Reviews and Results

Our neighborhood Foursquare church had more than I bargained for, in all of my denominational ignorance. I felt good things during the service, and the congregation was very friendly, but the worship style was a bit more "out there" than I think we are ready for. Thanks to Natalie for her kind hospitality and tour. The search continues, I don't know what is on the slate for next Sunday, but in the meantime we listen to CD sermons from All Saints, continue to read and pray.

The reading poll results: I did start reading Vanity Fair, at least through the part where Amelia Sedley and Becky Sharp leave Miss Pinkerton's (a couple of pages....), so I suppose that is my next read. This among reading some G.K. Chesterton, gardening books, the paper, etc.

The theme for my son's 2nd birthday gathering is decided: a certain red furry creature with four letters in his name, who likes to laugh a lot. I even let him choose among elephants, Bob the Builder, Blue's Clues, etc., and he chose Elmo. This will be combined with a trip to the Bay Area Discovery Museum to see the Sesame Street exhibit and maybe even meet the red one himself.

The Search is On

Now that we have all of the basics covered, it's time to cover another basic: the Church Search.  I stopped by one down the street from us: Disciples of Christ.  Nice people, true word, but not our scene.  The congregation wasn't quite right (mostly senior), and the music left a not so wonderful taste in my mouth.   Traditional hymns, overly dramatic singing by folks with, well, the heart was there, anyway.  Very hard to handle that song worship compared to All Saints Church, which, thanks to Scott, has very kicking, wonderful, relevant music. 
 
Most of the churches around us are denominational of various flavors: Baptist, Catholic, etc.  Places that are closer to All Saints doctrinally are more outside of town.  There is one in town that might look like the next candidate: Capitol Foursquare Church.  We are totally clueless about denominations, but from the website this looked like an okay vibe.  I will likely scout out for us next Sunday, but I would welcome any input on this.
 
In related home-decorating news, I originally placed our crucifix next to the door, just because that is where the pre-existing nail was that fit the loop.  I wanted it to be over the door for symbolic reasons--walking beside vs. walking beneath (submission, etc.).  Last night D. moved it over the door--he didn't say anything to me about it, just did it.  That meant a lot to me--thanks.

A Vote! of a Different Color

Participation invited! Help me to choose my next fiction read! The last several years have not been good fiction years for me. Not to say that I haven't read good books: Dante Club, Lamb, etc. But, there aren't a lot of them. Much of my reading has been work-related (technology, business/management, etc.), or "life" non-fiction (baby/toddler, gardening, psych/self-help). This is a problem. So, I was casually perusing my bookshelves this morning over breakfast and contemplating what novel to read next. I have plenty of books that I haven't read, so won't be bothered by overdue fines at the library. Yes, I'm a librarian that can't turn in her books on time, so sue me.

The choices:
1) Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray. A Victorian classic. Would take me back to the time period of my English degree. I partly blame my grad school English experience as ruining me for fiction, so this would be a rehabilitative read. Plus, isn't a movie adaptation coming out? [added later: oh yeah, and then there's the Squeeze song]

2) Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Admittedly a different flavor than choice #1, a 20th-century classic. I remember having read this before (or starting it), but don't remember the details beyond the late-in-life love-story. Maybe the lushness of G-Marquez is what I need this summer?

3) a write-in candidate--suggestions of other reads?

Vote by leaving a comment. Caveat: this is not exactly a democratic election. I may go with what you pick (likely), or, I may not. Either way, I will enjoy the discussion.

Slimy Buggers

Did I mention that snails got my cantaloupe plant? One day, 4 youthful stems with healthy sized leaves, the next day, decimated dreariness. I'm ready to try again though, and have found many places that have copper barrier tape. I don't want to use chemicals, and setting out beer would be messy and maybe not totally effective (you can lead a horse to water, etc.).

I'm also ready to tackle the soil composition in our yards. There is an azalea that needs more iron, and lots of clay/hardpan areas.

It will take a while for me to get everything together, and then find the time, but the determination is there.

They Didn't Teach Me This in School

Much of my job these days is spent on things totally not covered by my MLIS program (or much of my formal education, actually). Things like organizing people and things for a big construction project. Our carpet is being replaced by tile, so there's a big effort to get things cleared away, people in temporary workstations so they don't have to get headaches from glue, and shifted back again.

The other topic not so much covered in coursework is personality management. I'm learning through experience how to deal with a variety of personality types, to manage them so they don't go postal (or the individual's own version of postal), and to manage my own personality too as I interact with these folks. It's both personal and political and initiated from the heart as much as the mind. It is very good zen training.

Speaking of zen, my zafu and zabuton came in the mail yesterday. I was too pooped to open the box until this morning. I'm looking forward to carving out some time to sit. Now at least my bottom will be happy. I'm not formulating any goals for this sitting, because I don't know where it will go and don't want to make any promises that I end up not fulfilling. But, my noisy mommy-librarian-manager brain is looking forward to the quiet.

O Canada

For the past couple of years, July 4th weekend/holiday has generally meant a trip to Vancouver, B.C.. For all sorts of reasons. Yes, there's the liberal political statement, a smaller scale Alec Baldwin type comment by the little people. Also, we're not really into fireworks--they're noisy and obnoxious. People generally get noisy and obnoxious when they're about to set off something explosive. So, a Canadian holiday made sense--a three-hour drive from Seattle to Vancouver, a nice friendly welcome from the Canadian border guard at Blaine, WA, and an enjoyable time away from home in an international setting, also close to the nature of English Bay and Stanley Park. Of course, driving back in to the US was another story, with long lines, and long conversations with the border guard about our legitimacy. We were even lectured last year about not having our son's birth certificate with us. Dude, chill, eh?

Since we're living further south this year, a drive to Vancouver is out of the question, so we're faced with experiencing this holiday along with the natives. We've been talking about having Mexican food or East African food. I'm glad for the day off of work, don't get me wrong, but it'd be nice if it were a quiet restful holiday. No such luck, the kids down the street were already starting to set things off last night....

The Big Tomato Meets the Big Apple

Today's highlight is an article in the New York Times about Sacramento. The end of the article mentions that the author is moving to Sacramento from New York. I hope he enjoys it. We have been adjusting from Seattle-living to Sacramento living. Daily life is different now anyway, raising a toddler and all, but there is something to be said for the ambience of a city like Seattle. That said, I'm glad to be around family again and am enjoying my summer so far. I hope it includes lots of time poolside.