Author Archives: kristen

Potpourri

Posted on 20.Oct.06 | 2 comments

I know that Brad is going to be disappointed, but I just can’t get into Galileo’s Daughter. Maybe if I had been able to work out Astronomy as my lab science at Carolina… I’ve read 75 pages and it’s just not gripping me.

The Myth of Prodigy and Why it Matters — a good read for all parents.
(HT: BetsyPage)

I took a luxurious bubble bath in the clawfoot tub at 6:15 pm while Mike took the kids out of the house. I am a very blessed wife.

Just in case you were wondering, this is an ad-free blog

at least, until someone makes me an offer I can’t refuse.

2 Comments

Posted in books, culture

60 years and counting

Posted on 19.Oct.06 | 3 comments

When I step out our front door the first thing I see directly across the street is a classic post-war brick ranch. The first occupants still reside there, 60 years after they moved in as newlyweds. They raised their children in that house and watched their grandchildren play under the same big trees in the front yard. They’re dying now. We’re all dying, but they are on the fast track. He has advanced Alzheimer’s Disease and she cares for him, though she is losing her sight and hearing. I watch from my porch as their children and grandchildren visit them week after week and I wonder where we’ll be in sixty years. Probably not in this green bungalow.

3 Comments

Posted in home sweet home

No, thank you

Posted on 18.Oct.06 | 3 comments

One of the many things in society that never ceases to puzzle me is spam. The technological variety, though the stuff in the can puzzles me as well. My spam volume has increased dramatically in the past few months. I used to glance over my spam folders before I deleted and saved misguided messages, plucking them out of the depths and back into my inbox. Now, forget it. And our blogs have started to get spam. First the girls’ blogspots did, so I had to activate comment verification which is annoying, I know. Now this blog gets spam. Akismet through WordPress does a good job of finding it, but every once in a while it incorrectly labels one of your comments. Sorry about that. In order to find the wheat in the chaff I have to glance through my list every few days. Today we had no less than 25 spam messages about one weight loss drug. Does someone out there think I’m fat? With the billions of dollars in lost productivity yearly (I read this number somewhere…) you’d think someone would figure out how to end spam. It’s a quality of life issue, I think it would be a great campaign platform for some party.

3 Comments

Posted in general, technology

Public Service Announcement

Posted on 17.Oct.06 | 3 comments

Oxyclean is a wonderful product line.  The new spray oxyclean is more of the same.  But follow the instructions.  Do not let it sit on items for days before you wash them.  Or you will ruin a brand new shirt (it bleaches and EATS HOLES.)  Yes, I know this from experience.

3 Comments

Posted in general

Must See on YouTube

Posted on 16.Oct.06 | 3 comments

“Don’t Give Up (Africa)” Bono & Alicia Keys duet of a Peter Gabriel song, on last Friday’s Oprah.

HT: Andy Osenga

I wish I could say with conviction that the West has been a friend to Africa.

3 Comments

Posted in culture, in the news

Am I a Pharisee?

Posted on 15.Oct.06 | 8 comments

We have been attending a church that meets late Sunday afternoons.  We enjoy the timing because it makes the whole day feel very restful, but not going to church Sunday mornings makes me paranoid.  We live in a small town (albeit next to a big city, it is still a small town) where many of our neighbors invited us to church upon meeting us.  Both of our cars are obviously home every Sunday morning.  Then I took the girls for a walk this morning and I wondered what people thought about me walking around with two casually dressed children at 10:30 Sunday morning.  I almost wanted a shirt that said, “I’m not a pagan.  I go to church later in the day.”  Sunday mornings are just so entrenched in our culture as church time, and I do appreciate the setting apart of a day for the Lord, but I know that 11 a.m. is not intrinsically sacred.  I just have to keep reminding myself of that.

8 Comments

Posted in culture, family life, theology

Progress

Posted on 14.Oct.06 | 1 comment

We’ve been stuck in a rut for the past six weeks with the house (sickness, travelling, general busyness, etc.) but I feel like we’re finally getting some momentum. I worked on the playroom today and we’ve both worked on prepping the foyer for painting… maybe next weekend. I should upload pics of the living room and playroom sometime this week. The playroom isn’t finished, but everything is planned out.

1 Comment

Posted in home sweet home

Louisiana Readers: Head’s Up!

Posted on 13.Oct.06 | 6 comments

The state board of medical examiners is poised to make more regulations on homebirths in Louisiana. Regardless of what people think may be a good idea for most (like living near a hospital in case of transport) more regulations only hurt midwifery and narrow birth options for women.

6 Comments

Posted in in the news

Babywearing Tragedy in Darfur

Posted on 11.Oct.06 | 2 comments

As someone who often wraps my daughter on my back, I found this story especially real to me. I was encouraged to see that an African Leader (Nigerian President Obasanjo) has used the word genocide to describe the situation in Sudan for the first time this week but there is still so far to go in stopping the violence there.

2 Comments

Posted in in the news

Made it!

Posted on 06.Oct.06 | 2 comments

We made it with very little trauma on the way, just boredom when the iPod skitzed out (as it has been doing lately).  We are enjoying seeing the family but we miss Mike!  Just wanted to give an update since I blogged about travelling and all. 

2 Comments

Posted in family life

Leaving (in a Volvo)

Posted on 04.Oct.06 | 8 comments

Tomorrow the girls and I are headed to spend a few days in my sweet Carolina with my parents and siblings. I am a little nervous about the drive, but we will surely have a great time. We’ve had a stomach bug circulate through the whole family the past week and a half. Mike fell last and got it the worst. I feel a little bad leaving him by himself but tomorrow will be day five and at the very least he will not have anyone to bug him while he recuperates!

We had a really great Magic City Slingers meeting today. It was so encouraging and fun. Several people completely new to slinging left the meeting armed with carriers from the lending library and some knowledge of how to use them.

8 Comments

Posted in family life, general

Not Ashamed

Posted on 03.Oct.06 | 7 comments

I’m not ashamed to be really happy that we are back in a market that shows the Gilmore Girls. And I’m not ashamed that I hate FOX for airing baseball instead of House. I’m also not ashamed that we normally record House and watch it after the Gilmore Girls since they are both on at 7p.

I don’t think I’m quite a TV junkie (I only watch four shows!) but we’ve come a long way from the TV-free days of the first half of our marriage.

7 Comments

Posted in culture