31 December 2005

A quiz that made the rounds a while ago

20 years ago I was: living in Wheaton, but can’t really remember it, except that I was in Miss Hyatt’s (sp?) class.
15 years ago I was: in Portland. Eighth grade is hell.
10 years ago I was: waiting tables at an Indonesian restaurant.
5 years ago I was: in Turkey; Cappadocia, to be exact.
1 year ago I was: doing nothing in particular.
Yesterday I was: puttering around my house in Visalia.
5 snacks I enjoy: Starbucks mocha light frappucino, Peanut M&Ms, fresh fruit, Cheetos, es cendol.
5 things I would do with a million dollars: Pay taxes, donate to Biola’s science division or a mission organization (can’t decide which), pay off student loans, pay off house mortgage, put the rest in the bank.
5 places I would run away to: Italy, West Papua, Caribbean island, south of France, England.
5 things I would never wear: Ugg boots with a skirt (!!!), anything orange, purple and red together (not even when I’m an old woman), high heels with ankle socks, my heart on my sleeve.
5 favorite TV programs: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Stargate, Futurama, The Simpsons (that’s not even including the classic TV shows I love; and I snuck in two shows for the price of one with Stargate).
5 bad habits: Eating junk food, complaining, avoiding homework, reading tabloid news on Yahoo, not replying to emails or phone calls promptly enough.
5 biggest joys: Off the top of my head: My cats (don’t laugh), my hubby, sunshine, reading a good book, listening to and/or making music.
5 favourite toys: laptop, iPod mini, flute, piano, DDR.
5 fictional characters I would date: Not many. Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice (and not because of any of the movies). Dr. Daniel Jackson from Stargate SG-1. Contrary to popular belief, I would NOT date William the Bloody (aka Spike) from Buffy, because we would be utterly incompatible. I would totally date Wesley from Buffy/Angel, though.

26 December 2005

Quotes

Mike, while we were obsessing about our puzzle:
"We are the weird cousins!"

My mother-in-law makes me smile:
She came up to me last night and said, "Doesn't my Christmas tree look like a whore?" I was rather taken aback, but had to agree that with its flouncy scarlet ribbons and bright lights, it did bear something of a resemblance to a fancy Victorian hooker.

Merry Xmas! Or Robonukkah!

Well, we had a full day of celebration. It was very pleasant, overall.

I got lots of nice presents, for which I am selfishly grateful.
Jeff gave me: Serenity DVD, iTunes gift card, and Dance Dance Revolution.
I also got Hello Kitty house slippers (from Mom and Dad), a space heater (from Rosalee and Olaf, Jeff's grandparents), a book on painting and interior decoration, a gift card to a mall, bath salts, a little paper doll, and sewing machine accessories (all from Debbie and Jerry).
Jeff and I got a Borders gift card and pictures of their wedding (from Rob and Candace).
Candace and I got a special gift from Santa: Feely bears! This won't make sense to anybody, probably, but Debbie collects black bear figurines, and there are a set that are labeled Jerry, Debbie, Jeffrey, and Robby. Candace and I were at their house the other day, and were saying that we needed bears with name tags, too. So we received some cute bears, with name tags on ribbons (Santa even remembered that Candace's favorite color is red, and mine is blue). They'll live at the Feely house with the rest of the Feely bears.
Dan gave pretty much everybody the universal green card.

When I saw my friends earlier in the week, I provided them with gifts, as well as receiving some.
Elizabeth gave me Stitch boxer shorts and little Stitch figurines.
Sara gave me the full set of Thin Man films on DVD!
Christina gave me an awesome antique map weekly calendar for 2o06.
Side note: Sara and Christina are both leaving tomorrow for a fabulous trip to the Holy Land. Yay! But I can't wait to see them again, and hear all of their adventures and see their pictures.

Last night, I also received some graduation gifts from some family: a sewing machine (!) and some funding for the purchase of my guava tree. So now I have no excuse for putting off learning to sew. I look forward to creating for myself plenty of CUTE CLOTHES.

If I've forgotten anything about presents, I apologize in advance. I know I sound materialistic, but I really am just so blessed by all the useful things I received.

One more thing I just remembered: Mike gave me a gift that was actually from Michael James (Kirkpatrick), and my receipt of it is a very long and involved story. Michael James is a dear family friend, who is nearly exactly Mike's age, and we've known him since he was 10 years old or so. So what I got was a pictorial biography of Audrey Hepburn, because I love old movies, and I'm going to keep it as a coffee table book, even though I don't much care for Audrey Hepburn.

Anyway, Jeff made a lovely meal (supplemented by contributions from Debbie and Rosalee) of prime rib, plus some barbecued ribs and some chicken for moi. It was pretty tasty, I must say. We hung around doing a puzzle, and in the early evening, Jeff and I made a big bonfire of excess BoMs. Jeff went to the Yoshimoto Christmas party for a few hours, and I stayed and finished the bonfire (can't leave the wonderful fire unattended), and then worked the puzzle with my family.

Did I mention puzzles? My family are puzzle-mad. We always have been. We're weird that way. Okay, we're weird in a lot of ways, but the puzzle thing is quite obvious. We love puzzles. We work on them diligently, and become frustrated if we don't have good progress, and when anyone places a piece, the rest of us will clap and cheer and hum "Stars and Stripes Forever" or some other triumphant tune.

The Barbers (Steve, Betsy, and Josh) came to spend the night, and they have already gone to bed, being very tired from their long day.

Mike taught Dan and me to play Texas Hold'em poker, and now Jeff, Dan, and Mike are playing while I relax with my laptop.

I really did have a merry Christmas: I spent time with all my family, ate plenty of chocolate, played with fire, learned to play poker, and then spent some time with myself.

25 December 2005

Hey! Unto you a child is born!

The families went to a Christmas Eve service last night. There were the usual hymns sung and Bible passages read. The congregation joined in reading some of the Scripture, including the familiar verses from Luke 2: "And there were shepherds in the fields, watching over their flocks by night; and the angel appeared before them, and the Glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified."* Dan and I simultaneously started snickering and looked at one another. You see, many years ago, the two of us were in a play together, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Dan played Ollie Herdman, and I played the little boy who said, "I don't want to be a shepherd, because Gladys Herdman hits too hard." The above-mentioned lines of scripture always bring up memories of Rachel Bryan yelling, "Shazam! Out of the black night, with horrible vengeance..."
Never a dull moment in church.

YOU KNOW you've been studying too much historical theology when you're singing "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing", and when you come to the lines "Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity", you immediately begin thinking about the Cappadocian fathers, Nestorian and Monophysite heresies, and the various theories on how the incarnation actually works...

As a final note, you can make quite an amusing hobby of observing the bizarre punctuation utilized by those who make overhead slides for worship music in church. It usually makes no sense at all.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a lovely year!

*Deb's rough translation.

21 December 2005

Good news

Well, the job news is looking up, at least. I had an interview this afternoon, for a position as a math teacher at the local private Christian school. I really like the administrator, and the staff and faculty that I have met. It seems like the timing is right, and I really do want to get into teaching, and I would like to help people learn math. My main concern is that I need to make sure to earn enough money to make ends meet, and this position is basically temporary (early spring through the end of the year). However, the school really seems to like me, and they certainly need to fill the position.

Jeff has an interview tomorrow, for a system administrator position with a large citrus distribution company. I am praying that he'll get a great job, as a special Christmas gift. If this is the one the Lord has for him, I'm praying that Jeff will get it and be encouraged.
Moved to a new blog, to represent my move to a new life!