Yellow Shoes

Because I'm expecting Spring to come tip-toeing around the corner any minute, I spent my Christmas money from Grandma and Grandpa today on yellow shoes to go wtih my green dress.



Now, I can hardly think about green dresses without thinking about a million dollars, and so that you can have this illogical association too and we can all have the song stuck in our heads together, go listen to it here

As you can imagine, some people have underdeveloped senses of appreciation for great shoes. I sent the boys a picture. Gregg wanted to know "what good does this do me?" and Brian asked if I slipped into a vat of mustard. Bishop men. seriously--haven't I taught you guys anything!?

February 18th

My cool little brother turned 22 on the 18th, and in honor of the occassion, I thought you'd all like to see him when he had half that many 2s in his age. I remember his second birthday quite clearly, cuz I got him a REALLY cool birthday present...can't remember what it was, but I remember wrapping it with Grandma Bishop and enjoying the very satisfied feeling of knowing he was going to love it.
(Mom and Grandma used to make us cute birthday cakes, but mom didn't like making them, so as soon as we were older we "got" to make our own, which in retrospect looks like a case of parental spin marketing)


who is more enthusiastic that he's having a birthday, me or him?...hard to tell.


Sitting on the porch at Grandma Bishop's house.


Just think, if we had had skis strapped to our feet here...




(Check out mom's sandals. I got some sandals last summer that look a bit like this, and I think of mom every time I wear them...I kinda bought them for that reason, even. I'm my mother's child...Our shoes prove it. But what is going on with my hair in this picture!? What a little ruffian.)





When we were little from time to time we thought we were tired of each other, and on those occasions I would either quote poetry ("I had a little brother, And I took him to my mother, And I said I want another little brother for a change. But she said don't be a bother, So I took him to my father, And I said this little bother of a brother's very strange!") or I'd pick up the telephone and dial the "brother and sister exchange service" and order a sister for immediate delivery.

What was I thinking?!
Happy (now belated) Birthday, Bri! I wouldn't trade you. (And I'm sure Gregg wouldn't either, even if he would try to make you pay him not to.)

pioneer

Janet was over on Friday and we were talking about our "alter egos"--the courageous, can-do "other" side of ourselves that we have to believe in a bit to accomplish certain things. For example, she is learning to drive a standard, and it's somewhat intimidating for her (understandably so!), so she resorts to her alter ego. If you read the Rose is Rose comic strip, you'll know just what I mean. HER alter ego is a rattle-snake chili loving biker girl with a tatoo. If you don't read it, here's some examples plucked from this website)


The snow this week brought out my own alter ego, as it often does. Made me want to bake biscuits and make soup on a woodstove. My alter ego is part pioneer, part Rosie the Riveter, and part fashionista who flies airplanes, of course.
Gregg says "perhaps" he has an alter ego, but "why would I tell you about it?" I think if GREGG even has one, a lot of other sensible people probably do too, and I've been speculating on what various people's alter ego might look like.

When I came up the stairs from the train tonight, there was a whole crowd of people--with drums and tubas, standing in the dark, practicing for fasnacht! I could hear them playing as I walked, and it gave me a terrific case of the grins all the way home. (Feb. 19th-As an ammendment to yesterday's post, I'll add that drums and tubas and about a bazillion little children went marching loudly past my window at 6.30 am today, when I hadn't been asleep but 4 hours and didn't plan to be up for another two. Fasnacht was not nearly as enjoyable from that vantage point...and I'm confused about why we're doing this already! Isn't it next week?)

If at first you don't succeed...toss a fit, make excuses and try, try again.

I think skiing is the scariest thing I've ever tried to do. On a scale of 1 to 10, one being a walk in the park and ten being...bad...I'd give skiing a 12, and that's down from the 15 it would get if it weren't for patient and kind friends. I was thinking about other things I've attempted that were dread-inducing, and skiing makes most of them look fun. Attend college where I don't know anyone? got over that the first day soon as I met some people. The occasional speech, Bill Jolliff literary criticism test, progress report, job review? All manageable. Uncomfortable conversations of various sorts? Soon as you start, they get easier. Rope course training in California? The ledge you have to climb in the Ape Caves? Move to a foreign country where you don't know anyone and can't read anything? All a picnic by comparison.

If it were possible to harness dread as an alternative energy source, it would be a profitable business move to kidnap me and make me go skiing every day.

That said, I hope to go skiing at least once more this year, because confound it! I am going to learn this. And then if I still don't like it, I can quit.

News

School News: My "don't bother me, I'm doing school" line is evidently working, cuz I've hardly had anyone to talk to all week. Kinda depressing, and I'm looking forward to rejoining the world when everything is done. I started dreaming about my papers this week. For example, I dreamed that I was in a study center (with an odd mix of people from George Fox and Basel University, most of them named Sam), and classmates were proof-reading each other's papers already (mine are so not ready to be proofread), and the best part was that in my dream a guy who is in a couple of my classes said "yeah--he said it only has to be 10 pages, double spaced." That's a lot better than 20 pages, double spaced, which is the real assignment. But, I realized I was dreaming when it struck me as odd that this guy isn't in either of the classes I'm writing papers for.

Nanny News: M2 is turning 3 this weekend, so today we took the bus to the next town together to pick out a book for her birthday. She picked one illustrated by the same guy who illustrated The Very Hungry Caterpiller. I couldn't tell if she really had fun or not on our little birthday outing, and she complained about walking (always!), but I overheard her telling her mom about the trip later in much more positive tones.

Social News: I'm going on a retreat this weekend with church folk and I'm pretty excited about it! I like retreats, especially if they don't involve cabins that are over the hill and through a dark path in the woods from the nearest ladies' room. I understand we'll be staying in a very large house. I've been reminicing about Fox retreats at the beach with my RA staff, or the all campus retreats, or even Dilley Church retreats at home. They're always at the beach for some strange reason. Why always go to the beach when you could go play in the woods or go to Mt. Hood? Jessica and I always tried to advocate that we go to the mountain for staff retreat, but we lost to the ocean-enthusiasts every time. This will be a proper mountain retreat! Delayed gratification, or a "dream deferred." (HA! what an excellent tie-in to my literary selection du jour! see below).

Plans-to-conquer-the-world news: In regards to my latest schemes and plans, I'm pleased to announce I get to do some editing for the University of Zurich! Editing is more fun than a kid in a mud puddle. You'll also be pleased to know I submitted my article to the Forest Grove News Times, but the slowpokes haven't so much as raised a curious eyebrow my direction yet.

Running news: Valda is having knee trouble. We can run more than an hour and a half and still feel wonderful (except for the knee), but we don't do it often enough.

Language news: German is dumb.

And that, friends, ist alles.

Ich gang go lehre.