CostcoWarrior

Another Dream… 28 April 2006

Okay, I know I posted a dream just a bit ago, but just humor me, okay?

I’m back at high school. I don’t know why I’m having so many high school dreams this year. Not that I’ve posted about them. But I seem to be back at good ol’ JHS a lot lately…

Anyway, High School Physics class. Mrs. Dodd is putting something together in a corner. All the lab desks are arranged funny and I don’t have a chair at mine. So I go to the other side of the classroom to grab a metal folding chair. This is the first oddity. We didn’t have metal folding chairs in high school. We had the molded plastic chair w/ the metal legs. But reality has no force in dreams, so I pick up a folding chair. And there are lots of kids there getting folding chairs too. And I walk back to my desk, and EVERYONE has noticed that I don’t have a chair and has been going to get one for me. So there are A LOT of folding chairs already leaning up against my lab table. And more keep coming. And as people get there with a chair they notice I already have one, and more. So they say “sorry, I just thought you’d need a chair.” And instead of taking it back, they lean it up against all the others. Soon the chairs start to slid, and standing there I know the craziest thing is going to happen….just as the bell rings for class to start all the chairs slide too far and come crashing down to the floor. TrEmEnDoUs NoIsE. And Mrs. Dodd is suddenly standing above me telling me to take a seat. But there are so many chairs (and they seem to double in number as the dream time passes) that I can’t get to my lab table. So I just sit on the floor. The pile of chairs is taller than I am. And the whole scene is so surprising that I can’t help but laugh. A little. And then, like the chairs, the laughing just multiplies and soon the whole class is laughing at the pile of chairs and how ridiculous it is. And I’m laughing so hard I’m crying.

And then I woke up. And I was laughing so much that I couldn’t go back to sleep. But that was good, because my alarm was about to go off anyway.

And there you have it.

Chair, anyone?

Is it Wrong to… 14 April 2006

…want to kill a bird?

Especially on Easter weekend?

Because if it is, I think I’m going to hell.

6:30 am – the chirping started. The little bugger had perched in the tree outside my window. And it wasn’t the beautiful spring-like sing-chirping of newly returned birds welcoming the sun. No it sounded like a hippie’s doorbell. Only two chirp tones: one higher and one lower, each spaced exactly 3 seconds apart. If I had perfect pitch I could tell you which two notes they were. But I don’t. So I won’t.

High chirp. (one, two, three) Low chirp. (one, two, three)
High chirp. (one, two, three) Low chirp. (one, two, three)
High chirp. (one, two, three) Low chirp. (one, two, three)

Feel just the slightest bit of annoyance reading that? Hmmm? Anyone? Yeah, I’m sure most of you just skimmed over it and didn’t even really read every word, since it’s so repetitively ANNOYING!

Yeah. Just try living through it. 40. solid. minutes. of. it.

When I lived in Duesseldorf, for 3 weeks in the spring I had a similar experience. A bird would perch on our window sill and chirp the same way. Up and then down for 30 minutes. And there weren’t any other birds around, so it’s not like he was having some really boring communication with his Aunt Judy-bird across the way.

That German bird better not have flown half-way across the world to do the same thing to me.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love birds. (Except the one that pooed a gross one on my car windshield yesterday.) Waking to birds singing and chirping and dancing the sun up is beautiful. But ding-dong dodo birds?

Let’s just say it’s a good thing I don’t own a firearm.

Happy Easter.

The History of Lotion in My Life 13 April 2006

I don’t remember lotion as a child. We must have been too poor for that. Or maybe, like most young kids, it just wasn’t on my list of “needs.”

I didn’t use lotion as a teenager. Growing up in moist Seattle, lotion still hadn’t made the “needs” list. Of course, it existed there. And there were plenty of giddy girls coming of age who’d layer the stuff on, always in search of some new sweet smelly goodness–”Spring Sunshine” “Moonlight Mist” “Lavender Vanilla Parade” or some other randomly incorrect description. (Needless to say, I don’t know the real names, I didn’t go for the expensive and oily way to body scent. I used soap.)

In Seattle I did know what sunscreen lotion was. And I used a fair share of Aloe Vera lotion. Those two were on the needs list, seeing as how the sun didn’t come out much and somehow I always ended up burned and peeling when it did.

But then I moved to the desert for college. I’d read about deserts in books before. I knew that there wasn’t much water and was lots of sun. I didn’t think that would have much to do with my college career; really it was just a place that didn’t boast enough trees or rain. I could deal.

After the first month I realized that it wasn’t a strange reaction to the dorm’s cafeteria goodness that kept my arms and legs and face in a constant flaky mess. And with that realization, Lotion hit the top of the “needs” list. I made my first visit to the body cream isle of the nearest grocery store. I bought 2 big bottles. I was back in a month for more.

Eight years later I’m back in this desert place. You think by now I’d know about the “need” for lotion. I have hangnails on every cuticle. My outer layer is peeling away. And I forgot lotion.

My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad! 4 April 2006

I think my dad is the most talented guy there is.

He’s brilliant! So much so, a few years ago the country of Brazil begged him to come and tell htem how to fix the electricity for the whole country!

He’s funny! When he laughs really hard, his belly shakes like Santa’s. And who can not love a Santa laugher?

He loves nature! All through my childhood, our yearly family vacation was a backpacking trip. But we never went the same place; instead Dad would spend all his free time planning a trip to some very interesting and completely different place. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn I’ve hiked in every US mountain range from the Appalacians to the Cascades. And we’ve even done a beach hike on the Washington Coast.

He loves his Garden! My sister used to say she’d have to get married next to the tomatoes so Dad would be there. It’s his Sanctuary. And from it, all his children LOVE fresh vegetables and know how to grow them. He even has people at work and at church asking him gardening advice and how to grow certain plants the best. And part of the tour of the house is always a tour of the garden, especially in the summer when half the garden is taller than you are.

He’s an Inventor! He can mull over any problem and fix it with a unique invention. Water the garden? Homemade dripline system. Broken music stand on the piano? hidden magnetic clasps.

He’s a Investor! Dad’s Bank was founded around 1990 to teach his children how money works. We got savings interest up to 5% on money we deposited. We paid loan interest up to 5% on money we borrowed–like when I was in my first fender bender at 16 and paid interest on the loan Dad gave me for the repairs. He taught about credit cards and life insurance and risk and how important investing is–all with very applicable life scenarios.

He’s a packer! He can fit an entire 2 bedroom apartment in 2 minivan loads–no piece left behind, and absolutely no space left unused.

He’s a studier! If there’s any question about the scriptures or the gospel, he’s studied it. Lessons and talks and ideas and learning and sharing with his children. He knows our Savior and loves His word and teaches us by example and conversation.

He’s a remodeler! If he’s not gardening, he’s building or rebuilding or planning a rebuild or taking apart a room for a rebuild. Or rebuilding for someone else! And if he’s never done part of the job before, he’ll learn how. Plumbing? Learn how. Vanity’s and mirrors? Learn how. Tiled countertops? Learn how. Tiled floors? Learn how. Here’s the most recent project success:

This is the front entryway of their house. He chose the tile and designed the floor layout and cut the tiles to size and laid all the groundwork and then tiled the floor. Amazing! He’ll probably ask to build his own mansion in heaven just to get to do the remodel work.

He’s strong. Last September we were breaking down a rock wall in the front yard landscaping. This wall was made of those HUGE kind of mountain rocks with smaller ones fit in between like a puzzle. I moved the smaller ones. He moved the bigger ones. My rocks weighed 20-60 pounds. His rocks weighed 200-600 pounds.

Yes. I think my dad is the greatest in the world.