AND THE WINNER IS....

Keri!

The drawing went like this:

"Charleigh pick a piece of paper."

"I waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant ......This one! What does it say?"

"It's Keri!"

"Who's Keri?"

Just the best college roommate ever.

email me with your new address and the book is all yours, Burchie.

Caption Optional

Out of Breath

landed around noon on Friday

Posted the giveaway...winner to be announced as soon as kid gets up from nap. Nap enforced due to kid being overtired this morning and unable to "use her words." Opted instead to spit on her sister's breakfast instead of asking her to move out of her chair.

laundry while hubby mowed with a borrowed mower and began setting up the pool (which over-tired kid played in while it was filling, turning blue, but insisting she was hot)

washer is running this minute with the next to the last load.

watched a movie with the kids: Jurassic Park is pretty hilarious now. But I didn't remember the cussing.

rolled out of bed on Saturday morning thinking about floor tile...got up and chased that until the men's bathroom was done and it was time to come home and shower for the company picnic.

Kids got wet, and Flying Burrito catered. The pool got full.

Robb dropped me off at church to keep plugging at the final parts of the building stuff. Air conditioner broke.

Six minutes later (or maybe 2 hours) he called to tell me it was time to get ready for the wedding.

Seriously kicking myself for not taking my camera to what must have been the most photogenic wedding I've ever attended. Seriously, there weren't any ugly people there. I kid you not. It was just gorgeous. Robb sweated his way through another lovely wedding service and the groom did not faint. Fortunately, Candice has her iPhone and I just stole her pics from Facebook. Because I know she's stealing my pictures and that makes it all good. : ) And those people you don't recognize? They are people who read my blog and don't comment. It's my way of punishing them.


Went home and crashed only to be rudely awakened by this weird beep beeping noise...we tried to fight it off, but it was insistent. Which really stunk, because getting up meant that we would need to go up to church and set up chairs (in no A/C) which wasn't so bad, but AFTER church we had to take Robb to the airport again. Which sucked. Just two more trips counting this one. But seriously...it sucks now. I miss him so much already I don't think I can stand it. He'll be back before I can finish the laundry from the last trip, but it still sucks. I'm sorry Mom, for saying "sucks" but there is no other word for it. I hate being apart from that man.

And now the coupons from the Sunday paper are here and there are 312 posts to read in my blog-reader and I'm so behind on my etsy store it's not funny and the last day of school is tomorrow and I haven't answered several key emails and my mind is swimming, but eventually....I'll get caught up. Right? Or maybe I'll chuck it all and get into the pool with the kids...

I can still smell Florida.

GIVEAWAY!

I'm a little late posting this due to being transporting across time and space, but if you comment, you will be entered to win Kem Meyer's book, Less Clutter, Less Noise. Kem is the communications director of Granger Community Church.

Facebook readers, be sure to leave your comment on my actual blog, not just in Facebook.

Charleigh will help me pick a name from the hat on Sunday morning.

And be sure to follow the rest of the Q&A Blog tour from Kem's blog list of various other blogs.

And if you aren't interested in the book, you will still need to comment if you want to hear the back story of this picture.






Here's My question to Kem and her response:


I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook; I loathe the thought of Tweeting. I see their value, but I also see so many people being sucked into these social networks, wasting hours of time playing games, taking quizzes, sending flair, etc. which seems like the ultimate in clutter and noise. I know these networks have the potential to help us market our church, to market my art and Etsy store, and even the gallery where I display my work. How can they best be used while subtly communicating "don't settle for updates thinking you've experienced the real thing."



KEM
Vanessa, I hear you, girlfriend. I loathe the pokes, surveys, hugs, fish for my aquarium, etc. on Facebook as well. That’s why I block them or ignore them. Just because all of that is available, doesn’t mean I have to use it and it also doesn’t make the other parts less valid. The same holds true for blogging and tweeting. I ignore what’s not helpful and engage with what is.



"Like most areas of life, the greatest dangers often come out of the strongest positives. And we don't stop using good accounting principles because of the bookkeeping abuses of Enron." Phil Cooke



Kelley Hartnett is the Director of Communications at Morning Star Church in Missouri. I love how she broke-down her “Rela- tech-ship”.



I’m connecting with people—more frequently and more consistently than I ever have. In the last few days, I’ve gotten real-time updates from friends about a death in the family, a sudden hospitalization, a first-ever homecoming date and reactions to the presidential debate. I learned that a quiet church guy has an incredible wit, and I discovered that another church guy and I share the same wacky taste in music. All of my in-person interactions with these folks have an undercurrent of community that I’d not experienced before. I’m learning from people—more effectively and more efficiently that I ever have. By paying attention to other church communications professionals, I’m discovering what conferences I need to attend and what books I need to read. During a recent media aftermath, I tweeted an SOS to my social media guru friend who was able to offer immediate, sage advice. And because all of those people know other people, I have a virtually unlimited, instantly accessible network of really smart people at my disposal.



Three years ago, Facebook didn’t even exist. Now it’s the fifth largest “country” in the world. And, it’s not hard to figure out why. Because we relate to smaller institutions and subsets of society much better than we relate to large and remote entities such as Big Business, Big Media, Big Government and Big organized religion--technology has revolutionized the definition of community. Virtual communities and spontaneous new social structures are popping up in personal and professional spaces. They have the tendency to make inhibitions melt away. This can be good and bad. But, mostly good.



Over the past four years, I’ve evolved from a skeptic to an advocate about this subject. Twitter and Facebook, in particular, are currently impacting and strengthening our ministry at Granger in ways I couldn’t have predicted. Contrary to my first thought, technology hasn’t caused everyone to check out of relationships, but rather enhance existing ones.

My life is so weird....

Yesterday, I was laying floor tiles, eating hotdogs, and wondering just how many hours I will spend in the Vintage Fellowship men's room.

This morning, I was packing boxes to ship all over the U.S. and Australia and France. My mosaic teapot went out the door with those boxes.

And right now, I'm lying in a hotel bed in Orlando, watching Deadliest Catch, thinking a little bit about textbooks.

My life is pretty weird.

I'm in Love

Of all the things I love about china mosaic, my favorite thing of all is the backstamp. I've made three pieces so far devoted entirely to the joy and wonder I feel when I turn a plate over and see an inky mark under the glaze that tells me where this thing came from, how old it is, who made it, and by extension, the journey this piece has been on to get to my little studio.

I finished my third piece tonight and sat down to wonder if anyone else shares my strange obsession. It turns out, they do.

I give you, "Made in England" by Emma Biggs. I just found her website, but I'm pretty sure we could be best friends.

The most interesting thing about this blog....

I was notified yesterday that I had been chosen to be a member of a blog tour being conducted by Kem Meyer for the promotion of her new book, Less Clutter, Less Noise. At the end of this month, I'll be hosting my first ever give away of her book, and will participate by contributing a question to her Q&A. She's posted a link to my blog from her blog and also on wiredchurches.com, which is a ministry of Granger Community Church.

So maybe a few more people may be stopping by to sit quietly. I had a little panic thinking about that since let's face it, this blog is kind of disaster in a lot of ways....half of you can't see the background because you use Safari. Half of my posts aren't tagged. My tagging system is as random as I am. A bunch of you only read me on Facebook, so I get no traffic credit. I'm baffled by google analytics. I write about whatever comes into my head, so you could be reading about mosaics one day and my kids poop the next. I don't even get very many comments. A lot of you just breeze in and read and sit quietly and then leave without saying anything.

But I decided that the thing that is really interesting about my blog is the people that follow it. I just thumbed through those folks, most of whom I know...and the range of life experiences and perspectives are as wide-ranging as my ideas for things I could paint. For a long time, I only knew one kind of person, one shade of Christianity, one small microcosm of experiences. My blog friends are a rainbow of interesting people from a lot of different backgrounds. Not all of them are "Christians." That's probably because this isn't a Christian blog.

I don't know if I have anything to offer the conversation going on about Kem's book. But if I do, I think it may have something to do with you, not me.

Awkward greeting

Hi Blog. How are things?
I know...I've been pretty busy with ...you know...stuff.
I've missed you, but you know...it's complicated.

A bunch of people had babies
a bunch of people graduated
I wondered if I should take the meds again
The sun came out
I hurt my back...it still hurts.
I tried to sell some stuff on ebay for other people and got nothing because ebay sucks now.
I really want to buy a house.
The kids are going to be done with school and my life is about to get really crazy again in that summer-crazy way.
Karen and Matt are ok.
Some other people aren't ok.

It's just a lot, Blog. I don't know where to start.
But maybe after I find out what it's like to get my back adjusted by a chiropractor today, I'll be able to think a little clearer.

And oh yeah, there was blood all over the front yard today and Animal control stopped by looking for a deer that had gotten lost in our neighborhood and broke through a glass window and was running loose and wounded. That was crazy.

Today it will rain, but then.....

What She Said

From Keep Calm Gallery

Some Stuff I'm Growing...

On Mother's Day

....I'd like to say, Thanks Mom, for taking that call from me sitting behind the piano.
And as we say in our family, "The card is in the mail." Seriously, what would I do without you?

To all the moms out there who are doing it just like they've been doing it for years now...Good morning! Enjoy your burned up toast and soupy cereal made by small and loving hands. And Thanks, Candice, for taking two of my off spring last night. I can actually hear birds chirping this morning instead of sibling rivalry! (And I miss the little stinkers).

To the new Mommies born just this week: Welcome to the sisterhood. Your little men are sweet and precious. And hairy. Delightfully so.

To the dear Aunts out there with no kids of your own, who send out presents on time and babysit on the romantic holidays and brag on your nieces and nephews...I salute you too.

And for the Mommies with empty arms, I pray they will soon be filled. God has a special place in his heart for you and I do too. May your fertility drugs work well, but not too well (cough cough Octamom). May your paperwork pass through officials hands quickly and with favor. And may your candle of hope never go out.

My Old Nemesis

nemesis.

Just checking to see if I spelled it right. There's no spell check in the title bar.

So my old nemesis raised it's ugly head this week. Maybe it was the 57 consecutive days of gray and rain. Maybe it was still grieving the loss of my niece. Maybe it was Robb being away. Maybe it was a big mess on one my etsy orders that had me minus two of my best mosaics and no money. Maybe it's my current trend for insomnia. Maybe it's wanting a house of my own so much I can taste the paint chips but then getting bills in the mail and knowing we're still months away. Maybe I'm worried about some of my friends who are in a bad spot. Maybe it was a host of other things that have been simmering below the surface for months. Maybe it's bio engineered food and global warming and the economy and swine flu and the just general screwed-up-ness of this world.

Whatever the combination, it had me curled up in a ball behind the piano, with nothing left. Yeah, so apparently depression is back. So if I have bonked on getting back to your phone-call or answering an email, please don't take it personally. I'm just in a death-match with my seratonin and I'm a little busy right now trying to drag the dead weight of my emotions around.

Yesterday was better. Robb stayed home for the morning and we took a walk and talked about some of the static crazy that had built up. I finished some mosaics, took pictures for my etsy store, did a little gardening, and we made burgers on the grill.

This morning, after a muggy night, I went out and cut the first roses of the year. They are deep red, cluster roses and they smell wonderful. But the sky is growing blacker every minute and we are scheduled for days and days and days of rain, thunderstorms and cloudy weather. So I'm sitting with the lightbox on. And I'm blogging. Two points to me.

I'm scared. Looked at my bank account this morning and stifled a wave of terror. You think I'm being dramatic, and I know I am. Because the way these chemicals work, I can't tell the big stuff from the small stuff. And that's a scary thing...running from oversize shadows that turn out to be your own. One of the best things about sitting in a ball completely strung out on your own fear is waking up the next day and finding out that even though you fell apart, God didn't stop holding the world together. That even though my reality is telling me all the time that it's hopeless, God's reality is much different.

I listen to the Daily Audio Bible via iTunes. I try to listen every day. Sometimes I fall behind, but it is easy to catch up. Yesterday, I listened to Hannah's song. It was meaningful to me. There is something to be learned from the way she prayed. There is something to be learned from her hope being fully in God. She was tormented unjustly. Her husband didn't quite understand her. Her priest judged her unfairly. But God was listening. And he gave her what she asked for. And this is what she said (with my asides in italics):

1 Hannah prayed: I'm bursting with God-news! I'm walking on air.
I'm laughing at my rivals. I'm dancing my salvation.
2-5 Nothing and no one is holy like God,
no rock mountain like our God.
Don't dare talk pretentiously—
not a word of boasting, ever!
(I HATE pretentiousness too Hannah!)

For God knows what's going on.
He takes the measure of everything that happens.
The weapons of the strong are smashed to pieces,
while the weak are infused with fresh strength.
The well-fed are out begging in the streets for crusts,
while the hungry are getting second helpings.
(I don't really want any one to go hungry, but I'm anxious about grocery money)

The barren woman has a houseful of children,
while the mother of many is bereft.
6-10 God brings death and God brings life,
brings down to the grave and raises up.
God brings poverty and God brings wealth;
he lowers, he also lifts up.
(Sometimes I feel really low when I buy everything second-hand)

He puts poor people on their feet again;
he rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope,
Restoring dignity and respect to their lives—
a place in the sun!
(This is all I want for the people of Vintage Fellowship...sometimes it seems like I'm asking for too much from God. But this says that that is what God does. I'm glad to hear that God and I are on the same page about this.)

For the very structures of earth are God's;
he has laid out his operations on a firm foundation.
He protectively cares for his faithful friends, step by step,
but leaves the wicked to stumble in the dark.
(protectivly cares for us....sigh of relief)
No one makes it in this life by sheer muscle!
(my mantra is "I'll make it work." I guess I need a new mantra)

God's enemies will be blasted out of the sky,
crashed in a heap and burned.
God will set things right all over the earth,
(seriously? That's what I long for in the night when I stare at the ceiling.)
he'll give strength to his king,
he'll set his anointed on top of the world!


Depression comes to me for many reasons. Some are chemical, some are spiritual. I don't believe for a second that if I just read my Bible and pray more, my depression will go away. That's a sick lie. But if I read my Bible and pray more, it helps. Two points to me. And all the points to God.

Peg and Sid

The Magical Mystery Tour

There is a new pizza chain here called The Mellow Mushroom. And this is their masterpiece...

The Magical Mystery Tour
garlic
olive oil
spinach
feta
portabello mushrooms
and the thing that makes it...

jalapenos

all on a nice, thick, bready, amazing crust.

Hungry?

Work

Robb is preaching through Genesis again and I couldn't be happier. Ever since Ted dragged us through it in college, requiring a 10 page paper every two weeks, I have had a love affair with this book. I almost died in that class....especially when I found out Ted let Robb read my papers....Ted being the professor, Robb, my brilliant boyfriend, and me...a new follower of Jesus. I learned more in that class than any other in college.

All that to say, I'm happy we are in Genesis again. Robb touched on, for the first, but certainly not the last, how work is not a curse, but rather, part of the dignity of being human. What a redemptive thought that is...that all my work...which is strange work indeed sometimes...has dignity.

I love work. I love it wildly. Though Robb's job takes him for many hours, he drops it at the front door and knows how to relax and be with us. I, on the other hand, am a total workaholic.

In this past week of sorrowing, work has been deeply comforting and satisfying. There is so little in the world that I have any control over. But I can take the broken pieces of something and make it pretty. I can rescue something people think is junk and put it in the hands of someone who values it. I can wield a mop, a paintbrush, a toilet brush, or a spoon like a magic wand. Housework can be monotonous, but it can also be liturgical.

I think God was trying to encourage us through my work this past week: I made several pieces that I very much liked. I picked up my pieces from the editor of At Home Arkansas magazine, which will feature Etsy artists of Arkansas in their June 2009 issue (look for it in 3 weeks) In the gallery, I sold a coffee table as well as some other pieces. My vintage Etsy orders are rolling in fast and furious. And at Barbara's Gardens, I was featured in their tv commercial which aired locally during the Kentucky Derby.

It's a lot to juggle sometimes. But I am grateful for it. Deeply grateful.