To Whom Shall We Go?

Last night Devastatingly Handsome took us to see Doctor Strange. It was a film that promised to suit everyone in the family, from those of us who enjoy superheroes to those who are content to see Benedict Cumberbatch. Not saying which category I may fall into. :)

This film has a crazy mix of world religions and mysticism, and there was a lot I wanted to argue with. But I was struck throughout the movie about how much of the script was either so close to Scripture or reminiscent of it and could have been reworded with direct quotes from memory work:

* The theme about Strange's arrogance and it not being all about him... we could substitute chunks of Proverbs and get there. 

* Something about his bold, insistent "I've come to bargain" reminds me of our need for a mediator.

* The Ancient One's final talk about death "Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered and your time is short" sounds straight out of Psalm 90 ~ "So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom."

I was struck most strongly by two scenes fairly early in the show, the first, I can't find the exact words but Pangborn warned Strange that there would be a cost and that it was not money. This sounded very like the admonition in Luke 14:28 to consider the cost. Just a few minutes later, when The Ancient One threw Strange out of Kamar-Taj, he sat on the stoop, knocking and begging for entrance. I was thinking of Christ's warnings about being excluded from the kingdom of heaven until Strange begged, "Please don't shut me out! I don't have anywhere else to go.." It sounded to me like he was confessing along with Peter in John 6:68 "Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
 

Fungi Day

Today Devastatingly Handsome, Miss Dog Lover, Miss Dog, and I took a walk through our woods and carried along a picnic for our lunch. It was a beautiful day, cool for July but pleasant. It rained for maybe three minutes, tops, perfectly timed, while we were eating lunch in the shelter. 

It turned out to be what I declared fungi day. 

Here is a picture of my "fun guy" along with the girls: 

And here are some of the other fungi we saw... a pretty red toadstool of some sort... I am pretty sure there were fairies nearby...

there were lots and lots of Indian pipes... is it still pc to call them that? I may have to go back and see if I can get a decent photo... 

pretty sure some sort of (very small) alien came out of this ship cleverly disguised as a puffball...

and these fellows really were purple... if I can find them again I will turn off the flash and see if it shows that way...

"And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day." ~ Genesis 1:11-13

Snidely and Inhalers

This week I've thought of "distress" and the whole SOS idea a bit.

It started with a friend who had been hospitalized with asthma. We were with her Sunday and her breathing was obviously far from normal. Good for Devastatingly Handsome, who told her to use her inhaler. She tried to tell him, no, it was only for when she was in respiratory distress (which is what the doc told her). DH explained to her that she was, in fact, in distress. She had no idea she needed help. Amazing.

I guess we think of distress looking like this:

But often distress is more common place and hard to recognize. I am asking God to give me eyes to see when someone is in distress, to be able to show them their need, to cut the ropes, and point them to the Rescue. 

~ ~ ~

Psalm 59:16 ~ But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

Missing User's Guide Needed

So. Devastatingly Handsome knows I am saving my pennies for some sort of new electronic toy: maybe an iTouch or a Samsung Galaxy Player or some sort of tablet. 

Somewhere around 3 or 4 AM, he presented me with a red Galaxy, the phone, though, not the player. The first thing I noticed was the extreme thickness of it ~ about 5/8 of an inch. Then I noticed it was a 64 gb. That seemed to account for the thickness. Then I started looking at the features, like a page of text, top to bottom, left to right.

See, I have often thought cell phones are similar to Swiss Army Knives. You carry just one item around and it handles lots of varied functions. Well, this red Galaxy proves me right. The first three features I came to were ~ and understand, these are not apps but true physical features built into the phone ~ a toothpick in a small sleeve, a tiny hummingbird feeder, and a wee bottle of hand sanitizer. 

At this point I realized it was not the same Galaxy I had looked at on Amazon and Best Buy's sites. I asked Devastatingly if he could pass me the user's guide.

"Um...," he said, "they did not actually put anything like that in the box."

I thought that odd and asked to see the packing materials. He took me to the mudroom and showed me a beat up wooden crate, about 2 feet by 2 feet by 7 feet long that had some big chunks of styrofoam in it and also contained a little wooden box the size two pounds of Velveeta comes in, that held polished stone butterflies about the size of eggs, made of agates and jaspers. But no instruction manual, no charging cords or accessories, no information on returns or customer service. The only paperwork was a receipt, for $86.50. 

Thank you, Devastatingly, for the gift. You get extra points for making sure it was red and for the amazing features. Since I can't make it work, though, I sure hope you can get your money back. And I also wish I had seen the rest of the features before I woke up.

Don't Worry, I Didn't Buy It

Devastatingly Handsome took us to a big auction. No, scratch big. Bigger than big. Something like 1600+ vendors. (Although, to be honest, a lot of them looked like franchisees selling the same stuff as each other.)

But this one item, I just loved AND still had the maturity to leave right in the bin ~ are you feeling proud of me? This little pink monstrosity:

Field Trip

Today Devastatingly Handsome took me for a date. To the Fiestaware outlet store.  Very romantic, eh?


Yes. It was fun looking through the bins of seconds to find lovely bits of color for our house. Our purchases: 

 and... just for Miss Pink... the new color is Flamingo.  :D

Thanks, Devastatingly, for a fun date.  :D

Dining Out at Its Best

Today was our evaluations day so the homeschool year is all but done for us. To celebrate, Devastatingly Handsome took us out for dinner. We greatly enjoyed it ~ but I have to admit ~ sometimes I think maybe we don't get out enough: Miss Dog Lover fingered the creamer cups and said, "Wow! Free drinks, too!"

Just Grab a Fork

Oh boy, how to say this, how to say this.... well, just dive right in... 


Well, I find I am wanting to start this post with "this sign really disturbs me and so I am sharing it with you dear blog readers, to see if it disturbs you, too" when it occurs to me that maybe that will not come across as a caring way to address you. And so I am conflicted... do I share and risk offending you or do I not share? But the truth is Devastatingly Handsome was kind enough to take the photo even though it caused Mr Music to slump down out of view in the backseat lest Someone See Dad Being Weird and think ill of him (Mr Music, that is) and obviously I want to share, and anyhow, it is only mildly disturbing, the sort of thing that spurs blog posts rather than visits to a therapist. So here it is:

This sign makes me about as conflicted about the tavern as I am about this post in general. What do you think about the meatballs? I am torn between their cuteness and the thought of eating a smiling, thumbs-up meatball. Would you order spaghetti there? And, do you find the chef's smile a bit evil? And, what is he holding behind his back?

Heart Day at Our House

This morning Mr Music greeted me with this little buddy he'd built for me for Valentine's day... so he has been named "Valentine." Is he not awesome?

And I am just a bit conflicted about whether I ought to post a picture of the Valentine dessert I made for tonight... see, Devastatingly Handsome has asked me not to post identifying photos on my blog, and, well, I made a mini-Devastatingly. So, here is the deal: I am going to post the picture and you are on the honor system that if you see Devastatingly IRL some day you will not say, "Oh, I know you. I saw your face on a cookie on carpebanana." Please. That would be bad for our relationship.

Serious Wrongdoing

We were in the Big City today when the driver in front of us turned left on a red light. Devastatingly Handsome commented and Mr Music wanted to know what was so bad about it. So we talked about that being the kind of mistake that is more likely to kill people than to result in a fender bender.


And then came one of those moments when I am pretty convinced I have been homeschooling a little too long.


I heard myself say, "It's not as bad by dividing by zero, but it is very dangerous."

The Game is Afoot

Happy Birthday to Devastatingly Handsome and congratulations on finding this post. That is the first part of the challenge.

Now, you need to keep your eyes open. When you find the red tag shown below and turn it in to me, you get an ice cream date, my treat. I will provide clues if and when I deem necessary. And, btw, do not bother trying to make your own tag. It is identified on the back as well.  :-P

Happy hunting!

Feeling Like the Anti-Vampira

Devastatingly Handsome and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary a few weeks back by donating at a Red Cross blood drive for the first time in a couple years. We are just that romantic.


And so, since it had Been Awhile, today we got snazzy new blood donor cards, and a letter along with them with some somewhat overstated points:
 * you really have done something amazing. ~ wow, thanks. I laid there and let you poke a hole in me. That took a lot of talent, didn't it?
 * has anything else you've done lately made you feel this good? ~ sounds like a question my dentist would ask after I enjoy a root canal.


And how is this: I am next eligible to donate on my birthday. Anniversary... birthday... will the next one be Reformation Day? then Thanksgiving and Christmas? and maybe even Groundhog Day? hmmm...


They also thanked us with awesome t-shirts. I am so glad we live somewhere rich enough we can admit this is just ugly and stupid and not much of an impetus to go give blood:

And is it just me... or do they maybe turn some squeamish potential donors off by continuous reminders of the reality of blood such as making even their cards bright red?