Monday, July 31, 2006
Not that you care but . . .
I got a new comforter and duvet. I'm in love with it. And I'm also in love with IKEA. I've wanted a down comforter ever since I slept under one in Germany almost 4 years ago. So happy birthday to me. That also means I have extra blankets for any visitors who should happen to come my way ;)
Friday, July 28, 2006
My Husband
I caught the bouquet, so I'm on the prowel! Haha, just kidding! You can pull your hearts out of your throats and rest assured that your Miranda is as happily and contentedly single as ever.
As you may know, I affectionately refer to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, my favorite theologian/ethicist/martyr/pastor/author/German/confessing churchman, as my husband. And he is the subject of this post.
I've been meaning to finish reading his book The Cost of Discipleship ever since I read sections of it for Jerry's Intro to Christian Faith class during my freshman year at Whitworth. It's pretty much the most convicting book ever, full of truth and grace.
Dieter (I don't know if anyone ever actually called him that, but he's my husband so I'm allowed to have a nickname for him) says that the world is full of cheap grace. Preacher's fling grace around so haphazardly that people end up justifying their actions because they know that they are already forgiven. Dieter says that grace should be the point at which one arrives after true repentance and contrition. He says it more eloquently and longwindedly than that (turns out German lends itself to very long sentences), but that's the gist. One of my biggest frustrations, both with myself and with others, is the attitude that being Christian means we are free to do whatever we want because we are forgiven. As Wesley (you know, the Methodist guy) says, Christians are free to sin as much as we want, but being sanctified, which is inseparable from being justified, means that we don't want to sin. Grace is costly. It cost God's life. I'm not saying that we have to earn grace, and neither is Dieter. I'm saying that if we are going to receive the free gift of God's grace into our lives we should live in a way that sets us apart as people who take that gift seriously.
There is a fine line between conforming to the dominant culture and being able to communicate with the dominant culture while remaining clearly different from it. If we flaunt the grace we have received by doing what culture calls normal (you know, sex, drugs, gossip, hate, etc) then we not only fail to live as lights in this world, but we also fall short of the abundant life that God has for us.
Nothing in particular caused this little jaunt down critical lane, just thoughts inspired by my man Dieter. Read the book, or better yet read the Bible (Paul's letters are especially strong on these themes), and take life seriously. I'm talking to myself as much as I am to whoever makes it to the end of this post, and to no one in particular.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
As you may know, I affectionately refer to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, my favorite theologian/ethicist/martyr/pastor/author/German/confessing churchman, as my husband. And he is the subject of this post.
I've been meaning to finish reading his book The Cost of Discipleship ever since I read sections of it for Jerry's Intro to Christian Faith class during my freshman year at Whitworth. It's pretty much the most convicting book ever, full of truth and grace.
Dieter (I don't know if anyone ever actually called him that, but he's my husband so I'm allowed to have a nickname for him) says that the world is full of cheap grace. Preacher's fling grace around so haphazardly that people end up justifying their actions because they know that they are already forgiven. Dieter says that grace should be the point at which one arrives after true repentance and contrition. He says it more eloquently and longwindedly than that (turns out German lends itself to very long sentences), but that's the gist. One of my biggest frustrations, both with myself and with others, is the attitude that being Christian means we are free to do whatever we want because we are forgiven. As Wesley (you know, the Methodist guy) says, Christians are free to sin as much as we want, but being sanctified, which is inseparable from being justified, means that we don't want to sin. Grace is costly. It cost God's life. I'm not saying that we have to earn grace, and neither is Dieter. I'm saying that if we are going to receive the free gift of God's grace into our lives we should live in a way that sets us apart as people who take that gift seriously.
There is a fine line between conforming to the dominant culture and being able to communicate with the dominant culture while remaining clearly different from it. If we flaunt the grace we have received by doing what culture calls normal (you know, sex, drugs, gossip, hate, etc) then we not only fail to live as lights in this world, but we also fall short of the abundant life that God has for us.
Nothing in particular caused this little jaunt down critical lane, just thoughts inspired by my man Dieter. Read the book, or better yet read the Bible (Paul's letters are especially strong on these themes), and take life seriously. I'm talking to myself as much as I am to whoever makes it to the end of this post, and to no one in particular.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Encore, Encore
I guess my performance under anesthesia last November was so good that I just have to reprise my role as ear surgery patient. That's right, for your viewing pleasure, another tympanoplasty is coming your way within the next few months. I'll try to have a camera on hand to document the process, and especially the ginormous head bandage that makes it look as though my brain might fall out of my skull. Sit back and relaxe as I bring you, over the next two months, all the laughter, tears, and expletives a ruptured ear-drum can bring. Again.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Pretty Girls in Pretty Cool Places
Ah, the wonders of the jellyfish.
Ooh, there are mountains here!
Kissy the fishy!
Why does everyone look so relieved/astonished?
The entourage of body slammers.
Pretty pretty princess. I mean bride.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
My Fishy's Getting Baked!
And by baked I don't mean any kind of drug-induced state.
I can't believe it! We used to joke about honeymoon's and she once threatened me with an ugly bridesmaid dress if I didn't stop teasing her about something (probably her freshman year crush). And now it's finally a reality - except for the ugly dress part. I actually like my dress. I realized as I was scrolling through old pictures that most of us who were at Jeni's wedding will also be at Becky's. And Jeni will be there in spirit. How cool that we have great enough friends to drive or fly across the state or the country to be with them on their special days. I'm so excited to see my Fishy walk down the aisle, and it's been so much fun to be there from the very beginning of the relationship. I used to have all the emails she sent me about him from when they first met and she was developing a crush on him, but sadly they were all lost when I didn't check my hotmail while I was in Africa. But that's okay because they have a whole life of memories and emails (or whatever form of communication replaces email) waiting for them.
So those are a few of my thoughts as I get ready to go finish packing then drive to the Philly airport and fly across the country for someone very worth the cost of the ticket.
Let it be know to one and all, I love my Fishy, my roommoo hedgehog, and my beck-beck-beckEEE.
I can't believe it! We used to joke about honeymoon's and she once threatened me with an ugly bridesmaid dress if I didn't stop teasing her about something (probably her freshman year crush). And now it's finally a reality - except for the ugly dress part. I actually like my dress. I realized as I was scrolling through old pictures that most of us who were at Jeni's wedding will also be at Becky's. And Jeni will be there in spirit. How cool that we have great enough friends to drive or fly across the state or the country to be with them on their special days. I'm so excited to see my Fishy walk down the aisle, and it's been so much fun to be there from the very beginning of the relationship. I used to have all the emails she sent me about him from when they first met and she was developing a crush on him, but sadly they were all lost when I didn't check my hotmail while I was in Africa. But that's okay because they have a whole life of memories and emails (or whatever form of communication replaces email) waiting for them.
So those are a few of my thoughts as I get ready to go finish packing then drive to the Philly airport and fly across the country for someone very worth the cost of the ticket.
Let it be know to one and all, I love my Fishy, my roommoo hedgehog, and my beck-beck-beckEEE.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Pictures
I thought y'all (as in those of you who I know read my blog, more so than random people who don't know me in person for and whom this post with mean nothing) might like some of these pictures. I think you can download them off of here, right?
And we get to do it all again, minus a few very important people and plus a few other very important people, next weekend! Wahoo!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
An Aural Fiasco (amended/addended)
Key players, for your reference:
Dr. Farmer: otolaryngologist who performed tympanoplasty (ruptured ear drum fixing surgery) on me last November.
Dr. Kay: Dr. Farmer's associate who I saw before he directed me to Dr. Farmer.
Klais: my insurance company.
The sequence of events:
Call #1, to Princeton Otolaryngology: I need to schedule an appointment with Dr. Farmer, but he is no longer an associate at Dr. Kay's office. Try to schedule with Dr. Kay, but he's booked until August, and I should really follow up with my surgeon anyway.
Call #2, to Dr. Farmer's new office: I can get an appointment next week, but they've never even heard of Klais and the out of pocket fee is almost $300.
Call #3, to Princeton Otolaryngology: Try in vain to get an appointment with Dr. Kay, and they claim to have never heard of Klais either.
Call #4, to Princeton Healthcare Systems for a referal: I tell them I need someone with a background in ear surgery, and they refer me to Dr. Farmer, the only one on their list. By the way, they have also never heard of Klais, even though I got their phone number off my Klais card.
Call #5, to Klais: Get directed to a voice mailbox, then my phone lost reception while I was leaving a message:
Call #6, to Dr. Farmer's office: They give me the name of the only other dr. they know about.
As it stands, I have a tentative appointment with Dr. Farmer, and will undoubtedly jump through numerous ridiculous hoops trying to figure out whether Klais will cover it.
And the moral of the story is don't rupture your eardrum.
I realize not all of you know the sad story, so here's the short version: rupture eardrum probably while swimming on June 11 2005; find out about it in October; many doctor visits; surgery on Tuesday of Thanksgiving week in Princeton (intubation, ear cut off, skin from scalp covers hole in eardrum, ear sewn back on, stay overnight in hospital, cool scar); insurance fiascos, etc, etc. All I need now is for someone with an MD behind their name to put the flashlight thingy in my ear and tell me if everything is normal. Apparently that's just too much to ask.
Dr. Farmer: otolaryngologist who performed tympanoplasty (ruptured ear drum fixing surgery) on me last November.
Dr. Kay: Dr. Farmer's associate who I saw before he directed me to Dr. Farmer.
Klais: my insurance company.
The sequence of events:
Call #1, to Princeton Otolaryngology: I need to schedule an appointment with Dr. Farmer, but he is no longer an associate at Dr. Kay's office. Try to schedule with Dr. Kay, but he's booked until August, and I should really follow up with my surgeon anyway.
Call #2, to Dr. Farmer's new office: I can get an appointment next week, but they've never even heard of Klais and the out of pocket fee is almost $300.
Call #3, to Princeton Otolaryngology: Try in vain to get an appointment with Dr. Kay, and they claim to have never heard of Klais either.
Call #4, to Princeton Healthcare Systems for a referal: I tell them I need someone with a background in ear surgery, and they refer me to Dr. Farmer, the only one on their list. By the way, they have also never heard of Klais, even though I got their phone number off my Klais card.
Call #5, to Klais: Get directed to a voice mailbox, then my phone lost reception while I was leaving a message:
Call #6, to Dr. Farmer's office: They give me the name of the only other dr. they know about.
As it stands, I have a tentative appointment with Dr. Farmer, and will undoubtedly jump through numerous ridiculous hoops trying to figure out whether Klais will cover it.
And the moral of the story is don't rupture your eardrum.
I realize not all of you know the sad story, so here's the short version: rupture eardrum probably while swimming on June 11 2005; find out about it in October; many doctor visits; surgery on Tuesday of Thanksgiving week in Princeton (intubation, ear cut off, skin from scalp covers hole in eardrum, ear sewn back on, stay overnight in hospital, cool scar); insurance fiascos, etc, etc. All I need now is for someone with an MD behind their name to put the flashlight thingy in my ear and tell me if everything is normal. Apparently that's just too much to ask.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Soaring to new casual heights
Yesterday I didn't come in to work. Why, you may ask. Well, because I wanted to spend the entire day in my pajamas then ride my bike to work today (Saturday) when no one would be here so I wouldn't have to change into work clothes. That's right, I'm at the office on a Saturday so that I can wear a t-shirt and workout pants.
The problem with my brillian plan is that it's a 3 mile bike ride from the house to the office, and it's mostly coasting on the way here, which means I'll pretty much be dying on the way back.
Tomorrow the housesitting gig is over and I'll return to . . . well, I don't actually know yet. I can't move into my dorm room until Friday, so I need to find places to sleep in the mean time. Maybe here at the Foundation, or on a friend's floor. It'll work out. I'm looking forward to getting settled in my room. By then I will have been living out of a suitcase for almost 2 months. It's funny how a dresser and closet can become luxuries.
The problem with my brillian plan is that it's a 3 mile bike ride from the house to the office, and it's mostly coasting on the way here, which means I'll pretty much be dying on the way back.
Tomorrow the housesitting gig is over and I'll return to . . . well, I don't actually know yet. I can't move into my dorm room until Friday, so I need to find places to sleep in the mean time. Maybe here at the Foundation, or on a friend's floor. It'll work out. I'm looking forward to getting settled in my room. By then I will have been living out of a suitcase for almost 2 months. It's funny how a dresser and closet can become luxuries.
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