I am an artist & teacher with a ❤ for visual expression, educational methodology, homesteading, & Jesus. My geek-love is The Joshua and we have three peanut-butters: Caleb, Jack, & Louritta.

Sleeping In My Old Room

12/24/2003

Josh and I have been staying with my folks for this first part of winter break. We’re staying in my old bedroom. It’s a little weird because it’s still shows a lot of my self from my college & high school life.. My posters & pictures are still hung on the wall where I left them, many of my books are on the shelves (sorted by type, then preference). On the other hand, the room is also crammed with a bunch of stuff that is not me (boxes from my dad’s office when he got laid off, a shot gun shell making machine, some old clothes that I doubt will be worn again, encyclopedias from the seventies). Anyway…it’s strange.
When we were gone the other night, we put Henson in his kennel. He somehow skooched it across the room and was able to grab my mom’s quilt through the bars and chew a nice mangled hole in it. My mom freaked out. So, we have officially strapped his kennel to a side of the room where he can’t get at valuables. I told Josh that we will probably need to continue doing this because whenever we’re not around, Henson gets on a Skooch & Destroy mission.
One thing that was neat about staying in my room was that a bunch of personally significant quotes & Bible verses are on the wall next to where my desk used to be. One that took me back then still takes me back today. I’ll share it with all of you. Lord Tennyson said this:
“He is closer to thee than breathing. He is closer than thy hands and feet.”
Sometimes when I feel so selfish and sinful it is hard for me to remember that my body is a temple for the living God. He is closer to me than anything I can fathom. His closeness warms my spirit and shows me grace.

Joy & A New Side of Henson

12/22/2003

Well, Josh and I have been back in MN for a couple of days now. Today was an extra cool day because we got to see Return of the King. (It’s just amazing…yeah…amazing). We also got to go to Khan’s Mongolian Restaurant in Roseville with Eddie, Amy, Neal, Carrie, & Sam (Carrie’s friend who we just met tonight who is really cool). After dinner, we went back to the Lewis place and played Settlers of Catan. Neal came out victorious, although many of us were very close to winning. Carrie got really into it and did awesome, especially considering that this was her first game.
There was a point in the evening where Josh hugged me in the hallway and we just shared a really cool moment of each feeling how special it was to be with friends and family again. To be able to just hang out last minute and eat together, laugh together, and goof around together. We miss that so much being in California. We’ve found some friends in California, but, for the most part, the depth of the friendships there just don’t compare to what we have here. Anyway, Josh and I were just so thankful to be here. It was this kind of peaceful, wonderful feeling that I knew we both had.
On a side note, our dog is officially gay. The number one thing I’ve said to him since we’ve come here is, “Henson! Don’t be gay!” You see, he’s really into attempting to fool around with my parents’ male dogs. He gets all frisky and excited. My parents’ dogs just look at him like he’s crazy and/or bite him. The funny thing is, you’d think you would leave a dog alone after a dog has bitten you. Not Henson. Nooooooo. He thinks it’s some kind of foreplay and it only strengthens his attemtps. Apparently he’s into that.
Any ideas on how to break a dog’s homosexual tendencies???

A Math Conspiracy???

12/19/2003

At New York’s Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule, and a calculator.
At a morning press conference, Attorney general John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement which has struck terror into the lives of many for generations.
He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.
“Al-Gebra is a fearsome cult,” Ashcroft said.  “They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like “x” and “y” and refer to themselves as “unknowns”, but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.
“As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, there are 3 sides to every triangle,” Ashcroft stated.  When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, “If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes.
“I am gratified that our government has given us a sine that it is intent on protracting us from these math-dogs who are willing to disintegrate us with calculus disregard. Murky statisticians love to inflict plane on every sphere of influence,” the President said, adding: “Under the circumferences, we must differentiate their root, make our point, and draw the line.” President Bush warned, “These weapons of math instruction have the potential to decimal everything in their math on a scalene never before seen unless we become exponents of a Higher Power and begin to factor-in random facts of vertex.”
(Sent to me by a teacher friend)

Pray for Chad

12/18/2003

My brother got hit in the head with a large pole at work and it dented his skull. He was really faint & weak so a coworker brought him to the hospital. They think he’s going to be okay but they’re still doing catscans and stuff. Please pray for him today that God will touch him and heal him.

I Can’t Wait

12/15/2003

Top Ten List of Things I Can’t Wait to do in MN (in no particular order):
10. Watch Henson run through the snow with my parent’s dogs
9. Go skiing!
8. Sing with my dad
7. Party @ Kevin & Abby’s
6. Sit in the comfy couches @ the Lewis house
5. Fondue over New Year’s
4. Listen to my brothers argue about stuff
3. See how big Elise has grown (our only niece)
2. Make cookies with my mom
1. See the people I love

Nice Weekend With Few Thoughts

12/14/2003

I had a nice weekend & it wasn’t filled with deep thoughts or anything. It was nice. I tend to stress myself out thinking about stuff, researching stuff, working on stuff for my classes, etc. But I was kind of forced to just chill out. I didn’t intend to, honestly. I had really high expectations to get a bunch of reading done, do laundry, pick up the house, organize our schedule for the MN trip, sort slides in my classroom, work on my painting & crazy Henson drawing, work on the pottery wheel….
This is what I did do: Friday night I had a sleepover w/ a bunch of the girls from my Jr. High small group. We watched X-Men, played a few games (including Hear Me Out and Simpson’s Uno), made popcorn (which exploded all over the kitchen), played volleyball & basketball, painted our nails, talked a ton, and went to Krispy Kreme. So, I get home on Saturday and hang out for a bit then go Salsa dancing with Josh & some friends. We got lost in San Francisco (not uncommon) for a good hour before finally finding our way there. On the way home we sang songs and laughed our heads off. I got home around 2:30 a.m. and went to bed so I could be up to go caroling with the Jr. Highers today. We sang a bunch and had fun. Josh & I came home, did a few things around the house, and just watched a movie. Now, I’m just chilling out reading blogs.
I think I’m getting better at dealing with stress and going with the flow a bit. Despite the fact that I feel really tired right now, I feel good about the weekend that I had and feel pretty chilled.
What happened to me that I feel so much pressure to accomplish so much with my time? Is it a trap? Is it a gift? I’m still not sure….

Naked Postcard Collection

12/11/2003

I buy a lot of postcards & boxes of postcards to use during activities in Art class. The kids learn to classify & interpret art. Plus, the cards lend themselves to all kinds of games and stuff that books don’t. Thing is, whenever I get a box of postcards, I sort through it and take out all of the naked people. Jr. Higher’s have a difficult time getting past the nudity and learning about the art…so I don’t even go there. (That doesn’t mean they don’t sometimes stumble upon a naked picture in one of the art reference books in my room…I do the best I can though). Anyhoo…because of my censoring, I have a big stack of naked postcards. So…I’m going to send a bunch of them out just for fun. If you want a naked postcard from me, send me your address in an e-mail and I’ll drop one in the mail. I have really great ones by Gauguin, Klimt, & Modigliani. I also have one neat postcard of drag queens. First come first serve, send me your address & make your request. I’ll even pay the postage! That makes it a free postcard! YAY!

Friends Are Just Enemies That Don’t Have The Guts To Kill You

12/08/2003

Josh and I just bought Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Vol. 1 on DVD. Our first year of marriage, we used to watch it together on Sunday nights at 11 p.m. on Cartoon Network. I’d make us malts & Josh would make cheese & chips. What a great thing to build a marriage on…I mean…um…er….
Anyway, the first episode is funny (aren’t they all???). They continually discuss the concept that friends are just enemies that don’t have the guts to kill you. I guess that makes many of you my wimpy enemies. Hee hee.

Hilary for President???

12/08/2003

Well, she has officially declared that she is not going to run in the 2004 election. But, there is still time for her to squeeze in under the wire. I’m predicting that she will. They’re going through a slew of democratic crazies…I mean candidates…that aren’t quite doing so well in the polls. I think Hilary will run at the last minute to “save us” from all of them. That’s my prediction anyway. If she doesn’t run here, she’ll definitely run in 2008. Scary. I think she has the ability and know-how to win. I wonder if Bill would come to White House events sporting a pair of Jackie-pearls around his neck. Hee hee.
I might get lampooned for saying this…but I’m still a big Bush fan. I think he’s been doing some stellar work as President. I hope he runs again and I plan on voting for him (unless his beliefs freakishly change). I get tired of listenting to uninformed people complain about him.

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