absurd purchase, insomnia and nineties music

Sounds like a Lemony Snicket warning. "Beware dear reader as this post contains an absurd purchase, an insomniac and music from the nineties. (10 minute interval) It also includes an insomniac baby who likes to taste things, and a husband with an eye mask on and a pillow wrapped around his ears."

I can't sleep and now Johnny is wide awake. He is playing with a toy in his crib and I am blogging. It's always a bit silly to blog when sleepy--you may say something you regret but here goes.

On Saturday, Tuan asked me to swing by this antique store in D'Lo to see if they had any chests of drawers. I returned home with an enormous rocking chair with a rattan seat, instead of the needed piece of furniture. It is beautiful. The chair also expanded on the way home and in our living room it dwarfed all the furniture but the couch. That necessitated rearranging the bedroom to fit the rocking chair in and then Tuan was highly motivated to reform all the storage beneath our behemoth of a bed. I'm really glad he got into this however, as I was trying to "make do" with an assortment of storage pieces and old cardboard boxes. Instead, he (being his very Tuan-like self) measured the dimensions under the bed and bought exactly the amount of storage containers at wal-mart to fit perfectly under the bed. Tonight, we organized and stored and the area beneath that which we sleep upon is now clean, orderly and matching. It's a "good thing."

My husband has a gift for packing and storing. He can just make things fit when I cannot. In college, he could move from one apartment to another in one trip with just his Jeep Wrangler. That is one of the reasons I married him. Way before Tuan and I were mutually attracted, we were good friends. He was the "guy friend" who was around. The attraction increased over about a year's time, but the thing that really caused me to make the decision that, yes, I did want to marry him, was that he had a lot of great qualities that I didn't and I could spend time with him and not "grow weary." I guess you could say it was both a pragmatic and a passionate decision. I knew Tuan for about four years before we started dating. During that time, I twice had my heart broken and really despaired of ever being found by "the one" and getting married. All that time he was right in front of my nose!

I guess what I am trying to say is that girls, don't be too hasty to dismiss the nice dependable guy who you're "just friends" with because he doesn't fit some ideal you constructed when you were fifteen and foolish. Give them a chance! It could turn out better than you could concieve. I will also say that when I brought out the "list" of what I (at fifteen) wanted in a husband, Tuan fit the essentials perfectly. No, he doesn't play guitar (bass and trumpet instead) and no I didn't meet him at TL (but we did meet at another camp), but he can cook like nobody's business, makes me laugh, and can sing like Louie Armstrong. I am also thankful that there is only one guitarist in the family and that I'm not a pastor's wife (wasn't that #6 on the list?). Mostly, I am thankful to be married to a godly man who is truly my best friend.

I didn't make it to the nineties music. A hazard of choosing the title before you actually write the blog. Shouldn't they have the title thing at the end of the blog?

true first word

I ate lunch with "the girls" today: Caroline, Leigh and Anna at Caroline's house. Johnny played on the floor. At one point, I leaned down and said,
"Johnny, say Daddy."
"Da-Da" He promptly replied!
How cool was that. It wasn't a fluke either, as he has responded to promptings all evening with a definite "da-da."
Big steps indeed!

He also has this leapfrog toy that we keep in his crib. You press buttons and it will light up and play music or say things. When Johnny wakes up, he'll play with it. Sometimes we hear it go off in the middle of the night or way after bedtime. We've found that he'll wake up, hit a button and go back to sleep! It cracks us up. Last night we picked him up from the Vincents (who had kept him so we could have a date night) and Johnny didn't go to bed until around ten. Thirty minutes to an hour later, I went in to check on his heater and lo and behold, he was sitting up, grinnning and playing with that toy. Parenthood is such a joy.

true first words

I ate lunch with "the girls" today: Caroline, Leigh and Anna at Caroline's house. Johnny played on the floor. At one point, I leaned down and said,
"Johnny, say Daddy."
"Da-Da" He promptly replied!
How cool was that. It wasn't a fluke either, as he has responded to promptings all evening with a definite "da-da."
Big steps indeed!

He also has this leapfrog toy that we keep in his crib. You press buttons and it will light up and play music or say things. When Johnny wakes up, he'll play with it. Sometimes we hear it go off in the middle of the night or way after bedtime. We've found that he'll wake up, hit a button and go back to sleep! It cracks us up. Last night we picked him up from the Vincents (who had kept him so we could have a date night) and Johnny didn't go to bed until around ten. Thirty minutes to an hour later, I went in to check on his heater and lo and behold, he was sitting up, grinnning and playing with that toy. Parenthood is such a joy.

painting, crawling, cleaning

I spent two afternoons this week working on two paintings of my family at the beach. The photos would not upload, or I'd post them (in progress). I've been painting them simultaneously and trying to be "loose." It's hard to be "loose" with paint. It's much easier to do that with charcoal or pencil. If I had not gotten a degree in art, perhaps I could be a folk painter, but that degree leaves me a bit shamefaced. I shied away from and never took painting in college, I have an art degree and a shameful secret--I can't really paint. Our painting professors were really difficult and with graphic design as my emphasis, well, I never had time for additional time-consuming classes. Instead, I took a LOT of ceramics. :) So, now I am trying to learn how to paint. Wish me well.
Johnny is crawling and trying to pull up. He likes crawling, but he likes to stand up even more. He is very happy to be put in his playpen standing up. He will grasp the rails and hang on for a few minutes before dropping. I can't believe he is growing so fast! He'll be eight months on Wednesday! That's really hard to believe.
Tuan and I spent New Year's in FLA with my folks. We like to hit the thrift stores and stock up on bargains and books while down there. The only real non-book bargain I found were baby/toddler sandals (one pair tevas and one pair teva-like) they were ten cents for both! How cool is that? We did buy LOTS and LOTS of books and here are a few:

Library Editions of:
The Silmarillion
Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers
A Jeeves book by PG Wodehouse
Mariel of Redwall
Auntie Mame

Among others, we picked up a Clive Cussler, the Story of the Trapp Family Singers, Play With Your Food, etc . . .
Tuan has been wrapped up in this novel called, Shogun (it's about Ancient Japan, I think). I've been reading a collection of suspense stories and also just finished The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. I read this when I was little and at some point picked up a copy of The Five Little Peppers All Grown Up, which was unreadable. I did remember loving the former, though and while it was definitely a trip down memory lane, the writing was a bit funny. For example, the characters rarely "say" anything, as in "Phronsie said such and such." Instead, they either "scream" or "cried." The writier uses "screamed" for anytime a voice is raised, whether in excitement, melancholy or urgency. The children (and adults) cry out rather than speak which means the reader is in constant confusion about the true emotions of the plot. Also, one of the main characters, Polly, a young woman who cooks, tends the house, baby and small children while their poor, widowed mother is out sewing (amazingly capable for someone under fifteen), can't seem to handle any emotion strain without crying, fainting or collapsing. It's pretty funny, but leaves me longing for some L.M. Montgomery.

life

I like the idea of posting the first few words/sentences of each month's entry--to sum up the year--here goes!

January:
Whoo-hoo! I am so excited. Tuan and I have finally decided what we're doing for his vacation next week!

February:
Tuan and I were riding to church this past Sunday and listening to Jesus Freak. Although Joseph Craven made me feel VERY old when, as he gave his testimony this summer, he referred to DC Talk and Audio Adrenaline as "old school," Jesus Freak and Free at Last are still two of my favorite albums.

March:
Charles Spurgeon is one of my favorite preacher/pastors. Here is an excerpt from one of his sermons on Exodus:

April:
Other PCA Sightings Two are confirmed, the other one sure looks like him . . .

May:
A joke
Man: Doctor, my wife thinks she's a refrigerator.
Dr: Well, that's a pretty common delusion, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Man: I wouldn't either except she sleeps with her door open and the light keeps me awake.

June:
walk like an egyptian
Well, camp is going great! We have a marvelous staff--from ACs/Counselors to leadership and support, I am daily encouraged by this group of folks

July:
O LORD,
Thou knowest my great unfitness for service,
my present deadness,
my inability to do anything for thy glory,
my distressing coldness of heart.
I am weak, ignorant, unprofitable,
and loathe and abhor myself.

August:
The website snopes.com is a great place to delve into urban myths and lore.

September:
I tried to find an appropriate quote from "little town on the prairie" to begin this entry, but couldn't find the one I imagined was there.

October:
I wish I could think of really great titles for my posts like Caroline, but I do everything hurriedly and titles are not a priority.

November:
I am so tired I can barely move, and were it not that Tuan is still up and on duty, I'd be out cold.

December:
This morning Johnny began babbling some consonant sounds. He said "da-ma" which will forever pacify both Tuan and myself who have both been vying for first word.

So, I'm not sure what to make of these. I could probably sum up the year in a better way than this, but instead I will ask you all to pray for the possible addition to our home--contentment with whatever is decided and an answer soon!