March Update

It may appear like Arthur and I decided to give up blogging for Lent since it has been a few weeks since our last post.  We didn't.  We just let a few weeks pass without realizing it.  I often wonder how entire weeks slip by without us realizing it.  Our time has been split between a few different activities lately.  We finally got our bikes out on the road after months of pedaling in the basement.  This was wonderful.  Arthur even got to pull out his bike repair skills to fix the brakes on my bike after I road 10 miles with the brake pad rubbing my tire-- hopefully this is the reason I couldn't keep up with Arthur on his speedy new bike.  We have also been watching a new TV series on Netflix--  Alaksa: The Last Frontier.  This series is about an extended family of subsistence homesteaders in Alaska.  It is a mix of the survival shows we like, the environmental documentaries Arthur enjoys, and Alaskan scenery for me.  I have frankly been very glad some evenings that Arthur doesn't haul me out in the dead of winter on a 40 mile snow mobile trek to go ice fishing.  This makes grocery shopping look a little better.  Arthur has also been getting his basketball fix with watching the San Antonio Spurs play a few evenings and going to the state basketball tournament to see my high school alma mater defend their title.  I spent the weekend hanging out with friends from college.  We went on a picnic and hit the driving range.  I was informed by two of my friends who play golf that me swing needs some major work.  As Twain says, "Golf is a good walk spoiled" so I am not going to get too concerned.  Hopefully the upcoming weeks will include more of the same- biking, Alaska TV shows, basketball, and friends.  It could possibly be awhile before another post since we have so much going on.  Omnia Vincit Amor.

Gathering around the table

Recently one of our weekends was full of the noise from drills, saws, and orbital sanders as well as what seemed like about a million pounds of saw dust in the air.  All of my (Alex's) family had gotten together for the weekend to do woodworking projects-- a perfectly normal, "relaxing" weekend gather.  Each of my siblings and their significant others were building a rustic farmhouse style table.  My sister-in-law and my dad had researched plans and styles as well as ordering that materials.  The rest of us showed up with our skills.  I think most participants would agree that the skills brought to the "table" were limited.  My dad and younger brother have been doing woodworking together for years and have built some awesome creations.  I can sand and Arthur built a few projects in shop class in junior high but that is the extent of our experience.

We all gathered in the garage Saturday morning after my dad had to drag us away from breakfast and some lively conversation to get to work.  I spent most of the day sanding with the other gals while Arthur spent sometime using a jig to drill holes and screw the table tops together.  While I don't understand much about woodworking I have always had an appreciation for the amount of planning and detail it takes.  It seems like it is pretty difficult to fix mistakes in woodworking and you can't deviate much from a plan.

Throughout the day there were times when those of us who were less skillful didn't have much to do in the shop.  This meant we got a chance to play with our niece and read books with her.  That evening my mom prepared a "Tropics Day" dinner.  Several years we went to Florida on Spring Break and the years we didn't go we would eat foods like jambalaya, shrimp and steak (or "surf and turf") tropical fruits, and key lime pie which was all on the menu for that evening.  After dinner we went back out to finish the assembly of the first table.  It was exciting to see how all the parts fit together for the finished product.  Of course there is still a lot of sanding and staining to do on that table.  We will have to "table" the work on the other two for another weekend until we get more wood.  My parents may have a few huge tables in their garage for months.

During that weekend for one of the meals we deviated from my family's usual blessing to a prayer that Arthur and my brothers said at their fraternity for meals:

"Be present at our table Lord

Be here and everywhere adored

These mercies bless and pray that we

May live in paradise with thee." 

What a blessing for our weekend of "gathering around the table".  As we were building the tables it was interesting to think about the gatherings that will happen around the three tables in the years to come.  There will probably be some gatherings of our family but then friends, small groups from church, neighbors, strangers, etc.  So much life is often shared sitting around a table sharing a meal.  And in all of that we ask that the Lord be present at our tables.  Omnia Vincit Amor.

Goodbye February, Hello March

Yet another week has come and gone.  It doesn't feel like anything huge happened this week.  I (Alex) did officially decide on Tuesday that I am tired of winter so if it could be on its merry little way that would be wonderful.  I just want to get outside again.  Back in August I posted about the color of caterpillars predicting the weather. I saw these caterpillars while running.  One was dark and furry indicating a cold, snowy winter and the other was black with tinges of orange showing a cold winter with some mild weather mixed in.  I'm not sure which was right.  It has been very cold and quite a bit of snow but there are also been a handful of days that have been very pleasant.  So much for winter and caterpillars.  Of course we were hit some by winter weather again this weekend and I am snuggled up on the couch writing this with a sweater, jacket, and a cozy blanket-- I'm tired of being cold.  We are now also in the transition from the Winter Olympics in February to March Madness in a few weeks.  A good friend and I were talking a few weeks ago how it seems we are always looking forward to something else instead of enjoying where we are at.  Even when we get to an event we have been looking forward we don't enjoy it but start thinking about what is next.  This past week I have been looking forward to spring to get outside but maybe I am missing some of the wonderful indoor moments from this past week.  So here is the recap of the week:

- Wednesday evening we were at Youth Group.  The topic was parents and parenting.  It was interesting to hear middle and high schoolers talk about what they think parents should or shouldn't do.  They were also asked what the hardest part about being a parent is.  Here were some of the answers: caring for children, disciplining children, listening to children, loving your children when they make bad choices.  I looked over at Arthur and told him the the common problem that makes parenting hard is "children".  We then decided that we want a dog.

- A few weeks ago I checked out a cookbook from the library.  I have spent the week cooking up some of the new recipes such as creamy spinach and tomato pasta, ham and swiss crustless quiche, honey wheat biscuits, and apple crumble.  Since I have been cooking every night there as been a lot more dishes for Arthur to wash-- He doesn't seem to mind as long as he gets to eat something a little different.  On my list of firsts in the kitchen this week: sauteing an onion, making biscuits from scratch, and cooking black beans.  The gal who wrote the cookbook originally started with a blog about cooking on a limited budget while still having dishes that were healthy and had some variety. If you're interested here is a link to the blog: www.budgetbytes.com.  

- Friday evening since we were stuck inside we played Settlers of Catan again.  Arthur proclaimed with in the first few minutes of the game that he was pretty sure he was going to win.  I agreed with him but continued to play and realized when he made a comment that he was 1 move from winning I could still possibly win too.  And I did.  He sat there and started at the board in disbelief for a while.  Is there any family out there that can actually play board games and everyone ends up having a good time?  I always play with people who are too competitive so games always end with some heated words or somebody upset.

- This weekend I had a continuing education conference at work on the lumbar spine.  (I am still probably not an expert on back pain and I probably don't know why your back might be hurting-- talk to me in 10 years and maybe I will be a little more confident).  It was my first conference as a real PT instead of a student.  It was suppose to be all day Saturday and Sunday but due to weather Sunday was canceled-- which meant I got part of a weekend.

- While I was sitting in class Arthur went to a library book sale.  Arthur loves books and especially book sales because then he can rescue books who are crying out for a good home.  I might have asked him not to bring too many crying books home since we only have so much room for biochemistry textbooks published in 1980.  Some of his finds include a book on logic, Whitman's Leaves of Grass (it is a "pretty" book so it will at least look good sitting on the bookshelf),  Bulfinches' Greek and Roman Mythology, A book by Winston Churchill on the Boer War, R.C. Sproul's Getting the Gospel and The Amateur Guide to Telescope Making.  He also got to spend time with his family too as they were traveling through the area.

Saturday evening we snuggled up on the couch while it was snowing outside to spend the evening reading together.  Maybe a few more weeks of cold weather won't be so bad.  Omni Vincit Amor.