Friday, October 31, 2008
The Saga Continues...
Duchess is currently at the new vet getting a second urinalysis. It turns out that her last one, done this summer, had blood and crystals in it, but the vet just assumed that was due to contamination (I got the sample off the carpet), so didn't recommend any action. But the new vet, when she saw the urinalysis results, said the blood level was pretty high and wanted to do a second one. Sigh. I really hope there's nothing wrong. I've been through the whole mess with crystals. I can't deal with it again. I mean, the crystals were the whole reason I got a girl kitty!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saving the world?
Dale and I will be trying some free-range, grass-fed, hormone & antibiotic free chicken this week. I'm hoping it tastes good. Because we bought it at the farmer's market, it was just a wee bit more expensive than Harris Teeter regular chicken. It was cheaper than the organic Harris Teeter chicken. I've been off chicken lately, so I hope this stuff tastes good. It's not really saving the world, but it is eating more healthily. And, you know, the chickens did get to wander about a pasture for their lives instead of being all cooped up on shelves.
Friday, October 24, 2008
The Book
I'm writing a book. Keeping readers of the blog informed of my progress will be part of my discipline. I'll be writing 1 chapter a week for the next 38 weeks. And no, I won't be sharing those chapters with anyone. I have good reason - they will be really bad first drafts, and Anne Lamott in "Bird by Bird" says you should never let anyone see your first drafts.
I will give Duchess, the amazing peeing cat, away to the first person who correctly guesses what my book is about (those who already know can't play).
OK, OK, Katie, you don't have to call the animal shelter, of course I won't really give Duchess away. Unless she pees on the floor again. No, just kidding. But seriously...
I will give Duchess, the amazing peeing cat, away to the first person who correctly guesses what my book is about (those who already know can't play).
OK, OK, Katie, you don't have to call the animal shelter, of course I won't really give Duchess away. Unless she pees on the floor again. No, just kidding. But seriously...
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sigh, one more try.
Duchess peed on the floor again last night. Some time after Dale cleaned the litter boxes. The same boxes he cleaned yesterday as well.
We've moved one of the litter boxes to the spot where she always pees, thinking perhaps this is a request for a box there. (I don't know why moving it 5 feet will make a difference, but whatever). Is it possible that she is just trying to slowly claim every single litter box as her own?
If this doesn't work, we may have to take drastic measures. Maybe we can put her in diapers or something...
We've moved one of the litter boxes to the spot where she always pees, thinking perhaps this is a request for a box there. (I don't know why moving it 5 feet will make a difference, but whatever). Is it possible that she is just trying to slowly claim every single litter box as her own?
If this doesn't work, we may have to take drastic measures. Maybe we can put her in diapers or something...
Monday, October 20, 2008
Request for Advice!
Yes, this is an open request for advice!
On Friday, we steam cleaned the carpet in Dale's office. His office is where the litter-boxes live. When we finished, the room smelled fresh and clean and the carpet, well, it's still ugly, but it was all the same color again! On Saturday, we smelled cat urine in the corner where Duchess always pees. sigh.
Now, there was no reason for her to pee in the corner. There is a big toy, in that corner, which is hers and only hers - the other cats don't touch it. The litter-boxes were spotlessly clean and they are both of the type which she prefers (based on weeks of testing). Furthermore, there is a litter-box in a closet which she uses - a very private location. So there is no earthly reason for her to pee on the floor except that she hates us...
We are on a quest for a new vet. When I interview vets this week, I will be asking them for ideas about Duchess. I am also asking all of you. No idea is too far out. No suggestion too bizarre! Let me know your thoughts!
On Friday, we steam cleaned the carpet in Dale's office. His office is where the litter-boxes live. When we finished, the room smelled fresh and clean and the carpet, well, it's still ugly, but it was all the same color again! On Saturday, we smelled cat urine in the corner where Duchess always pees. sigh.
Now, there was no reason for her to pee in the corner. There is a big toy, in that corner, which is hers and only hers - the other cats don't touch it. The litter-boxes were spotlessly clean and they are both of the type which she prefers (based on weeks of testing). Furthermore, there is a litter-box in a closet which she uses - a very private location. So there is no earthly reason for her to pee on the floor except that she hates us...
We are on a quest for a new vet. When I interview vets this week, I will be asking them for ideas about Duchess. I am also asking all of you. No idea is too far out. No suggestion too bizarre! Let me know your thoughts!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Only Girl
It seems like whatever career I'm in, being a girl puts me in the minority. First I did computer helpdesk. There were other women in my group, but we were the minority for sure. Then I became a student in seminary. Now, so far, I haven't been too far in the minority. Generally, at Regent, the classes are fairly evenly split for gender. This was refreshing. But as I move more into the realm of pastoring, I move back into the minority. I go to a pastors meeting in Burlington, and there are always less than 10 women and more than 30 men there. Now, I'm in this really great class, and, aside from the teaching assistant, I am the only woman. There was another woman, but I think she's dropped out. Anyway, not a problem for me, but it does seem to be a problem for the guys sometime. This class has a meeting in January. It will be interesting to watch the dynamics. I predict that the younger men will avoid me, and the older men will talk with me. Seems to be the dynamic I'm noticing.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Singing High in Church
I'm attempting a Stuff Christians Like blog post. Tell me how you like it.
This post is all about singing high. This is an issue for a very small minority of women: sopranos who know they are sopranos who attend a church with a contemporary service. Now, I'm not knocking the contemporary service - I've chosen to attend one! But it's a little known fact that the lead singer, if a woman, always sings low. In fact, this is one of the attractions of the contemporary service: hymns get pretty high pitched, and without a little vocal training, a lot of women end up sounding, well, a bit screechy. Everyone's happier with the low voice. Except for the small few. You know who you are. None of you read my blog, but if you ever find this post you will feel secure that you aren't the only ones. There are some of us who are sopranos. We like to sing high. God gave us a bunch of high notes. And frankly, it's just a lot more comfortable to sing high. But singing high in a contemporary service, unless you attend a mega-church, just means that you sing noticeably. This is the opposite of "secret singing." Because when you sing high, your voice naturally pierces through and floats above all the other singing. Invariably, at least 1 person sitting within 3 rows of you will turn and look to find who is singing so dang high. If you are unlucky, like me, then the person sitting next to you will start to vibrate violently with suppressed laughter (you know who you are!!!!). So it's a dilemma. You're in the moment, loving the Lord, getting into the song, and as you raise volume, your voice gets a little scratchy. Are you gonna go high and sing as loud as possible, giving God all the glory She deserves and exulting in the moment? Or are you gonna sing low and reduce volume so you can still talk at the end of service? Because, see, if you sing high, you will get noticed. And then the focus on God is kind of lost. Clearly, the only good option is to become the worship leader and sing high into a mike...
(btw, this is all in good fun).
This post is all about singing high. This is an issue for a very small minority of women: sopranos who know they are sopranos who attend a church with a contemporary service. Now, I'm not knocking the contemporary service - I've chosen to attend one! But it's a little known fact that the lead singer, if a woman, always sings low. In fact, this is one of the attractions of the contemporary service: hymns get pretty high pitched, and without a little vocal training, a lot of women end up sounding, well, a bit screechy. Everyone's happier with the low voice. Except for the small few. You know who you are. None of you read my blog, but if you ever find this post you will feel secure that you aren't the only ones. There are some of us who are sopranos. We like to sing high. God gave us a bunch of high notes. And frankly, it's just a lot more comfortable to sing high. But singing high in a contemporary service, unless you attend a mega-church, just means that you sing noticeably. This is the opposite of "secret singing." Because when you sing high, your voice naturally pierces through and floats above all the other singing. Invariably, at least 1 person sitting within 3 rows of you will turn and look to find who is singing so dang high. If you are unlucky, like me, then the person sitting next to you will start to vibrate violently with suppressed laughter (you know who you are!!!!). So it's a dilemma. You're in the moment, loving the Lord, getting into the song, and as you raise volume, your voice gets a little scratchy. Are you gonna go high and sing as loud as possible, giving God all the glory She deserves and exulting in the moment? Or are you gonna sing low and reduce volume so you can still talk at the end of service? Because, see, if you sing high, you will get noticed. And then the focus on God is kind of lost. Clearly, the only good option is to become the worship leader and sing high into a mike...
(btw, this is all in good fun).
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Lemons, or Why We Will Never Buy Another Honda
We got Dale's car back from the dealership yesterday. It only took 1.5 hours. And two days. Which really, in terms of past history, isn't so bad. But it just underscored the fact that we probably should've repainted Dale's car Lemon Yellow instead of red.
Let's talk about the history of Dale's car. In April 2004 he bought it. Brand new, right off the lot. It was a good investment, as he was about to start commuting 3 hours a day, from Alexandria to outer Baltimore. It did pretty well for the first year. We were pleased. And then, almost a year after he bought it, he got the oil changed at the dealership (all oil changes were always at the dealership) and drove down to Raleigh to visit friends. On the way back, Sunday morning, all hell broke loose with the car and it died, stranding Dale in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday morning. Not good. He finally managed to get it towed to a Honda dealership, but of course, no one there knew anything about hybrids. So they put Dale in a loaner car and sent him home. After a few days, he had to drive back to NC to reclaim his "fixed" car.
A short time later, after another oil change, we were driving home from an evening event and the car died again. Just died. We got it towed to the Honda dealership in Alexandria and Dale got another loaner car. After a week or two, they told us the car was fixed and we went to pick it up. As Dale drove it through the parking lot, the check engine light came back on. So he handed the keys back and got back into the loaner car. After almost a month, they assured us the car was fixed. They had flown in the Honda engineers from headquarters to work on the car. And, in fact, it was fixed. Two months later, a recall was issued. For this problem. We were Car Zero on their recall.
We moved to Raleigh. A month after the car warranty expired, the CD player stopped working. We ignored it. We dutifully continued our oil changes at the dealership, because no lube joint carries that weight of oil. After a while, the car developed a "judder." Whenever Dale accelerated from a stop, the whole car vibrated. We took it to the dealership. Where they told us that it was the starter clutch in the transmission. They also told us that they couldn't replace the clutch until they did 3 consecutive transmission flushes, at our expense. $200 later, we had a fix for the judder. It lasted 2 months. At that point, we threw up our hands. I confidently said there would be a recall. And this summer, there was.
So, this week we took the car in to get the starter clutch replaced, on Honda's dime. We also had the 60,000 mile maintenance done. We dropped off the car Wednesday. We picked it up Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon, as Dale drove home, the electric engine stopped working. Completely. The car was no longer hybrid. So back to the dealership! They charged us $100 to replug something, saying that the malfunction had nothing to do with their rebuild of the transmission. Just a happy coincidence. As we drove off Friday in the car, we heard a new, violent rattle in the hood. Dale went back and took the mechanic for a drive. He fixed it, saying it was just the dampening pads in the hood. Today the rattle is back.
I know we took a "risk" buying a hybrid car. I mean, gee, hybrid technology has only been around for over a decade in Japan. And for what, at least 3 years in America by the time we bought ours. So sure, part of the blame is ours for buying a "new" technology. But you know what? Part of the blame goes to Honda for making a terrible terrible car. And fool us once, shame on you, fool us twice, well, you know....
Let's talk about the history of Dale's car. In April 2004 he bought it. Brand new, right off the lot. It was a good investment, as he was about to start commuting 3 hours a day, from Alexandria to outer Baltimore. It did pretty well for the first year. We were pleased. And then, almost a year after he bought it, he got the oil changed at the dealership (all oil changes were always at the dealership) and drove down to Raleigh to visit friends. On the way back, Sunday morning, all hell broke loose with the car and it died, stranding Dale in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday morning. Not good. He finally managed to get it towed to a Honda dealership, but of course, no one there knew anything about hybrids. So they put Dale in a loaner car and sent him home. After a few days, he had to drive back to NC to reclaim his "fixed" car.
A short time later, after another oil change, we were driving home from an evening event and the car died again. Just died. We got it towed to the Honda dealership in Alexandria and Dale got another loaner car. After a week or two, they told us the car was fixed and we went to pick it up. As Dale drove it through the parking lot, the check engine light came back on. So he handed the keys back and got back into the loaner car. After almost a month, they assured us the car was fixed. They had flown in the Honda engineers from headquarters to work on the car. And, in fact, it was fixed. Two months later, a recall was issued. For this problem. We were Car Zero on their recall.
We moved to Raleigh. A month after the car warranty expired, the CD player stopped working. We ignored it. We dutifully continued our oil changes at the dealership, because no lube joint carries that weight of oil. After a while, the car developed a "judder." Whenever Dale accelerated from a stop, the whole car vibrated. We took it to the dealership. Where they told us that it was the starter clutch in the transmission. They also told us that they couldn't replace the clutch until they did 3 consecutive transmission flushes, at our expense. $200 later, we had a fix for the judder. It lasted 2 months. At that point, we threw up our hands. I confidently said there would be a recall. And this summer, there was.
So, this week we took the car in to get the starter clutch replaced, on Honda's dime. We also had the 60,000 mile maintenance done. We dropped off the car Wednesday. We picked it up Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon, as Dale drove home, the electric engine stopped working. Completely. The car was no longer hybrid. So back to the dealership! They charged us $100 to replug something, saying that the malfunction had nothing to do with their rebuild of the transmission. Just a happy coincidence. As we drove off Friday in the car, we heard a new, violent rattle in the hood. Dale went back and took the mechanic for a drive. He fixed it, saying it was just the dampening pads in the hood. Today the rattle is back.
I know we took a "risk" buying a hybrid car. I mean, gee, hybrid technology has only been around for over a decade in Japan. And for what, at least 3 years in America by the time we bought ours. So sure, part of the blame is ours for buying a "new" technology. But you know what? Part of the blame goes to Honda for making a terrible terrible car. And fool us once, shame on you, fool us twice, well, you know....
Friday, October 10, 2008
more flips
Well, I am procrastinating. Yes I am. But this is it. Just this 1 blog post, and then I promise I'll work on my paper!
But there is more flipping going on in my head. In this class I'm in, we're reading a book about taking the Bible seriously but not literally. And the author, in one section, casually dismisses the Virgin Birth as probably not historical. Which flipped me out. I was deeply upset. Because I need that story to be historical and factually true. And I came up with all kinds of great arguments - Dale was convinced by them and Ed looked somewhat impressed. But then, last night, reading the discussion board for this class, I got flipped. What I realized is this: if the Virgin birth is taken as factually true, then you either believe it or you don't. Either way, you shrug your shoulders, make a decision, and move on. But if you are reading the Bible looking for the truth in the metaphors, then you have to wrestle with the Virgin Birth. Whether or not you believe it is factual, you have to ask: why is this story here? Why is it important that Jesus be born from a virgin? What is the significance and Truth of this story? This is the flip: understanding that sometimes, you have to step back and stop reading the Bible as history and instead read it as a literary product. What is the Truth contained in this story, the Truth which is there regardless of my own opinion of whether it is factually true?
But there is more flipping going on in my head. In this class I'm in, we're reading a book about taking the Bible seriously but not literally. And the author, in one section, casually dismisses the Virgin Birth as probably not historical. Which flipped me out. I was deeply upset. Because I need that story to be historical and factually true. And I came up with all kinds of great arguments - Dale was convinced by them and Ed looked somewhat impressed. But then, last night, reading the discussion board for this class, I got flipped. What I realized is this: if the Virgin birth is taken as factually true, then you either believe it or you don't. Either way, you shrug your shoulders, make a decision, and move on. But if you are reading the Bible looking for the truth in the metaphors, then you have to wrestle with the Virgin Birth. Whether or not you believe it is factual, you have to ask: why is this story here? Why is it important that Jesus be born from a virgin? What is the significance and Truth of this story? This is the flip: understanding that sometimes, you have to step back and stop reading the Bible as history and instead read it as a literary product. What is the Truth contained in this story, the Truth which is there regardless of my own opinion of whether it is factually true?
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Flipping
It seems like walking with Christ is often times a matter of flipping our perspectives upside down or inside out. For example, I've been struggling with anger at my TA. She got way behind on grading, and basically I turned in 4 assignments before getting feedback. Now, she obviously failed at her obligation to turn around assignments in reasonable time. So I had a right to be upset. Her actions were detrimental to me. But, once I informed the teacher of the situation, my responsibility was over. Complaining about the situation wasn't helping. Stewing in anger at her wasn't very Christ-like. So I prayed about it. God gently suggested that I should pray for her. So I did. Then God, not quite as gently, suggested that I needed to love her. To actually reach out and love her. Begrudgingly, I agreed. The next day, I sat down, got really in touch with God's love for me and all other people, and wrote her a genuinely loving email. I complimented her on the feedback I had gotten and told her I was praying for her. All true. She has since graded all my assignments and given them to me.
So where was the flip? I didn't send the email as a way to manipulate her into doing what I wanted, even though I did get what I wanted. I didn't send the email to guilt trip her - she responded and thanked me, so I know she felt appreciated, not guilted. I sent the email because God flipped my perspective. I was in the right. She was in the wrong. But on the other hand, I am also in the wrong, quite a lot. And all of us sit in the middle of a world which is often wrong and diseased and broken. So I could sit in judgment or reach out in love. Flip.
It's like forgiveness. I only recently understood that whole "forgive me as I forgive others." Forgiveness is not for my own mental health, although it gives access to that. Forgiveness is not for the sake of the other person, although it lifts a burden from them. Forgiveness is seeing that we all are in the same boat. Sure, I may only be knee deep in mud, while another person is neck-deep, but we're all still wading in the mud. And so if God offers me forgiveness, how dare I withhold forgiveness from someone else? On the grounds that they're muddier than me? So what? God says, hey, you're ALL muddy! So we forgive because God forgave us first, and if God forgives then there's no valid reason not to forgive. Flip. (Oh, and of course I'm not advocating surrendering boundaries and inviting an abuser back into your life - forgiveness does not equal reconciliation).
So where was the flip? I didn't send the email as a way to manipulate her into doing what I wanted, even though I did get what I wanted. I didn't send the email to guilt trip her - she responded and thanked me, so I know she felt appreciated, not guilted. I sent the email because God flipped my perspective. I was in the right. She was in the wrong. But on the other hand, I am also in the wrong, quite a lot. And all of us sit in the middle of a world which is often wrong and diseased and broken. So I could sit in judgment or reach out in love. Flip.
It's like forgiveness. I only recently understood that whole "forgive me as I forgive others." Forgiveness is not for my own mental health, although it gives access to that. Forgiveness is not for the sake of the other person, although it lifts a burden from them. Forgiveness is seeing that we all are in the same boat. Sure, I may only be knee deep in mud, while another person is neck-deep, but we're all still wading in the mud. And so if God offers me forgiveness, how dare I withhold forgiveness from someone else? On the grounds that they're muddier than me? So what? God says, hey, you're ALL muddy! So we forgive because God forgave us first, and if God forgives then there's no valid reason not to forgive. Flip. (Oh, and of course I'm not advocating surrendering boundaries and inviting an abuser back into your life - forgiveness does not equal reconciliation).
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