Category: Monday Briefs

Tuesday briefs (4-19-11)

It’s been a while since I’ve given a brief update on all things personal — so here we go….

1. The boys are almost six months old! Crazy! They’ll reach six months in just a few days — April 21.

2. They’re both getting bigger and stronger each and every day. Ian’s been sitting up by himself a little longer than Hayden but I sat and played with both of them for probably 15 minutes tonight while they sat up and played with a ball and we only had one or two fall-overs from the two of them. We’re expecting Hayden to weigh in around 19 to 20 pounds for their six month check-up on Friday.

3. The spit-up attacks continue! We were told the five to six month mark is usually the peak of their spit-up attacks and as they learn to sit up and strengthen their muscles it should begin to decrease — we hope so. Laurie and I have both had 2-3 shirt/outfit days recently. In fact we change our clothes more often than we change theirs. For some reason most of the spit-up ends up on their bibs or on us.

4. They’re so much fun! They’re laughing at so much. In fact, Ian just entertained us for 5-10 minutes while he sat and laughed at the dog chewing her bone and Hayden just loves big raspberries blown on his belly. Of course they have their moments when they irritate us, because we have 100 things to do and they can’t stand to be left alone and only want to be held… but in reality — can we really complain about that? All our boys want is for us to hold them? Can’t be that bad…

5. The boys are in the midst of their 2nd week with their DOC Bands now and are doing great. They don’t seem to mind their bands at all. They sleep fine with them on and are now starting to wear the bands 23 hours a day. It’s amazing that we already see a difference in the shape of their heads — especially Hayden. At times it feels like we’re looking at a totally different boy.

The boys napping with their DOC Bands | Photo by Jonathan Blundell

5. Laurie just joined me in the Over-30-Club. While we still try and maintain that she’s still only 25, she did officially turn 30 on Saturday (sorry babe). But, perhaps lucky for her, she used to say, “two kids before 30” and it looks like she did just that. 🙂

6. As a follow-up to last Friday’s post, for Laurie’s birthday and our anniversary (4 years coming up next week!) I bought her an iPad. Somehow in talking myself out of buying one, I ended up peaking her interest more and more. So when the original gift I ordered didn’t arrive before Saturday, I told her we could combine the two gifts for an iPad. I think she’s enjoying it… just a little. (although I don’t think she’s ready to give her Mac Book Pro for it ;-))

7. My Fool Month of Purging Meat from my diet is going quite well. I’m actually surprised by how easy it’s been to avoid meat. I’ve passed up steak at least two or three times, burgers several times and Chick-fil-A sandwiches. Overall I don’t feel as lethargic or “bleh” after eating a full meal and I think I’m starting to see a bit more energy overall – but I’m not certain its from purging the meat or just sleeping better. Will I go vegetarian after April? Probably not – at least not 24-7, but it has proven that it’s completely doable and reminded me that I probably need to add a lot more plants to my diet regardless.

I think that about wraps it up. That’s most of what’s going on in my world.

Any questions?

Monday morning briefs

Time for an update on all things around Casa de Blundell. It’s been a while since I did one of these and there’s lots going on — so this might be a bit longer than a typical brief…

Needless to say, there’s lots of goodness going on and lots of…. well….. waiting.
Continue reading Monday morning briefs

Monday Briefs

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Highlights of the week ::
We finally made our trip to Fort Worth and went to the Botanical Gardens today. We had a great time enjoying the public gardens (a lot cheaper than Dallas’ Arboretum :-)) followed up by a stop at Sonic and driving through Kessler Park looking at homes. It was a warm day and a bit muggy, but I didn’t seem to notice walking in the shade most of the time.

Laurie’s got some photos on her Flickr page and I’ll probably upload some soon too.

What I’m chewing on ::
Isaiah 58

“This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
Continue reading Monday Briefs

Monday Briefs

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Highlights of the week ::
Well it wasn’t anything we originally planned, but Laurie and I were able to celebrate our second anniversary on Friday and Saturday night. Friday night we made our annual visit to Outback Steakhouse and enjoyed some great steak, a bloomin’ onion, a large Foster beer (for me) and a desert sampler (for her – even though I probably ate more than her). We then came home and watched Bride Wars while snuggling on the couch (in case you wanted to know).

Saturday we had plans to go to Fort Worth for the day, but because of the forecasted rain, I did yard work and she did a few things around the house, like ironing some shirts for me (THANKS!). Then we decided to enjoy some Royal Burgers at Red Robin. Then we came home and snuggled on the couch again, watching Slumdog Millionaire.

Hopefully we’ll be able to make our planned day trip to Fort Worth before too long.

Quote I’m diggin and chewing on ::
“A Christian should be able to go to the White House, a crack house, their momma’s house or any house and come out with their integrity, vision, compassion, and commitment to justice intact.

If the Kingdom of God is within you, then everywhere you go you should leave a little heaven behind. People will know you to be a heaven leaver. You can learn to love your crooked neighbor with your own crooked heart because you’re connected to a power and grace greater than your ego.”

– Dr. Cornel West

I’m wondering and chewing on this: I leaving a bit of heaven or hell online, offline, in your house, in my house, in my car, in my marriage, in my relationships, in my family, in my job, in my church?

Movies of recent days ::
Three movies in three days?! That’s just unheard of around these parts! But as I mentioned above, we watched Bride Wars and Slumdog Millionaire this weekend and then I watched The Wrestler on Sunday afternoon.

Bride Wars was as expected, a “chick-flick.” I think Laurie liked it but said it wasn’t one she’d go out and buy.

Slumdog Millionaire was really good in my mind. Something different and challenging. Showed a side of India that we don’t typically see and also challenged me to continue thinking about how we so often slap labels on people far too quickly.

The Wrestler was OK but as I mentioned on Facebook, not one I’d watch with my parents :-). It was a bit crude at times and having one of the main characters working at a strip club didn’t help the matter. From the little I know, it was pretty accurate to the story of the indie wrestling scene. I think I kept waiting to see the redemption story in the movie but I don’t feel like it ever came. Perhaps (for those who’ve seen it) Ram’s redemption came in pushing through and living out his passion, with a finger to the rest of the world or maybe there was another sub-narrative I missed. Or perhaps there was no redemption story. What’d you think?

#nanowrimo update ::
I finally finished the first edit of my novel, St. Peter’s Brewery. I still have a couple spots I want to re-work, but now I can start making the edits from my read-through as well as the others several other folks submitted. If I can stay on task, perhaps the book will be ready for release by July? We’ll hope so.

Looking forward to ::
I can’t actually think of much right now that I’m looking forward to. Seems a bit depressing? I’ll keep you posted if I can think of something.

Till next week….

Monday Briefs

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highlight of the week ::
Sushi night.

While I hated that I had to enjoy the sushi alone, I was pleased with the outcome and surprised at how easy it was to make. I always imagined it being a much more painstaking process. It was time consuming, but not difficult at all.

quote i’m digging ::
“I can’t take the Eucharist and not be cognizant of the fact that I belong to a universal community.
I can’t take the Eucharist and not be cognizant of the fact that my primary allegiance is to God and to faith in Christ.
I can’t do that and then allow myself to go out and have another allegiance claim ultimacy in my life.
That is profoundly threatening if you start to think through the implications of what that looks like for the Christian who lives anywhere in the world.”

– Dr. Jeffrey C. Pugh referring to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology.

ministry-wise ::
Our group has decided to actively pursue a Laundry Love Project here in Red Oak. I’m excited about this! I hope its a great opportunity for our group to grow and serve those outside our normal walls.

I did some “site surveys” on Saturday and visited two local laundromats. The owners of the one laundromat we’ll likely use were very confused as to what we wanted to do.

Me: Hi, we’d like to see about scheduling a couple hours, once a month, where we come and pay for people to do their laundry. They come in, bring their laundry and we pay for it and provide laundry detergent for them.
Owner: I don’t understand.
Me: Well, we’ll bring several people and a bucket full of quarters. As people come in to do their laundry, we’ll fill the machines with quarters for them.
Owner: I’m still not sure I understand.
Me: We want to help people do their laundry – and pay for it – instead of them paying.
Elizabeth, laundromat customer: You can pay for my laundry!

I think the ultimate quandary for the laundromat owner was that he couldn’t understand why we would want to do this. I think he understood what we were wanting to do – just not why we’d want to.

As I talked to Elizabeth a bit longer, I found out that she spends $25 a week on laundry. Fifteen loads for her and her 3 kids. I can’t imagine!

Visiting the other laundromat, I talked with a guy who said that by himself he spends $7 – $10 a week on laundry.

I’m looking forward to seeing what comes of this initiative. If you’re interested in helping with your time or financially, please let me know.

looking forward to ::
Spending some time with Laurie this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. She’ll be out of town for most of our anniversary day so we’re planning to celebrate some time away on Friday and/or Saturday this week. Plus, we’re going to make our annual anniversary trip to Outback Steakhouse when she gets back in town Wednesday night. And… it’ll be all free thanks to credit card rewards!