…make shaved ice!

As laid-back as I’d like to think I am, I definitely need control. I need things to go as expected, and anything otherwise totally throws me off. However, if I’m with more uptight people, I can totally ease up and take things lightly. But if I’m with people who are lax about it, I tend to be the more uptight one.

Today was a perfect test of character, a day where God asked, “How much do you really need to be in control?”

When I left work last night, I brought home my laptop and some work, knowing that snow was forecasted. But I expected a replay of the night before where snow was forecasted, but we didn’t see any new snow on the ground. Today was supposed to be my last day in the office before leaving for LA, and it was the day when I was supposed to just sort of get things organized and situated before taking off. I wasn’t super busy, but I just knew I needed closure before taking off.

When I woke up this morning, there was already a few inches of new snow on the ground, with steady snowfall. The news showed heavy traffic, abandoned cars on the road, and the newscasters warned people to stay home if possible. Noooooo!!! We started working from home, but when one of my co-workers told me that nearly all of my teammates were in the office, I asked (pleaded) with Matt that we attempt to make the journey in. I e-mailed one of my co-workers, “We’re going to try to come in! See you soon, I hope!”

Forty-five minutes after sending that e-mail, we were back at the dining table, working from home. We had made it down our driveway (pretty much sliding the whole way), but didn’t make any headway going up the hill to the main road–even with chains. In fact, we ended up in a worse situation than when we started. We couldn’t even get the car back into the garage. It’s currently sitting in front of a neighbor’s house at the bottom of our dead-end street.

One of our neighbors told us they were heading to the airport in the afternoon so that they’d definitely make their flight to the Bahamas. They were afraid that if they stayed at home any later, the snow would pile up and make it impossible to drive to the airport. They booked a room at a hotel near the airport and suggested we do the same. It seems ridiculous since we only live about 10 minutes from the airport, but with our experience earlier that day, we thought it would be a wise move.

Once we booked a motel room, Matt called cab companies for a ride. Thirty minutes later, he still hadn’t made a reservation. All the cabs were either booked or were not driving under these weather conditions. Yikes. Our neighbors also had not booked a cab, so they decided to take their four-wheel drive truck to the hotel—and they extended the ride to us! The catch was that they were leaving around 4 p.m. It was still 1 p.m. and I knew I still had work to do, Matt was just leaving to walk (or attempt to snowboard) to the post office a few miles away, and we hadn’t even begun to pack.

But we made it work. I stopped working around 3, rushed around to pack and make sure everything was ready for us to be away from home, and Matt got back in time to pack, as well. We drove to the motel with our neighbors, had dinner at Wendy’s, and now have a night to relax (like we’re on vacation!) before we have to wake up at 3:30 am to catch our early morning flight. We had to pay for a motel room and leave our house one night earlier but at least we have peace of mind that we can make it to the airport. And through this all, we were reminded how fortunate we are to have our set of neighbors–neighbors we trust with our house key and neighbors who offered us a ride to the airport.

If it all were up to me, I would have been at work today, and I would have had one more night to slowly pack and relax at home before leaving for 10 days. But everything went differently, and it wasn’t a bad thing. We did what we had to do, and everything turned out fine. It’s a good lesson to me that things don’t always have to go the way I see them in my head. Will I always remember that lesson? Probably not, but I’ll just keep having to remind myself about today and how we made the most of what we were presented with.

When it comes to politics, nothing is exempt from criticism and argument. Since we found out that Rick Warren will be leading the invocation at Obama’s inauguration, we also have heard criticism after criticism about what a bad choice he is. “Warren is against homosexual marriage and is against abortion–why would Obama choose him?” People are absolutely up in arms about it.

I can see why people would prefer that Obama choose someone who sides more with his views, but I absolutely admire what Obama is doing. He’s choosing to focus on what he and Warren DO agree on, rather than what they don’t agree on, and I think we see that too little nowadays.

In a recent lunch workshop at work titled “Why do people of other faiths hate Christians?”, we had a great discussion about how Christians are known for what they stand against, rather than what they’re for. And that’s why people hate us. That’s why people criticize us. Christians should be seen more for the love of Christ. The love that feeds the hungry, loves the unlovable, touches the untouchable.

But all too often, we are known for only being anti-homosexuality or anti-abortion, and can you blame those who are being critical? As Gandhi said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Christians are still voting for political figures based on those two issues, regardless of what else the politician stands for. I’m not downplaying those two issues at all. They are, indeed, important. But there’s more to Christianity than that.

So what are we supposed to do? We need to talk to people of different faiths to learn more about what they believe–and not try to force Christianity on them. Share about what you believe in, but again, not in a forceful manner. Love people. Share about what we’re FOR, not what we’re AGAINST.

And this leads me back to the issue of Obama choosing Warren to lead the country in prayer. Warren has made amazing strides in bringing the issue of HIV and AIDS to light in the church community when just a few years ago, many churches refused to even talk about HIV because they thought it was just an issue dealing with homosexuality. Warren is a key player in the fight against poverty, gender-based violence, and the need for health care among the needy in other countries. There is so much that he is FOR that is admirable, that you can’t ignore it when you criticize what he is against.

Lee Stranahan of the Huffington Post, who disagrees with Warren on the same-sex marriage issue, explains it well in his column:

Rick Warren felt some of this same heat when he invited Barack Obama to speak at his church on World AIDS Day. Conservatives railed against Warren for legitimizing Obama. People with different political opinions aren’t supposed to come together in anything but a shouting match … Obama said it in the abstract time and again during the campaign. Now he’s showing us. Seeing the things that Pastor Rick Warren and Reverend Joseph Lowery have in common is more important than seeing the things that separate them. America needs to see that. It’s a step down the road where a majority of us see the things that straight Americans in love want are the same things that gay Americans in love want, too.

I’m an easily excitable person. But sometimes I annoy myself.

World Vision has a building closure status hotline that employees call during inclement weather to see if the building is closed, or if office hours are delayed. Last year, on the nights when freezing temps and snow were expected, I could barely sleep because I kept wondering what the hotline would tell me the next morning. Would we get to sleep in? Would the building be closed? Oh, what would it tell me?!

Today, there’s a lot of hoopla going on again about the snow that is predicted to fall after midnight. E-mails are being circulated, advising people to take their laptops and work from home in case we get snowed in tomorrow. Ooh, snowed in??!! Any other week, I would be delighted. But with only two more days left in the office before we had back to LA, my response was, “Oh no!!! I can’t be out of the office!!!” (Ridiculous, I know.) I should be thinking, “Ooh, a day at home! Maybe we can make it out of our street to have lunch at Salumi!” (Salumi is an amazing deli that is only open Tuesday through Friday.) Or even that sushi buffet place that we passed the other day–all-you-can-eat sushi for $8.99! Oh wait, snowed in means we probably can’t get out of our street.

So tonight, just like the past two nights, when I should be sleeping, I’ll probably be laying in bed, awake, with thoughts running through my head. “Will it snow tonight? Will I wake up to see everything covered in white? What will the building closure hotline say?” And if I fall asleep, I’ll probably wake up in the middle of the night and peek outside. If I see snow on the ground, I’ll probably have an even harder time falling back asleep.

Matt says I need to just chill out and just wait to find out these things when I wake up. I know that, but I just get too excited. And with a whole week of these types of nights, I’ll be thankful for the rest I can finally get when we go back to LA this weekend…..except for Saturday night when Melanie, Abby, and I break out the new edition of HARRY POTTER SCENE-IT!!!! (But every other night, yes, I will sleep well.)

I just baked two batches of “dream bars” (butterscotch/coconut/chocolate chip bar cookies), 60 chocolate chip cookies, and 42 iced sugar cookies for this week’s Toastmasters meeting and for our neighbors. I think I’ve been in my kitchen for seven hours. For those of you who know me well, you will see that as a huge feat for me. And I even made dinner without complaining. I think baking gets me in a good mood, especially if everything turns out well. *whew*

Aside from the minivan we were driving last night, we had a glimpse of what our life could be like in a few years.

Last night, we babysat our friends’ three kids, ages 2, 3, and 5. Our friends are in the same small group with us, so we see their kids every week and have spent quite a bit of time with them. But not six hours straight, without their parents around. The kids are great, but just full of energy, so I was a little nervous about what the day would look like.

We started out playing a couple of board games with them. The games were definitely geared toward the oldest child, but all three of them seemed to have a good time. One of the games was called Footloose, and required the kids to perform certain physical activities, like jumping jacks, hugs, sit-ups, etc. When the game called for the kids to hug each other, they all attacked me and knocked me over. I couldn’t even get up, so Matt had to pull them off me one by one.

We had to do something at church, but after that, we took them to a “fun place” for dinner, trying to keep it a secret as long as possible. The secret didn’t last too long, since Matt had to call Google411 for directions to Chuck E. Cheese. On the way there, Matt asked them what they liked to do during our small group meetings. The oldest child said, “I like Bible study!” And then the middle child said, “I like sausage!”

As we got closer, we tried to trick the kids by asking them if they wanted to go to the gas station, or the bank (the youngest kid wanted to go here), or a mattress store. But they chanted, “Chuck E. Cheese!” So to Chuck E. Cheese we went.

The place was a zoo on a Saturday night, so we did all we could to keep the kids attached to us–or at least in our sight. Three little kids, enamored by the lights and excitement of Chuck E. Cheese, made for an adventurous night. But it kept us alert–always watching out for each child. The kids had a blast playing games, and I loved watching them have fun. While they played the bowling game, I had to remind myself that it was OK that all the balls were going into the crevice that didn’t count for any points. They were having fun–that was all that mattered. In the end, we had enough tickets for them each to get one small prize.

Before we left, some of the employees began shrieking about the snow that was falling outside. Sure enough, I could see snow in the light of the parking light lamps. I told the kids it was snowing, and they ran to the window. “It’s snowing!! Yeah!!!” they cried out. Two of them hugged each other, and yelled, “We love snow!” How could you not feel warm fuzzies after that?!

We bundled the kids up and went out into the snow as the kids cried out in excitement (myself included). As we buckled them up in the carseats, the oldest one said, “I love snow,” followed by the middle child who repeated, “I love snow.” The youngest one chimed in, but with his baby language (as his oldest sibling calls it), it sounded like he said, “I ruh ro.”

I have to admit. I liked driving around as a pseudo-family, with the kids babbling to themselves during the car rides. I liked getting them in their jammies and watching Matt read a bedtime story to them. I didn’t like changing the poopie diaper so much, but I realized that you quickly get over the grossness of it all because you just want to get the kid clean as soon as possible. (And can you believe the last time I changed a poopie diaper was when I babysat one of my cousins six years ago!)

I also saw firsthand what a great dad Matt will be. I’ve seen Matt interact with these kids before, but have never seen him really taking care of kids like we did last night. He is so patient, clever, and quick-thinking. I have no doubt he will be amazing with our own kids.

Now I know this post opens me up to the questions we hear all too often: When are you guys going to have kids? Our friend, Jason, said that the best response to that question (if I don’t want to answer it) is: “When are YOU going to have kids?” (The question is usually asked by people who already have kids who always seem to be SO POSITIVE that we HAVE to have kids right now, so in their case, I’d ask, “When are YOU going to have more kids?”)

One of my co-worker says we need little Ips running around, but for now, we’re good. But our experience last night left me with more hope that our future as parents will be alright.

Last night on the way home, snow was coming down pretty hard in our neighborhood. As we reached the top of our dead-end street (before the long slope down), I warned Matt, “Maybe we should keep the car up here (which is what we’ve done in the past during snowy/icy days), so that we will be sure to get out of our street tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. The weather’s not going to be that bad,” Matt replied.

So we drove down the slope, and then back up another short, steep road up to our house. Everything was fine.

This morning, as we left for church, we started up the road to the main road–and began to slide back.

“What did I say last night??” I had to say.

“Ssshh,” was Matt’s reply. We slowly backed down to the bottom of the slope. And tried again. And again. And again. Each time, we got a little further up the hill before sliding back. Finally, Matt said he would try one more time before putting the snow chains on. On our fifth try, we made it!

Fast forward a few hours after church, we were coming back to our house. I suggested (again) to park at the top of the hill, and Matt’s response was the same. We made it safely down the first slope and started up the road to our house. And began to slide back.

“What did I say??!” I said. Matt just started to laugh, and there was nothing I could do but laugh along. It took us three attempts to get up the hill, the last time with Matt pressing down the gas pedal like there was no tomorrow, and the car started to smell funny (NO, it was not me). But we finally made it into the garage.

We usually work from home on Mondays, but I’d like to go into the office tomorrow if possible, since we will only be here for four days this week. Hopefully the road won’t be too icy getting out of the house, or else it will be an interesting ride to work. Once we get to the main road and the freeways, the roads are perfectly fine. It’s just the small, steep roads that give us problems, so parents, don’t worry! :)

The joys of winters in Seattle—and, again, who said it never snows in Seattle. This is the third winter it’s snowed!

If you donated online to the Youth in Focus bowl-a-thon that I mentioned a few posts ago–thank you! And if you did, please let me know. I may not hear of your donation through YIF, and I’d really like to be able to thank you. I put together a simple thank you “card” for my supporters–and, yes, it includes a picture of me wearing my ’70s outfit to the bowl-a-thon. ;)

So the big news around town right now is the snow coming our way this weekend. There will definitely be snow in the mountains, but one news channel was even forecasting snow at 500 feet. As soon as I heard about the possibility of snow, my heart leaped like a giddy child into a pile of unblemished snow.

Then I thought about my plants freezing, and the bulbs that I haven’t dug out of the ground yet (I wasn’t sure if I was going to do this in the first place until a co-worker of mine said she dug hers up and some are already molding). We’ve gotten snow the past two winters here, but this is the first year where I actually have a garden to watch out for.

Well, I’m sure the plants will survive. I just really want to see some snow before we leave next Friday.

Today, I highlighted one e-mail in the “Write Me” folder of my Gmail account and hit the Delete button to trash a message I had responded to. A message appeared on the screen, asking if I wanted to permanently delete the Write Me folder. Without really processing what I was being asked, I hit YES. As soon as I hit the button, I knew what I had done. ARGH.

Fortunately I only had about 10 e-mails in that box, but still. Those were e-mails that were on the lengthier side. Ones that I knew would take some more time and consideration to respond to. I can’t even remember whose e-mails were in that box.

It nags at me that I lost those e-mails forever and now don’t get a chance to respond. But at the same time, it’s a bit freeing. I’d like to think those people probably wouldn’t even notice if I didn’t write them back. And, in time, I probably will get back in touch with them somehow. But still. ARGH.