Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Jeff and the space derby













Some cub scouts watching the "track"


One of the scouts rockets - you will notice it is the "bullet" from MarioKart Wii. I love it!!! Jeff had a ton of fun, unfortunately he was so busy at the derby, he did not get to get any pictures, so I stole these from a friends blog. So with that, I dedicate this one to you Sara.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

How do you think?


It never occurred to me that people would literally think in a different manner than others. I mean, I sort of accepted that men and women thought along different lines, but I thought they just thought about different things using the same manner. Years ago I read a book by Temple Grandin, Thinking in Pictures. It is a real good book about autism and the way that she has experienced it and how she has become successful in her own life. She basically explains that for her she sees things in her mind like it is on a movie projector shooting it onto a screen. She said that some people she has talked with think more linearly. I can't actually conceive of that. For me, I see objects floating in space within my brain. If you give me directions to somewhere, I actually have a topographical map moving around my head, with a "You are here" place as my mind traces the route. This is why when I was a child, I thought I had a photographic memory, because I always saw everything in pictures. Then when I tried to use my "photographic" memory for tests, I had to sadly admit, that it was pictures I could see, but not with enough detail to discern whether the answer was A, B, or C.

So here come my question to you, how do you think? Have you really ever stopped to consider that? And to consider that not everyone mechanically thinks the same way you do.

something to ponder


OK, this may be the craziest think I have ever blogged and possibly ever done, but this has been on my mind. Maybe it is because I am nursing twins right now, but I was in the kitchen the other day, and I wondered how many squirts of cow's milk it takes to fill up a gallon container. Then I started wondering how many gallons of milk a cow gives daily. Really crazy, then that takes me to the thought of how many squirts are in the dairy case at the grocery store, how many are in the United States, etc.

I know this is crazy, but don't be surprised if the next time you go to get a drink of milk, it occurs to you that there are a lot of squirts in there.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

surprises even after 9 years together

It is interesting to me when Jeff and I learn something new about each other. The last few days Jeff's been very busy with Cub Scouts Blue and Gold Banquet/Space Derby. So I haven't really gotten any relief with the kids and was feeling really tuckered out when he got home around 9:30. We got ourselves in bed and started talking, one of our favorite things to do together. I told him about conversations I had had with old friends recently and how it made me stop and think about how I was growing up, and how I am now. I asked him about some of the comments friends had made about some of my less desirable traits and if he thought they were still true (full disclosure - yes I agree I was controlling, uptight, and very self-confident/always thought if I was right, you must be wrong). These are traits that I hope to have turned into a more positive direction.

An underlying one that contributed to these was that I lacked patience. The Lord taught me patience in my 20's and any patience I missed out on back then, my kids are continuing with. I think most kids teach their parents patience, but until you have to wait four years to hear your child even imitate your telling her you love her, you don't understand patience - it took a few more for her to learn to hug, and that was only child #1. My next two children presented with similar challenges, although I believe they also had anger issues with it. Anyway, as we discussed these things it just reaffirmed to me, yet again, that I was with the right guy.

So here is the part that surprised me, I shared with him some childhood memories that I had never shared with anyone. It seemed odd to me that he knows me so well, yet knows so little about me before we were married. He can look at a situation and be able to tell you what I would do, etc but he could not tell you much about before we were married. I guess I never realized how much faith we put into our decision to get married and trusted it to God. The wonderful thing about our marriage is that not only are we supportive of each other, but our expectations are so reasonable, that they are obtainable. This full acceptance has helped to nurture a desire individually within ourselves to be better than we are.

I think this is one of the reasons ways that keeping a journal is such a good idea. It encourages reflection and helps us to see progress. I feel that I have definitely made progress in my life if in no other way that I am happy on a daily basis.

A writer in our midst

 
Posted by Picasa

Knights vs ninjas by Andrew Park
``a long time ago in America there was a kingdom one was in north America the other one was in south America in central America was the battle field one day there was a battle between knights and ninjas and will the ninjas win yes they will win again and again the knights loose boohoo again and again they loose what weakness said one of the knights ya said another one of the knights that were alive h mm said other knight that just came from the hospital ooh ow he said another knights that were hurt ow ow ow ow ooh ooh ooh ooh said one of the knights that were hurt vary bad ow he said with a stitches