Fun, fire, fieldtrips and frogs

Wow - I think this may be a blog record...I haven't posted in a week! So what have I been doing? In a nutshell, I've been working 2 jobs, attending certification school (full time, 8-5 + some evening commitments), going with CH on a field trip, adopting 2 aquatic frogs, tending to TTs bur ns (yeah...ummm...more on this in a minute) and, oh yeah, I think I'm the wife to some guy named C...haven't seen much of him lately!

My not being around much has been a weird thing for us all. The boys have a great sitter and they've been doing well with him. C has been keeping the basics under control but the house, I must admit, is showing evidence of a missing mommy figure. It's pretty bad, even by my laxed standards. Housekeeping is tonight's agenda...after I check email, read blogs, and write a post. One must have clear priorities!

The cats are obviously missing their mommy. Anytime I'm home, they are at my feet, jumping onto my desk competing with the laptop, or on my lap. They are about to go on strike, but I doubt they will follow through because cats are lazy. Today, I sat at my desk for 5 minutes to check email and Aragorn hopped up onto the chair and stretched out behind me, pawing my back and stretching. It was pretty cute - desperate kitty pleas for attention usually are.

Being around the seminary is great. It's like having all the fun and all the relationships without much responsibility...no papers, no tests, no assigned reading. Woo hoo. It's fun to watch the community begin to gel and to see the new co-Presidents shine in their role. I've been touched by how open the community is to accepting me as a part of the gang even though I'm not attending classes. Unfortunately, a friend who is also awaiting call and who is around told me today that she has been asked a few times, "What are you still doing around here?" A part of me can't help but hope that people who ask such questions are the same ones who will find themselves in her situation in the future...Grrr.

To flesh out the exciting details of the first paragraph, let's talk about frogs, fire, fieldtrips and fun. It's an F thing.

Frogs. TT was able to adopt two aquatic frogs the other day because he's been faithfully doing his vision homework (with the Ks -- I LOVE THEM!). The frogs names, sticking with our Lord of the Rings pet names, are Legolas and Gandolf. They are really fun to watch and they eat bloodworms. That's kinda weird but fun at the same time.

Fire. Yeah, well...TT thought it would be fun to melt some toys on Saturday morning. He found our hidden lighter and melted stuff in the basement. Unfortunately, the melted plastic dripped onto his legs, supplying him with 4 second degree bur ns. He attempted to tend to it himself with ice, making it all worse and he (don't read this next sentence if you are easily grossed out) peeled the top of the blistered skin off thinking that was a good idea. Eek. Double eek. Luckily, C went to investigate when we woke up at 7am and TT wasn't in bed. He discovered TT in the basement with the lit lighter and the melting toys. Well, we ran to the pediatrician (who handled it all flawlessly) and we were given a prescription for Solvadine cream, which seems to work miracles. The pediatrician had a great insight about TT - his brain operates with the understanding that there must be some Gameboy-like reset button in life.... There was no malicious or naughty intention in his actions - he was simply curious and experimenting.

After our re-check yesterday, the doctor made my day when he told me I'd been doing a great job tending to the bur ns. I nearly cried. It's so seldom someone says I'm doing a great job as a parent. We all need to tell each other this more often. Usually, I only hear about TTs acting out, accommodations at school, etc, etc.

Fieldtrip. Last Friday, I was able to skip out of cert school and attend CH's nature fieldtrip. It was a blast. With theology on the brain, I kept noticing how nature provides us with a plethora of theological images (brokenness, death, rebirth, seeds, uniqueness, etc, etc). I took a ton of nature pictures and the 5th grade boys thought I was a bit weird. We also got to throw on some hip waders and take nets into a pond looking for tadpoles and fish. The kids loved that! It was fun to spend some solid time with CH too.


Fun. Since I couldn't think of a word beginning with "F" for work or for cert school, I'll throw those insights here. My two current jobs are supply preaching and working for a company that assists elderly folks in their homes. I did an overnight on both Saturday and Sunday for a woman who just had a knee replacement. She was a doll and it was a great form of ministry. My preaching gig went really well on Sunday morning. I hadn't had much time to assemble a sermon, and although I had a manuscript, I preached mostly off the cuff and loved finally having enough experience and theological grounding to pull that off successfully. Because 2 jobs just can't be enough for me (ha), I also found out last week that I am officially on the rolls with the school district as a substitute teacher's aide. That's actually the job I'd been hoping for all along as I await call. Once cert school is over, I'll begin subbing.

On Saturday, CH and I (and then CH and C when I took TT to the doctor) got to participate in the annual grape harvest. It was, as always, a BLAST! The scent of the grapes is so wonderful and the harvest is such a fun community tradition around here. They actually use the grapes to make the wine for communion. How cool is that?!

Cert School has been a great experience. I really think everyone going through seminary should be required to do it. Not only does cert school supply a lot of great practical ideas, but it also offers great, solid overviews that help all the academic and heady details of seminary come together in neat ways. I've also been amazed by some increased self-awareness. This week's big epiphany for me is that I tend to operate at the "as long as one more thing doesn't happen I'm ok" mode. This becomes exhausting. Even when one more thing happens, I tend to stick with it all but my ability to invest becomes strained. Well, last night it occurred to me that I should attempt to operate at least a level (maybe even two...) lower. Sounds like a no brainer, but it's a big revelation for me.

I was also asked to present my Special Needs Ministry stuff last night for cert school and the seminary community. It was a great experience and I think the group really appreciated the information and the conversation. I feel blessed that I was able to share my realities and my insights about special needs with them, and I'm incredibly blessed to hear from them about their ideas and experiences.

I could write about cert school forever, but I won't. I've enjoyed the theological reflections (yeah - like today's debate/discussion about infant communion and communion in general!), the great and fantastic group of people in our program, and the wonderful instructors. I could just keep writing and writing, BUT I can smell dinner arriving at the table and I'm hungry!

PS One more quick thing: The Awesomes arrive tonight!!! YAY!