Connections--the relaunch of my blog

My plans for 2010 include more writing so I will be updating this blog with more frequency. I have some significant struggles with the concept of blogging. What do I have to say that could be both unique and helpful, (or at least worth reading)? Up until now most of my blogging has been personal updating, which frankly is not necessary for the internet landscape.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the last year thinking about what I am best at—What are my strengths? and How can I best use them in every area of my life? I am still thinking through this, certainly, but one thing I know I love to do is make connections between the various ideas and voices I hear each day/week. It’s my hobby. I am a big nerd.

My intention is to take the connections I make in my head and put them on “paper.” I imagine some of the synthesis will be related to my work in ministry and management. Other times I may write about, my graduate work, my nephew, or my recent foray into digital cable (perhaps a HUGE mistake). I spend a lot of time each week in my car and during that time I am usually listening to an audio book or NPR or talk radio all of which give me a lot of content to parse and store in my mind.

Welcome to my inner processor where every piece of information must find a home. Finding the right place to sort both this week’s sermon lesson and last week’s episode of 30 Rock can be tricky, but sometimes they fit right next to each other, and when that happens I’ll write about it here.
Happy New Year!

My little yellow house...

...is going on the market, hopefully soon.

I love this house. It's so cozy and charming. Just the right size for me and Lincoln.

Plenty of space when people come over,

but not so big that it feels empty when I am alone.

Sadly, since I moved in the latter times far outnumber the former.

Over the years I have had so many wonderful friends in Wheeling. I'm down to about four. I love these women, too, but due to families and work and more babies on the way our schedules rarely align.

So last week I met with my realtor to talk about what it will take to get my house market-ready.

One reason I bought this house was that it was in great move-in condition, and thankfully that is mostly still true.

The biggest job is curb appeal--my yard is my achilles' heel.
And decluttering everywhere!

How did I get so much crap into this little house in so little time?

It's in my blood unfortunately.

I am working on it though, and if you need anything--clothes, furniture, knick knacks, books, etc, you should call me b/c I am just crazy enough to give almost anything away! (Not my bedroon suite, Lara, sorry)

So over the next few weeks I'll be spending my free time getting this house into beautiful order in hopes that it will be officially listed ASAP!

If you are in Wheeling and want to help me out--come on over! If you know anyone looking to buy an adorable home in Wheeling, please let me know, I'll connect you with my realtor! It's perfect for the first time homebuyer and that tax credit is still available!

What's next? This remains unclear. I'll move somewhere more central to my work travels, and somewhere where I can live with people and do my work around people more often.

As I look back on what I have written here I realize I have not communicated the sadness and struggle through which I have come to this decision. I still love Wheeling. I have loved my time here. But to everything there is a season, and mine here seems to be ending. Perhaps I'll write more about that later. For now, I have some stuff to pack away!

I could have had a baby since my last post...

I didn't. It isn't that I haven't written because I have been so busy incubating another human life that I didn't have the energy to write a few paragraphs. I'm just noting that I *could* have because it has been nearly 9 months since I last wrote and promised to write more often.

This summer a very wise man told me (after I had apologized for something that I didn't really need to apologize for, and honestly wasn't sorry about)
"Katie, Jesus did not die for our false guilt."

So I won't apologize for not writing.

What brings me back to the blog? My rapidly approaching 30th birthday? maybe.
Anticipating a year of discernment and transition? perhaps.
Another writing project that I am avoiding? There it is!

In anticipation of the big 3-0, as well as potential transitions on many fronts, I do think I'll try to blog more often. Mostly b/c I need someplace to get these things OUT OF MY HEAD. For tonight, though, I will just share some photos from the best vacation I have ever taken.

A month ago, I went to Bethany Beach with some old friends and one new friend. We had the most wonderful time. These photos do not do the time justice, but basically here's what happened:

These friends and I all lived in Wheeling at the same time a few years ago. We, along with a few others who couldn't be with us, used to socialize by going to the market on Saturday and buying good, fresh ingredients and then converging on someone's kitchen to cook the MOST wonderful food, drink wine, listen to music, talk about big stuff and little stuff, and laugh and laugh. It was the best time of my life in Wheeling. It was the age of my veranda and Damian's little kitchen.

The beach vacation was basically that: food, wine, music, laughter, good conversation AND we went to the beach every day. I can't explain how good it was. Here are some pictures, many of the food :)

What a great weekend--let's do it again soon, friends!

Gratitude

I have been challenged to acknowledge the reality of the various situations that compose my life, and to be thankful for them. Even the ones that seem small, even the ones that are difficult, even--especially--those that are less than perfect.

I am working on this as a discipline and this week I am thankful for many things. This will be the first of my Thankful Thursdays. I am collecting the list throughout the week, but will post some of it on Thursdays alone.

This week I am thankful for

-The staff I supervise, and how working with them challenges me, strengthens me, teaches me about them and about me. I love that they laugh a lot, and help me to learn to laugh at myself. Tomorrow we are getting together, and I am really looking forward to it!



-My Christmas tree decorated with ornaments designed by many people over the years who have sat in my various living rooms and colored on a plastic ball.

-My Christmas tree angel and my black fleece cape, both gifts from my sister that are perfect for me. They remind me that in spite of myself, I am known by at least one person. Thanks, Libby.

-My hairless dog Lincoln who spent the early evening puking all over the house. He brings me great joy, and caring for him is a gift.

-My mismatched furniture that was all someone else's first. I have been blessed by generous family & friends and each piece fits together to make my home.

-My success in actually reading an issue of Sojourners when it arrived yesterday.

-My messy kitchen that tonight afforded an opportunity to spend a great time with a good friend.

-I am thankful too for my story of y2k that I shared with Melissa tonight--it keeps me humble and is a great example of how I am loved even though I am not perfect.

KicKing it, worKing it, parKing it. celebration of K

I have always held a strong affinity for the letter “K.” Obviously, this is due to my first name, Katherine, and the many, many nicknames I have which also begin with “K.”

“K” is a tricky letter. I remember playing name games at camp which consist of rhymes, songs, or chants that include one’s name and a favorite item with the same first initial.

I was generally left to kaleidoscopes and kangaroos, and then--thanks to the rise in availability of international produce throughout the 90’s—kiwi.

Because not that many words begin with the hard “k” sound, it is easy to believe that the letter “k” doesn’t show up that much in daily conversation or writing. That is what I thought, until I lost the use of my “k”

Not long after getting my dog, Lincoln, he jumped onto my keyboard and took my “k”, “0” and “-“ keys. He later took my “u” as well. Because I used “k” so often—far more so than I ever realized—the little rubber stem that remained did not function for long.

So there I was, a girl without a “k.”

In addition to my name, I also used “k” at least 50 other times a day while typing the any or all of following words:

-thank (thanks, thankfully)
-work, working
-know
-like
-keep, kept
-task
-link
-pick
-think, thinking
& several other proper names that begin with or include “k”

I went without a “k” for several months. What was at first another endearing example of my absentmindedness and general dishevelry, became an annoyance to me and my coworkers.
“I’ll take notes, but try not to use too many ‘k’s’” doesn’t play month after month, and the sympathy did not last as long as my negligence.

FINALLY I remembered to put a call into Dell to get a new keyboard. With the old keyboard, I made due by keeping a “k” on the clipboard of my computer, and pressing Ctrl-V every time I needed a k. While typing this post I have hit Ctrl-V as often as I have used the shiny new ‘k.” Muscle memory is a powerful thing.

I am looking for some deeper meaning here. Perhaps...

You don’t know what you have until it is gone, OR

When you allow something unhealthy to go on for too long your habits will adapt and the unhealthy will seem normal. OR

Allowing the urgent to crowd out the important keeps progress at bay

Really, it came down to the fact that last week the “0” / “)” key also stopped working, and I could not longer effectively make smiley face emoticons. Even I have my limits ;)

Way too long, and a bit longer

So I have not updated this blog in many months. This was not my intention when I started the blog and is not my intention into the future. However, after I wrote the last post, I decided I wouldn't update again until I had finished a paper I had due at the time...

that paper is still not done.

I must finish it before next Tuesday because I am beginning another class and will never do it if I get new assignments. So I am up now, finally cranking it out. I am excited and I like where it is going so far.

I am going to finish a draft tonight and revise it tomorrow on my way to a concert. Then I will tie up more loose ends, but by next week blogging will have resumed.

Topics will include:

*Laying Maurice to rest and learning to love again
*How often I use the letter "k"
*Abraham & Issac
*Fun times had since May

..and much much more!

So if you read this, or have been wondering where I am--I am here, I'll be back soon.

love, ktt (the original procrasshole)

Lilacs & my dad

Last month I was coveting the firey forsythia that were blooming all over the place everywhere I seemed to go--my neighborhood, all around Wheeling, on every campus I visited, everywhere except my house.

I spent a good bit of daydreaming time wondering where I will plant my future forsythia. Will it look good near to my butter yellow house? Should I plant some along the edge of my yard near the road? What sort of exposure does a forsythia need? What sort of exposure does my yard get? Would I get arrested if I cut other people's forsythia to paste into my yard this year? (Don't worry, this never left the hypothetical)

Then I left my house for nearly a week to work from Morgantown. Lincoln & I stayed with my sister & brother-in-law, their son (The wonderful Andrew) and their TWO dogs. More later on the tales of Lincoln's adventures with Molly & Megan. Anyway, when I got back to my house I opened the back door to let Lincoln out and was delighted to be overwhelmed by the scent of lilacs. I have no Forsythia, but I do have the biggest lilac bush I have ever seen in full bloom in my backyard!

I took this picture to show the scale of this bush, note my neighbor's car

The smell of lilacs immediately takes me back to my years on campus at CMU. There is (or at least was) an entire bank covered with lilacs next to Morewood and I walked by it every day between my dorm and classes. When the lilacs bloomed, spring had arrived. Even with a chill remaining in the air, and gray Pittsburgh skies over head, the lilacs brought hope--the end of the semester was coming soon! Lilacs also bloomed after carnival was over, which meant some time to relax and enjoy friends without rehearsals, production meetings, and stress. I hadn't realized what good feelings lilacs inspire, but this week has reminded me.

The first thing I did was cut a bunch and take them to my next door neighbors, Melinda & Chris. I hadn't met them yet since moving in, and the vase of lilacs was a good introduction I think. The next morning I cut a bunch for my table and put them in my beautful maid of honor gift vase that I (sadly) rarely use, and they fill it perfectly.

I have been sharing my lilacs with everyone. Rachel & Karen came over and took some home with them. I took a bouquet to Abby to mark her going away dinner. I am planning to cut tons for the Wine Gala this weekend. And there are still PLENTY more. If you are reading this and would like some lilacs, let me know because I have plenty.

I really love to give gifts, but can't afford to buy things for everyone I love. [I haven't read the Five Love Languages, but if I did, I imagine gift giving would be my love language.] This lilac bush has been such a blessing because I can give and give from it and still have plenty more to give. This is the first time I have had such abundance to share, and I think for the first time I understand why my dad spends so much time each year planting a huge vegetable garden.

Half of my parent's yard is taken up by my dad's four tiered garden. All my life I remember him spending Saturday after Saturday throughout the spring out there. First tilling the ground, then preparing the plants & seeds, letting Libby & me help him plant the peas, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, peppers (several kinds), tomatoes (several kinds), cucumbers, eggplants, and zucchini. For a family of four, my dad's garden FAR out produced our vegetable intake potential. Yet he continued to plant the whole thing every year.

I know that for my dad, his time in the garden was therapy. Like me, his work was often made up of abstract, on going processes without clear end points, and he strove to do his work excellently every day of the week. On the weekend though, his concrete mind sought a project that he could control, design, begin, and end. When the entire plot had been turned over with his bright red roto-tiller, it was done. It would not need to be done again for 12 months. *aaahhhhh* Then all the plants were in, and we were giving them their first watering. *aaahhhhh* A week or two later, all the tomato plants had been staked. *aaahhhhh* Each step was hard labor to be sure, but I think the satisfaction of a completed task means a lot to my dad. (ask him about his lists)

Now he's retired and his garden is his work. When I asked him a couple weeks ago if he'd be working on the garden that weekend he told me "absolutely not. The weekends are for spending time with your mom. I do garden work during the week so my weekends are free." That's my dad--Mr. Discipline and Planning, even in retirement.

Regardless of WHEN my dad works on his garden, I know WHY he does it--to share. My father has planted a big garden for 30 years so that he has a gift he can give freely and generously to people he cares about--family, friends, neighbors, & co-workers. More than once my dad has come home from his golf league with a few buddies for a cold one on the porch and a trip through the produce department. I remember him coming home at lunchtime in the summers so he could pick veggies for his coworkers' dinners. No one leaves my parent's house in the summer without a bag full of vegetables. Everytime my dad visits me between June and October I get something fresh and delicious. I don't know if he is looking forward to these moments of sharing , or the people he'll share with when he maps out his plan each year and spends days literally bent in half planting and weeding, but I am pretty sure that's why he does it. Well, that and the taste of a homegrown tomato still warm from the sun.

I didn't have to work at all to have all these wonderful lilacs to share, but I am glad to be carrying on some of the generosity I learned from my dad by sharing the abundance I was so freely given.

If you read all the way to here, you deserve a special treat. I have no pics of my dad's garden, so here's a picture of Rachel & I holding Norah & Lincoln. Notice that Norah & Lincoln's outfits are coordinated--pink * brown stripes and spots