Random Stuff from Darren

1. I can't wait for the Deathly Hallows! (Click here for trailer) Sara doesn't like them as much as I do, but I've liked all of them so far. I hope Bellatrix features prominently in it; Carter makes her absolutely chillingly, madly evil.

2. I'm going to have a radio interview next Monday and an Internet TV show interview on Thursday. That should be fun.

3. I watched "This Gun for Hire" last night. Sara caught the tail end of it and said, "That kind of movie has been cliched to death. The whole thing is just cliches." Which was a good description of it. It's a 1942 film noir, and it was okay, but nothing special. Veronica Lake was beautiful, and I LOVE the actors' hats and overcoats.

4. My wonderful legal assistant (who is deserting me to go to law school) has been lending me Seasons 1 and 2 of Burn Notice. I loved it! Cool settings, neat explosions, twisty plots - it's all good.

5. A poem that I wrote a few months ago that's been hanging around my desk:
White to green. Bare limbs
Covered, covered limbs become
Bare. Ah. I love Spring.

6. We're going to be doing "My Savior, My God" this Sunday at church. The words for the verses are great, the chorus is mediocre. I found out while doing research on it that the verses were actually written in 1873. No wonder I like it - it's old :) But the new music is far superior to the old tune, which is very boring.

And that's all.

Three Pictures of Four Kids

Phillip finds the whole process much more exciting than his siblings do.

Solitude

Once upon a time, there was a husband who earned serious Gold Stars by giving his wife a weekend by herself.

(I'm talking about my husband. I'm the wife. He got the Gold Stars and I got the weekend away.)

We'd planned this since the beginning of the year -- as soon as Phillip didn't need me for all his nutritional needs, I'd get to go away overnight. As the weekend approached, I told Darren to remind me to make reservations at a hotel so I wouldn't get up to the day and find that I had to sleep in the stable out back.

Darren, who does up everything spiffy, said, "Why not look into Bed and Breakfasts?"

Oh. OH! What a good idea!

I found one in the middle of town, in a house originally built in 1840. I was there to write and rest, not to take pictures; so I finished three stories but took only a couple of pictures. What I have, I share here:




I stayed in a room that was once a study, where men gathered to debate politics. Here's the entrance to my room. It was set back into a deep arch, and you practically had to turn sideways to get in. I loved it.



My room was paneled entirely with carved wood. You can see my little black dana there on the bed. It was my constant companion all weekend.

What did I do? I found a creek, and sat on a rock with my feet in the water and wrote for over an hour. I walked around the neighborhood, where the houses are large and beautiful... and sometimes a little overdone:


I called my mom from an antique/junk store to tell her, "I've discovered that what I'm most interested in is furniture -- especially the furniture that's used to display wares. Thanks for that genetic bequest." Mom laughed at me.

Deidre, who also got many Gold Stars, offered to watch our kids so Darren could meet me for supper. I'd told Darren I'd love for him to visit me, but then he had to go away again.

I came home this morning in time for all of us to go to church together. (That in itself is bloggable: we almost never get to go to church as a sixsome, since Darren usually has to be there an hour early.)

Mostly, I spent the weekend savoring the solitude and quiet. It was what I needed. Dear Darren: Thank you, thank you, thank you.


How about let's do it again sometime?

-- SJ

How Does My Garden Grow?

Quite well, thanks for asking! From this (pictures #3 & 4) to this:


This morning we harvested some carrots. I planted a small, round variety. Here Addie and Daphne display the ones they've picked. Also, see how BOTH SIDES of Addie's face work? She's been Bells Palsy (and, we assume, Lyme's) free for several months now, and we're still grateful to see a symmetrical smile. Anyway, aren't the carrots cute?



A basket of produce! (Small garden, small basket, small produce.) According to the kids, carrots grown in our own garden taste really good.


-- SJ

A Few Words in Honor of Today

Tiny
Wrinkled
Sleepy
Hungry
Squawky

Impish

Dimpled
Cheerful
Cuddly
Busy

Life is better with Pip.

One whole year today! Happy birthday!

-- SJ, DJ, AMJ, SMJ, DMJ

An Anniversary Present

Want us to send you $50? Keep reading.

Traditionally, the first or second year of marriage is the rough one. The one full of adjustments and disappointments and blow-ups.

Darren and I didn't do it that way. After a whopping two hours of premarital counseling (thanks, Pastor Joe), we got married and proceeded to stuff our lives full. We had a couple of kids, moved a couple of times, went to a couple of churches, and bought a minivan.

It wasn't until Year Seven and Eight that our marriage began to outgrow the habits we'd formed in the early years -- a lot like a pair of shoes that used to fit fine, but now pinched and rubbed blisters. We weren't really sure what was going on; we only knew that we spent a lot of time speaking past each other.

That's when I realized why many divorces happen around these years. Or why there's a such thing as "the seven-year itch."

Year Nine rolled around, with little improvement. Fortunately the pastor and deacon at church referred a counselor to us. Even more fortunately, we took them up on it and made an appointment. We met with the counselor only four times, but it was just what we needed to kick off our old habits and form new ones.

(We'll probably need a refresher course in another two or three years.)

Those counseling sessions refreshed and restored our marriage. We're so grateful for them and so eager that our friends experience the same help, that we're offering an anniversary present for your Year Seven or Year Eight:

If it's your 7th or 8th anniversary this year, email us at the address at left. If you set up an appointment with a good counselor or pastor, we'll send you a check for $50 to help with expenses.

We're serious. Marriage is too sacred and too fragile a relationship to leave to chance. With a little infusion of cash, maybe it will be easier for you to find the time to put some intensive work on your marriage. To kick off the bad habits and slip into a refreshing new way to love each other.

What To Do:
If you got married in 2002 or 2003, email us with your address, wedding date, and a short explanation of what made you fall in love with each other. As resources allow, we'll send you a check for $50, which you can use toward babysitting expenses or paying the counselor.

Seriously.

-- SJ and DJ

What Are Little Girls Made Of?

--DJ

I was reading some nursery rhymes to Daphne today, and we ran across the one about sugar and spice being what little girls are made of.

Daphne wanted to know what she was made of. I told her, "Cayenne pepper and firecrackers."

Picture Potpourri

A book, a tree, a girl. (And Darren's Daughter)




An update from this picture from 2007 (three pictures down). L-R Aaron, Daphne, Mollie, Addie, Evan, Danny, Stuart.



Wow, the glow of a job well done! This picture mirrors his sister's accomplishment in the post linked to above (first picture).



We went to Tennessee, found a creek, and got our picture taken.



We went to Tennessee and found a cool tree with the cutest little girl inside of it.




We went to Tennessee, went to MagiQuest, and got a cool dragon topper for the cool magic wand, which Stuart is displaying with the utmost coolness.




Three little monkeys in a whirlpool tub. The fourth little monkey said, "Hey, hey, what about me too?"



How do you know when a baby's been in the refrigerator? There are knee prints in the jello.




I found this shadow painting on my wall the other day.



That's all!

-- SJ