Observations

This afternoon I went to the Post Office, which for those who know me know that this may be my least favorite errand. Well, I was surprised when there was nobody in line, so I was already in a better mood. Then the post office lady who was next to the guy helping me starts singing along with the song playing overhead. Now the song was a classic: Cher's Do you Believe in Life After Love, so I can see why she was so enthusiastic to sing along :). What I loved was that she didn't care. She didn't care that I was right there, that her post man friend was right there and then that some other people came in after me. She didn't care that she didn't have a great singing voice. She was feelin' it so she was singing to her jam. I was touched and inspired by her reckless abandon. At least enough to keep thinking about it and write about it here.

Taking it Back to the 80s

Growing up in New Orleans it was hot. Really hot. Like walk outside and sweat immediately hot. We sometimes got the treat of a Snow Balls (think better than a Sno Cone and way better flavors). But more likely we had homemade popsicles. My memory is that we would get to make Koolaid and take turns picking the flavor and then pour them into our popsicle molds. The best part was at the end you got to drink the melted part from a little straw. Well, I found some popsicle molds on Amazon (for a steal too!) and decided I wanted to take myself back to the 80s.
Tonight after a game of tennis in the heat I enjoyed a delicious popsicle (especially since Las Paletas was closed)!

Fun colors!

My favorite juice to make them with so far. Thanks TJs!

And enjoying the last drop! Very delicious!

Grace

When I finish a book, especially one I liked, I usually am in withdrawal for a few days. I miss the characters and the story and I need a little in between time before I pick up a new one. So in those days a lot of times I pick up books that are like old comfy sweatshirts to me...these would be things like The Hiding Place or Traveling Mercies. So Anne Lamont has been on the list lately...you can read a chapter here or there without having to read the whole thing. Now, if you haven't read her work, she is a little crazy but I am a big fan of her stuff. The following is one of her quotes from Traveling Mercies:
"I do not at all understand the mystery of grace-only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us. It can be received gladly or grudgingly, in big gulps or in tiny tastes, like a deer at the salt."

Restless

St Augustine said this: "for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee. ...Oh! how shall I find rest in Thee? Who will send Thee into my heart to inebriate it, that I may forget my woes, and embrace Thee my only good? What art Thou to me?"
My heart has this tendency to feel restless, to want more, to not be satisfied, to have this idea of a perfect world that I think I should be living, to always want something different than what I have. I do not like this restless feeling. I wish it would leave on its own or that there was some simple way to just be able to enjoy the moment I am in.
I have found myself feeling more restless lately. I know I desperately need to find rest in the Lord, to listen to his voice...to allow it to inebriate my thoughts and to sit there in that alone.

Showering the Mama

Last weekend we had a baby shower for my good friend Deidre (or D as I call her).

Decorations and of course tons of food. We had a sweet group gathered to celebrate. It is crazy to be a part of all of this with so many good friends. First, I can't wait to see if it is a boy or girl (I think boy!). And then I can't wait to watch them become parents!
 
And of course she got showered with presents for the baby.

The registry at Target was broken, so she got 3 Bumbos!

Not much longer to wait...

Jubilate Deo

At camp we sing this song on Sundays. The words are the Latin "Jubilate Deo." It it is that simple. Sung in 6 rounds (think sweet high little girl voices) and when it ends everyone stays silent. The translation is Praise be to God. The song ends by singing Hallelujah. But in rounds you hear that 6 times over.
Anyway, it always gets me to thinkin....what am I giving praise for? So that is my question for you today...are you giving praise to God and what for?

Amazement

Sorry, another art history lesson. But I just can't help but be amazed by what they were able to create and make hundreds of years ago. I was flipping back through my pictures and have still been reading some of Vasari's art history. I was reading the chapter on Brunelleschi, the architect who designed the dome on the Duomo in Florence.

There is really no way for me to capture in a picture the grandness of this dome. It is huge! Here it is from far away...gives it a little perspective.

So for the history lesson. The church itself was rebuilt in the late 1200s-early 1300s. But they didn't complete the dome at that time. The church went without the dome for over a hundred years. Then they held a competition to see who would be the architect for the dome. They spent a long time debating this, not believing in Brunelleschi's ideas because they were centuries ahead of the time. But he finally won and had to use a little trickery to show Ghiberti (the guy who got second and was helping on the build but wasn't actually helping at all and had no clue what was going on) needed the boot and made this amazing done. It is constructed with big iron chains, had an inner and outer portion to the dome (which is cool because you can walk up the steps inbetween these domes to the top). He created a way to hold up all those tons of weight of the stones so they wouldn't topple on each other...oh and he had to figure out how to hoist all that stuff up that high. He also had a whole working area set up that high so that people didn't have to come down to get food or water or wine...they could just stay up there all day and increase productivity.  He was a genius!
Here is a cool image from USC that shows the structure.

Anyway, besides being amazed by all that went into it I loved getting to admire its beauty.