...

The last drops of Milk that expired on 1/28. (It was still in the fridge because I only take the trash out once a week).

Half of a mushroom. I don't know why I didn't just cook the whole mushroom. Who knows what I thought I had been saving it for.

The last of some left over couscous. I'm a couscous fan, but like I said, not a huge left over person.

That's it... Clean slate.

So far the only things that I have wasted are the two frozen waffles I popped in the toaster for me and Alex on Monday. Before hurrying out the door with out them. By Tuesday morning they were hard as rocks. There was no way I was going to save them. So they became my first casualties of the challenge.

On a side note, for the record, I'm only counting me in this challenge. My daughter is not an eater. World hunger would end if I could give all her left overs away. It is impossible to cook for her. After 9 years I have thrown up the white flag. She eats what she eats and the rest is tossed. So I'm not going to count her because it would make me look really bad.

Alright.. now on with the Challenge!