Heaven and Memoirs and Mango Curry

I don't usually like just talking about what I've been doing lately.  I'm pretty sure people don't care that much.  And if they do care, then I probably see them or talk to them frequently enough for them to know already.  However, lately I've been spending my time reading and cooking, which are wonderful things to share about.  So here you are.

I am reading two very different books right now.  One is Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright.  It's all about what Christians believe about heaven, where they get those ideas, and where our hope actually lies and how we extend it to the world.  I think.  I'm only on chapter 3.  Wonderful stuff.  And, since I'm reading it for a Bible study group, I'm actually going to finish the whole thing without procrastinating too much.

Quote to ponder:
Likewise, the pictures of heaven in the book of Revelation have been much misunderstood....  It is a picture of present reality, the heavenly dimension of our present life.  Heaven, in the Bible, is not a future destiny but the other, hidden, dimension of our ordinary life - God's dimension, if you like.  God made heaven and earth; at the last he will remake both and join them together forever.  And when we come to the picture of the actual end in Revelation 21-22, we find not ransomed souls making their way to a disembodied heaven but rather the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, uniting the two in a lasting embrace.

The other book I've just started is Chapters from My Autobiography by Mark Twain, which is also fascinating but in a much different way.  It's rather rambling and he just shares things as they come to mind.  I love it.  He's rather full of himself.

Quote to enjoy...but probably not ponder...regarding his system of writing:
Howells was here yesterday afternoon, and I told him the whole scheme of this autobiography...  It is a system which follows no charted course and is not going to follow any such course.  It is a system which is a complete and purposed jumble--a course which begins nowhere, follows no specified route, and can never reach an end while I am alive, for the reason that, if I should talk to the stenographer two hours a day for a hundred years, I should still never be able to set down a tenth part of the things which have interested me in my lifetime.
...Howells applauded, and was full of praises and endorsement, which was wise in him and judicious.  If he had manifested a different spirit, I would have thrown him out of the window.

Books are food for my soul, and I don't read nearly enough.

The latest food for my stomach was coconut rice and a rather improvised mango curry.  It tastes pretty good, although it's definitely not anything resembling an authentic recipe from anywhere.

Refreshment

I love living in a city where I can walk to a park bordering a forest and feel like I'm not even in the city - especially when it's +10C in January!  Yesterday I walked to Bowness Park and up the pathways behind it, and it was gorgeous!  The sun shone through the trees, making them sparkle.  Elderly couples were strolling in the park with their canes.  Parents were teaching their kids to skate on the lagoon.  The air smelled like pine trees.  And all I needed was a light coat.  Perfection.

Focus

The photo of the day is "Eyes."  I feel like my blog has been excessively fluffy lately, but all of the analogies I thought of with eyes were really cheesy.  

While this one is cheesy, too, I'm going to talk about it anyway.

I started thinking about where my eyes have been focused, and to be honest, they're usually on myself - what do I want from life, what is making me happy/unhappy, how can I sleep better, who do I want to spend time with, etc...  It's not bad to be conscious of myself and where I'm at in life, but it's a pretty narrow focus if that's all I'm thinking about.

I didn't have any profound ways to change the world.  10:00 is kind of when my brain shuts down most days (my brain must know that it's almost 30 ;) but I did start thinking of my sisters and their babies' ever-approaching entries into the world.  There's not a lot I can do to help them out before the babies are here, but I am a decent crocheter, so I decided to work on a couple baby hats that I started a while ago.  (They're pretty cute, if I say so myself, and I'm happy to help make the babies cute)

So, these eyes:

focused on this project:

And it's turning out quite nicely.

13 Things...sort of

So, the photo o' the day is supposed to be me with 13 things.  (OK, it was supposed to happen about a week and a half ago, but I don't think anyone really minds)

I didn't feel like taking a self-portrait, so I'm cheating a lot.  Here is my sister and me painting her new house.

On the weekend, we painted for hours!  It was a lot of work, and I didn't enjoy every minute of it, but it looks really good.  (Amendment: I don't mean to say I hated it...most minutes were enjoyable; it was just a little much by the end)

Here are the 13 things.  Well...only 10.  I made soup and I had hoped there were 13 ingredients, but when I wrote it down, there were only 10.

one butternut squash

about four potatoes

one onion

three or four cloves of garlic

one pear

three cups of chicken stock

curry powder

ginger

salt

pepper

I'm not a big cook.  I don't mind cooking, but usually the drudgery of clean-up seems to outweigh the joy of eating, especially when I'm cooking for one.  Soup, however, is something I enjoy making and make well.  After a weekend of painting, I hadn't made food in a while, and it seemed like it was time.  So, this pot is going to work to be shared, and it will be delicious.

Winter Woes

Last week was beautiful.  It was warm and there was no snow and the sunrises were beautiful every day...  Oh, the glory days!  

Now it is freezing.  So, so, so, so, so cold.  Most of the time when my students complain about the weather I kind of roll my eyes, but I think this complaining is justified.  It has been in the low -20s (plus windchill putting it closer to -40) for a couple days now, and it's not supposed to end (or at least take a break) until Saturday.  Brrrrr.  Hello, winter :(

I remember when I was in Ukraine, it got to about -15, and my friends there would complain.  When they heard how cold it was in Canada, they would say, "Amy is the strong one."  It made me chuckle.

Number

One of my co-workers turned 30 today.  A bunch of my friends are turning 30 this year, and my turn comes this April.  I don't usually care about my age, but 30 somehow seems like a big one...maybe because I really don't feel 30.  I don't think I ever really got used to 29, actually.  I always have to stop and think of how old I actually am.  I realized today that some people may prefer to keep their age a secret, not because they're ashamed of how old they are, but because the number doesn't really match how they feel or think of themselves.  

THIRTY had some expectations in my mind that I didn't notice were there until I realized that they wouldn't be met by the time I was thirty.  

But, it's coming whether I'm ready for it or not.

The photo of the day is "something blue."  A little time on a beach would sure be a nice birthday gift...

Childhood Memories

Today's pic o' the day is a childhood memory...and I have two to share.

This is probably my earliest memory.  My dad was teaching us how to blow bubbles.  He just used a cup of soapy water and twist ties formed into bubble blowers.  

This memory is clearer since I was a little older.  My sister and I went to the Storyland Valley Zoo (Edmonton) with my cousins.  There weren't enough animals for all of us, so I had to share and I was really upset because I felt like Kelli kept hogging the bunny and all I got was the bum.  There was a bit of a power struggle going on.  And yet, the picture turned out so cute!