A Family of Four

A friend called me this weekend to tell me that her husband's plane was supposedly coming in that evening. We thought maybe Tim was on it too. Since we were in town around that time, I went ahead and met my friend at the guys' work to wait for the buses to come in, just in case. And sure enough...Tim was on that plane! Nevermind that I had a wet head from the shower I just took and sweats on. NOT the usual look for picking up your husband from war whom you haven't seen in months! Oh well; it was better than a burka. The boys were elated. Caleb ran to him laughing, screaming, "Daddy! Daddy!" Judah took a little while to re-warm up to him, but all is well now. Tim is home for several months at least, we hope, and life is sooooooooo good! Thanks for all of your prayers during this deployment. Blessings,

P.S. Judah gave himself a very handsome haircut the other day. ;) So no, I didn't do that, and he isn't pulling his hair out in chunks. Evidently, giving oneself a haircut is fairly common for toddlers!

The Best Book You Ever Read?

Let's talk about the best books. The best books EVER. This topic caused great controversy in 1998 when the New York Times released its 100 Best Novels Ever (written in English). I think the overall consensus was-by literary agents, professors and the common reader-that this list sucked. Sorry for the crass word, but really. There are-count them-FOUR women authors on their list.

http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html

There's the Times list that includes Judy Blume's "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret". Hmmm.... Who made this list, third graders?

http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/the_complete_list.html

There's the Radcliffe Publishing Course's rival list to the NY Times list that also came out in 1998. It has women and minority authors. Imagine that... For me, if Zora Neale Hurston isn't on the list, it isn't a list, and Their Eyes Were Watching God made #23 on the Radcliffe list, just after Milne's original Winnie the Pooh series. MUCH better. Fitzgerald ranks #1 by the way with, The Great Gatsby. Even still, I've only read 37 of the novels represented here, and I think even it is missing a few of the obvious choices, like East of Eden by Steinbeck. http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100rivallist.html

Everyone should read a handful, at least, of the picks from these lists. Reading broadens perspective, brings understanding to conversations and allusions that mystified you before, and molds a person into deeper thinking in general. Read, read, read... Though some of the pics may be just so-so, or leave you and the rest of the planet saying, "I don't get it," at the end (Ulysses anyone?) Every now and again though, a work comes along-fiction or non-fiction-that HAS to be shared. HAS to be handed out, given as Christmas gifts, acclaimed and starred with notes that read, "Read this TODAY! It will change your life!"

Some of the books I've handed out just recently (fiction/non-fiction/English or translated) with a "Read This NOW!" sticker included:

* The Kite Runner-Hosseini (Novel about two best friends growing up in Afghanistan. Traces the time period from the Russian occupancy to the present.)

*The Bible-God (Genesis and John's Gospel, specifically.)

*Angela's Ashes-McCourt (whether you're Irish or not, this novel about Irish immigration during the potato famine is a must-read.)

*The Known World-Jones (Novel about the true events behind American blacks owning black slaves in the 19th century. No line in a novel has EVER effected me like, "I wonder if Moses done ate yet." Except for maybe, "I'm Watchin' God," from Ms. Zora, but that's a given.)

*The Question of God-Nicholi, MD (Compiled essays of C.S. Lewis and Freud in debate format covering God, sex, morality and society.)

*How the Irish Saved Civilization-Cahill (The title is clear, isn't it? ;) Historical non-fiction about St. Patrick and scribing monks.)

*Toddler Adoption, the Weaver's Craft-Mary Hopkins-Best (A must read if you are adopting a toddler.)

*Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal-Moore (OK, some would/have called this one sacriledge, but they are wound a little tighter than I am. Tim and I had AMAZING 2:00am talks about how mystism would have influenced Jesus; New Testament sociology; and Jesus' childhood while reading this together. And it is hilarious. Tim would be crying he was laughing so hard, and read parts out loud to me-even though I had already read the book!)

There is one more I will add to this list in the next week or two, and it will have a HUGE sticky note attached that declares, "Read This NOW!" I'm holding out because it deserves its own post; it's that important, and I haven't quite figured out how I want to present it yet. So, stay tuned to future posts. Especially the next post. It may be even more interesting than books! ;) But even if books have always bored you, read anyway! Start with Winnie the Pooh and work up from there! "Pooh Sticks", from the first Winnie the Pooh book, has me laughing just thinking about it now. I dare you to read it to your kids, with a British accent, and not laugh out loud.

I've been tagged

Tiffany Shaw Tagged me. (She's linked on my sidebar.) So, I'll bite. The idea is to list eight things about yourself-probably things that aren't extremely well known-and then tag eight other bloggers to do the same. However, I don't think I know eight other bloggers that don't have specialized blogs. Mine is one of the few I read that is a hodge podge of information. So, I'll list eight, as asked, and tag three. Is that cheating? Probably, but here goes:

1. I could eat nachos five nights a week and be happy about it. They have to be the kind I make, though: whole grain chips, cheese, grilled chicken with goya, jalapenos and lettuce. And a glass of milk. OK-when Tim is gone, some weeks I DO eat this five nights a week.

2. I mix my cereals together. You know, like 1/2 a bowl of frosted mini wheats and 1/2 a bowl of chocolate lucky charms. That was dinner last night, actually. Yummy. (My kids eat better than I do; don't worry!)

3. What else is Yummy? House. It's bizarre, I know. He's a little old for me, crippled, and mean. It isn't Hugh Laurie and his British accent that has me drooling, either-it's House-the character. So, when most of my girlfriends are going ga ga for McSteamy (who does absolutely nothing for me, by the way), I'm stuck on House. I think it's the tee- shirts.

4. I miss my Jeep. Terribly.

5. Though I learned it as a child in English, I can now only sing the New Testament song in Khmer. In English, I get stuck at Galatians and have to start over, and over, and over, until eventually I just switch to Khmer and sing the whole song. My children will grow up asking each other, "Is Reevoreenah in your Bible? I can't find it in mine."

6. My dream life would be to uproot the husband and children who I love, reposition ourselves into the developing world and start an NGO. Preferably something that utilizes both Tim and I's gifts in the fields of, say, orphans or diplomacy.

7. My favorite wine is Mirassou's Cabernet Souvignon. Unfortunately, studies came out last month that show as little as 2 glasses of wine a day increase a woman's risk for breast cancer significantly. On the other hand, one or two glasses a day lowers the risk of heart disease significantly. So, now I must choose my fate: heart disease or breast cancer? I think I'll stick to one glass a day, and pray for the best.

8. When I lived in Cambodia, I would catch geckos and let them loose in my room. They eat the mosquitos. And I think they're cute. Except when you lie down, turn on your aircon, and one-startled beyond measure by the sudden droning of spinning fans in his new abode-makes a flying leap out of said aircon unit and lands on your face. THEN, they're a little creepy.

Who am I tagging? Let's see...Jen Reijgers, Karen B. and Heather. You're it!

So much to do, so little time...

My memory is sketchy. It always has been. Some have said it's lacking selectively, as opposed to physiologically. Either way. If I remember your birthday, you are special indeed.

Therefore, I have a list many pages long on purple paper that I have kept for years hidden in a drawer of my desk. It is a list of many of the experiences I've had thus far in life, some good, some not so good. However, if an event makes the list, it's meant to be remembered for reasons that may only ever be known to me, though many of the lessons are obvious. For example, if I've seen the devil in a black cat sitting ominously on the top of a car, I learn to avoid cats. Remember that cat, mom? That was one evil cat.

I was adding to this list today, as I do every few months, and I couldn't help but to look back at old entries. I won't say that these are my favorite entries; they're quite random actually, and certainly less personal than many. But here are a dozen life events that struck me today-with a little bit of commentary:

1. I've watched the Millenium sunrise on the border of Mexico with my husband.

2. I've ridden a bamboo raft to the Golden Triangle.

3. I thought I was experiencing the second coming while sitting in a church alone in Japan reading my Bible. I wasn't. Just an earthquake. I did actually walk outside however, once the shaking stopped, and pondered how odd it was that in a land of Shintos, I was the one left behind. Oh you laugh, but if you were the one looking out into an empty street, you might have really regretted that time you cheated on a speed math test in third grade too.

4. I've held the cold hand of a dear friend in a coffin. Thank God that's only happened once.

5. I've kissed my husband at night on top of the Eiffel Tower. Everyone should do that once in their lifetime. Not kiss my husband, persay, but your own husband...or wife. Whatever.

6. I've thrown up into Lake Geneva in Switzerland with a friend after eating waaaaay too much Toblerone chocolate. Obvious lesson here: go easy on the chocolate, even if it is the best in the world.

7. I've been lost in the jungles of Thailand on a wayward elephant...and ended up getting very wet in the Mae Taeng River.

8. I learned how to cook from a dear French friend and our Vietnamese/Chinese housekeeper...in Cambodia. No, girls, I may not know what to do with cupcake wrappers, but I can make some yummy springrolls, mango shakes and poir belle helene for dessert! ;)

9. I've won a little money pool sharking in a few shady places. (Steve, I'll never be as good as you. I like to actually give the other guy a chance to scratch before I clear the table. But you know what I do better than you? Ski. Yep. I don't puke my way down the mountain. ;) )

10. I "meowed" with an old man high on opium outside of a club in Rangoon. Really, he was "meowing", like a cat, and together we made cat harmony. We meowed John Denver's "Take Me Home" (or is it titled, "West Virginia"?) It was bizarre, and yes I was sober, though probably a little high on second hand contaminates. I think my name is on a brick outside of a little dive called Mr. Guitar down the road from the "Tooth Pagoda", just in case I ever wonder, "Did that really happen?" I can go back and check.

11. I baptized a woman in a pig trough in South America after she came up to me and said, "I'm here for the free gift." My response? "Uhhhh...OK. Why, let me tell you about that free gift...I'm sure I have Romans 6 in your language here somewhere..." Funny how simple evangelism can be contrasted with how complicated we often make it.

12. I've pretended I was Princess Grace with a friend at the palace in Monaco, complete with haughty princess walking and British accents. Though, Princess Grace was American, and my friend and I both were fluent in French which would have been more realistic, but whatever. We were regal for an afternoon.

13. I've had a son come to me with an ouchie and ask me to kiss it because he really believed that if I did that, it would be all better.

OK, so that's a baker's dozen, and the python experience in Vietnam wasn't listed, but what are some of your stand-out memories? I know many of you have lived events that I could only dream of that I will want to add to my "Things to do before I die" list. Yes, I like lists. Speaking of great accomplishments, way to go on the ten miler this weekend, Kim and the lesson learned. You are amazing!

Peek-A-Boo, it's October!

October...

Thus begins my favorite season-autumn. Hopefully, the temperature will drop from the eighties we're still experiencing here, rain will fall, and we'll be blessed with some cool rainy autumn nights so that I can sit on my screened-in porch with a cup of tea and good poetry (Frost or Neruda or Yates...) listening to the rain until the wee hours of the morning. Ahhh...heaven.

(Side Note: baby gates are intended to keep babies out of rooms. This is an unmet goal in our house, except when they both try to climb over at once and realize that they can't swing their legs with the other one sitting there. They find themselves stuck. I won't tell you how long I let them sit there. Let's just say that I enjoyed lunch this day without any little hands reaching for food off of my plate...)

October is also AIDS Awareness month, Hispanic Heritage Month, National Book Month, and National Popcorn Popping Month.

We're in Ramadan right now; Eid is on the 12th. Happy Eid all you Muslims. I think the Jewish holiday Sukkot fell at the end of Sept. this year. We Christians have what this month...Halloween? And let's not forget Columbus Day. There's nothing like overtaking a country from the natives to show brotherly love. Oh, I crack myself up...

Good thing October is also Sacrasm Awareness Month. Finally, a month for me.

The 17th is the Day for the Eradication of Poverty. If that happens in a day, please let me know. I'll begin looking to the skies for Jesus' return on the 18th, which also happens to be Bald and Free Day.

While we're in the spirit of this, let's invent one called, "Don't Buy Your Kids Toys Because They'd Rather Have Fun in a Box Day".

The 2nd is Name Your Car Day; the 7th is World Smile Day, and the 21st is Count Your Buttons Day. Those are real. Really. Look it up.

The Full Moon is on the 25th, and Daylight Savings Time doesn't roll around until Nov. 4th this year.

With enough prayer and heavenly intervention, we may be able to add Burmese Independence Day to the list, though Gambari doesn't seem to be having much success with diplomatic negotiations as of yet.

What other holidays are in October? Timmy Comes Home Day! I can't say on the world wide web on which day we will celebrate this momentous occassion, but barring any unforeseen circumstances, we are in the final month of living as a family separated. There is a light shining brightly at the end of this lonely tunnel, and November will be met with a family reunited.



Enjoy your October, and don't forget to name your car, eat some tacos-after sundown or after the 12th if your Muslim, smile, read a book, count your buttons, kiss your spouse home from war, and oh yes...end global poverty.