Bubble, bubble

We have a new saying thanks to Nate. When asked what grade I taught last weekend, I said, "Fifth."

"That's right before they turn evil," Nate chimed in.

"No, they've always been depraved," I countered.

"All right, it's right before the evil bubbles to the surface," Nate said.

That's a good way to put it. It's my new thing to say both as I deal with children, and as I deal with my own evil bubbling to the surface. That part is no fun, and I am trying to teach my students (as my husband, church, and most of all God's Word is teaching me) that there must be repentance when that evil starts a bubblin'.

So, the next time someone says that children are innocent (obviously they haven't been around any!) you can counter that they the children's evil just hasn't bubbled to the surface when they've been around.

Wedding weekend

My husband has already written quite a post on the weekend. I would recommend reading his. I will list some of the highlights here, though.

• Getting to see Kortnie and Kelly married. Yay!!! (Obviously)
• Getting to see my friends and family (hopefully we will have a chance to converse next time we visit!)
• Coming up with last minute decorations using duct tape, plastic table coverings, and ribbon (staples, sticks, etc. :) --Candice and I are starting our own Trading Spaces Wedding Decor in less than 24 hours on a $20 budget!)
• Spending so much time with my husband and having good conversations with him.
• The bachelorette party--Butch's Beach Burritos, yummy desserts, prayer and reading from the Word, lots of laughter, "Oh, you got our dish towels"..."No, Kort, those aren't for doing dishes!" :)
• Making morning Wal-mart (ewwww) runs and coffee runs.

That's all I can think of right now. But really, Nate has a great post. You should read it.

Interesting articles

On infertility

On the birth control pill, its history

Both written by a woman named Barbara Seaman, who alerted the world to the dangers of the birth control pill and hormone replacement therapy four decades ago. Granted, the pill has undergone many changes since then, but as she says in the second article:

"even as the Pill gets safer, some troubling questions remain. The jury, in my opinion, is still out on the relationship of the Pill to breast cancer, infertility and high blood pressure, and we are only beginning to learn about some of its toxic interactions with other common drugs, like some antidepressants.

Then too there are always uncertainties about newer products, like the third-generation progestins (desogestrel is one example), which may be raising the risk of blood clots, according to reports from Europe and New Zealand. Even at the very lowest doses, any hormonal contraceptive is, in some sense, tampering with nature, and is bound to cause some . . . dislocations."

I think they are worth the read. I am especially concerned with both of them because of my friends, most of whom are on the pill, and some of whom have used infertility drugs. Also, the article turned me off to the pill even more (I am quite turned off as it is) when I found out that it was the brain child of Margaret Sanger, who has said such things as "The most merciful thing a large family does to one of its young members is to kill it." According to Planned Parenthood (another one of my not favorite things), which she founded, she was saying this ironically about the death rate of children in the 1920s. What kind of an ironic statement is that?! Anyway, my point is, something that was the brain child of Sanger is definitely something I want to stay away from.

I hope you give the articles a quick read. They aren't too long, and it's good to be aware. Also, for those who care, the author of them is not a Christian. In some ways, though, it helps to have someone outside of the church say something negative about these things. Her worries pertain mostly to the danger to a woman's health.

The big day...times two

Big day numero uno: Tomorrow is the first day of school. Yes, my new fifth graders arrive bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 7:50 am to experience the wonderfulness that is my classroom. :) I'm much more pleased with the way I have set up my room this year, and I feel more relaxed now that I've been through my first year. My constant prayer is that I may have the wisdom to teach these kids well and that I honor God in how I treat and teach my students.

Big day numero dos: Next Saturday the 21st. The wedding of the future Mr. and Mrs. Kelly Karp approaches quickly. We leave for Michigan in one week. Hurrah!! Celebration, thanksgiving, friends, food, laughter, worship, and cooler weather (I hope!).

A sad, sad day

Obviously I'm being facetious, since there are much sadder things than this. However...

On Friday Nate tried to turn on our box fan. It emitted a flash from somewhere around the motor and would not start. :( We have yet to buy another box fan and are using a stand fan in its place for the time being.

P.F. Changs

Nate and I went out to eat last night at P.F. Changs--one of my students had given me an end of the year gift certificate there. I am quite spoiled. We began the meal with Crab Wontons. The rest of the meal was served family style, meaning you just take what you want from all the dishes on the table. We ordered Lemon Pepper Shrimp and Chang's Spicy Chicken. By halfway through the meal, my nose was running, my mouth was burning, and I had drunk three or four glasses of water. Fortunately, our waitress stopped by and reminded me to use the white wine vinegar to neutralize the spiciness. That did work to my amazement.

The Great Wall of Chocolate ended the meal--a six layer chocolate cake with semi-sweet chocolate frosting and surrounded by rasberry sauce. Yeah, I don't know what possessed me to get it for us, except for the fact that it was entirely made of CHOCOLATE! A little regretfulness followed eating it, which I successfully ignored since I had eaten very well all day.

It was a nice evening. We are very thankful for the generosity of my students, since it allows us to have these nice dinners out every once in awhile, which wouldn't normally happen on a grad student and Christian school teacher salary. Not that we are in any way in want or need--God has provided more than sufficiently for us--but we just wouldn't be able to justify spending that much for a meal if it wasn't our anniversary or a gift.

Ew, ew, ew

Nate killed a cockroach for me last night. Yuck. I can't stand having them inside our apartment. We've only had three in the last year, but that is enough for me. Fortunately, they are all the larger wood roach kind that come alone instead of in an infestation.

Ugh.