Stay the Path

Today Spencer received his blue belt in ninjutsu and I am proud of him and of the hard work he's put in these last couple of years. I am also glad that he has his driver's license and can drive himself to and from classes- sometimes four or five a week. A black belt with his name on it is hanging on the wall of the dojo, and he hopes one day to be able to take it off the wall.

Speaking of walls, on the bathroom wall (I am of an age now that I get to explore the bathrooms just about everywhere I go...and this was a beautiful one, all bamboo leaves stenciled over a peaceful sage wall) was a framed quote that I was impressed by:

The path of the Warrior is lifelong, and mastery is often simply staying on the path.

- Richard Strozzi Heckler

I needed to see that quote today. (I also needed to use the bathroom.) Sometimes all we need to do is to stay on the path... and be proud of doing so.

I'm adding an action shot - a very bad one. I haven't gotten to the indoor/flash/moving rapidly subjects part of my photography hobby. What I find funny about this picture is that after YEARS of telling my boys not to hit girls, it's never ok to hit girls (deleted comment about pop musicians) my son has a girl today as his sparring partner. And I was shouting...take her down!!! (or something classy like that).

Two-sentence Book Review

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Get this. Read it. Love it. I did.
oops. four sentences.

Ever feel like you look like this?

when headed to a tropical destination like this?

I do......

but isn't Shamu a cute whale despite being whale-size?

and doesn't just about everyone LOVE Shamu?

I do....

and do the people looking at Shamu say- oh dear, look at how large and white Shamu is?

well,

I do....

darn.

(photos by Stig Nygaard (whale) and droid (beach) via Flickr creative commons license)

JOYFUL (and Lazy)

I scrapped this page six years ago, and it remains one of my favorites. KK does bring great joy into our lives. A little bit of spice too... but what's joy without some seasoning?

This was actually supposed to be a post about how my oldest (the missionary) will be turning 21 years old tomorrow. How having him was such an exciting experience after what seemed like a lifetime of waiting and a prior miscarriage. How I am missing him when I think about the years I was blessed to have with him as a child- and how fleeting they truly were. When my children were little, I fantasized about a good night's rest, a real conversation, a glass of juice I didn't have to pour myself. Little did I know that those memories would become precious and that inconveniences associated with them totally forgotten...just like labor!

Despite all my warm and fuzzy feelings today about the missionary... I don't have a picture of him as a baby or toddler on the computer (it was all film then, folks) and am too lazy to go scan one. Recent pictures of him are always in groups with people I don't know and who I doubt would be thrilled to be foisted onto the web (and I'm too lazy to crop them out.) He was a wee one (hmm- a little irish flair to the blog today!) at 6lbs, 4oz. and cute as a button.

So instead of a picture of my first baby, you get a picture of my last baby....and I assure you, there was a baby in the middle who I love just as much and will devote an entire blog entry to someday. When I'm not feeling quite so lazy!!!

Two Sentence Book Reviews

Why two sentences?
Because if I write much more, I am very likely to spoil something in the plot for you and ruin your reading experience. I am always perplexed by the introductions to classic literature where a very learned individual proceeds to explain the book to the reader, and spoils the whole story under the guise of academia. I have a confession, I don't read those introductions. Neither before nor after the book. By the time I'm done reading classic literature, I feel sufficiently self-righteous with my accomplishment and am concerned that reading the spoiling introduction will prove to me that I didn't really get the book. at all.

On to the reviews!
The ex-debutante by Linda Lee

This book was a quick easy read, full of fluffy southern details and a clever quippy style of writing. The downside of this novel is that the plot is fairly transparent and the ending is obvious long before the middle of the book.











The Last Cato by Matilde Asensi

Another adventure Indiana Jones/DaVinci code type novel by this author involving a nun, a professor, and a Vatican- employed Swiss Guard in an effort to save Christianity through performing tests based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Great read, although the story occasionally gets bogged down in so many details that this reader's eyes glazed over.







The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam

Beautiful, but fairly dark story detailing the interaction between several characters of several nationalities in post 9/11 Afghanistan. I enjoyed reading this book but felt as if I wasn't deep enough to understand the nuanced plot changes and seemingly unrelated flash-way-backs to colonial america.

Tagged....

by my sister-in-law (see no time to shower blog at right)

Something I want to see:
The warrior sculpture guys in China
Moscow

Something that inspires me:
Beautiful music- can be any type.

Something that makes me angry:
When children are hurt

Something that hurts a little:
Not having any natural born sisters

Something I've gotten used to:
Not having any natural born sisters

Something I collect:
Paper- decorative, journals, stationery, books... I don't mean to collect it, but it seems to reproduce!

Something I always carry with me:
Cell phone

Something I want to be:
Patient

Something I dread:
Desperately needing something I carelessly threw away and being unable to replace it. quirky, I know.

Something that I have learned:
I'm not as smart as I thought I was growing up...and that's ok.

Something I read:
The Far Pavillion by M.M. Kaye. Apparently it wasn't written until she was in her 70's? It's about 900 pages long, and all but 50 pages (near the end) are fascinating. Those 50 pages...what was she thinking? Did she lose her brilliance for a few hours while writing?

Something I want to understand:
Hugh Nibley's honors lectures on the Book of Mormon. I'm trying, believe me, I'm trying. But that man was a MASSIVE genius.

And I tag....Laura (from Laura's Life)

You missed the Pity Party!

Last week was one of those
terrible,
horrible,
no good,
very bad
weeks.

(Wish I had come up with that clever opening, but Judith Viorst beat me to it.)

Before you get too worried, I will hasten to add that nothing life threatening or shattering happened, just a combination of MANY little annoyances that added up to make the molehill seem like a mountain.... A large mountain.... A range of mountains- like the Alps. You get the idea.

a small sampling of my inconveniences:
Cars with flat tires,
dishwashers (1 year out of warranty) that wouldn't stay closed without a bamboo stick,
minor (of the most minor kind) surgery where the local anesthetic hurt worse than the rest of the procedure or recovery,
snow and ice reigning supreme over the school district and my best laid plans,
gallons of goodies consumed with the kids while we sat out the school closures decimating any thoughts of weight loss.

So I did what came naturally. I had a pity party. I pulled out the off-brand soda, the stale chips that had been hidden in the back of the pantry, put on my most ill-fitting sweats (the ill-fitting jeans won't...ahem....fit) and most unflattering t-shirt and proceeded to feel sorry for myself. I also invited (forced) the rest of the family to attend the party by loudly proclaiming my misery whenever and however possible. Misery loves company, doesn't it?.

While surfing blogs (do we surf blogs like we surf the internet? Why don't we call it skateboarding the internet? Biking the internet? Who decided we "surf" the internet? Al Gore?) I read the following quote at Laura's blog (see Laura's life on the right...she's funny and clever but doesn't blog often enough)

Elder B. H. Roberts of the Seventy said "those who have to contend with difficulties, brave dangers, endure disappointments, struggle with sorrows, eat the bread of adversity and drink the water of affliction, develop a moral and spiritual strength, together with a purity of life and character, unknown to the heirs of ease, and wealth and pleasure."

The pity soda went flat, the pity chips went into the trash. The pity clothes were hung up for slimmer days. Although my "trials" this past week were frustrating, and not at all huge in the world of trials, I do think they were a vehicle for growth in my life, however small. And I am grateful that I can "surf" or "bike" or "skateboard" the blogs of others, to find the inspiration and comfort that I needed!