Blueberries Galore

On Friday I tried my hand at something new … blueberry picking.

For the first twenty minutes I felt like Martha Stewart. I paused often to take in the lush scenery, chatted nonchalantly with friends, and only picked the plumpest and most beautiful berries for my bucket.

During the next twenty minutes it decided to rain. At that point I felt more like a plantation worker, madly dashing up and down the rows of bushes to get my quota. It was quite comical, actually. The ground became muddy, we were all soaking wet, and we were running about throwing every kind of blueberry in our buckets, including stems, leaves and even a few bugs.

But then the sun came out again. At that point we had most of the blueberries we wanted but decided to continue picking for more, and to try and dry off a little.

At the end of the day, it was a win-win situation. Not only did I enjoy the experience, I also have nearly 20 pounds of blueberries in my freezer, designated for future pies, tarts, and muffins.

This blueberry picking thing is going to have to become an annual tradition, I think.

My Couch

“Kevin, you know that olive colored couch that isn’t even comfortable and you hate?”

“Yes.”

“I miss it.”

So went our conversation last night. It suddenly hit me how I miss certain things from my familiar life in Roseville, CA. It’s been a long time now – nearly three months – since I’ve seen my furniture, my toaster, my silverware, my winter shoes, etc. All those things are packed up and sitting in a storage shed in Brownsburg, IN.

We’ve been trying to find a house to buy. We narrowed down the neighborhoods we like. We were pre-qualified for a loan. We’ve looked at specific houses. But we haven’t had a peace about anything.

After thinking through things, because real property here isn’t appreciating, it might be a better financial decision to rent for two years while Kevin is in school rather than sinking our down payment into something we’re not 100% happy with.

So, now, we’re looking at rental houses.

Things have been great here at Kevin’s folks’ house. They’ve made us feel so loved and welcomed. We really appreciate that. We appreciate their generosity of letting us camp-out here while we try to make up our minds.

But, like I said, I miss my stupid, familiar, wonderful couch.

M'chermal

So, I've been researching interesting-looking Moroccan recipes - 'cuz Morocco is the country I'm leaning towards picking for our next International Food Club night. (I'm still not 100% sure, however.) Today I came across an official government website with 30 "authentic" Moroccan recipes. Here's an interesting one I'm thinking about serving to my guests.

M'chermal - translation: "Brains with Sauce"

I'm also looking into how much it would cost to hire a belly dancer for the night. (Just kidding ... kind of.)

Baby No More

Our little girl is one year old! Meredith is no longer a baby. She’s walking everywhere, talking up a storm, and playing with other little kids on her own. The older kids at church have befriended her and carry her around with them everywhere – she thinks she’s one of them!

This past week Meredith added three new words to her vocabulary – “ice,” “bug,” and “outside.”

It’s summertime … can you tell?

We can hardly ever drink something with ice in it without her saying “ICE” and raising her hand so she can have a piece.

Lately she has been really into “sharing” her food, drink, and pacifier. She has a hard time understanding why we don’t want to suck on her pacifier too.

She also loves to give her baby doll drinks of “milk” from a bottle.

This morning I looked at some old photos saved on my computer when Meredith was five months old. What happened to my little baby?!

Birthday Scenes

Festive Occasions

Believe it or not, our holiday weekend started with a fiesta. We are now officially part of an International Gourmet Food Club where every month we join friends to make dishes from a featured country. Last Friday the Falks hosted our first dinner featuring Mexico. It was great fun to try out new, authentic Mexican dishes and drinks. The evening was very festive and included a piñata filled with goodies. We’re hosting the next one and I’m trying to decide if we should do Thai, Moroccan, or Greek. Too many choices!

On Saturday we went to a wedding reception held at a house Kevin used to live in. I had heard a lot about the house and surrounding property, including the pond and all the efforts to eradicate the snapping turtles. It was good to be able to see Kev’s old stomping grounds.


Our 4th of July celebration included a trip to Symphony on the Prairie on Monday. Alaina, Meredith, and I got there 3 ½ hours early to reserve a shady spot! It was hot, but very patriotic, and I'm glad we could go.

The orchestra played many old favorites – a lot of Sousa and other marches, traditional patriotic songs, and the theme songs for each branch of the military. Everyone stood when the flag was brought out by men dressed up like Revolutionary War soldiers. Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, etc., etc. etc. The concert ended with the 1812 Overture and canons blasting. Then, a spectacular fireworks show.

We were amazed that Meredith slept through the entire last half of the concert, including all of the canon blasts and the booming fireworks!!!

Yesterday we spent most of the day playing in the swimming pool at Aunt Beth’s house. It was Meredith’s first time in a pool and she absolutely loved it. (We took her out because we thought she was cold and, as soon as she dried off, she wanted back in.) The guys played basketball. And, of course, in typical holiday fashion, the food was piled high for all to enjoy.

Politics and a Milkshake with Two Straws

Last night we went to a GOP dinner with Kevin’s law firm. It was good to meet some of his co-workers and their spouses. I had a great time, really.

Right now I feel like I have a decent handle on California politics – I know who (most) all of the state representatives are, what party they belong to, exactly how liberal, conservative, or moderate they are, and oftentimes what their “key issues” are – Senator Cedillo, for instance, wants to see illegal aliens be able to get driver’s licenses. Assemblyman Leno wants gay marriage. Senator Runner wants convicted sex offenders to have to wear GPS tracking devices for the rest of their lives.

When it comes to Indiana politics, I know absolutely nothing. Oh, except who the governor is and that he’s a Republican. But, if he were in the same room as me, I wouldn’t recognize him. So, that probably doesn’t count.

I also know that everyone complains about the Congresswoman and how bad she is, can’t make a public speech to save her life, has no original ideas, etc., etc.

That about sums up my knowledge of Indiana politics – I have a lot of learning to do.

After the dinner we stopped by Steak and Shake and got a double chocolate peanut butter milkshake with two straws. (Kevin let me order.) Mmmm … mmm … MMM.

It was a good end to a nice evening.

Are flip-flops damaging your career?

More than 31 percent of women said flip-flops were the single "must have" item for work this summer. But many companies disagree.

For an interesting look on the current footwear trend: Are flip-flops damaging your career?

Welcome Home!

Flag Family


Waiting Anxiously


Aunt Megan!


Here is Meredith with Uncle Colin, whom she consistently calls “Ah-tah.” We have no idea how she took the name “Colin” and got “Ah-tah” out of it. But, in any event, we’re glad that Ah-tah is such a good sport.

Preparations

The place is abuzz because tonight Megan returns from her year-long stint in China. Last time we saw her Meredith was a newborn!

The house is being scrubbed and organized – so she has a place to stay and store her stuff. The phone has been ringing with people asking when they should arrive at the airport – a group of us will be there to welcome her back. [Now that I think about it, we should make a big banner and wave American flags. That would be fun! I’ll have to suggest that …]

After we meet Megan at the airport, we’ll all go straight to Don Pablo’s Mexican restaurant. This was her request. I hear that China is not the best destination for fine Mexican cuisine. (Neither is North Dakota, by the way.)

In order to be ready for the Big Night, Grandma Cazzell wanted her hair trimmed.

I guess, because Kevin has been my customer for the past four years, I’m a sought-after amateur hairstylist. [Funny, though, I always thought my next customer would be Meredith, not grandma.]

So, responding to the call, a short while ago I found myself standing in grandma’s kitchen, her hair sopping wet, and me with scissors in my hands.

“Blunt cut, no layers,” said grandma. “I don’t like it when the lady at the salon gives me layers.”

“Do you want a quarter inch off? A half inch? Or what?” I asked.

“I don’t know about them inches stuff, I just want a blunt cut. And make sure it’s shorter by my ears. And just cut off what you think is frizzy and needs it.”

With that crystal-clear information, I began snipping away.

I hope she liked it. But, in any event, I’m sure Megan will think she’s beautiful at the airport. That’s what matters, right?

At the Park

As we pulled into the local park today, to take the baby for some playtime, we saw a banner welcoming the Miss Indiana competition. Suddenly young, attractive women wearing glittery crowns appeared from nowhere.

As a part of the gala, snow cones were offered for $1. After a hard day’s play at the park, I figured Meredith and I deserved a snow cone. It’s a good thing we bought one when we did because shortly after I purchased it they changed the price to $2.

We enjoyed our trip to the park – me as much as Meredith. They don’t have as many parks in Indiana as they do in California, so we have to drive to it instead of walk to it. But, then again, people in Indiana actually have backyards! It’s a trade-off, I suppose.

The Vacuum Chaser

When I was pregnant with Meredith we read a statistic about how, when unborn babies are exposed to sounds like dogs barking and vacuums roaring, they usually aren’t afraid of dogs or vacuums after they’re born. The converse is also true – when unborn babies never hear loud noises, like dogs or vacuums, they typically are more afraid of these things later on.

Based on that information and since I, like, never vacuum, we figured that Meredith would be terrified of it.

Not so.

It appears that we have a little Vacuum Chaser on our hands. Rather than being scared of it and running away, she immediately turns her little body towards it and begins to chase after it, supposedly for the purposes of fighting and conquering it.

Right now, in fact, Laura is vacuuming the stairs and Meredith is squatting at the top of the stairs pondering the vacuum, obviously trying to figure out how she can get down there and play with it.

Outing

Last night the three of us hit the bowling alley for fun times shared by all. Seriously, the evening was full of smiles and laughter.

Meredith sat contentedly in her stroller, occasionally pointing out to this “ball” or that “ball,” munching on snacks, and giving free smiles to strangers passing by.

After starting our first game, I looked up and noticed that the players in the lane next to us were “Love” and “Wild Child.” Then I looked at our score board and saw that we were simply “Kevin” and “Amy.”

“Kevin,” I said. “We are boring. Why don’t we have fancy names? Next game you’re going to be Bad Daddy, okay?”

It turns out that the lady behind the desk reset our second game and we couldn’t change our names. Oh well. Kevin said he’d be my Bad Daddy anyway. :)

About ten minutes into the evening, when I was doing really horribly, Kevin suggested that I have Meredith give my ball a “good luck pat” before taking my turn.

Surprisingly, it worked!

Then, of course, each of us had to pause before taking a turn to have Meredith pat our ball. It gave us, and quite a few other people in the bowling alley, a reason to chuckle.

Kevin won the first game by a wide margin and we started another.

Let me put this bluntly – I kicked his little behind. In the span of one game, I got five strikes and one spare. I don’t think I’ve ever bowled that well. (Part of the credit, of course, goes to Meredith for her good luck pats.)

Kevin was incredulous, with eyebrows raised, the entire game.

“I never dreamed I would lose to you,” he said.

I wasn’t exactly sure how to take that. But, anyway, it was fun to get out, do something different, beat Kevin at a game (for a change), and enjoy the company of my two favorite people.

Feminist Says Child Rearing not Worthy of Time and Talents of Intelligent Humans

Today I read an interesting article about statements by Linda Hirshman on feminism and child-rearing. Take a moment to read it if you have time!

This is why I’m appalled by extreme feminism – it’s not about what is good for women, or what women want, it’s about an extremist agenda to “reconstruct” the family. Most mothers, in my experience – even the ones who are in the work force – would rather stay home with their children.

As the article says – “Some of the women [Ms. Hirshman] interviewed confirmed her worst fears: they liked being mothers.”

Also, it’s interesting to think about the flaws in Hirshman’s reasoning – if all “intelligent” people are supposed to be in the work force, that means that Ms. Hirshman is suggesting that the next generation should be raised by stupid people.

This is an odd opinion since, modernly, at least in California, there is a huge push for preschool workers to have higher education.

So, I guess that babies and toddlers should be raised by stupid people for the first several years and then, when they are three or four-years-old, they should be suddenly thrown into an environment with the really smart ones!

.....

Love is shown in many ways. One major way it is shown is by investing time.

Looking back at my childhood – where my mother was there for me everyday, making me meals and snacks, working near me when I played, comforting me when I was hurt or upset – I wouldn’t trade that childhood for anything.

I want to give Meredith, and any other children that should come, the gift of my time. I want to give my children the same experience I had growing up – a mother who is there for them every day.

I have a law degree – I don’t tell many people this but I ranked first in my graduating class, I passed the California bar exam on my first attempt. I don’t think I’m the brightest person but don’t think I’m totally stupid either.

At the same time, I willingly gave up my career, working with really smart people in the field of public policy, to stay home and pour my life into my child. I stay home because I want to - not because I have to.

Someday maybe I’ll pick up a full-time career again – after my children are successfully raised – but, for the time being, my job is to teach, guide, cherish, and laugh with my baby while she’s young. ‘Cuz I know she’ll only be young for a short time.

Several years ago I worked temporarily in the legal department of a utilities company. There was one young woman, a mother and an attorney, who always seemed particularly stressed out. She had pictures on her desk of very young, cute, adorable children. She always came in to the office early and left later than me. I always wondered who was with her kids all day. She never seemed very happy. I wondered if working that many hours was really what she wanted for her life or if she felt like she was pressured into it.

“Wow, you’ve had a remarkable career,” is something, yes, that would be nice to hear at the end of my life. But, if I had to choose, I would much rather chuck the career and know that I’d spent countless hours loving on my kids.

In the end, I think that will make the most difference in this world anyway.

No one can raise my child as well as I can because no one loves her like I do.

I am not replaceable in Meredith’s life. Please don’t insult me, Ms. Hirshman, by telling me that any daycare worker (or even a grandmother, and both of Meredith’s grandmothers are wonderful people) can replace me as her primary caretaker.

I am her Mother. God gave me a tremendous responsibility to raise her. And I am willing to take on that responsibility – and all the day-to-day nitty gritty involved in that responsibility – no matter what the sacrifices.

Honda Requiem

I didn’t think it possible but Kevin’s car has died. Aren’t Hondas supposed to live forever?

“I can’t believe I paid for all that extra gas to tow my Honda from California, and now it has died,” said Kevin, ruefully.

It may seem silly but, aside from the practical reasons to be sad about the death of Kevin’s car, we are sad for sentimental reasons as well.

I can’t help but think about all the memories …

We’ve experienced a lot of life – a lot of good times – alongside that little car. It’s the car Kevin had in his bachelor days, when we met. It’s the car we took on our first date. Our honeymoon. All of our early-married travels (Maine to San Francisco). Our contemplative move to California. It’s the car we brought Meredith home from the hospital in.

It’s been a good car for us. Like the mechanic said – “I think you’ve got your money’s worth out of this car.”

The hard part for me right now is I won’t even get to say goodbye. (Doesn’t that sound stupid – it’s not a person, just a car.) It will be towed to the junk yard today and will be gone forever.

Yes, I am sad.

Ubiquitous Flowers

Meredith’s favorite new word (next to “gam-pa”) is flower, which she pronounces as “fow-wa.”

Suddenly flowers are appearing everywhere!

She sees them on wall hangings, decorative pillows, clothing, in pots outside, in her picture books. And she always enjoys pointing them out to us.

This morning I could hear her little voice in the other room saying “fow-wa.”

“Yes, Meredith, that’s a flower.”

“OooOOoo … fow-wa.”

“No, Meredith, actually, that’s a strawberry.”

“Fow-wa.”

We’re enjoying being constantly reminded of the beautiful flowers all around …

What do you do?

Kevin worked until the wee hours on Saturday morning helping to monitor a ballot recount in some Podunk county two hours south of Indianapolis. An incumbent judge won the primary election by only 20 votes. Kevin came home with interesting stories of small-town politics and all the characters involved. Apparently he enjoyed this opportunity to dabble in election law.

Then he spent the rest of his weekend working to finish his law review note. I decided to have a low-key weekend myself. What do you do when your spouse is working all weekend? I felt guilty to play while he worked. And I also felt like I should stick around and be a moral support of sorts. I did, however, venture out of the house to get a library card. Woo hoo!

Oh, and … today Meredith, Colin, Laura, and I sat outside and watched a storm come in from the west. I can honestly say that, until this point in my life, I’d never sat and watched a storm come in. It was interesting because it affected so many senses - it was something to watch, feel, hear, etc.

It was also interesting because it happened so fast. In about ten minutes it went from sunny to dark clouds, lightning, and pouring rain.

Anyway, I'll have to plan on watching more of these types of things in the future because I thought it was rather cool. It was an experience that could have been easily missed had I not purposed to make time for it.

Our Church

Here is a picture of our fledgling congregation. We really love our church!

Proof

I bring you proof of the “E.T. phone home” craze.



And here’s my baby, sitting on one of the toys I found last Saturday at a garage sale.

Rated PG for ... what?

Here's something incredible I heard on talk radio the other day but didn't have time to research it until just now ...

FROM CITIZEN LINK:

Why should parents be forewarned about a Christian film with no sex, violence or raw language?

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has placed a PG rating on a forthcoming film because it has a Christian message.

Randy Sharp, director of special projects at the American Family Association, said the rating that reviewers gave Facing the Giants was for "thematic elements."

Not only was the rating unwarranted, Sharp said the reasoning behind the rating was just as offensive.

"The MPAA gives a warning to parents about content that may be found offensive," Sharp told CitizenLink. "Usually, a PG rating would include violence or sexual content or profanity. There is none of that during this movie, so the MPAA has basically said, 'We're going to warn parents that it has a Christian theme — and it may be offensive.' "

Sharp said the MPAA has equated Christianity and the Christian message with sex, violence and profanity.

Bob Waliszewski, Focus on the Family's top media reviewer, said the sticking point for the MPAA does appear to have been the film's mention of the Gospel.

"There really isn't anything in this movie that would warrant a PG rating the way we're used to seeing it," he said. "There's nothing. Apparently, it's just because of the conversations about Christ that the coach has."

On a practical level, Waliszewski said he is "kind of glad" the PG rating was placed on this movie — it is one that deserves to be seen and might not get the audience it deserves with a G rating.

"That's because a G rating, for a lot of teenagers, is the kiss of death — 'Oh, I can't go see that!' " he said. "Having a PG rating, although unfair, may actually be a blessing in disguise."