1. I seem to be continually running, I'm now in school 5 days a week, and have a hard time accounting for the lack of spare time.
2. I came on here with the purpose of uploading new pictures of Lydia, then I realized I haven't taken any. Eh heh. I guess I'll add that to the list of the 50 other things I want to do with my spring break, that we all know is really a reading break anyhow. :)
3. I have two assignments down, with only studying left for today (yay), but all I really want is a nap, and that elusive pastime called fun.
4. I'm itching to draw, hm, when did that start.
5. Boy, I need to get caught up on my statistics.
6. Yeah, a nap would be really good.

TTFN,

Jode

Only on occasion does something cause my blood to boil enough that I actually blog about it. This morning in an adult bible class the subject was atheism with the main text being Psalm 14:1 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." I really appreciated the study as I sometimes forget just how much natural man hates God, and what lengths they will go to, to kill the God they don't believe exists, or don't want to believe exists. They will even blame Him for cruelty while denying His existence. Yeah, the reasonable man is so very illogical.

But now to the boiling part. Pastor Lee gave Philip Pullman, the author of the epic trilogy 'His Dark Materials', of which the first novel is The Golden Compass, as an example of why the topic of atheism is of real concern. Now I don't keep up to date on the latest best sellers, or newly released movies, so forgive me if this is old news. I did happen to notice a movie going around that was called The Golden Compass, but I thought it another work of science fiction for kids & teen, with unpleasant enough characters and topics, but no more than that. I thought these quote from Pullman were of particular interest:

"I’ve been surprised by how little criticism I’ve got. Harry Potter’s been taking all the flak. I’m a great fan of J.K. Rowling, but the people - mainly from America’s Bible Belt - who complain that Harry Potter promotes Satanism or witchcraft obviously haven’t got enough in their lives. Meanwhile, I’ve been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God."

"Atheism suggests a degree of certainty that I'm not quite willing to accede. I suppose technically, you'd have to put me down as an agnostic. But if there is a God, and he is as the Christians describe him, then he deserves to be put down and rebelled against. As you look back over the history of the Christian church, it's a record of terrible infamy and cruelty and persecution and tyranny. How they have the bloody nerve to go on Thought for the Day and tell us all to be good when, given the slightest chance, they'd be hanging the rest of us and flogging the homosexuals and persecuting the witches."

"All stories teach," he's said, "whether the storyteller intends them to or not. They teach the world we create. They teach the morality we live by. They teach it much more effectively than moral precepts and instructions. ... We don't need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do's and dont's: We need books, time and silence. 'Thou shalt not' is soon forgotten."

"Blake said Milton was a true poet and of the Devil’s party without knowing it. I am of the Devil’s party and know it."

"I wanted to reach everyone," he says, "and the best way I could hope to do that was to write for children."


All I can say is, if I had children I certainly wouldn't be making him their schoolmaster.

1. I shouldn't really be taking the time to be on here
2. But I almost feel guilty for not blogging
3. Some level of satisfaction can be received from finishing long awaited projects
4. I hope to experience some of that satisfaction this evening when I wrap up the construction on a set of dresses that I've had cut out since hmm, October?
5. I'm so happy tomorrow is the Lord's Day, eternity will be bliss :)

A few pictures of Lydia that I took today. :)

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=122204962

Ok, so perhaps I'm ready to start back on the 5 things track. So here is goes.
1. Boy, I'm so tired that after I finish this, I'm going to attempt a nap
2. 3 am is waay too late to stay up even to accomplish important things like..hm, cleaning, finding baby shower games, flour-less cake recipes, and a cleaner bedroom
3. 7 am is way too early to get up after having gone to bed at 3 am
4. Half a cup of coffee is not enough to combat sleep deprivation
5. Chocolate, and half a cup of coffee is able to combat sleep deprivation
6. Baby showers are great, and I didn't mind that fact that it was small, the better for really visiting
7. Milly is taking me to the symphony orchestra tomorrow evening, she is so sweet :D
8. I really like the K's, nothing like a few more near to kindred spirits
9. Ohh soo tired
10. Gluten free cakes can rise up and taste like normal cakes. This is a good thing.
11. Can't believe it's Friday
12. Life is complex. Perhaps next time I'll have the brain power to tell you something you didn't already know. :)

Chow,

Jode

The latest photos of Lydia. :)

I'm an aunt again! Lydia Doris Carrico was born this morning a little after 9:30, weighing 7lbs 5oz. She actually beat the midwife to the punch, but thankfully everything went smoothly, and they were able to take care of everything else when they got here. Lydia seems to be quite the contented baby, and both she and Belinda are doing well. :)

I've had this song stuck in my head for days, yes Shawn has succeeded in getting me hooked on Derek Webb. :D

Oh, and this one too

Okay, I won't swamp you with anymore right now.. :D

1. Yay, my sewing machine is fixed. More good news is that it'll only cost an arm, so I can keep my leg.
2. I'm sick with a sinus cold. This usually happens right when I'm getting ready to leave..I should gather the statistics, and create a graph. No, I'm not serious, I have enough things to waste time on. :)
3. This is a wonderful recipe, and it even works with pineapple juice instead of orange. Can you guess what ingredient I realized I didn't have on hand?
4. Tomorrow we're going to evening worship at the RPCNA in Cambridge Massachusetts. That is to say Shawn and Tam will, and I will provided I'm feeling well enough.
5. The Walmart here now carries Cold-FX. Happy thought indeed.
Today was Shawn's 30th Birthday, so happy birthday Shawn! :)

The ad Tam and I put together for Get Born magazine, so I guess we'll see how that goes. Still need to subscribe, so that we can see how it turns out. That and I'm curious as to what else is published in it. :)

1. The Lord's day is great, but Monday for me usually requires a little recovery time to get back into things. I certainly don't mind being out of things for the day though, in fact it's something I look forward to. :D
2. Started rereading A Remedy For Wandering Thoughts by Richard Steele on the way to Massachusetts yesterday. Read it to Tam, who was the driver for the day as Shawn had woke feeling really ill. Such a great book, and I so appreciate his colorful writing, it helps to keep my mind from wandering while reading it. :D Perhaps I'll post a short quote or two at some point. :)
3 Listened to a lecture and a sermon last night from the Together for the Gospel pastor conference held last year. From what I've heard, and seen about it, I think it's a great thing that is working in the direction the church needs to go. The lecture and sermon I heard from it were so spot on. The one was preached by RC Sproul titled The Center of Christian Preaching: Justification by Faith, and the second was a lecture by Albert Mohler called Preaching with the Culture in View.
4. The Friday night Derek Webb concert was great, I really enjoyed listening to him play, as well as listening to his in between soapbox comments, which were often pretty funny. If you have center stage, and people are there because they want to listen to you, and want to know what you believe, why not eh? :D If you want more details I refer you to Shawn's blog. :)
5. Only 10 days left, wow. I better be able to make it out to Manda's one more time, and I need to get my sewing machine back from you know who. Then I'm off to Edmonton for a week (woohoo!) Get to see all Jord and Dor's latest renovations, and more importantly, Jord, Dor and the kidlets. :) Then I bus back home see all my..ah..homeys? Good thing the use of a word doesn't make you cool or I would soo be bordering on the dangerous line of coolness right now. :P So PG will be a little different with a dog around..but other than that I'm sure it'll be back to reality.

Snap back to reality, oh there goes gravity. Oh, there goes.......if you know what that's from, don't even worry about it. I don't listen to that loser. :P

Jode

1. Wow, how did it get to be 3 pm already?
2. There is so much to do, but multi tasking has its limits
3. Three people can generate a lot of dishes in a two day period
4. Websites require a lot of change
5. I think I need to wash laundry

Kathy H. is so nice. Last night when she and David came to give Tam and I a ride to Dancing on the Air she brought us a sewing machine to use until we get mine back. Looks like it should be able to handle the heavier fabrics so that's great. :D So yeah, we'll call Mr. Sewing Machine Man and let him know that if he cares to fix mine, in his own time, he's welcome to. So yes, everything is good.

Dancing on the Air was great. We listening to a duo violin performance by Spindel, now if only I could read Norwegian. I think it was the most beautiful violin music I've ever heard, which they played on Hardingfele violins, which are really beautiful as well.



After Spindel we heard a group called..ok, so I don't remember their name. It was kind of a Spanish guitar sound mixed with a jazz sound and the guy on the guitar was amazingly skilled. And then in between/here-and-there we heard lots of folk type music played by the Dancing on the Air group, that hosts the show. So yeah, a lot of fun.

Ok, gotta to go sew some hats. :D

Jode

I will title this post "the sewing machine repair jerk" I don't think I've ever been yelled or ranted at like that before in my life, and had no idea that repairing sewing machines could be such an embittering job. Or maybe he's just naturally a jerk. So what happened? The Friday before last I called this guys to see if he would be able to fix my machine. He was rude when he answered and said I could bring my machine out, but I figured oh well I can meet a few rude people in life and live through it. So Tam and I drove out there to drop it off, and I mean "out there". If we had realized how far out he was we wouldn't have bothered, but by that time we were already over half way there. He hadn't mentioned on the phone that it would take him 2 weeks, but in his parting comment when we were getting back in the car he said to call him if we hadn't heard anything from him in two weeks, and we stressed that the sooner the better if he was able.

So today I called him to find out whether he'd had a chance to look at it, at least to know what the problem is and a general time frame for how soon it would be done. He responded by informing me that he "HAD" not even touched it, that he's a very busy man and that he might get to it by next week. I then attempted to ask him a couple more questions, but was kinda dumbfounded by his tone so I said, "Okay, thank-you, good bye" (yeah, thanks for nothing). So this would have been an "ok whatever" to me, but that he gave me no certain time frame, and I've been needing my machine in working order for the last several weeks. After thinking about it, I resolved to call him back, and be more firm (but polite) in simply asking him if he thought he would be able to look at it by Friday, and if not I would be willing to pick it up on Friday unfixed.

I proceeded to do this. I called him back, and said that I had talked to him a few minutes earlier, but after getting off the phone I had considered my schedule and that I needed my machine as soon as possible, etc etc. He flared up at me, and was yelling at me about how he had a ton of people before me, and that it had only been three days (try a week and 1/2), yada yada. And I responded that I was sorry, I hadn't realized how long his waiting list was, but that I needed my machine, so I would be able to pick it up on Friday. Then he started yelling louder, that if it was left with him there he would charge me the repair price if he even touched it, and that if I wanted my machine back I would have to come get it that very minute because he was going to take it out to the end of his driveway and leave it there. I tried to to explain how far away we were and that I wouldn't be able to, and he reiterated the same thing and hung up on me.

Yeah, I cried after. I don't know, I just don't take that kind of mistreatment very well at all..but I'll live through dealing with this jerk as well. We'll have to see if I can say the same for my machine, as it's raining out, and there's no way we could make the trip out tonight. Sigh..

Jode

1. Oh boy, I am tired
2. Had a great visit with Darren and Laura (thanks guys :D)
3. Vermont roads are twisted, or maybe that was only the one on the way home?
4. Darren can make one great lasagna (very cheesy) and Deeders has a great laugh
5. The Church is always an interesting topic, at least to me. :)
6. Tomorrow is bible study again, yaaay! :D
7. Ok, going to try a power nap right now
8. Tam and I are having a Scarlet Stitch fall sale, and it's not winter yet, woohoo! I just love being on track. The site has been fixed a little further, changed a little bit more than needed, and the advertising education continues.

1. Baking powder biscuits are where it's at..for hungry people and those who have a profound appreciation for flakiness.
2. Cold coffee at 11:00 pm mmmm
3. Filtered water, even better
4. Brown turtlenecks for kids are extinct, if they were ever in existence. Maybe I should become an archaeologist and dig some up. On the bright side, cute brown sweaters are still in style.
5. I love cooler weather

Five things about our trip to New York City, a post for Dor.

1. The top Culinary Art School in the USA smells like cheeseburgers, good quality ones. This wafting smell is a form of torture, similar to Chinese Water torture, to those who have been looking forward to breakfast since 7:00
1. CMB stands for Campus Mail Box, it is not the initials for a dorm, do not try to use this to find culinary students (we were to meet Shawn's cousin there and go for breakfast). Don't try to seek help from other students to find the CMB dorm, because they'll be sure they've heard of it, but not know where it is. Can't expect much from students on their first day on campus
1. Breakfast at 11:00 tastes a lot better than breakfast at 7:00
2. I was greatly impressed by the amount of trash and filth around the subways and train tracks on the way in to NY City, ew
2. You can do a whole lot of walking, and feel like you're doing something, but then when people ask what you did in NY City, you don't think walking qualifies as a "yeah I had an awesome time walking in NY" "Did I see the Empire State building? Nope" "Did I see Central Park? Nope, but I did see a lot of traffic! :D" Yup, walking I guess isn't the same as seeing the sights, but for the most part it's my preferred pastime. I like to study the atmosphere in the different areas of the city more than...hm, Nintendo World.
3. The thoughts of what would happen if everyone on the street started to panic was entertaining. Broadway is a very busy street. :)
4. Madison Square Park is not close to Madison Square Gardens, oops
5. You can find a great gyro on nearly every corner, soo yummy. Hmm, now if only restrooms were so plentiful/easy to find.
5.Train Stations and Subways are confusing, I can understand how people can get on the wrong train, but thankfully we didn't have that experience.

1. Go-Karts are a ton of fun, provided you're driving one that actually has some power. Getting bits of tire rubber on your face and in your eyes isn't fun, but it was still worth it.
2. Rock wall climbing is hard on the toes, and other muscles you never knew you had
3. The intermediate level is fun..advanced is a lot harder than it looks, owwie :)
4. The after math of riding the Space Ball lasts a lot longer than the ride, just ask Clint
5. Why is five always the hardest to fill in? Perhaps I should rename it 1. and then it'll come easy..
1. I'm procrastinating on updating our inventory, so enough is enough, adieu

Happy Birthday Dorry! :)