ADVENTure.

6 Dec

The season of Advent + internship project = after church party!

Each intern is required to have a project – some kind of ministry or such that he/she dreams, develops, and carries out.  My project for the year is to create opportunities for families to gather together in church, to talk about faith, and to equip them to carry on the conversations at home. (Impossible for only one person to do – especially a 26 year old with no children herself – but I hope to plant seeds; even the smallest conversation and take-home tidbit can grow in the years to come.)  The season of Advent created opportunity number one for families to gather and together prepare for the birth of Jesus on Christmas day.  

Today after our second service – the second service at which Pastor Kendall announced my upcoming birthday to the entire congregation at the beginning of his sermon and asked me, “So what are you?  19?” – a lunch was served.  The lunch was then followed by a number of activities in which families and all members of Grace were invited to participate.  There were sugar cookies to decorate, a scavenger hunt (which caused a herd of elephants, err, children to tear across the sanctuary), a story teller with costumes, and crafts galore to keep families busy and entertained together.  

gnew gnome.

6 Dec

When I returned from my time at home for Thanksgiving, there was a package waiting … a package with a GNEW GNOME!  Laura from Stillwater sent this little guy to live with me with my other gnome friends.  This friendly gnome also came with a book – The Garden Gnome Book: An Illustrated History – which told me I should give him a good German or Scandinavian name.  I will call him Borg.

The really cool thing about Borg is that he likes to travel.  He came with his own patch of grass and interchangeable backgrounds for his adventures far and wide.  Borg enjoys time in France, as well as the country cottage outside of the city.

From the book, an introduction to gnomes: “In European folklore, gnomes are believed to be household guardians or home spirits for both good and ill.  They are friendly toward humans but also possess a sly charm and whimsy and are fond of practical jokes.  Tradition holds that gnomes protect our precious belongings but are also notorious pranksters.  If mistreated, they are reputed to torment humans with minor, but irritating, mischief like their distant cousins, the gremlins.”

So far, Borg has caused no mischief but I also treat him well, changing his background and arranging the flowers on his grass in different arrangements.  I hope he remains docile and a good companion.  Hopefully he doesn’t invade my dresser drawers and invite chaos into the black and navy pairs of socks.

One of the best things about Borg – he’s purse size.  I expect we will have many adventures together, beginning with a trip to the Cities next weekend, where we will wine and dine at The Happy Gnome, a fancy-smansy restaurant only my friend James would find.  I think Borg will like it there.  He might have a beer.

Smiling’s my favorite.

5 Dec
My tree has been up for a week and finally tonight the ornaments were hung.  I turned on the movie Elf – my favorite Christmas movie – and hung ornaments as he traveled through the seven levels of the candy cane forest, past the sea of swirly, twirly gumdrops, and then walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.  
I brought with me from home many of my favorite ornaments including my cinnamon bear collection and this one.  This ornament is one of my favorites because it was given to me from my parents in 1985.  The description on the box, in my mother’s handwriting, says “Because Ben wasn’t a Katie.”  Apparently he would have been.  If he were a girl.  He wasn’t and thus, as it is a baby girl, the ornament became my gift for the year.  
Putting up a tree of my own is fun – it’s the first year I have done it – but it’s also not so fun.  This is the first year I have put up a tree by myself and the first time there is a tree with only my ornaments on it; there is no competing for branch space with my brothers’ tractors and lunch boxes.  I also realized tonight as I was putting on the ornaments that I won’t be able to share my tree; I am expecting no visitors this month while the tree will be in place.  I will be the only one who technically sees it.  
Though that’s where you come in … here’s a picture of the final tree.  Crappy as the photo may be,  I am sharing it with you.  I hope you enjoy my tree. 
  

garland. (not judy.)

29 Nov
This afternoon I combined two of my most favorite things in my crafting world – paper and my sewing machine – to create garland for my Christmas tree and I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time.  Sewing paper may be a new love of mine.  
Here’s a preview … the final fake tree product is yet to be completed.

home: a brief summary

28 Nov
… I had a wonderful sleepover in St.Paul with my bestest, Sara, on my way home for thanksgiving. We did everything that we love to do together – watch Friends, IKEA walk about, play Carcassone, a bottle of wine, Pride and Prejudice and an extended conversation about office supplies – notably the multi-color packs of Sharpies.
… New Moon! Emma, Aunt Kari, Molly, Kay and I watched vampires and werewolves with their shirts off on Tuesday night. Kay and I cuddled (made easier after breaking the arm rest between us) and rooted strong for Team Jacob!
… an impromptu lunch with friends including the movie Up!, grilled cheese, coffee, and cookies. A perfect chance to catch-up. Timmy’s day-after-Thanksgiving party with trivia was a great time as always. Twenty people a year do this when they see the Goodyear blimp – ________.
… family at Thanksgiving. Well, family and the homeless guy. Two great games of 31 (which I lost), chats, a bake-off, a mini-hike alongside the creek, and yummy food.
… a thanksgiving day bake-off! This year the dessert had to include a vegetable and thus we had a carrot cake, pumpkin cupcakes, and a store-bought chocolate cake with a green pepper turkey on top. After the very technical voting process, the results were a tie between the three – the carrot and pumpkin desserts tied for taste and the cheater cake won for presentation.

… a trip to the playground. After the turkey and stuffing, a bunch of us walked to the elementary school where we had a crazy time running off some food and energy. The sway fun? It was way fun.
… the tiniest little black Friday shopping trip with Emma and Molly. It wasn’t a zoo according to Molly; there were no giraffes.

… family. friends. hugs.
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it was difficult to get in the car this morning at 10 am to make the drive back to Dawson. Part of the difficulty is knowing that the next holiday is one I won’t be home with my family and also not necessarily knowing when I will next be home. Alas, eight hours later, I arrived in Dawson, unpacked, resettled, and I think it will be okay though I miss home a bit already.

one week.

17 Nov

In exactly one week, I will be home in Wisconsin.  Here is what separates me from my four days in Edgerton:

  • A sermon to write and preach this Sunday – twice
  • two Bible studies – leading (1) and participating (1)
  • Thanksgiving meal for 100 seniors to serve with the youth at Grace
  • Friday to Saturday youth gathering chaperone
  • staff meeting/local ELCA pastors meeting
  • family Advent event to plan
  • internship committee meeting
  • confirmation sessions to teach (2) including one on the sixth commandment.  eek.
  • sleepover with Sara, my bestest, in the Cities
  • an eight hour drive.  gross.
I’ll sleep when I get home.

quote of the week

15 Nov
Keith, the custodian at church, is very much a grandpa-like figure. He’s great to chat with, always waves to me when he passes me while he drives school bus in the morning, but the conversations are never too in depth and rarely cross into a personal arena. And his wife, Gail, makes homemade donuts; I have been lucky enough to be the recipient of such delicacies and will be bringing them home next week to share.
Anyways, it’s Tuesday morning and Keith is strolling through the halls of the education wing, pulling his large garbage can behind him, emptying the garbage from the classrooms as he passes. He casually strolls past my office, pauses, and then asks me from the doorway, “So, found any boyfriends yet?” He laughs and then continues on his way as I stumble on my words and – I’m sure – turn red.
Boyfriends. Plural. I guess I have my work cut out for me if I’m to live up to Keith’s expectations for my social life. I’ll get started right away.

wmls part two

15 Nov
What maintains Lindsay’s sanity – part two
#2: my sewing machine
My Kenmore appliance that sits atop my little IKEA table saves me from insanity many weekends. This object that keeps me sane initially cost less than Friends on dvd, though the fabric, thread, and other necessities I have bought since have brought that total expense much higher. Who knew fabric to create a quilt was so expensive? Phew.
The sewing machine keeps me entertained and keeps my hands busy. I find it hard to just sit still. I’ve always known that I like to be crafty but who would have guessed this little hobby of my mother’s – sewing – could be passed on to me. I have always preferred paper to fabric but the winds of change may be blowing. A few quilt squares at night after a day at church and then often a good number more on the weekends – when my social life is non-existent – keeps me busy and out of trouble.
I enjoy turning on a familiar movie and then bouncing back and forth from the rotary cutter to the sewing machine and then to the ironing board; repeat. Typically Lord of the Rings is a favorite to have in the background; fairly certain I watched each of the three extended editions twice while completing my first quilt. I have seen them so many times and enjoy them so much that I know just the right spots to look up and glace at the television; usually just in time to see Aragorn sitting in the dark corner of a pub or guiding his army of dead green men. Aragorn’s my favorite … and perhaps a close contestant for “wmls #3.”

quilt progress.

14 Nov
The quilt continues. Last night I completed twelve squares, bringing the total to 35 thus far. (How’s that for a Friday night? Cutting, sewing, and ironing. Yes. I am 85 years old.) To keep track of the color combinations I have already created, I strung string on my wall so as to easily glance at the completed squares, though I fear I have ran out of string for the twelve I made yesterday.
According to my calculations (which are quite possibly very wrong – we’ll see), I need 18 more squares to have the correct number to create a twin size nine-patch. I bought a deep brown solid for the back of the quilt and still need to determine if I wish to do a single strip of three inch squares around the backside. Perhaps.
I am excited about how the quilt is progressing. Nearly each time I complete a square, I think to myself, “Oo! This is my favorite!” until the next completed square is done and then that one becomes my favorite. I figure this is a good sign that I am enjoying the colors and combinations and hopefully this will transfer to eventually enjoying the quilt as a whole.
Today I pulled out some Tanzanian batik fabric I bought in Iringa last January and think I may include a few squares of that into the quilt. Mungu ibariki Afrika.

Scandinavian Saturday.

14 Nov
It can’t be denied – I’m surrounded by Scandinavians. First of all, it’s Minnesota. Second, there are gnomes in a park on the edge of Dawson. No doubt Norwegians and Swedes are a plenty. Thus begins my Scandinavian Saturday …
First, lefse instruction, rolling practice and eating at church. Margaret, a congregation member, volunteered to teach the art of lefse this morning at church. The same tutorial was given last year and was well received. This year, I gathered with perhaps 15 -20 others of all ages in Grace Hall to learn from the expert. (I, of course, have already had lefse learning from THE expert, Aunt Peggy; Margaret’s tutorial was simply a nice refresher course.)
Then, for my afternoon activities, there was a nordic festival of sorts in nearby Madison. My coworker, Karen (seen above as my lefse partner in crime) invited me along to the craft sales there. We browsed the sales in Madison and then ended up shopping our way back to Dawson. We stopped at Loopy’s dollar store in Madison where I believe some good gag gifts are to be found and then a little boutique here in Dawson. It was a fabulous little afternoon of casual shopping and chatting.
Unfortunately, my Scandinavian Saturday ends with there with the nordic festival and lefse. I have no lutefisk to eat for dinner or Norwegian sweater to wear for the evening. Despite the quick end to the Scandinavian activities, it was a good day. Good Saturday.
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