watercolor thoughts....

so much going on,
and some not really bloggable, but I have to say,
I said "No, thank you" which felt bittersweet, but also empowering.

I am going to Israel the end of June. Sort of a quick decision on that.

planted tomatoes this morning.

Rejection is hard.

and...
Support is amazing.

The sun shines.

I have got to walk the dogs twice a day the past few days.

Have much work to do, to get done, to plan, to think.

Love the breeze off the Mystic River

Dog's toes smell like cornchips...

Snuggled month old twins yesterday...oh, babies. They smelled like sugarcookies and flowers. I love snuggling newborns....

I love grilled sweet potato sandwiches...

and
in short,
and in long,
breathing in spirit, exhaling light, life, and love,
I am grateful.

messing around

even though I don't write anonymously,
I want a new handle for my blog...and I am thinkin' an new blog with a catchy name.
for now, I just changed my "name" to revkjarla,
Kjarla is my NPR name (see post sometime last week.)

I can't figure out how to make the blog look more cool. more personalized...so for now, I will just play with the colors, and ponder upon a new catchy title.

back to virtual shoe shopping at Zappos.

dreams snippets...

from last night:

*cooking with my dogs in a great kitchen....

*taking care of a dog named Oscar who pooped in his sleep because he was nervous for his job interview today. I told him it was o.k.

*seeing my twin sister call me and tell me our oldest sister died.

*trying to change my flights but realizing I on a layover and I don't really know where exactly I am.

*riding in a Archie comics-style convertible jalopy, trying to find out what happened to my sister.

Real Life Thought Snippets
*Really want some new shoes. Not for any occasion. Just spring fever.

*So tired again today. WHY??? Maybe it's all that shredding.

*If I could choose my accent, it would definitely be Texan.

* Wish I didn't have a meeting tonight.

*Wondering if anyone will come to church on Sunday for our inaugural "What if Everybody Came Sunday"

*Can't wait for real warm weather.

*Wondering if I really need to drive home and back to let the cat in and close the back door that is open.

*Maybe I need to invest in hand weights for shredding.

*Thinking about wearing dresses and skirts again. For no specific reason, I stopped.

*Really got to find some focus. Maybe I will go visit my favorite 95 year old.

Thank God that God loves me even when I am scattered like this!

total...timewasting.....

so,
after getting Sunday's bulletin together, and catching up on some email, and besides cleaning the kitchen and getting Shredded (thanks to another revgal who blogged about this--Cheesehead!) I have pretty much been useless today.
I spent the past hour (I kid you not, and if you are a member of my church and reading this, please know that I am usually OVER productive....) shopping for shoes on Amazon AFTER I looked for a few important resources that I learned about over the BE2 weekend. (I just put them in my cart, but didn't press "pay")

I do have plenty to do...
I guess re-entry is a little harder than I expected--especially since it is school vacation week and it is like an empty tomb around here. No one is here, 'cept me and Chester (not real name) the person who comes from the cleaning service. AT my office, not home. (sigh.)

The day is rainy and grey...and I miss the brilliance and warmth of the desert.

O.k.--I read this on a local blog in the community newspaper. She talked about how juicy npr reporter's name are--Sylvia Pojolli, Mandolita Barcos, Lakshmi Singh...and so she came up with a formula to make up your own.
First, take the first initial of your middle name and insert it anywhere in your first name.
For your last name, use the smallest city you have visited in a country besides your home country.

I figured the smallest cities I ever visited were in Scandanavia, but I couldn't remember which ones they were. In any case, I came up with
"Kjarla Lillesand"
Pretty good name, huh?

Oh, and a gratitude. This morning, my step-father had surgery this morning on his back to relieve sciatic pain that has rendered him virtually housebound since last fall. I am happy to report that the surgeon proclaimed the surgery a wonderful success and that my step-father would be all fixed up now! Thank you God!

Back to Sunday School attendance lists, three weeks late. oy!

Springy Saturday

Ahh. It has been a very busy week. Four nights in a row at work, with multiple meetings/potlucks/visits. In spite of being busy, it all was great. I just LOVE what I get to do.

This morning, though I felt like a brick wall had crashed over me. We got up to go to a WW meeting at 8:00. When I got home around 9:00, I crawled back into bed for just a few more minutes. I literally didn't wake up until 2:00 pm, and then I had to make myself get up. I have been really tired lately--it is true fatigue--and I suppose I need to go and get some bloodwork done. I have had episodes of chronic mono in the past, and although I don't think that this is it, I do think getting it checked would be good. Besides being fatigued, I feel good--my heart is light, I am satisfied and grounded emotionally and spiritually, I am exercising regularly, and I even have lost a little weight. I have energy--in spite of the physical fatigue.

The day today is gorgeous. I am waiting for a delivery, and after that happens, I am going to take Fenway for a walk/run through the greenway. She will like it, and I will love the sunshine on my face and body. It is still a tiny bit cool, but the sun makes all the difference. Last night I was talking to one of our 7th graders, and he commented how daylight savings time makes a world of difference. I have to agree. I LOVE these kids in our confirmation group. Again, who else gets to do work like this for a living? I know that some pastors/congregations have touch times, conflict, personalities, difference of opinions, and that is probably true in pockets where I get to serve...
but that has been true anywhere I have served.
In spite of the level of conflict or difference of opinion or vision,
ministry, being with people, loving people, being on a journey with Christ together, ahh...well, it rocks. I love it.

Today, when we were coming back from WW, we (Beloved and me) made a bet about when Target opens. Don't ever question me about Target--I know my Target, trust me. We bet a pair of shoes, if I win, a new running outfit if Beloved won.

Guess who won (and I didn't initiate the bet, Beloved did. So. Sure. of. Rightness.)
HAH! I won. Then Beloved mentioned that of course because there is an economic crisis, I would of course, being thoughtful and frugal, forgo my booty.
Huh. hmmm. Well, maybe for now. But spring is coming, and sandals must be had. Don't you think? ;-)

Again, another random post. But, well, maybe it is spring fever.

Thank you for the Joy in my heart, oh Joyful Holy One.
Amen.

scattered thoughts today...

randomly,
I am thinking about these things.
I am at the age now, where it is not uncommon for my peers to be dealing with a terminally ill parent--or a sudden death of one.
It's huge.

I now know personally two people in very good professional jobs who have been laid off. One was done with grace. The other sounds like a complete knock-out out of nowhere. I also have a colleague whose two sisters have been laid off in the past few months. It can happen to any of us, and to any one we know.

My neighbor has a new puppy, baby Bella, the Bernese Mountain Dog. She is hilarious.

This is a good moment, this pause as I feel the keys under my tapping fingers, listening to the drone of the vacuum cleaner that someone is running across the hall in the pre-school room, while a very loud mommy picks up her child and puts her in the bathroom and tells her not to lock it. That would my cue to lock it to see what would happen. Am surprised the child did not take advantage. The mom is really loud, though. Now she is explaining about Girl Scout cookies.

My heart aches, especially for the one friend who was laid off yesterday.

I wonder when the snow will melt after the dump of 12 inches yesterday.

There is a little boy in the preschool who gets in trouble EVERY day. He is having a hard time. I suspect he might have some special needs. Prayers for him...and his parents....

The sun is absolutely brilliant this afternoon. Wonderful.

I need to clean my office. Someone just came by and asked me if I was moving. (four giant boxes arrived today, full of specially imprinted church mugs--plus a box of curriculum, and another box of old pictures somebody dumped in my office. Plus two Trader Joe bags full of stuff, and an overflow of papers on the floor to be filed. Sigh.) I am not moving.

I can't get the Beyonce song, Put a Ring On it, out of my head. uh, uh, oh..uh, uh oh.....

I wish I could dance like Beyonce

Time for me to stop writing. My stream of thought is deteriorating.

Peace to you~~

Snowfall Commentary

Well, first. Let me say a few things about the Wovel (to the left) that I got for Christmas, while I worry about the load of snow piling up on my rooftop that is incredibly heavy from moisture, wondering if my roof will cave in. Please. That would wreck the weekend plans to getaway to NYC. I digress. The Wovel is like a snow shovel, except, as you can see from the picture, it has the capacity to move a lot of snow. This is a great tool for when the snow is light and fluffy, or when you don't have five feet of snow already piled up in your driveway, frontyard, backyard. The problem, is as the snowbanks get higher, it is increasingly difficult to try to pop it up that high, and you just end up making a mess that you have to go to your old fashioned shovel to fix.
In addition, the wovel has a pretty big shovel on it--which does in fact move a lot of snow, but one needs a lot of space to maneuver it--and since I am a urban dweller, there's not a lot of room to manage it. I would suggest a wovel lite, or mini-wovel, wovel petit that would make shoveling the tight areas feasible.
Would I throw 100 bucks at it again if I could do over. Probably. But, I am sorely tempted to check out the sales on the snow throwers (as they call them up here).
But, speaking of snow throwers, I feel like there is a little bit of competition between the two 20-30 something guys on our block that have these machines. It is really sweet--it is as if they are racing each other to help out all of the neighbors to blow their snow for them. Next door Fireman Guy was a little late in getting out, and across the street Hocky Guy had not only done his own sidewalk, but the neighbor across the street, next door to us, and all of the my driveway that he could. Wow. Lovin' that. Fireman Guy (also new to the neighborhood) had to go further down the block. I am sure that secretly he was so dissappointed he couldn't do our sidewalk--we are the best next door neighbors ever.
So, he did two driveways down the block. I was curious to see if he would do Skanky neighbors next to him, who have the dog that attacked another dog and my beloved while she was trying to save it. I couldn't really tell.
And, just randomly--why can't it be a rule that all snow should be light and fluffy and never wet, heavy, slushy, sleety, messy, icy stuff? It would be such an improvement. NOT that I am complaining or anything.

Day off and housebound.

It's Monday.
It is sooooo cold outside today, but I am home, and can't go anywhere until I get an important delivery that we missed on Friday. So, I have exercised, checked email, and now will settle in to do some planning for a women's retreat I am leading the first weekend in February.
Anybody got something great?

Anyway--there are a ton of things I should be doing, but I have been chilling out, surfing, shoe shopping...later I will bundle up and take doggies for their stroll. I am dying to get to the studio because I made all of these test tiles and I am so curious as to how the glazes came out. Hopefully the box I have to sign for will get here SOON.

In the meantime, the house is so quiet. Every single one of the nine furry friends that live here are happily snoozing.

I had an opinion I wanted to post, but I can't remember what it was!!! silly.

off to the races

well, not really.
just off to the gagillion things to get done today.


But, just had to tell an urban wild story. Yesterday, a guy like this one took exactly one hour to kill, pluck, and eat an entire sparrow in my pristine snow covered back yard. Now it is full of tiny feathers.


(picture totally not used with permission, a google result.)

Tuesday, today.

So,
the second half of the program year is off to a start!
everyone is back in the office...
and we are sorting dates and making sure we have pretty much every minute planned until June.
seriously, that is almost 100% true. every Sunday is planned between here and there, with just a few preaching slots to fill in...programs planned, etc.
do you all do that out there? just curious.
I am not complaining about it, though, it is just different. most congregations or insitutions I have been a part of haven't had most of the year mapped out by the August before. it's not a bad thing. not entirely all good, though, if there isn't wiggle room for the Spirit to move. I think we have enough space, though.

well, I have a few things to update before my meeting at 10:00.
just wanted to ramble for a few moments to prime the pump of my mind...

brrrrrrr

January 1, 2009.

Wow.
2009! Crazy.

Today...
1. is bitter and cold, beautiful and bright
(can you tell I grew up with farmer parents? I always report the weather!)

2. I am so grateful for the snowplower who plowed our street, because he/she actually did a careful job, making sure that there wasn't a five foot berm in front of my driveway.

3. In spite of being pleased with my Wovel, I am enormously thankful for the two of neighbors, next door and across the street, who are young and happy with their snowblowers, and feel like they should plow our sidewalk because we are middle aged old ladies. No, they don't say that, but can't you see them thinking that? I am grateful for their parents who raised such considerate men ;-)

4. I am waiting for the coffee to brew, and then I am going to get back into bed and read and ponder Sunday's sermon. And then write it. I want to go cross country skiing on Saturday.

5. 2008 was a year for us, like for many, full of dramatic contrasts. The world news and economics paints everyone's personal lives in so many different ways. So, there is that. Then, my nephew died from suicide. B's mother died. There was lots going on at work, stress. And then, so many things to be grateful.
I would say that 2008 was full, full of the work and joy of life and living.

6. May peace be real, and hope a way of life in 2009.

Amen.

Tuesday. AGain!

So, it's Tuesday and I swung by the office to check in...although no one is really around, since the office is cold. Sorted some mail, made some calls, looking out at a windy but bright New England December day. Tomorrow we are supposed to get more snow...so I need to get that durn Wovel put together. I just don't have the right tools...I need a ratchet, which in my meager and sundry collection of tools, I do not happen to have.

I was hoping to make a couple of pastoral calls, but that looks like they will happen on Friday. That's o.k.

On NPR this morning, I was listening to an interview with Juno Diaz and he said this:
The work of the artist is to strive to undermine her/his previous work.

I find that so interesting, but I get it. You want to push, pull, stretch, engage even deeper with each artistic endeavor. I find this so true in clay...whether I am making the same thing over and over, I still want to tweak it, get into more, try something a little different.....

Just a random thought for the day.

notes to self

*it's easy to feel blue when planning a blue christmas service.

*i like Mindy Smith's My Holiday CD

*sitting down to carve a very large ceramic platter covered in blue slip takes a lot more time and intention that I planned on.

*i LOVE carving pottery. it's about the third most popular thought in my head.

*it is rainy and cold. it is 2:27 pm. i am in my office. i forgot my bag so i don't have my list and books and stuff that i need.

*there is still plenty to do.

*why isn't there a naptime for adults? the preschool across the hall always has naptime. not fair.

*i am not feeling particularly inspired or motivated.

*advent/christmas makes me sad, thoughtful, hopeful, quiet.

*i wish we could be with my family of origin for just a couple of days. this christmas will be so hard on all of them, missing aric's joy.

* the titles of books on my desk are earthprayers, growing together, bread for the journey, the green bible, sacred journeys, in wisdom's path, guerillas of grace, imaging the word. isn't that a delicious combination?

*last year, a little girl in my congregation gave me a christmas card. it is on my bulletin board. it says, "pastor karla, i hope you are looking stunning. happy holidays! love, f." that must mean that sometimes i must look stunning. ;-) i hope in a good way.

*the sooner i finish my edits on sermons, the sooner i can go home.

*i am so glad i exercised already.