Have you looked under your stove lately?

Last night, I went to get a bottle of water out of the fridge. I'm walking though the kitchen when I noticed my feet were wet. Uh-oh. How did water get all over the floor? Where is it coming from? A quick search showed that there was water running down the wall behind my stove. I pulled out the stove and sure enough, the stove was plugged into a socket that was surrounded by standing water. I went down into the cellar, turned the power off, found a flash light and attempted to fix the problem. Now, it was pretty disgusting. Have you looked under your stove lately? It's been about a year since I have cleaned under my stove. Dog hair, congealed food that fell down between the counter and the stove and mouse poo were floating all around. So I attempted to mop everything up, but no sooner would I get it dry, than a big splosh of water would roll back down the wall (It would puddle up under the paint and then break free)and soak everything again. Not to mention that Linus was trying to help by eating/drinking the standing water.
Well, I finally got the stove unplugged, dried the socket out as best I could, wrapped saran wrap around it and put a bowl upside down over top of it, to prevent anymore rain from dripping onto it. Hopefully no water is actually in the plug. By morning, things looked much better, although there will be damage to repair once the leak is fixed. I'm not brave enough to plug the stove back in yet.
Today I'm claiming Colossians 3:1,2 as my verse of the day. I think that its best understood when taken from "The Message."

So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.

Father God, help me raise my expectations and heal me from fear and doubt. Amen.

Security in the Dark Ages and the Modern Day Throne-Room, Part 1.

During the middle ages, security was always an issue. Between barbarian invasions, witch hunts and the reformation, you never knew what might be coming through your door. They couldn't install nanny cams or call Brinks, so they came up with some fairly ingenious ways of coping with security. One of these ways was with architecture.
The more important you were (or more accurately, the more money/land you had), the larger your castle/keep/home was and the more rooms it would have. They would design their dwellings so that you would have to pass from one room into another room, not down a hall with rooms leading off of it like we might have today. The most protected room in the house would be the one that was most centrally located and with the least amount of entrances. Conversely, the poorest of the communities would live in one room dwellings, where everything would be in the open and have no protection.
When applied to my humble abode, it turns out that the most sacred room is the bathroom. My modern day throne room has several important functions, which include:
1. A place to mediate between my loyal subjects (No Linus, Lily does not like it when you show her how you can put her entire head in your mouth.)
2. Reviewing correspondence (yes, I open my mail in the bathroom)
3. Education (I have a whole stack of Reader's Digest and National Geographic in there.)
4. Empowerment (We all need a place to get pretty)
5) Refuge (Calgon, take me away!)

What's in your most sacred room?

Happy Father's Day!

So, I was watching TV the other night, and I saw a commercial where a bunch of nun's were giving a priest an ice cream The cake said, "Happy Father's Day." The priest just shrugged, as if to say that technically, he was a Father.
I can't help but wonder of those who will struggle this week-end. Some people will celebrate father's day, others will mourn it. Some will continue to remain silent and not talk to their fathers, and others will wish that they still could.
The best advice my father ever gave me seems so simple: It will stop hurting when the pain goes away. He often said that to me as a child, to dry my tears and to give me peace in this world. It didn't take long to figure out that advice would help throughout my teen years and into adulthood. In his own way, Dad was telling me that there are all sorts of things that cause pain -- everything from scraped knees to broken hearts -- and nothing could minimize the hurt. You just need to go through it. Knowing that everyday brings healing is comfort in itself.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Personality Test

LAW has a personality test on her blog today...I decided to take it as well. My results were:

ISFP - "Artist". Interested in the fine arts. Expression primarily through action or art form. The senses are keener than in other types. 8.8% of total population.

Free Jung Word Test (similar to Myers-Briggs)
personality tests by similarminds.com

I guess that's accurate. Who, besides an artist, would be able to view themselves as both scheduled and spontaneous? It might also explain why I think that red sheets are far more itchier than any other color.

One Moment

All of my possessions for a moment of time.

Queen Elizabeth I 1533-1603

Last night I had the privilege of going to one of Dillon's baseball games. It seems like the clock had flown backwards 25 years and we were watching one of my big brothers games. It's funny how some things never change...the crack of a baseball making direct contact with the bat, the anticipation of watching a pop fly, the complete look of surprise on an 8 year old face when he catches it...it's all the same as it used to be. You just want to stop time for a moment, and revel in the beauty of this place and the sheer joy it offers.
They say that those who forget the past are destined to repeat it. What if you want to relive the past? I got to last night...and it was better than I remembered.

Waitress

Thursday night, my girls group decided we need a social event, and went out to see the movie "Waitress." It was a good movie, not great, but not bad enough to make me feel like I wasted my money. Jenna, the main character, is a waitress who is known for making unusual pies. Every time she comes to a crisis point in her life, she invents a pie and names it after the crisis. You come across pie names in the film such as Marshmallow Mermaid Pie, Lonely Chicago Pie, and Falling in Love Chocolate Mousse Pie. As the movie continues, Jenna comes up with more pies such as 'I hate my husband pie' ("You take bittersweet chocolate and don't sweeten it. You make it into a pudding and drown it in caramel.") 'I can't have no affair because it's wrong and I don't want Earl to kill me pie' ("You smash blackberries and raspberries into a chocolate crust.")and my personal favorite 'Pregnant Miserable Self-Pitying Loser Pie' ("Lumpy oatmeal with fruitcake mashed in. Flambe, of course.")
It makes me wonder, if I were to make a pie, what would it be called?

Introducing....Lily!

So, the boys gave me a kitten for my birthday. Her name is Lily. She likes to take flying leaps and claw herself on my legs. She also likes to chase Linus's tail. He in turn noses her to pieces. She is often wet or sticky because he pays so much attention to her. She has started taking refuge in my purse. Awww....