Assignment 2: Angels

Confession. On my trip I wrote two poems and not just one. This one needed another stanza which I wrote the other night. Today was a grumpy day for me. I was still bemoaning the loss of my cell phone (which got left at the car show), my regular phones are pathetic and need to be taken back, Jake is sick, etc. In spite of these things, I have had phone calls, notes, and I'm sure happy thoughts sent in my direction that have come from my angelic friends and family members. Thanks for making a grumpy day not so grumpy after all.

Angels

There are angels all around us,
Walking in the shoes of men;
Helping us when sorrow’s found us,
Giving us the strength to stand.

There are angels all around us.
Lifting us when we are weak,
Bringing light into our darkness
Helping us when life seems bleak.

There are angels all around us
Following the One who calls
Go and help my wandering lost one,
Lest he stumbles and he falls.

Lift the hands that now are weary.
Lift the failing, feeble knees.
Listen to the cries of others
And their silent, prayer filled pleas.

Be an angel for another
And there will be one for you.
In your greatest hour of darkness,
One will come to see you through.

Car Show

A long time ago Derek and I started a tradition of going to the car show -- mainly because Derek loves cars. After a while I learned to enjoy it. We always look for the car we would look the best in -- nevermind that it is almost always a car we wouldn't ever buy. Our tradition was interrupted by pregnancies and births so much that Derek had a new tradition of going with his work buddies. This year we revived the old tradition and I went. So -- which car would I look the best in? I couldn't make up my mind. I was decidedly fond of black cars yesterday but I liked the red ones too. Yes, I do know that colors aren't the same as kinds but I'm better at naming colors than kinds. Derek was kind of silent about which car he would look best in. I'm lousy at types of cars but I believe the above red car is a Ferrari. I suspect Derek would love to drive one which is why I took the picture. This fell into the category of too expensive a car to let lots of people sit in -- so we could only look.

I mostly didn't add pictures of Derek because I took lousy ones. I thought this ended up to be kind of funny -- he was talking. I'm not sure what fancy car he is standing in front of.

I had to sit in a smart car. It feels quite roomy inside so you can drive -- almost unaware of how tiny the car is and that you might be in danger of being squashed like a bug by a bigger vehicle -- but parking would be great!

As is usual for me, I am unaware of which car this is -- but I would look mighty fine driving it -- don't you think?

This is a Saturn Sky. I asked Derek about four times yesterday and the name finally sunk in. Wouldn't it be fun for me to drive on a warm sunny day -- with the wind blowing through my short hair (hey -- I used to have long hair and wind whipping through long hair isn't that fun).

I also liked the black Mustang but I honestly don't think I'd love driving it since the view out the front has a little too much hood. Some of the sports cars were like driving in a cockpit and I really prefer cars with very good visibility. At the car show though -- I try to put these practical issues aside and just decide which car looks the best with me in it -- or is it which car I look the best in?

Who's "HOT"?

I was at parent / teacher conference today -- which isn't really called that by the school but is still my preferred name for it. Jake's teacher asked as I was leaving, "Did you know that all of the girls think Jake is cute?" She overheard them on the playground talking about how "hot" Jake was. She tried to convince the girls that in first grade they should just be friends and not be talking about who was "hot". Somehow I don't think it helped but it was a nice try.

That reminded me that last year I had two seperate Moms come and talk to me about Jake. One was saying that her daughter really thought Jake was cute. The other told me how she had found her boy standing in front of a mirror combing his hair. She asked what he was doing and he said "I'm trying to make my hair look like Jake's because the girls all think Jake is cute". So if you want to know what "hot" looks like to a first grade girl you can look at Jake. The interesting thing to me is that size must not be a factor to the girls so much because I think most of them are bigger than Jake.

Aside from being "hot" (and I didn't take Jake this time so he is probably clueless about his high status with the first grade babes) Jake is doing very well in school and his teacher absolutely loves him. He even occasionally talks to much! Connor is doing well too. His teacher sent home a note about him yesterday because she is so impressed with him. It's nice to go to conferences that are mainly happy and it was interesting to learn who's "hot" in the first grade.

The Guilty Post

I admit to only writing now because I'm feeling guilty for being a boring blogger for so long. Unfortunately, I haven't downloaded any fun pictures. Fortunately, I'm sure your imaginations can take care of it.

Our holidays have been, busy, productive, lazy, fun, painful, scary, silly, and any number of other adjectives.

Busy: I have been busy cleaning, taking decorations up and down, cleaning some more, playing games, cleaning, and watching movies. Maybe a few other activities were in there too.

Productive: Didn't I mention cleaning? The storage room looks neater.

Lazy: Um, that's what I wanted to be except I feel guilty when I'm lazy. I did manage to get up later than usual on a couple of occasions.

Fun: Riding my 4 wheeler in the snow and being pulled on a sled and playing the Wii and going out with Der were all fun.

Painful: My arm hurts from playing the Wii and my neck hurts maybe from doing those 10 situps (doing ten situps is a miracle so don't laugh).

Scary: It's never fun to hear that someone you love is headed to the emergency room. We are feeling thankful and blessed that Angela is home. Also, those orks in the Lord of the Rings movies are really scary -- just in a different way.

Silly: Tia's silly friends toilet papered our house, came back for pictures, and got caught. As a reward for being caught they got to hear Tia yelling "Aaron, You FOOL!" It was pretty funny. Thanks to Kayli, Connor, and later Tia for the cleanup. Those super high pieces of toilet paper will just have to disintegrate.

Other adjectives: Yummy, exhausting, beautiful, touching, etc. I hope your holidays can be described by many happy adjectives!