I knew it all along . . .

Take the Quiz here!

Really, this made the most sense although part of me was hoping I'd be Fanny Price. Especially the one from the new adaptation - she was so sweet! Hope you're enjoying the Jane Austen on PBS. I loved the new adaptations and seeing the old Pride & Prejudice brought back sweet memories. My mother-in-law loaned me that BBC video series right after N. was born and I spent many a 2:00 am feeding with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. There were even times when the baby had long gone back to bed and I was still awake watching P & P - the height of Austen Insanity! Cheerio - I'm off to take a turn about the room while my children play the harpsicord and embroider pillowcases.

You know you got a good haircut when . . .

. . . it actually looks like the picture you showed your hairdresser (thanks Michelle!)
. . . your 10 year old son calls your hair "funky"
. . . your 13 year old daughter gasps and says "I LOVE it!" with all the expression and drama of a 13-year-old girl
. . . the young man at Costco with the mohawk calls you "Miss" instead of "Ma'am"
. . . your husband who loved your long hair and didn't want you to cut it in the first place, looks at you and says, "I like it!"
. . . your co-workers say it makes you look younger
. . . you wake up the next morning and can style it almost as good as your hairdresser did the day before

Here's the before picture from this past weekend. I'm standing with my good friend Susan and her daughters, Lacey and Molly at Lacey's bridal shower. Lacey (standing between me and Susan) was my flowergirl when she 3 and a half. They are both incredible young women and it was a joy to be at this special event (even though I crumbled into an emotional ball a few minutes into the event and spent much of the time between snapping pictures, dabbing my eyes and blowing my schnaz!)















And here's a shot from today. It only took about 20 tries to get one with only one chin, a smile and decent light! Hope you appreciate all the work I've gone to for you!

Seriously, it was a bit of a step of faith for me to take this jump. My hair has been my security blanket through much of my adult life. My mom always made me cut it when I was little (the curls and frizz annoyed her) so I guess it was passive-aggressive rebellion as an adult to keep it long. Shhh, don't tell her, but I love my sassy new cut!

Time Warp

It's been hard to think of what to say lately, but today - there's something to talk about. Call him a guy that is blogworthy.

See Oprah today? OMG (as the young ones are known to say) did you see Rick Springfield? It was like a time warp. I just about wore out the groves in my copy of "Working Class Dog" and "Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet". I stared at his pictures as a young 14 year old brace-face, glasses wearing, frizzy haired girl and watched him as Dr. Noah Drake on GH with my friends. How can it be that the man has NOT AGED A DAY in almost 25 years?! How can that be? The guy took five years off to stay home with his kids when they were babies and oh my gosh, when he got misty-eyed up talking about how much he loves his family, you could have mopped me up off the floor like a puddle!

OK - I did laugh a bit at the totally middle-aged crowd of women hooting and hollering over the guy but let's face it, if I'd have been there, I would have been right there with them. I'm totally going to load his songs on my MP3 player today!

Thanks Rick - thanks Oprah. You have given this middle aged woman a spring in her step today!

The Birthday Boy

Sorry ladies, this gem is off the market. Yes, that's my guy preparing home-made Christmas cinnamon rolls for my family using his new Professional series Kitchenaid mixer that he's so proud of. Today is Brad's birthday and on this day I'd like to share with you all just a little bit of what's so great about my guy. Here's the very abbreviated list just to give you a taste of the good life I've got:

1. The man cooks like a pro. Seriously. I think he secretly dreams of leaving the teaching profession and starting his own catering business someday. He'd probably make a fortune doing it.

2. He doesn't get upset with people (most of the time). He's super patient with difficult people and always knows how to bring out the best in others.

3. He's very generous with compliments. Any self-esteem problems I may struggle with certainly don't come from him. He is constantly telling me how beautiful I am, how good I look, etc. I am wickedly spoiled when it comes to this guy.

4. He sacrifices for our family. He is the one who will wear old torn jeans, socks and underwear that should have been retired in the 80's and shoes that are way past their prime so that we have more money in the family budget for the kids and other family items.

5. He works hard. Long hours, summer jobs and almost always takes opportunities to bring in a bit extra for our family when given the chance.

6. A great sense of humor. He is always ready to make us and others laugh. Sometimes gross and inappropriate but always within the walls of our home or with close friends who won't hold it against us.

7. A great partner in parenting who believes in building our kids up in love but setting realistic boundaries and consequences for the punks when they get out of line. Always supportive of me and a great model of respect for my kids to follow.

8. Brad always encourages me to take time for myself and build up the parts of me outside of being a wife and mother. He's extremely supportive of the creative endeavors of my live and has never been critical of the money and time invested in these areas. For over 18 years he has challenged me and supported me in my personal spiritual, mental and emotional health. He was an incredible help-mate when I went back to school with two young kids to get my degree. And even as we recently discussed him going back to school to get an administrative degree to advance his career, one of his main concerns was, did I want a chance to go back to school instead. (Really, he just isn't crazy about writing papers again - don't worry honey, I know someone who might be able to help you with that!)

9. Did I mention the guy cooks? And he's a great host! He throws a great party and always makes everyone feel like they are the reason he went to all the trouble.

10. He's incredibly handsome! His silver hair and blue eyes still melt my heart!

Happy Birthday sweetie! I love you!

And now for your viewing pleasure . . .

Thankfully, our family in the Nashville area were spared from yesterday's tornadoes but as I watch the news tonight, my heart goes out to those who are suffering. With family in Oklahoma and having lived in Nebraska for part of my life, the power of tornadoes is something that is unfortunately familiar. Some of my early memories are sitting under the stairwell in our basement listening to the radio and for the "all clear" sign. Pray for those rebuilding their lives and pray for those facing the loss of a loved one.

I wish I had some interesting story or engaging political comments that would make you roar with laughter or cheer with abandon, but instead, today, I'll just offer you some pretties to look at. What is this world without a bit of pretty anyway?

My First Love

I wrote a post ages ago about my first childhood memory. It was a warm spring day in Omaha, Nebraska and I'm sitting on a small version of those old lawn chairs - the ones with the plastic woven straps that stick to your sweaty flesh and leave patterns on the backs of your legs. My mom and my aunt are in their bathing suits and we're on a roof-top patio of an apartment building soaking up the rays of sunshine before we knew it was bad for us. My aunt and mom have big Jacki-O type glasses perched on their noses and one of them (I can't remember which) is wearing a sun hat. Each woman has her own harlequin romance novel and I sit with my stack of Golden books by my chair - not able to really read yet, but carefully turning the pages and absorbing the stories through the colorful pictures of bears, bunnies, puppies and fairytale characters. It was the beginning of my love affair with the written word . . .

Lately, all I have really wanted to do in life is retreat to that quiet spot that only a good book can provide. The drive of my heart and spirit is leading me to stare longingly at bookshelves of books - in my home, in the stores, at the library and wish for more time to read. I'm on book #2 for 2008 and I just feel like time is going much too quickly for all the things I want to get read this year. I promised you my 2007 list but have been struggling to tear myself away from the current book to post but someone called me on my promise (thanks Michelle!) so here's some that I can remember.

The first book and the last book I read in 2007 were actually by the same author. I didn't plan it that way, but it was kind of fun to bookend the year with someone I really respect as an author. I started the year with "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. An awesome memoir of a difficult and joyful time in her life. I loved it (mostly) but must admit, some of the meditation sequences made me a bit uncomfortable. I consider myself a pretty open person but sometimes those passages made me wonder if other spirits were involved in some of those experiences and being called "God". I appreciated her honest, raw voice and hearing about her cross-cultural experiences with so many different kinds of people. It was certainly confirmation in my eyes that God uses others to minister to the needs and hurts in our lives and bring us closer to Him. I ended the year by picking up Gilbert's collection of short stories called "Pilgrims" at lunch one day and really enjoyed those. I'd give both books two thumbs up.

Another of my favorites of 2007 was "The Twentieth Wife" by Indu Sundaresan. But unfortunately, I tried another by this same author later in the year and put it down after about 50 pages. I usually give a book that long and if it hasn't grabbed me by then, I will often put it down for other options. I figure there's way too much out there to read anyway.

2007 was supposed to be the year I abstained from buying books. My resolution was not to spend any money on books but to read the ones I already had. That lasted until about February - President's weekend to be exact. At our women's retreat I was the lucky winner of a big discount at the conference center's bookstore. Enter, "The Women of the Ark" a fictionalized account of Noah's wife by Jean Holmes. Very interesting and an inspiring book of faith. If you've seen "Evan Almighty" this year, you can just get a small glimpse of what Noah's wife must have had to put up with as she watched her husband take on this task from God.

I could go on and on with descriptions, but to keep this short and sweet - here's the rest of the list (what I can remember) with some quick endorsements.

"Epic" by John Eldredge - A great inspiration for writers about the Larger Story being written by a loving God. Short devotional book - great to keep in your purse or in the car.

"Plan B - Further Thoughts on Faith" by Anne Lamott - Great book but "Bird by Bird" is still my favorite.

"The Whole World Over" by Julia Glass - Somewhat of a disappointment (LOVED her first book "The Three Junes") but still a good story and kept me hooked and reading for hours at a time.

"Transformation - How Glocal Churches Transform Lives & the World" by Bob Roberts, Jr. A book I read for work, but has inspired me personally in my efforts to make sure that my church is a "colorful" one where people of all ethnic traditions and backgrounds feel like they are an EQUAL and necessary part of God's family.

"1000 Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini - A second novel as good as, if not better than his first ("The Kite Runner"). Read it now. Really. Now. It will make you amazingly grateful no matter what crappy situation you are facing in life.

"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen - One of my favorites of the year! Outstanding research and character development. I re-read the introduction three times - it was so riveting! (I love books that start strong!)

"Read the Bible for a Change" by Ray Lubeck - Awesome help for understanding the Bible and how to read it.

"The Rest of God" by Mark Buchanan - An awesome book about the need for Sabbath. Very practical and full of good insight and wisdom about the concept of rest and its importance. Read this after I just about killed myself with work, family and other obligations this past fall. Loved Buchanan's writing style and I'm hoping to read more of is work in 2008.

And how could I forget this magical book? One of the best I read all year! Others agree - nominated as an ALA Best Books for Young Adults! Congrats Laini! Now get back to work on Silksinger!

That's my meager list, I wish it was twice as much - but there's always room for more. Of course this list doesn't include the many books that I started or bought in 2007 but haven't made their way into the "finished" category. Sadly, there's lots of those. Right now I'm following Laini's prompting and reading a YA book I bought for my daughter that I'm LOVING! (The "Book Thief" by Markus Zusak - awesome!) and J. and I are going to read "The Spiderwick Chronicles" as soon as he finishes his current book.

Here's to happy reading for all of us bookworms in 2008!

Happy New Year!

Hello bloggie friends. Yes, I have crawled out from under the Christmas wrapping and have come through the holiday season with my body in tact and a few pounds heavier thanks to Mr. G's awesome cooking. I hope you all had a joyous holiday season and that you were granted your Christmas wishes and are off to a New Year filled with blessings and expressions of goodness.

Where to start? The inner-critic has been working overtime as the lack of blog posts testifies so I'll start with the incredibly mundane details of life around the G-house just to warm up my writing muscles. We were so blessed this year to be able to spend time with friends and family in so many ways. Serving at holiday events at church, meals with family and friends and even a Prom! You read right - one of our dear friends turned the big 4-0 on December 29th and rented out the local grange hall for a back to the '80s prom complete with big hair, heavy make-up and lots of fun! Brad and I are not usually dancers (we prefer chair-warming duties at most wedding receptions) but the lure of Duran Duran, Billy Idol and the Go-Go's were just too much for us. The next morning my muscles ached from all the dancing but it was a blast. Here's our prom shot, a shot of the birthday girl and her prom "king" - her wonderful husband and a group of us girls who found lovely outfits at thrift stores and a costume closet. Don't you just love Brad's "Flock of Seagulls" hair?



The next night it was dinner with friends from my childhood neighborhood. Here's a shot of all of our kids - one already in high school and a couple more getting ready to start next year. So odd to see some of the kids I used to babysit now parents. Made me feel a little nostalgic.

After all the business of December, New Year's eve was a quiet night at home with the kids playing one of our new games, Apples to Apples. If you don't have this game yet, go get it. Now. Really - it's a blast.

What did I get for Christmas you ask? (OK - maybe you didn't ask but I'll tell you anyway.) This was the Christmas that there were very few surprises for me under the tree - and I actually liked it that way. My mom's recent knee surgery made it impossible for her to do her normal Christmas overload shopping so instead, she wrote us a very generous check and told me to shop for our whole family. Mr. G used his money to buy the family a new Professional series Kitchenaid Mixer (hence the extra pounds I'm toting around today). I used some of the money to buy a MP3 player - finally. I'm loving it and have taken walks with my music and NPR for the past few days trying to get this chubby body used to moving again. A couple of CD's and a new book rounded out my gifts. I had fun surprising Brad with a new Bible (filled with archaeological stuff that he eats up like candy) and the kids loved their gifts as well. We are so blessed and it was good to participate in some special giving opportunities this season sponsored by our church (gifts for homeless kids, finances for Iraqi refugees, donations for Vernonia flood victims) and we are so very aware that all we have, including these new shiny gifts are an encouragement to share and give more to those in need. I really am feeling like at this point in my life, there's very little I really need anymore. One of my "goals" this year is to really try to avoid unnecessary purchases just because something is the coolest or latest thing. I'd love to be able to use more of our resources to help others but have to work on the personal discipline to control the magpie within me who loves shiny, sparkly, pretty things around me.

Speaking of books, I'll try to do my 2007 reading list in a day or two. It might take me awhile to recount the list. This year, I'm going to try to write them down so I have a record of them at the end of the year.

Back in a few days my lovelies. Until then - be well!

A Good Addiction

I'm hooked. Found this through a link at Michelle's blog, she got it from a friend of hers. You go to this site and play a vocabulary game. For every right answer, they donate rice to countries in need.

Wanna play? I got to level 42 before I was stumped and then spent another half an hour going between level 38 and 41, never made it back over 42 but earned over 2,000 grains of rice today. In the words of a famous governor, "I'll be back . . . "

Mr. Positivity

J. had his first indoor soccer game of the season tonight. He's playing with his old coach and a few players from his rec league and some new guys getting ready to transition next year to a higher level of play (classic). So the boys started off the game, many of them not even knowing each others' names. They were playing a team of boys a year older than they were, a team who had been playing together for a few years, and the team was a ability level a couple of steps higher than our team had ever played. Things didn't look good.

The boys held their own but by half time the other team was up 4 to nothing. J. went in as goalie for the second half and my heart dropped. Would he get discouraged as this very talented team continued to rack up goals? He did good on a couple of saves and then went to kick the ball out to his teammates. After a scramble for the ball, a teammate of J's kicked the ball to him in the goal box and J. reached down to pick it up - an apparent violation in Indoor soccer. The other team was given a direct kick, where they basically get to stand about 15 feet back from the goal and try to kick it in the goal. J. took his position and at the last second, Brad called to him to put his hands up. Number 7 from the other team took a few steps and then drilled the ball right at J's head. The ball deflected slightly off his hands but hit his face and neck hard enough to split his lip and leave marks on his neck from the stitching of the soccer ball. (He probably would have been knocked out cold had he not had his hands up.) He saved the goal but unfortunately as he was stunned and trying to catch his breath, another player caught the rebound and kicked the ball in the goal before J. could get his wits about him.

Brad was fortunately right by the goal box and motioned for the coach to pull J. from the game for a break. The trooper was back in about 5 minutes later, playing mid-fielder and hustling just like nothing had happened.

After the game and after making sure he was really ok, I asked him, "Do you know who that was who kicked the ball at you?"

He looked at me confused, "No."

I pointed at number 7, now talking with his mom and coach. It was Jacob Roloff, of "Little People, Big World" the TLC show about the Oregon family that lives just a few miles from us.

A huge smile came on J's face. "Cool. It's kind of like he autographed my face. Do you think they filmed it?"

My son, my hero. What an incredible attitude - the kid hasn't met a person he couldn't see the good in. While we don't hold anything against Jacob, I certainly could have understood my 10-year old being a bit put out with the kid who nearly knocked him out cold with the soccer ball. I am so proud of J. and the young man he is becoming. Let's just say the girl who ends up with this kid as a husband someday is going to be one lucky chick!

Are you busy?

I've been asked to speak at my weekly women's Bible Study and the title they gave me is "Are you busy?"

It's a topic they've given me a couple times in the past. I'm still trying to figure out, is that because I have good things to say or because my life is such a textbook example of a 21st century woman who hasn't quite figured this one out? Needless to say, God has prepared me for answering this question by giving me one of the most challenging years of my life (pace-wise, keeping up with everything).

In the past, I've often approached this topic from the place of we all need to slow down, pace ourselves, take a break, etc. But I feel a change in my heart and soul these days. I'm not sure the answer is learning to say "no" or putting boundaries around ourselves. I look at the examples that God gives us in the Bible of men and women who made a difference and the thing I keep coming back to is that they were available when God called. I think it's not bad to be busy, but the more important question is what is it that I'm doing and why am I doing it? I know for myself, I can spend hours shuffling things around my house, starting and stopping different projects and generally just "looking" busy without really accomplishing much. I'm coming to realize, especially when it comes to wanting to do what I really want (writing) the fear of failing at that task is easily tempered by the excuse, "I'm just too busy right now." This equation can fit in any area of my life - marriage, parenting, church, work, etc.

So what about you dear blogging friends? What do you do to make sure the business of life doesn't take over your lives? How do you make sure what you are doing is the real thing and not just filling the minutes and hours of our days with "stuff". What are some of your best strategies you've discovered to keep your schedules in line. Especially around the holidays, what do you do to keep yourself from being over scheduled? I promise you'll all get credit for your answers and I'll be bragging about the great wisdom of my blogging friends!

It counts . . . right?

My first publishing credit. I wrote lucky chapter 13 of this book almost a year ago. The book came out last week and I got to hold it in my hot little hands and see my name in print. Very cool. Very inspiring. It certainly won't make me famous and probably only a few folks will know where to find my chapter and name in the book, but for the first time, I really feel like when people call me a writer, I might not just have to cringe and look over my shoulder to see if someone's waiting to bust me for being a poser. I guess if you're published, you're allowed to be called a writer.

Just finished a very busy time of year at work so I'm hoping the fall and winter season will offer some more time to get fingers to the keyboard. Earlier this week I received a gentle kick in the but from my patient husband. I've been talking about a particular writing project for a while now and the poor guy got sick of the talk. He told me, "Go look at the computer screen." There was a title page and table of contents for my book project all written out and ready to go. The poor guy had even gone as far to write the acknowledgment for me. "I would like to thank my adoring husband for kicking my butt to write this book. Someday, I can send my kids to college with the money made from this project . . . " Got to love a man of vision and action!

To top it all off - I got flowers today from a couple of my dear friends. Just because. Isn't that awesome?

If you're interested in the book, find it here.

Why I love and serve my God . . .

This year has been one of such growth for me in so many ways. God has been working on my heart opening my eyes to the differences of aligning myself with people of faith and actually following Him. I am called to do more than just sit in a pew on the weekends, or write a monthly check, or throw up some half-hearted, pious sounding prayers and platitudes . . . I am called to serve.

And it hurts. It pinches my toes like my heels did last night after wearing them for 14 hours. It keeps me up late at night working on the computer. It gives me headaches and and makes me sweat buckets in a hot kitchen, but it also gives me the prickly tears behind my eyes as I think, "I could do this all day, every day Lord when you show up like this."

Last night I was part of a unique and wonderful event at our church. Our church is a multi-ethnic church with Korean, Hispanic, Chinese and East Indian fellowships that are all a part of our church body (not just renting our facility). And yet, we support each group's needs by having separate meeting times as well as corporate services. The problem? Many of us tend to stay in the comfort of our own ethnic fellowships (including anglos) and we don't get a chance to really connect with others.

A dear Korean sister came to me with an idea last spring for an event specifically designed to bring the cultures together. Last night we had our first "Celebrate Culture!" event. We designed it to highlight one of our ethnic fellowships each month and learn about the culture, history, language and traditions of that culture. We hoped we could get about 50 women interested in attending.

We had over 100 women sign up for the event! Each table of 8 women had representatives from at least 3 different ethnicities. I could not stop crying as we set the room with beautiful artifacts and my Korean sisters (many whom I met for the first time last night) were dressed in their traditional costumes. Women cooked all evening long so we could all sample at least 5 different Korean dishes. We practiced greetings in Korean and learned to say "thank you". At the end of the evening, one of our sisters from the East Indian Fellowship invited women back next month to celebrate the culture of India.

The night was an incredible picture of God's grace and goodness and love. Like a love letter written just to me, the evening went just as I envisioned. Women connected with other women outside their own culture sharing experiences and celebrating the culture of a significant group of our church family. All the women were incredibly supportive and I can not believe how good it felt to be in a room like that. I told God all night long, "God - this is you. This is you here. This is what it should be like every day."

I'm hoping that all who attended felt the same way.

Still here . . .

Hello friends. Sorry I've been a bad neighbor lately, but I've been sneaking looks at your posts here and there and been thinking of you lots! Everything is fine with me and the family, just took a bit of a break from the blog for a bit. It was nothing personal - just a chick who couldn't put two intelligent thoughts together and felt like she didn't have much to add to the conversations of bloggerdom.

I promise a longer post will come soon but until then, just wanted to let you know I was among the land of the living and appreciate those of you who have checked in and wondered where I was at. You guys are the best! Love and peace to you.

The jig is up . . .

Last night as we were saying goodnight, N. lets out a squeal as she hugs me.

"Oh my gosh! Mooommm, I'm taller than you!"

"No you're not," I say. "I was leaning. I'm just not standing up straight. See?"

I pull myself all the way up to my 5 foot 3 inch self and stand nose to nose with her.

Crud.

"Mom - I AM taller than you!" she squeals.

"Brad - come here!" I call in desperation. Surely his desire to keep this teenager in her place will convince him to side with me at least this one last time. Nature is surely not going to let me get away with this much longer.

He brings the ruler over and we stand back to back and I know what's coming.

He holds the ruler still and we back away from it. It's tilting about a half inch higher in N's direction.

She giggles uncontrollably and does a little happy dance. "I'm taller than yu-u! I'm taller than yu-u!" she sings.

"Oh yeah? Well, I can still ground you missy! Now get to bed!" I give her a playful swat on the backside. But nothing will ruin her good mood.

Truth is, I think she's been taller than me for about 2 months but just didn't realize it. It was fun to see her confident and happy about this new season of her life, but it left me a little melancholy. My baby is really, literally, growing up.

Writing - an argument for human cloning

The closer I get to feeling like maybe I am actually a "writer" (still without the capital "W" - baby steps now people, baby steps . . .), the more I think I might be interested in volunteering for a human cloning project.

There simply isn't enough time in the day (or night) to get everything done and write like I really want to write. And so, I think I'd like to place my order for a few more Kim's to take care of some of life's other tasks so I could be free to spend my days at libraries and coffee shops writing the articles, novels and blog posts that are blooming in my brain like rampant, genetically mutated dandelions that no amount of procrastinating will destroy.

So here's my cloning shopping list:

Cooking Kim: This gal would have the job of shopping, researching healthy recipes, finding ways to trim the bad stuff out of our family's diet and still making sure our sweet teeth are good and happy. She would shop, cook and watch cooking shows and throw the occasional classy dinner party as well as taking care of all holiday food preparations year round.

Merry-Maid Kim: This lucky chick would get clean-up duty including washing sweaty soccer uniforms, Brad's paint covered work clothes and the dreaded bathroom cleaning chore. She would also get kitchen clean-up and all those purging projects around the house. Like getting rid of 10-year old magazines that somehow can't find their way to the recycle bin.

Working Woman Kim: She would bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan (na-naaa-na-na). This lucky lady would get to work with wonderful people and work on interesting projects with undivided focus and concentration, wowing everyone with her knowledge, experience and creativity. She would do all of this without the distractions of thinking, "Wow - I'd really rather be writing a scene for my novel rather than this annual report" or fight the urge to spice up her marcom writing with vocabulary and descriptions that have no place in a conservative work place.

Media-savy Kim: She would keep up on all of my favorite shows, alerting me to the "can't miss" episodes but letting me skip the less than stellar ones. She'd preview movies for me so I could never waste time sitting through something that wouldn't inspire or motivate me in my own creative journey. She'd help me never sit through another bomb of a movie like "Premonition" (two hours of my life that I'd REALLY like back Lord, thanks!). M.S. Kim would do the same for me with books and magazines also, weeding out the duds and fluff and flagging articles that would help me develop story ideas. Oh, and when I eventually get around to buying an i-pod, she'd figure it out for me and load all my favorite music on it.

Yup. Human cloning - I think it's just the ticket for my writing career. Where can I sign up?

Summer Favorites

Dear sweet Amber checked in with me the other day. I haven't meant to neglect blogging. Really - I've been reading all of yours and commenting here and there. I guess I've got a tiny bit of bloggers' block. When I would sit down to write, all that would come out was complaints and grumblings about unmet expectations for the summer and how busy we've been and yada, yada, yada . . . so I just did us all a favor and abstained. But I think it's time to get back in the grove and so I'll take a page from wise friends and others who have inspired me to think thankfully and gratefully for the blessings of this summer. Here's a few pictures of my favorite summer moments.


Camping at Pacific City, OR - warm temperatures, lazy days and fun with my favorite three people in the world.


J as "Charlie the Crazy Cat Guy" in his theater camp's production of "A Fractured Fairy Tale". He loved theater camp and now when anyone asks what he wants to be, he replies, "I want to be an actress." (Actor buddy, actor . . )


N and I decided to be part of history and attend one of the local "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" events. But in true fashion for our family, we punked out at about 11:30 pm and went to Target the next morning to pick up our copy of #7. We had a great evening out though and enjoyed the enthusiasm of the hard-core fans.


The family reunion shot. A tough week for me but there were some fun parts and it was great to see family from out of state.


My kids' new hobby. Makes my blood pressure go up but they love it. We're already talking about getting wetsuits for the colder weather so they can keep practicing. I think a trip to Hawaii sounds more fun.


This guy posed for me on a trip at the Oregon Zoo's butterfly exhibit. Wasn't that nice of him?


These cute kids posed for me also - after being bribed with a warm elephant ear and a promise that they could ride the thrill ride after mom took pictures for 20 minutes in the butterfly display!

Yup - it was a tough summer with lots of work and meeting the needs of others but there were definitely some highlights. And for that, I'm so thankful.

What was your favorite part of summer?

Hide the sharp objects . . . .

. . . there's a teenager in the house. That's right - today my baby girl turns 13. She was born at 10:21 pm on a hot summer night 9 days late. The first words out of one of the nurses when they put the girl on the scale to weigh her was, "Oh my God!" Turns out my little princess was not so little. She was 10 pounds 15 1/2 ounces at birth. I joke that if Brad had taken me to dinner the night before, we could have put on that last half ounce and had ourselves an eleven pounder.

Truly, it was wonderful having a big baby. She was healthy and sturdy and didn't feel like she was going to break when you picked her up. I remember going to a breastfeeding clinic a few days after she was born and the other moms there were just amazed at the baby girl's size. She never wore 0-3 month clothes and only wore 3-6 month clothing for about the first 6 weeks. A friend of ours at church just recently had a 10 pound boy and I saw him today and it brought back wonderful memories of my summer baby girl.

Now she is a teenager and that extra size that she has carried for her whole life is more of a struggle than a blessing to her. Now we walk the fragile tightrope of working for a healthy self-image that brings about positive changes and not negative feelings. A sweeter and more loving girl, I couldn't ask for. She is so much like her dad - very relational, gets along with everyone and lives to spend time with the ones she loves. She's great about being honest with me and is quick to apologize when she knows she's gone over the boundaries too far. I love that she has inherited my love for reading and the theater. We saw "Hairspray" together last night and had fun singing the songs and talking about the movie on the way home. There are some great things about her getting older and sharing more grown-up experiences with her.

A good friend who was one of the first to visit us in the hospital after N. was born came up to me at work today and put a hand on my shoulder. With a knowing and concerned tone, he asked, "How are you doing?" (He's raised his own teenage daughter, now in her twenties and married.)

"Two arguments already and it's only 9:00 am in the morning. I think I have a teenager in my house," I said.

Happy Birthday sweetie girl! Love you tons!

Knock, knock . . . . anybody home?

Okay - I know that strong, independent, confident women of the world don't feel the need to apologize just because they fall behind on a few blog posts, but for the few of you out there who know me and read my stuff . . . you know that the British part of me won't get by with that. Sooo

I'm very sorry for the lack of posts and not letting you know my status for the past 23 days. Please forgive me for being rude and not checking in.

Seriously. I didn't mean to take that much of a blogging break. The demands of our lives these days have made it nearly impossible to spend more time at the computer than what was required for work and quick checks of email. I wish I could say that I was busy landscaping my back yard, or I was busy learning how to windsurf and that I was spending all that time I would be blogging outside enjoying the lazy days of summer, but lazy is the last word I would use to describe the summer!

Not that it hasn't been fun. Just a wildly, crazy, lots of obligations kind of fun. (With work thrown in there for good measure.) Rather than bore you with it all, I'll give you the quick bullets:

- Brad is currently working as our church's interim High School Director. The new guy will hopefully be here in Oregon in a few weeks but Brad has been doing an awesome job keeping a HS program afloat for the very discouraged kids who have been without a leader for 18 months. We have had the incredible privilege to spend lots of time with great students and some awesome adult helpers who have stepped up to the plate in this area.

- Brad is also trying to fulfill promises made to friends and co-workers to paint houses. He does this in his "off" time from the High School Director position. Translation: we haven't seen much of each other this summer.

- The kids have been in and out of different camps this summer. The boy is currently in his second week of drama camp and is loving it. The girl is making mom proud by helping out at our church's Vacation Bible School this week by letting 2nd grade girls crawl all over her for a few hours a day. We also had fun serving as childcare helpers for our church's ESL classes offered to the Hispanic community. We practiced our very limited Spanish with the kids while their parents practiced English.

- We managed to sneak away for a few days at the beach. Just the four of us. It was heaven. They are my favorite people to be around. It's the one thing that has kept me going during the craziness.

- Seeing some of the blockbusters. "Transformers" and "Harry Potter 5" have been favorites so far. Going to see "Hairspray" with the high school girls tomorrow night and will take my sweetie pie to see "Bourne Ultimatum" as our first night out alone this summer when it opens.

- Celebrating birthdays. The boy on the 7th. Mine is today and the girl's is on Wednesday. I got a brand new, red, shiny . . . vacuum cleaner. It's AWESOME! (Or as Brad would say, "It really sucks!") Seriously, it's like the Cadillac of vacuums and I love it. I plan on using it tonight - with my new birthday pjs on!

- Trying to grab snatches of creative time. Not much time for this but I'm starting to feel the misery of not getting enough time to write. I made myself journal for a half an hour this morning as a gift to myself. It was bliss. I really wanted to start a new writing project today to celebrate my birthday, but the journaling will have to do for now. And this blog post - that counts too, doesn't it?

Please know I've been sneaking peeks at your blogs and I hope to get back to a more regular routine again soon, but please don't be surprised if another little stretch goes by before I post again. Until then, know that I'm thinking of you all and hoping that you are enjoying the special blessings of summer with those who are close to you. Take care!

Happy Birthday!

(The birthday boy with his favorite cousin)




How could I know that raising a boy would be so much fun? Those brown eyes of mine looking back at me and crinkling around the edges when he's laughing . . . that awesome sense of humor that amazes me coming from one so young . . . the creative imagination that from the day he could talk, has never ceased to amaze me . . . that uncanny ability to figure out complicated math and mechanical issues beyond what I would expect at this age . . . those sweet bursts of affection that melt my heart. Who knew a little guy could capture my heart like this?

Happy Birthday Bub! I love you!

True Confessions

First, a bit of business. Kamsin tagged me ages ago (well, ok, a week ago) and I need to follow through here. So here are the specs . . .

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each participant posts eight random facts about themselves.
3. Tagees should write a blogpost of eight random facts about themselves.
4. At the end of the post, eight more bloggers are tagged (named and shamed).
5. Go to their blog, leave a comment telling them they're tagged (cut and run).

Now, just to be fair, it is a holiday here in the states, so we here at ETS will make this a self-service tag. Play along if you're in the mood.

And so, without further delay, here are eight amazing, silly, little-known facts about Kim G.

1. My first kiss was when I was 15 years old and was with a 23 year old guy. (OK - sound horribly gross and even illegal now, but back then it was very heart pitter-patter making.) It never went any further than that but I had a huge crush on the dude. He worked at the video store across the street from the taco joint I worked in.

2. I can make an awesome burrito. My kids say every time we have burritos for dinner, "It's a good thing you worked in a taco place when you were a kid so you could learn to fold burritos." They don't teach that stuff in school, ya know. (Well, maybe they do in home economics . . .) My favorite part of working in the taco joint was eating fresh fried chips right out of the fryer when they were still hot. Yum.

3. I cry like a leaky faucet. Not so much at real life stuff any more (except when there's kids involved in tragedy) but at any movie, tv show, documentary or even commercial with a sentimental twist to it. (My daughter seems to avoided this genetic mutation, but alas, the boy seems to have inherited it. He wept during the movie "Happy Feet" when they banished the penguin. Poor kid - either the girls are gonna love him for this or he'll get the crap beaten out of him by the boys.)

4. I just finished reading a book that was the kind I'd love to write with deep, complicated characters and themes of faith and forgiveness, but it had some rather - er - graphic, steamy scenes in it that would have surely earned it a NC17 rating had it been a film. But I loved it anyway. ("The Secret Sisters" by Joni Rogers if you're interested.) I admire someone who can write a realistic sex scene. That's something I'm not sure I could ever do.

5. Things I don't think I could live without in my life: tea in the morning (English, black tea - none of the fruity, grassy, herby stuff), Clorox wipes, books and a daily dose of world news from NPR.

6. I prefer to be alone rather than go to a party most days, but I don't think anyone would call me a hermit. I do love to meet new people but I always feel like I must "work" to make the relationship move forward instead of just leaving it at the acquaintance level. The thought of that often robs the joy of the new friendship and thus, I think it's just easier to stay at home. Sick - I know.

7. I've become a bit of a magazine junkie lately. I've subscribed to four new ones, Vogue, Popular Photography,Wired and Good magazine (whose tagline is "For people who give a damn") I've picked up cards for two design magazines that I'm thinking about subscribing to. I've also picked up recent newsstand copies of Vanity Faire (the Bono issue) and Portland Monthly and checked out vegetarian cooking mags from the library. Someone stop me!

8. If I could change anything about my physical appearance, I think I'd change the color of my hair. I'd make it darker or lighter - it's kind of a nothing special brown. Maybe I'll join Laini and dye it pink! I'm pretty happy with the rest of me with the exception of the extra pounds I need to loose (but that's my fault not God's!)

OK - off to start the marathon day of cooking for tonight's block party. The boys next door (who are now in their twenties with kids of their own) are counting on my brownies for tonight. Musn't disappoint them!

Happy 4th to you all!