5/19/11



Today we went to the goodwill. After we went to the goodwill, I was so impressed with Jedidiah's behavior that I decided that he deserved a smoothie because that just sounded really good.  It has been such a warm and beautiful day, that I couldn't think of a better ending. We had such a delightful time in the smoothie shop. He re-arranged all the tables and chairs to his liking while he waited for his mama to make up her mind about flavors and free supplements. When he was done with that he ran out the door, reminding me to not be so indecisive. Life is too short and apparently too dangerous to hesitate about life altering decisions as such. Anyway, I finally decided on the 5 fruit smoothie so I didn't leave any fruit choice out, and in the end decided not to get a free protein supplement. We finally sat down at a chair and enjoyed some mamma-Jedidiah time. Jedidiah sat in my lap and had a free sample while I drank my smoothie. As I was drinking my smoothie I began to glance at a toddler cookbook I found laying on the table. When I looked back at Jed I realized that I don't think I have ever seen him so happy ever as he was sitting there drinking his own "little people" sized smoothie AND eating the cup that came with it. He had so much fun and was so worn that he fell asleep on the way home with his face covered in raspberry juice and he is currently sleeping on the couch, which he has never done before. I am delighted to have a few moments to sit and write without being interrupted. It was a good, simple day.

(Oh, just for the record, the smoothie above was a smoothie from Miami, from a smoothie shop that I believe is much superior to to the smoothie shop I went to today, but I felt I needed a photo of a smoothie to go with this story.)

Family

My cousin, Sarah posted these photographs on her Facebook page and entitled the album "Family makes us stronger."  I have looked at them over and over and because I think the realitity is that family is often what God uses to makes us stronger and sometimes you just go through things where you need to get stronger.  Even if you don't have a good family you probably know why one is important and meaningful.   I have so little photos of my family when I was younger that its ridiculous, and even though I would a thousand times over prefer to hold the photos in my hands and look at them that way for now this is what I have of my cousins and I am glad of it. 

Cousin Hanna and Cherie conspiring against Sarah on our yearly camping trips.

Me and Sarah or her sister Hannah or Sister Lyla, except probably not the sister Lyla because she is far to young to have been born when this photo was taken.  All the girls look so much alike in their younger years its hard to tell them apart.

My cousins: Sarah, Hannah and my little Sister Cherie on a  camping trip at our yearly camp spot in Blue Springs, Florida. Oh and my wonderful friend Jessica who came with us that year.  If anyone goes to Florida please visit Blue Springs near Orlando,  Go swimming,  your life will be changed forever by this amazing spring.  And when you get there, remember that I had a lot of good memories there, some of which involve Alligators.

My little sister, Cherie and our cousin, Sarah.  We are suspecting that Cherie crossed Sarah out of this picture.  Don't be deceived by that sweet little smile.......

My cousin Hannah.  I just love about any photo that has someone this genuinely happy in it.

I had aunties coming out of my ears as I grew up.  I was probably somewhat grown up at the time of this picture. This is my cousin Louie, the brother I never had, his mother, and one of my many other aunts, who all love to wear button down shirts and visors.  I am thankful that I have access to at least one photo of my cousin.   This was taken at Matheson Hammock in Miami, the only place our family ever seemed to "get together."  I don't know what life would be like without this place. 

This is not necessarily a love squeeze.

Dear Louie, thank you for being my cousin.  Not that you had anything to do with it, but you were more than a cousin to me but more like a little brother.  In Sarah's words, this is how we will always remember you, HAPPY!

    

To my cousin

Dear Louie,

Thank you for the Joy you gave me in my life. I still remember and have all the drawings we made together. I still have the cassette tape-recording of the silly talk show we made up. I still think of you when I remember running around in Grandpa and Grandma's house, in waist high grass, stopping every now and then to grab a slice of American Cheese out of the fridge. Thank you for being the little brother that I never had.

Its hard in the news when I read your name, because I can't believe they are referring to you as a man.  They are all mistaken, you are a boy, just a little boy with missing two front teeth. You are three years old and I am trying to teach you how to walk, because I didn't realize that you could already walk.  You are laughing with that big bubbly laugh, running around in the yard in the sunshine with no shoes on.

I don't know what happened to you, or what drove you to this madness, as years passed by and we grew further and further apart. I can only guess. The news suggests that you are a crazy person,  But we know the truth.  You are a son, you are a cousin, a brother, to people who raised you and nurtured you.  We know  you carried many sorrows and burdens of this world on your shoulders. You were someone who mattered and that people love.   If you only know the tears that are shed because we love you so much, and wished this is not how life had to be!  We will all miss you terribly.

Love,
JoAnna

I have got to admit that waking up to a sloshy wet world and gray skies outside did not make me reflect on Easter this morning. Where I come from, Easter is truly a wellspring of sunshine and new life. Little girls buy summery yellow dresses and everything about bunnies hopping around and outdoors and outdoor Easter egg hunts is totally appropriate. I remember when I was a kid waking up before dawn to go downtown to watch the sunrise on the ocean. Hundreds of people came from everywhere and I remember the songs being sung about Christ being risen as I watched the sun rise over the ocean and cascade its brilliant colors everywhere. Even as a young child I could not stop myself from rejoicing. It was a big deal to me, and I loved Easter. How do you feel like that when the world outside does not reflect anything of newness of life? Even when you look at the blossoming trees and flowers they are muted by the depressing grey skies.

Well, here is my answer. Think about yesterday, literally. Yesterday truly did feel like Easter. Yesterday, we woke up to birds chirping. To a warm breeze. To  SUNSHINE!  Jedidiah looked with wonder at this strange glowing warm phenomenon called the sun.  We were truly graced and we used the opportunity to visit (in my opinion) one of the most beautiful places there is in the Eugene, Oregon area:  Mt Pisgah. 

I am not one to document beautiful nature scenery because I know full and well that when I arrive at home and look at the picture later the magic is lost, at least enough to not make the effort to take pictures too often.  Besides, I only have a big fat camera now because Jedidiah decided to take our point and shoot and stir a glass of water with it.  We intend on using our point and shoot for days such as these. Not having a small pocket point and shoot makes it difficult to take loads of photos of all of your surroundings.

But I DID take some photos of my beautiful family.  I know that I feel sorry for myself for having to suffer through the slop and drear of the northwest winter, but I praise God for the glimpses of hope that he gives us in this world, through sunny, beautiful days such as these and beautiful  places to visit.

Anyway, here are some photos of our Family.  I don't have beautiful pictures of me, mainly because my hair was frizzy and embarrassing so I left myself out of the equasion.  I want everyone to know, though that Isaiah is not a single Father.  He just happens to have a wife who loves to take photographs.  So usually I am behind the camera, and I am okay with my presence being there most of the time.

So,  Maybe I am not watching the sun rise over the ocean, but I am watching something else beautiful.

Good times.

We recently went to visit some dear friends of ours in Portland. This year they bought a very scary weird house and completely remolded it so it does not look scary and weird, but looks beautiful and warm and welcoming. I was interested in capturing the essence of the new house, and wanted to take more pictures of it but unfortunately/fortunately my camera battery died. (Fortunately because I am convinced that my friends think I am pretty weird for wanting to go and take pictures of their pots and pans and cabinets and their children's toys, and I was able to avoid the awkwardness of doing so. Although, they have been very good friends to us for over four years so hopefully they are able to look past my weirdness by now, and see me for who I really am inside.) I do have a few more photos I would have shared but there were people making unflattering faces in them, and I figure its best not to even go there. Anyway, It was unfortunate I did not get more, but I hope you can enjoy at least these few of the children. And the one of the pot.

Like his mama and his daddy.

Jack and "Dilly

An account of the Isaiah James Family's trip to the optomitrist.

This is an account of the Isaiah James family's trip to the optometrist.  (I have to clarify which James family it is so one is not confused with the many that exist in the Wisconsin and Texas regions.)

It was a magical experience.  As the Shopko doors opened for us we wandered in and were at once lured by a gallon plastic jar of cheese puff balls, on sale for five dollars. We both averted our eyes and walked toward our destination:  the optical center. This is where the two of us have been getting our eyes examined for the past three and a half (almost four) darling years, since the olden days when we were newly weds.  It was a very romantic experience as we reminisced about all the memories we have had checking our blood pressure while we were waiting for our exam.

Those thoughts were soon interrupted by that annoying machine that puffs air into your eyeball. I sat there with dread, using all the strength I had to keep my eyes open. When the annoying puff part was finally over, we were soon escorted into the exam room. There, our little boy was given a bunch of toys which enabled him to be able to put things inside of things for the next 40 minutes.  He was in heaven.  For the next twenty minutes I sat in a chair while a strange man came unnaturally close to my face (I don't think any other male beside my dear husband has gotten that close to my face in years, and I am very glad he brushed his teeth).  The man asked me over and over the same question: "Number one, or Number 2, which one can you see better?"  I sat uncomfortably fishing for the right answer. Often, I had to resolve to make something up because I couldn't tell the difference. I felt convinced that because of my shortcoming (and lies) that I would be given the wrong prescription and not be able to see properly for the next two years.  

Then I was caught:  The strange man asked me "Do you sleep in your contacts?"  I thought about it for a minute,  and I came up with at least five times in the past year that I remembered to take them out when I was sleeping. That means I don't sleep in them, right? Therefore, my answer was a resounding yes.   Yes, doctor I never sleep in my contacts, I am a good girl.  But of course my husband set the record more accurately and said "No, she always sleeps in her contacts."   I could argue my case to the doctor so he would not think less of me, but I decided that I was already defeated.  Luckily, the only repercussion was that the doctor got a little chuckle out of it and sent me on my merry way with a different prescription that is safer for sleeping in.

I was relieved, though, that my exam was cut short because they did not dilate my eyes.  This was in order to save my unborn baby from eye dilating-drop poisoning or something like that. I thought to myself:  "This is nice, I should get pregnant more often."

Anyway, a few bright lights and a few looks at the ceiling 'till you burned a hole in your retina later and I was just sitting and waiting for Isaiah to be done with his exam. When he was done, We waited outside for ever and ever while the receptionist figured out how many contacts our insurance would give us. 

Meanwhile,  Jedidiah found his dream come true:  A revolving thing that had glasses displayed all over it. That was interesting, to say the least.  We tried to distract him from dismantling the display, but he distracted himself when he found another treasure:  An old man's walker that had a horn on it.  Luckily, he was a kind jolly old man.

When it was all said and done we walked out of the building satisfied with our experience.  We didn't make it out of the building right away, though because of a major magnetic force: I saw a bag of Ruffles Bar-B Q potato chips.  I walked towards it, but got reprimanded by my husband, who said that we did not, indeed, need potato chips.  I reluctantly agreed and began to walk away only to find him suddenly cruising down the snack Aisle looking for something different to catch his eye.  We ended this circular walk around all the cheap junk when I grabbed his arm and we went out the door.  Thus ended our experience at the eye exam place.

Angry Letters

Today I wrote an angry letter.  It was amazing.  It felt good.  I loved it.  I deserved to write it. It came out fantastic.  And....unlike other angry letters, I sent it. There are times when angry letters are far better off just being a way to vent and organize your thoughts, even if that's not what your intentions are.  There have been many letters which I am very glad never made it into the mail, or the internet through the fateful click of the "send" button, least I embarrass myself or needlessly drive a wedge into a perfectly fine friendship.   This is not one of those times.  Sometimes, people just gotta know what they did. And, its about time, oh its about time they knew.

(Don't worry, anyone reading this will not be the recipient of my angry letter.)