Weekly Word of the Weak: Repose

Jewel has a song called "Break Me". Part of the lyrics go like this:

I will meet you in some place

Where the light lends itself to soft repose

I'd heard the word "repose" quite a bit in life, but haven't really ever used it. When I fell in love with this song, I realized that I'd never really learned what it meant. How would light lend itself to soft repose? What does that mean?

(n.)
1. the state of reposing or being at rest; rest; sleep.
2. peace; tranquillity; calm.
3. dignified calmness, as of manner; composure.

Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the image described in the lyric. I do find it a nice thought, though. I'm attracted to peace and light. I crave those things, actually.

Staying calm,
~J

Weekly Word of the Weak: Vicissitude

(n.)

1. a change or variation occurring in the course of something
2. interchange or alternation, as in states of things.
3. regular change or succession of one state or thing to another
4. change; mutation; mutability

I like this word a lotlot!

It has that '-tude' part that reminds me of the word 'attitude', and attitude is personality attribute we all have, right?

It also has the 'vic-' part that has the c that sounds like the hissing s sound, followed by the actual double s - same sound. Why the same sound with two different letters? Fascinating (yet another letter combination of 'sc' in 'fascinating' with the same hissing s sound...)!

My point here is not only the sound, but I am then reminded of the word 'visceral' when I say that 'vic-' part of 'vicissitude'. Viscera = The Gut.

In away, it intertwines one's flesh (viscera) and fibers of one's soul (attitude). By doing this, one cannot walk through life without being changed or causing change.

So, go forth and effectuate vicissitude. I am!

Burrowing Beauty

My Little One is a funny girl.

She loves to bury herself in pillows. On my king size bed, there are six pillows. She will use every single one of them. She puts them on top of her petite body and leaves an opening wide enough to peer at you.


When we went to El Paso at Christmas, she did the same with the hotel room pillows.


Every night when she goes to bed, she has to have lots of pillows. There are no less than four standard size pillows on her bed. Various other small pillows and stuffed animals might be present - if they're lucky.


This morning, I went into her room to get something and discovered she was still sleeping. At first, my heart sank because I couldn't even see her! Then, I moved around the bed and saw her teeny body zonked and awry in the bed. I don't know how kids can do this, but they do...

She awakened about ten minutes later and brought her two softest, most favoritest pillows with her into the kitchen and curled up on the white tile floor. She wasn't quite ready to wake up but was ready to get out of bed (so opposite of me every day!):

Weekly Word(s) of the Weak: Triskaidekaphobia & Paraskavedekatriaphobia

Triskaidekaphobia (n): fear or a phobia concerning the number 13
Paraskavedekatriaphobia (n): Fear of Friday the 13th

Happy Friday the Thirteenth!
Don't wig out.

A Prayer for Service

Good and Gracious God

Help me...
to see my connections in all things,
to see your spirit within and without,
to recognize You in the face of others.

Let my faith move me to concrete acts of love and service.
May my faith not only comfort me,
may it challenge and disturb me.

May I look at the implications of
everything I do in a much wider context than before,
and always consider the impact that today's decisions will have on tomorrow.

Help me to listen better
to Creation
to others
to my own thoughts and feelings
and most of all...
You.

Give me a deeper appreciation for the unique contribution I can make
in affecting the lives of
friends,
family members,
and co-workers...
everyone I encounter.

And finally, God,
when I am overwhelmed by
my own sense of powerlessness,
remind me of Jesus,
that I may grow in compassion,
by being ready and willing to slip
into another's shoes,
and so find my own place in the
universal dance of life.

Amen.


*Author unknown. Adapted by Carol Hewson*

Presidential Yummygoodness

I found this through Gordon Keith's website.

It made me chuckle.

I like it when you chuckle, too.

I Just Can't Let It Go By...

...without acknowledging it.

Miss you, daddy.

NY Rangers 2, Dallas Stars 10. You Read It Right! TEN!

For my birthday, I gave gifts this year to some people. One of those gifts was hockey tickets to My Husband and Kids.

My Eldest said she wanted to see a hockey game. She's seen the Cowboys (football) and the Texas Rangers (baseball). She struggled to sit patiently through the Cowboys game. Not sure about the baseball game because she went with my in-laws.

I saw that the Stars were playing in town on my actual birthday. I also had heard that all AAC tickets were half price (some are even $15 each!), so I called the Stars ticket office to purchase for January 27th. Instead, I hung up with some information and called My Husband to firm up the date. Well, since January 27 fell on a school night, we decided it'd be better to go on a weekend night.

February 6th I saw was a weekend and the NY Rangers were in town. I know when I first started watching hockey back in my early 20's, The Rangers were pretty much the only team I'd heard of besides the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Rangers represented to me, at that time, a pretty rich hockey history (not that I even REALLY *knew* what that meant until many years later). So, NYR it is!

I'm so glad my birthday fell on a school night!

The Four of Us loaded on the light rail and headed down to the AAC. The Girls enjoyed riding the train, watching the sunset, not wearing seat belts, looking at traffic, going into a tunnel. No trip anywhere these days would be complete without My Eldest asking, "how much longer till we get there?". Oy vey!

OH! And this was our first venture out in such a public place with a newly potty trained Little One (thank you, GOD!). It turned out to be quite a success!!

Look at all this excitement and the game hasn't EVEN STARTED YET!

We find our seats. They aren't horrible at all (they weren't the cheapcheap seats). We had a clear view of the ice and all the championship banners. My Husband likes to sit opposite the penalty box, so that's where we sat. The girls were handed hockey stick-shaped noise makers with the Stars team name on it (refer to picture above!).

Now, I don't know what any other arena is like for hockey because I've never been to another professional hockey event besides at Reunion Arena or the AAC (the best place EVER! Remember Victory Park?! I can't wait for summer! Movies at the Park. Fun!), BUT I am instantly energized when the lights are dimmed, the spotlights are dancing all around the ice, the boom of the Dallas Stars Theme Song by Pantera begins to shake the seats. The announcer's big voice bloats the arena air with the starting lineup while the team zips around on their skates, showing off their agility and prowess. The acoustics inside the AAC kick a**! (Here is a pretty sketchy video of it, if you're curious and patient enough to stick with it.)

The honorary face off puck drop was done by none other than Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liuken (really? do we NEED to have that kind of formality? I guess it's mimicking the baseball tradition of the first pitch....I'll get used to it.). My Eldest was THRILLED. I had no idea Nastia would be there, but I'll take the extra credit at being The Best Mom in the Whole Best World (to quote My Little One verbatim..*preen*)!

Another fun fact: twins were playing against each other. The Rangers goalie, Henrik Lundqvist is the twin brother of the Stars center, Joel Lundqvist.

So....long story short (not!), the game was an awesome experience. It's not every day one witnesses a 10 point game in hockey. It was a high-drama game with forceful checks, superfluous goal tending and defense, mega unsportsmanlike conduct - which led to one hockey player from the Rangers' team off the ice and out the door, as well as some choice fights. Good, good hockey.

The Stars are poised for playoff contention. *crossing fingers*

And just think...I get to do it all over again on March 1st when the almost World Champion Penguins will be in town! (No kids this time, though!)

I Miss My Music

Dumb blogger and their "gadgets".

*pout*

How I Clean (Totally Useless Drivel For You)

I tend to start things and it looks like I'm not going to finish them, but they end up getting finished in a strange order on a strange timeline.

This happens all the time when I'm cleaning house.

I will start to vacuum one room, clean the tub in the master bathroom, pick up some clothes and toys, sort through sizes and put some away that no longer fit, eat a sandwich, dust one piece of furniture, then go back to vacuuming, need to go pee so will stop, run to the bathroom that I was cleaning and remember I wasn't finished, so flush - finish cleaning said bathroom - go play for a bit with the kids, and notice I left the feather duster on the shelf near the Wii, so, "Oh! I have to finish dusting", put that stuff away and start sweeping my kitchen floor, go get the vacuum to suck up the dirt pile and think, "while I have the vacuum I should finish that last room", go finish vacuuming, put it away in the garage. As I pass through the kitchen to the garage, I notice the rugs are outside still because my white tile floor is completely bare, so, "Ack! I need to mop!" Start the water in the sink to warm it up, go get the mop, come back and plug the drain, add mop cleaner, and start polishing the floors. Mop myself into a dry corner looking at nothing but white wet all around me.

I laugh.

Tiptoe and hope I don't slip to carpet safety, noticing I still have the mop in my hand, I figure I'll put it in the tub of the front bathroom and, "Yikes! I need to clean THIS bathroom, too!"

I venture down the hall to the master bathroom to get the cleaning supplies I left (forgot to put away) in there to use in the front bathroom (currently in remodel phase, btw). I do manage to clean that bathroom in it's entirety, uninterrupted save one of the girls needing to go potty on my just washed toilet *sigh*.

Pick up the cleaning stuff, walk to the kitchen and put those items under the cabinent. I notice AGAIN bare floors. "Crap! I forgot the rugs!" Shake out rugs, bring them in and lay them down, but not before suddently remembering I left the mop back in the tub of the bathroom, which means, I think I forgot to scrub the tub there.

Frustration sets in right about now. I've been cleaning house for about 6 hours, in what would ordinarily, at most, take two.

Somewhere in there, I've done some filing of veryimportantpapers. I surely have changed batteries in one of the toys for the kids. I took out stuff for dinner.

"Aw hell. Screw cleaning the tub." I roughly grab the mop, put it outside to dry. Go back in and unplug the sink, clean it and smile. Done. For today. Done.

Plop my butt into the sofa and exhale loudly. Feet hurt.

"Dang! I need to wash my hands."

Get back up and endure the tender pain of abused feet. I wash hands in the kitchen, notice meat on the counter to start cooking.

Yeah.

Dinner.

Hmm.

*sigh*

Dinner means more cleaning. Grrr.

And sometimes, this goes on over a period of two days or three. But it all gets done. In my weird way, it does.

Six ... and Other Sporty Stuff

FINE.

BE that way!

Effin' Steelers getting #6 before my Cowboys did.

Never MIND that they are BETTER than the Cowboys.

I do wish the Cardinals could've won, though. That would've been and even better story than six rings. Kurt Warner is one of the Last Great Quarterbacks (along with Brett Favre and maybe one or two others).

I haven't talked about sports much lately. Truth be told, I've been watching more than ever. The NHL and NCAA hoops are being watched more and more in my household. I'm following more of the leagues and trying to keep up with what's going on with teams earlier in the seasons. I even bought my family Stars tickets for February 6, and managed to have a gift given to me for March 1: Stars vs. Penguins! I've already been to one Stars game earlier this year. I feel so Canadian when I go! Well, maybe not Canadian (or, to be perfectly French -- Canadienne), I at least feel like a Northerner.

I'd like to get to Austin to watch a Longhorns game. Hell, I'd be happy watching UTEP v. SMU live. I need to check out the schedule soon. And if there's not a UTEP game, I might try a different local school. Thankfully, living in the metroplex of Dallas, Texas, I have TONS of sporting events from which to choose!


Congrats to you Steelers fans out there, waving your Terrible Towels and head-butting.

*toast*