Cow Appreciation Day

Chick-Fil-A hosted a "dress like me, get free chicken" day.
We walked in and the kids said, "Moo!" as I asked the manager, "Did we put in enough effort?"

The kids enjoyed a free breakfast and playtime this morning.

Favorite spot in my house

Over the past 8 months, I have fallen more and more in love with my house. Even though it was built only 20 years ago, it has an old soul. I love to sit and surf and sip coffee at the table while I oversee backyard playtime.
There are new discoveries all the time as well.
In April, I looked out the window everyday to see blooms emerge on my wisteria vine.
And, I discovered I have a peony and a cluster of white daisies (white daisies are the signature flower of all the women in my family).

Life seems so busy most of the time. Remember to sit and discover and be thankful.

Saint Pamela's Feast Day

Last summer, I shared In Memorarium, about our memory tradition remembering the life of my mom - Pamela.
Since the 21st of June was Fathers day, the kids and I spent the weekend with my dad. Knowing that my sister was going to come visit us in Kansas, I waited with the intention of sharing the Cheescake Factory tradition with her. I took off work Tuesday and Dana and I drove down to the Plaza to window shop and enjoy uninterrupted time - just the two of us. We walked over to CF for lunch.
It was a delightful time of memory sharing with a few tears.

We ordered Mom a cosmo and gave thanks to God for the time we did have with her, for the privilege of knowing such an extraordinary person.
Here's to you mom- we still miss you desperately.

Nothing says, "I'm a Texan" like....

Proclaiming it on the back of your trailer.

This photo was taken on our 36 hour road trip to Lubbock for Creighton's high school reunion.

Thinker/Feeler

I had an interesting comment thread on my facebook wall. The Myers-Briggs personality inventory was kicked around a bit. We talked about the differences between Thinker and Feeler.
MBTI says that this is how people make decisions: Either as a thinker: logical, rational and based on what is believed to be "right", or as a feeler: subjective, emotional and based on how one feels about the situation.

I am a major FEELER.
Situational Ethics probably to a fault.
I don't give up on people.
Empathy and compassion rule.
I trust my gut and care about how actions affect the hearts of others.

I really appreciate my husband, a THINKER, who reminds me that our God set the law into place for a reason. He reminds me of the value of being realistic, objective and practical.

Was Jesus a thinker or a feeler?

New idea for Production Staff photos

Is this cheesy?
I like the idea of the video monitor since we are the technical arts group. It may be on the verge of cheese but I think we're going to go with this - or something similar. Your thought?

Reflections on Father's Day weekend with dad

As I reflect on my time at the ranch, I have tried to put my finger on what is going on in my heart while I am there.
The picture I have is Me looking down at a version of me - or maybe it's the other way around - a version of me looking down at the real Me. I don't know which.

Being there should be relaxing and restful. The beauty and purity of being out in the country does calm my soul. The wide-open space, the delightful smells that waft through the clean air, the gorgeous view.... I love the thought of it.

However, it seems that when I am with my dad, his opinion of me takes over, and I move around with angst. I fear disappointing him - particularly when it comes to my kids.
He and his wife didn't have kids together. He was not around us much growing up either, so they have very little experience with small children. They do however, have lots of opinions about how children should behave. If my kids delay in obeying or make a bad choice, I freak out because of what they might think of me. I kept praying when I was there that God would help me release myself from anyone's opinion but my heavenly Father's. I want to be excellent - to give my whole self to God and not be affected by the opinions of man (not just any man - - my dad).

I feel like I turn into an ugly, impatient witch-mom when I am there. I had to apologize to my kids on the car ride home. Told them I wasn't very patient and gentle with them while we were there. Of course, they were like, "its ok mom."

They are always extravagant with grace and forgiveness.

When the kids were younger (little bitty), I simply felt clumsy and awkward. But now I often feel inadequate. I go through seasons of success and balance with the kids where I feel like I am shepherding them well. And then out of the blue - I'm out of control with no balance. Herding cats. Deaf cats. Cats with no common sense.

I could go on and on.

I'm not flogging myself about it. Just want to articulate these reflections so that I can continue to build awareness of certain tendencies. I just hate it when my flesh rears its nasty head. What's so good though - is that it reminds me of my need for God's transforming love, grace and power.

My Wisteria!

So happy to discover I have a wisteria vine in my back yard.
I have had a love affair with wisteria since I first moved to Dallas in 98.
Here is a smidge of God's beauty - right outside my upstairs window.

Getting over myself

In march, I wrote a post titled, "Those People". These 2.5 months I had all but demonized the neighbor who we unaffectionately named, "deputy-no-bark".
Today when I got home, my children we over at his house, playing perfectly nice with his children. I was forced to make a decision. Do I watch out my back window, waiting for my kids to come back? Or, do I grow a pair and go over to their house and introduce myself.
You'll be proud to know that I watched from my back window. Just kidding. I swallowed my judgemental-self-ness and walked over there.
Not only was deputy no-bark friendly, he invited me into their home to show me around! His wife and I chatted about church and I invited her to Church of the Resurrection and we all had a jolly old time.

Glad to say that we're no longer "Those People".

My friend likes to kill chipmunks

I shared my loathe for bunnies with my friend Twila (whose name has been changed to protect the fact that she is a ruthless killer).
She shared with me the pre-meditated fashion in which she traps and kills the pesky chipmunks around her yard.
After calling pest control and getting nowhere on her chipmunk problem. She decided to google up herself another option.

Twila's recipe for a dead chipmunk:

Ingredients: 5 gallon bucket. A long 2x4. Sunflower seeds.

Fill the bucket with water (about half full so the chipmunk won't know what you up to).
Lean the 2x4 on the edge of the bucket. This gives the chipmunk easy access to the top. Drizzle the sunflower seeds all the way up the board and atop the water in the bucket. Creating a layer of floating sunflower seeds makes the sucker-chipmunk think he will be able to stand on it.

The chipmunk will blissfully enjoy your sunflower seed gift. He will get caught up in the moment. You can imagine his surprise when he plunks into the watery grave you have prepared for him!

Incidentally, chipmunks are terrible swimmers. "They drown instantly", remarks Twila, "unlike mice who can swim for hours."

I cut me some bangs this morning.

Woke up with Whitby's voice ringing in my ears, "Mommy, you have stripes on your forehead".
So I went to the desk and pulled out a pair of scissors. Cover the stripes, I will.
No big deal, they are only evident when my hair is straight.

Important Reminder

I want to remind everyone of the importance and awesomeness of corn skewers.
We grilled corn the other day and as if it wasn't amazing enough... we busted out the corn skewers and my children just WENT TO TOWN!
These things are amazing.
I own the vintage set I inherited from my mom. But, I saw some at Hyvee in the "seasonal" aisle.

Creighton's Corn on the Cob recipe:

Foil.
Olive Oil.
Salt (we use Kosher).

Fill the base of a pyrex (or container of your choice) with olive oil and LOTS of Kosher salt. Spin each cob in the oil/salt mixture and then wrap it in foil. Toss it in the grill and OH MY...prepare for transcendence.

Ignatius: Ultimate Youth Pastor

Renaming my blogroll

My friend Shannon pointed out that now with my new disdain for bunnies, I might want to consider changing the name of my blogroll formerly known as "trails I chase rabbits down".
For now, it will be simply called "blogroll".

Please submit your suggestions.
Here is what I am looking for:

1. Something that suggests intentionality and determination, and at the same time, open-ended spontaneity.
2. Something tangential (not unlike rabbit trailing) because it is descriptive of my blogging habits, ie. no rhyme or reason - one blog leads me to another and that one to another, and so on.
3. Something that is active, and fun to do.

GO!

Dog Funeral

This is the liturgy we used during Starbucks funeral. It was very meaningful. Copy/paste it somewhere because you'll never know when you might need it!!


0 God, you created all that is, and you love all that you have made:
we come to you this day in grief and with thanksgiving. We grieve the death of our beloved Starbuck, who has been our companion on the way, and we thank you for the gift of his presence among us as an effective sign of the richness of your creation and of the generosity of your love; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Most merciful God, comfort us in our grief. Surround us with your love, that we may not be overwhelmed by our loss, but have confidence in your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

One or more of the following or other appropriate passages from Holy Scripture may be read. A reading from non-biblical Christian literature may follow the biblical Reading(s).

Genesis 1:1-3; 19-25(26-31) (God creates all living creatures)

Genesis 2:18-20a(20b-25) (Adam names the animals)

After the Reading(s), the Officiant or other person appointed may give a brief homily. After or in place of the homily, those who are in attendance may be invited to speak words of remembrance or consolation.

The following form of the Prayers of the People may be used, or other appropriate prayers may be said.

In peace, let us pray to God.

0 God our Maker, from the beginning you have permitted us, the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, to name our brother and sister creatures of earth, sea, and sky: We commend Starbuck to the arms of your everlasting love. Amen.
As our Savior Christ has taught us, we now pray,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.

Minister and People

0 God of compassion, have mercy upon us; forgive us for our mistreatment and neglect of the creatures with whom we share this garden earth, for what we have done to harm them, and for what we have left undone to help them; we are truly sorry and fully repent, and we ask you to fill us with your Spirit, that we may care for one another, and for all your creatures, according to your will and in the fullness of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Most merciful God, we return to you Starbuck, a creature of your own making and your gift into our lives. We praise you for his beauty and strength, for his grace and power; we thank you for his faithful companionship in our joys and sorrows; and we bless you for the time during which you entrusted him into our care. Receive now Starbuck back into the arms of your everlasting love, 0 Giver of life, through whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ all that is lost to death is restored to life, and in whose Name we pray. Amen.

The Officiant concludes with one of the following:

The grace of our Savior Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen. [2 Corinthians 13:14]
_______________________

And with that: I lay to rest my sweet Starbuck

Smear Campaign

Bunnies are evil, disease infested vermin.
Bunnies are ruthless little murderers disquised in - um - soft, fluffy clothing.
Their pink eyes rage with lust for blood.

All bunnies must die.

Desire for the bunny will lead you down a path toward destruction.
The bunny is the harbinger of death.
Do not fall under their wicked spell.
They will show no mercy.

Never chase the bunny.

Last night I swerved to hit a rabbit.

But I missed.

He was too fast for me and the mini-van.
I talked myself down, "Wow, Nik, chill out - it's just a rabbit."

I realized at that moment, that I have never really experienced the desire for revenge before. But ever since Saturday when a bunny led my pup to his death, I really want to find an unsuspecting bunny and well, um, kill it.

A little harsh, you say?

Well wouldn't you agree that it's a little harsh to lead a dog straight into the grill of an oncoming car? Yeah. That's what I thought.

Murderous, evil little sirens.

It's not your fault...

As I was dragging my dog out of the middle of the road, I watched as the girl (who hit Starbuck) and her mom (who had shown up within minutes) as they sobbed and held each other. Through her tears, the girl said, "I'm so sorry". Her mom repeated, "I'm so sorry this happened."

We exchanged numbers before we left the scene.

Creighton and I later relived the play by play of the accident, and we felt compelled to call the girl. Creighton talked to her briefly.
"I just want you to hear it from us, that this is not your fault." We do not blame you in any way."
She thanked him and said that it meant a lot for him to call.

Then we began to dissect the situation and found ourselves both trying to take the blame. We found all the blame we could muster up and beat ourselves with it for about 5 minutes.

Finally, we came to our senses and concluded that it was a tragic, freak accident of timing.

I think people obsess about finding fault. What is it inside of us that yearns for
someone to pin the blame on? Is it comforting? Does anger help take away some of the pain of loss and sadness?

My heart has joined the thousand, for my friend stopped running today. ~Richard Adams, Watership Down

Our dog Starbuck chased his last bunny this morning at 7:45 am. He took off after it (while out for a quick morning pee), and ran straight into the street. In a split second - the car pummeled him. He never knew what hit him. He died instantly.

Sweet Starbuck, Master fetcher, ball dribbler, protector, patient playmate for the kids, brave leader for his brother Apollo. We will miss you terribly.

We had a sweet funeral for Starbuck today.
Creighton led us in a liturgy. Some neighbors joined us. We all took turns giving Starbuck a special gift and bidding him farewell. We buried him in the backyard underneath a Weeping Cherry tree we purchased for the occasion.
















The thoughts that keep flooding my heart:
1. I am sooooo thankful it wasn't my kid running after that stupid rabbit.
2. In the blink of an eye, our lives can change forever (or end suddenly).
3. It sucks to walk around the house and see two of everything - two beds, two kennels, two dog bowls...
4. Apollo is pretty lost right now.
5. oh, and wow, we sure put a lot of money into that animal(totally worth every cent).

Photo ideas for staff pics

I need ideas for our department staff photos. The plan is to display framed pics in our office. I want them to look Cool-artsy-modern and a little bit tekky.
My friend Jeff is our fotog. We are trying to think of a unique way to shoot (ie. we experimented with a fish eye lens). Or something fun perhaps in post production.

Here is one of his initial ideas:
Don't mind the font - we will go with something different

It reminds me of the A-HA "Take On Me" MTV video.