Meet My Personal Trainer

Ever since I went back to work full time, a few things have begun to slide.  Exhibit A is my blogging, or lack thereof.  I don't have much time for reading and reflecting on the state of the world anymore. Exhibit B is my physical fitness, or lack thereof.  Some days, the only walking I do is from my desk to the fax machine and back again.  In fact, I noticed this week that my left calf muscle was more defined than the right.  After some contemplation, it occurred to me that that is the leg I use on the clutch of the VW.  Very sad.

Enter my wonderful children.  After hearing me whine about how much I need to exercise and how little I want to exercise, they offered their services as my personal trainers.  I liked their rates, so I decided to give it a try.  Last weekend we decided to go to the driving range as a family.  Grant announced that he and I would be running there while Dad drove the golf clubs in the truck.  So I took off at my snail's pace while Grant skipped and jumped circles around me.  He said, "Come on Mom, stay with my pace."  As I groaned and shuffled, he said things like:

"You'll thank me later for this."
"Put your energy out in front of you."
"High knees!  Reach your hands out straight and bring your knees up to them."
"I want you to run to that mailbox and if you walk, I'll make you go back and do it again."

Surprisingly, these comments were so funny--I managed to make it all the way to the driving range (with quite a bit of walking mixed in.)  He was very encouraging and gave me short, attainable goals.  I found that I was actually enjoying myself--until he announced that we would be running home, as well.  He made me sprint the last 50 yards and laughed at my buckling legs and woeful attempts at speed.

The next day, my calves were very sore--but at least they seemed to be closer to the same size.  I wonder what he has planned for me this week...

Ebony and Ivory

When Doug and I were dating, we only saw what we had in common.  We were Christians, we grew up in similar family backgrounds, we loved K-State, we shared the same sense of humor, and we both looked forward to the day when I could stay home to raise our many babies.

But 16 years, 9 moving vans and 3 boys later--often all we see are our differences.  The task-oriented, meticulous engineer married a people-oriented, creative writer who would rather work on scrapbooks than work on dishes.  Poor man.  If I were to write a Valentine's song for my husband it might go something like:

You like to save, I like to shop
You cheer for futbol, I cheer for football
Futbol, football, football, futbol--let's call the whole thing off.

You like to bike, I like to write
You like to work, I like to shirk
Workin', shirkin', shirkin', workin'
Let's call the whole thing off.

But oh!  If we call the whole thing off,

then we must part.

And oh!  If we ever part,

Then that might break my heart!

So if you like it spicy and I like it sweet

I'll try it spicy and give up sweet

For we know we need each other,

So we better call the calling off off.

Let's call the whole thing off!

Like Ella and Louis sang, we need each other.  Together we make one whole person--we are truly one!  The secret to happiness is to learn to appreciate our differences.  After all, ebony and ivory go together in perfect harmony.

Happy Valentine's Day, my other half!  You complete me.

Meet Sasha

Yes, we've done it again.  Doug recently made one of his famous comments like, "If you get rid of that horrible beast, I'll let you get a new one."  He doesn't usually remember making these comments, but we always hear them...and go running directly to craigslist.

The boys and I have a soft spot for unwanted animals.  Unfortunately, there is always a reason they are unwanted--and we are terrible at rehabilitating them.  Chester was another of our failed attempts:  he was determined to chew his wing raw and squawk angrily at everyone, no matter how much we assured him of our love.  In the five months we had him, we never succeeded in touching him or teaching him any words.  The producers of the $45 DVD that promised to fix even the worst of birds have evidently never met Chester.

So Chester's beautiful photo went on craigslist, and some unsuspecting new victim is now finding out that you can't teach a PTSD bird new tricks.  Sasha the cockatiel was also listed on craigslist, but she was such a better investment!  Sasha's only problem was that her owner was moving.  She is adorable.  I never thought I would be a bird person, but she is pretty darn cute.

She puts her head down to be scratched, climbs on anyone's hand, sits on shoulders for hours, and much to Doug's food safety dismay...climbs all over people while they're eating.  She does the wolf-whistle (a welcome and forgotten sound for 38-year-old mothers) gives kisses and says "good birdie" in a warbly voice.

Chase is not at all interested in eating her, even when she flies over him to roost on a curtain rod.  Could it be that we have reached our pet nirvana at last?  I wonder if I can teach her to whistle the Kansas State fight song...

Fluffier than Dairy Waffles

Who knew that coconut milk was so awesome?  These waffles are so fluffy and amazing that my very dairy family declares they will never return to the regular recipe.  Find out for yourself:

Fluffier Than Dairy Waffles
2 eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1-3/4 c. coconut milk
1 T. sugar
4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 c. flour

In a large bowl, whisk together ingredients in order.  Pour 3/4 c. of batter onto belgian waffle iron.  Serve with non-dairy butter, syrup, or berry sauce (below).

Frozen Berry Sauce
bag of frozen berries
1/4 c. sugar
2 T. tapioca

Stir together in saucepan over medium heat.

The End of the Dry Spell

After a very brown Minnesota winter, we finally got some snow today!  Who would have thought that this would be breaking news:  Minnesota gets snow in January!  But after a barren holiday season that didn't really feel like Christmas, we are kind of excited to have snow again.  When we took the boys for our annual Christmas Break "Ski Minnesota" day last month, we had to ski in entirely manmade snow.  We used to joke about printing t-shirts that said, "Minnesotans for Global Warming."  Evidently we got what we wished for.

As you may have noticed, my blogging has suffered a rather lengthy dry spell, as well.  That is due mainly to my mini-midlife crisis of 2011:  accepting the sad reality that freelance Christian writing is not the right career path for a mother who needs to put three boys through college.  I am hopeful that it will someday be the career path for an empty nester mother with three college graduates.  It will definitely still be the favorite hobby of a mother who now works as an Advertising Consultant for the local print media conglomerate.

So I am back--writing for the first time as not a stay-at-home mom, but as a working-outside-the-home mom.  The transition has actually been very smooth--thanks to the grace of God and the acts of service giftings of Doug.  I think the house is actually cleaner now that I spend less time in it.

Stay tuned for this new chapter of Living at Everwylde.  It may be wylder than ever...

Sent Into the Harvest

The Jedi of 2005

What's your take on Halloween?  We've been participating in public school parties and neighborhood trick-or-treating since 2005.

That was the year when I finally gave up the boycott and decided that opting out of Halloween festivities was never going to bring our friends to Christ.

As much as I hate the Satanic-orientation of the holiday, let's face it--young kids are just there for the candy.

David Mathis at Desiring God wrote an interesting blog this week, entitled Sent Into the Harvest:  Halloween on Mission.  You can read the entire post at Desiring God, but here's an excerpt:

What if we saw October 31 not merely as an occasion for asking self-oriented questions about our participation (whether we should or shouldn’t dress the kids up or carve pumpkins), but for pursuing others-oriented acts of love? 

What if we capitalized on the opportunity to take a step forward in an ongoing process of witnessing to our neighbors, co-workers, and extended families about who Jesus is and what he accomplished at Calvary for the wicked like us?

What if we resolved not to join the darkness by keeping our porch lights off?

What if we didn’t deadbolt our doors, but handed out the best treats in the neighborhood as a faint echo of the kind of grace our Father extends to us sinners?

What if thinking evangelistically about Halloween didn’t mean just dropping tracts into children’s bags, but the good candy—and seeing the evening as an opportunity to cultivate relationships with the unbelieving as part of an ongoing process in which we plainly identify with Jesus, get to know them well, and personally speak the good news of our Savior into their lives?

And what if we made sure to keep reminding ourselves that our supreme treasure isn’t our subjective zeal for the mission, but our Jesus and his objective accomplishment for us?

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 

– Jesus in Matthew 9:37–38

There's No Place Like Home

Last week, I clicked my ruby slippers together and (after a grueling 8-hour drive) arrived magically in the Land of Oz.  The boys had a four-day weekend, so we made the most of it at Gran and Gpop's house.  Here are some of the highlights:

The Priceline hotel where Chase enjoyed a doggie package 

complete with his own aromatherapy products and treats

 from Kansas City's Three Dog Bakery.

The Percy Jackson fan on the Country 

Club Plaza with Neptune.  Only Rome has
more fountains than Kansas City!

Feeding goats at Deanna Rose Farm
where the boys decided they will
someday move to Gpop's farm
and be goat herders.

So cute...just don't ask to bring one home.

Home, home on the range...where the buffalo
look smaller than Grant

Haystacks provide hours of entertainment

Chase watches over the cattle at Gran and Gpop's farm

Our donut connoisseur gives a sticky
thumbs-up to the new Varsity Donut
Shop in Aggieville.

We cheered in Aggieville as our Wildcats dominated
the Jayhawks, become one of only 8 undefeated teams
in the country, and moved up to a #10 ranking.