Spicy

Have you ever smelled freesias? To me they smell like pepper. I think that's weird. It's not a scent I associate with pretty flowers. But the other day I found myself longing for freesias and their peppery scent. I ended up with ranunculeseseses that didn't get killed by Leo. He's been pretty good about not knocking them down. But Sunday I went to the store and there were freesias, waiting to be brought home by me! Cheery yellow with their wonderfully peppery scent.

Another round of baby gifts

A quick shot of my most recent baby gifts. These were a gift for a work friend, he's an admitted comic book geek, whose wife went through 60+ hours of labor to birth their little boy this past Thursday. These folks had been trying to have a baby, went through fertility treatments, etc. and finally decided to go the adoption route, were, in fact, getting ready to write their last check to the adoption agency, when they found out they were pregnant. They are all doing well. My friend said that he's already gained back the weight babies lose after they are born. He's a chunk for sure. So, Superman (of course), Green Lantern (which is his favorite because it's less obvious), and Spiderman.

I did these with freezer paper stencils (following this tutorial) after finding the logos online. They aren't technically perfect - a few bleeding lines here and there - but they are perfect for my friend. He totally geeked out when he opened them. Even our regularly reticent office manager said "Is that a Green Lantern onesie?!?" And then asked if I would make something for his dog - a little tongue in cheek.

My friend kept poo-pooing me when I mentioned needing to get to work on a gift for the baby. "We have enough stuff...Really generous folks...Craigslist..." but I persisted and I think he's psyched to have them. They are different sizes so the baby can grow into the bigger ones.

This is the same guy who gave me the table that I've put back together and painted yellow. So we know he's awesome.

Thoughts on big brothers

Over the Easter weekend, as mentioned previously, I was lucky enough to visit some friends. I also got to interact with and watch their boys and the boys of some friends of theirs. And, while these musings are based on just my observations of these boy children, I think that sisters can be just the same.

At one point we were on our way somewhere and the boys were watching for the eggs. It was an exercise in imagination. They were watching for balls on top of posts, not eggs at all. Then the younger brother looks up at the street lamps (they were just coming on) and says "Are those eggs up there?" which I thought was a perfectly reasonable thought in the imagination game. Of course they are glowing eggs up in the sky! But older brother immediately squelched this idea. "No!"

Earlier that day I watched the oldest of three boys get into a tussle with another child. It was concerning the placement of a block of wood. It was his backyard and he knew where that wood should go. This other child was wrong, in his mind. And so some wrestling and tears followed.

This made me think of my older brothers. My biological older brother and Jesus my older brother. (Romans 8:14-18, 28 says: those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ""Abba," Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ...For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.) Younger kids usually look up to their older siblings. I certainly thought my big brother was pretty much the coolest kid ever, flaws and all. But big brothers or sisters can oftentimes be tyrannical in how things are supposed to go. "We play like this!" "This goes here!" Sometimes there is pushing or shoving if the younger child tries to usurp the older child's space. To this day there is some sense of competition between my brother and myself for our parents' attention. There is always lots of love mixed in their too, it's not all power struggles.

But Jesus is a different sort of brother. He leads by example. He says "Follow me. If you want to heal someone, watch me a few times, then try it." He doesn't take over the situation until we ask him for more direction. He's not smacking down our imagination, he encourages it. He gives us good correction and encouragement. Jesus wants all of his younger brothers* to play! He doesn't resent the Father's attention and he gladly shares the inheritance.

*I am using the gender specific term brother because this is what the Bible uses. It is not meant to exclude but to include. Women who follow Jesus are considered sons because in the culture, at that time, daughters were rarely considered as heirs. But men and women are considered heirs which was/is a huge thing.

I'm glad I have a big brother who encourages and serves as an example and doesn't try to shove me off the cliff (unless he's also given me a glider and some gliding lessons).

It's fritter friday

I feel like it's been a long week. Several late nights where I work. Not always for work reasons. And I think I would like a weekend to just be in my pajamas. But tonight I'm going to see a musical with a friend, tomorrow I have class and then a fundraiser at an adoption organization, and Sunday time with another friend in the morning and then church in the afternoon. Somewhere in there I'm hoping to score a nap.

One of my cousins called me today to see if he and 9 other folks could crash at my apartment for a night next month. His youth group is coming through town and needs a floor for the night. I just don't know if 10 people would fit on the floor of my apartment. It's one night, I could deal, most definitely. The cats would be upset for sure but I could keep them in my room. I need to think about that a bit more. And make sure that no one in his group is highly allergic to cats.

I occasionally bring in donuts to work on Fridays. Usually apple fritters because I found the best Dunkin Donuts fritters ever. Today I bought some donuts with sprinkles because they're pretty and I wanted to take pictures of them. I downloaded them and whilst transferring them to my portable hard drive erased them all. How annoying is that? Ah well, there are certainly other things to photograph out there. But donuts are so pretty.

The geese are doing fine. They finally posted a sign to warn folks off. I watched some folks get within 10 feet of the mama on the nest earlier today and it made me anxious. I also asked security to watch some kids running around on the patio. They had their skateboards and were throwing rocks - not a the geese - it made me anxious again. So I'm glad there's a sign. I think the geese were crazy to set up home there in the first place but I don't want them to get hurt.
Here's mama on the nest.
Here's dad watching the eggs while mom gets some food.

Duck, Duck

We have geese nesting on the patio of the building in which I work. I brought in my telephoto lens today specifically to get some goose photos.

I particularly like the second one. It's like goose yoga. It (I can't tell the difference between the two yet) was stretching. It's not the best photo ever but the pose just makes me laugh.

Then it curled up and decided to snooze. I'm apparently very nonthreatening. Because I snuck even closer and snapped the third photo.

Maybe if I visit them enough they won't mind me taking pictures when the goslings arrive.

Also, I've posted more pictures on flickr. Sessions two and three of the photo class were this weekend. Sunday we shot for an hour and a half. It was about 45 minutes too long for my taste. My fellow students are not so good at bringing in their photos for viewing and critique. And I don't know that I agree with the instructor regarding composition all the time. Oh well.

Scampering to and fro

Friday morning my alarm went off early. I was hoping to get going early enough to miss rush hour and maybe get some good pictures of downtown from the south looking north. Except that I hadn't quite finished packing the night before and then I rushed and then I drove away and didn't stop for pictures. And apparently, there was no rush hour. As I merged onto a major artery I saw about four other cars. I worried for about five seconds that the road was closed and somehow I had bypassed whatever road blocks there were. Traffic picked up about a minute later. Still, eerily small number of cars for a highway in Chicago, no matter what time or day it was.

I ran away to see some friends for Easter. I don't have a church community where I feel connected right now and I do feel connected to them and I missed them something powerful. My photography class was rescheduled so I wouldn't be missing a session. I sent an email asking if I could impose and got a reply that essentially said "Yes!" and so I did.

I got a little teary when I left Sunday afternoon because it was just good to see and be with them. And hard to leave. My friends are good parents and it's a nice thing to see them in action. Their kiddos are gorgeous and sweet and kind.

My boys

You know, when I got home tonight, expecting a friend to come over to take a walk and probably hang out a bit, and realized that there was some pukage going on while I had been gone during the day, I wondered about the value of the cats. Judah just pukes. A Lot. On my couch. In my shoes. On the chairs. On the rug or the floor. Not in my bed though. Because they aren't allowed in my bedroom when I'm not in there. I've learned.

Then about thirty minutes ago, they treed a mouse in my bathroom radiator. Go cats, go!
Sorry, the pictures suck. But that's a mouse, not a really large dust bunny, I promise.

Because the cats couldn't reach it in there I wacked it on the head a few times until I stunned it and was able to grab it by the tail and then I flushed it down the toilet. And then I flushed about 5 more times.