Half Marathon

Alex and I just finished a half marathon. This time, I left the rocket shoes at home and did not beat Alex by 2 minutes. He also did not come in just behind a pregnant lady.

Here are a couple pictures.

St. Joseph Animal Hospital Crew. From left, me in red balloon pants apparently, Gilly, Heather, Mary, and Susannah

Post race. Tired! But feeling oh so good. 

More pictures to come, I'm sure.

Spring pictures and a casualty

We have finally had a hit. I found a half eaten baby bunny this morning when I did the farm chores. It has been a good two years and I guess I figured we would face this problem eventually with all the cats I see roaming around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, there is not much to be done short of building a predator-proof enclosure or going back to the cage model, neither of which is appealing at this point. So, we will wait and see what happens.

The remaining bunnies are happy and healthy:

For Easter this year we were able to get together with a few friends and attempt to decorate eggs po Ukrainsku (sometimes Polish phrases work so much better - it means in the Ukrainian way). It consists of using wax pens to protect areas of the egg you don't want to be dyed, and then repeating the process a few times with different colored dyes. There was some hugging involved.

I got to hold baby James

The apricot is blooming! I was going to try to hand pollinate this year since last year we had no pollinators and no fruit. So far, I have been frustrated by the rain.

poor little rain beaten apricot blossoms

Finally, I was bit by a cat (again!). This time, no cool pictures except to show that my finger swelled up a fair amount.

you can see where the canines punctured my skin. 

I couldn't flex my finger very well for a week.

My dad sent me Kevlar gloves so I will not keep getting bitten. I think he secretly would never hire me to work for him because I would keep getting hit by a steel beam or something.

He is probably right.

There is a picture I feel compelled to share

It is a naked chicken.

I originally saw this photograph in Tim Flach's book of Photography More than Human, which is an amazing book. This is an actual breed of chicken bred to be more heat resistant and easier to pluck than your average chicken. Thanks Susan for inspiring me to find it online.

I am going to have a naked dancing chicken someday and I will knit it a sweater.

C.S. Lewis quote

Thanks to my friend Melissa who referenced this quote during a conversation about life and suffering that prompted me to search for it.

This is from C.S. Lewis' short book The Great Divorce. The town it is referring to is Hell, where the main character and a bus full of people start out before their trip to Heaven where they must all decide if they are willing to stay or if they prefer Hell to Heaven.  

"Son," he said, "ye cannot in your present state understand eternity... Not only this valley but all this earthly past will have been Heaven to those who are saved. Not only the twilight in that town, but all their life on earth too, will then be seen by the damned to have been Hell. That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, 'No future bliss can make up for it,' not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. And of some sinful pleasure they say 'Let me but have this and I'll take the consequences': little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into their past and contaminate the pleasure of the sin. Both processes begin even before death. The good man's past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven: the bad man's past already conforms to his badness and is filled only with dreariness. And that is why, at the end of all things, when the sun rises here and the twilight turns to blackness down there, the Blessed will say, 'We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven,' and the Lost, 'We were always in Hell.' And both will speak truly."

It is an insightful book and this one quote alone made it worth reading for me. I have always known intellectually that suffering has a part in God's plan and helps shape us into who He wants us to be. This quote gives me another perspective that suffering is not just something to be endured because we have to but will actually be a treasured part of our life when we look back on it. It gives me motivation to try to be grateful for suffering not just after it is past but also throughout, and to be grateful for all the Heaven-like qualities that already bless my life.

haircut

My life is so exciting that all I have to post about is my new haircut.

Ta-da!

In the end I decided no bangs. I needed a change but bangs seemed a bit extreme.

Alex was ready with the camera when I came home. 

Lots o' hair. Thanks dad for my thick mane. 

My cross stitching husband

Every now and then I learn something new about my husband. I am usually taken aback, because I assume there is not a ton left to learn after nearly 6 years of marriage and almost 9 years of knowing him. It makes me wonder how many other little secrets are hiding in there.

Recently, I learned that Alex used to cross-stitch. I have proof.

He cross stitched horsey dude when he was 9. It was the cool thing to do if you wanted to fit in with your mom and sister. I love that Alex cross stitched horsey dude. I actually wish he also knew how to knit and sew so he could teach me.

*** Piano update***

The piano is set up and adjusting to life in a small front room. Lola has asked to learn how to play. I told her she would have to grow opposable thumbs first. 

The bench got left in Utah.

The other good news is that Alex didn't hurt his back helping piano tuner guy assemble the piano. 

*** Thumb update ***

For anyone who cares, my thumb is still there, still opposable, and still a little painful but not as bloody. 

Exciting is the word

A word to describe this week: exciting. Alex's parents moved to St. Louis and we were able to help unpack and organize a little bit. We are excited to have them closer. Alex's parents' baby grand piano is also sitting (on its side) in our front room waiting to be reassembled. I can't wait to play it.

And I got bit by a cat yesterday at work. It was very exciting. The cat bit me through a blanket. And after I left the room bleeding and feeling just a little light headed and nauseated and asked another vet and cat wrangler to give the damned sweet cat its vaccine, it also bit one of them, twice. It is a dangerous world I live in.

Do you want to see a picture?

Exciting.