Ten Years

There's a "like" going around on Facebook that says, "Every woman deserves a man who still looks at her like he did the first day he met her."

I can't "like" it because I'd rather Darren pay more attention to me than he did when we first met. Because we can't actually remember meeting. The singing violins, the slow-motion smiles, everybody else receding into the distance, the meaningful looks across the room -- every single one of those classic romance cues missed the memo that Darren and I met on some cold day in early January in 1997.

Things were better on a warm September day in 2000. Much better. One of my cherished memories is starting down the aisle holding my brother's arm, peeking from side to side at the rows of smiling faces. And then seeing Darren standing up front waiting for me. I wouldn't say that the whole world receded and left just us. It felt more like the whole world stood up and cheered for us.

We flung ourselves into marriage: we'd never been in love with anyone else, and we were certain that no one else had ever been in love like we were. Vowing to love each other? Of course! For our whole lives? Sure! Before God and witnesses? No problem! Years later we looked at each other and said, "We had no idea what we were doing."

Today, ten years later, it rained all day. Darren took the day off, and we had a very ordinary family day at home: homeschooling, playing computer, dragging the toddler off the piano, picking up and cleaning up and finally just ignoring the mess. Darren made ham and potato salad for supper, and we shared sparkling grape juice with the kids.

I remarked, "If ourselves of ten years ago could see ourselves now -- we'd be pretty happy about how things turned out."

Darren snatched me away from the sink and kissed me. He thought so, too.

Happy anniversary to the man whom I don't remember meeting all those years ago. You've made up for lost time.

-- SJ

Blogging (or, The Lack Thereof)

This morning I started a long, meditative post about why I've not been blogging as much lately. Three paragraphs in, I got bored with it.

So instead, here's the brisk and breezy version as to why my blogging has trickled off lately:

1. I'm *not* pregnant, so it's not like that is a contributing factor. I just thought I'd mention it sort of as a celebratory thing.

2. I've been channeling what writing energy I have into writing Pieces (as we journalists call it) that I can sell.

3. I've been researching markets that might buy my writing.

4. I hate researching markets.

5. I got my first rejection back yesterday. I'm a little discouraged, because my pool of potential markets isn't very big. The "pool" is more like a "puddle." On the other hand, the only way to become a successful writer is to submit, which involves collecting rejections, so I consider myself well begun.

6. I'm homeschooling. Now, I'm not the do-it-all homeschooling type. I read the advice articles for first-year homeschoolers that said, "Don't try to do it all!" and thought, "Okey-dokey!" In some ways, my natural low-key approach is good. We don't get keyed-up, burned-out, or overwhelmed. But this year I'm having to ratchet things up to get the kids up to speed in a couple of subjects. It's mostly going fine, except on Mondays when I am a living, breathing bundle of inadequacies.

7. I have a one-year-old.

8. Want a list of the one-year-old's current favorite activities? Standing at the kitchen sink while the water is running; pushing chairs up to the counter and eating leftovers from lunch; pushing the water dispenser on the fridge; letting himself out the front door; banging on the computer keyboard; and pushing buttons on music toys and SINGING LOUDLY. The last one isn't destructive, but it's not very tuneful, either. All of what he does is awfully cute. Lucky for him.

9. I've got three things in the planning stage: anniversary festivities, an upcoming party, and aforementioned giveaways.

10. I hate planning things.

11. When I have something to plan, I seize up and don't get anything done until the deadline sneaks up behind me and shoves me into action again.

12. I've got four articles lined up for the next year. Articles that, if I write them well, bring in money.

13. I love getting money for my writing.

14. I just finished two Nancy Drew games. Nancy Drew games are cool. They siphon off a lot of blogging (reading, praying, eating, breathing...) time. I recommend the following games:

The Secret of the Old Clock
The Secret of Shadow Ranch
The White Wolf of Icicle Creek
The Ransom of the Seven Ships
Warnings at Waverly Academy

I also recommend Universal Hint System because otherwise you'll never solve the games and will be reduced to a creature slobbering frustration and shrieking, "What do those stupid hobo symbols mean? How do you beat the coyote game? What do I do after I find the T-rex bone?"

15. Is it disturbing that I wrote more about Nancy Drew games than I did about homeschooling?

16. It's suppertime, and I made green chile quiche, and I'm hungry. So, um, the end.

-- SJ

Anniversary Giveaways

Next week is our anniversary. Our tenth anniversary. Of course, y'all knew that because you've all got it marked on your calendars, but I thought I'd record it for blogging purposes.

In celebration of our tenth anniversary, we'll be hosting a giveaway. Giveaways. Plural.

So stay tuned! (A phrase whose origin is almost obsolete.)

-- SJ and DJ

Kid Bits

Daphne, as we're receiving bread and wine for Communion at church: "Who is doing the 'wining' this morning?"

Stuart, when I teasingly offered him a piece of mushroom-olive pizza: "No thanks. I really don't care for plants on my pizza."

I gave Addie a story I wrote. Instead of ending with a flat-footed resolution, the story finished poised on one toe -- but it was obvious how things were going to turn out. Well, I thought it was obvious. Addie read it and burst into tears. "This is it? I HATE cliffhangers!" Either I need to rewrite the story, or find an older audience.

It looks like Pip's official First Word is "up." When we're outside, he jabs his finger into the air and remarks repeatedly, "Ooph! Ooph!" Especially if there's an airplane in sight: he holds lengthy, if monotonous, discourses on that subject.

-- SJ

Purgatory Picnic

I can't cook a decent meatloaf. No, really, I can't. Nor can I do deviled eggs, and my muffins are always disasters. I recently told Darren that if I had to go to a potluck in Purgatory, that's what I'd have to bring. Which inspired the following evite:
From: Purgatory Picnic Committee
To: SJ
Subject: You're Obligated to Come To Our Picnic!

Dear Sara,

The September Purgatory hike and picnic will start this Tuesday at 2:00 pm. After a vigorous five-mile hike uphill, we'll enjoy a time of food and fellowship near a lake that the children will not be allowed to get in. (Sorry, no childcare is available.)

Please provide the following food:
* Meatloaf
* Deviled eggs
* Muffins

If, as usual, you make disasters of these three dishes, everyone will be on hand to express surprise and bewilderment that you could mess up such easy food. They will also offer lots of advice that you've heard before, and will continue to repeat it until you agree that probably that's what you did wrong.

After the meal, we'll benefit from a two-hour sermon on the Book of Romans (in KJV).

Please note that the table will be set with china and crystal, so please keep your children from touching the dishes.

See you there! And if you don't handle all this really, really well, we'll see you AGAIN in October!

Sincerely,

The Purgatory Picnic Committee

The Joneses Go to Harper's Ferry

Grandpa and Nana came to visit, and a good time was had by all. Especially at Harper's Ferry, which is a recurring tune in the "Places Joneses Love" songbook.


Whichever angel was in charge of the weather got a Best of Show ribbon that day. Everything was blue and green and beautiful.


The Shenandoah River and all its underwater treasures were appealing, alluring, and enticing.


Also, the rocks were pretty slippery. Oops! Daphne fell in!


Addie got utterly soaked, and found a rock too.


Stuart found sea glass, which he wished was a really, really rare find, but settled for its being "rarish."

Appealed, allured, and enticed, Pip tries desperately to fling himself into the river.


Fortunately for him, Mama forgot how slippery the rocks were.


Ah, love conquers all!


And many thanks to two people who put their whole hearts into making our lives better.

-- SJ

When We Were Very Young

--DJ
When Sara and I were first married, we agreed that we wanted our house and yard to be the neighborhood hangout.

And now it is. And it is good.

7 Quick Takes, September 3, 2010

--DJ

It's been a while since I've done a blog post, and I'm out of practice. Let's see what comes of this! :)

Here's the link for the 7 Quick Takes home at Conversion Diary.

1. One of my favorite blogs to go to daily is Gene Edward Veith's thoughts on religion, politics, how the two interact, culture, food, random tidbits... He's a fun writer. Today he linked to a wonderful couple of recipes: Deep Fried Beer and Chicken Fried Bacon. I'll pass on the first, but doesn't the second one just sound so delicious?

2. This link's a little harder to get to, but it's worth it. Kari Jobe has a Christmas video that's really gorgeous. Click here, then go to page 18 and click on the black box at the top left. I think you'll like it. Unless you don't like Kari Jobe (not that I know anyone like this. Right, Sara?)

3. What I'm Reading: The Way of Kings. I have been a big fan of Brandon Sanderson's work ever since Elantris, and so I actually went out and bought the hardcover. Borders then tried to sell me their Rewards Plus program for $20, since "you obviously like hardcover books!" Um, no, this was the first hardcover I'd bought in 2 years. I'm only on page 130 (out of 1000), but I'm really liking it so far. Interesting characters, fascinating worldbuilding, and very cool illustrations and maps.

4. For school with the two older kids, I'm doing Character Building Activities for Kids by Darlene Mannix. Lots of fun activities and worksheets. Addie and Stuart are enjoying it. The first character quality is honesty, and it's already been fodder for some good discussions about how honesty isn't just what you say, but what you do.

5. I've gotten to take 2 Indian cooking classes from Daniel in the last month, and that has been a lot of fun. I hope to make a couple of the recipes for when Dad and Mom come to visit.

6. What I'm Reading: God’s Lyrics: Rediscovering Worship Through Old Testament Songs. Interesting book about modern Christian music and how it could be made better by incorporating elements from the Songs of Moses, Deborah's Song, Hannah's Song, and several from Isaiah. I've just started on it; I'll try to give a review later.

7. In one of Amy's recent posts, she mentioned how most of the kids' berries were gone from their pail by the time they were done picking. She described it as "so fun." I would find that incredibly irritating - when I'm berry picking, I don't eat a single berry until we're home, and I get annoyed if anyone else does. Weird, I know :)

And that's it. Have a good Labor Day!

The Randomizer, Upgraded

Make no mistake, Addie still says pretty random things. Maybe because she can articulate her thinking now, we can often trace her train of thought and understand why she says things. Or maybe we're just used to it now.

Still, here are a few recent Classic Addie comments:

**
(During a dispute about how long someone had gotten to jump on the trampoline)
Me: "Addie, if you didn't use the timer, then I have no way of judging who got the longer turn."

Addie, waving the timer at me: "You put your trust in INVENTIONS more than your OWN DAUGHTER'S EVIDENCE?"

**
(After attempting to get Darren to wiggle her loose molar; he declined and turned his video back on)

"Parents today are too busy paying attention to the TV to pay any attention to their oldest daughter's second loose molars!"

***
(Frustrated at a website that's down for maintenance)

"If they don't fix this problem, I'm going to girl-cott all their products!"

And there you have it. Have a crazy-pavin' day!

-- SJ

In Other Words

Recently seen on Facebook:

Sara Roberts Jones Tried writing a story in 800 words. Um, maybe shoot for 1000 instead. Hey, here's a magazine that accepts 5000-word submissions! Check word count on another story: 6025. Good HEAVENS I use a lot of words.

Rosemary Morris Well, just look at your status: 37 words! I could be your editor if you'd like. Let's give it a try: "Tried writing 800-word story. Came to 1000. Found magazine accepts 5000-word submissions. Mine: 6025. Blah. I'm wordy." That's 19. :)

Sara Roberts Jones Nerd.


(And I meant it to sting.)
-- SJ