Pumpkin Carving

Who says Californians don't really experience fall? Our fabulous friends, the Naimos have moved back to town from the desert of AZ, and we had a pumpkin carving night last night. (In other words, we watched our husbands do a bunch of time-consuming and messy work while we chatted, ate pumpkin bread, and sort of watched the kids). And hey, check me out I'm Suzy-baker and I made these cuties for the preschool Harvest day they have every year. I found that when I have nothing to do in the summer, I don't enjoy baking. But when I have piles of essays to grade, bathrooms to clean, and laundry to do, suddenly, I get the urge to bake..... or blog.... or talk on the phone ..... even playing Barbies with the girls is looking pretty good right now.......

Fine, I'm going. I'm going to grade right now. Just as soon as I post some more pictures......

No. Cal Visit

My father in law, a retired pastor, has just taken an interim position as a pastor helping out a Presbyterian church in Sunnyvale. We needed an excuse to visit the Northern part of Cali. because we've never really been up there before, so we took a 3 day visit up to see Grandpa Dennis, and my sister in law Carol, and her daughter Rhaquel came too. We stayed at our neighbor's parents home, which was beautiful by the way, and saw some sights. We ambled through the streets of Los Gatos, dined on scallops and risotto, took a train ride at a State Park in Feldson, strolled through Santana Row in San Jose, and enjoyed a Sunday with the saints listening to my father in law preach the word. It was just the change of scenery I needed after weeks of grading essays and dreaming about lice infestations....

Nit-Pickin

As it turns out the term, "nit-pickin," took on whole new meaning for me this past weekend. A nit is a LICE EGG, yep a lice egg, and the term nit-pickin' comes from the idea of people picking nits out of hair. (Start scratching your head right now as you read on). Basically, a few families at church have gotten lice, and because my kids have been in contact with them a bit, I've had the subject on my mind. So on Saturday, I saw something small and sticky in Lorelei's hair, and I FREAKED because I had heard these tiny lice eggs are sticky, they kind of stick to the hair follicles. I bagged it and took it to my friend's house. We both totally thought this was an egg (though it may have been marshmallow from the smores we ate the night before). I FREAKED out more, and threw it away, terrified it would hatch and infest my house. In retrospect, I should have kept it, instead of doing what I did next.

First I spent $100 on lice shampoo/treatments/etc. Then I came home and from Sat. afternoon on, I have been running my washer/dryer. Heat kills lice, so every stuffed animal, hair product, pillow, blanket, etc. has been run through my dryer. I treated all of the girls hair and then straightened all of their hair with my scorchin' hot straighter (again heat kills lice, so this seemed pretty smart to me). I almost dyed my hair, because hair dye chemicals kill lice. Basically, I've been going through everything in my house like a tasmanian devil on a mission. In gist, after hours and hours of combing through every strand of my girls' hairs, I don't think any of them actually have it, but I'm still taking precautions and going to continue checking them all week.

So the question is what have I learned from this?

1. I tried to maintain perspective, this was not a life-threatening illness, but it would be SERIOUSLY INCONVENIENT.

2. I have SOOOOO much compassion for my friend whose kids had it. The implications of having it are a HUGE PAIN, your life stops because you can't be around people, and to take all of the kids stuff and clean it takes forever.

3. Husbands are not helpful in these instances. For some reason the idea of lice sends chills down my spine, whereas Dan thinks it's no biggie. All he was worried about was the fact that I had spent $100 dollars on shampoos. He thought I was "over-reacting," as if that's possible.

4. And finally, be grateful for the boring day you may be having right now.

Fall Observations

* First of all the Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks are like having pumpkin pie in a cup. Hello happiness.

* Secondly, if you know me, you know I've had sinus issues since the 4th grade. I perpetually have to blow my nose. In elementary school they used to say I was responsible for killing the rainforest because I went through so much kleenex. Well, now I'm using a netti pot sinus contraption and it's sort of working. Too bad it feels like I'm being water boarded every time I use it.

* Thirdly, today whilst lecturing on the short story genre to 17 bored teenagers, I went over a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story with the kids (you know the Sherlock Holmes author). I was explaining how Holmes and Watson's characters are the perfect complement to one another, and it occurred to me that Dr. Greg House and his BFF Wilson are modern day replicas of the two. Seriously there are tons of parallels, I could write a paper on it, if I had time, and if I actually thought anyone would want to read it.

* Lastly my pastor's sermon on Sunday was AMAZING, so go to fccoxnard.org and listen to it sometime. It will make you reflect on our humanity and God's sovereignty and how they all tied together in the account of Abraham, Sarah, Ishmael, and Isaac. I had read the story so many times, and yet never thought about so many aspects of it that my pastor pointed out. If I were interviewing with Oprah right now, I'd tell her it was full of "Ah-Ha moments," for me.

* And speaking of Oprah, you know how I had a list going for a while called, TTTMK (Things to Teach my Kids). Well here's #3: You're replaceable. I mean not as my kid, of course, but this week, I saw Journey on Oprah, and they were talking about how their lead singer walked out on the group, and now they have a new lead singer that's even better than him and super humble and inspiring. They found the guy on You Tube, and he's from the Philippines. So don't get too big for your britches someday and act like a diva, because if you do, well two words people, two words : You Tube.

* Okay, gotta stop observing, and go start grading essays. The red pen awaits.

Learn a Lesson from Letterman

Numbers 32:23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.

Most of us can remember our parents using certain catch phrases over and over again (Examples: I'll give you something to cry about, One more word, and I'm pulling this car over, or my mom used to say, "The first shall be last, the last shall be first..." etc). Well, Dan said, that growing up, he can remember his dad always warning them, "Be sure your sins will find you out..." I try to teach the girls that you're not just doing what's right for my sake, but are you going to do what's right when nobody's looking? Are you doing it for the Lord, because He knows all, He sees all, and be sure, your sins will find you out. I thought of that when I saw the headlines for the David Letterman story this morning on my yahoo page.

Although Dave's story is far more dramatic, shameful, and tragic (much like that of King David's when he was confronted by the prophet Nathan), we each have our own version of an instance when my father in law's warning from the bible, caught up with us.

A funny example took place with Dan. As a young adult, out with his friends, he was living it up and having a good time. He had gone to a restaurant with his buddies and the service was slow. So at the end of their dinner, one of his friends suggested they take off without paying the bill. He agreed, and the group of them headed out to a bar/club/whatever.... After standing in line for a while, they all had to show their ID to gain entrance into the place. It was then, Dan checked his pockets and realized he had left his wallet at the restaurant they had just ditched out on paying.

Ahh, sweet justice, funny in retrospect, not so funny in the moment. I of course could site many instances of this type of thing in my own life, but Dan's scenario's way more entertaining and ironic. In gist, perhaps each time we see another celebrity or politician fall from grace, we should shudder and be reminded, our sins will indeed find us out, one way or another!