Category Archives: John

pilgrimgirl on video

John surprised me with a new camera as an anniversary gift. We tried it out in the following video where we show some of the quirky features of our hotel.
Notes on this video:
1) of interest is the latter portion of the video where we sneak into an adjacent room (that was unoccupied during our stay) despite the fact that there was a large sign saying not to sneak into other rooms and that NO CAMERAS or VIDEOTAPING was allowed. Enjoy our quick escape back to our room when we hear someone coming up the stairs.
2) In the moments at the end of the video, I look decidedly stony. Part of this was bliss at having a very romantic anniversary. Part of this was complete lack of sleep. When John and I finally settled into bed (after watching Amelie, having a delightful carpet picnic, and a lovely test of the hot tub’s features), I heard a loud scritchy-scratchy sound in the wood paneling about the head of our bed. As we were on the top floor of a 127 year-old Victorian inn (just under the eaves), we knew that some type of animal had tunneled into the space above our heads. Despite my efforts to pound the ceiling with my crutches, the beastie kept up his racket. John, my hero, saved the day by pulling all of the bedding off of the bed and making us a sleeping space on the other side of the room. He wrapped himself around me, assuring me that any beasties would have to gnaw their way through him before they could get to me. Ok. So I maybe slept 10 minutes that night. So remember that as I you see me looking so spacy at the end of this vid.
3) I will probably only keep this link up for a few days. I’m feeling a bit shy about posting this to the web. 🙂

pleasure and pain

So John and I had this absolutely crazy and lovely anniversary celebration. When we touched back to civilization this morning (meaning, when we were back into a wireless zone), I checked my email and discovered that my former editor at Irreantum died last night. This after a semi-truck spun out of control and smashed into her car a few days ago. Her teenaged daughter, perhaps paralyzed from the accident, is still in ICU. Whoa, tough news.

Then, just after I returned home and gave my kiddoes huge squeezes and gave a prayer of thanks for their safety, I checked my email again and had a note from my friend Linda. Her doctors have given her 2 months left to live–liver failure seems imminent and she has gone off chemo so she can enjoy her last few weeks with her family.

Last night John and I spent some time in a wild “secret garden” in the moonlight. It was scary and serene. When the paths were uneven or I was timid, John’s strong, warm arm was there to guide me. I suspect that I need to head to my own “secret garden” now. My plants are surely thirsty from my two days away, and I am feeling off-center, ungrounded. In need of a shoulder to lean on. In need of the deep peace of my garden place.

And you would accept the seasons of your heart just as you have always accepted that seasons pass over your fields and you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
~Kahlil Gibran

I can keep a secret


This Saturday John and I will celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary.

As I thought about our anniversary a few months ago, I decided that we should do something really special. Fourteen years seemed a long time, long enough that it needed a pretty good celebration.

So I’ve planned something for us and it’s still a secret from John. I’ve dropped a few little hints (e.g. “don’t forget to pack your swimsuit”), but I think he’s really quite oblivious. I’m enjoying holding him in suspense, but if the tables were turned and he was keeping our plans a surprise from me, I’d be miserable. I’m no good at waiting. I’m into instant gratification….

The picture above is of us standing on a bridge in the heart of Paris four years ago. We had one night on the town alone (the kiddoes were with Mom at the Hotel du Levant). A good memory. Perhaps we will create a few more memories, and a few more blurry romantic pictures, on this next adventure. It won’t be Paris, but few things ever are. 🙂

schedule

for a day without the kiddoes:
7:30 wake up and test the bed springs w/John (yup, they still work)
8:30 shower, where I use my new favorite shampoo. It has good lather, a fresh scent, and leaves my hair oh-so soft & shiny! I start the day with happy hair.
8:47 light incense, sit on bed in lotus position and meditate
8:49 pet Elly when she leaps into lap as I meditate in lotus position
9:01 snuggle w/Elly on bed
9:20 get dressed in garden clothes
9:23 ride bike to garden; water
9:58 ride bike home
10:01 change clothes & check email
10:09 start watching ‘youtube’ videos; chat with John about internet tubes, macacas and toilet trained cats.
10:34 make a list of errands we want to run today, including the running store, a local coffeehouse, a plant nursery, a comic book shop, and a bead shop
11:05 go to lunch at sushiboy (blech. stale sushi)
12:00 mail overdue netflix movies on the way to the running store/coffeehouse (I grade papers at the coffeehouse while John buys new running shoes) [FYI Uncle NikeJohn, he bought Adidas this time]
3:15 leave coffeehouse and go to bead shop. I peruse beads while John pops into random stores throughout the adjacent strip mall.
3:45 go to plant nursery where I buy some flowers and John heads for the comic book store across the street
4:45 I join John at the comic book store. He shows me Ticket to Ride and we buy it. [John figures I’ll be willing to play a game that’s about _trains!_]
5:15 we drop by Rite Aid, where they are having a clearance sale on garden kitsch. I buy two solar lamps for the garden at a pretty hefty discount.
5:30 arrive home from errands. I change clothes and head back to garden to plant flowers and attend a Garden Council meeting (I’m the treasurer for our community garden).
8:30 I leave the garden, which now looks like a fairyand in the pale blue glow of the new solar lanterns. The lights turn on at dusk and will illuminate the central pathway of the garden for about 8 hours, running on solar power stored up from the day’s light.
9:00 over a plate of noodles from a local restaurant, we play Ticket to Ride. A super close game, John wins by only a few points.
11:10 reading, writing and time for bed.
A long and enjoyable day. We miss the kiddoes terribly, but they had lots of fun climbing Mt. Baldy with Suz&Chris. 🙂

The more you have, the more you’re occupied;
the less you have, the more free you are.
~Mother Teresa

Check out my & John’s latest podcast where we discuss marriage, simplicity, spirituality, and the choices that have brought us closer together over the years.

do I need a nose ring?

Yesterday John and I attended E’s art show–the display of her summer art workshop. As we were thoroughly enjoying all of the projects that she showed us, her teacher came by to introduce herself. She zeroed in on me first, and asked if I was E’s mother. John, who had been standing next to me but was facing away from the teacher, turned around, reached out his hand, and identified himself as E’s father.

The art teacher sort of recoiled for a moment, then replied.

“No, you’re not…you really couldn’t be her father?”

Then the art teacher looked back at me again and sized the two of us up from head to toe.

“Are you sure?”

John was sort of baffled by her insistence that he couldn’t possibly be E’s father. This, despite the fact that E resembles John so much that there can’t possibly be any mystery about her parentage.

When we talked about it later he expressed his annoyance at the teacher. I told him he needs to come up with a snappy rejoinder for such situations (this happens quite often). Me, I need to come up with a comeback, too. I’m starting to get pegged as John’s *Mom*, and I don’t quite know how to deal with it. John suggested that a few strategically-placed body piercings would make me look young enough to belong to him. Unfortunately, I hated getting my ears pierced and can’t really fathom a ring through my nose or brow. Ditto for tattoes (ouch).

So, dear readers, help me here. What can I do?