Down the Rabbit Hole

On my half hour break I like to head down and outside for my little sun fix. I would call it a nature fix, but the only nature in sight is a few trees. I suppose the sky and my fellow human beings are nature, but you get my point.
My long break is now my snack break. I eat lunch on my short early break so that I'm not too hungry on the long break. This means I can actually sort of eat dinner when I get home! Yay! This week's fruit (I always buy too much fruit at a time so I only allow myself to buy one kind at a time) is the peach. I love peaches. I love bringing them to work, though the sharp knife I bring to peel them (their little fuzzy skin hurts my lips) makes me feel kind of dangerous and scandalous (no weapons allowed at Kaiser). Anyway, I peeled my peach and headed to the entry with all the elevators, excited for my 20 min outside. The far elevator dinged, and I stepped on, unable to resist a bite of my peach before I got outside.
As I bit the extraordinarily juicy peach, the elevator decended. And I had the oddest sensation of being Alice, taking a bite of the mushroom and shrinking.

Reading Again

Recently I read "The Reason for God" by Tim Keller. It reminded me how, among many other things, I have not read many good, serious books recently. And that was somewhat on purpose: I took a break from brainy reading after I graduated. It was good fun, let me tell you. But then I started realizing things I haven't read in a really long time... things I have forgotten to even think about.
So, I grabbed "The Great Divorce" off the shelf and threw it into my work purse to read on breaks. And for my birthday, I received "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan (part of the Passion movement).

Here's a couple of quotes I wanted to share from reading in "Crazy Love" this morning:
God doesn't just want us to have good theology; He wants us to know and love Him.

Some people claim that we can be Christians without necessarily becoming disciples. I wonder, then, why the last thing Jesus told us was to go into the world, making disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that He commanded? You'll notice that He didn't add, "But hey, if that's too much to ask, tell them to just become Christians - you know, the people who get to go to heaven without having to commit to anything."

Dear Kaiser members,


I have limited Hippa clearance, which I just told you, so I don't need to hear about your alergies, children's emergencies, or BACK FUNGUS. Nor can I help you with any of these issues.
And I'm sorry you answered the phone while you were at work, with the kids at the pool, or eating lunch with your Grandma, and still talked to me for 10 minutes.

I know I sound sweet on the phone, thanks.
Allison

PS. Downtown Gresham is not far from Rockwood. Or even Mt Scott. I'm sorry that's not good enough for you.

Made to Worship

I went down to the little 1st floor cafe on my much needed break to receive not only a pleasant iced almond soy late, but also a reminder of God's power and grace.

Made To Worship
(Chris Tomlin)

Before the day
Before the light
Before the world revolved around the sun
God on high
Stepped down into time
And wrote the story of His love for everyone

He has filled our hearts with wonder
So that we always remember

You and I were made to worship
You and I are called to love
You and I are forgiven and free
When you and I embrace surrender
When you and I choose to believe
Then you and I will see who we were meant to be

All we are
And all we have
Is all a gift from God that we receive
Brought to life
We open up our eyes
To see the majesty and glory of the King

He has filled our hearts with wonder
So that we always remember

Even the rocks cry out
Even the heavens shout
At the sound of His Holy name
So let every voice sing out
Let every knee bow down
He is worthy of all our praise

Finds

Check this out: Pictorial Webster's
I Love it.

Oh, Mathemeticians

I was pretty excited to see the PAM was doing an exhibition of M.C. Escher, especially while I still have my student pass (that I have not used nearly enough).

Good thing my birthday falls during the show so I have a good excuse to drag my not-unwilling husband along!

The lecture series looks so cool - I wonder if I should try to get off early for the next one. It might really be worth it. We could call it continuing education?

From the Inside Out

A great song that we sang last night at church. Definitely a challenge and prayer.

Good Times

I love:

being on vacation in the South

complaining about the bugs (one is crawling along the living room floor next to me as I type) - and the heat

seeing friends and family (old and new)

introducing people to one of the best games ever,
and some of the best authors ever.

Thoughts for the Day

In "The Reason for God" by Timothy Keller, in chapter eight The Clues of God, he quotes art critic Arthur C. Danto, as he "once described a work of art that gave him a sense of 'obscure yet inescapable meaning'. In other words, while great art does not 'hit you over the head' with a simple message, it always gives you a sense that life is not a 'tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.' It fills you with hope and gives you the strength to carry on, though you cannot define what it is that moves you."
I love this chapter and how it forces me to stop every few paragraphs and praise God for who He is.
I now want to find an instalation by Shirin Neshat. I'm sure I could find her work on youtube, but that seems somehow a little wrong. I think I saw her work at SFMoMA, but I can't see it satasfactorily clearly enough in my mind. I love that feeling of 'obscure yet inescapable meaning' because of the reasuring sense of existence, but also because reminds me that I am created in God's image and He created the whole world in such a way that we can see Him and create art. For in Him we live and move and have our being.

Also Digging

This artist. I want the flash cards.

http://blackeiffel.blogspot.com/2009/06/julie-morstad.html

Can't Resist

Wall paper.

Who can, really. If you think you can, check out this delicious blog post I found while wandering on the web, looking at design related sites:
http://absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com/2009/06/paper-walls.html

Or this fragmented mirror wall gallery, which I am loving.

Thanks, Josh

Chicken noodle soup is a good antidote for a day of lost earrings, studying the Medicare system, realizing how much money nursing homes cost, hearing about all the ways our bodies deteriorate, not finding my missing fork, leaving my umbrella in the car, and driving home in a huge rainstorm only to have my wipers stop working 5 blocks away from home.
Josh said, "Whoaaa it's okay now! Sit down and take a deep breath! I'll make the soup, tea will come later."

Beautiful Friday

This morning I got up and went to Trader Joe's without makeup on. Josh was up and I slept late (we have discovered that my side of the bed is the sleepy side) so he surprised me by stoping at the Seven Virtues for an americano. We bought coffee (we've been out or nearly a week) beans - the French Roast that we buy because the container design is cool, not because it has our favorite flavor. We also bought mums. Green and white ones. We brought them home and I clipped red leaves off Jen's stair hedge and now we have 6 arrangements in our living room. (Three from class on monday, 3 from the mums.)

Floral Design

This week was floral design class #3: ceremony flowers.
Josh took a few photos of my garland section.
I am finding I am particularly fond of blueberries, love in the mist, lunaria annua (money plant), rosemary, pineapple sage, scabiosa, spray roses, purple lace and alchemilla.

City Living

To the many neighbors on Burnside between 74th and 82nd it may concern:
Thank you for having such lovely rose gardens.
I love taking deep breaths of roses between the more regular mouthful of exhaust.

Ah, Monday

I love my job on days like today. Okay, actually, most of the day was extremely boring because we had to read a health and safety manual and do little quizes, but towards the end I took some calls that just make working at a job that is not really what I want to spend the rest of my life with that much better.
On my last call of the night, I was in the middle of leaving a third message for a member (their last chance to have a lovely 10 minute conversation with yours truely) and I hear the phone connect and a frantic (ly excited?) "Kaiser, Kaiser - I'm here!" She was SO excited that she caught me. How often are people so happy that you are doing your job that they bother to answer the phone at all, much less can't believe they are getting to talk to you? Yeah, it's pretty fun.
And all that sandwiched between 6 hours creating giant flower arangements and going out to dinner for Josh's birthday? A pretty good day.

A Morning of Family and Photos

First Floral Arrangement

Ceilings

So I thought this was cool -
someone on apartment therapy had a wood ceiling. On purpose! Throughout his whole house! Very cool. I have been growing attached to our kitchen paneling as of late. I guess it's sort of hip.

"What Do You Have?"

I'm sitting here working, peeling the thin remnant of a sunburn, stretching, waking up a little (chocolate and old coffee), looking at a days worth of notes and numbers, getting ready for tomorrow:
first Floral Design class! and more of the same.