All the Latest

I'm copying Mrs. E., she posted an All the Latest over at Easy Street today. She's my favorite teacher I never had. Give her a read, you might learn something.

First of all, I.T. and I are two and a half pages from the end of the book, What Did You Expect, that we've been reading out loud together, slowly, for months. God has gifted this incredible writer with the ability to clearly describe what true Love is. There were many times throughout the reading of this book when we looked at each other and asked, does this man know us? But since we have never met Mr. Tripp, we can only deduce that people everywhere fight that same battle, the one that begins in our own hearts. What you should be afraid of in your marriage is not your weakness; being needy is a good place to be. What you should be afraid of are your delusions of arrival and strength. When you think you have arrived, and when you are convinced you are strong, you don't reach out for the incredible resources of grace that God freely offers, which will give you what you need to live in a marriage of unity, understanding and love. I can honestly say that reading this book was not just another life changing experience- the promise of so many products. It was a tool God used to transform I.T.'s and my thinking and it is helping us to live Romans 12, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- our spiritual act of worship, conforming no longer to the pattern of this world, but transforming by the renewing of our minds.

Secondly, I am excited because my I.T. guy is working very hard on my pc and almost has the thing unjammed and ready to surf. Soon I will be able to once again reward myself for folding a pile of laundry or putting meat in the oven for dinner, with an hour or so of computer time. Woo hoo!

Thirdly, I.T. helped a co-worker bale hay last weekend and I went along and hung out with the guy's wife, Cat Whisperer. About 6 o'clock every evening ten to thirty cats of all colors come out of the woods onto her deck to feast on piles of Friskies that she dumps there. They are wild cats, but they're okay with being petted. Except for Scairdy Cat. You can't touch him. Cat Whisperer has every one of these cats named and she has all their family trees charted on a calendar that hangs on her entryway wall. One cat from the most recent litter is gray with a white chin, eartips and socks. The cat must be missing a growth hormone or something, because though he is about 13 weeks old, he is no bigger than an eight week old kitten. His siblings are about 3 times his size. Cat Whisperer keeps this one inside her house all the time, because she is afraid a hawk will eat him. When she found out I would be coming with I.T. for the hay baling day, she began to plot how she could give me this kitten cat for my birthday. We tried our best strategy, but I.T.'s final word was "let's think about it" and we left without my new pet. We are still thinking about it....But that's okay. I'm not really 100% sure about where to put a litter box and if I want cat hair on everything and scratched up sofas and such. But I sure loved holding that kitten cat and hearing him purrrr...

Last night I stayed up so late I had to move into the spare room (the reading light is too bright for I.T. to sleep), because I could not put down Steven James' book, Story. If you want to read the story of the Bible in an exciting, artsy sort of way, embellished with wonderful poetry- instead of reading the actual Bible, which can take a pretty long time- I highly recommend this book. I started reading it after work, read into the wee hours and finished it in the morning. Fash wants to do some sort of Bible study with a couple of girls in the dorm and this is the one I'm ordering for them- a very interesting overview of God's story. Fash is so busy. I can't wait to go down there and see her in The Glass Menagerie. I hear she has a million lines.

Fash and her friend we call Arizona were home for fall break two weekends ago. What a great time we had! We went downtown to ArtPrize, which you've probably heard of, since it was mentioned on the Today show and in other newsy venues. Basically, it was year two for an art contest put together by a local philanthropist and the winning artist got a quarter of a million dollars. There was art of every kind all over the city. Something like 1,700 pieces of art. We went on a 5 hour self guided walking tour of art. Then we came home and had an enchilada dinner, a special for Arizona, who loves authentic Mexican food. We even played Mariachi music from a cd I checked out of the library. We also went apple picking at an orchard and had cider and donuts afterwards. Of course I cried like a baby after returning home from dropping her back off at the far away college place. But my emotional breakdowns are fewer and farther between. So I'm improving.

In two weeks we meet the son's girlfriend's parents. They will stay with us. I'm visualizing myself painting the bedroom where they will sleep and maybe the living room where we will sit. But so far, that is only a vision in my mind. I wish I was Bewitched. I'd like to twinkle, twinkle the corners of my mouth and watch the place redecorate.