Squirrel vs. Josh

Squirrels are not welcome in our apartment.

Josh woke up early to enjoy the morning with a cup of coffee and his laptop. It's a beautiful day today - no snow, hail or tornados - so the window was open. While he was sitting there, a squirrel jumped into our apartment through the window, a few stories off the ground! They were probably equally thinking, Oops, probably shouldn't have done that.

After chasing him for awhile, Josh came and gently woke me up to join the fun. I'm so glad he didn't wake me up while said squirrel was in the bedroom. Oy. That squirrel ran around the apartment and found clever hiding places to catch his breath. There was a lot of squirrel-jumping, pot-banging, broom-wacking, furniture-climbing, light-shining, shelf-emptying, chair-standing, and squeeking. I must not have been that threatening because it ran across my feet and legs multiple times. (I've felt squirrely all day!) In the end, after an hour and a half, Josh was the conquering hero. The squirrel climbed back out the window defeated. Now to find the window screens...

Our home is not your home, Squirrel.

Yes, that's a cellphone light.

Attack of the Charley Horse

My calf tried to kill me last night.

The last time Charley Horse attacked was two years ago when I was racing Josh across a pool in North Dakota. Sooooo not fair. Anyway. Last night was more abusive then said pool attack as Charley grabbed my leg in my sleep. Taken completely off guard, I sat up, promptly let out a yelp, leapt out of bed, and stomped on it--which gave me the upper hand. Oy!

My poor husband. It took some explaining this morning.

Know why it's called a Charley Horse? 

Because it feels like you got kicked by this.

(among other reasons, I'm sure)

Here are some other names for it:

USA: Tommy Horse

UK: Deadleg, Grand Daddy or Chopper

Australia: Corked Thigh or "Corky"

German: Pferdekuss - "horse's kiss"

Norway: Lårhøne - "thigh hen"

Netherlands: Ijsbeen - "ice leg" 

France: Béquille - "crutch"

Portugal: Paralítica - "paralyzer"

Japan: Komuragaeiri - "cramp in the calf"

Northwest Italy: Vecchia - "old woman" or Dura - "hard/tough one"

South Italy: Morso di Ciuccio - "donkey bite"

Israel: Regel Etz - "wooden leg"

(wikipedia)

I find this interesting. I'm a linguist.

God-Mother's Day

Yesterday Jacob, my dashing godson, called me on Skype

to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. 

My heart melted. 

Wouldn't yours?

These were the highlights of our conversation:

Green
Funny faces
Preschool
Trains
Brushing Teeth

Being 4
Uncle Josh

Just in case you wonder what a godmother and godson talk about.

You can find out more about him on my sister's blog.

What makes my tiny kitchen so lovable?

Our kitchen is minuscule, but it gets a lot of love. Josh has helped me utilize the space, and its best feature is a tall ceiling. I would love to paint and organize a bit more, but I thought I'd let you peek at one of my favorite places.

Here are the things that make my kitchen so lovable:

Pot Rack

Spice Shelves

Industrial Shelving (under the counter)

Pegboard (above the oven)

Knife Magnet

Coffee Bar (above the sink)

Shelving (above the cupboards)

Under-Cabinet Lighting (just for romance)

Padded Floor Mat

Red Cupboard Curtains

Brokenhearted

I read on the news this evening that nine Americans were killed in Central Asia today. Today those nine families lost a loved one. The man who killed them, a colleague, was also killed. There are ten families that lost someone today. Somehow since getting married, news like this has become much more difficult to handle. Life without Josh seems nearly unbearable to me. Yet I know that God doesn't abandon. Josh and I have been reading the book of Job, and Job ironically finds comfort in dust and ashes (Job 42).

Dear spouses and families, I'm so sorry.

Dear Jesus, please bring comfort to the brokenhearted.

(I'm going to go give my hubby a smooch and tell him how much he means to me. I recommend you do the same.)

Improve Your Workspace

When my productivity went down at work, I decided, that one culprit was the space. It was a disaster, and there were days when I came to work, shot straight for my desk, and dreaded looking at my surroundings. So I did something about it and asked for help. A couple people at work came to my rescue. I must say, things are much happier these days.

It started off as a small project, but then we discovered that the wall behind some shelving was like cardboard. No wonder I could hear everything from next door.

A co-worker, volunteer, and I made use of everything we could on a limited budget. They worked on drywall and wiring and we all painted. I decided to paint the file cabinet. So glad.

 

It was a bit of a shock to everyone when I said that I wanted gray. I felt nervous about it too, but I felt like it would be a good color for a communications/publications office. Plus it won't effect the computer screen when I do editting. Ikea was the winner for furniture.

Then to add a little taste of the World Mission Prayer League, I pulled some pictures from the archives and put them in some clearanced frames.

Here's the final result. And a movement has begun. The business office and other offices on my floor are starting to transform! What do you do to improve your workspace?

 

Climbing Counters & Ceiling Fans

What is the first thing you do when you know guests are coming?

I've heard all kinds of crazy things all the way to stashing dirty dishes in the oven. Now, I never do that, but I wouldn't blame you if you do because I have my very own quick-guests-are-coming routine.

I turn on the kitchen fan when guests come over.

Sure, it sounds ridiculous, but if you've ever had a fan in your kitchen you might get where I'm coming from. They get n-a-a-a-sty, but the secret is to leave it on. No one will know. (Josh didn't even know that's why I had the fan running all the time. I'm good.)

One day I was standing on the counter stashing some pantry items. I had turned the fan off, of course, to keep my head from getting lopped off. When I was eye level with the disgusting-ness, I knew I had to do something.

 
If you've ever tried wiping grease off a fan, you know it just smears all over the place. I had a learning to wife moment, climbed off the counter, and got this.

It solved all my problems.

And now I don't need to turn on the kitchen fan when guests come over. And when I asked Josh if he noticed anything different, he guessed that I painted it.  What are you embarrassed of? Even better, what are you no longer embarrassed of?