Big life change (hopefully) coming soon
....pending approval from the proper authorities, yay for paperwork!
stay tuned....
stay tuned....
posted by LJE at
3:20 p.m.
July 27, 2006
July 26, 2006
i'm back
Well, the week was great - cooking went very well, the kids and staff loved the food and wanted us to stay longer. All the people helping me worked so hard and were so dedicated, it was great. The funniest was the 12 year old boys at the end of the week, asking "Where did you learn to cook?" "My mom taught me" i replied....."Did you go to culinary school or something too?" "nope"
On another note, we now have a pet rabbit. Leon's friend Grace could not keep her bunny any more, so he adopted it. He's in charge of taking care of it, etc. - bunny's name is Jack, he is brown and white, and is very soft. Not a floppy eared bunny, just a stick-up-in-the-air eared bunny. I fed him a carrot this morning, it's amazing how fast they eat.
And finally, i've been amazed lately thinking of how a teeny seed, the dirt and gunk in my garden, a bit of sun, and a bit of rain make such wonderful food......I picked green beans from the garden yesterday for supper.....it's such an AMAZING process by which all that stuff gets turned into something edible, when you really stop to think about it.
On another note, we now have a pet rabbit. Leon's friend Grace could not keep her bunny any more, so he adopted it. He's in charge of taking care of it, etc. - bunny's name is Jack, he is brown and white, and is very soft. Not a floppy eared bunny, just a stick-up-in-the-air eared bunny. I fed him a carrot this morning, it's amazing how fast they eat.
And finally, i've been amazed lately thinking of how a teeny seed, the dirt and gunk in my garden, a bit of sun, and a bit of rain make such wonderful food......I picked green beans from the garden yesterday for supper.....it's such an AMAZING process by which all that stuff gets turned into something edible, when you really stop to think about it.
posted by LJE at
4:13 p.m.
July 14, 2006
au revoir
well, i'm off for a week of holidays now, if you can call them that.
Somehow, i got convinced to go up to Camp Kadesh (at Christopher Lake) for the week to be head cook - 3 meals a day for 135 twelve to fourteen year olds, with 5 volunteer helpers at my beck and call. (and yes, that "somehow" directly relates to Anthony's sister Arleen, who is the assistant director at the camp).
At least i have some good, fun help coming with me - my very good friend Jennifer who was in my wedding party and whom i do not get to see very often, Candace who is one of my closest day-to-day friends (and we are godparents to her kids), Steph who i serve with as a youth sponsor, many good times to be had with that girl for sure; and then two of the teenage girls from our youth group - they are so pumped about coming out to help, and are excited about me working them to the bone.
So if you think of us, send up a little prayer for energy, patience, safety (knives and hot things sometimes try to hurt me), and an overall good time. Pray also for the campers and the other camp staff that they have a meaningful and fun week - i know a bunch of the staff were sick last week and the summer has just barely begun for them, so they will need all the prayer they can get!
And pray for Arleen, she is doing the jobs of about 2-3 people, and is so giving and willing to help out all the time.
Have a great week, y'all, see you when i get back!
Somehow, i got convinced to go up to Camp Kadesh (at Christopher Lake) for the week to be head cook - 3 meals a day for 135 twelve to fourteen year olds, with 5 volunteer helpers at my beck and call. (and yes, that "somehow" directly relates to Anthony's sister Arleen, who is the assistant director at the camp).
At least i have some good, fun help coming with me - my very good friend Jennifer who was in my wedding party and whom i do not get to see very often, Candace who is one of my closest day-to-day friends (and we are godparents to her kids), Steph who i serve with as a youth sponsor, many good times to be had with that girl for sure; and then two of the teenage girls from our youth group - they are so pumped about coming out to help, and are excited about me working them to the bone.
So if you think of us, send up a little prayer for energy, patience, safety (knives and hot things sometimes try to hurt me), and an overall good time. Pray also for the campers and the other camp staff that they have a meaningful and fun week - i know a bunch of the staff were sick last week and the summer has just barely begun for them, so they will need all the prayer they can get!
And pray for Arleen, she is doing the jobs of about 2-3 people, and is so giving and willing to help out all the time.
Have a great week, y'all, see you when i get back!
posted by LJE at
5:04 p.m.
i'm someone's hero :)
So, leon listens to metal music....
and one day i came home and he was watchign a dvd of a concert (the band name is "in flames" for those who may be interested), and we were sitting there talking, and i said, ya know, i really don't mind this music
His jaw dropped. He was like "really?"
i said Yeah, well, back in the day, i listened to heavy stuff too....i told him all about me and my friend chris and our love for hard music - old school christian rock (think petra, whitecross, bride, guardian, etc) and about the punk band (Potluck: punk rawk buffet) i hung out with at briercrest - i dated the manager and went to concerts of theirs all the time; and how i broke my nose crowd surfing (at hokus pick, of all concerts!)
he was like "YOU have gone crowd surfing????? Wow, lynette, i sure didn't picture you like that"
So he then proceeded to teach me the difference between death grunt metal and melodic metal
A few weeks later, we were in the car and he had his music playing, and my classical-music loving sister lana was with us. She made some comment about the music, and i said "well, just so you know, this is melodic metal, not death grunt metal"and leon looked at me and was like "WOW" and gave me a high five, he was so proud of me.
And there's this one cd of his that I actually like a couple songs on , and so i was listening to it the other nite when i picked him up from work. He was in the middle of a sentence as he got into the car, and he just stopped and stared at the cd player
"YOU are listening to THIS?" he said..."Willingly? I have NEVER Known anyone over the age of 20 that listens to this. Lyn, you have just become my new hero"
So there you have it, i am the hero to a 17 year old boy 'cuz i don't mind his music.
and one day i came home and he was watchign a dvd of a concert (the band name is "in flames" for those who may be interested), and we were sitting there talking, and i said, ya know, i really don't mind this music
His jaw dropped. He was like "really?"
i said Yeah, well, back in the day, i listened to heavy stuff too....i told him all about me and my friend chris and our love for hard music - old school christian rock (think petra, whitecross, bride, guardian, etc) and about the punk band (Potluck: punk rawk buffet) i hung out with at briercrest - i dated the manager and went to concerts of theirs all the time; and how i broke my nose crowd surfing (at hokus pick, of all concerts!)
he was like "YOU have gone crowd surfing????? Wow, lynette, i sure didn't picture you like that"
So he then proceeded to teach me the difference between death grunt metal and melodic metal
A few weeks later, we were in the car and he had his music playing, and my classical-music loving sister lana was with us. She made some comment about the music, and i said "well, just so you know, this is melodic metal, not death grunt metal"and leon looked at me and was like "WOW" and gave me a high five, he was so proud of me.
And there's this one cd of his that I actually like a couple songs on , and so i was listening to it the other nite when i picked him up from work. He was in the middle of a sentence as he got into the car, and he just stopped and stared at the cd player
"YOU are listening to THIS?" he said..."Willingly? I have NEVER Known anyone over the age of 20 that listens to this. Lyn, you have just become my new hero"
So there you have it, i am the hero to a 17 year old boy 'cuz i don't mind his music.
posted by LJE at
11:36 a.m.
July 12, 2006
i guess i'm it.
Well, i noticed on Lorianne's blog that i've been tagged for another one of these blog-tag thingies, so i might as well give it a run since i seem to have a dearth of blog-worthy topics as of late. So here goes:
RULES: Once you've been tagged, you have to write a blog with 8 facts/things/habits about yourself, saying who tagged you. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. No tag backs.
1. When my hands are spread out flat, i can curl my pinkie fingers in towards my palm without moving my other fingers. Try it - it seems like you should be able to .... I only know 2 other people that can do this, my dad and a guy i dated in college.
2. I cannot eat an apple without first pulling the crunchy-flaky-butt end-ickyness out with my fingernail. Nor can i eat cut up strawberries at my mom's house without first going through and making sure there are no teeny green bits of the strawberry tops lurking amidst the fresh cut berries.
3. Hmmm...this is hard....things about me. Interesting things about me...things about me that may be a surprise to you and may actually teach you something new about me......hmmmmm....things that you may care to learn about me.....wow, that all sounds so self-centred........better derail this thought train....
4. I cannot order at a restaurant without reading the entire menu, making a short-list, and then weighing the pros and cons of each option both rationally, and by answering the question "how would eating this dish make me feel" and then considering health-related, cost-related and feeling-related feelings towards a certain option (can you tell eating is an emotional event for me?) - the only exception to this rule is if i go to a place that i know well to satisfy a specific craving, or having decided in advance what to have before i get there (i.e., ordering my "standard dish" at a given place)
5. up until recently (about 3-5 years ago), i have always had a pretty low self-esteem and been very very afraid of rejection and of not being included in a group and fitting in. Now it's better, but every so often, i still have times where i feel like the biggest loser and feel that i just annoy people when i'm around them. Sigh.
6. Every time i start wondering what i'm going to do in my future in terms of a career/job/life work/volunteering, i come back to the same place. I have realized that there's lots of things i could do and can do, and do well, but there are only a couple things that inspire me, that consume me, that i am passionate and invigorated by doing....and those things would be music, and helping people - teens in particular.
7. One of the hugest and most important lessons i have learned in life is that marriage is good, but it is hard work. Definitely not something you can just put yourself in neutral and coast through. It takes time and effort, choices of patience and selflessness in order to keep it growing stronger. And i have also learned that it goes in cycles.....things will be really good....then they will be really challenging. Kinda like life in general, i guess.
8. Someone asked me recently what my biggest accomplishment in my life is, and i found it to be a very hard question to answer.... i guess i feel like i'm still working towards and waiting for the big things to come, maybe i'm not giving the little but still important things enough credit. Or maybe the things i think are important accomplishments are not really measureable and recognized as such....i could list my piano stuff, i could mention the university graduation awards i got, but really, those things are not what i would consider my biggest accomplishments. Hmmmm....
9. (ok, i know it's supposed to be only 8, but really, #3 isn't really a fact/thing/habit about myself, unless you take it as an indicator of my overly analytical and self-critical nature). I have a secret passion for singing, and used to sing in public, on stages, with my family, and alone a couple times, but then in high school, my friends would tease me when i sang, so now i'm very self-conscious about it. I can stay on key, i can sing harmony, but i don't think i have a very nice voice at all, and don't think that others like to hear it, so i only sing when alone or in groups (so noone can identify just my voice), and i don't sing on stages in public any more. But i love to sing.
I already said that Lorianne tagged me, and i'm not gonna tag specific people, do it if you'd like to.
RULES: Once you've been tagged, you have to write a blog with 8 facts/things/habits about yourself, saying who tagged you. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. No tag backs.
1. When my hands are spread out flat, i can curl my pinkie fingers in towards my palm without moving my other fingers. Try it - it seems like you should be able to .... I only know 2 other people that can do this, my dad and a guy i dated in college.
2. I cannot eat an apple without first pulling the crunchy-flaky-butt end-ickyness out with my fingernail. Nor can i eat cut up strawberries at my mom's house without first going through and making sure there are no teeny green bits of the strawberry tops lurking amidst the fresh cut berries.
3. Hmmm...this is hard....things about me. Interesting things about me...things about me that may be a surprise to you and may actually teach you something new about me......hmmmmm....things that you may care to learn about me.....wow, that all sounds so self-centred........better derail this thought train....
4. I cannot order at a restaurant without reading the entire menu, making a short-list, and then weighing the pros and cons of each option both rationally, and by answering the question "how would eating this dish make me feel" and then considering health-related, cost-related and feeling-related feelings towards a certain option (can you tell eating is an emotional event for me?) - the only exception to this rule is if i go to a place that i know well to satisfy a specific craving, or having decided in advance what to have before i get there (i.e., ordering my "standard dish" at a given place)
5. up until recently (about 3-5 years ago), i have always had a pretty low self-esteem and been very very afraid of rejection and of not being included in a group and fitting in. Now it's better, but every so often, i still have times where i feel like the biggest loser and feel that i just annoy people when i'm around them. Sigh.
6. Every time i start wondering what i'm going to do in my future in terms of a career/job/life work/volunteering, i come back to the same place. I have realized that there's lots of things i could do and can do, and do well, but there are only a couple things that inspire me, that consume me, that i am passionate and invigorated by doing....and those things would be music, and helping people - teens in particular.
7. One of the hugest and most important lessons i have learned in life is that marriage is good, but it is hard work. Definitely not something you can just put yourself in neutral and coast through. It takes time and effort, choices of patience and selflessness in order to keep it growing stronger. And i have also learned that it goes in cycles.....things will be really good....then they will be really challenging. Kinda like life in general, i guess.
8. Someone asked me recently what my biggest accomplishment in my life is, and i found it to be a very hard question to answer.... i guess i feel like i'm still working towards and waiting for the big things to come, maybe i'm not giving the little but still important things enough credit. Or maybe the things i think are important accomplishments are not really measureable and recognized as such....i could list my piano stuff, i could mention the university graduation awards i got, but really, those things are not what i would consider my biggest accomplishments. Hmmmm....
9. (ok, i know it's supposed to be only 8, but really, #3 isn't really a fact/thing/habit about myself, unless you take it as an indicator of my overly analytical and self-critical nature). I have a secret passion for singing, and used to sing in public, on stages, with my family, and alone a couple times, but then in high school, my friends would tease me when i sang, so now i'm very self-conscious about it. I can stay on key, i can sing harmony, but i don't think i have a very nice voice at all, and don't think that others like to hear it, so i only sing when alone or in groups (so noone can identify just my voice), and i don't sing on stages in public any more. But i love to sing.
I already said that Lorianne tagged me, and i'm not gonna tag specific people, do it if you'd like to.
posted by LJE at
3:50 p.m.
July 07, 2006
parenting 101...oh wait, maybe more like 801
...what we're experiencing right now really is more of a graduate level course than 101. I imagine 101 would involve a lot of dirty diaper intervention training and what different cries mean.
It's been a very interesting journey to this point, learning on the fly as Anthony and I parent a 17 year old together. Interestingly, many of the things we talked about before we even got married regarding how we want to raise our kids have actually come into play in these situations.
So far, i have realized that Anthony and I have been pretty good about communicating the pertinent information about the logistics - when Leon tells one of us when he'll be home or what his plans are, when he needs a ride, etc., we are pretty good about letting the other know. And we also are able to communicate quite well about what we need to discuss with Leon in terms of what we will ask him to do around the house on a given day, what we need to talk to him about doing or not doing as we develop new household schedules/routines, and we even made it through our first situation of having to provide some consequences/discipline for an incident that occurred.
But yeah, it's been quite the learning curve, and there has been tension and frustration involved, probably from all three of us as we navigate these new relationships.
But overall, this is a blast! We really enjoy having Leon around, being able to give him help and guidance at this stage of his life, having him come to us to talk about everything .... family, faith, friends, decisions, girls....the usual teenager stuff. I know it's a slightly different situation since we do not have 17 years of history with this kid, but i honestly can say i am SO looking forward to having my own teenagers.
Funny incident from earlier this week...Leon came home quite late one evening, and Anthony had gone to bed, i was getting ready for bed and Leon asked if we could talk for a bit.....so we ended up staying up very late just talking about what's going on in his life, then about 1:15am, Leon instructed me to go to bed....he was like "Well, you work in the morning, and you have to get up at 6am so you can do your hair and like blowdry it for half an hour or whatever, so you'd better go to sleep now so you're not tired for work tomorrow." It was such an unexpected role reversal that i just had to laugh!
It's been a very interesting journey to this point, learning on the fly as Anthony and I parent a 17 year old together. Interestingly, many of the things we talked about before we even got married regarding how we want to raise our kids have actually come into play in these situations.
So far, i have realized that Anthony and I have been pretty good about communicating the pertinent information about the logistics - when Leon tells one of us when he'll be home or what his plans are, when he needs a ride, etc., we are pretty good about letting the other know. And we also are able to communicate quite well about what we need to discuss with Leon in terms of what we will ask him to do around the house on a given day, what we need to talk to him about doing or not doing as we develop new household schedules/routines, and we even made it through our first situation of having to provide some consequences/discipline for an incident that occurred.
But yeah, it's been quite the learning curve, and there has been tension and frustration involved, probably from all three of us as we navigate these new relationships.
But overall, this is a blast! We really enjoy having Leon around, being able to give him help and guidance at this stage of his life, having him come to us to talk about everything .... family, faith, friends, decisions, girls....the usual teenager stuff. I know it's a slightly different situation since we do not have 17 years of history with this kid, but i honestly can say i am SO looking forward to having my own teenagers.
Funny incident from earlier this week...Leon came home quite late one evening, and Anthony had gone to bed, i was getting ready for bed and Leon asked if we could talk for a bit.....so we ended up staying up very late just talking about what's going on in his life, then about 1:15am, Leon instructed me to go to bed....he was like "Well, you work in the morning, and you have to get up at 6am so you can do your hair and like blowdry it for half an hour or whatever, so you'd better go to sleep now so you're not tired for work tomorrow." It was such an unexpected role reversal that i just had to laugh!
posted by LJE at
1:52 p.m.
July 04, 2006
It's a small world after all....
Funny when the blog world and the "real" world collide..... two incidents from the past week:
First, at Reuben's funeral, I was looking around before everything got started, and lo and behold, there was Becky and her husband coming in - now, knowing they're pretty tight with Randy & Lauralea, it shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it did kinda take me off guard a bit. Didn't get a chance to say hi, so if you come across this Becky, Hi!
And then the more random of the two...
Went up to Kadesh (at Christopher lake) on Saturday to visit Arleen, and she and I decided to go swim for a bit....there were a bunch of other people there because it was camp open house day, and i noticed a woman about my age, on her own with two young kids. Normally this wouldn't have caught my attention, but then as I looked at the very cute kids, i thought "Hey, I recognize that little guy! But from where???" After a few seconds of brain processing, i realized it was Luke.....who could miss that cute face? And Madeline looked somewhat familiar, but a bit different than the pics I had seen. So, by deduction, i realized that the woman standing before me was Dixie... THE Dixie....from Vandermeander - one of the most entertaining and "real" blogs I have read....I've lurked (and sometimes delurked) there for probably about a year or so. So i went up and said "You're Dixie, right? I read your blog!" We chatted for a few minutes, and it was nice to meet someone in person that I have only "known" in blogworld to this point.
First, at Reuben's funeral, I was looking around before everything got started, and lo and behold, there was Becky and her husband coming in - now, knowing they're pretty tight with Randy & Lauralea, it shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it did kinda take me off guard a bit. Didn't get a chance to say hi, so if you come across this Becky, Hi!
And then the more random of the two...
Went up to Kadesh (at Christopher lake) on Saturday to visit Arleen, and she and I decided to go swim for a bit....there were a bunch of other people there because it was camp open house day, and i noticed a woman about my age, on her own with two young kids. Normally this wouldn't have caught my attention, but then as I looked at the very cute kids, i thought "Hey, I recognize that little guy! But from where???" After a few seconds of brain processing, i realized it was Luke.....who could miss that cute face? And Madeline looked somewhat familiar, but a bit different than the pics I had seen. So, by deduction, i realized that the woman standing before me was Dixie... THE Dixie....from Vandermeander - one of the most entertaining and "real" blogs I have read....I've lurked (and sometimes delurked) there for probably about a year or so. So i went up and said "You're Dixie, right? I read your blog!" We chatted for a few minutes, and it was nice to meet someone in person that I have only "known" in blogworld to this point.
posted by LJE at
9:12 a.m.
