Snow Day Video (and other happenings this week)

Avi played in the snow this week, our first really big snow storm. Go figure, she likes to eat snow. Very very cold snow. I do too, I understand. Snow is almost as good as ice, but it doesn't crunch enough. I did lie though, this video is from a week ago, not this week. And this video is actually really bad, too. I was very excited about putting up a video, but the one I really really wanted to put up was too long. So, this one will have to do.



I am now a little over 26 weeks pregnant. Although the morning sickness, viruses and mono are all gone (Thank You God!), it seems back and lower ligament pain has taken its place. Little did I ever know that I had ligaments oh way down there, but apparently baby johnston has taken it upon himself to stretch those out as much as he is able. At least that's what my OBGYN says is what is happening, though it seems so much more severe than that. How kind of my baby to do that for me. Thankfully, everything else is well, as far as I know. I go to the Dr. next week and I get another ultrasound, so maybe I'll update you again then.

As for myself, I have been fighting hard against not living in a depressed pit. It seems I've been pounded on by a mix of hormones, winter, feeling like I am not having enough time with people I need to spend time with, and just getting frustrated about how nothing I get involved in seems to work out which mixes into a toxic combination of meaninglessness. So, that's been my irksome struggle of late, which, too often has gotten the best of me.

On a positive note, I am looking forward to going on a weekend adventure with Josh to NYC. He has never been there and it has been one of our hopes we'd get a chance to check it out together while on the East Coast. We are taking one of the Chinatown buses (35$ roundtrip) to Times Square and crashing with a childhood friend of Josh's who lives in Manhattan. Our housemate, Deborah, has insanely offered to watch Avi for the weekend as she wants to feel what its like, being a full-time mom. And she kindly wants to give us a break before baby #2 is born. Cheers to "Deb-Deb," though I am not too sure she really will appreciate acting out the favor she is doing for us while actually doing it. This is my first time away from Avi overnight (2 nights), so I am hoping I'll do O.K. (note, I am not worried about Avi, but myself!)

Obama

My Walmart sells Obama magnets and key chains. They are in our local souvenir section. What does your Walmart sell?

Great Obama quotes I've heard doing errands:

"Daddy, did you know that Michael Phelps is Obama's son?! Really, no! I am telling the truth! I promise, daddy, he really is Obama's son!"
(5 year old child at Target)

"I get to go vote! I'm voting for Obama! Obama! My momma! Obama, momma, momma, obama! OBAMA, MY MAMMA!"
(mom comes out, takes her 4 year old girl's hand, smiles at me sheepishly and walks away with her daughter skipping and singing "Obama Mamma" behind her).

"Well, since I'm kinda libertarian, or independent, sort of, I didn't really know about voting. I mean, if I voted I would have voted for Obama. But I just didn't really, like, vote, so...."
"But they don't count 'but if did vote I would have voted for . . .' votes! Dude, you should have voted! You could have been part of CHAAANGE!"
(Two 18 year old girls, I presumably in high school, at Hallmark)

Flexibility 1,2.3!

Flexible, I am not. I feel like my body would like to shut itself down into a state of Rigamordis. Maybe thats just what happens with age. Have you ever seen a Dr. with a newborn? They take their legs, pushing them up frog-legged, and start flapping them up and down like a chicken's wings. When we saw Avi's pediatrician do that to her the first time, I almost started screaming at him thinking he was about to crack her hips. Amazingly, he didn't. 'Cause babies, I guess, can just do that. He would have broken my pelvis. I would have not been happy. I, apparently, am NOT as flexible as a baby. Maybe that's because I am filled with baby. Baby likes to hang out as low as he can go, to my chagrin. Being pregnant already throws my back off, but of late bending or standing awhile also makes me feel like my pelvis will crack, which makes me fear I will just split open at some point doing the dishes or something innocent like that. Its not terrible, but it is uncomfortable.

Also I am physically extremely inflexible right now, today I had the pleasure of being flexible in life. Although I might often not consider this to be a "pleasure," today it was. I wasn't really too sure what would happen with my day, but I had spent time with God and just knew it was His day that I got to live in. I went to the chiropractor, having conversations with my Dr. and his receptionist both, people whom I've known a long time and have had some great discussions with. The study I lead that day was cancelled, and instead I found myself driving home not really knowing what to do. I drove by a friend's house, whom I just knew I should visit. In all honestly, I really didn't want to visit her. Yet, I pushed that aside, made a U-turn and stopped in to say hi. It turns out she just found out her husband shattered his elbow and she had to meet him at the emergency room. So, not only did we have a good conversation, but I was able to help her out by watching her kid for a bit. I was then able to bring dinner to a friend of mine who just had a baby and hopefully cheer her up. I honestly don't remember more of my day, but one thing I wanted to say before I didn't believe it anymore was......how thankful I am to be able to be flexible. That I don't have a 9-5 job, that I have resources without working myself, that I can just kinda follow what is best and make a difference in the world. Sometimes being flexible bugs the heck out of me, plans being ruined and such. Or even worse, not having any direction whatsoever, or knowing what to do. But, when I let go of my day and was just available to be there for others, it was great. Not being in control can also be good.

Monday's Thoughts

Today is the first time its actually snowed during the daytime this winter here in NOVA. I like the snow, its exhilarating. What I don't like is snow on the ground long enough to get dirty. In fact, I am pretty sure snow should only exist for a few days at a time, then it should be 75 degrees and sunny. That is one of the most confusing things to me about living were there are seasons. If its winter, even if its sunny out it will still be freezing cold. The sun was out the other day and it was in the teens. In CA, it might be cold for a few days, but once the sun really comes out, its warm again (even if its "winter"). Already the sun has come out today after this short-lived snow fall. Now the snow will melt, even while its still beautiful. Then it will just be nasty cold outside with no reward for the weather.

After being the President for eight years, what would you feel like the day before you left office? Especially when the hope of the nation is on removing you and replacing you with the smooth new guy? What would you do? Would you be satisfied, even if many hate you? Would you be in regret? Would you just be so excited to not be president, or would you be sad. I would hate being president. It is pretty much near the top of my most undesirable job-list. But I would be curious to feel what Bush feels today. Just one day, and not necessarily a very influential one at that.

Although Inauguration always falls at the same time, near Martin Luther King Jr. Day, this year it seems remarkably odd that the days fall back to back. There have just been so many references tying Obama and Martin Luther King Jr. that it seems like it should be a set up. Yet in reality, its normal. Weird.

I read a qoute today I liked on my Starbucks cup. It was pretty much "The person who will someday walk on Mars is alive today. Its probably a two year old little girl in China." I like the quote on the picture, too.

Excitingly, I went through my boxes of Avi's old baby clothing to pick out anything unisex. It turns out I have a lot more unisex clothing than I was aware of. On a negative note, almost all of it were white onsies or tees to wear under something. But that's okay. Someday, someone baby boy of ours is coming and I have apparently started "nesting." I have a lot of thoughts on this, whether it is the pros and cons of where to set up the nursery, the back and forth desires of wanting another baby now and then not, and unknown feelings about having a boy. But, no matter what I think now, it will someday be irrelevant. Someday I will have another child I can't imagine not having. That will be a good thing.

Have you ever thought of how weird worship music is? If your not accustomed to it it would make no sense. Not only does it sound like confused love songs for someone who doesn't exist, but your also pledging all your everything to the non-person, claiming to bow down or dance to them. Its pretty dramatic. Only when you force yourself to remember forms of religion have been around forever is there even a context to try to make sense of it. Maybe being able to imagine some foreign stone-aged people bowing down to an idol is a start in understanding. But then moving that to being a current devotion, that people actually worship God, who is not an idol and is unseen: its wild. It doesn't fit within Western Culture at all. If you tie in Judeo-Christian culture to the Western culture, okay. Then it starts becoming more logical. If you believe and worship God, then it goes beyond logical; its personal, expressive and entirely isn't weird. That is the category I fall into. But it must be so strange to hear worship music through the worldview of Agnostic-Western Culture, a worldview many people I know have. Sometimes it just amazes me that my worldview is so different from those I am around, as it makes so much sense to me. And I guess in this way I am part of the world, but not of it. We see the world through different shades (to put it lightly).

Don't Go For The One

Good Advice

Oh Boy!

I forgot to post our happy news. At my 20 week sonogram we found out we are having a BOY. Yep. The male species. A Mr. Johnny John Johnston. Very exciting.

And for those of you who are wondering (based on a previous post), I am glad I found out the sex but I don't think we will again. I am very happy its a boy, as that way it makes it useful that we know its a boy. And in the future if we have more children, I think I will go back to the being surprised method.

Home Again!

We have arrived at our NOVA home once again after an almost two week vacation. By the end of the first week I was thinking I was ready to come home. Yet sticking it out for another day or two threw me into my "I live from a suitcase" mode and I went into thinking that I didn't actually have a stable home. Its kinda like how animals revert into hibernation although it is nothing like hibernation. I'd call it "Hobo-mode" except that reminds me of the name of a computer program. Anyways, by the time we started on our way back I was mostly incredulous that we have a place to live. Walking into our front door was even weirder. I was sure I had never lived in a place that looked like it, let alone put together by me to look the way our home does. Or maybe it was because our house was spectacularly clean (thanks to Deborah and family!) and the floor was unusually toy-free.

Josh helped me visualize our Christmas vacation through a Google-Earth lens. Zooming into various locations throughout Michigan and then out again, seeing the people, personalities and activities in each place really helps you mentally capture how small our worlds really are in the grand-scheme of the world. And now I am zoomed back into my Northern Virginia world, where I shop at the same stores, drive the same circuit and often talk to the same people. Its all rather odd, really. It seems trite. Yet, this blog entry is not to discuss my thoughts and feeling since being back (although, in case you couldn't tell that's REALLY what I actually want to be writing about now). I figured its only fair to give a brief overview of our trip first, as some have been asking.

Firstly, we had an amazingly easy trip to Harbor Beach, MI. Avilynne was an angel on the 10+hr. drive in between two snow/ice storms the Saturday before Christmas.

We stayed in Harbor Beach with Josh's adoptive family, the Hill family whom he went on a missions trip to Guatemala with when he was a teenager. Since then he has enjoyed spending the holidays with them when he can, and I was able to enjoy the experience. And no, I am not just saying I enjoyed it because I know they might be reading this, but I really did. It was fun, relaxing, connecting and all those good things. They might have adopted Avilynne even more effectively than they adopted Josh. And I am pretty sure Avilynne adopted their cat, to Waffle's chagrin. I learned how to play Aggravation, we made snowmen (and women and pigs), had some jam sessions and I received a plethora of Christmas presents from Josh (to my amazement). The week went by quickly (as all good weeks must go).

After I had officially convinced my wise family (who learns from previous experience) that this time, really, we really really weren't coming to visit......the weather cleared up and we decided to see the Fox family (my aunt, uncle and cousins) in the Upper Peninsula. The trip to the arctic wasn't as nice as the one to the Hill's. There was terrible fog all the way there, equal to a good-day's fog on the central coast. Much of the time you couldn't see a few car lengths in front of us. Avilynne also thought it was a good idea to stay awake when very tired, so she wasn't the most pleasant child. But we made it, and once again we had a lovely time. I am pretty sure its impossible to not have a lovely time in the UP, no matter how cold it is. The people are just to great (along with the REAL Mackinaw Island Fudge Ice Cream). Of course I always delight in spending insane amounts of time with Brittany, my fair maiden, whether in deep conversation or just laying around together. I'm pretty sure she was the only one who said anything of value, because I only remember jibber-jabbing about really important things like depilatory cream at 2 a.m. and wondering why I didn't really have much more to say. Anyways, it was still superb.

On the 30th, we finally got into our car to leave around 5pm and very bravely attempted to make it to Kalamazoo, to Josh's grandparents that night. It was snowing and not so nice of a drive, but we did get there at 2am or so. We stopped for a nice anniversary dinner in some ski-resort looking bay town. It reminded me of a frozen Santa Barbara, and I think I might like to check it out at day-time someday. The time with Josh's grandparents was short, but good. We were also able to see some of his extended family, cousins, aunts, and other relatives whom are somehow relatives as they had a New Year's get-together while we were there.

On New Year's Eve we drove to a Detroit Suburb were we hung out with the Hill family and their extended family for their annual awesome shindig. We were able to see another good friend of ours there, which was sweet. Although we didn't stay at the party until the ball dropped, it was more than well-worth going to.

Lastly, we stayed at this amazing hotel that night. Josh was trying to surprise me, staying at the same Victorian Inn we stayed at last year for our anniversary. Instead we stayed at the Victorian Inn right next door (which was yellow instead of pink). Yet this hotel too was also awesome; the biggest difference being that we traded a full-body massage chair (pink hotel) for a fireplace (yellow hotel). I'm a sucker for huge hot tubs, so I was without doubt a happy camper that night in luxury. I am pretty sure if I become rich someday I will get a massive hot tub before I give the rest of my money to the poor. Because, of course, I am noble like that. Its a nice thought, anyways.

Then we came home.

Okay, for all of you who skipped reading the above description, just look at this map and all your questions will be answered. Maps are sorta like genies. They answer questions, sadly just not with the phrase "Your wish is my command."