The Toothpick Shudder Story

Tonight Daniel found a toothpick lying on the counter. He picked it up and turned it around a few times before tossing it across the room on the floor. I said, “Go pick it up. Never leave a toothpick on the floor.” He asked why not. I replied, “Don’t you remember the story about Nana and the toothpick?”

A few summers ago, Nana stepped on a toothpick. It was at the cabin. The cabin has barf-colored indoor/outdoor carpet that hides a lot of things, namely toothpicks. The toothpick broke on impact and neither Nana nor Papa could tell if part of it lodged in the wound. They went to the Hume infirmary. Then they went down the hill to urgent care. Then they went to the ER because urgent care could not do surgical type injuries. After numbing the foot and digging around for a toothpick fragment, they stitched the wound and prescribed pain meds. After all that excitement, they needed a vacation, so they went back up to the cabin.

I was telling Daniel this story and I got to the part about Nana having to go to the hospital and numbing her foot with a needle, when he quickly covered his ears and shuddered horrendously. Full-body, face-scrunching shudder. “No! Don’t tell me anymore!”

I don’t think he will throw toothpicks on the floor anymore.

The Good 'Ol Days

Last night we ate dinner with my parents and grandparents. My grandpa was a boy when he emigrated to the U.S. from Russia. We sometimes get him to talk about his World War II days or even further back to when he first moved to America and only spoke Low German. But most frequently, the conversation will revolve around the local Mennonite Brethren church. They like to compare the church my family attends with the church they attend since both are of the same M.B. denomination. It’s never in a competitive spirit (my church is better than yours), but more of a quantitative comparison. They want to know the ages of members, the race of members, how many families attend, how many children go to Sunday school, what songs do we sing, how many organists there are.

They talk about the days when their church used to be made up mostly of “our people” (Mennonite Brethren defined as being Germans from Russia or their descendants). They lament the smaller choir and lack of organists and pianists. They mourn their friends who once overflowed the Sunday school classroom. They miss the special music at youth night and Sunday evening services. They are hesitant that you can really learn the Bible sitting in the living room of someone’s house (unless it’s the youth group). They don’t understand why people now walk in and out during the church service; people didn’t do that before.

Of course I don’t debate with them. I never do. This is their faith; in a world that has changed so radically they want to wear their faith like a favorite sweater. It really has nothing to do with fear of change as some may think. It’s more that they’ve embraced so much change already, their faith is the steadfast rock they turn to. Life’s complications can be endured as long as there is a pulpit and an organ on Sunday mornings.

The church my family attends is hard to quantify. Just taking attendance on a Sunday morning reaps questions. Does it count if people come in for the last 20 minutes? Last 10 minutes? What if they tried to make it but the bus was late? Does it count if they are “here” but not sitting in the pew? We frequently hear the phrase “I’m a member of your church” from strangers. We know they have not taken the membership class and been officially received into membership, but their children come to the sports club or tutoring club. What if you only come on Wednesday nights, but you come every week. Does that count for anything? What if (gasp) you worship on Saturday nights so you can have Sunday free? I’ll take it one further: what if you attend every meeting put on by the church at your apartment complex, but you’ve never actually set foot on the church campus?

What is church? By defining church, are you being exclusive when you think you are being inclusive? What influences shape a church compared to the direction leadership wants it to go? What about defining the legal aspects of being a “religious institution” 501(c)(3) and yet living in a world that separates church from state? I think it is going to be harder and harder to define “church” in our society, but the followers of Christ will continually turn to the Bible (Acts) for foundational guidance. Forgive my rambling thoughts, but this doesn’t even address the biblical issue of resting on the Sabbath. Can you go to the Saturday night service so you can sleep in on Sunday morning? Does that count?

All Scripture is God-Breathed

Last night I was reflecting on life and thought about the passage in 2 Timothy 3 that says all scripture is God-breathed (NIV), as in living and breathing; alive. So I looked it up to get the context and see what else Paul had to say to Timothy. I like the New Living Translation:

15. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.
16. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.
17. It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.

Wow. So instead of fretting over what to talk about with my boys regarding life and death, I can help them learn the scriptures. They will gain wisdom, truth, and righteousness. They will be prepared and equipped. And I particularly like the part about, “it straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.” I’ve got a 7-year-old that could use some scripture teaching lately…

Talking to the Boys

After attending three funerals in two months, death seems to be on the brain. But more so, talking to my kids about death seems to be on the brain. Here are the things I want them to understand:


Everyone dies. My sons seemed to be sincerely amazed when I told them this. But I shouldn’t be surprised. What child would want to think about it? And when you’re young, old is old, whether you are 25 or 85. To a child, life span means nothing, and when a grandparent dies, it is the exception and not the rule.

You will feel bad when someone dies. You will be sad. When you think about that person, you will remember they are gone and it will hurt bad. Remember when we dug up that plant and there was a hole in the ground? Our heavy soil left the hole with sharp, defined edges. We could even see marks from the shovel edge.

But it won’t hurt this bad forever. Just like a skinned knee or bumped head, bad pain from grief won’t last forever. While grief doesn’t go away as fast as a skinned knee, eventually the pain is duller. Kind of like that hole in the ground, the rain will soften the hard edges and the crumbling soil will fill in the depth a bit.

It’s okay to be happy when you’re sad. You can go to school and play with friends. You can learn math and music and make believe. You can be happy and sad at the same time; it will just be a different kind of happy. Like when we planted a new plant in the hole. We could still tell that the old plant used to be there, but the new one brought anticipation.

Love Jesus, don’t fear death. It’s scary thinking about dying, but Jesus tells us he has a really cool place for us when it’s time for us to die. That’s how faith works. None of our ancestors have ever come back from heaven to say, “It’s really true! There really is a God and a Heaven!” We have to believe it even though we haven’t seen it yet.

Sigh. I wish I was one of those great moms that could teach all of life’s lessons in full comprehension to my boys. I wish they could have an in depth adult conversation with me so I would know how much they understand and what I still need to work on. I wish they could download everything I want them to know, like Neo in The Matrix. Most of all, I wish impossibly that they would not have to experience the pain of grief.

October Top Ten

10. Tim's dad successfully made it through heart surgery and is recovering well.
9. Community Carnival at church
8. Daniel's birthday (my baby is SEVEN!!)
7. Tracy's birthday (29. AGAIN.)
6. Yummy chocolate cake with strawberries (thanks, John)
5. Taking a quick trip to North Carolina
4. Seeing U2 in North Carolina
3. Seeing Muse in North Carolina
2. Seeing U2 in Pasadena
1. October is finally over! That was a little too wild for me!

Event Staff Woman Goes Berserk at U2 Concert!

This one lady spent the majority of the concert making chop-your-head-off motions with her hands. She encouraged the males to her right to use their flashlights to shine in the crowd's eyes. She was concerned that people were videoing the concert. She was going after us one by one, hoping to get through all of us, I suppose. I noticed that she was the only event staff doing this. She also confiscated a beach ball. I can hardly write this without laughing. She. confiscated. a. beach. ball. She was so busy running around trying to stop people from doing things, she reminded me of Data in that Star Trek movie where his emotions make him crazy. She also reminded me of my neurotic dog running from window to window, back and forth, barking like crazy. It was so fascinating watching the other CALM event staff compared to her, that I had to attempt to catch her in action. (I just pretended I was videoing the concert.) Can you see the otherwise splendid view of Bono and Edge? Ugh, just ruined by this one crazy lady!

Dear Carter-Finley Stadium: I really enjoyed the Muse/U2 concert in October. I thought your stadium was clean and had lots of toilets (unconventional placement, but plentiful nonetheless). I wish you had vendors selling food outside for those of us in the GA line. You could have made a killing off us! And thanks for holding off the rain that day. We didn't have any parking trouble at 3:00 p.m., although I'm sure you've gotten your fill of complaints from people who missed the concert because of the terrible situation. I wasn't too thrilled to spend an hour and a half sitting in the parking lot after the concert. But could you please remove someone from their job, because they are a seriously negative spot on your otherwise passable venue. Thank you.

U2/Muse Concert

The actual concert was amazing! It is so neat to look back to this concert and notice the differences between NC and Pasadena. When we walked into the stadium, we were handed paper masks of Aung San Suu Kyi with eyeholes that pop out. Anyone that is a fan of U2 or even braves the GA crowd KNOWS who this person is. Anyone, that is, except the pretty boy with designer clothing standing next to us. He could not figure out why they were handing him a mask of Clay Aiken. Anyway, the mask was supposed to come out when U2 sang Walk On so we could all be the face of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Muse came out and did several songs from different albums. They had so much energy and Matt is extremely talented on the guitar. There was a U2 fan on the other side of me (not the pretty boy) who had never heard of Muse. After they played, he was ready to get some of their music! I'm sad they didn't play "Knights of Cydonia" and "United States of Eurasia." But we'll have to wait for them to come back out next summer. Please come to California!!

U2 came out and did an amazing job! You can read about their concerts and set lists anywhere, so I won't bore you. We stood right in front of Edge and watched him, like, right there! And after a few songs, the brilliantly bright full moon was just hanging out in the sky like he was there to see the concert as well. (That was the only day it didn't rain while Tim was there.) And a funny note about the field: On the actual grass field (covered by flooring) were 30 port-a-potties all lined up in a row. All these toilets were right there in the back half of the GA field! I feel sorry for those folks who had to stand next to them all night; phew!

And one more note about the concert. This one deserves a separate post just for the full effect. Coming up... Event Staff Woman Goes Berserk at U2 Concert!

U2/Muse Concert Trip, Day 2

We finally made the decision. You remember we had to decide whether I would go stand in the GA line at 7:30 a.m. while Tim went to the conference, or both of us go together at 3:00 after the conference session and be further back in line. We took a risk by getting in line later that day and maybe being at the back of the floor at the concert. (Or, we could get lucky and be close enough to the front.)

Tim needed to be at the U2 conference by 9:00 and we had one rental car. The hotel is in the middle of nothing. Do I sleep in and have a leisurely day at a decent hotel without a car, or go explore? Explore, of course! After Tim got dropped off, my first thought was to find a Starbucks and then check out Duke University. So I punched Starbucks into the GPS and she took me to some sort of stadium with a business center across the street. Everything looked pretty deserted and the business center was closed on a Saturday. So I kept driving and dead-ended at the Durham Farmers' Market.

There was a booth selling baked goods, so I got a chocolate donut muffin and a buttermilk donut muffin. There were lots of greens to purchase and many of them were "simmering greens." (What are simmering greens?) There were lots of potatoes, but no fruit anywhere. After browsing, I took my donut muffins back to the car and tried to find Duke. It was pretty deserted on a Saturday morning, so I asked Ms. GPS to take me to the mall (there's got to be a Starbucks at a mall, right?). Ms. GPS had me turning and merging and exiting at all the correct locations, but when she said "take the motorway," I was stumped. Nothing said "motorway" on the road signs and there were two freeways dividing up ahead.

"Take the motorway," again.

I needed a translater. Which way was I supposed to go? Can't you just say "take the I62 north" or "exit right?"

"Take the motorway." Seriously, which one is the motorway?

Well, at least she can redirect me if I take the wrong freeway.

Whew, made it. Found the mall, found Starbucks, even found a gas station. Now, I needed to find some lunch before getting Tim and heading to the concert. Hey! Cracker Barrel is out here! Ms. GPS, please take me to a Cracker Barrel!

After half of a chocolate and half of a buttermilk donut muffin and coffee for breakfast, I found some more hearty (read "high caloric") food at Cracker Barrel. (I am telling you the truth, that meal lasted through dinner and on into midnight.) Then I went to get Tim, and wouldn't you know Ms. GPS took me on a gravel road at a different university? She knew exactly where she was, but it wasn't where I wanted to be. After arguing with her a bit, she grudgingly took me to Tim's location and then we headed to the stadium.

The GA Line: We got in line around 3:30 and found out they would open the gates at 5:00. Lots of people were tailgating in the parking lot and in the GA line, people were camped out with chairs and coolers. As it got closer to 5:00, most people stashed their belongings as we could hear U2 doing a sound check. Around 5:30 they opened the gates and we made a mad dash for the floor. We managed to get to the center stage about 4 or 5 people back. Yay! (On the floor, they don't have any seats. It is "standing room only" and everyone rushes to get a spot. Once there, you have to hold your spot until the concert starts.) Had there been an "elipse" on this tour, we would have been in it! One good thing about going this early was that so many cars were trying to get in the stadium, a lot of people missed half the concert. After the concert, it took us about an hour and a half to get out of the parking lot.

Coming up: The Muse/U2 Concert!

U2/Muse Concert Trip, Day 1

Friday, October 2: I am so excited to go see my favorite two bands, U2 and Muse, playing in North Carolina. Tim and I got GA tickets (!) and we are debating our attack to get to the floor. Drop me off at the stadium early (conference is 30 minutes away) to get a spot, or take our chances and show up at 3:00 in the afternoon? We are still undecided.

Tim left on Wednesday for his academic conference on U2. He and a student are presenting a “paper” at this conference (which is a big deal). Unfortunately, at FPU all budgets have been cut for faculty to do this sort of thing, but the expectation for faculty to do this sort of thing was not cut. To raise money for expenses associated with presenting a paper at an academic conference in North Carolina, the Bible department sold zwiebach. I baked lots of zwiebach. I raised a lot of dough. And I baked. And I pinched. And I greased. And I bagged. Repeat. Repeat again. You get the idea.

So back to Friday. Tim’s dad had triple bypass on Tuesday, which necessitated that his sister come out from Ohio. We were so relieved she was here! When he came through with flying colors, Tim proceeded with going on his trip. When recovery kept improving, I proceeded with my trip.

Flying from Fresno to the east coast is never an easy thing to do. Heck, flying from Fresno to anywhere is never an easy thing to do, unless you’re just going somewhere like San Francisco or L.A. (which, in that case, you would drive your car). Leg one: Fresno to SFO was uneventful. I’m not particularly fond of heights, but my love of looking out the window at the “miniature” cities usually wins out. (This is why I also love the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland.) Leg two: SFO to Dulles was long. I grabbed a sourdough bowl and clam chowder from Boudin Bakery (yum!) and talked with Tim until it was time to board. We are still undecided about the GA line and what to do. I watched The Terminal with Tom Hanks on my ipod during the flight. (I highly recommend this movie while flying. You will crack up when you land and walk into the airport.) At Dulles, I grabbed a salad before my flight and called the boys. Leg three: Dulles to Raleigh/Durham was short, but on that horrible Airbus 320, it felt like forever. I really really don’t like the Airbus 320; if I wanted to ride Tower of Terror, I would go to Disneyland.

Raleigh/Durham airport: Made it! Tim is at a screening for a movie associated with the conference, so I told him to take his time. While waiting for him, I noticed that my skin started feeling rather sticky. I also started smelling my hair products melting in the humidity. Nice. Tim soon pulled up in the smallest Hyundai ever made and we were off to the hotel via the GPS lady (more on her later). We are still undecided about the GA line but leaning towards an afternoon arrival.

September Top Ten

10. Michael started running in cross country at school.

9. Daniel started playing on the soccer team.

8. Michael is learning how to play the trombone in beginning band.

7. Daniel is learning how to play the piano.

6. U2/Muse tickets arrived in the mail and flights booked for October 3 Raleigh concert.

5. Saw Peter Frampton in concert at the Madera fair with Tim and Dave.

4. Saw Phil Keaggy in concert at the Hume Country Fair with Tim, boys, and my parents.

3. The Resistance by Muse is released in the U.S.

2. Tim’s sister comes for a visit from Ohio because…

1. …Tim’s dad had a triple bypass and came through it beautifully.

August Top Ten

Whew! August flew by so fast that I'm not sure I can come up with ten things to write about. But, here goes...
10. The tooth fairy visited Daniel again.
9. The tooth fairy visited Michael again.
8. The Fresno Library saw a high volume of transactions on our account.
7. Highly recommend the "Gregor" series for kids by Suzanne Collins (even I enjoyed them).
6. Barbecued trout!
5. Greek Festival feta cheese and olives.
4. This makes the list for Daniel: Going to Chuck E. Cheese with Mom while Dad and Michael were gone. Tracy's statement to the Chuck E. Cheese host while standing in "line" at an empty register: "Seriously, I've been standing here for 10 minutes waiting to give you my money and no one is in line in front of me. Can you call someone??"
3. Time at the cabin!
2. Michael started 5th grade.
1. Daniel started 1st grade. ("Mom, they made me stay at school the WHOLE day!")

Peaches, Camping and Tomatoes

Every summer, I await the ripening of O'Henry peaches. They are such a bright, pretty color, and during the grey days of January, I pull out a quart jar of canned peaches and remember the warmth and sunshine of August. (By January, the sweaty memories of Fresno in summer have faded a bit.) So each summer I wait, knowing that sooner or later, the sunshiny goodness will arrive. It is a countdown that is more based on weather than calendar.

Will it be the last week of July or the first week of August?

Will it be a good crop?

"Dad, can you save me three boxes?"

This year, we have exploding pits. (That sort of sounds like a Harry Potter item, like "Blast Ended Skrewts" or "Decoy Detonators.") Not that the peaches explode or anything, but the pits have popped open inside the peaches. Mostly we get "split pits" in the culls, but this year a lot of the peaches were starting to get rotten in the middle. So it took a bit longer to do the "peach thing" this year. But my pantry and freezer are cheerfully swaddling my sunshine babies for a gloomy day. Bring on the rain.

Er... Never mind.

The boys went camping with Tim. They packed up their sleeping bags, tent, food, entertainment, firewood, clothing, first aid kit, tarp, chairs, water jug, blankets, bug repellent, lantern, flashlights, and pillows and headed off to the Sunset Campground. Tim actually went "Motorcycle" camping there last week and said it was quieter than Azalea (but now don't you go camping at Sunset because that would ruin it). Motorcycle camping is where you put everything you need to camp in all the little bags on your motorcycle. That is actually going a bit too far for me. So this week, Tim took the truck and the boys and the big 18-person tent. That's how I like to camp. Not to mention flush toilets. And a camp stove. I am awaiting their return with stories of adventure and dirty laundry.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, by which I mean our house, I finally have "grandma tomatoes" this year. My grandma and grandpa grow the absolute best eat-them-or-lose-your-eternal-salvation tomatoes on the planet. I have tried to grow good tomatoes each year, and have failed miserably. One year, I got quite a few tomatoes, but they had bad taste and texture. So this year, I asked the grandparents to buy me a 6-pack (of tomatoes, shame on you!) when they bought theirs. I planted at the same time, watered the same way, and fertilized on schedule. Now I too have big, red, juicy tomatoes that beg to be eaten sliced, with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, EVOO, and a splash of balsamic. Mmmm.

July's Top Ten List

10. Air Conditioning
9. Air Conditioning with solar panels
8. O-Henry peaches are here this week
7. Getting the house painted
6. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
5. Homemade ice cream
4. Spending time with family
3. Selling the 1997 CR-V
2. Purchasing the 2006 Honda Pilot
1. Visiting the urgent care and subsequently the ER to rehydrate Michael after he was sick for 3 days, and spending the night prior to that imagining the worst like pancreatic cancer or e-coli, and praying that is was "only" the stomach flu but wondering why the vomiting won't stop if it was "only" the stomach flu, hence the pancreatic cancer self-diagnosis. (It was only the stomach flu... Really, that's what Dr. Bryan said.)

"Sleepy" by Daniel Neufeld

The Big Bad Wolf by Daniel Neufeld

Translation:

One day, three little pigs were walking down the road when they saw the Big Bad Wolf. "Aaah," they cried! Then they ran away.

The End.

Quirky Cabin

So I think that when Tim's grandpa was building the cabin 40 years ago, he hired a giant and a dwarf to design the bathroom.

The giant was hired to install the robe hook on the bathroom door. This giant is seven feet tall and he wanted someplace to hang his overalls so they would not drag on the floor while he took his shower. Seriously, why is there a need to have a hook placed so high off the ground? The mice can't jump that high. At least we have a step-stool in the bathroom so I can reach it.

The dwarf was hired to install the sink. Can you see the height relative to my leg? Standard counters are about a foot higher than this. If you want to wash your face or brush your teeth, not only do you have to crouch down for the water, but the spigot only comes out about an inch. So once you have your face all lathered up (while crouching down), you hope that the water will be caught with your fingertips and puddle up in your cupped hands to splash water on your face. But wait, there's more. The hot water faucet will slowly decrease in pressure until there is no water coming out. You can keep turning the faucet and the water will keep slowing down. And all this is happening while you are crouched down with soap in your eyes.

Now off to ponder why the staircase is made of steps so narrow that you have to walk sideways...

;)

Hume Vacation

We got to spend eight nights at the cabin recently. The boys did some fishing, swam in the lake, and played outside. I did lots of reading and caught up on sleep after a busy week of VBS. Tim got his fishing poles restrung (is that what you do?) and played his mandolin. We were able to relax and have fun as a family. The only problem with that much relaxing and sleeping is that you get your internal schedule all out of whack. The first morning, you sleep in. Then that evening you stay up to watch a movie. Then the next morning you sleep in even later. Then that evening, you're not tired and stay up even later. It's a vicious cycle, I know. At least the boys are sleeping in also... they used to wake up bright and early in their early years.

We had some visitors during our vacation. My mom brought up my grandparents for the day Tuesday. They had some lunch and then enjoyed the outdoors on our deck. We had some ice cream at the store and then it was time for dinner. All that relaxing works up an appetite. When Friday rolled around, Tim's parents joined us for the weekend. And we worked hard relaxing with them. We drove to Cherry Gap to watch the fireworks on July 4. They look like tiny colored Q-tips from that elevation. We could see at least a dozen different shows in the valley cities.



We had some other visitors as well. A few weeks ago, we went to the cabin for just a couple of nights and noticed mouse evidence. We knew Tim's cousin and her family were going to the cabin after us, so we warned them to bring mousetraps. The final count from their stay was 14 mice! Yuck! The week we were up there, we only caught six. But it gets better...






Here is the lovely Fire King oven. This bad boy has been known to bake cakes, cobblers, and roasts, all without breaking a sweat.

Here is the back of the oven with the panel removed. We took off the panel to investigate why the oven smelled bad when we used it. Look close, can you see it?

EWWWWW!!!

The boys helped stack firewood further away from the cabin to comply with fire safety. They stacked it so it would resemble a fort, complete with "Keep Out" signs barring the entrance.



And what made the return home even better was a cool 95 degrees to unload the truck in. Usually it is 108 and 4:00 in the afternoon.

June's Top Ten List

10. Strawberries
9. School summer vacation
8. Tree fruit
7. First day of summer
6. Longer daylight
5. Going to the cabin
4. Summer blockbusters
3. Solar panel "true up" for the year
2. Time spent with family
1. VBS!

Sleepy Boys

I can't help it. I really can't. When I see this at night, I have to capture it. I have so many pictures of them sleeping, I don't know what to do with them. So I'll share them with you.



My sister-in-law used to say that kids could be naughty all day, but when they sleep they look so innocent. Not that my kids are EVER naughty, nope not mine. These little angels are perfect!

;)

At the Mountains

We went to the cabin a couple of weekends ago and met some friends at Grant Grove for dinner one night. It was COLD and cloudy, but the boys had a blast with their friends. Tim brought his mandolin for sitting by the campfire. We all brought an ingredient for taco salad and had a yummy dinner. Lots of dessert and even s'mores to follow that!