An invitation to read along

So I'm going to read a new book. Wow, you might think-thanks for sharing that groundbreaking information. But really b/w planning lessons, grading, and Colin I have had no time for any reading since school started. The book is called The Shack and I'm being bombarded by it from all directions. First our church read it as a book discussion this month. Now my department at school is planning a book discussion over it. I feel like I really need to join the bandwagon. From all sources it's a good book. So, I thought it could be fun to invite others to read along. Not for discussion (unless someone feels moved to do that), but I remember my St. Louis small group girls all decided to read Redeeming Love one summer, and I really enjoyed reading it, and briefly being able to comment about it with them.

In case your'e interested The book is called The Shack. I'm pasting in what my church had to say about it and what a teacher had to say about it plus the link if you want to read the description from Amazon.

I just ordered my book today from Wal-Mart with shipping and everything it's only $9.37.


From my church, The Crossing:

The Shack

Originally intended simply for his kids to read, William Young’s story of a grief stricken father and his encounter with God has become a sensation. Many Christians have hailed The Shack as one of the most powerful books they’ve ever read, while others have expressed serious concerns with its content.

From teacher:
Hi everyone! Over the weekend, I picked up the book, The Shack, (by Young). I had heard of it before, but never thought it would be a book in which I would be particularly interested. For some reason, I bought it and immediately started reading it on Saturday. I didn't stop until I was done. It is a story about a man whose daughter is kidnaped and murdered and during a period of "deep sadness" he returns to the shack where evidence of his daughter's murder was found and meets God. Although I consider myself a person of faith, I am not an overly religious person or regular church-goer. Nonetheless, I cried my way through the book and felt like it was written for me at this time in my life.

Painting with baby

We started to paint our bedroom last night, and it is slow going. It's slow b/c both Scott and I can't work on it together until Colin goes to sleep, and by that time we're tired from our respective days. We have one wall finished so far, and Scott did most of it by himself (Scott is not a perfectionist, so this is scary to imagine him cutting in at the ceiling). I have to be okay with him doing that b/c we are feeling the crunch to get it done in the next couple of days since we have new furniture coming (we only ordered it 2 weeks ago, and it's already in-we thought we had more time). I found out it had arrived once we had already prepped the room for painting. Not only is our furniture being delivered but our families are coming in beginning Tuesday night for Thanksgiving.

Thankfully our room is big enough that we don't have to remove everything to paint we can just move things around or to the center of the room. It's so crowded right now and the dogs are feeling a little displaced as we keep moving their beds. I can't wait until we are through. I don't know how any of you have been able to paint with little ones, but I can only imagine it will get worse getting many things done as he becomes mobile.

Why I love blogging: Reason #1-4

I've decided to write the praises of blogging today as the cold weather begins to make me feel blue. I always get the "mean reds" as the weather changes and I see less of the sun. It helps now that I'm not in a classroom with no windows all day, but the weather (lack of sunlight and plummeting temps) still gets me down. The "mean reds" bring to mind that my friends are scattered far away, and I have no plans to see any of them in the near future; my parents live far away (but I get to see them at Thanksgiving); and I have no close friends in Columbia (sort of feeling sorry for myself here, indulge me).

So in order to lift my spirits here it goes.

Why I love blogging reason # 1: online journaling

I've always sucked at journaling. Blogging makes me feel a little vindicated here. I can be self-reflective and keep in touch at the same time-SCORE!

Why I love blogging reason # 2: anonymity of being nosy into other people's lives

People are inviting you in to be nosy, and you can be anonymous about it. That sounds creepier than I intend, but it's kind of true. I like to let people know I'm looking though by posting (to eliminate said creepiness). I'm sort of obsessed with friends posting, so I feel like I'm keeping in touch without really keeping in touch (see reason # 3)


Why I love blogging reason # 3: I hate talking on the phone and I'm not much better with email

Again I love being able to keep in touch without having to really put in the effort to keep in touch--that sounds horrible. I love face to face interaction with people, getting together and visiting---I hate talking on the phone. It's always been that way. I like talking to people I haven't talked to in a while, but I've never liked talking to people frequently on the phone (family excluded, especially since there is distance b/w us).

The bitter reality though is all my friends live scattered across the country. From Georgia to Texas, Missouri to Washington, Illinois to Alabama--I don't get face to face time with any of them. So I always hope they have posted, so I can at least feel a small part of their lives still. In fact blogging has brought me back in touch with people I had kind of lost touch with.



Why I love blogging reason # 4: Friends' comments on my blog

I like feeling like people are interested in what's going on in my life. You don't know if people care about what you are saying or are attempting to keep up with your life except when they post comments. I love seeing that people have commented--even if it's an insignificant comment b/c it helps bring that feeling of connectedness that I dont' really have here with a physical presence. The world wide web is a poor substitute for physical presence, but it's better than no connection.

So to all my girlfriends out there that read and post comments on my blog, thank you.

To all my girlfriends that trudge away posting on their blog (even when it seems like no one is listening/reading)--I'm reading, so thank you.

To the person that invented blogging-whoever you are, wherever you are, thank you. Thank you for giving me a means to express myself and keep in touch with friends afar.

4 months old

Check out the faux-hawk. His Aunt Sarah will be so thrilled. Now if we could only stack him with other babies for her.

So, we had a checkup today, and Colin is doing well. He continues to be small/average for his size. He is just under the 50th percentile for all his measurements. He weighs 14 lb 6 oz and is 24 in. He's got two bottom teeth near the surface--the drooling has begun.

Things he can do:
Roll over from tummy to back before he gets mad and tired of tummy time
Roll from back to tummy (only toward his right and his arm gets stuck, which ticks him off)
Smile, giggle, and squeal
Sometimes sleep through the night

Things he likes:
Zrbits on his belly
Kisses on his neck and face
Tickling
Reading books with mommy
Mommy and daddy singing or performing for him
Morning is his favorite time
Other kids
Elmo singing/ or daddy talking in Elmo's voice
Sitting in his exersaucer and seeing himself in the mirror

Last visit to St. Louis

When we were in StL about 3 weeks ago we got to see some of our friends. We got to visit with Aaron and Alisha Cobb and their little cutie, Micah. Forgot my camera, of course, but Alisha got some photos, so hopefully she'll send me one.

We also visited with our good friends Missy and Chad Schaffer and their little girls Mia and Livia. Livia and Colin were due on the same day, but ended up being born about a week apart. It's fun to see them next to one another. Forgot my camera there, too. We thought, Chad and Missy will have a camera. There's was broken, so the only pics we got were with cell phones, so they're a bit grainy.

Halloween and other such stuff

So, it's the day after the elections. Thank goodness I won't get anymore phone calls polling us just as we get Colin to fall sleep; and no more tiresome commercials slinging mud. This is the first time since I've been old enough to vote my candidate of choice didn't win, but I'm hoping it will be a good next four years. I was almost moved to tears by McCain's gracious and motivating concession speech. I haven't heard Obama's full speech (I fell asleep before he came out), but from the clips I've seen I've been inspired with hope. Hope that he can be the kind of president he promises to be. Though I didn't vote for him, I am cautiously optimistic that in contrast to what some worst-case scenario people claim (America will no longer be America as we know it) that Obama will be a uniter of people and help move our great nation forward.

On to happier things. Colin wasn't feeling so well on Halloween, so we didn't take him out in the neighborhood, but we did put him in his costume for about an hour, but no one really saw him. That's so sad! Luckily we put it on him for both grandparents when they were here over the last month. He was a green dragon, pretty cute!