Pray without ceasing

One more thing to add to the growing list:

My aunt Sherry from MN flew down when she got the news about my grandfather’s (her father) accident. She was going to stay for Grandpa Remi’s memorial service, fly back Tuesday to take care of some stuff at home, then return when my parents go away next month.

I just heard that she had to catch a flight back home because her daughter – our cousin – Mariah got into a bicycle accident and messed up her face. Apparently, she’s going to need plastic surgery. It wasn’t anything fatal – as seems to be the trend in my family these days – but it’s still a very troubling, painful incident.

Mariah & Dan, Christmas 2005

Dropping the Bomb

That’s what Phil called it, and I told him I didn’t like the negative connotation – I kept whispering to him how nervous I was (and had been about making The Announcement ever since discovering the news for myself), and he kept whispering back, “Let’s just drop the bomb and run!” At least it made me smile

The Official Story
We told the family on Easter Sunday. I had been so nervous and excited at the propect, and we have finally [Dropped the Bomb]. *BOOM!* I made up some plastic Easter containers of candy, a little plastic baby item, and one of a few different sayings (Bible verses, metaphors, etc.).

We hit my family first – after dinner, I walked around with The Basket and passed out The Gifts (all the while hearing little explosions in my head).

The Basket

Everyone sort of looked at them and said how cute they were, yadda adda. No one opened them! I glanced around the table, smiling slightly, my hands trembling, munching on some candy, waiting…

Laura was the first to finally get to the announcement inside. I think hers read, “We’ve got a bun in the oven! Will test done in November 2007″ and was accompanied by a tiny rocking horse. She softly exclaimed, smiled at us, and gave us a big hug. I think it dawned that there was Something Important going on.

a peek inside…

Dan thought his rattle was because he’s the “baby” of the family, but I shook my head and smiled and he finally saw his Bible verse: “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. Adding the first arrow in November!”

George – an old friend of the family who is a rather portly, ex-maffia member who can’t read or write, and who’s hard of hearing – was sitting next to Dan, saw the rattle inside his Easter egg, and exclaimed, “You’re a baby!”
Dan: “No, George, Karla’s having a baby.”
George: “You’re a baby – haha!”
Dan: (louder) “No, George – KARLA’S HAVING A BABY!”
George: (still louder) “YOU’RE A BABY!” More laughter ensues. My dad, sitting on his other side, says, “GEORGE! – Karla’s having a baby.”
George: “What? Haha.” (still thinking this has to do with Dan)
Dad: “Karla’s pregnant!”
George: “She just found out?”
Dad: “WE just found out!”
George: “Haha! You didn’t know?”
Dad: “She just told us today!”
George: “Haha!”
*sigh* Sometimes you just have to let it go!

They were all happy for us, and we took our leave to Drop the Bomb on Phil’s family.

Phil (hamming it up for the camera) & me after telling the family

Of course, his family thought it was just candy. They had already eaten their full by the time we got there, and were going to save them for another day – but Gram Curry (who had come with us to my parents’ house and was already privy to The News) cheated and showed Mort (my father-in-law) her already-opened announcement. He smiled and gave us a thumbs-up sign. Tim (my brother-in-law) thought the toy inside his egg was candy, and kind of laughed about it, not getting it. He saw the piece of paper inside his: “Our egg will hatch in November”? (pause) “Ohhhh! Congratulations!” At this point, everyone picked up on it. My sister-in-law was like “Really, you’re pregnant?” I think she was shocked because she’s been “encouraging” me to have kids for some time now, and didn’t believe that time had actually arrived. Then ensued “Congratulations!” and “How are you feeling?” When I said I was fine (other than being really tired), the women gave this sort of collective sigh of disappointment like they had to deal with morning sickness while I was free from this impediment. I got plenty of advice, and came home with a new baby outfit, “fire truck Phil” toy, and a big bin of maternity clothes. Phew!

smoosh post

Well, it seems there hasn’t been much to post about lately. Pretty sad when the last thing I had to say was my answers to the Friday Five. Arrrgh. Don’t get me wrong, there’s always something going on in my life… but I don’t feel the obsessive need to tell my… my one reader all the sordid details. Hehe – sordid. (pause) Then time goes by, and I just don’t feel like dredging up all the details.

Well, I guess I’ll just smoosh a whole bunch of stuff together into one entry, instead of cleverly arranging my tidings into aptly-named entries. That’s just too much work for me right now. And I can’t believe I haven’t given so much as a thought to Christmas shopping! Until now, that is…

Well, today I got my kitties fixed. There was NO possible way I was taking them to my regular vet, not after they charged me $80 to check their eyes. Good grief. It was $65 for each cat at the discount spay/neuter shelter right here in town, and I saved up my cleaning money for a month. It was so hard not to spend it! I had to take some ones out for the Newport bridge though – hehe, Nikki. I’m so poor (relatively speaking, of course – the “luxuries,” you understand)!

Anyhoo… I filled out a form for each cat this morning, and when I brought them to the mobile vet trailer and handed them the cat carriers, the vet came out and said – your cats are both GIRLS. HUH?!?! Now, in case you don’t recall the continuing cat saga – when I first got the cats from the shelter, I was told they were both boys; my vet FELT THEM BOTH UP and said that one of them was in fact a girl (hence the name change, and the added exclamation: great! – now I have to worry about them gettin’ jiggy with it… or is that a reference to drugs?); now they’re both girls?! Needless to say, I was confused… and told the guy as much. I mentioned the little tidbit about my vet, and he said, “I’d like to know what she was feeling.” HA! Well, he did in fact work on their reproductive organs today, so I guess his word is gospel, as far as I’m concerned. So there you have it: I have two female cats!

The poor little things. They were tired and somewhat woozy, and their bums were slightly swaying as they walked… and kind of close to the ground. Very tentative. Whenever they tried to jump up, they kept falling down because they weren’t strong enough to pull themselves up – it was so endearing, and they were so confused as to why they couldn’t get up on the couch when they do it every day! At least my counters will get some peace tonight. *sigh* Their lower bellies are shaved – so cute! When I brought them home they kept sitting, hunched over, licking themselves… and falling asleep in that position! I wish I had the digital camera handy. Petra is currently sleeping under the covers – she doesn’t usually do that, but she seems cold and fragile this evening. [Stinky] Twinkie slept in my lap a good portion of the afternoon – I was in my element. I LOVE when the cats sit in my lap. Needless to say, it’s very quiet around here – and it’s nice for a change.

We had a high school “reunion,” if you can call it that. I keep feeling the need to use the quotes, even in my head. A bunch of old classmates got together – but it wasn’t by any means large scale. That’s fine, though. I went with Nichole and Micah because I didn’t know where the place was, didn’t know if Dan was going, and wanted to go with friends anyway. We were late because we had to run errands and – ironically – couldn’t find the place. Hehe. But all in all I had a great time – I was nervous at first, but managed to keep up conversations with a number of people. Wow, sometimes it just hits you how fast time is going and how old you really are! And of course… how little you (by that I mean “I”) have accomplished. *sigh* I ended up getting to bed after two in the morning, and totally sleeping all Sunday morning. Here are some pictures I took; Nikki has some better ones.

Ooh, on Thursday of last week Mom and I went to Becky’s Pampered Chef party. I had a great time, even after I realized I was the only one who didn’t know everyone else. Hehe. I finally got to meet Bugaboo (beautiful, if not totally spaz-tic, Bengal – didn’t get to see his cuddly side), Katherine (what gorgeous hair! And she totally looks like Matthew), and the Miller’s gorgeous pad (I love the green walls, candles… and of course tassels galore!). Not to mention – the Pampered Chef demonstration was fun, educational, and extremely yummy!

In other news: I am FINALLY getting a treadmill! I am SO excited. I’ve been extremely depressed about my expanding girth in unwelcome areas, and have been wanting a treadmill for ages. I could totally exercise for two hours while watching a movie – but can’t seem to just stand in front of the TV following an exercise DVD for an hour. And the weather hasn’t been the greatest for going outdoors. Keeping my fingers crossed that the excitement won’t wear off… and that I’ll be able to find a place to store it when I’m not using it.

Well, Thanksgiving approaches – and I’m having the whole gang over here. Woo-hoo. I’m looking forward to our tradition of telling what we’re thankful for – I’ll have to give that some thought. What are YOU thankful for? Have any unique holiday traditions? Eat anything besides turkey and cranberry sauce? God, I love food. *sigh*

april showers bring… more may rain?

i’m so sick of this rain! i understand rain is good for the ground, the flowers and plants, yadda yadda – but it’s not good for my mood! the weekend was pretty good, though, i’ll have to admit (albeit somewhat windy).

on saturday i met my family for a may breakfast; i haven’t been to one of those in ages! it was really fun. the food at these type of events tends to be somewhat soggy and tasteless, but it was just nice to be with my parents, grandparents, and some of the sibs. we stayed there for quite a while; a group of “pimply-faced” (as my sister put it) boyscouts waited on us, and my mom pointed out and cracked up at this one kid with spiked hair (because that smacks of obvious rebellion, didn’t ya know?) with a dishcloth draped properly across his arm. hehe.

i remember may breakfasts growing up. i forget the name of the church where we went, but it was right down the street from my paternal grandparents. we would go there early in the morning before school, get in line like everyone else, stuff our faces, and buy fudge-laden may baskets for the sole purpose of buttering up the teachers upon arrival at school. i love may baskets! alas, there weren’t any for sale this weekend, and we didn’t make a special trip for the express purpose of locating any, but what fun memories.

anyhoo… after breakfast on saturday, the three of us “kids” who did drag ourselves out of bed and attend the event decided to go to nearby garden city and walk around. we went to border’s (dan wanted to look for a book for paul, who shares a birthday with mom on may 1st), got something to eat at cafe luna, took a look around williams-sonoma (nice but expensive!), and ended the day by stretching out in the sun on the sloping lawn with the hedge letters spelling out “garden city” and eating some yummy turkish delight from the aforementioned ridiculously exorbitant establishment (my sister bought it, of course). this patch of landscaping is right near newport creamery, and as little kids dan and i used to climb the hill (it was so huge back then!) and play around the letters; i don’t think we were allowed to be up there, but that didn’t phase us. it was a very peaceful, relaxing, satisfying day – the weather was beautiful and the company was even better.

monday night, i had the fam over to celebrate mom and paul’s birthday. mom says paul was her best birthday gift – awwwww! we had hot dogs and burgers on the grill, and there were plenty of goodies. most of the pictures didn’t come out very well, but dan took a twin pic:

we both look pretty good in that color, eh? love the blue. and that’s not my original haircut – i took the scissors to it, as i’m apt to do following a professional haircut. there was previously another layer below what you see here; it would flip out in a somewhat cute manner, but the next day, after sleeping on it, it was just retarded. even this is more tame than it’s been; it tends to be poufy in stick out on the oddest fashion – i wish it would pick a texture, straight or curly! the other morning before heading off to work i took a shower and snipped away; i’ll most likely scrutinize it again in a few more days and do some more snipping, if necessary. at my parents’ old house, i had full-length mirrors on my closet doors, which made such an operation more succesful, being able to see my hair from all angles – now, i have to rely on a couple small bathroom mirrors.

sanctuary

ben invited me to go to sanctuary with him tonight. i was hesitant at first; dan had invited me in the past, and i know some of the people who go there and didn’t want it to turn into the uber-social event that impact used to be for me. granted, i was all for that kind of thing at that time… but not anymore. at least, i can’t see that happening.

i’m not the most social individual – although i do like people. i’ve just never found it very easy, or particulary beneficial, to mingle. oftentimes i’ve struggled with church attendance – if the main reason for going is not “forsaking the gathering of believers” or what have you, then i might as well just stay home because i’m just going to sit in the back and slip out the door when it’s over. i know we can glean important lessons from the message, encourage each other in mutual worship, yadda yadda… but the whole social thing has always been a point of contention for me. nevermind that i always end up mentally flogging myself whilst listening to the message.

well, i found the worship tonight exactly what i needed. the lights are dimly lit, candles burning and the shadows their flickering cast playing against the walls. there were some announcements, an encouraging message, wtith the rest of the evening spent singing worship songs. i sat the whole time – but some people stood or lifted their hands when inspired. i didn’t know every song, but sang along with the ones i recognized, read the words and contemplated over the ones i didn’t. i cried at some points, thankful that the lights were low. it was just so nice to sit there, just be, and not have to worry about anything. and everyone slips out quietly at the end. i didn’t feel like getting any coffee downstairs afterwards, but it looked to me like it was the same quiet atmosphere. i drove home in silence, contemplating the evening, and some of the things that need to be done.

this was my favorite kind of worship – think i will go again next week.

just a little side note about sanctuary: it’s located at christ church in east greenwich. the church website gives more information than that of its youth service.