R.I.P. February 26, 2008

well, this past friday it happened.
i have been predicting it for weeks.
i have insight, you know.
we feed them and care for them
and watch them play tag…(my mom
calls it killing off the weak)
i knew it was coming.

one of our fish died.
sniffle
sniffle

he was sort of floundering and
going in and out of consciousness
all morning.  i was unable to watch…
so painful.

i went out to heidi’s and when
i came home there he was,
sucked to the water filter…
dead
lifeless
pale

i couldn’t touch it, but i shouldn’t
leave it in the tank.  how would
you like to swim along next to your
belly-up fish pal?

so i had clint do it.
he soberly scooped him up in the
green net. we dug a hole in the
ground next to the house and put
him in.  i refused to flush him.
that’s just too cruel.

then as we paused for a moment
of silence clint asked me his name.

“i don’t know!” i said. 
that’s really the worst part
of it all.  he died and i didn’t even
know his name!!!

you see, we were fish-sitting for some
girls and they sort of never came
back for the fish.  they were abandoned,
so we love them as if they were our
own.  except for the whole name thing.

julie was sad that she missed the burial,
so we are contemplating having a memorial
service.  we had a very funny conversation
about possibly exhuming it’s body and then
cremating it.

“excuse me, can you cremate this for us?”
“yes, ma’am, that will be $5,000″
“what??!!  but it’s so small”
“yes, but we still have to turn the oven on.”
“is it cheaper to buy a casket?”
“yes, $3,500, but they only come in one
size.”
“will you include the packing peanuts?”

that’s him in the top right hand corner.
he was a good fish.

we miss you…..Sir.

tennis anyone? February 26, 2008

the other night we attempted to
play a little tennis.
(by other night i mean two weeks
ago)

me, tiffany, julie, ashley
(an old friend from college who
just moved to hawaii), and
alexey decided to meet up
and find a court.  well, it was the
first nice night we’d had in a while
…it’s been rainy, so everyone was
also out to play.  we went to two
courts and almost gave up when
a couple of fellows left and gave us
the court.  we had a GREAT time
of it.  ashley is really good (as in
played in college and has taught
high schoolers and such.) 
i  S T I N K.

well, it was a blast, and you know
my favorite part??  the tennis
skirts!!  actually, hitting the ball
was fun too.

some people smoke and play tennis
at the same time. by some people,
we mean the court next to us. this
afforded us the opportunity to
second-hand smoke and play. more
people should smoke while exercising.
(you have to be able to hold it with
your lips – hands free).
it’s really the best time for it. using
the lungs, abusing the lungs – that’s
efficiency.

         

 please look at our “sports closet”
it’s actually in our living room.
see if you can identify everything:
volleyball
tennis rackets
cleats
yoga mats
football
snorkel gear
ultimate frisbee stuff
golf clubs
beach mat
sports fan

what are we missing?
feel free to send us any sports
paraphernalia…
we will put it to good use!!

4/1 February 16, 2008

that was the ratio of
women to men
two days ago on our hike
to some waterfalls on the
windward side of the island.

tiffany and tambra are in town.
(actually tambra left already)
they are two of julie’s best friends.
besides me, of course!

it’s been piles of fun having them
here.  all the laughs and stories they
have make my day.

we went on a hike with mikey.
on the way to the trail we
blasted some jams (as much as
poni can blast) and made him do
a dance with us…which he did
very well.  he can shake it!

on the trail
it was MUDDY!! 

    

the waterfall was gorgeous,
like something out of a movie
or a coffee table book.

the water was

f r i g i d

i had a really hard time getting
in.  my skin got numb and hard
to bend, like it does when it’s
much colder than it should be.

we swam to the first fall then
scaled the rocks to find a second
one.  then, we scaled, and i mean
scaled, a slimy moss-covered
rock wall to find a third set of
waterfalls.  it was unbelievable!!

julie and tiff wanted to jump off
the second one into the water
below. as the self-appointed safety
officer for the hike i begged them
not to jump.  it was just too risky. 
mikey did some reconnaissance work
and tried to touch the bottom to
see how deep it was.  even though
it was deep in that one place you
never know if you will land in just
the right OR WORNG place.

they didn’t do it, and the safety
officer was quite relieved!!

we made good time on the way
back and had furikaki chicken
for lunch.  furikaki chicken is the
best way to end an afternoon
of fun.

   

during the hike and lunch if we were
about to do something dangerous
julie yelled, “protect you eyes!”
and so we responded by putting on
our sunglasses or ‘employing our
protective eye wear’.
in the picture above tambra flicked
her chicken so that is why we were
protecting our eyes.

highlights:
*the birch-ish trees with peeling
bark that looked like pieces of
parchment paper.
*crossing (wading through) several
streams/rivers trying not to fall in.
*having mikey there.  he was such
a help.  we girls would have been
slipping and sliding and falling all
over the place if it weren’t for him.
and it was fun to have a personal
photographer with us to gladly take
all the girl pictures we wanted.
*when tambra lost her expensive
sunglasses in the river we were
about to give up our search,
when i plunged my hand into
the water between the rocks
and pulled out the glasses…
like when gollum’s friend pulled
out the ring from the bottom
of the river in the last lord of
the rings movie.  except no biting
or wrestling or killing…
it was a triumphant moment for all.

p.s. i have known tiffany for a long
time.  we went to church together
in high school, except she wasn’t in
high school at the time.  i’m five
years older than she is. she is the
blond and tambra is the redhead.

(please return to this post at a later
date for more pics from mikey’s
camera.)

wordless wednesday February 14, 2008

on wednesdays 

i’ll be posting pictures and that’s
it…no words to explain, no stories
to share…just pictures and you can
interpret them how you like.  they
might be my past 7 days in review
or just something i saw and found
interesting.  let me know what you
think and we’ll revise as needed.

here we go….

i’ll try to be more interesting next week

default song February 13, 2008

i need a new one.

when i lived overseas my
default song was

love in any language

it still makes me laugh to think
about it.  my kind and helpful
team/family made me eat these
nasty cookies (even after they got
old) every time i sang the song.

i was broken of the habit.

when you are in a dark room
trying to make one of your crying
patients go to sleep your default
songs surface.

as i lightly ticked the forehead of
an irritable baby the other night
i knew a song would help the
situation.  so i started singing…

“my bonnie lies over the ocean,
my bonnie lies over the sea….”
i sang in a half whisper like a
lullaby.

my mind blanked.
i had nothing,
but bonnie!!

i thought of cory singing the
weenie man song to the girls
at bedtime one night when
i was in town last month.
(see karijo’s post about it)

i sang a bit of ‘my bonnie lies
over the ocean’ and then a few
lines of there is a redeemer came
to me, so i went with that.  even
with my initial poor song choice
it still worked. 

she was asleep.

(i’m sure that’s what cory was
thinking too!)

all that to say,

i need a new default song,
bonnie and the ocean

will
not
do!!

maybe i should go back to
love in any language,
after all, there is sign language
i still remember that goes
along with it!

update: 2-26-28
i was just informed by julie that my
default song is not ‘my bonnie’ but
‘for the beauty of the earth’.  you
know that hymn?  she is right.  i do
sing this quite often and i only really
know the first line of the song.  it just
kills her. 

nurse or fireman? February 13, 2008

nurse-fighter
no…

fire-nurse
no…

i’m still coming up with a name
for us.

there was a fire on the first floor
of my hospital… an actual fire,
not a drill.

it’s change of shift, so i go with
the day nurse to close the doors
and put the charts in the med
room.  then i learned that we
have to take one of our unit’s
fire extinguishers off the wall and
take it

TO THE FIRE

what?
yep.  a nurse from every unit/floor
must do this.

aren’t we supposed to move away
from the fire?

someone’s getting a good deal by
employing nurses as healers
AND firefighters!

if i were the nurse on the flaming
unit i’d be a little ticked to see
others in scrubs trying to fight
the flames instead of 
steamy firefighters

isn’t that the reason the fire
was started?

oops…

i mean…

never mind!!

plenty of room to swing a rope February 9, 2008

“plenty of heart and plenty of hope”

remember that line from our state
song?

i was back for four short days

O K L A H O M A

my lovely oklahoma.
i love okc more each time i return

here is brief rundown of my time there:

s u n da y –

pre-sunrise i walked my dog snickers
with my dad to a nearby pond. he does
this every sunday morning.  she barked
at the ducks on the ice-covered water
while the sun gloriously ascended into
the sky offering us a blazing orange
horizon and purpley-pink clouds smeared
across the fading dark blue overhead. 
sweet sweet time with my dad.

i spent lunch, afternoon, and early evening
with carol and steve hammontree like i do
most sundays in ok.  it was so needed.
connecting with them and having carol’s
tasty food connect with me…
i was

one

happy

lady.
steve, you (and my dad) rock the grill
like no one’s business!!!

    

i spent the evening curled up under a blanket
with my mom eating chinese take-out and
crying at a tv show.  later on that evening
dad didn’t stray too far from the discovery
channel for very long…he rarely does.
(he’s my kind of guy!!)

m o n d a y –

lunch with debbie clem. yummy food,
long deep conversation, and a few of
her famous (seriously…they are famous)
cookies and milk.  i am so thankful for
how the Lord has developed my
relationship with debbie. she is wise
counsel and a fun friend.

early evening visit with steve and jana
mcneill was wonderful as usual.  i assumed
my position on a low footstool near steve’s
armchair and fielded lots of questions about
life, heart, future plans, etc.

late evening visit with my girl jill westberry
was easy and delightful and fun… as usual.
my lovely jill, i’ve missed you so!! 
she’s been in a place far far away for a while.
we both had lots to share and i got to meet
an important friend of hers.  it was a kind
gift of the Lord to me!

i made it home in time to be tucked into
bed by mom before she went to bed.

t u e s d a y –

coffee with bryce at coco flow.
it’s a really cool place.  bryce is a
talented photographer.  he took most
of the pics on coco flow’s web site.
i also think he takes pics of people really
well!!  props bryce! 
it was good to see you.

lunch with christy brown.  i love spending
time with christy.  you know those people
who are a sort of plumb line?  when you
spend time with them they put things
into perspective for you. they refresh you
and ignite your heart for the Lord in a way
that not many others do.  that’s what it is
like when i see christy.  i got to meet her
new angel (by new i mean seven months
…remember the pregnant pic of her from
my last visit to ok?). 
(please return later for pics)

then i headed to the golf store with mom.
new golf shoes and golf bag for christmas.
T H A N K S ! ! ! !  
then i stopped by my cousin’s hair place.
he is a fantastic stylist.
blessings with your brand new baby ahrmad
and julie!!  i love you!

i then took myself to get some custard
and had a quick phone date with nancy.

that evening i met my dad and we went
to the gun range. 
dad you rock!!
i love shooting a gun.  i SO could have
been sydney bristow.  i’ve shot a gun and i
have her tall boots she used to kick bad
guys faces in!!  i had a blast, besides the
subzero temperatures of the room we
were in.  my dad is the MAN!!  he can
do it all: shoot a gun, run a company,
build/fix a house, love my mom…

  

  

we had ted’s for dinner. it’s only best
best mexican food this side of the red
river.  i forgot just how good it was.

i was tucked in bed one last time by
my mom.  covers piled on, and kisses
given out….it makes us both so happy.

w e d n e s d a y –

(it all went by so fast. everyone i did not
see, and it was a lot of you,  i humbly
ask your forgiveness and hope to see
you in six months.)

o400 i was up, and soon we were on
our way for the airport so i could
catch my second insanely timed
flight of this trip!!!

it is a personal tradition that my last
meal be from sonic.  so we stopped
by a 24 hour one on the way.  that’s
right, 24 hours!!!  it’s genius!! 
it doesn’t matter the time of day, i
always get the same thing:
junior burger
cheddar peppers
medium vanilla cherry limeade
(this time i added some cheese cake
bites because they are new and a
limited addition to the menu)
yup, i ate all this at 5am in the morning.
i had no troubles…i have a stomach of
steel!!!

i made it safely back to hawaii after
flying back to atlanta and then going to
honolulu from there. the last leg of the
flight was 9hr and 35min.  i really felt
like i should have been in another
country for that amount of time on a
plane.

it was good to immediately strip off
my sweatshirt in the hawaii airport.
i was greeted with a plumeria lei from
julie, a half drank icee, and jared in the
getaway car.

it was good to be back.

warm
green
rainbow filled sky

G O O D

last night in the city February 9, 2008

my flight left at 6am from LGA
so we decided to stay up and
play all night until my flight.

we started the fun in the afternoon.

i said goodbye to kj and the girls
but didn’t get to say goodbye to cory…
i was sad.
and i wanted to have one last lunch
with julia, but she was slammed at
work…
sad again.

around 3pm i went to meet b
and m at the tkts booth.

indian for dinner and
our show of choice for the night…
xanadu
(see previous post for picture).

then we headed back to the apt to meet
up with the rest of the gang for food and
games. zak thinks that a party isn’t a
party without doritos, so we stopped
by fairway for the snack.

after a close game of pictionary, several
rounds of apples to apples, and a fantastic
card game, we bundled up and took
ourselves to the manhattan diner just
down the road where there were a
surprising number of people for so
late in the night.

it is about 2:30am by this time but
we all ate like it was 4pm:
crab cakes, some sort of jalapeno
cheese burger situation, something
with avocado, and a chicken sandwich.

         
the big pic above is ‘indian restaurant’ take 52!
goodbye zak. 
and this is everyone doing their scarves
like i do it…before i put my coat on, of
course.

then we came back, packed me up, and
put me in a taxi at 4am.  i was at the
airport dozing in a chair by 4:35.
i was
O

U

T

a sleep coma.
were there flight attendants?
i don’t know
did they offer me drinks or
breakfast? 
i don’t know
i didn’t even stir when we took off
OR landed.

i woke up feeling drunk and pukey,
and fully incapable of navigating
myself to terminal c. 
which airport was i in, you might ask.
i don’t know!!!  i was asleep!!

then i was seated next to
mr. chatty cathy!!
a retired humanities and english prof
from a college in ada, oklahoma.
he asked question after question. so
even though all of my physical being
wanted to sleep my heart couldn’t cut
off this sweet and interesting man.

so i talked to him.
in my tiredness i probably shared
way more info about myself, my
family, etc. than i should have.
if i was being listened to by a spy
they have all the info they could ever
need to take me down.  (monica would
been shivering down to her core)

i fell into my mom’s welcoming arms and
kisses as soon as i could get my bags
and wave her down. first thing we did
in okc was
SONIC    and
DAD

i could hardly keep my eyes open
enough to drink my sonic drink and
eat my cheddar peppers….
but i pulled through and made it
happen. you see the smile on my
face?  
yeah, that’s right.

i slept away the afternoon and lazed
around the house happy and content
with my dear snickers at my feet.

p.s. i’d like to take this opportunity to
apologize for getting everyone sick
on my trip.  i came with a cold and i
left a cold with a few of you.  i thank
you for taking me in and loving me
anyway.  you are all so good to me!

full and happy February 9, 2008

that was my schedule while i was in
new york.

there was much to do and wonderful friends
to see.

(settle in and get a snack, this post might
be a long one.  for all of you with ADD, i
apoligize…but i will reward you with
pictures along the way.)

fake christmas:

with the cates- the first saturday morning
i was in town we exchanged gifts.
we had a fun time playing the card game i
got the boys.  the darling paper i got from
the cates makes me smile and sparkel when
i use it.  thanks, friends!!

with the girls from work (and associates)-
we started the day by watching the santa
clause and listening to christmas music.
erica and sean came over that evening
for gifts and fun.  the girls filled a stocking
for me and everything!!

that night we met denna (she’s a doc at NYPH,
where i used to work and where the girls
work now) at dip for delicious fondu!! 
at dinner erica, sean, and i dreamed of
all the ways we can use and market his
super cool inventions…he’s getting his
phd in neuroscience.  he’s a brainiac!

we ended the night at the apt. playing
all the games i just received at fake
christmas.
F
U
N

    

  
i have been wanting this game for ages!!
thanks, meg!!  meg is sporting her new
golashes (which she LOVES!!)

breakfasts:
i met marisa for breakfast twice,
both of us spilling and talking as fast
as we could before our time together
ran out.

dinner with the doctors:
myself, meg, brianne and maren met doctors
mabs and cyril for spanish food one night.
mabs and i first became friends when
i offered to draw blood for one of his patients
instead of waiting for the lab tech to come.
“i’m going for the scalp!!”
 i owe a portion of my love for golf to
mabs who took me and meg to the chelsea
peers driving range last summer…my first
time to swing a club.  and i could listen to
cyril’s french accent all day long!! we enjoyed
some seriously delicious food and sangria
while telling stories from our time
together at the hospital. 
we  ended the night with ice cream…
is there any better way to end a night??

         
the genow sisters share a giggle.

stop by at the cates:
life was usual.  i seemed to fall easily and
happily back into my previous new york
routine. dropping in on the cates is a big part
of that.  kari jo just allows me to be at her
side to be a help or a sounding board for
her creative and brilliant ideas. i love
being a quiet body drinking tea and enjoying
the softness of her couch and to reading to
one of her precious children.  and i got in
a good amount of the settlers game. i look
forward to winning one day in the future!

  
ring around the rosey with the cates
darlings and a lisa sandwich.

fellowship group:
i was able to enjoy TWO!!
dinner, fellowship, disussion of God’s
Word, prayer with sisters… it was all
familiar and so very delightful! 

church:
redeemer, i have missed you!
it was wonderful to be back.

shows:
you didn’t think i would return and
not see some shows, did you? 
by no means!!
i saw four shows and two were free!
thanks for the hook-up zak!
we went to a monthly improv show
put on for charity featuring broadway
actors.  funny funny.

this is half of the don’t quit your night job
crew this month. (the improv show)
yep, that’s anthony rap and bebe newarth
on the far end.

this is us after xanadu…
beautiful, yes.

trip to phili:
julie and gibson larget and their
three children now live in phili.
i have known julie since i was in high
school. her and gibson are the perfect
pair.  i LOVE the largents. so i hopped
a train to phili. they came and got me
and i spent the day with them.  it was
great!!  gibson is on staff at a new
growing church, loving his job.  their
kids call me “miss lisa brown.” sometimes
they leave off the miss. many people
in college called me lisabrown…julie
and gib were of that camp, so i am
lisabrown to their children.
“misslisabrown, can you watch my
fashion show?”
“misslisabrown, can you help me tie
myself to the bed with this jump rope?”
to say the least, it was
FUN TIMES at the largent house!

      
grayson, kennedy, and ellie kate are cuties.

closings:
several shows on broadway are
closing.  one show i love is
the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
a friend of mine, derrick baskin, is an
original cast member of the spelling be.
the night of the last show i got to go to
the closing after party.  it was GREAT!
i met the cast, the music director, the
producers, everyone!!!  even the cellist.
everyone was so nice and so…so… normal.
i tried not be a star struck freak, so
i didn’t ask to take any pics with my
favorite cast members.  i have it all
stored away in my mind…great memories.

other highlights:
*connecting w/ julia over coffee
*watching lots of tennis, snuggled
up next to brianne.
*riding the subway, smiling to myself
at how much i enjoyed it.
*tibetan food
*the ribbon store
*fairway-i still love you, even when
you are a crowded circus.

this is me and meg after i finished doing her hair.
ok, brianne helped me a lot.  do you really think
i know how to do meghan’s hair?  no, but i tried and
it looked GOOD when all was said and done!

my time in new york was sweet,
and natural.

not just a vacation February 6, 2008

my time in new york was so very very
wonderful,
but more than a
kick-up-you-heels-and-eat-pizza
vacation. i was put to work!

we (me, brianne, and maren) convinced
meghan that it’d be the best thing for the
apt, and it’s inhabitant if some color were
added to the walls.

so we ventured to home depot to buy the
pain and supplies. we put ourselves to
work immediately after arriving at the
apt and changing into painting clothes.
we instantly fell in love with the green wall
as soon as the first roller of paint was applied.
it was hard to decide which walls to paint
which color (green or brown/tan-ish something),
but it all turned out lovely in the end.

i took the most dangerous job. 
the top section
i stood on a step ladder on top of the
dining room table. 
no worries, there was a safety officer
and two paint brush dippers, so it
went smoothly.

there was LOTS of laughter and lots of
praise to the edger that was totally
worth the $2.85 paid for it! it saved us
piles of tape!!

the apt surprisingly smelled very little of
paint fumes…
i think…
it’s all a little fuzzy now that i think back.

         
here we are all very excited to get started, by the end
(middle picture) some of us were fading.  in this last
pic brianne’s ‘mic’ was an old hand held kind, mine was
the new head set style.

highlights:
*singing into out paint roller microphones
(pre-painting, of course)
*seeing the largest dust/hair ball i’ve ever
seen in my life!!  the genow sisters have
some serious hair!!!
*when meg’s doubt and fear turned into
delightful enjoyment of her new apt.
*the genow sisters painting under the steps
while lisa did the most complicated and
laborious tape job of her life.

after photos: