Joylist 4

It's time.

1. Green smoothies. Painless way to eat 4.5 cups of greens. See the blog called 'The Green Smoothie Experiment'.
2. My pastor's wife. She's also a nurse, and she looked at L.'s foot (he sprained it over the weekend) He hadn't showered all weekend, had no socks, and was really uncomfortable having anyone look at it. But a friend insisted she'd know if it was a sprain or not. (She did.)
I watched her as she examined his ankle...his wet, very very dirty foot next to her glittery sandals and painted toenails....and she was so gracious to him...I always get the feeling that she truly loves all kinds of people.
3. watching Kallie for my mom and dad.
4. My sister. Found out I was having a hard week and called out of the blue and said all the things bigs sisters should say when their little sister is having a hard time.
5. The Bud Light Ad people. I wish they were my friends. Since I'm trying to eat healthful stuff these days, I'll give this example:

Crisis Part II (mid-life variety)

So my kids were at a retreat all weekend.
I'm doing so much better. I used to have to spend the night other places when they were gone, or borrow my niece. (She affectionately refers to those times as 'when she had to babysit me.' haha)

But this past weekend, I was able to stay home. Did nothing particularly productive. Nothing even particularly indulgent. Pretty much totally wasted time. Things just feel so lackluster when they're not around.

This makes me worry about the future. Eventually, that weekend will be my whole life. There is a chilling monologue in Notes on a Scandal about loneliness...she constructs her whole weekend around a trip to the laundromat, etc.

So I was talking to my friend Cindy about it - we are same age/same life stage/same living situation etc.
And she said that we are going to do something different than 'Empty Nest Syndrome', a sort of Mid-Life Crisis, but with a twist.
She said that we need to make another kind of list!! ((I was listening! I love lists! JOYLISTS = strength)) This list would be things we are going to get to do once our kids are grown up, in their own places.

We even came up with a name:
PLENTY as in "Praise the Lord for Empty Nests, Thank You...."

Here is one of hers:
Praise the Lord for Empty Nests, Thank You for not sitting on my new Harley Davidson softtail motorcycle

I'm working on it....I'm being proactive....

Crisis Part I

Ever heard this quote?


When written in Chinese, the word ''crisis'' is composed of two characters -- one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) Thirty-fifth President of the USA


Well, turns out that it's not true. The 'danger' part is true, the 'opportunity' part is not. (My office mate is fluent in Korean and knows some Chinese. I heard this quote and loved the idea...played around with the translation tool, talked to him about it, he made me doubt it...I eventually found this ...

So, turns out Chinese wisdom agrees with my experience: crises suck.

Diane Arbus

I talked about Diane Arbus once on my other (sort of) site , but I had to mention it here since the blog-defining photo of the boy is hers.

I learned about her when I was young...in a photography class...the professor talked about the way she protected the dignity of her subjects even as she fully understood their chief flaw/struggle/disability (visually, I mean). That amazed me then, and it still does. Now I realize that it's even a God-like trait.

The professor said that she had a great rapport with her subjects, most of whom were 'different', or 'flawed'...Where most avert their eyes, she could focus the lens -- and with respect.

I found this quote of hers that explains a little bit of her thinking:

"Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats."

I'm attracted to her for the same reason I'm attracted to Philip Yancey and the father in the Hiding Place.

Addendum to JL3

C and L have to get braces. They really don't want braces, and Cath made this visual to show me why. It makes me laugh.

Joylist 3

1. the Thriller dance, and especially these 2 sisters who are going to teach us
2. 70 degree days this time of year (along with my belief that God pre-knew about Global Warming and uses even our bad choices to work out His plan)
3. Clif (met him & Barb before i even moved up here. i love how he loves people. Clif sees everyone as worth it. i love the example he is to L.)
4. Family Fun Nights -- the next one is imminent
5. watch about 20 seconds of this, and you'll feel happy: