A bit of a brief update

So let's see...it's been over a year?! Much has happened in the last 14 months, including:

• In July 2009, I accepted a call to an inner-city congregation in an actual city. Diversity! Traffic! Buildings taller than 3 stories! Cool congregation (haven't thought of a nickname for them yet)! This is such a good thing! It is a grown up call, complete with a grown up sanctuary and grown up responsibilities. It is simultaneously intriguing, exhausting, challenging, invigorating, and engaging.
  
• We listed the Cute Gray House on Super Bowl Sunday 2010. We've had about 6 showings with no offers. Jerusalem was very hard hit by the economic downturn and there are far too many homes on the market. We're waiting, we're hoping.
• Dad's estate, unfortunately, is still a problem. We were supposed to have a court date on May 6, which was shifted to June, and has now been moved once again to a date yet to be determined. Oy vey.
• The family is doing great. My hubby continues to be a SAH Dad, and he keeps our lives running smoothly. Sony and Minky are doing great overall. I cannot believe Sony is finishing 8th grade and Minky is finishing 5th grade. What happened to my babies?!

Postscript...and how could I forget?! (Even though I did forget...and now just remembered to share) I was diagnosed with ADD. I can't remember the actual month or date but, wow, does my life make more sense now!

The blog has risen! It has risen indeed!

I have been pondering a return to the blog world for awhile. I need to write and have a creative outlet. For now, there are plenty of old posts you can read. Updates will follow soon. There's much to share since the last post, but alas...it is 9:30pm and I haven't had dinner yet. Must eat, then write.

Once again, she says "It's been awhile..."

So what's been going on with me? Well...

• We're undertaking a redecorating effort at Jordan. Depending upon the meeting, there are anywhere from 4-6 attendees who consider themselves team members. Therefore, there are nearly always 4-6 divergent opinions on colors, styles, money and taste. The male dominated Council that recently spent thousands on a new riding mower does not understand why $500 is not enough to overhaul the facility.
  
• Jerusalem just had its city wide garage sale this weekend. I think Rab and I spent about $100. It wasn't that there were really that many amazing finds...instead, it's more like we actually did something in town and bought a bunch of junk we don't need. Haul from the excitement includes: a pipe wrench, the McCullough John Adams book ($1.oo), some rubber stamps, a dart board for each kids' room, a cool hammock chair thing, a nice bike for Rab, some clothes for Minky, an arrowhead for Sony, the award-winning movie Daredevil, a fountain (that the cat thinks is for her drinking water), a bunch of baskets, and a bag full of various kinds of tape. I think we'll hold a garage sale next week...
• The estate drama drags on without much relief. I'll spare you the maddening details.
• The dog is nearly hooked on Acepromazine - his anti-anxiety drug needed during storms. Yeah, I know, go ahead and laugh. Yes, we have a special needs dog who needs to be drugged during storms. Kinda fits us, right?
• We continue to update, improve and paint the Cute Gray House. We've now painted the dining room, living room, entry, master bedroom (wallpaper removal and trim only), Minky's room (Pirates of the Caribbean theme), Sony's room (space theme), and upper bath. We've removed wallpaper from all these rooms except the entry. What's left? The master bedroom (new color), play room, Rab's office and lower bath. The kitchen wallpaper border also needs to come down, but that's the least of our worries.
• Outdoors, Rab has fixed a walkway, planted a bunch of stuff, and improved the lawn that I ran over inadvertently during the snow thaws. We need to re-lay the walkway and parts of the sidewalk as well as do some touch up painting on the front porch. Next year, we'll tackle the backyard and maybe even the garage and a new breezeway connecting the garage to the house..
• Sony earned a 3.7 in school this year. Next year, he'll enter 7th grade. He had a friend spend the night not long ago and has begun to spend more and more time with new friends around Jerusalem. It's great to see him find his groove. He's 5'1'' - a little too close to my height!
• Minky is really doing great. He's certainly still feisty but his outbursts have become fewer and farther between. He'll go into 4th grade next year. Rab tells me I need to stop treating Minky like a toddler. Maybe I need a new baby (not!). Minky spends as much time as possible at the pool and has a pretty sweet looking dive.
  
• Rab continues to be a stay at home dad. It's like having a wife with handyman skills. He spoils me rotten, really. I get coffee in bed most mornings. Life is good.
• We've got tickets to 3 different Buffett shows this summer. I'm excited to share the excitement with some Buffett virgins who'll go with us to one of the shows. Rab and I will actually escape to Chicago for a few days in July to see those shows.
• I've been walking to work. I'm hoping to lose some weight. I don't think walking to work will solve the whole problem, but at least it won't make matters worse.
• Life is a crazy mix of work, home, and escapes to cities. Overall, we're beginning to find our groove here in Jerusalem. In a lot of ways, that's really nice.
  

Unsolicited Christmas Advice

If you save your credit card information and passwords on your computer, DON'T!!!!! My paypal account was heisted on the 22nd. Within the account, 2 bank accounts and 2 credit cards were listed. Luckily, the transactions were frozen and now I'm waiting for $500 to be replaced into my bank account. I froze the other accounts this morning.

This is one of those "I didn't think it would happen to me" things. My Christmas gift to you - a reminder to change your passwords frequently on all online accounts and to NEVER save credit card and bank account info within any online account.

Calling the Blog Back to Life

Is anybody even checking for new posts any more? I can't say I'd blame you if you weren't!

But if you are checking (and obviously, you are checking if you're reading this now...), you're in for a treat. I've got a bunch of posts just waiting to move from memory to keypad. Stay tuned - new posts are on the way momentarily.

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again

In memory of my dad, Allen. August 20, 1939 - September 10, 2007.

Phantom Of The Opera - Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again Lyrics

You were once my one companion . . . you were all that mattered . . .

You were once a friend and father, then my world was shattered . . .

Wishing you were somehow here again . . . wishing you were somehow near . . .

Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed, somehow you would be here . . .

Wishing I could hear your voice again . . . knowing that I never would . . .

Dreaming of you won't help me to do all that you dreamed I could . . .

Passing bells and sculpted angels, cold and monumental, seem, for you the wrong companions - you were warm and gentle . . .

Too many years fighting back tears . . . Why can't the past just die . . .?

Wishing you were somehow here again . . . knowing we must say goodbye . . .

Try to forgive, teach me to live . . . give me the strength to try . . .

No more memories, no more silent tears . . . No more gazing across the wasted years . . .

Help me say goodbye. Help me say goodbye!

I feel so cosmopolitan

On the way home today, I acquired an iPass. No more fumbling for change, no more slowing down to wait in line to pay a toll on I-90. What freedom!

It felt great to just cruise on by each of those toll stations without slowing down. Yep, you're right, it doesn't take much to make my day.

I might just need to go to Chicago more often.

Family Vacation Adventures

Last night's plan had been to update you on our cross-country travels. But instead of sharing stories and insights about seeing Mark, visiting the Badlands and Black Hills, experiencing Yellowstone (complete with a grizzly sighting!!) and the Grand Tetons, today's post is brief.

We had a bit of an adventure last night in Twin Falls, Idaho. The plan was to stay the night at the Holiday Inn Express. Twin Falls has literally quintupled in size since the last time we were here 3 years ago, according to an officer we spent time with (foreshadowing...). In all the new roads and congestion, I got turned around and a bit lost so I turned off the main drag to do a U turn on a side street when CRASH! A motorcycle that was right behind us went strait while I turned. As far as we know, the guy is doing well. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance as a precaution. The kids are fine and so is Rab. I messed up my left elbow a bit, am hurting, and was pretty shaken up last night. I'm so held in the arms of grace I can't believe it.

Anyway....we'll arrive in Portland tonight (Monday) and look forward to a restful time and hopefully quick repairs of the van at Artistic Autobody. Thank God for USAA insurance - they make stupid mistakes so managable. Thank God for kids who were extremely obedient during the hour after the accident as police took statements and pictures and as ambulances and fire trucks sirened to the scene. Thank God for a husband who was compassionate, tender and loving about the whole debacle. Thank God for the hotel clerk who found us a room when the whole city was booked. Thank God for Fred Meyer nutrition section that had all the items in stock that my sister told me to buy right away (and thank God for sissy too).

This morning I am thanking God not only for the everyday blessings and everything listed above, but also for the relative health that all involved are experiencing. I continue to hold the motorcyclist and his now damaged but previously beautiful bike in my thoughts and prayers and I'm thanking God that nothing more serious occurred. After the accident, pondering that possibility was the scariest part of the whole thing.

Yay, Me!

It's a day of blog programming here at Skdo's!

With the help of a new friend, I was able to tinker around until my blog shows up on my profile. Then, I finally cleared the annoying bright purple line from the header and the thick, ugly brown line from the footer.

Then, if that wasn't enough excitement for the day, I was finally able to figure out a way to extend the tan background on the sidebar.

Doesn't take much to make my day...

Aaaaahhh....Saturday

Today is Saturday. Saturday has always been one of my favorite days.

As a kid, Saturday meant watching cartoons as my working-outside-the-house mom frantically cleaned the house from top to bottom. After Looney Tunes, my mom, sister and I would go grocery shopping at Fred Meyer, and I'd try to talk Mom into buying me all sorts of unnecessary snack food, toys and stuff.

As young marrieds, Rab and I would sleep in late then go to the buffet at Szechuan West with Honger and Beachball. We'd rotate paying for one another, based upon our paydays. Life was good.

Nowadays, Saturday mornings are my one sacred time. Barring a funeral (I've yet to do a wedding), it is my time. Rab comes home on Friday nights and takes over the parenting tasks after I've lived another week of single motherhood. Rab makes breakfast, plays with the boys, tends to the pets, and I...well...write my sermon, catch up on blog reading, catch up on other reading, stay in my PJs and watch bad TV. Today's selection is Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Believe it or not, I've watched it before - it's surprisingly full of theological themes. And it's funny.

Once the sermon is complete, we usually do some family type thing. We've become particularly adept at having our family type thing involve the need to go to the nearest city.

So here it is, another Saturday morning. The sermon has not yet been written, the movie is still playing, and life is good.

A weed or a plant of beauty?

Attention all botanists!!! What is this organic gem growing all over my side yard?


(Thanks to all who commented. I now know I'm blessed with hollyhocks along the side of my house.)

Maybe that candidacy psychologist knew what she was talking about...

I was just surfing around, catching up on friends' blogs and I came across this link on Jim's now deceased blog. He's more Lutheran than I - I think he scored in the 90s. Then again, he's in the midst of his final term at the Castle and is taking a course on Lutheran Church History. All the questions about Lutheran churches and their related initials hurt the score.

Oh, the candidacy quip? Well...when I was undergoing my psychological evaluation, the church's psychologist said she didn't think I was very Lutheran because I tested out as an ENFP. Somehow, I mustered up the courage to diplomatically share with her that I found her statement troubling because I've been a Lutheran all my life. She stated that the Lutheran church is made up primarily of ISTJs and that, with all my passion and enthusiasm, I might want to consider Pentecostalism. No joke.

You are 84% Lutheran! This is most certainly true.

Not a perfect score. What does this mean? You have room for growth in understanding Lutheran terminology and culture. Good thing Salvation is by Grace and not by merit. We can add nothing to what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. But it never hurts to learn a little more about the church on earth. Thanks for taking the quiz!

How Lutheran Are You?
Create a Quiz

Random Acts of Kindness

Minky and I were on our way home from Vision Therapy (a 3 hour drive each way). Tired and hungry, we pulled into a truck stop to grab a bite to eat at the Subway-inside-a-gas-station. A trucker was ahead of us in line and when he got to the cash register, he looked at Minky and said, "That little boy looks like he could use a cookie. Y'all want a cookie lil' fella?" Minky looked at me hesitantly and I said it was ok. The trucker not only bought one cookie - he purchased all the rest of the cookies in stock! Sometimes it's the little things that restore your faith in humanity.

I Feel So, So, So....Cheesy!

That's a play on words, folks.

Today, we met up with some of the Hospitables in the Big Little City. After a Jamba Juice fix, we headed out for a walk under the misty skies and ended up touring the State Capitol. What an amazing building! Rab was practically drooling over all the marble (his dream kitchen includes marble countertops...). The kids, predictably, found their way somewhere other than where we were. After a few minutes of searching, we were pleased to find them on a staircase rather than in some in-session Senate or State Supreme Court meeting room.

What a wonderful fix - surrounded by marble, filled with Jamba Juice and in the company of treasured friends. Life is good.

Aaaahhhh, home

We're home. Home. Whenever I use the phrase in relation to a place, I think of (get ready for this...) Carolyn Ingalls in the early days of Little House on the Prairie telling Charles lovingly and with starry eyes, "My home is wherever you are." And, in many ways, Carolyn was right. Home is where my husband and children are. Yet, we live the phenomena known to so many of today's Americans - the rest of our family does not live in the same city nor anywhere near where we live. And where they live is also a form of home.

In some ways, home will always be Portland, Oregon. It's hardwired in my blood (remember that post awhile back about my semi-famous ancestor?). As we drive down streets and highways, a plethora of memories erupt. There are historic associations with nearly every passing landmark:

• There's the 7-Eleven by my mom's house where I grew up. My friends used to buy me a candy bar if I'd walk there with them and use my math prowess to make sure Fran the cashier didn't rip them off.
• There's the Sellwood Bridge over the Willamette River where we spread my father-in-laws ashes. Each time we cross that bridge, we say hi to Pops...and to our dead cats, Hannah and Hobbes (that was Minky's addition). Driving over that bridge a few years ago, Minky told us he'd met Pops in heaven then he shared what Pops had told him there. Amazingly, he used phrases and words that only Pops would have used.
• There is the mall by the house where I grew up. It used to be swampland, and I remember when the mall was built. I also remember trying to sneak off the junior high bus to go shopping after school, and the militant bus driver who only let us off at the mall if we had a note or if it was our designated stop.
• On the way down from Seattle, we passed through what used to be a tiny little town that is now bursting with retail options. Some things change when you move away, and they stand out like a sore thumb because life is no longer the way you left it when you sailed away on new adventures.
• And there's the traffic and the sheer land mass of a metro area holding over 1 million people. Some things we may be used to, but I can't say we miss them.
• Of course, there are the long term friendships and the family and the people who knew you when and love you anyway. There are the stories you love to remember and the ones you'd prefer to forget. There are the moments you find yourself transferred back to the years of being the annoying little sister or to the glory days of college memories as you admit to friends that you found a paper in the storage unit entitled, "The Benefits of Being on a Fraternity Court."
• And, home, what would it be without a Starbucks on every block and a Coffee People always nearby? And the folks who work at these coffee shops know what a venti half-caf peppermint mocha should taste like. Aaaahhh, it's good to be home.

Sometimes You Just Feel Like Blogging

Call it procrastination, call it loyalty to ones readers, call it avoidance of box packing...whatever it is, today I just feel like planting myself at my beloved desk in front of my beloved laptop and writing. No particular subject comes to mind...somehow I'll fill the space. Hopefully, it'll be worth reading.

When I look at the calendar, the move seems to be fast approaching. Even though we'll move on January 3rd, we actually need to be fully boxed and packed by the 23rd of December, prior to our trek to the ordination site. I've turned down substitute job offer after substitute job offer with the excuse that the box packing must be done in earnest. However, as you can see, here I am blogging. And when I'm not blogging, I'm taking cats to the vet, having lunch with Rab on a regular basis (boy, that's been nice), and running errands that seem to take up more of my day than they really require.

I've been razzing Rab that he's in denial about the whole move. It wasn't until yesterday that he shared the news with his bosses. He kept telling me he was waiting for the final congregational vote. Sometimes, though, I have to wonder if he was secretly hoping the vote might go the other way. He is truly supportive and happy for me - that's not the issue. I think he's a bit tentative about moving to a small town and being a celebrity-of-sorts. Rab is an introverted, big city kind of guy. He'd prefer to fade into the scenery anonymously. Going to some Cheers-like city where everybody knows your name is a bit uncomfortable for him - especially when they'll know his name and he won't know any of theirs. Once we move, he'll continue to work in our current city 3 days a week. While that will help financially, it will likely also slow his assimilation at Jerusalem.

Last night, Sony and I talked about the move. It nearly breaks my heart to talk to him about it. I can't imagine moving at the age of 10. For all the "kids are resilient" assurances those who moved as children provide, in my heart of hearts I remember that one of my greatest fears as a child was having to move (we never did...in fact, Mom still lives in that house). Sony is trying to be so positive and logical, saying things like "I know I'll make all sorts of new friends just like I did when we moved here." I admire his optimism, but I also worry that he has the space to tend to his grief. He has such wonderful friends here and has had such a positive experience living at the Castle. Yes, it's true, he will be fine. I know that. He knows that. It doesn't mean it won't be tough. It doesn't mean it won't be full of grief for awhile. Last night, I saw a glimpse of honesty as he uttered the words, "I don't want to leave my friends here. I've got so many great friends and I love it here." These words were uttered in true Sony I'm-protecting-my-mom style....with a smile on his face. I love him. In many ways, he is my role model - full of grace and compassion.

Minky? Well, he seems to be doing ok. Rab and I have become Minky cheerleaders and that seems to have eased his anxiety a bit. We shower him with praise when he does his homework, I give him backrubs to help him wake up in the morning (and finish off those dreams so we don't have another Tazmanian Devil experience), we've taken to turning off the TV at opportune moments and intentionally spending quality time with him (and Sony) doing puzzles, playing games and the like. It's almost always a delicate, walking on eggshells balance with the Minkster...but the week seems to have gone along without too much drama.

The boxes are beginning to call out to me. They are feeling empty and untended. I best be filling them with treasured possessions now. Or, at least, I should call the doctor and ask for an anti-hallucinogenic.

What I Should Be Doing

What I'm doing: updating my blog and obsessing about finances
What I should be doing: packing boxes

What I was doing an hour ago: buying my cat another toy along with her new bag of food
What I should have been doing an hour ago: buying my cat food and saving $3.49 by resisting the urge to buy another cat toy

Why Today is a Good Day

Our morning started out horrendous. Minky was woken up during a dream and he stewed and spit and hollered his way through the first 45 minutes of his day. He was carried to the carpool van. It was ugly. At 8:15 a.m., I call Rab and asked him if he wanted to go out for a drink NOW!

The day became progressively better. How could it not?! I caught up on blog reading, printed the rest of my ordination announcements and envelopes, had lunch with Rab at Los Aztecas (yum!), went on a quest to find materials for a scroll for my ordination, and found a cool magazine at Borders called Old-House Interiors. Man, they publish magazines for everything! I'm hoping this one inspires us as we decorate the Cute Gray House. The entire errand event was met with the croonings of Jimmy Buffett and my new Wrigley Field CD.

I also mailed the ordination announcements. I kind of feel like a bride who has taken one of those final pre-wedding steps and realizes that there's no backing out now. Then I dropped off an ordination announcement at the Castle. They post them on a bulletin board there. Seeing the lit Christmas tree in the hallway, I proposed my announcement be adorned in blinking lights.

When I arrived home, not only did I find the latest Oprah magazine awaiting me, but I found a Christmas card from my alma mater and a new Coldwater Creek catalog. How much better does it get than this?!

Tag, I'm it

Cool. Susan has tagged my blog. My first tag. At this point, it's cool. If the rest of you begin inundating me with tags, it could get old. ;)

So I'm supposed to tell you 6 weird things about me. That shouldn't be hard...I'm kind of weird anyway. Although I tend to prefer the terms funky, ecclectic, and creative. Now what haven't I already told you, my dear readers, that would make for an exciting tag?

1. I have an "I'm a Native Oregonian" obsession. See, few of the people who live in Oregon were actually born there - the Californians inundated Oregon in the 80s and 90s and tried to take it over. Much of Oregon is made up of transplants. I, though, am a 4th generation native Oregonian. My great-great-grandfather, Francois Xavier Matthieu (old dude in the center), was actually involved in the decision about Oregon's statehood. He was born in French Canada in 1818 and was an early Oregon pioneer. He voted for the first provisional government in Oregon and my grandparents always told me he was the deciding vote. He also survived all the other voters and, when he died, the DAR placed a bronze plaque at Champoeg Park to old Frank that says "To honor one of those patriots who on May 2, 1843 at Champoeg saved the Oregon country to this nation." So I'm not only a native, I'm like an Oregon version of the Daughters of the American Revolution Native. He was in the Oregon Legislature and he even renamed a city (I guess he had the authority to do so...): Oxford became Butteville. Nowadays, Butteville is a teeny tiny town with some cool antique stores. Rab and I even bought some antiques there once. Maybe the tables we bought used to belong to Old Frank...who knows?

2. Speaking of Francois, he was married to an American Indian (or maybe that was his dad...). So, believe it or not for those of you who have seen my Scandanavian skin, I am 1/16 (or 1/32 if I'm off a generation) American Indian - just enough to not benefit from the great Federal Government scholarship opportunities.

3. My dream car is a Jeep Wrangler.

4. I own a sweater that Mark the little brother I never had calls my Magic Carpet Sweater. The first time he saw it, he asked how many magic carpets had to die so I could have the sweater. It's one of my favorite pieces of clothing! In fact, I think I'll wear it TODAY!

5. One of my dream careers is to be an orchestra conductor.

6. One of Rab's pet names for me is Sally - as in When Harry Met Sally - because I like sauces and dressings on the side and because I am high maintenance but like to think of myself as low maintenance.

7. As long as we're talking about food, I'm going to add a 7th weird thing. I tend to eat all of one thing on my plate before moving on to another thing.

Let's try this again...

The realtor called me this afternoon. The bank/mortgage company/repo dealer/whoever they are countered our offer. We offered significantly less than the list price and asked for pre-occupancy (moving before we closed). They came down $900 on the list price (basically, they spit in our face) and said no way to pre-occupancy. We hmm'd and hawwed and got increasingly testy.

My initial knee-jerk reaction was to tell the realtor to counter with a figure $10,000 more than our initial offer. When Rab arrived home, we talked and decided we were in love with the location but not the house itself. The list of things we hoped to improve upon grew and grew as we talked about the house more and more. Improvements cost money and if we purchased this house, there would not be a lot of extra funds laying around to pay for all our dreams.

We got out the list with all of my notes about the other houses we saw during our visit. We went between two others - leaning all the while toward one over the other. The clinchers kept coming the more we pondered: The Gray House is more charming, is almost $20,000 less than The Bigger House By The School, seems to be a better home for our dining room set (this damn antique set has caused more problems than it's worth!), and needs fewer changes than any other house on our list (how ironic is that? The house that we can afford to change doesn't need a bunch of changes?!).

Tomorrow, we'll put an offer in on The Gray House. At asking price. Here's a picture of it. Cute, huh?