Someday We'll Have Kids Reason #12

(Happy Disciples Who Love God More than Cheese)

At our church, City Lights, I have the great privilege of serving in the kid's program.  They say fun stuff, those little disciples.  Sometimes it's even quotable...it'll be nice to have such quotable wee ones in our own home.

Me, in the context of our lesson about the ten commandments: So, what are some things in your life that could become more important than God if we're not careful?

Kiddo #1:  Television.
Kiddo #2:  Yeah!  That's number two on my list.  Video games are number one.
Kiddo #1:  My brother needs to be careful about that...he plays alot of video games.
Kiddo#3: Eating.  I sure do like to eat.
Kiddo #2: I really love playing video games...maybe my parents too?
Kiddo #3: Especially cheese, cheese is so good.  
Me, shaking my head in all seriousness: Yep, those are all things that shouldn't become more important than God.  Good work guys.

Conclusion, kids have their priorities figured out:
Cheese, television, video games < God

~the wifey

Dating in Marriage

If you are married, and have the flexibility of either no children or very small children who can easily be packed up and forced to go with you wherever you go, then may I propose one of the many gifts of marriage: The Impromptu Date Night.  

Many a weekday night, Hubs and I will find ourselves, done with dinner, and alert enough to carry on plenty of conversation, only to be sitting in front of the television.  "Boo!" I'll think to myself, "don't waste your lives away with another two hour block of shows!  Just don't do it!"  But, it usually takes the initiation of Hubs (who is great at initiating things) to get us off that couch, away from yet another CBS sitcom (which are pretty good these days), and out of the house.  

What?  A weeknight date?  You may be asking yourself right now.  I have to assume I'm not the only one who poses questions to herself on a regular basis.  But doesn't date night take planning and purpose?  Like, 'oh, we haven't had a date in two months, guess we better do that.'  NO!  It doesn't.  Take back the date night, married people!  Get off the couch!  Finish dinner at home and there are worlds of fun, free things waiting for you out there.  This is one of the reasons to get married after all, isn't it?  Constant contact with one another.  Availability to live together, by which I mean much, much more than just co-habitation.  

Last night we took a long meandering walk through our neighborhood.  Trekked down streets we've driven past day after day but have never actually seen.  It was hot, so we were sweaty, and I had opened at the coffee shop that morning so some of my conversation was a little loopy, but we were together, doing an intentional activity, outside of the house.  Date!  

(This type of date is also an excellent opportunity to compose songs about one another's most outstanding features.   Take that however you may...)

Or, one for beating this summer heat, cart yourselves over to the 'ol Barnes and Noble or Borders or even the public library, as long as it's cool and there's plenty of reading material, oh, and a comfy place to sit.  Free Date!  Plus, this usually gives us lots of new and interesting thing to say to one another.  Our last bookstore date resulted in Hubs' new passion for local produce.  

Long ago, before Hubs even asked me to be wifey, he said something very sweet to me.  It went something like this: "I'm excited to be with you, as a married couple, one day.  We'll get to do stuff like buy nuts at Trader Joe's because we just feel like it."  This was in the context of a conversation about the joys of having your love with you, at home, available almost all the time. 

Fellow Hubs and wifeys!  Get together and make the Impromptu Date Night happen.  It makes marriages happy.  

~the wifey

Deer like married people

Today, Hubs and I went for a four mile hike at Rockwood Reservation.  Great trail, great day, great deer!  We were within fifteen feet of this wee one.  Conclusion.  Deer like married people.

Hooray Marriage! Hooray Freedom!

Happy Fourth of July (yesterday), everyone!  Here are the highlights of our weekend.

Saturday fun....

This bunch is from Sunday...

PAST (Pernod Avenue Standard Time)...

From National Geographic Magazine - July 2nd, 2010:

Story by Colin McFarner
Photos by Cindy Wampler

The Stretch of Pernod Ave. from Hampton to Kingshighway is in a different time zone. More specifically, it is exactly 72 hours ahead of everyone else in the world. How did this happen? How was such a small stretch of road catipulted three days into the future? Most scientists believe this was caused by a seismic shift in the earth's plates just below the street, around 1600 A.D. The plates shifted so rapidly, that the street was actually moving on its own, rotating and circumventing the earth at such a rapid pace, that it actually forgoed any time laws and jumped 72 hours ahead of everyone else on earth (approx. 3 days).

Illustration courtesy Wikipedia

For a better illustration, picture this stretch of road as half of a hamster wheel. As the earth's crust shifted below the expanse, this 'hamster wheel' began rotating over the earth, bypassing everything in its path and traveling at an extrememly high Rate of Inertia (ROI). This, of course, was many years ago...but the confusion and struggle of the neighborhood's inhabitants still remains. Case in point could be witnessed just last night...July 1st. As the rest of St. Louis and the country was enjoying their Thursday evening, settling in for the night to prepare for the following work day, this stretch of bewildered houses was freaking out. Due to unfortunate scientific circumstances, the inhabitants of Pernod Ave. were forced to celebrate Independence Day 3 days earlier than the rest of America. Bottle rockets soared and popped, fire crackers exploded, and beer after beer was emptied. Struggling to find a way in their time jerked world, the people of Pernod were only doing what time and space was forcing them to. Unfortuntely for the surrounding area, who were still in current time and not at all ready to celebrate, this was a bit of a hindrance...

      Fireworks light up the sky above the Pernod neighborhood on July 1st

Police Chief Roger Borrelli:

"We're in kind of a pickle, ya know? I mean, part of me wants to arrest these folks...but gosh darn it, it's just not their fault, ya know? I mean, what are they is supposed to do? It wouldn't be fair to make them celebrate on Sunday, 'cause for them that would be the 7th! Whoever heard of the 7th of July being a holiday? I sure as heck have not...that's just not patriotic. That's just not what Jefferson had in mind when he crossed the Pacific and discovered New Jersey all those years ago."

So with that, the party continued, late into the night. Law enforcement was rendered useless and the ever continuing struggle of the neighborhood of the PAST (Pernod Avenue Standard Time) continues. Maybe one day scientists will uncover the solution that will eventually return this confused neighborhood to a more sustainable time zone, or at least get them to be on the same day as everyone else.

That's so wierd that this was in National Geographic today, because Janele and I live in this same neighborhood and were up all night wondering what the crap was going on?? Glad we got an explanation...I can't believe I hadn't known this until just today. Wow.

- the Hubs

Sometimes a husband will...

Call the police department because the neighbors, who decided to celebrate the 4th three days early, are shooting off numerous fire crackers late into the night (well, late for me who had to get up at 4:30am). 

When it was all said and done, the neighbors stopped before Hubs could get the St. Louis City department number, and eventually I fell asleep to the sound of our fan and air conditioner instead of crack, pop, bang etc.   Really, though, it's the gesture that counts. 

he's like my knight...

~The Wifey