Life at my house.

Linus has discovered his voice. He barks at everything -- squirrels, the wind, his reflection -- you name it, he barks at it. Sometimes late at night...for hours. I'm hoping it's just a phase that he'll grow out of -- quickly!

His other favorite activity is sneaking up on Sampson. You can watch Linus actually stalk Sampsy. Linus will get low to the ground and move extraordinarily slow. He's also VERY careful not to let his nails make any clicking sounds on the floor. He'll sneak all the way up to Sampson's back, and then I'll call out, "Whatcha doin' Liney?" Of course, this immediately lets Sampson in on the game and he makes the appropriate move to protect his bone/toy or whatever Linus was trying to get. Then Linus gives me dagger eyes, as if to say, why are you spoiling all my fun? And then he'll bark, and I have to tell him "That's why!"

Yes, they were fantastic -- thanks for asking.

GBS on Friday night was amazing. They are such a fantastic group. They performed for over two hours and each song was amazing...including the Queen sing-a-long of Bohemian Rhapsody. Fantastic.
Ended up going out for cocktails afterwards. By the time I got home and got the dogs fed and pottied and calmed back down, I was finally able to crawl into bed around 3AM. Small price to pay for such an amazing concert.
I can't wait until they come back

Great Big Sea Lukey Video

Here's a little video of Great Big Sea. Enjoy!

I can't wait for tomorrow!!

Tomorrow I have tickets to go see Great Big Sea. They are a celtic folk band out of Noufoundland Canada. They are completely amazing. The band consists of four guys with a guitar, fiddle, accordian and boudrain. I'll be sure to give you a complete review later, but if you want to see them live in action, check them out here www.greatbigsea.com

Things I love about SPRING!

1. Easter Sunrise Service -- My favorite out of the entire church calendar
2. Clean Cars -- Both inside and out...I never have enough patience to sweep out the car in the winter.
3. The smell of the earth -- It just smells new.
4. Daffodils and tulips and spotting the first forsythia -- Is there any clearer sign of spring?
5. No more jackets and coats, mittens and scarves -- t-shirts and sandals, here I come!
6. Throwing open the windows and airing out the house -- and when you have two dogs, boy does the house need airing out.
7. The warmth that you can feel in the breeze -- completely different from the breeze in the fall.
8. Anticipation of fresh vegetables from the garden and grilling out -- Tomato, mayo and white bread sandwiches, asparagus wrapped in bacon on the grill, fresh oranges with some olive oil and fresh oregano out of the garden, strawberries drizzled with a bit of balsamic vinegar...mmmmmm I can't wait!!!
9. Momma Deer and their wobbly legged fawns -- I'm partial to the new calves born over on the Parsell Farm as well. As a child, I'd search the pasture every morning for the new blob of pure white on the green, green grass.
10. My birthday!

I'm BAAACCCCKKKK!!!!!

Sara and Ryan on St. Patrick's Day, Columbia, SC


Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a week since I've talked to you all. I've missed you so much! I've been so very busy...here's a little breakdown

Last Monday I had my root canal. Dr. Stein was AMAZING. The entire procedure went quickly. In fact, I thought of LAW and the kiddies at the whistle factory and thought to myself, "Boy, I'm SO lucky to be having a root canal today."

Tuesday was work...and 70 degrees. Gorgeous! Tuesday night I went to a prayer night at church to focus on our upcoming Jubilee offerings. It was great to see so many young people there. I got to catch up with my friend Kendra, who I hadn't seen in quite a while. We also sang a lot of hymns, which I don't get to do very often. It was a lot of fun.

Wednesday night, I took Phil and Greg out to the Brazenhead for dinner. Phil is the staff go-to guy for the services I produce at church. Greg is taking over for me after Easter. Dinner seemed like a great way to introduce them and get their relationship off to a good working start. Also, the Brazenhead has $3 burgers on Wednesday nights. Yup, that's right. A huge burger AND homemade, hot, greasy chips with a garlicky mayo dipping sauce. yumm-o!

Thursday was Grandma Jean's birthday. I spent the day packing for my impromptu trip to South Carolina. Made a cheeseball for my birthday gift and headed up to Marion to deliver it. Then I had to drop the dogs off at the kennel. Also went out to eat with Grandma for her birthday. Phew.

Friday -- was in the car by 6:30 AM to go to SC for St. Patricks Day Week-end. My friend Ryan was headed down to see our mutual friend, Dr. Lovell. He invited me to tag along. Columbia SC has the largest one day St. Patricks day celebration in the United States. It was a lot of fun...and we made it home by early Sunday evening.

Yesterday, I crashed. Hard.

The rest of that quote...

That complete quote goes something like this:

My darling girl, when are you going to understand that "normal" is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage.

I love that.
I'm not normal, but at the same time I've never felt that I'm courageous for it. I've always felt left out because I'm neither married nor a mother. It seems like society doesn't recognize you as an adult until you are married, and then not as a woman until you are a mother. It stinks. I secretly groan every time I have to buy a wedding shower or baby shower gift. It's not fair to the rest of us. I complain to my mother that if I'm ever blessed with a husband, I'll have to register my Discover card to be paid off since I had to use it to set up housekeeping on my own.
I googled a bit to see what the average American woman looks like. According to preliminary research (and with absolutely no references to back this up), here is what the average American woman looks like: She is NOT married (yes, in fact 51% of us girls are not married), she is around 5'4 and weighs between 140-152 pounds. She has a high school education, two kids and size 8 feet. Also, she watches around 4 hours of TV daily.
Are you average? I celebrate YOUR courage!!

Maybe I don't need a bigger boat -- Enjoy the rant.

The old saying, "When it rains, it pours" seems to be holding true. A few weeks ago, our church began the prayer "How much?" in preparation of our gifts for our upcoming Jubilee celebration. When the Church built the new campus, they incurred some debt which needs to be dealt with. We are all asking for guidance on how much we are to give. Since we began that prayer, I have incurred several unforeseeable debts: new propane tank, propane, hot water tank, sump pump, back door and gutters (that storm really did a doozy on my house!) This week, I found out that I have to have a root canal on Monday. No dental insurance. Ack!

It's like I just got my boat all packed for the trip, and then I was told, by the way you need to take this person and that thing and that whole pile over there... What??!! Sometimes it seems impossible to cram anything else into my overloaded (but extremely organized) boat. I often forget that I have the power to not only pray about the situation, but rearrange and shuffle and find a place for everything.

It reminds me of my favorite boat story in the bible...you know the one. Everyone's out on the boat, scared to death because they think they are seeing a ghost instead of Jesus walking on the water. Then Peter calls out to the Lord -- if it's You, tell me to come. Can you imagine all the whispers that were happening on that boat as Peter climbed over the edge?

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" Matthew 14 29-31

I remember coming back to that story as an adult and found that it wasn't the way I remembered. I never it caught it as a kid -- Peter didn't lose faith in Jesus, he lost faith in himself.
Sometimes, when it seems like my boat isn't big enough because the rain is pouring so hard, I have to go back and read this story...and have faith in myself.

I've been meaning to show you this....

In January, I got a new cell phone. I desperately wanted a blue tooth earpiece to go with it. I spend so much time in the car, that for my safety (and everyone elses) I thought it would be nice to have both hands on the wheel. So, I was thrilled when my new phone came with a blue tooth headset...until I tried it. Obviously, these are made for people with much bigger ears than mine. Every time I turned my head, it would fall off. I talked to some friends about it, and they all had the same experience. The solution was simple and is my first knit "design." I knit a four stitch i-cord on double pointed needles, bound it off and slid it straight onto the ear piece. It worked like a charm. The extra girth of the ear piece makes for a snugger fit and it's much more comfortable as well. I wonder if there is a market for these???

All bow to me -- Queen of the Mooches

After much consideration, I decided I needed a week-end of fun and socialization. One can only communicate so much with a golden retreiver, and when they start to answer back, it's a clear sign that human contact is needed. So, I put the dogs in boarding for the week-end and set out for adventure.
Friday night I went to see an art exhibit with my friend R. at the Wexner Center. We started out at Hyde Park on the cap (because of the extremely reasonable happy hour martini's). Dinner consisted of appetizers only -- Mini Kobe Beef Burgers, Calamari, Wedge Salads and a variety of breads. Then we went to the Wexner Center where we did not enjoy the art, but did enjoy the open bar and reception catered by Cameron Mitchell afterwards. After the art, we were off to meet up with friends at Union Station, then we went to a club where we danced for what seemed like forever. At this point, I had not paid for anything and insisted on buying at least one round...which was reluctantly allowed by my friends. I crashed at his house at 4 AM. (I think it was around 4...)
Saturday night, I went to a benefit dinner for IFI. IFI is a Christian organization that fosters relationships between Christian Ohioans and international PhD and Masters students at Ohio State. They pick the internationals up at the airport, get them acclamated to the culture (like helping them figure out things like grocery stores and washing machines...), help them find furniture, host potlucks and outings, set up language partners and provide general support and prayer. It is a FANTASTIC organization. Being an international student myself, I totally can relate to what these students go through. It seems like yesterday when I was 20 and wandering the Rome airport, crying and looking for ANYONE to help me. I remember that I couldn't even use the phone, because I hadn't learned about their pre-paid phone cards yet. It was awful. This organization not only gives the support that would have made my situation much more bearable, but they are also leading people to Christ. Then these students go back to their home countries and spread God's word. The spirit of evangelism is contageous. (Oh, since I am explaining how I am Queen of the Mooches, I was invited to this fundraising event as a guest, so I didn't have to buy my Prime Rib dinner. I did make a small donation though and am considering becoming part of this organization. So, maybe I'm not a complete mooch)
Sunday evening I met up with a new friend. Her name is Linda and she is a part-time manicurist, part-time accountant. We went to an italian place called 'La Tavola.' We had great conversation and great food. Gnocci and mushrooms in cream sauce, hand tossed pizza with fresh basil and procuitto, and bacon wrapped, balsamic soaked asparagus that had been grilled. ohmigosh -- FANTASTIC! At the end of the meal, I asked for the bill to be split, and Linda said no, she invited me out so she insisted on paying. Well, I had a good track record started for mooching this week-end, so I couldn't say no, right? I had to let her go with the promise that I would buy next time.
Ahhhh....I wonder how long I could keep this going.......