the sympathetic vibration

Odds and ends…

Lara — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:51:23 +0000

I should spread out these posts so I’m not posting three times in one day and then not again for two months. Hmm.

1. My summer knitting project is going to be a lace scarf knit in DK weight silk merino. I’m hoping it’s
luxurious enough to keep my attention. I’m so bad at finishing any lace projects, but it’s way too hot to knit anything else in the Texas heat.

2. Hugh and Joe are moving out at the end of May and Katie is moving in…. should be fun! Trying to decide about additional housemates as well – my mortgage just went up almost $200/month so I could definitely use more help…

3. I’m going to try to start a Ph.D. program in the fall of 2012…. maybe? I guess what I mean is that I’m going to start looking at programs and re-take the GRE (my old scores are expired) in preparation for starting then at the earliest. Initial research has me pretty interested in a program at Boston College, but there are some other good ones out there that I’m looking at as well.

4. My computer battery is broken. It won’t charge at all…and it’s out of warranty. So I can use the computer with the cord plugged in, but as soon as it unplugs it shuts down. Yuck.

5. I miss a lot of people today. Not sure why it feels like such a “down” day, but I have that loneliness feeling that can’t be addressed by being with others. It’s just there. Regardless of the surroundings. Hate it.

6. My kitchen is a mess. I want to clean it up. Kindof.

Good dog, bad dog.

Lara — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:38:23 +0000

A couple months ago, our household started looking into fostering dogs through the Waco Humane Society so Denali would have some company but without having to commit forever to the care of another dog. (i.e. if I ever move, I already have plenty of pets to have to deal with). However, once we got on the list to actually do the fostering, I learned that there really are two kinds of fosters; adult dogs that have some sort of special need (like needing to be housetrained, or having separation anxiety, or having some sort of medical issue), or puppies that are not old enough to have all of their vaccinations and therefore are not really suited for the shelter environment (basically, they are almost guaranteed to get sick with something fatal if they spend their whole puppyhood at the shelter because diseases like distemper and parvo are so common in our area and people bring their dogs to the humane society thinking they are an animal hospital or something which gets all the rest of the dogs sick).

Needless to say, with the lifestyle I have, I went the puppy route and while it’s been quite a bit of work, and a lot of time spent cleaning up, I have also really enjoyed it. There is something quite pleasing about hanging out with puppies. Also, I’m sure there is some misguided maternal affection that drives my interest in doing this at all – but for sure fostering dogs is a simpler process than fostering humans… we’ll see if I’m up for that (I do think I might be interested) in another chapter of my life.

First we cared for two little terrier mixes that were theoretically from the same litter, but you would have a hard time guessing that from how they looked. Someone suggested they might have different fathers….. We named them St. Ignatius (Iggy) and St. Clare. Cuties.

After those two got adopted by two nice families, we got a puppy that originally we thought might be a St. Bernard mix, but she’s just not growing fast enough to be preparing to be such a big dog. Katie named her Lindy after the dance…. she’s been a very easy puppy, which makes me think she might be older than I thought orginally. I guess it’s hard to tell and no one has a good guess these days on her breed, so she’s a mystery. Still available for adoption!

And *then*, I guess because I’m a sucker, I took three young Aussie puppies home with me on Thursday. Since I just got back from a trip to San Francisco (I should blog about that, too), we named
them after neighborhoods/streets in the bay area.

Here’s Berkeley:

Marina:

And sweet little shy Delores:

And of course, there’s still my big puppy Denali, who gets more and more sweet and cuddly as she gets older. I’ve been waking up to find her on my bed snuggled up against me the last few nights. Usually it’s a bit earlier than I’d like to be up, but it’s not a bad way to wake up if it has to happen, I guess.

I think once these four puppies find their forever homes, I'll take a break for a bit. There's a changing of the housemates in late May/early June and I'm traveling some for the summer....one can only handle so much chaos at once. (or so they say).

Sometimes the only way to break the curse is to leave it all behind.

Lara — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:53:08 +0000

I really did mean it when I said two months ago that I wanted to blog more…. just not sure now why I never did.

I thought a good place to start would be to post a reflection I gave at a Void event a few months ago. The context of the event was an exploration of the confession of belief, and when I spent some time thinking about my own beliefs, I realized that I already represent my beliefs in the many places I describe myself and my values online, and perhaps most specifically in online dating ads. I’m not ashamed of using online people meeting services – and so I’ve adapted my profile from match.com to read like a confession of belief.
_______________________________

T.S. Eliot is quoted as saying… “There is no life that is not lived in community. And no community not lived in praise of God” – T.S. Eliot

Likewise, I believe humans were created to be in relationships with each other.

I believe humor is important in life.

I believe it is important to put people at ease and allow them to be fully themselves when they are with me.

I believe simple things like fresh baked bread, hitting all the green lights, a freshly cleaned kitchen, good hold music, chipotle burritos, and the laughter of children should be cherished.

I believe there is great enjoyment to be had from the outdoors, fresh fruit, strong coffee, live music, and the occasional camping or hiking trip.

I believe in the value of things that are made by hand.

I believe in buying my furniture used.

I believe in hospitality and invite people into my home at every chance.

I believe in turning the lights off when I leave the room.

I believe I learn more from NPR than from KLove.

I believe in knitting my own sweaters.

I believe beer makes any conversation better. Add a firepit on a beautiful warm evening and I believe it might rival heaven.

I believe that music should speak to my spirit rather than only my ears.

I believe in surrounding myself with love, laughter, people, community and opportunities to give of my faith and blessings from God to others.

I believe the people in my life have helped me see myself more clearly, even when I’m not always fond of what I see.

I believe there is profound beauty in brokeness as well as in success.

I believe the joy as well as the heartache I’ve experienced in my life have made me who I am, and I believe I’m called to share myself with others regardless of what their experiences have been.

I have faith in a God that is bigger and more amazing than I’ll probably ever understand. And maybe I’m not supposed to ever understand anyway.

I believe in being a good friend…. supporting when support is needed and challenging when challenge is needed.

I believe that contentment can be found just being in the same room as someone I care about.

I believe that sometimes the best evenings have more silence than words spoken, even though communication is also really important to me.

I believe in valuing self-awareness but try not to be self-focused.

I believe I’d like to have a family someday to give myself to intentionally, but I don’t think that will mean 3 cute kids, a minivan and soccer practice.

My belief in a sovereign grace-extending God is central to my ideas about the world and my insistence on loving all people regardless of their faults and/or strengths.

However, when I say I’m “Christian” I fear that others will not understand. I don’t always vote republican. I intentionally live in a multi-income neighborhood. I drink socially. I’m not a virgin. I have close friends who are gay and lesbian.

I don’t believe we were put on earth to separate ourselves from the “secular.” I believe God created all of the world, which makes all things sacred.

I believe that God is endlessly and tirelessly pursuing me, and that there is nothing I can do to keep His love from me.

I believe faith and doubt can live in the same person, and honestly, I spent more time with doubt. Nevertheless, God has shown me time and time again the beauty that is His love.

I believe almost all men look great with a beard.

I believe that someday I might meet someone that wants to partner with me in life. Or maybe not. But either way, I believe I must continue to learn how to love the unlovable, work on my shortcomings and live my life as fully as possible.

It felt pretty vulnerable to read this on stage (and also to post it here!), but I’m trying not to live in fear, but rather live in grace.

Our more recent Void event, “Revival” was also quite powerful and well received…. looking forward to seeing where the group goes next.

Rebirth

Lara — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:28:28 +0000

So. I’ve been thinking I may like to get back to blogging on a regular basis. Not because I think I have readers with rapt attention to what I might have to say, but because I don’t think I process things that happen in my life as well as I used to when I would blog/journal with more regularity. I also miss being able to go back and look at something to see what I was doing at the time. Twitter theoretically could provide that, but I think tweets disappear after awhile, or if nothing else – there is no way to search for a particular day.

Anyway, it’s been a pretty pathetic weekend. I’m sick. The dogs (two puppies I’m fostering for the humane society) are sick. The house is a mess. I can’t even find energy to knit.

That sure sounds like a blog I would like to read!

I’ll be back.

Mexican Cornbread with Sausage for 160

Lara — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:00:31 +0000

My pub church provided a meal for another congregation in town this morning. The menu was red beans & rice, mexican cornbread, and apple cobbler. Yummy.

The cornbread, which I had basically made up using some recipes I found and smashed together, was a big hit…

You can make it too!

Mexican Cornbread with Sausage (serves 160)

6 pounds of pork breakfast sausage, cooked and drained
24 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread mix
24 eggs
12 cups milk
112 oz. creamed corn
72 oz. canned corn
28 oz. chopped jalapenos
28 oz. chopped green chilis
24 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

Mix it all up. Pour into lightly greased pans. Bake at about 400 degrees until it pulls away from pan and a knife inserted comes out mostly clean (time depends greatly on the size of pans used).

Enjoy.

Cuties.

Lara — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:28:41 +0000

I got a puppy. Her name is Denali (Nali):

LOVE.

Some friends came over to see her and I had this conversation with their 2 year old.

Sarah : You have fat boobies.
Me: Yes, I do! Do you have fat boobies?
Sarah: No, I have cute boobies!
Me: Are you saying my boobies aren’t cute?
Sarah: *nods head*
Me: I bet some might disagree….

North to the Future!

Lara — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:39:05 +0000

About 72 hours until I head out to Alaska. Have you been there?

What’s the best thing to see/do in the Fairbanks/Anchorage areas?

I arrive on the “longest” day of the year, June 20th, and it’s my understanding that the sky will not fully darken for the entire week I’m in the state. Thank goodness for shaded windows.

I’m off to bed – I badly need to reconcile my sleep debt.

Took me 3 tries to remember my blog username/password.

Lara — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:04:51 +0000

I’m working on some french bread right now… I’m in the rising/resting phase and feeling a bit nervous about all the shaping/pinching required for this kind of bread. I think it will take yummy though, so I’ll just follow instructions and hope for the best.

Hard to believe I’m less than 2 weeks from my trip to Alaska (June 20-27th). Looking forward to it, but know that I have so much I need to get done before I go. Work has been busy and emotionally draining as we’ve been working through a recruitment selection process for my most direct colleague (person with the same job as I do, but with a different staff to supervise).

The whole process has really brought me back mentally to my own job search from last spring/summer. I never liked the knowledge/feeling that you answer a bunch of questions that people you’ve never met before ask you and then you leave the room and they start chatting about what they liked and didn’t like about what you said. I understand the job search process is about finding the right fit – both for the candidates and for the institution, but I can’t help feeling a bit uncomfortable with how judgmental it all is, and how critical I become when in the midst of the process. I’m just ready for it to be over and thankfully the last candidate is on Tuesday and then we meet as a committee to make a decision.

Poor Clementine has some ear mites and HATES the drops I have to put in her ears. When I’m able to pin her down and do it, right afterward she runs faster that I’ve seen her move before across the house shaking her head and scratching at her ears the whole way. It’s actually pretty amusing to see her attempt to all these things at once. I can relate though – I hate the feeling of water/drops in my ears. Blech.

So some pictures:

First of all – the people living upstairs in my house now: (left to right is Vivien, Hugh & Joe)

Here’s the happy bride and groom from the quickly planned & executed wedding I mentioned in my last post. Wedding photography = not my thing. I think I’ll keep my day job.

The flowers were purty though!

When I went to California in early April…. with my loves JC and Chris. Oh how I miss my people (not a surprise that we were out at the karaoke bar…)

In knitting news, I’m making these socks for Katie (because they came out so small only her child’s size 3 foot would fit them). I’m completely finished 1 and about half way through the second. I recently finished another big knitting project but it’s a gift so it’s under wraps right now. More details soon (if I remember to take pictures and then post).

And finally… please : No throwing dynamite off the cliff.

Still a newb.

Lara — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:40:51 +0000

Did you know that cockroachs fly?

Or that sometimes they lay on their backs dead, but when you go to scoop them up to throw them away, they suddenly spring back to life?

Or that they are way more interesting to cats to play with than the toys cat toys than the balls with bells I buy at the store?

Seriously. The bugs are getting to me.

I’m also about to have some housemates. Excited about that.

Went to Ohio. Saw my family.

Went to Austin. Played with friends.

Two friends here just got married. I was the ringbearer, and a bridesmaid AND the photographer.

I have some pictures later.

April, she will come.

Lara — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:44:37 +0000

Oh yeah. Remember I used to write here.

Soon, I hope. I’ll be back. It’s been…. busy. Life is full. I’m thankful.