Back To School, Back To School

I've got my lunch packed up, my shoes tied tight.
Hope I don't get in a fight.

Tomorrow morning I am off to school. My final semester of college. Barring any disaster (failing) I will soon be a graduate, with a degree in my grubby little hand. In many ways I am surprised I've made it this far. School has never come easy for me and I am really proud to be looking down the mountain I have climbed for the past five years. Soon it will be over, and I will be at the bottom of an equally large mountain- full-time employment.

This semester is very important, and I am going to be very busy. What does this mean for the blog? (You may be asking yourself). I don't know. I can assume that I will be majorly cutting down the blogging time. Either way this time will be an adventure, with quite a few exciting things to come.

A Lesson On Heredity From Will I Am

I was trying to remember the basics of genetics when "I got it from my mama" came on the radio. What a relief.

The song begins with Will I Am asking that ever important question:

"Baby where’d you get your body from?
Tell me where’d you get your body from"

To which a syrupy voiced poppy young female sings back:

"I got it from my mama.
I got it from my mama.
I got it from my mama.
I got it got it…"

Will I Am is beginning to understand:

"Mommy lookin good from her head to her feet.
She forty-four, but she still lookin sweet.
And you can tell her daughter aint even at her peak.
Cause her mama lookin so hot, packin that heat.
So be a good girl and thank your mama."

He takes it one step further to explain to us how this works.

"If the girl real fine,
Nine times out of ten,
She fine just like her mama.

And if her mama real ugly,
I guarantee ya she gon’ be ugly like her mama.

If the girl real pretty,
Nine times out of ten,
She pretty like her mama."

Oh, right. Thanks Will I Am.

I would give a link to a video on YouTube but it is really just a sad attempt for him to dance with bikini-clad women, and relax in a lounge chair looking like a broke-down Germaine Dupree.

Sometimes You'll Get A Ride

Update: So I called the tow company at 11 a.m. they called at 1 p.m. to let me know a truck was on its way. The truck arrived at 1:30. At 2:00 My mechanic called to say I blew out a belt and pulley. At 3:00 he called to say it was finished. At 3:30 Kevin called to say he had a ride home, from a co-worker who happens to live in Clackamas- also where our car was. Things were working out swimmingly. She drove us out there, and our mechanic happens to be on the street she lives on! So weird, I thought it would be a huge inconvenience for us to get a ride. The Lord is very good and even though we had to spend some money it will all work out.

Sometimes You'll Ride A Bus

Yesterday was normal. (As normal as this Summer has been) I took Kevin to work, and picked him up. It was hot here, well hotter than we are used to. We decided to go get an iced coffee, I decided to take a break from driving and asked Kevin to drive us. I would soon be very glad that I had...

As we drove down a busy road the car made this squeal/clunk sound. I thought we hit something that was caught in the wheel well. There was no where to park and so we kept moving until it was safe. We pulled into a small parking lot as my car began to overheat. We decided to get coffee and then return to the car. We came back to the car and I got in the drivers seat. It is my car and I am more familiar with what is normal, or not. When I hopped in we prayed and I started the car. The engine sounded fine, but my coolant temp began to rise before I even put the car into gear. My battery light flicked on, and I tried to pull forward. My power steering was out...

Kevin and I decided the car was obviously not happy and we should let her relax for a while. We sat on a little stone wall sipping coffee mostly in silence.

Our plan was to get the car home. If we could get it home we could figure things out from there. Our journey continued with Kevin driving. We pulled over every few blocks to let the car rest so that we wouldn't kill it. We took a back road and we would drive for two minutes let it sit for ten, drive for two and so on. We made it home, and began to look at bikes on Craigslist, Kevin has to get to work somehow. But why would anyone want to bring their bike to us- the people who have no cash? We looked up bus routes. This morning we got up extra early and Kevin walked to a bus stop.

Today we will have to have the car towed and then we will see...

Dating My Husband

Friday nights tend to be a bit of a date night for Kevin and I. We like to relax, maybe eat some good food, and just enjoy that the week is done. Last night I was in the mood for a movie. Right after Kevin got off work we brought home a pizza- half hawaiian, half pepperoni, all good, mmmmm. Earlier in the day I checked movie times at The Academy- our local $3 theater. We decided to see Ocean's Thirteen. After seeing Ocean's Twelve I figured this would be a rental, or Academy movie because Ocean's 12 kind of stunk in comparison to Ocean's 11. We got to the movie early and grabbed some nice seats. The movie was so good! They were back in Vegas (for those who follow this series of movies) and the writing for this movie killed the sequel. It was funny and fun, virtually no violence or sex and they were clever as ever. One portion of the movie includes an uprising at a Mexican factory that makes the whole movie worth seeing.

This morning we woke up late and laid in bed talking. We got up and made breakfast together. It was nice and the kind of thing I imagined doing as a married person. We decided the weather was too gorgeous to stay in. We drove to Vancouver, WA and walked along the Columbia. When we reached the end of the path five fighter jets took off from nearby PDX. As they ascended it was so loud the water in our water bottle shook. We walked back toward our car and stopped in at this McMenamins. We sat on the patio and watched the sailboats and jet skiers. We shared an appetizer and had cold drinks, and I began to dread ever leaving this place.

Woah....Starbucks

After I dropped off Kevin at work this morning I drove past a new drive-thru Starbucks. I was thoroughly creeped out as I saw a group of half-dead humans gathered at the building that holds the substance they are all so addicted to. There was a line of cars wrapped around the building and 5 or 6 people stood at the take out window. As I drove past slowly I looked to my right to see pedestrians ready to cross the street to join the zombies. One man had this blank stare on his face as though all he could see was the green neon sign calling him forward. He nearly walked into the side of my car in his attempt to make it to his morning mecca.

Heaven?

I am secretly, or now not so secretly, obsessed with So You Think You Can Dance. I started last Summer, and this season is even better. I get totally attached to the contestants and I love to watch my favorites. Last night Kevin and I watched the usual fun, pretty, crazy dances. I was unprepared for the most beautiful dance I have ever seen.

The choreographer Mia Michaels is a contemporary dancer/choreographer. I enjoy her work, but I don't always understand it. Last night Lacey and Neil were partnered, and they happen to be two of my favorite dancers. They were given contemporary as a category for one of their two dances.

As Mia began to explain her concept for the dance I felt a knot grow in my throat. She said that she lost her father to lung cancer two years ago, and this dance is based on what she imagines her reunion with her father will be like.

The dance began with Lacey (as Mia) and Neil (as Joe, Mia's dad) spotting each other across the stage. They were dressed in white and there were colourful daisies scattered across the stage. As I watched them embrace, dance, leap, and play I began to cry. I couldn't help it. It was so remarkable. I continued to cry long after the dance had ended.

As a Christian I know I will live eternally, and yet I have feared heaven. Maybe my mind can't wrap around the idea of eternity, or maybe at times I have not been totally convinced that it's really there. I believe it, but I have no context for understanding a place like heaven. I have lost two people in my life who I felt especially attached to. I fear losing Kevin, my parents, my siblings. Sometimes I wish I could hide them all. It is irrational I know, because they all know Christ.

But in this dance it was as though I could imagine each one of them finally resting in Jesus' arms, and what it will be like for me to be reunited with them one by one.

I don't know that this video does it justice, but if you have lost someone you hope to see again, watch this. I know it has comforted me more than I can say.

Dance (with a new link)