Saturday, May 29, 2010

blanket for friend's baby



Here's newest blanket for my friend "C" for the impending arrival of "G". Is that anonymous enough?

changes to blog

Like most bloggers, I've had quite a bit of comment spam lately, so I've changed my posting profile to require subscription to my humble blog and comment moderation. I like friends, so sign up if you like me :)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

we caved...



...and bought a video game player -- we chose a PS3. For YEARS we have said we wouldn't. Neither of us grew up with video games (well, I did win a Nintendo - the grey box that played the original Super Mario Brothers - on Wheel of Fortune in 1991, but rarely used it).

Ingrid and Ilsa are having a blast playing "Super Rub-A-Dub". Leave it to me to find a game based upon rubber duckies. Chad is enjoying shooting at bad guys (too loud for me...I leave the room).

coupla neato blogs

Stumbled upon a great blog: Hist-Fic-Chick -- a blog lovingly devoted to historical fiction.


...and...

Enchanted Serenity of Period Films, probably one of the best blog titles I have ever read.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

friday fringe recap on saturday...

Wow. Just wow! J.J., you did yourself proud. The Fringe finale was spectacular! Peter came back of his own will, hidden feelings were finally revealed, Walter and Belly had a reunion, identities were switched, dirigibles are the mode of air travel in the alternate universe, and we learned that Sam Weiss (bowling alley owner) might be an ally or an enemy thanks to an anagram in Walternate and Belly's mothballed Harvard lab (as well as the glyphs which spelled out, "W E I S S"). We learned that William Bell was the one who removed part of Walter's brain (supposedly at Walter's request). Alternate Olivia's Mom is alive, but her sister died while giving birth. Still no clues regarding our Olivia's Dad. And Astrid bakes when she is nervous - pie.

One of my favorite things from Part II of the finale was the Map of the Alternate United States - there are 48 stars on the Alternate Flag, and there are major changes to the geography of the AUS...One of my favorite fansites, FringeTelevision has posted a high res map (I don't want to copy and paste the image as it belongs to them. Here's a link.) A chunk of California is gone. Washington State is "Southern British Columbia" (perhaps this is a nod to the fact that the show is filmed in Vancouver, BC); Seattle and Olympia, SBC appear to be quarantined, too - sorry alternate family of mine. North and South Dakota have merged into "Dakota". Texas has split into North and South Texas. Looks like the general Albuquerque-Los-Alamos, New Mexico area has been quarantined. So has Orlando, Florida...as one fan commented -- "no wonder they're so cranky in the alternate universe -- there's no Disneyworld." The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is gone (presumably part of Canada). There are other changes that are subtle.

A few of my pet predictions:

AlterCharlie is going to help our Olivia escape back into our reality. He seems quite disturbed by the direction his job in AlterFringe is taking - I think he could be sympathetic to our Olivia.

Peter is going to figure out very quickly that AlterOlivia is not "his" Olivia -- she's just too brash. Plus, she has that obvious tatoo on her neck. But, AlterOlivia is going to go down fighting and do some damage. Concurrently, OurOlivia's niece, Ella will figure it out quickly as well.

Olivia's cortexiphan is going to kick-in while she is in that awful sensory deprivation cell. Fear, after all, is how it kicked in last time -- havoc will ensue.

Peter's AlterMom might be sympathetic, as well, to Olivia's plight and could help her escape. Maybe she'll accompany her back to this side.

I have no theories about Sam Weiss. He's a wildcard. The weird guy in the typewriter shop is strange, too. He seemed perplexed when AlterOlivia asked to use the communication typewriter in back.

Strangely absent (other than the drawing given to Olivia): The Observers. Did they want Our Olivia to remain on that side? Perhaps she has to do something -- is she still The Gatekeeper?

I'm glad I'll be very occupied this summer with our move -- perhaps it will make time to the premiere fly by. At least I'm not locked in a sensory deprivation cell in an alternate universe while my double is infiltrating this side...now THAT would be a bummer.

Friday, May 21, 2010

fun google stuff

Open a Google search page, wait a minute, and you can play PacMan... (I'm sure this will only work on Friday 5/21).

Secondly, vote for kid-created special Google homepage logos divided by age. There are some mighty talented children out there...

Thursday, May 20, 2010

spoilery fringe stuff

Watch if you dare... Season 2 Finale of Fringe is tonight!

credo vs. paedo-baptism

I'm gettin' all theological this Thursday morning. For the record, I'm a credo-baptist (believer's baptism, the side that MacArthur takes).

Recently on the Renewing Your Mind radio program, R. C. Sproul and John MacArthur debated the cases for infant and believer's baptism over a few broadcasts - and amazingly, they remain congenial friends even though they have a major theological difference. See Friends? It can be done!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

something from nothing...

Interesting blog post by Gene E. Veith:

what a way to start the day...

Mr. BikeMan got up earlier than usual this morning, around 5:00 am. He went in to check on the girls before his shower, because he had heard a suspicious "thump". Ingy was sound asleep in the top bunk, but Ilsa was GONE -- her bedsheets were messy. He came running back into our room, woke me up and said firmly, "Get your clothes on, Ilsa is not in her bed and I can't find her anywhere." Our home is only 1700 square feet, and there just aren't many places to hide. We know them all.

Panic mode. We start calling everywhere. No answer. I look under the bed, but don't see her. Garage. Backyard. No Ilsa.... we looked at least 5 minutes.

Finally, Ingrid calls out, "I hear her..." We hear this very muffled, "yes....." from deep, deep, deep under her bottom bunk. She's cuddled up in the farthest corner back behind a sleeping bag that is stuffed a stuff sack (she's in a tiny ball in the corner), using a flashlight trying to find something under the bed.

I just held her for 5 minutes once we coaxed her out.Oh, sweet Ilsa, NEVER do this again. My mind is racing, going places I don't want it to go. Parents tell you you'll laugh about this sort of thing later...it's going to be a long time before I laugh about this one, if ever.

We don't know why she wouldn't answer, and why she wouldn't come out. DH wasn't happy, but we were relieved. This is the second time she's done in this in 6 months, but we had forgotten about the first time (also under the bed). She got a firm, but loving lecture.

Good grief, what a start to the day.


Friday, May 14, 2010

unauthorized use of government property




The girls got their hands on my stash of free Priority Mail boxes which I use for eBay sales.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

contemporvant

I laughed until I had tears in my eyes...but honestly, it's so sad because it's so true. We're NOT going to look for THIS church when we move.

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Friday, May 7, 2010

please Lord, give me some ambition...

59 days and counting to our move from the Brown Desert to Urban Sprawl and Eastern Green.

I have closets to clean, drawers to empty, toys to sort through, and...NO AMBITION. I wonder, honestly, if I'm just a bit depressed about the whole thing. It's normal, I suppose. Please friends, would you pray that I would have some ambition!? (I'm NOT being facetious...).

I've all but put school on hold for now. Ingy is reading like a champ, and I'm confident that she'll hit 1st grade with a great leg-up, whether it be in a formal school setting, or continuing to home school. My sole Kinder goal was to have her reading reasonably well. Math, writing, formal crafts all happened along the way, but they weren't part of the end-goal. So I'm encouraged to have met that one milestone.

great, but guarded news, about Baby Solomon

My friends Vince and Kirsten have encouraging news to report... Kirsten says it so much better than I could, but to summarize, Solomon's latest EEG shows amazing improvement over last week's post-seizure EEG! All praise to the Lord who heals!!

friday fringe recap - Northwest Passage

I kind of felt at home watching this episode -- being from Washington State, and all. I grinned at Mr. BikeMan when I saw "Snoqualmie, Washington" on the GPS readout in Peter's rental car. Been there a million times. So did anyone else feel the Twin Peaks vibe? Pie and coffee in a small-Cascade-range town coffee shop, out-of-town FBI agent, cute waitress, body dumped by the river, tall evergreens swaying in the wind coming down from the Cascades peaks? And how about that soundtrack by Mike McCready of Pearl Jam? But what was with "Noyo County, Washington?" What in the world does THAT mean? Other than simply being fictitious, it must have some significance - inside joke? a hint?

I know there were lots of hints in this episode, but I was knitting and mostly listening to dialogue...I'll have to re-watch to catch Easter Eggs. I never saw The Observer last night. I bet he was at the crown in the diner, though.

Favorite (Walter) quotes (aren't the best ones always uttered by Walter?):

"Potassium bromate! This supermarket is trying to kill us!" - Walter, reading the label for toaster pastries (He must've just watched Food, Inc... LOL)

Walter: "What am I going to do? Call you every time I run out of pudding pops? ... I need to learn to care for myself. If Peter doesn't come back, they'll send me back to the hospital."
Olivia: "I won't let that happen."
Walter: "Thank you ... and I do need pudding pops."

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

10 reasons to quit facebook

If you've been following me for a while, you know how much I truly despise Facebook. A while back, I heard the perfect description of Facebook as "drive-by-friendship"... you wave at your friend as you drive by, but no real relationship is maintained.

So I did IT today. I deleted my account. "Wait," you say, "you can't delete, you can only deactivate." Well, that's just not true...! "They" just don't want you to know how. It's very easy, and while it does take 20 days to take effect, I believe I have successfully done it.

Here is an excellent editorial/education on the assault on privacy that is Facebook.

If you aren't interested in knowing the why, and just want to know HOW TO DELETE, here's link.

how to write a truly awful worship song...link

This is a spot-on blog post by Mark Altrogge about the dubious talent of writing a bad worship song. (I'm Stephanie J. in the comments, by the way.)

I get frustrated by church worship music with a melody that is impossible for the congregation to sing, therefore rendering the worship song as PERFORMANCE by a WORSHIP BAND on the stage. That is not congregational singing. That is a concert.

There are many poorly written hymns as well -- with registers so high that only a coloratura soprano at The Met could sing. But generally speaking, the reason hymns are so easy for a congregation to sing, is because the melodies are EASY to sing. There are many modern hymns being written as well. Check out gettymusic.com.

Monday, May 3, 2010

countdown to the big move

It's almost here again - the dreaded/wished-for 3 year mark. Military families will understand this sentiment - I start to feel itchy around 2 1/2 years after we've been somewhere. I'm a little nervous - it's a general sense of apprehension more than anything else.

This move is Eastward (let's keep it general...); for the first time, we have not been posted west of the Mississippi. We'll be almost as far from our families as one can be in the continental US, and our parents are aging. This move means a 5 hour (minimum) airplane ride back home to Seattle.

This move is causing a keen sense of loss to our girls. Last time we moved, they were clueless -- it was just a big adventure and meant new toys for the car ride (though they did feel sad about leaving their friends).

This move, Ingy Badingy will be starting first grade in the fall (we are considering public school this time rather than homeschooling - another source of apprehension for me).

This move, we own a home -- and we have to rent it out.

This move, we are renting a U-Haul for our nicest furniture -- we don't want to see a repeat of our last military move. The movers treated our (nice) stuff like garbage.

This move will mean separate vehicles for Mr. and Me. He will take charge of the U-Haul, while pulling one car, and I will drive the wagon with the girls -- with a movie player and large library of DVDs ready -- for my sanity's sake.

It gets harder every time, although I will not miss the heat, dust and desert creepy crawlers.

So, as of today, it's 63 days and counting. Off to clean another closet.
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