My current handicap

I've been drinking coffee for more than half of my life, and suddenly I can't make a decent cup to satisfy my needs. How can that happen? How can I wake up one day and not remember how the ground:water ratio is for my taste? I got a new coffeemaker for Christmas from Matt's parents, and that might have a little bit to do with it, but I was doing fine for the first month of using it. Now... blech! I hope this passes soon and my coffeemakin' mojo returns! I miss yummy morning coffee at home!!!

Fat Tuesday

I had such a nice time celebrating a reason to indulge myself, it's worth sharing! When my Dad's family moved here from Pennsylvania, they settled in Hamtramck. He rarely gets a chance to go there, so I figured we'd make a time of it! Kirsten & I picked him up and headed down. We met my friend Armen at her coffee shop, Cafe 1923 (on Holbrook).

From there we all headed to find some good Polish food for lunch. We did a little walking around outside, but every place we checked out was completely packed, with lines even on the streets.

Armen made a suggestion of a place she hadn't tried before but heard good reviews about (Krakus), so we went there.

Never judge a book by it's cover! That place was great! We all tried something different (Kirsten had mashed potatoes and green beans, but was willing to try what we gave her to taste), and we all had leftovers to take home with us!

The house dessert for the day were paczkis that they made. Thank goodness, because every bakery we drove past had super long lines on the streets!

I had a great day of food & fellowship, and the smile on my Dad's face was worth it all!

Comfort food

Today was a good day! Well, aside from the fact that I forced myself to get up at 6:30 so I'd have time for a shower before leaving at 7:30 for church! I had a few moments of uncertainty (with myself) about a job I was doing during the service, but it all worked out okay, as usual. (Thanks, Andrew!) A few family members of mine showed up to my surprise, and it was great to see them & talk a little. Oh, and the service was AMAZING! We showed a video that Craig (our Pastor) (and Jason! Good job, Jason!) put together about how Paradox basically began & then talked about our vision for the future of the church. His message was awesome... he didn't hold back on sharing his passion about what he really believes God is calling us to be doing! "Stop going to church - BE the church!" It got me thinking as to what I'm actively doing to show Jesus to others. What about as a Mom? Am I succeeding there in teaching Kirsten about Christ and how to make Him a part of our lives daily? As a wife - am I honoring my husband and loving him like I know I need to be (and want to)? What about as a friend? As a co-worker? With people I see at Kirsten's school? At stores I frequent? And even at church? What am I doing... what do I need to change... and what is my plan?

I totally got sidetracked from what I wanted to write about! I'm trying to share about later in the evening, but that message just came back and hit me hard... in a good way! I guess that means God's talking to me, doesn't it?!? :)

Anyway, Kirsten & I went to my parents house in the afternoon to do some laundry and visit. (The apartment laundry isn't quite accessible... and it's kinda scary! Lovely excuse to go visit family!) When I popped the second load in the dryer, I took Kirsten to Target with me to pick up a few things. My Mom invited us to eat dinner with them when we returned. Talk about a walk down memory lane... the lane of senses, that is! She made one of my old favorites - veal parmagian and spaghetti! I inhaled that dinner so fast! Of course, I tried savoring some bites while having nice conversation, but I still was the first one done! It just felt sooooo good! Like I was a teenager again! Minus the fact of my 6 year old daughter chatting away in the seat next to me! LOL My Mom packed up a plate of leftovers for Matt to eat. If he doesn't eat it by the time I get home from work tomorrow night, that baby's mine! Thanks, Mom!

Where did they get that name?

I completely bombed on a little quiz I found online thru AOL this morning about guessing the origins of famous company names. It was quite interesting, so I figured I'd share some of them with you...

VW - it's the German meaning for people's car. Founder Ferdinand Porsche wanted to produce a car that was affordable for the masses.

Wendy's - Wendy was the nickname of founder Dave Thomas' daughter Melinda.

Starbucks - The first mate of the tyrannical captain Ahab in "Moby Dick" was Starbuck.

Virgin - Founder Richard Branson's and his friends chose the name "Virgin Records" as they were all virgins when it came to business.

Haagen-Dazs - It's simply two made-up words meant to look European to American eyes.
(That one is too funny!)

Google - a deliberate misspelling of the word googol. Meaning "1 followed by 100 zeroes," googol's intentional misspelling reflects the mission to organize the immense information online.

Reebok - named after one of the fastest land animals on Earth, the African Antelope.
Sidenote: I did a little more searching on this, and according to the wiki... "The name is the Afrikaans / Dutch spelling of the word rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle." (And the company's been around since 1895!)

eBay - the original domain name was taken. Founder Pierre Omidyar had a web consulting biz called Echo Bay Technology Group but EchoBay.com was taken.

Apartment Living

Recognize these?!? The photo on the left is one used in "Friends" and the one on the right is what they used for the building where Ross and Ugly Naked Guy lived in! If only apartment living could be that good! I remember seeing an episode where they lost power (it was either the whole neighborhood or the whole city, actually), but what about "normal" apartment things? You know, like windows that leak cold air so badly in the winter that even with plastic covers inside, you can still feel a breeze? Or what about neighbors that smoke so much (of course, the doors are poorly sealed) that your living room smells like a bar? Or how about the large SUV's that take up more than their share of parking space so that you have to practically park around the block? Kitchen flooding when you live on the second floor? With so many celebrities chosing apartment living in big cities, I'd like to think they experience at least some of what the rest of us go through once in a while! I know, dare to dream, Ruth!

Fear

I don't mind the occasional small fearful moment, those are expected with life. You know, like when a car pulls out in front of yours and you narrowly miss hitting, or when the plastics in the oven you just turned on start a small fire because you forgot to remove them from when you rush-cleaned for company the night before (the fire is easy to contain and eliminate). The ones I dread are the ones that I feel down to my soul, so to speak. The paralyzing kind. The type that makes me feel almost in a panic, yet I'm too afraid to move, almost even too afraid to think. I've experienced many of the smaller fears as a parent: how to know if my 4 pound baby was getting enough nutrition, seeing her vision prescription double in a year and wonder if it'll ever slow down, concern about if she'd outgrow the developmental problems she had with her bowels or how that would effect her future, etc. And I've been through more than enough of the rough ones: being told I'd have to suddenly deliver my daughter 8 weeks before her due-date or we could both die, seeing the look of panic in her eyes as she pleads "Don't leave me Mommy!" as they're shooing me out of the operating room before yet another surgery that will turn out unsuccessful (talk about guilt), and more recently again - the tears and begging for me to stay with her as she was about to have dental work done. I HATE THAT FEELING! Total helplessness! I sat in the lobby and felt like sobbing. Then I started shaking inside. I got a few messages out for some prayer from loved ones, and I sat down. I even just felt too paralyzed to muster up complete thoughts to pray about. Moments like that are good for music. I think God brings different songs to mind to help calm my heart, relax, and try to focus on Him a bit. I do like idea that I can just be there, with Christ by my side, and not really have to even say a thing. He knows.

It was just weird to come to a hard revelation that experiencing those horrible fears as a parent are far from over. I just hope I can learn more on how to handle them better, how to stay calm a bit easier. I do take comfort in the music I know... new songs I've learned during worship segments at church, and even those old favorite hymns. It is well with my soul!

Do you have any big fears that paralyze you? If so, what happens to you during those moments... how do you handle them?

Let the zapping commence!

Well, my Mom started her radiation on Tuesday. She has to go 5 days/week for several weeks (I need to double check on the details). I've been told that she might not feel anything for a few weeks, possibly even a month. But what I've heard is that it could begin to feel like a really bad sunburn. Mom even said she met someone there who's skin was blistering. With our fair skin (she's the 100% Finn!), we already are sensitive & prone to burning with the sun... I hope with that and her thinner skin (part of the joys of aging?!?) that she doesn't get it bad. That's my big prayer... that God will really protect her skin from the discomfort/pain/burn. It's tough enough to think of how it's burning the bad cells from the inside out.

One thing the radiologist mentioned the other week was how there's a 7% chance my Mom could have lymphedema, which would be a build up of fluid in her arm. My sister Evie had that problem, so the thought of that brought back some sad memories. (There were just so many unknowns with Evie's situation.) We'll just pray that she won't fall in that 7%!