Sorry - can't stay. I have to go fill up a pond.

Jim

We got the first season of "Lost" on DVD the other day, and boy is that a good TV show. (It's true!! It happens!! Bloop!) It has also re-awakened my lifelong obsession, first implanted into my young mind by the books of Willard Price, with the ins-and-outs of being stuck on a desert island, though the "Lost" island is admittedly not so desert-like, more quite odd. Indeed, I spent at least half-an-hour last night unable to sleep, considering the mysteries of desalination of seawater, which I was forced to look up on Wikipedia, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination. All of which is very informative, but how would one do it on a raft????

More Scenes from Home

The pictures from the previous post were from last night. These are from this morning.

This is Jim doing his best impression of when he's being asked a question by a customer.Referring to the statement on his vest:And now, the look he gives when they don't understand him:These are my new shoes (perfect for the Butterfly Girl) obtained from Jim's place o'work:

And finally, here is Maddie, giving me a look when I try to take back the new puppy:

And her reaction when I moved to try to take it anyway:

Stay tuned for some video of Jim (taken unawares) as he plays his guitar and watches himself in the mirror (a daily occurence around here).

A Typical Home-Scene

As Jim told me, the cheese on my mouth, a remnant of the cheese popcorn we were eating at the time, doesn't matter. Because, he says, this is a "typical home scene." Man, wife, dog, cheesy face and all.

We were watching our new DVD's of the First Season of Lost. Maddie was tired.

We went to a garage sale across the street and bought this puppy for our next child. Maddie, however, has already fallen in love.

'Sleeve Notes (for Lenny Bruce)'

A stitch in time saves nine, they say
But Baby, you ripped both the sleeves off my jacket

Screw it.
There's a big black hole in my left side
Between the muscle that's tense
When you stand-up straight, and my rib

Where the courage is kept
That's where the fear moved in
- but does not live

Maybe it takes me to go up and see
The seamstress on the hill with a gift
Or the hooker in the corn with stacks and plenty
Jackdaws with blood on their beaks, and their lips
Or maybe pay me a call to Goodwill
To settle my bill, then
empty my pockets in court, and by my life,
Try to shtup the scales and tip the windmills
of the world.

No matter, I'm an illness
- come, come and catch me tomorrow
You can shake me, but I am no fake
See? No sleeves, there's nothing up 'em
but beautiful, bare arms.

My friend April has to go into the hospital tomorrow for some pretty scary medical tests, so please keep her in your prayers. Also, pray for her unborn child, who the tests are for, that he/she is healthy and safe.

I feel like that is what life has handed me . . .a big, fat bottle cap that says, "Sorry. Please try again." I will try again, but just think of us right now and hope that our trying is a success.

Good LORD. There's five days I am happy to be on this side of...

Here's a quick quiz. Which of the following ACTUALLY happened to me during the last five days?

a) Mauled by Otters.
b) Received obscene phonecall from James Lipton.
c) Picked up award for 'Best Thumbs' at the MTV Music Awards, snorted coke backstage with close pal Jay-Z and his minder 2-WAyn.
d) Got electrocuted after inserting my finger into the exhaust pipe of a hybrid car.
e) Mauled by Sandcrabs.

Still thinking? Actually, it's F - none of the above. But I DID do all of the following:

1) Made some really good money - Labor Day was double time! Wheeee!
2) Got to see Joel and Sarah get married and enjoyed their reception very much even though I couldn't stay.
3) Stayed up for a continuous 41-hour period to achieve both. (Sadly true.)

I also heard a GREAT example tonight of 'Wal-Mart Pekin-ese' (the famed language and logic system.) A woman I work with named Kay was complaining that she had to stop off at her sister's to "drop off some stuff" on the way home, and that her sister lived in Boynton. A guy I work with named Richard asked Kay where she lived, and she told him Delavan. "Jeeez!" replied Richard, "That ain't but three beers out of a six-pack away!" I asked him how he knew and he told me that's how he measured everything. To which I wanted to reply that he was six-beers out of a six-pack away from being smart, but a whole kegful of funny. Instead I just smiled and said "Ahhh!" - he's a nice guy, and at 2:20 in the morning, all I had left were bottle tops.

Anyway - must leave you. Hope everyone out there is well indeed.

Jim

Pictures From the Hawaiian Style Wedding

And look how cool my hair was! Sarah's mom did it.

And I Was Worried . . .

Well, Joel and Sarah's wedding went off without a hitch, and it was beautiful, to say the very least. I am so happy that they are married, because Sarah is like . . .well, no, not like--she IS a sister to me. I am so grateful and amazed that my sweet littlest brother found such an amazing woman to be his wife.

I was worried all along that my baby boy would not be remembered today, but I needn't have done so. He was a part of every moment. From my pearl necklace (given as a gift by Sarah to the bridesmaids--I added my silver heart that says "Brian" and the circle Jim got me that says "Hope") to so many people mentioning him and talking about him (even people I barely knew), I was so proud to know how my boy had touched the lives of so many.

The only sad part was my baby having to go off to work at 8:30. I missed him immensely, but nonetheless was proud of him.

Amy's brother Joel and his fiancee Sarah are married today!!

As it did on Amy's and my wedding day, the weather has come up with the goods in a big way - a sunny, breezy blip in a week of cool and greyness - and as mentioned before, the ceremony is outside so it should be really beautiful. Please say a prayer for their new life together; they're a fantastic, caring, and very hard-working couple who deserve every happiness in their future.

Also, on a completely selfish note, if you're in prayer mode and happen to be reading this in the following 24 hours, I could also use a little help. I woke at 5pm yesterday then worked 3rd shift last night, and it doesn't look as if I will be sleeping at all today before I work 3rd shift again tonight. On top of that I am sick with a virus/chest/throat thing, and I'm very tired indeed. To be at Joel and Sarah's wedding is extremely important to me, and I pray that I can remain focused on the wonderful step they are taking together and my excitement for them and set aside my own discomforts.

Amy is there now getting ready, and I join her at 3:30pm - I have been asked to video the ceremony too, so you might thirdly pray that the Orson Welles in me doesn't take over, leading me to extraordinary lengths of control-freakery and perfection-seeking culminating in my deciding to playing the parts of Joel, Sarah, and Pastor Dave Craig myself. Ahhh, I can see it now... (holds up thumbs and forefingers to make frame in front of face - you know, like directors do.)

The Burgoo

Tonight was a burgoo of emotion for me. For those of you not familiar with "burgoo" (ie you didn't go to Eureka College and go there to eat mozerella sticks) . . .it's a thick stew made with lots and lots of different stuff like corn, tomatoes, and even stuff like squirrel and racoon. It was often a community effort--people would bring what they had and throw it into a giant pot over an open fire. The gathering (picnic) where such a stew was served was also called a burgoo. I first heard the word when they named the student restaurant at EC "The Burgoo." ANYWAY . . .Joel and Sarah's wedding rehearsal was tonight. I felt really proud of them and I love Sarah so much, so that made me START crying. Then I remembered that my son should be a part of this all, and how for months we had planned for this day, and talked about how we would wait until a few weeks before to order my dress so he could fit in there with me, and how it might be hot and being 7 1/2 months pregnant might be difficult in that weather, etc. That made me cry harder. Then I looked over at Ashleigh, who looks cute and pregnant now, and I had to walk over to the lake and have some private time to weep. I also felt proud because Ashleigh asked me for lots of advice, but I felt empty because, while I could offer her advice and say, "When I was pregnant with Brian . . ." I couldn't look at my son or hold him. I was sad because her baby is due the first part of January, and so he/she would have only been 6-8 weeks younger than Brian, and they'd have grown up together. Then I missed Jim, who had to be home sleeping, and wished he could be there to give me a hug and take care of me. Then I went to get him for the dinner and about halfway through, we both kinda cheered up, then we came home and had some "together" time, and it was lovely . . .so I am now sitting here feeling this whole "burgoo" of feeling, but happy to be me and to feel things so deeply. Today at work I stood over Alex's crib (a baby boy we have who I love and wanted to have a son because I thought he was so precious) and wept to watch him sleeping there. I ached for my son, and wanted to watch him sleep, perfect and amazing and vulnerable and real. But I also realized how lucky I am to be one of the people in this world to feel things so ACUTELY, and even luckier to be married to someone who feels things just as deeply. Someone who can weep at the beauty of a sunset, or lie in awe, watching the stars overhead.

Wish me luck at the wedding tomorrow. My face has decided to produce one gigantic chin zit, so it's off to WalMart with Jim when he goes to work in a few minutes here so that I can get something to try to fix/help it. Oh, and pray for NO rain, as the wedding is outdoors. :)