Chariots of Fire

Please begin playing the Chariots of Fire theme song in your mind as you read. This weekend Dan and my sister, Bethie did a 10k in Thousand Oaks. Neither of them had ever done an official race before. Their only "training" was running 6 miles together every Sunday for the past 3 or 4 weeks, but they still were awesome. So awesome in fact, Bethie got 2nd place for the women, 1st in her age category. Move over FloJo (sadly, I can't think of any other runners to refer to here, and she probably hasn't competed since 1990, but you get the idea), here comes less than 5 feet of muscle, stamina, and determination. I'm pretty sure we can't actually be related.

Please note the beauty of the Westlake/Thousand Oaks area, I mean if you're ganna run somewhere, why not here?

Also note, as they sweat from the heat and exertion, I hold on to a cup of coffee.... much more relaxing. (Oh and by the way, yes we have 4 kids, but Noelle wasn't being cooperative, and was wondering around outside of the picture).

All Good Here

Well, the fires aren't completely contained, but I think our neck of the woods has calmed down enough that I can remove the box of photo albums by the door. Thanks for your phone calls, emails, and blog comments. Ahhh, I feel so loved.

Lorelei, though is actually a bit dissapointed. She was hoping our family would get to move in to our friends camper, and we would live happily ever after in their driveway.

Who Needs Nice Stuff Anyway?

For years, I've had moments of discontentment about various things around my household, and in those moments I've longed to live in the pages of my Pottery Barn catalog. Today, however, makes me so glad I don't actually have very nice stuff. The Santa Ana's are in full force, and the hillside fires that always seem to affect only people you don't actually know are now only 2 miles away. They've actually evacuated parts of my little city of Somis. The fires are 20% contained, the smoke is thick, helicopters are circling, and there's ash in my driveway. There is an actual possibility that we could be evacuated should the fires jump the 118 freeway and head our way.

In light of that, I went from room to room in my house and looked around for things I might want to take with us, should we have to leave. Suddenly, I was grateful that I didn't have a Williams Sonoma kitchen or an Ethan Allen inspired study full of books and framed antiques. The truth is we just need a few bags of clothing and essentials, my box of photos/baby albums/and birth certificates, and our computer.

Actually, I'm most concerned about all of my files I use for the classes I teach. Those classes are a compilation of years of accumulated worksheets and assignments I've written, and I really would hate to lose them, but as far as material things go, I don't have much I would miss so, halleluliah! Who needs nice stuff anyway?

News

The Good News: I cleaned and sterilized every item in my kitchen this weekend.

The Bad News: I did so because we have a mouse or worse yet, a rat.

Good Or Bad? You Decide: The mouse ate through a pan of poison we left in the garage and should die shortly, maybe it will die in one of our walls.

The Good News: We saw a celebrity at Target this weekend and she was really super close to my sister Bethie and I.

The Bad News: I chickened out and didn't get an autograph, and the pic Beth got on her camera phone is pretty blurry.

Good or Bad? You Decide: The celebrity was Pamela Lee Anderson (as in Baywatch babe) and her two sons. Could mean she lives nearby. She was wearing a wife beater tank top, jeans, and flip flops.

The Good News: My kids still let me dress them, and I took great joy in putting them in knee socks and Catholic school girl like uniforms for church this morning.

The Bad News: They won't let me dress them for long.

Good or Bad News? You Decide: I want my own knee socks.

Patrick Swayze

Celebrities are very distant from our own personal realities, and yet I often feel like I know them a little bit. Some are especially more likable than others. I guess I've always liked Patrick Swayze because I think that something about him resembles Dan (see pics), and I was always so pleased with the fact that he had only one wife whom he seemed to be very devoted to(a seemingly unusual feat amongst most celebs). Anyway, despite not having actually known him, I'm still sad for his family's loss, and reminded of how much I enjoyed watching all of his movies back in the 90s especially.

Back to Preschool

So I guess it's safe to say photography is not one of my strengths. I think it's because I'm so impatient, I can't even stand still long enough to take a proper first day of preschool picture. That could also be due to the fact that as I'm dropping them off my 2 year old was running into the classroom (like she owned the place) trying to grab name tags and ink markers. She just wants to do whatever those big sisters of hers are doing. I quickly grabbed her, made excuses to the other moms about why she was only wearing one shoe, and fled back to the safety of my van.

Enjoy the blurry images of Maylin & Noelle who finally look a little bit like twins now that they have similar hair cuts. They're big 4 year olds now.... yay, only 14 years left before I get to start charging them rent.

Grumbling Much?

This morning I read a verse that I've read or heard probably hundreds of times: Do all things without grumbling or disputing. (Phil. 2:14) Many times when I read something I've read before I just barely mentally acknowledge it and skim ahead to the next point. However, today, I just kept thinking about it. It's written as an imperative (a command) and there's no except type clauses added to it. Do all things without grumbling (unless you have a crummy job) (unless your kid throws up in the hallway and you have to clean it up) (unless you forgot gas and are going to be late to your doctor's appointment) (unless it's kind of funny when read in blog format, and you feel like venting because you have 4 kids that are really noisy, you're out of magic erasers and there's crayon on the wall, and you woke up this morning with hair that resembles a Tina Turner wig from the 80s..........)

Sigh.

Needless to say, I have to work on it.