vacation notes

Ok - so I guess I took vacation from the blog too... Not intentionally - just been away and I can't deal with dial-up. Is that the epitome of impatience (or perhaps of a Type A personality)?

Nevertheless, I (we) had a lovely and relaxing time in Mobile, home of the Green clan. There was much fudge, divinity, and Honey Baked Ham and very little to do (which was great!). We mostly slept, ate, watched TV, ran/walked in the neighborhood, went to Starbucks, and tried on old jackets from the attic:



The last evening, I did manage to get everyone to get together to play this fun-filled game called Apples to Apples (look - it's so fun that it sold out!). I lost miserably every round, but still managed to have fun (now that is a good game!) :



Rebecka and I also had a mother-daughter afternoon one day and went to see Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was action-packed (to me) and quite funny at times, but lacked the awesomeness of the books. Rebecka loved it tho, and that's all that matters. But I think she had even more fun playing with Apple David and Apple Mike:



Now we're back in Nashville and spent the better part of yesterday trying to find a comforter cover for our bed. I think we finally succeeded at eddiebauer.com. Check it out (it's the stripes - not the flowers...)! It will have Cardinal colored sheets to go with it. Now I have to figure out the bathroom! Guh - this is just taking way too long... ;)

Until next year then...

ahhhh...

Christmas Day rocks. I love waking up and seeing Rebecka's face when she sees all the presents that Santa brought her. Her favorite presents this year were a walking and barking "GoGo" dog, a pair of walkie-talkies (so that she doesn't have to come downstairs when she wants to talk to us - hmmm...), and a karaoke machine (hearing Todd sing Waterloo is swell!).

Pepparkakor are awesome!!

Victoria's Secret gifts are always welcome...

Todd with his very own Swedish soccer team home jersey.

We also went for a brisk and wonderful walk around our favorite lake. It was perfectly cold and not at all windy. Great for playing with the walkie-talkies. Now it's time to go watch Harry Potter movie #3 and eat some Ris-a-la-Malta!

God Jul Friends!

icy wonderland

An icy blanket covered Nashville and most of this part of the world the night before yesterday. The temperature was somewhere in the teens that morning. Being insane and addicted to running, I decided to go to the gym anyway and slid over there around 7 am.

The gym was dark as I entered and I wondered if it was even open. There, in the dark, stood the friendly man who scans my card in the mornings and calls me "Anna", because that is the name on my card. "Is the gym broken?", I asked. He responded something about it being an NES problem rather than a YMCA problem.

I sat around for a minute and decided to go to work instead. The power was out there as well... I went up to the office, chatted with Pete for a second (he was going to stay, but he has a window and 2 hours of laptop battery life), and decided to go back home (why did I ever leave??).

I made it up the hill (barely) to our house and opened the front door. It was dark. You guessed it - the power was out there too. It was great! I couldn't work, I couldn't watch TV, and I sure couldn't surf the internet... So I wrapped all my gifts, sang while Todd played the piano, and went outside for a winter walk and took lots of pictures of icicles.

It was a good day.

pepparkakor och saffransbröd

Today was the day of the annual pepparkaksbak at the Green house. The aroma of gingerbread and saffron filled the kitchen early in the morning when I first prepared the gingerbread dough and lingers still after the last gingerbread snowman has been laid to rest in the big rubbermaid container...

There were several mishaps - of course. First of all, I think my kitchen scale isn't really working too well... So I ended up with way too much flour in the gingerbread dough. So much flour, in fact, that I broke my 10+ year-old ladle as I was trying to stir it... Not good. But somehow they turned out just fine. Also, I assumed that the saffron that my mom sent me last year (it's so "cheap" in Sweden) was finely ground... Well, it wasn't - so the lussekatter (saffron bread) ended up with small specks of saffron in it. Again - taste just fine - so who cares!?!?

Rebecka was a great helper and even dried some dishes for me(!) She's trying to be good about chores so that we will let her have a dog after the summer. Hmmm... We're pretty much screwed. If we don't get her a dog, she'll probably cry for a year - and that would not be fun.

The little dog in "As Good As It Gets" is cute. I could probably handle one of those. Of course, it would have to be just as well-trained. That is a requirement for sure. They're called Brussels Griffons and apparently there were six of them in the movie... Why do you need six dogs to play one dog in a movie?? I can see using two - but six? Weird...

"It is affectionate, willful and high-strung, but charming." Sound like anyone you know?? :)

back among the living

Just wanted to announce that I am back among the living and will be an impressively better friend/wife/mother/blogger/etc going forward (at least for the next few weeks)...

Presented the big, big, big project that I've been slaving away on yesterday and it is such a relief!! Now I just need to catch up on all the other projects that I've been neglecting in the meantime and everything will be just dandy.

Lunch with the girls today - yay! It's been waaaaay tooooo looooong.

Well, I'm off to the gym in order to get a good start to another fun-filled day. Thankfully it's not freezing cold today... so hopefully no frost on the car. :)

it's snowing!!

Quite pathetically, but still snowing... And with any luck it will still be snowing by the time I finish up this post...

Rebecka is thrilled. She's upstairs putting on multiple layers of sweaters and sporting her newest headband/scarf combo in anticipation of running outside to try to catch some snowflakes on her tongue. Oh the joys of childhood.

Todd and I will remain by the kitchen table with our laptops and dream of a White Christmas.

It's warm in here.

green goblins

Rebecka's basketball team won their last game this morning by crushing the opposing team and reaching some massive score that they didn't even display, in order not to make the losing team too discouraged (max 20 point difference)...

But best of all - Rebecka scored her first goal of the season (thus ever)!!! It was thrilling - and the Green Goblin supporters in the stands gave her a lot of cheers. She's had a great time playing with a really awesome team of sweet and talented girls.

I'm taking her and her friend Katie to get ice cream later in celebration of this great event (I can make almost any event qualify for a trip to Baskin Robbins...). Pralines 'n Cream - mmmm.

Go Green Goblins!!

society for handheld hushing

ever get tired of listening to annoying cell phone conversations...?

check this out!

email

i have 117 in my inbox... i have 52 flagged for follow up... i'm scared to think about the number of emails that i will have when i get back from my vacation... maybe i shouldn't go on vacation...

what sucks...

... is getting to your car in the airport parking lot at night (after an 18 hour workday) and having to scrape frost off the windshield...

however, what doesn't suck is coming home and having some warm soymilk and a granola bar before crawling into bed - mmm - tasty...

god natt!

They live together in a big house.

Being able to write this sentence was the extent of the "language test" portion of my naturalization interview today... And I managed to pass the government/history questions as well (favorite question: "What is the color of the stars on the flag?").

Yay - I'll be able to add a vote for the democratic candidate in the next election!

I started off in Nashville at 7 am this morning, drove to Memphis for the interview (thanks Emi for coming with me!!!), back to Nashville. Now it's 11:30 pm and I'm in a Holiday Inn in Wilkesboro, N.C.

I'm tired.

ps - There's a lady on The Tonight Show right now who is eating a lot of meatballs in 30 seconds. Gross!!!

3 good things about running outside in the winter

It makes you feel alive!

It makes you appreciate the sunny spots...

And it makes coming back to a warm home even more exciting!!

this weekend...

...was fantastic!!! :)

Gone are the woes of previous posts. I'm tired, yes, but everything was just very swell this weekend.

My sweet friend Katie of Wisconsin was in town and I managed to see her every day she was here. Breakfast at Panera this morning was especially pleasant. :)

Went to company Christmas Party - and was thrilled to be at an event where I was not at all in charge of ANYTHING!! Forced relaxation rocks.

Some other very nice things occurred...

Got to talk to both of my parents!

Pulled off the Christmas Musical without any kids falling off the stage or setting fire to each others hair. Had so many terrific people help out with it (thanks M!). Our good friends Pete and Emi came to it, which was quite thrilling. As did my boss w family, which was also very cool.

Talked to my awesome friend Jennifer for the first time in months.

And now I'm chatting with my genius friend Steve.

Hmmm - I should probably be working, but - there's always time for that later! (Let's see how long this high lasts, shall we? I'm betting less than 24 hours.)

come see, listen, and eat

What: Christmas Musical "Light of the World" with my two choirs and other random musicians + potluck dinner following program (entree and dessert provided)

When: This Sunday, December 12, 2004 @ 5 pm

Where: Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville

Questions? Post a comment!

name of the day: anna

In Sweden, today's namesday is Anna. This is my first name (I go by my second name).

Today was the suckiest namesday ever.

However, I did get the movie Chocolat from Todd (thanks honey!). Rebecka made me a candy dispenser and a bookmark (very creative!!). And my mom left me a Happy Namesday message on my voice mail (it's her namesday today too...).

Still the suckiest ever...

I'm tired of working all the time. I'm tired of people looking at me and telling me how tired I look. And I'm definitely tired of being tired all the time.

Ok - bitching time is over. Back to work.

check it out!

Last week, Todd submitted comments to CBS’s Amazing Race website about personal experiences/observations concerning Stockholm. Each week, they publish some of these on their website. Guess who is now a published author on a major network’s website… (look at the 6th response):

Been There, Done That

Read more about The Vasa Museum.

it's all greek to me...

So Kevin (design team member) and I decide to order some take out Greek food from my favorite Kebab/Gyros place to bring back to the office in order to get through an evening of fun-filled work. I tell the guy on the phone I will pick up in five minutes. I get there and he hasn't even gotten started... "Oh, I didn't think you meant five minutes..."

Since when does "five minutes" not mean "five minutes"??

Anyway - on the upside... When you leave work at 5:30 pm to pick up dinner, you can get a really good parking spot when you get back to the office.

paradoxical morality

Today I received an email from my friend Emi which talked about how certain pharmacists are refusing to fill prescriptions for contraceptives based on 'moral grounds'. Apparently seven states have passed laws allowing for these kind of practices just this year.

I'm sure these are the same people who refuse to perform abortions and in worst case scenario go out to the clinics to harass (or kill) those who do based on the same 'moral grounds'.

Hello!?!??! Doesn't anyone see that refusing to provide birth control to women hurts the abortion cause rather than help it?? According to this email, half of all unwanted pregnancies in this country could have been avoided had the women been using birth control.

So first we refuse to give these women contraceptives and then we shun them when they get pregnant and want an abortion...? Does this make sense to anyone? Abortion is not a good thing. Not only is a human life ended prematurely, but this also causes emotional scars in the women and creates divides in families and relationships. If we can prevent this by providing birth control to those who need it the most, why shouldn't we?

To read more, click here.

i'm pooped

Thus endeth my first soccer season ever. Whew! Playoffs today with back-to-back games in the mud. I got kicked in the knee, fell on top of the other team's goalie (which was not all bad ;) - but it still hurts), and had a swell time in general.

Came home after the games and got some Swedish rice porridge started in the big pot, took a shower, started watching Shrek II with the family, and passed out on the couch.

It was a fine, fine day.

Btw - After my shower I decided to see what would happen if I just let my hair dry completely on its own... Disaster. I promise I will never subject any of you to this (poor Todd!!).

ps - I just noticed how in the picture above, half the team is holding their hands in front of them and the other half is holding their hands behind their backs (and then there's me). Wonder if this is linked to personality...?

positive thinking

Went to bed with a slightly sore throat.

Woke up with a much sorer throat.

This is not the time... Need to think happy thoughts:

"I'm not sick, I'm not sick. I feel fine, I feel fine..."

It's all mental.

it has been seen

I finally managed to clear an evening, hire a babysitter (thanks Sam!!), and get away with the hubby to see Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. We viewed it in a very empty theatre with a handful of other Friday night movie goers.

I don't care what the critics said - it was marvelous. Hugh was hot, Colin was hotter, and it was actually really funny. No substance whatsoever, but who cares!?!? It's Friday night and I've been overusing my brain for weeks.

Lovely evening.

don't fix it if it ain't broke...

In the spirit of trying something new, I decided to change up my workout a bit this morning. Instead of running for an hour and then lifting weights, I thought it might be fun to do elliptical machine for 30 minutes, then lift weights, and then run for 30 minutes. Well, the first two parts went fine - then when I got on the treadmill and started running, my legs felt like lead and after 15 minutes, my body said "NO MORE!!"

I think it was due to doing lunges right before the run while still sore from doing lunges on Tuesday... Lunges are awesome - they workout every lowerbody muscle - but if you skip them on even one workout it doesn't matter how much you stretch, you'll be sore...

So, I think I'll go back to my routine of running first next time. :)

Btw - If you live in Nashville, the Greek Orthodox Church is having its annual bake sale this weekend. I won't be going, because I've already put on my allotted holiday pounds and am in the process of running them off. A box full of baklavas at the house would not help the cause.

beware!

The Fox and Fridiots will be on the road next week and they're coming to Nashville... Don't know where - but stay away from downtown, I guess.

Btw - I worked 14 hours yesterday - just another day at the office...

finally!

The Amazing Race went to Stockholm, Sweden, where the contestants had to go to IKEA to perform a task (count 2304 items or put together a desk) and also search for clues in bales of hay in the Swedish countryside.

Quite thrilling!

Fox and Froooops

When E.D. and the rest of the Fox and Fridiots were interviewing Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake about the whole Oil for Food mishap this morning, the lovely desert background suddenly shut off and a nice blue DVD screen showed up instead. Funniest thing I've seen in a while on this horrible channel.

This is how lousy it is: I get more intellectual stimulation reading the random news ticker at the bottom than listening to their actual stories.

PS - The power went out at the gym today - it was kinda cozy - especially since I had moved on to non-electrical equipment by that time...

how i feel...

tired, mentally exhausted, worn out, hungry, anxious, ready to crash...

will it ever end?

camera fun

I have a relationship with my camera... Kinda like I have a relationship with my laptop and probably soon will with my phone (we're still in the exploring stage)...

It entertains me at various events such as games, concerts, parties, decorating the tree, etc... I actually like decorating the tree, but taking pictures of some of the ornaments (like "Drunk Santa" here) was really fun too...

My renaissance man friend Brian recommended this camera to me and I am forever grateful (thanks!). He takes lots of nifty pics with his Minolta and puts some of them in this nice little gallery.

Anyway - it has an amazing zoom, captures movement better than anything I've ever seen, and yeh - it just provides lots of good fun.

it's annoying...

...when people complain about your pizza suggestion, order half the pizza with some alternate disgusting topping (like pepperoni), and, when the pizza finally arrives, decide that your side looks tastier and eat it...

we did it!!!

It was cold, it was gruelling, but we pulled each other through the 1oK Habitrot and ended up under our goal time - 57:29:47 (unofficial)!

On the way home we stopped by the new Krispy Kreme to pick up donughts for the non-runners at home and received free, fresh-from-the-oven samples. Oh my - it was amazing.

Now the turkey is in the oven (it's much easier to get all the stuff out of it when it's fully thawed - this year was the best thawing job yet) and I am showered, dry, and ready to get started on the precise science that is getting all the parts of the Thanksgiving menu done at the same time.

I had a nightmare about cornbread making last night - I hope it's not a bad omen. However, the problem in the dream was that they confiscated my cast-iron skillet at the airport security checkpoint (I was on a business trip). So it should all be good.

happy things

I'm really tired of bitching about how tired I am and how much I have to work these days...

Soooo - I'm going to talk about two happy things that happened in the past 48 or so hours.

First of all - Todd spent Sunday afternoon putting together a "Just-for-Tabita" Christmas CD when he should've been reading boring church history books and surprised me with it. Hole-in-one for him... I love surprises, I love Christmas music, and I love "Just-for-Tabita" CDs. :)

My design team will be very tired of this lovely collection very soon, but I love it!

Secondly, today I found "filmjölk" in this country for the first time since emigration nearly 10 years ago. This is huge! I love filmjölk and didn't think I'd ever find it. Here it is called Kefir (cultured milk) and you can get it at Wild Oats (I should've known). It's kinda like drinkable yoghurt and has a very fresh taste. Todd hates it (his description is "sour cream used as milk"). Anyone who didn't grow up with it probably hates it. Kinda like salt licorice or pickled herring.

Anyway - I had some for dinner - and it was marvelous.

So a couple of things to be thankful for during this holiday season - more to come...

i'm so lucky...

The house is cleaner that it's been in a looooong time - and I didn't lift a finger (they're stuck to my laptop keyboard).

Thanks family - I love you!

intergender friendships

This morning I watched the first 90% of When Harry Met Sally in the cardio cinema while I ran my last intense run before the race on Thursday. What a great movie that is!!! Of course, when watching movies at the YMCA, one is forced to watch them through the editing lenses of "Clean Flicks" which in this case meant that the entire *faking it* scene was cut out. Bummer.

But I disagree with the main premise of the movie that men and women can't be *just friends*. What is the deal with that? Working in the software world, there's not a whole lot of female friend options, so basically I have two options:

1) Be friends with men
2) Have very few friends

I choose the first option. People can say what they want, but it's very possible to be *just friends* - I do it every day.

There you have it.

i love...

...how Rebecka still wears her *I wouldn't vote for Bush if I were you* t-shirt in public.

role reversal

This morning I found myself in the kitchen, still unconscious, being kindly lectured on how to get Rebecka ready for her field day, including what she should wear (red gecko t-shirt), bring for lunch (nothing - they're having a pizza party), and hairstyle (pull her hair back so it doesn't get in her face).

And it struck me - I am now officially the dad and Todd is the mom.
I kinda like being the dad...

ps - i'm going to listen to the music from love actually all day at work, because it makes me happy.

ps2 - i think i'm about as addicted to my morning post as i am to my morning oatmeal - scary.

coping

I luv my hubby - he bought me the soundtrack for our favorite movie, Love Actually, and it arrived today - yay!! It is helping me get through an evening/night of UI flow creations... I've designed 15 so far - approx 5 to go. Anyway - this soundtrack is to die for. Amazingly terrific. I think my favorite right now is Here With Me - but they're all awesome!

Simon and Garfunkel are helping out as well. I enjoy Scarborough Fair... Did a sweet arrangement of that with my choir, Common Souls, back in Texas.

Todd also went out to the Walmart Neighborhood Market for some Smart Ones Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sundaes to get me through this ordeal. He rocks.

Anyway - on a slightly related and happy note - looks like Colin is hoping to be the next 007.

Oh please God, let it be so!

i will never complain about my big buttocks again!

My dear bro-in-law "Anonymous David" sent me this interesting article about running. It describes how the human physique developed from the need for our body to support the act of running. Apparently we developed big buttocks (compared to apes) to keep from falling flat on our face with every running step.

I love the first part of the title: "Humans Were Born to Run" - indeed!

On another running note, Todd declared today that he is going to run the 10K Habitrot with me on Thanksgiving morning. This is an historic event in the life of the Greens in that it will be his first race and, hence, the first race we run together. Btw, we're shooting for a manageable sub-hour finish time honey... ;)

Finally, running on a treadmill while still under the influence of Benadryl is interesting. But boy is that stuff awesome! I slept 9 straight, wonderful hours last night. I'll be taking it again tonight, and the night after that, and...

hives galore

I went to lunch with my friends Pete and Emi at one of our favorite restaurants, Royal Thai, today. I had my usual Coconut Soup for starters and then the Pad Thai (no chicken, extra tofu).

When I got back to work I sat down and started catching up on emails that had found their way to my inbox during the 1 hour lunch break. As I was sitting there, I started feeling kind of itchy, especially around my ears, neck, and chest. I looked down at my chest as saw big bug bite type red blotches forming all over the place. At that point I got the attention of the other people in the room and asked: "Is it just me, or am I breaking out?"

"Oh my Gosh!" was the response. Yeh - basically all of me, from head to toe was starting to break out into these bizarre hives. I went to the restroom to check out the rest of the body... Not a pretty sight. My boss went out for benadryl (well, actually Wal-dryl) while the others told me I needed to go to the doctor. I gave in and drove down to the dr's office where they took one look at me and pretty much saw me right away. They couldn't really tell me anything, but armed me with Zyrtec and sent me on my way. Funny quote from the nurse: "If you start feeling your throat swell up, this is a medical emergency. That means you need to dial 911." Ok - yeh - got it...

On the way back to the office it all started going away and soon you'd never know that I'd even had this happen.

So now the question is - do I go back to Royal Thai? - do I have the Pad Thai again? Or is this just stress-related? Or what?!?!? Time will tell, I guess. I sure do love Pad Thai.

dry contacts...

The time is 7:57 am and my contacts are already telling me that I've been staring at a computer screen for too long...

It's going to be a looooooong day...

(But the Preacher's Wife soundtrack is playing in my headphones making life really happy... I'll just be blinking a lot.)

more awesome music

LOVE Fred Hammond - especially this album.

And Kirk Franklin is also swell.

Black gospel rocks.

do something different

This morning when I got to the gym, I could not find an empty locker that had two empty lockers next to it (I like to spread out) in my regular area. So I took a deep breath and ventured into the unknown vastness of the adjacent locker room space. Perfect - a whole row of empty lockers.

This little event spawned some thinking about how habitual we really are and how some little changes in how we do things can make an ordinary day turn into an adventure.

Here are just some of the things one can do to liven things up a bit:

Go somewhere new for lunch (yep -doing that today with my sweet friend Katherine - Puffy Muffin - doesn't that sound like a fun place?), take a different route to work, use a different perfume, park in a different place (Ok - maybe not, this could cause car finding issues...), wear those bright green socks that your mother-in-law stuffed in your stocking last year (if you wear boots nobody will notice, if you're wearing birkenstocks you'll get reprimanded by your daughter), try a new position (often), if you take the elevator - take the stairs (if you take the stairs - keep taking the stairs - it's better for you), listen to a different radio station or cd in the car (just watch out for those conservative talk shows - they'll make you throw up and you don't want to have to clean that mess up)...

See - the possibilities are endless...

music beyond the imagination

My good friend Brian introduced me to the music of Jonas Hellborg maybe a year ago and it has been playing in my laptop and car on and off ever since. Right now he's on in my car and - man - is he and his music amazing.

This music takes you to some place where all is well and thoughts are clear. The pieces are so long that you have time to get to some really deep place - unlike most music, which abruptly forces you to some other place every 3 1/2 minutes. Even the different pieces flow into each other, so it's more like a long, wonderful story.

Listen.

and on the seventh day God rested...

And on the seventh day Tabita went from task to task and from activity to activity from 6 am to 9 pm non-stop at which time she collapsed into bed and slept like a baby until 5:58 am the next morning...

I want a sabbath. Is one per month too much to ask?

publishing fun

Congrats to the husband for the Lutheran Quarterly publishing his book review on "A Church History of Denmark" in the Autumn, 2004 issue.

For all of you who have been dying to know more about the church history of Denmark (and especially Lutheranism in Denmark) - you're finally in luck, because:

"Any scholar interested in Lutheran history and theology will find this book to be a most helpful resource."

I'm happy because...

more publishing == a lesser likelyhood of ending up at some worthless college in the Deep South.

rambling

I took some time out this morning to treat myself to a 2+ hour workout. Yes, I realize that to some of you this would seem more like torture than a treat, but trust me - it was just what I needed!! Ran my first long run since the 1/2 marathon back in April (8.40 miles). My thighs and arms are shafed (you're not a real runner unless some part of your body is permanently shafed... ;) Doing the leg extension machine after that many miles is slightly horrific - but in a good kind of way...

Unfortunately, I had to watch Fox and Friends during the run.

75% was about the Peterson verdict - they held up a paper where the header said "Frey Him!" Why are we so thirsty for human blood?

15 % was about Fallujah - what a mess.

5% was about Blair's visit to the White House - I don't really care.

5% was about random stuff including a two-headed snapping turtle in England (that was my favorite part).

On the way home from the gym I noticed that Brentwood is being decked out for the Christmas Holidays... What the $^#%$?!? It's not even Thanksgiving yet!! Can we just do one holiday at a time - please?

ps - I'm just out of the shower, in fleece pants, eating oatmeal, and writing in my blog... Could life be any better??

i'm running out of everything...

hair spray, steam, trash bags, clothes that rebecka can fit into, expensive smoothing stuff for my crazy troll-like hair, soy milk, blended face powder, baked goods...

and i have no time to get more - i need a personal assistant!! (or a stay-at-home-dad... ;)

ps - i fixed my hair today - the husband will be thrilled.

ps2 - jackson 5 rocks - if that music doesn't make u happy - nothing can...

hugh hates acting

My husband and bro-in-law David both informed me of this tragedy... How am I to move on?

Well, I guess there's still Colin... :)

Can't wait to see the new Bridget Jones Diary movie - just have to get through this insane crunch at work... For those of you who get out there this weekend - lemme know what you think!

The Kerry voter: A blue night, a red-letter day

This is an awesome story on one of my favorite friends' mom. "Brianna" is one of Rebecka's best friends and the artist who drew the above poster that decorated our front door on election day.

On a personal note - I've worked 24 hours in the past 36 hours and am about to pass out... More later.

morning reflections

CNN was finally on in the Cardio Cinema today... Until towards the end when some guy on the elliptical machine asked one of the YMCA dudes if he could switch it to Fox... I didn't complain, because I was on my way out the door - thank God...

According to CNN there's some new/experimental *miracle* pill out that will help people stop eating, stop smoking, and thus help with cardiovascular health... I cannot stand these companies that come out with these different magical solutions. Eat and exercise in moderation and you're good. And please don't tell me you don't have time to work out, because if I have time, anyone has time...

Alright, step off the soap box... I have recently discovered a great way to add 15 more minutes to my day... No more hair styling! It's great. I mean, think about all the time that is saved. Over 11 8-hour days per year. Of course, I (or the people around me) will probably soon tire of me looking like a college student studying for finals every day, but for now it's working.

I just had a chocolate cupcake with a reeses peanutbutter cup in the center. It was fabulous. Our PM loves us.

one week later

still so much unrest

angst

and hoping that it's all just a bad dream - knowing that it's not.

part of me wants to keep dwelling on it all, but a bigger part of me wants to move on... this is our reality - make the best of the situation. be positive and appreciate the good things in life.

like having a warm home, family, friends - many good friends

a job - a challenging and rewarding job - intense, but good

music - i have a piano - how lucky is that? - and i have friends to make music with - anytime i want

running - i'm not fast - and i'm pretty sure watching me run is pure comedy - but my legs are strong and i can go and go until i run out of time

and a church that embraces all of God's children indiscriminate of their sexuality, race, theology, or socio-economic status - now this is rare

it'll still be hard. whenever i see a friend that i haven't seen since the election, we greet as if someone just died. "how are you?" "well, aside from still being in mourning..." or "well, except for our country going to shit..." or "well, except for being scared to death..."

it's nice to be surrounded by people who are also in this weird state of disbelief, to be able to share feelings, and be heard... let's keep talking, but at the same time try to be hopeful that everything's gonna be alright...

blue states are healthier...

A recent study ranks the 50 states by how healthy they are (sorry to point you dear readers to the Fox and Friends website, but that's where I heard it - can't help what's showing in the cardio cinema...).

The point of interest for me is that out of the top 10 healthiest states, 8 voted for Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. Out of the 15 un-healthiest states, 14 voted for Bush.

I would say this speaks for itself... ;)

I'm wondering if mental health is also part of this study...

electronic giving

Right now is Stewardship time at our church (and maybe in most churches - what do I know?). Anyway, for you people who don't visit churches very frequently, this is when the church asks you to pledge for the next year so that the session (or whatever the governing body is called) can estimate what kind of budget the church is going to have.

Today we received the pledge card in the mail along with a document describing how to sign up for Electronic Giving. I have been wondering for years when it would come to this... The way they try to sell it to you is that you don't have to worry about bringing checks or cash to church every week/month, you don't have to worry about forgetting about it, and it's safer than checks...

And true - this is totally convenient. Any business that offers electronic payment - I'm all over it. But for church? I mean, will we get to a point when the offering part of the service is erased from the order of worship? There is something spiritual about bringing gifts to share with one's community of faith.

I'd like to hear what you, my friends, have to say about this...

purse tragedy resolution

well, i threw it away. just now. sob. it was like throwing away your favorite pair of jeans, or selling a beloved car, or moving away from a homey home (ok - maybe not that bad...)

anyway - in the interim i am using my backup purse which my dear husband bought me when our child was small and i needed to be able to fit diapers, wipes, toys, snacks, juice, extra clothes, etc in my purse... it's humongous, but it works.

and one of these days i'll have time to shop for a new one and it will be great. :)

well, of to the grocery store... the fact that i'm buying groceries right now indicates that i am about 30 3/4 hours behind where i should be according to the typical weekend schedule.

oh well.

soccer

My team (Comfortably Numb) just won two games in one... :) Yes - the team for the second game didn't show... Sweet!

This is the first game where my foot hasn't been hurting horribly after the game... Very exciting. I feel like going running now... Maybe I will. Weather is gorgeous.

It seems criminal to stay inside when the weather outside is so lovely. Sometimes I want it to be ugly outside during the weekend so that I can stay inside guiltlessly and get some stuff done. But not this weekend. Maybe next??

purse tragedy

Today my purse of 13+ years broke. I purchased this purse at an outdoor market somewhere in England in the summer of 1991. It has been my steady companion ever since. It's not too big and not too small. It has the right number of compartments to avoid confusion and it is unique.

One friend suggested that I take it to a cobbler. Another friend suggested duck tape. I'm thinking it's shopping time... :)

love actually

just finished watching this movie for the umpteenth time...

it is so swell. i mean - hugh, colin, and my favorite - andrew

whew - awesome. and the music is terrific.

if you haven't seen this movie - please do. you will laugh and cry and laugh some more. and it's hilarious with the commentary turned on with hugh bashing colin every time he is in a scene...

ahhh...

i'm home - it's friday night - and rebecka just gave me a makeover...

life is good. :)

random thoughts

i'm really busy...

fall is back! bring on the corduroy, fleece, hot chocolate, soups, and boots. walking outside this morning was pure joy.

it's friday! amazing, but true...

still speechless - but this kinda sums it up.

i'm playing soccer on sunday - two games back to back... hope my foot doesn't break.

i want to go to sweden... right now. but i have to wait. patience is such a cool gift. i don't have it. i'm working on it.

i want to lay on the couch tonight and watch a good british movie - colin firth is hot.

no more field trips for three weeks. joy.

life is running away from me - i need to catch up, but slow down at the same time. how does that work?

ridiculous

So, I received the new Victorias Secret catalog in the mail the other day. It is fabulous... Possibly best selection ever.

But - ok - there's a bra in there that costs $10,000,000. I'm sorry... That's just absurd. It's not even that spectacular... And how uncomfortable would that be...? And how many third world countries could you feed with that amount of money...?

ps - honey, i really like the shirt on p. 153... ;)

on trial

Alright - this story has to be told:

Yesterday I came home from yet another field trip to N.C. around 7 pm. A stuffed dog greeted me at the door with a note that said: "Come to your room right now!" So I dropped everything and went straight up to my room.

Becka motioned me to sit down in a chair facing the bed that was covered with books and other random items to create a court room. The family was on the bed with Fluffy, a stuffed cat who hates my guts... ;) Fluffy was dressed up to be the judge with rollers strapped to her head to symbolize the wig.

As the trial unfolded it became apparent that I was on trial for at some point during the previous night throwing Fluffy on the floor. I honestly had no recollection of this and was wondering why she was in our bed in the first place. Also, I realized halfway through this event that the victim and judge was the same animal. That didn't seem fair.

In the end the court found me guilty even though I pleaded insanity and any other things that I'd heard people plead in the movies. However, there was no mercy... "We're in America - we don't show mercy here" were the final words...

My punishment was to clean up the mess created on our bed and some other things that I refused to do... :)

Ok - how bizarre is my life?

ps - Fluffy, if you're reading this... You should really consider a make-over, you're starting to look really shabby...

cute beer

I didn't know that Heineken came in these little 7 oz. bottles...! It's the cutest thing ever - and just my size... :)

I'm excited.

swedish colony

After the events of the last few days, I am seriously considering founding one... I've got several takers already and for those of you who are new to the concept:

http://expatsinsweden.com/

It'll be great! Good (highly taxed) beer, hot babes (doesn't help me much), lots of skiing, 5-6 weeks of vacation, 1 1/2 years of maternity leave (again, doesn't help me much - but it's not all about me ;), universal health care, blueberry picking in the woods, bicycle lanes everywhere, yummy chocolate, and cheap saffron.

Any questions? :)

i'm speechless

four more years... hmmm... well... guh... %@$#!!!!

how about those pistons, eh?

pessimist or realist?

There are two people very close to me who I consider to be pessimists (they call themselves *realists*).

Funny thing is that the democrat obviously thinks that Bush will win and the republican thinks that Kerry will win... So - they can't both be realists...

Let's hope the republican is the realist... :)

more to eminem than meets the eye...?

We've discovered at our house that there is actually some depth to this rapper... If you haven't already seen his new video, please check it out here.

An excerpt:

"No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our soil
No more psychological warfare to trick us to think that we ain't loyal
If we don't serve our own country we're patronizing a hero"

cardio cinema woes

Having to watch Fox and Friends on Election Day is like having to listen to the Norwegian commentators during an olympic cross-country skiing race.

If ya know what i mean...

...and if you don't - it SUX.

post halloween trauma

ok - so i'm supposed to be finding information about christopher columbus for becka right now, but i just had to mention this:

i have had more junk food in the past 48 hours than i usually have in a month! and it makes me feel GROSS!!! i hate halloween... ;)

basketball fun

So here she is - the next female Michael Jordan (or something)...

weekend happenings

Ok - first of all - what happened to fall and why is it summer again? It's so confusing... I thought winter came after fall... and I have all these cute, new fall outfits to wear and it's too warm...

I went to see a Christmas movie this weekend wearing a tank-top, short skirt, and sandals... That just does not seem right. The movie (Surviving Christmas) was actually surprisingly funny. Of course, I went into it with zero (or more like -10) expectations thanks to my best friend who thinks Ben Affleck is the Anti-Christ (or wait - I think that's Karl Malone - not sure what the official terminology for Affleck is...) Anyway - now I know why Todd is always having totally low expectations, it really makes things seem better!

On a completely different note, my "intergenerational choir" (still haven't decided on a name) sang in the 11 o'clock service at our church today... It was an historic moment - we had drums... Yes, those evil instruments that are frequently mentioned in the Bible as instruments of choice... It was all good. Haven't received any hate mail yet.

Oh - and Happy Halloween...! We had some fun-filled pumkin carving take place earlier today and then of course took our little pilgrim (don't ask) out to gather lots of candy... She was quite successful with 140+ pieces.

I think that's enough for now...

older than i look?

So - at Rebecka's bball game today (pics to come), the mom next to me thought that I was Rebecka's sister. "You look like you're 14 or 15!" Ehm - no... I don't know if it was the childish curls framing my face after my recent run or the fact that I hadn't had time to put on make-up yet... In any case - this happens to me all the time...

On the first day of my first teaching job (Jr High music) the principal saw me in the hallway and thought I was one of the students... I was 21...

On the first day of attending our church in Waco, an elderly couple behind me introduced themselves and asked who I was. "Oh, I'm the minister's wife..." To which they responded: "You don't look old enough to be married!! You look like you're still in High School!" I was 24...

And every time a new employee at work finds out I have a seven-year-old, they exclaim: "You don't look old enough to have a child!" I am 30...

And I'm loving it!! :)

field trip joys (and firsts)

Park in long distance parking (it was open - yay! hate when i have to go to economy parking)... Take the fun-filled shuttle ride to the terminal - today I decided to make conversation with the person next to me for the first time... Vandy professor of literature on his way to Yale - who would've known?

Walk over to the security place (printed boarding pass at work)... Take off shoes, take out laptop, put it all on the belt, go through the thingy, hear the security dude say "Have a nice flight!" and for the first time manage not to say "You too!", put shoes back on, put laptop back in bag, grab the stuff and head for the gate.

Once there, try to do some work - suroundings too distracting... board - who took all the overhead compartment space? dig out papers to read, and for the first time ever - ignore papers and go to sleep... my, i must have been tired! I missed the drink and pretzels, and woke up to "ma'm - u need to put your seat in its upright position for landing..."

Get out of the plane, ride the little Hertz shuttle to the car rental place... First time to rent a car (always been riding along with someone). It was quite a smooth experience despite the fact that my name wasn't on the board and I actually had to go into the little booth to get my car (apparently a first-timer thing).

Drive to corporate apartment - get lost (naturally - first time staying there) - finally find it... take off shoes and sink into the sofa. Power up computer, and yeh...

Wonder what adventures tomorrow will hold???

hilarious...

ok - everybody may have already seen this, but just in case...

Electronic voting machines in Florida, Bush Wins Florida!

really busy these days - going on another field trip tomorrow - oh joy! :)

one more week...

My friend Mark emailed me the link to the Bush Relatives for Kerry site.

Check it out.

My favorite quote:

"I'm voting for John Kerry because I'm a Christian. I know that my second cousin, George Bush, claims that he is the anointed leader of the American people and that God told him to run for office. I believe he may even believe that. I don't."

I really hope that America makes the correct decision next Tuesday...

what's important

Whew - been busy... i can't believe how long it's been since i wrote something!!! ;)

Anyway - early this morning I had a revelation. Rebecka crawled into bed with us at some point during the wee hours and laid her head on my arm... I gave her a big hug and had this overwhelming sense of knowing exactly what was important in life... It's not work, it's not being able to run 13.1 miles, it's not wearing the latest fashions (although - that is fun!), it's not keeping the house spotless at all times, etc, etc...

It's this little human being lying next to me in bed (and the much bigger human being lying on the other side of me... ;) What a responsibility! I stress about being a good parent a lot. I know all the theories behind raising a smart, well-adjusted, and healthy child. I wish I didn't. Because there's no way to do it all. I'm not sure when Rebecka last had a vegetable... I'm not sure how many hours of TV she watches every day... But - I know this...

The next time she asks me to wrestle - I will... and the next time she asks me to help her with a messy art project - I will... and the next time she asks me to play pretend games with her stuffed animals - I will...

But this is cool... Whenever I feel like I'm a bad parent, I go look at a little poem that Rebecka brought home from school one day. It goes like this:

HOME
Home is comfortable
Home is where people love me
Home makes me feel like a new day

Ok - she's fine. :)

The human hamster wheel

Some runners think that people who run on treadmills are sissies... If you're not out there in the sweltering heat risking dehydration during the summer or slipping and sliding through icy streets in the winter, you're not really a runner.

Well, I LOVE the treadmill. I love it because it provides climate control (unless you place your treadmill outside, of course), it tells me exactly how far I've run and how fast I'm running, and it gives quick access to bathrooms should a sudden urge arise...

Did you know that the first treadmills were used on farms to generate power and in jails to punish prisoners!?! I'd take the treadmill over highway cleanup any day... ;)

Having said all that - nothing beats a early fall run in the woods, watching the world awake, and listening to the sounds of nature... Hmmm, makes me want to go to the lake.

oatmeal

Those of you who interact with me on a daily or almost daily basis know that oatmeal is my breakfast of choice 99.9% of the time... In fact, it's not just breakfast, it's a spiritual experience.

It took quite some time for my pals at work to convince me that instant oatmeal is a viable option... but once I got over that barrier a whole new world opened up to me - oatmeal at work! And now I can't really function if I don't start my day at work off with a good bowl of this wonderful porridge. :)

Anyway, when I'm at home, I still cook my oatmeal the old fashioned way - on the stove... And this week I had a new oatmeal revelation... the one minute 'Quick Oats'... I've seen this option at the store and always shied away from it, thinking that it must not taste as good or have the same perfect consistency as 'Old Fashioned Oats' - because - if it did, why would you ever buy the 'Old Fashioned' variety??

Hello, why didn't I try this years ago? Think of all the time I could've saved. There is absolutely no difference folks! So why on earth do people still buy the 'Old Fashioned Oats'? It's a mystery.

Tabita oatmeal trivia: I eat it with milk in the bowl at home, but at work I have it with milk on the side... don't ask...

with the times - part 3

cell phone: 'check'

yes - it's true - it's really true!!! i'm cool now.

and my phone is soooo cute! i'm excited.

breaking news from Sweden

So - nobody who reads this blog would probably care, but four bears were hit by a train in Sweden today...

"Why would four bears be on a train track at the same time?", you may wonder. Well, according to the investigators they were probably munching on the remains of some other animal who had previously been hit by a train...

And isn't it ironic... don't you think?
A little too ironic... and yeah i really do think...

ok - it's late... time to crawl into bed and watch some online swedish news... :)

sleepovers...

... are awesome!

especially the ones Rebecka gets to go to... :)

american sex lives

interesting show tonight on abc...

did u know that 57% of Americans have had sex outside?

read all about it...

with the times - part 2

ok - so maybe i was too with the times...

several friends told me about the security issues with google desktop, so i went ahead and uninstalled it...

and guess what happened? my browser opened and google asked me why the heck i decided to uninstall it... freaky!

it is here

rebecka's t-shirt came today! doesn't she look excited?

namur has a new US distributor

yeh - that would be me.

i have two big boxes of t-shirts if anyone wants to buy (they're only $12!!!)

and now i can receive payments via paypal (yeh - this is what prompted that)...

check the shirt out at namur.nu - go to 'order' and then scroll down almost to the bottom and there's a hunky guy in a tight variety of it...

i think i'll be getting cds and other fun things soon... i'll keep you posted!

with the times

so i feel like i'm making strides towards becoming more with the times...

i downloaded this super nifty google tool that searches your hard drive while you search the web... check it out here...

and i signed up for PayPal this morning... :)

now i just need a cell phone, an mp3 player, and the TV-B-Gone and i'll be all set.

TV-B-Gone

ok - this new gadget is going to make hanging out at airports so much more entertaining...

someone please get me one!

disgusting

btw - does anybody else find the USA Today commercial with the nude dude in the hotel disturbing?

there is a reason why (most) males should wear lots of clothes...

fitness room joy

there were extra towels, "Brush Mountain" water, a bathroom, the treadmill looked like it was actually manufactured in this decade (or possibly toward the end of the last), AND like every hotel fitness room i've ever been in, it was wonderfully empty...

to top it off, the shower had this stay smart shower head by kohler which allowed me to wash my hair in a fraction of the time that it typically takes.

it's going to be a good day! :)

field trips

rebecka went on a field trip to chattanooga yesterday - she came home with tales of clown fish, carousel rides, and overpriced souvenirs made in china...

anyway - made me think of field trips way back when and the joy and excitement that accompanied such events. the special brown bag lunch, being allowed to wear jeans (yes - i went to a strict christian school in SF), exploring, learning...

and imagine this - today i got to go on a field trip!

the flight was delayed 1 hour, the chef at O'Charleys made our dinner last 1 hour and 45 minutes (apparently he overcooked the meat for the black and blue salad), we had to drive 2 hours to get to the middle of nowhere in NC to finally arrive at the hotel around 10 pm local time...

but - my room has a king size bed, there were chocolate mints on the pillow, there's high speed wireless, AND best of all - there is a fitness room... field trip is looking good so far... :)

ps - thanks to my sweet friends who made my not so great morning turn into a much better noon, afternoon and evening... friends are awesome. i'm so lucky.

some days...

today is one of those days when i would just like to stay in my pjs, curl up on the couch with a fleece blanket, and watch chick flicks all day...

but alas...

maybe it will get better.

Bush too liberal?

Watched some fun-filled American Morning on CNN at the gym this morning as I sweated on the elliptical machine. Btw, if you're one of the people who think that running is boring/too hard/scary/dangerous or whatever, the elliptical machine may be a good alternative for you. It'll give you a great cardio workout while sparing your knees. Downsides are that you either have to buy one, steal one, or join a gym and, of course, there are no elliptical machine races...

Anyway - Soledad is back on AM after what seems like a very, very long maternity leave (do you get double the time with twins?). Yay! I love her...

So - according to the AM news ticker a recent Gallup pole shows that 14% of Americans think that Bush is too liberal?!?!? Please tell me that is scary.

Oh, I just ordered this shirt for Rebecka. I'm so excited. I was kinda wanting to get the "Mommy wants a new president." variety, but they were out of her size.

to get a cell phone or not to get a cell phone...

...that is not the question for most of my friends.

But I've never had a cell phone... Well, we had a family cell phone once, but I threw away the charger when I got a little carried away during some insane cleaning frenzy, and since then we haven't had one...

Recently, I've found myself in several situations where a cell phone would have been handy indeed. Like the night I was walking home from the Blindside concert and there was a pack of wild dogs blocking the way to my car. Or the lunch a few weeks ago when I thought we were supposed to meet at the restaurant and my friend thought she was supposed to pick me up. Or the time I lost the car key in the park and the only other key to the car was locked in the car. Or the day when a walk around the lake almost didn't happen.

Yes, a cell phone would be nice... But is it worth the money? The cheapest I could find that meets our family's needs is a family plan with T-Mobile for $50 for two lines (and of course, that's not including tax). But to make it simple, that's $600 per year. That's 6 pairs of Brooks Glycerine running shoes. That's also more than half the price of a ticket to Sweden during the summer season.

All that for convenience? Still pondering.

The God Gene

The cover story of TIME magazine this week is called "The God Gene". There's a study out that indicates that we may be born with a gene that determines whether or not we will be religious or believe in some higher being.

Hey - sounds like the scientific proof for predestination! :)

Of course, the gene doesn't tell you what to believe... and interestingly enough, the same "scientist" has not found any evidence that there is a homosexuality gene.

Wait - hasn't anyone figured out that science and religion don't go together? Science is about proof and facts - God is about faith and mystery.

Makes me think of the controversial Michael Polanyi Center at my alma mater Baylor University. This center was quietly established a few years ago to study creationism or "the intelligent design of nature". When the faculty (especially some of my friends) found out, they obviously questioned the reputation of Baylor as a university, but many were afraid to speak out in fear of the administration. Gotta love the warm Christian atmosphere that exists at this fine Baptist university.

I'm not saying that I think that science contradicts religion - just that science should not be used to try to "prove" the existence of God, or that God created our universe, or that Noah's Ark really happened. We cannot prove these things - we can just believe or even wonder or doubt and embrace the mysteriousness of it all.

water

The topic of the youth program at the retreat was "Finding God in Nature" (or something similar).

On Saturday we explored how we could find God in water and how water is such a significant part of Christianity and spirituality. Water is relaxing, refreshing, rushing, flowing, and life giving. However, water can also be deadly and dangerous... So water can at the same time be a symbol of rest and serenity as well as a reminder of how fragile life really is and how important it is to have faith through the stormy times...

I didn't have much trouble finding God in the beauty that I attempted to capture in the picture above.

hike

On Saturday afternoon I went for a wonderful hike with a group of people from church aged 10 to 80... :) Amazingly beautiful.

Is there anything better than tromping around in the woods on a sunny fall day?

back

tired, happy, tired - yeh.

will post some pics soon...

i need to take a nap.

wait - aren't retreats supposed to be rejuvenating and relaxing??!?!!

oh yeh - that's if someone else is in charge... :)

frenzy at the Green house

well - i got through my 5 meetings and finally managed to eat lunch at 3 pm - unheard of! i typically eat like every 3 hours (i think i may be related to the hobbits) - and when i don't... well - it's a bad thing... :P

anyway - cut out early to hang with the in-laws who are in town as part of their annual cross-country trek. went to Rotiers' for dinner - mmm - chocolate milk shake - mmm...

i have to leave for a retreat tomorrow morning at 8 am... before that i have to pack, shower, prepare youth activities, sleep, run, shower, dry hair (well - might skip that phase), get dressed, eat, pack some more, get child ready, make sure i have everything together, and put it all in the car.

yeh - what am i doing posting stuff to my blog right now?? i've got stuff to do!

laundry

I love being able to start a couple of loads of laundry in the morning and come home and it's all clean, dry, and put up... :)

Yes - my husband is a domestic god (as much as I am NOT a domestic godess). He is also a Ph.D. student in Modern European Church History - "Modern" = reformation and later - it's all very much over my head, but he's darn good at it... In addition, he welcomes our only child, Rebecka, home from school every day and helps her with homework and spelling words. Did I mention that he cooks 90% of the time and likes to polish furniture?

Yeh - it's nice to be a working mom... :)

btw - I'm wearing Birkenstocks with white socks today... I'm not sure this is ok with the fashion police, but at least the socks are not bright green as they were for church this past Sunday. Rebecka was embarrassed. I'm pretty sure God didn't care... :)

this morning

I discovered when I got to work that I had left my laptop at home. It made me say a bad word (several times - shhhh!). Good thing I live 1.8 miles from work and that I had a slight buffer before my first (out of five) meeting of the day. And on the upside - on the way back home, the engine of my car actually warmed up so I got some heat... yay! :)

btw - I've been playing the same song over and over in my car non-stop for two weeks. It's "Where is the Love" with Black Eyed Peas. It is an awesome song - and if you haven't heard it, please download it NOW (legally please...). I'm am forever indebted to my good pal Melissa for getting it for me - and just having one song on a CD is awesome - don't have to worry about hitting repeat!

The ride from home to work is about 1 1/2 "Where is the Love"... :)

Favorite phrase: Wait - I can't decide... It's all so good...

Just read the whole thing here.

spreading the blogging

i'm so happy that since i started this blog a few days ago, two of my friends have joined the blogging world:

papiliomarcellus & my favorite wisconsinite

other blogging friends:

fognoge - world's greatest living composer - really :)
appwiz - got me blogging - thanks!
crazed mofo - don't go there if you don't like four letter words... ;)

i just had this thought that the people that will appreciate this blog the most are the previously unfortunate recipients of my many nonsensical emails - now i can put all my nonsense here... hope you guys are happy!! :)

food

food is an interesting thing... i think about food a lot.

when you're a runner you have to. your body craves good food.

today i had:

breakfast - oatmeal with walnuts, raisins, applesauce, and soy milk

this is my standard work day kick-off meal - can't live without it.
there's nothing like coming to the office after a 2 hour workout - starving - and turning the laptop on - stumbling into the kitchen while it boots up - and preparing a bowl of steaming oatmeal to eat while checking the morning emails and blogs...

ok - snack - nature valley chewy granola bar (fruit and nuts) - graciously bestowed upon me by one of the dev managers... :) and probably some lovely flavio hot chocolate (only 66 calories!)

lunch - whole wheat pita with hummus and a tasty apple

second lunch - plain non-fat yoghurt with granola and dried fruit

dinner - some scary frozen skillet meal with chicken and pasta (thanks for cooking honey!)

dessert - lovely strawberry sundae crunch bar :)

snack - graham cracker w natural pb and soy milk

and i am satisfied...

food is awesome!

oh - forgot the starbursts i snuck in during piano lessons (supposed to be for bribing the kids to practice)

my bro-in-law

David Green - consultant for Sun Microsystems - and one of the smartest people I know.

He's a rock-n-rollin' relative - and here is what he has to say about Kerry's response to the minimum wage question:

"...and like most of what he (Kerry) says, not too impressed. :-)"

How can we win you over dude??

The conversation around the Thanksgiving table this year should be lively indeed... :)

fountain - part 3

and here is the fountain - as requested... including the two canadian moose from "brother bear"

debate musings

Loved Kerry's response to the minimum wage question...

Good Lord! I had no idea the minimum wage has been stuck at $5.15 for SEVEN years!

In Sweden there is no minimum wage, rather it is set by an industrial collective agreement - but it seems to work - at least there people who work full-time can easily support themselves...

It's funny how here "union" is a bad word...

Yeh - I view everything through the lens of how things work in Sweden... Sorry! Can't help it. :)

Another highlight was when Kerry pointed out that faith is about helping others... Thank you John! if all christians in this country realized this we wouldn't need welfare! It disgusts me to think about how much money is hoarded by "faithful" christians... I think it makes God cry...

And don't even get me started on health care... It's funny how we care more about exploring space than making sure that everyone can afford to go to the doctor... and what is it with Americans' obsession with going to the doctor anyway?? The doctor cannot make your cold go away!!! Eat oranges, rest, and feel better... :P

Politics is so much fun.

running

went for a fast and fun run in the mist this morning...

this is the time of year when i think at the beginning of the run: "i should've put on more clothes" and think at the end of the run: "i'm glad i didn't put on more clothes"

i love fall!!!

speaking of running - i'm so thrilled that this month's Runner's World featured John Edwards on the cover rather than the obvious alternative - this is the only magazine i read on a consistent basis and as much as my husband makes fun of the "scientific findings" in this outstanding journal, i think it's great - and now i like it even better!

Edwards actually spoke of his running on the Tonight Show last night - Jay asked who would win a 5K (Edwards or Bush) and Edwards replied something about Bush standing on the sidelines of the football field with pom-poms... :)

did anybody else notice the resemblence between Edwards and Harry Potter's Professor Lockhart with all that smiling he had going on?

oh - and if any of you are not already running - please start now - it will change your life.

choir names

so i direct an intergenerational choir at my church - and yes - we have members from ages 14 to 80!

anyway, right now we're the "Intergenerational Choir" (boring!) so i asked the choir members to attempt to come up with some suggestions for a more interesting name.

well, one of our basses came up with the following list:

1. Psalm Pilots
2. Golgotha Borealis
3. Greenest Pastures
4. Be Attititudes
5. On Körs
6. His Tree Singers
7. The Certainty Principle
8. The Counter Terror Choir
9. Beyond Belief
10. Fearless Forgiveness

and being the geek that i am (ok - maybe not - it's all relative) i really like #1

but #8 is fun too... :)

#9 probably best in reality?

God is not a Republican or a Democrat

my brother namur told me about jim wallis, a liberal evangelical who had a few things to say about "the jesus factor".

wallis writes for a magazine - sojourners, which is "a Christian ministry whose mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice"

one of the things that they are currently doing is to get people to sign a petition called "God is not a Republican or a Democrat" in order to get it published in newspapers across america.

this makes me think that i'll come back to the site again...

naturalization

received a letter from the dept of homeland security today...

i'm now scheduled to take the test that will determine if i know enough about US history and government to be a worthy US citizen.

a few sample questions:

How many stars are there in our flag?
Who was the first president of the United States?
What date is the Day of Independence?

yeh - you get the picture... i'll be studying real hard for that one. ;)

at least i get a reason to take off from work one day and go to memphis!

anyone wanna go??!?! if so, mark your calendar for dec 14 - unfortunately the grizzlies aren't playing that day, otherwise it could've been a really fun-filled trip...

i sure wish i'd gotten all of this done before the election!

norwegians

i'm typically not too crazy about norwegians (being swedish i'm pretty much not allowed to) - but this is cool:

tellhim.no

fountain part 2...

well - there was not much water left in the fountain this morning... :) wonder why?

but at least no computer parts were damaged... however, i'm thinking i may need a little reminder in outlook about this - along with the daily "fill out time for previous day" and the weekly "get the cans from the kitchen" (yes - i'm in charge of recycling here)

had a fair 6 mile run today - some days are so easy - others are so hard... being awake in the middle of the night listening to some spectacular thundering probably didn't help...

ps - soccer makes my feet hurt

fountain

i have one at my desk now... it's such a happy thing...

just a little nervous right now, b/c i forgot to turn it off...

intro

my friend rohan insisted on this blog... should be fun... :)