the gift of Gab

OK, this is really more of an electronics lesson, but also a PSA.

Do not plug a 110V surge protector into a 220V outlet.

It explodes.

Everything else attached to that outlet shuts down and the fuse requires replacing.

Posted by Gabi at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ruthie Sampson died on Sunday, November 16 after a massive stroke. Everyone was shocked. She was only 54. She was a dear friend of our family and Ruthie and my mother were especially close.

Ruthie lived a kind and generous life. She was a powerhouse in her community.

I was just a teenager when I first met Ruthie. She always treated me kindly and made me feel important. Over the years I saw in her a passion that drove her to work tirelessly for her family and her culture. She was truly a woman of Proverbs 31.

When her daughter Mildred was in my 7th grade class at Kotzebue Middle School, all of the students were required to get a parent's signature in their assignment books each night. I could always count on Ruthie to have signed it. Often times, she would write me an encouraging note or even a joke that would make me laugh out loud!

More recently, Ruthie had been following my journey to become a career missionary in Zambia, Africa. Imagine my surprise and delight when she made a commitment a few weeks ago to become a monthly financial supporter. I was deeply moved by her generosity.

Praise God for Ruthie's strong faith in our Lord Jesus. Even though the pain of her loss is all too real, it is comforting to know we will see her again when we too are promoted to Glory.

While it is difficult to imagine a world without Ruthie in it, I know all our lives are richer for having had a moment with her.

Posted by Gabi at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fall has officially come in the Northern Hemisphere. The leaves are turning shades of red and gold. There's a crispness in the air. Coolness refreshes the skin. Aaahh....

But wait. Here in Southern Arizona, it simply means that we have moved from the high-nineties into the mid-nineties. And the rains have pretty much stopped.

Oh, I am looking forward to October when the temperatures dip down into the 80s. ;~D

Posted by Gabi at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

God has blessed my church with a tremendous amount of musical talent. Our interim music minister, Dustin Jones, plays guitar. And I'm not talking about youth group guitar. Check him out below.

To find more of his videos do go to YouTube and do a search for dustinjonesguitar.

Posted by Gabi at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mom, Dad and I got to spend an entire week at the Sea of Cortez at Rocky Point in Northern Mexico. What a blessing!! Sitting in the sun, soaking up the warmth, and playing in the water. It would have been great if my brother Michael could have come along, but he had to work and couldn't take the time off.

The water in the sea was so warm. Just like bathwater. Mmm Fun! Most of the time we read, watched the Olympics, talked, and generally had a good time. Our last full day there was by far the best though!

Mom and I sat in the surf and let it lap up over us. We'd actually been doing that all week. But we'd only do it for a little while. The last day, I decided to lay down in the surf. I couldn't believe how amazing that felt. Clear blue sky, and the bright sun beating down on me while the surf kept me cool. Wow!

Mom and I ended up laying there all day talking and following the tide in and out. We only took a short break for lunch. Of course, we ended up paying for it with some pretty massive sunburns! But it's a price I'd gladly pay again. :~D

Posted by Gabi at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been a year since my total thyroidectomy. I thought I'd show you a picture of my scar. Can you see it? Most people don't even notice it anymore.

Look down below for the marked version. My doctors are really pleased with the way it's healed.

So is my vanity. ;~)

Posted by Gabi at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Watch American presidents "sing" a rock 'n' roll version of our national anthem.

Posted by Gabi at 6:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My house is back on the market. On Monday afternoon, my realtor put it back on the multiple listing site. He told me that in this market we should expect 1-2 visits per week. And 3-4 would be extremely good. So far this week, we've had 5!!!

We're doing a short sale which means that I'm trying to sell it for less than what's owed to the bank. Two years ago when I refinanced my house, properties were selling for about $70-80K more than what they are selling for today. So now, I'm upside down on my mortgate. Boo hiss. That mean that once we have an offer, we have to wait for my bank to approve it.

So keep praying for the right buyer and bank approval. I'm guardedly optimistic that we'll have something to work with soon. :-D

Posted by Gabi at 8:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Wow! A real vacation! And a family vacation at that!! It's been years since all four of us got to go anywhere together. Mom, Dad, and Michael left on Sunday. I joined them on Tuesday night and we all came back on the following Sunday. We went to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico. It's only a 4 or 5 hour drive from Tucson.

We had a wonderful time relaxing, reading, playing board games, talking, and generally having a good time. It wasn't really beach vacation weather (high 50s and low 60s everyday), but there was qutie a bit of sun shine, and it was a fantastic change of scenery.

On the way home, we stopped for lunch at the Hiway 86 Cafe in Why, Arizona. Really! Why! Most of the tables were of the folding variety. The menu was kind of limited, but good. And the cook was packing heat. Why not in Why? Seriously, had a hand gun strapped to his side. Made me wonder what was in the kitchen that might need immediate dispatching. But I did feel better that he didn't need to use it while we were there.

I'm looking forward to the next family vacation at the end of June 2008.

Posted by Gabi at 9:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can't believe it's already November. My birthday is next week and I had such great plans to be in Africa by then. Obviously, I'm still here. And I'm tired. My soul is tired.

I'm tired of keeping my house up so people can come look at it. Tired of making the bed every day. Tired of making sure there are no dishes in the sink. Tired of keeping the house tidy. It's been almost 3 weeks since anyone has looked, but "You never know!"

I am exhausted from living in this constant state of limbo. Never really able to make plans, desperately wanting to take a real vacation. Tired of being anxious and uncertain.

I am tired of being alone in my support raising. Not being able to share the load on a daily basis. Not being able to share the joys. I am tired of not really knowing what I'm doing in raising support. God seems to bring in a lot more when I just get out of the way.

Continue reading "Tired" »

Posted by Gabi at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yay for my brother!! The comments are back! So chatter away. :-)

Posted by Gabi at 8:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The picture uploader and comment taker seem to be broken at the moment. :-( My brother is working on it. I'll let you know when they're back.

In the mean time, if you really want to tell me something about one of my entries, just drop me an e-mail. :-)

Posted by Gabi at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fall is officially here. And here in the desert of southern Arizona, I can tell. I can tell because for two days now I have had to turn off the fan in the middle of the night and actually pull on a sheet to keep "warm." Another way I can tell is that the temperatures have dropped to a bone-chilling 95 degrees during the day.

Aaaaah!

Posted by Gabi at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not a lot of people have asked about the scar. It's actually not that visible. But I have used a few of these - especially the "horrible boomerang accident" story! People just look at me kind of funny and then it slowly dawns on them that I'm pulling their legs. It's really quite fun!! ;-)

There's actually 12 stories here. Feel free to add more.

1. Tattoo gone horribly wrong
2. Hot date. Guy gave me such a hicky, I had to get stiches
3. Catching arrows with friend. The arrow slipped out of my hand.
4. Bar fight - you should see the other guy
5. Fending off terrorists in the Middle East
6. My hairdresser slipped with the scissors
7. Running with the bulls in Pamplona
8. Attacked by an angry Rhino
9. Boomerang accident **
10. Attacked by a javelina
11. Protecting a small child from a tiger in Bengal
12. Marauding pirates in mid-town.

** My current favorite!

Posted by Gabi at 8:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On August 10, 2007, I had my giblets removed, also known as a total thyroidectomy. It's taken me a little while to get this onto the blog. But quick summary is that it all went well and I'm recovering nicely!

On that Friday morning, Mom and Dad picked me up at home and drove me to the hospital. After signing in, we were handed a light-up coaster ~ the kind you would get at a very busy restaurant!! Turned out to be pretty handy. They used it to call me up to register. Then when it was time for me to get prepped, they gave the coaster to my parents so that they would know when everything was done. I kept waiting for the waitress to bring me my drink with an umbrella. She never did show up. Hmm.

After chatting with the doctor and his assisting doctor, and getting an IV plugged into my hand, the anesthesiologiest came in to bring me my cocktail. I had been told that I would begin to get drowsy and that in the operating room, they would ask me to get onto the operating table. Then she squirted in the juice.

I said goodbye to Mom and Dad and they started rolling me out of the pre-op room. Then I woke up in recovery. I don't even remember making it out of my little pre-op room!! Click on the picture below to see all the pics from recovery.

Thyroidectomy

Continue reading "Giblet Removal" »

Posted by Gabi at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Thanks to Jerry at WorldVenture for this giggle. After reading about my upcoming surgery and concerns he sent me this joke.

Man to doctor: "So doc, will I be able to sing after the operation?"

Doctor: "Oh, sure."

Man: "That's fantastic, because I can't sing worth beans now!"

Posted by Gabi at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Even though I'm not sure how soon I'll be leaving, I have started going through my things to decide what goes and what stays. Books are one of the hardest areas to weed through. And I've got a lot. I don't plan on throwing them away, but I will need to give away/sell most of them.

So I got to thinking about why it's so hard to get rid of books. I've read most of the books on my shelves. Chances are good that I won't read most of them again - even though I found many of the books enjoyable. So why is it so hard? I have no trouble putting knicknacks, clothes, CDs and other things into the yard sale boxes. But books? I have a very hard time letting them go.

Tonight I had dinner at the home of a friend. We were talking with her 14-year-old daughter about several of the books I read in literature classes in graduate school. I remembered how much pleasure I had gotten from the stories - using my imagination to be transported into the worlds created by gifted story tellers.

It dawned on me then that giving up books is like giving up old friends. I got so wrapped up in the lives of the characters and felt like I knew them well. And even though I may never read those particular books again I keep them on the shelf because they are my old friends. I don't want to say goodbye unless I have to. So I'll be sure that when the time comes, each of my "friends" will go to a good home. ;-)

Posted by Gabi at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend, I had a delightful opportunity to stay at the Westward Look Resort with my friend Martha here in Tucson. I had been wanting a mini-vacation, so this worked out well.

Martha has a friend who was registered to attend a conference at the resort. She specifically told them that she would not be needing a room there since she wanted to sleep at home to be able to take care of her two children. However, her school district instisted on getting her the room anyway. When Martha heard this, she offered to take care of Stacie's 9-year-old son during the day, while the baby went to the baby-sitter's hosue. Martha figured they would play in the swimming pool or go into town to do some fun things like bowling, movies, etc.

Being the wonderful and generous friend that Martha is, she allowed me to come stay with her on Sunday night. We (Stacie) checked in on Sunday afternoon and we all took advantage of the pool at that time. In the evening we had dinner overlooking the main pool. Afterward we sat on a bench with a great view of the city. A monsoon storm was rolling through Tucson. Though it never came all the way up to the resort, we were able to watch the lightning skim across the sky!! What a show God put on for us!!!!

Continue reading "Feeling Crispy" »

Posted by Gabi at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When it's a thousand degrees outside - remember to turn on the swamp cooler before leaving for work.

Tonight when I got home from work, I realized that I had turned off the AC this morning with the intention of turning on the cheaper evaporative cooler. However, I forgot that part on my way out the door. So it was a balmy 89 degrees in the house. The evap is running on high and I think it's down to 80 degrees now.

I'm just considering it practice for Africa! "Help me, I'm meeeelting!!!"

Posted by Gabi at 9:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have you voted for your pick in the New Seven Wonders of The World?

It's quite interesting to see which wonders have been put up for selection. I think you'll like it. Follow the link.

Posted by Gabi at 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So the hiatus is officially over and I am back online. So I'll try to keep this brief, but bring you up to date.

The "Half and Half" party on April 16 was fantastic! About 30 people showed up to help me celebrate the 18th anniversary of my American naturalization. The kids (and adults acting like kids) really enjoyed the silly games we played and the food and conversation was wonderful!! Thanks everyone for making it such a delightful day!

Within two days after finding out that my computer was unrepairable, I had a new laptop. God provided a magnificent computer for far less money than I had expected to pay. As soon as Windows Vista has all the quirks worked out of it, it'll be a dream. ;-)

The house is still for sale. Weeds and all. I've had quite a few people come by to look at it. They all love the way I've decorated, but no offers yet.

Support level is at 25%! Yay God!!!!

Ok, that's it for now. More to come soon. :-)

Posted by Gabi at 9:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The official word on the computer is that it is dead. I didn't catch much afer I heard "unrepairable", but it has something to do with a connection to the motherboard.

It had a good long life, as far as laptops are concerned. I think it was five or six years old.

So my weekend plans now include buying a new laptop. Whee!

Posted by Gabi at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My personal computer has been broken since Easter. :-(

Hoping to get it back this week.

Posted by Gabi at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So last year around this time, I talked about being an American citizen. This year (on April 14 to be exact) I will have been a US citizen for 18 years. Literally, half of my life. Half my life German. Half my life American.

So in honor of the event, I'm having a Half & Half Party. A big blow-out party!! On April 14, 2007, we'll have the All-American hamburgers, hotdogs, and rootbeer floats. Of course, We'll also have sauerkraut, German potato salad and Black Forest cake.

Everyone I know is invited to come! I think it would be very fun if everyone who came wore or brought something representing some form of half and half.

Oh yeah, bring something a small snack and/or drinks to share with others.

Just let me know if you're going to be here! Can't wait!! :-)

Posted by Gabi at 9:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Here's a kid to keep an eye out for. For an 11-year-old, he's quite a gifted musician and entertainer. I'm sure we'll be seeing Mojo Myles CDs out in the not-so-distant future. I'll bet he wins all the school talent shows. Can't wait to hear more from him.

Posted by Gabi at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Stink! My "cop insurance" must have run out. I got pulled over for speeding in a contruction zone! Grrrr.

I made a left-hand turn onto a road that has been undergoing contruction for many months. Since it is an uphill drive, it's only natural to step in the gas to get up the hill. (Wouldn't ya think?) Unfortunately, I accelarated too much. Grrrr.

Thankfully, in Arizona, I can take a defensive driving class which keeps me from having to pay the fine and from getting the ticket put on my driving record. Whew! I'll be taking the class soon. i can't wait. Grrrr.

* "cop insurance" = TPOA (Tucson Police Officers Association) decal on the bumper of my car. My boss makes a contribution to TPOA and we all get a decal. My boss' theory is that the cops will go easier on us if we ever get pulled over...I have no idea if that is true. ;-)

Posted by Gabi at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's Valentine's Day and I broke with tradition. I did not wear all black like I normally do. I must have forgotten what day it was. I wore a blue shirt instead.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Posted by Gabi at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I've had a bit of trouble lateley seeing the glass as half full. Today I received this little story from my mother. How very appropriate. :-)

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

"Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.

"H-M-M, " she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today." So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "Today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.

"YAY!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Posted by Gabi at 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On Thursday my friend Tony and I went to see The Nativity Story. It was really well done and quite accurate with the exception of the Wise Men. In the movie, they showed up on the night of the birth. That made Harod's order to kill all boys under the age of two seem rather illogical. Over all though, it was historically and Biblically accurate (not a blond-haired/blue-eyed person in sight).

I especially enjoyed the very real emotions that came through. Some of the things we don't think about all that often are the fears and difficulties that both Mary and Joseph, as well as their families, had to deal with. For example, trying to explain to your fiancee that the child you are carrying is that of the Holy Spirit can't be so easy. And what about the looks and the gossip of the rest of the community? For the rest of their lives they were known as that couple that had the child out of wedlock and looked down on because of it. Knowing that you are carrying the Messiah for your people and all mankind would also be overwhelming and not so stress-free. All of those emotions, and many more, came through very authentically in the movie.

The most interesting thing to me was the credits. Not because of who was listed there, but because of the audience reaction.

Normally, when the credits start rolling, everyone in the theater gets up and starts heading toward the door. However, during these credits everyone was silent (even the couple behind us who had been having a coversation at full volume throughout the whole movie) and no one got up to move.

I'm not entirely sure why that happened. Maybe it was because the story seemed so much more human. Maybe it was because we really thought about the fears and struggles. But my hope is it has to do with the power of the true story of Christ's birth.

Posted by Gabi at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So I had a relapse into insanity tonight. Must have been the plate of crazy I had for dinner. I went out with the girls, then decided I needed to go to Wal-Mart for some more Christmas cards.

Now, I'm not a big fan of Wal-Mart, especially not a week before Christmas, however, they do have ganga deals on boxed cards. I figured that since I had already fought the parking lot traffic and found a spot only a mile and a half from the front door, I might as well buy a few other things.

I roamed around picking up what I needed. Rolled over a few stray shoes in the shoe department. Only got my cart knocked around a few times. Then I got into the "speedy checkout" line.

At Wal-Mart, the speedy checkout is a bit of an oxymoron. You're allowed to bring up to 20 items through that line. That already fills up most of the conveyor belt. To top it off, the girl running that cash register was anything but speedy. She carefully examined, then scanned each item. I was 4th or 5th in line, and it took me no less than 30 mintues to make it through the express lane!!!

I love Christmas for the gift of God's son and the promise of salvation. But I can't stand the retail craziness.

I can't wait for January!

Posted by Gabi at 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My brother Carsten Michael is being ordained on Sunday. It's very exciting. Our whole family has been waiting for this for quite some time. So I'm headed out to LA for the ordination service. Mom and Dad will be there too.

Michael is being ordained in the Charismatic Episcopal Church as a Deacon. When he's a priest, he'll still be my brother. So what will I call him?

I suppose it will have to be Father Li'l Bro. But for now, he'll be The Reverend Deacon Li'l Bro.

Posted by Gabi at 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Blog silence has been broken!

I’ve been back from Africa for nearly four weeks and have been unable to get back onto the blog. The side effects of the malaria medicne made me so sick that I stopped taking it three weeks early. I am just now starting to really recover from that. Between that and trying to get caught up at work and with my classes. Some things have just fallen by the wayside.

With that said: I’m back! Off we go! Wheeeee!

Posted by Gabi at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

God has led me to put my house up for sale, specifically before my trip to Africa in 2 weeks!! So I have been spending a lot of time doing little jobs around the house to make it look fresher more "sellable." (hence, no blog entries.)

Last Saturday, I was blessed in the most marvelous way!! Eight adults and five children (most of them from my church) came to my house to help me with the many odd jobs. My brother even drove over from Los Angeles to help! Together we were able to get so much done - changing out sinks and faucets, updating light fixtures, pulling weeds, painting the kitches cupboards and more. At the end of the day, I was exhausted, but elated. I have just a few little jobs to finish up (painting door jambs and cleaning up the "junk room" and things like that), but I can certainly see the light at the end of the tunnel. Praise God for such marvelous people to come and help me!!!

Continue reading "House for Sale" »

Posted by Gabi at 12:21 PM | Permalink

A terrible thing has happened. I have lost my Bible!!!!

Now, I am no expert in all things missionary. However, I'm pretty sure this is not good. And, in gereneral, this sort of thing is frowned upon! Oh dear.

Thankfully, I've got my back-up Bible. But the one I lost is the New Living Translation, which is my personal favorite. I've already done tons of highlighting and writing in the margins - you know, all the good stuff.

I'm not quite sure how a missionary wanna-be loses her Bible. Oh, woe is me! The last time I remember seeing it was at Bible Study Fellowship last week. I've been looking for it ever since. I was quite hopeful that I would find it at BSF last night, but to no avail.

Maybe someone who needed that specific Bible more than I has it now. I'll keep using my back-up Bible.

Posted by Gabi at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This morning I took Mr. Weed Whacker out into the front yard to play. We ended up getting into a fight.

I lost.

It wasn't really a fair fight though. I was betrayed.

I had just finished lovingly taping up open wounds on the extension cord. Parts of its wire were exposed and, I believed, a bit dangerous. And I didn't want those exposed wounds to get worse. (Hm, you'd think that would be appreciated.)

At first things were going well. I was merrily whacking weeds away: from the drive way, from my new walkway, from the mail box. But when I got to the main part of the yard, I guess, the Mr. W. didn't want to play anymore. He started kicking up rocks! First around my feet and ankles. Then I felt one on my gut. Definitely not a way to win friends and influence people!!

Oh, I was getting mad! The gloves were off now! I was NOT going to let that little guy keep my from cutting down the weeds in my front yard.

Then suddenly, there it was! The ultimate betrayal!!! A rock to the face. THWACK! Darn Mr. W. even drew blood. OK, hold everything...had to go get a band-aid for my face. Then it was right back out to the yard.

Oh yeah. Mr. Weed Whacker may have won that battle, but he will NOT win the war!!! Bring it on, baby!!

Posted by Gabi at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ok, I got this from a friend recently and it made me giggle.

Many of us "Old Folks" (those over 50, WAY over 50, or hovering near 50 - and even some of us hovering near 40) are quite confused about how we should present ourselves. We are unsure about the kind of image we are projecting and whether or not we are correct as we try to conform to current fashions. Despite what you may have seen on the streets, the following combinations DO NOT go together and should be avoided:

1. A nose ring and bifocals
2. Spiked hair and bald spots
3. A pierced tongue and dentures

Continue reading "Senior Dress Code" »

Posted by Gabi at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So here's a little funny for your Friday viewing pleasure. :-)

Silly boys doing the Crazy Frog Dance by Axel F

Posted by Gabi at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yay!! Mom and Dad are back in town!!

They've been away for six months. Two trips to Western Africa bookending a partner development trip to Germany, where they also got to visit with a lot of our friends and relatives. Mom and Dad participate in workshops wherein they teach translation skills and strategies to nationals. This allows multiple Bible translation projects to take place at once.

I usually get to see my parents at least once a week (they live about 30 minutes away from my house) and talk to them on the phone multiple times each week. So six months was quite a long time. I suppose it's good practice for when I leave for the field.

Of course when they got in, they were exhausted. They'd been up for about 27 hours at that point!!! So a bunch of hugs and a few stories later, I headed back home so they could go to sleep. I plan on spending most of the day with them today.

Yay!! I'm so happy that they are home again! :-D

Posted by Gabi at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I got an e-mail from Mom today. She and Dad are still in Nigeria. Mom said she was offered locusts and honey. And she ate them! Way to go, Mom!!!!

She said she was feeling a bit like John the Baptizer and, "They're not so bad if you don't look at them."

Oh, Dear Lord, I know I'm looking forward to living in Africa. But if there's any way to avoid it, I'd like to not have to eat bugs - of any sort - pleeeease!!!

You all just wait and see...that'll be my cue to eat toasted termites.

Posted by Gabi at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I live in a convection oven!

Today it was officially 105 degrees here in the Old Pueblo. Couple that with the 4% humidity and the wind, I could have been cooked in under thirty minutes!!

I am absolutely looking forward to going Colorado (for World Venture interviews and training), if for no other reason than to cool off in the 80 degree temps.

I've also been looking up average temperatures for Lusaka, Zambia. Turns out the average high is between 70 and 85 degrees fahrenheit. Gotta love that!!

Posted by Gabi at 8:32 PM | Permalink

Tonight, as I was driving to meet some friends for dinner, I was listening to NPR. Every night, they do a variety of jazz shows.

Featured tonight were songs that were used in early Warner Brothers cartoons. The one I heard was a very lively and amusing number called "Dinner Music for Cannibals."

That, of course, reminded me of the old joke: How do cannibals celebrate birthdays?

Continue reading "Cartoon Music" »

Posted by Gabi at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Carsten Michael is my favorite brother. Ok, he's my only brother (only sibling for that matter), and I think he's pretty darn cool.

Michael is quite talented when it comes to computers and such. This past week Carsten created a new template for me to use for my prayer/news letters. He created a listserv so that people can add/remove themselves from this list. I like that feature. It provides people the opportunity to unsubscribe if they wish, without the awkwardness of having to ask the letter sender to do it. :-)

Additionally, Carsten made some updates to my blog site. You'll notice on the right hand side of the page, that he has updated a number of the links, added some more blogs of note, and moved all of those links up towards the top of the page. From here you can now access links to Flying Mission and World Venture. You can also access the link to subscribe yourself to my prayer/newsletter.

I'm currently accepting suggestions for name changes to the letter(s). If you have any ideas, please feel free to post them here or e-mail me with your suggestions.

Posted by Gabi at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

It turns out a nickel's not worth the same. Maybe that explains why I never carry cash. Hm.

Check out this story.

Posted by Gabi at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Posted by Gabi at 5:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Yes, I know all talk of income tax returns should be behind us.

However, my returns were rejected. Convenient for the IRS since I was supposed to get a nice chunk of change returned to me.

It turns out I transposed two numbers on my employer's EIN number. So I've fixed it and am no longer a law-breaking rebel.

Hopefully, I'll get the money into my account soon. :-)

Posted by Gabi at 12:06 PM | Permalink

So tonight I got my hair done. Ladies, we should really look into that. Having something done always takes a lot of time, effort, and money! I don't think that's sunk in for us yet. Ask a man if he got his hair done, and he'll say, "Yep, I got it cut," never done.

I had just spent 10 minutes discussing with the hair dresser what I wanted my hair to look like and do in the end. It seems that conversation is usually an excersice of fantasy and fiction. As I was sitting in the chair, getting the aluminum foils put in my hair, a man sat down in the next chair.

Continue reading "Beam me up, Scottie" »

Posted by Gabi at 8:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We recently had a wind storm here. I've discovered that my fence blew over. The wind was strong, my fence wasn't. Now people can see into my backyard from the street. Maybe someone will go in there and pick the weeds?

I should be so lucky!

Posted by Gabi at 8:46 PM | Permalink

Today my co-worker Cindy and I went out for lunch to a near-by Mediterranean restaurant. I think I have a new favorite spice: sumac

It's beautiful stuff!

A little cinnamon-y, a little nutty. I had it on my lamb schawarma. Yum!!

Posted by Gabi at 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

On the news the other day, the weather man was talking about the fact that we should have 2.8" of rain by now. We've only had 0.39". Obviously, we are still in a drought.

So how is it that I have weeds growing in my front yard? How can they possibly be growing?

I'm certainly not out there watering anything!! And why is nothing else growing? Just the weeds!!!

Posted by Gabi at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today is Easter! It is a great day to reflect on the wonderful gift of perfect salvation that God has given us through his son Jesus Christ.

Throughout the service today, I was moved to tears thinking about the incredible sacrifice that God made for me. Me! Because he loves me - and every person on the planet. He is creator of the universe, but he cares about me. How awesome is that!!!!

Some days I take that for granted, and other days I am overwhelmed by the depth of His love and cannot fathom the reason for it. But ultimately, I know that I am His and I am redeemed in and to Him. Thank you God!!

Continue reading "He is Risen Indeed!!" »

Posted by Gabi at 8:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Today is the 17th anniversary of my becoming an American.

It was my senior year of high school and I was 18. (for the mathmatically challened, that makes me 35)

We didn't really celebrate the event. My brother was born in Alaska and is thereby a US citizen from birth, and my parents are not citizens of the US.

So I think that next year, I am going to have a huge party to commemorate it. Next year, I'll be able to say that for literally half of my life I have been an American.

Posted by Gabi at 5:18 PM | Permalink

The other night I was in the grocery check out line behind a blond lady who obviously believed EVERYTHING was about her. She kept running around at this frenetic pace, trying to make sure all of her stuff was on the check out track. Then she couldn't find her checkbook, and the credit card she kept trying to use wouldn't work. She kept telling us random stories too. It was actually kind of entertaining for the rest of us in line behind her.

Continue reading "Weird Things" »

Posted by Gabi at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My boss, Jonathan, has a fabulous plan for marketing/schmoozing. He buys four season tickets to events that he and his wife enjoy attending together. Whenever they attend, Jonathan invites along one of his clients and their date. That way he never has to spend time away from his wife while entertaining his clients.

Over the past two and a half years some of the clients have had to cancel last minute. That has made me the beneficiary of some of those tickets. Hockey games, opera, musicals, theater, baseball. It's been great!

On Thursday, Jonathan gave me four tickets to see the Diamond Backs play the Yankees at Chase Field in Phoenix. So my friends Jessica and Martha and I drove on up there for the game on Saturday afternoon. The drive up was extremely slow because of multiple accidents along the way. But that's ok, because we chatted and Jessica read to us much of the way up. She reads very well out loud so it was quite enjoyable.

Because we had one more ticket, we took along the 11-year-old daughter of one of my Phoenix co-workers. Brianna turned out to be delightful young lady. (I think she was quite brave for going out with three women she had never met before.) At first she thought we were just strange - not so far off the mark, actually. By the end of the afternoon though, she thought she'd be able to tell her mom that we were OK and that she'd had a good afternoon with us.

It was a beautiful day! About 85 degrees and sunny. The beauty of Chase Field is the retractable roof. In the spring the roof is open. In the summer, when it get to be a thousand degrees, the roof is closed and the A/C kicks in. So we were able to sit and soak up the sun. Jessica even got sunburned - the weenie. :-D

Continue reading "It's a Good Thing" »

Posted by Gabi at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Ever have one of those days?

Yesterday I was a bit pushed for time and grabbed a sweater out of the dryer on my way out the door. As I walked into my chiropractor's office, I realized that I had a spot on the front of my sweater.

Oh dear.

So as I was chit chatting with his assistant, Deb, I crossed my arms to try to cover the spot. Deb kept looking at me funny. Finally, she leaned in real close and whispered, "Do you know that you are wearing your shirt inside out?"

Oh dear.

Posted by Gabi at 8:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

And I took a nap
To the sound of raindrops
Falling on my roof.

Glorious.

Posted by Gabi at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I bid on eBay for the first time yesterday. And tonight - I won!

This is quite exciting. I just saved myself about $150 on a new PDA. This may be the new way for me to find things. Yay!

Of course, I'm also realizing that continued use of websites to sovle all my needs may lead to never actually seeing or speaking with another human being again. You can do banking on line, shopping, dating, getting a college education, virtually everything.

In some instances, no human contact could be a wonderful thing.

For example, not having to stand in line at Wal-Mart. Specifically, in the return line. Around Christmas, when it it moving like molasses in January. And the lady behind you continually (and loudly) sighs and talks about how slow the line is moving! You know the one. She's tapping her high-heeled foot (stomping might be more accurate), popping and snapping her gum and berating the people at the counter - who may, or may not, be doing their best.

On the other hand, it could also be a sad thing: the lady at the grocery store checkout who has a kind word and a cheerful smile for you, or the waiter that flirts with you at Uno's, or the mailman who's got a quick little joke for you. You'll just never get that kind of real human contact on the internet.

Posted by Gabi at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It seems that Fargo is in the midst of it's fourth annual film festival, showing such gems as The World's Most Dangerous Polka Band and If There Were No More Lutherans... Would There Still Be Green Jell-o?

Most of the films are shorter than your average feature film, some as short as two minutes, and are primarily documentaries. It's being billed as an international independent film festival. Does Saskatchewan *truly* count as international?

On opening night, the festival ran a 10th anniversary showing of Fargo. Of course, rather than the traditional method of showing the film, festival producers found a distinctly more northern method: outside, on the side of a 16-story building, in the falling snow. And while an RSVP to attend is not required, I'll bet a "Ya sure, you betcha" would be appreciated, doncha know?

Posted by Gabi at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Because you can blow it and pick it.

Yeah, yeah, I totally stole this one from a six year old! But you laughed anyway, didn't you?

Posted by Gabi at 6:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So, I'm sitting in my office on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon trying to get caught up on some work. My boss recenlty loaned me his copy of the new Trailer Park Troubadours CD (Trailercana), and I've been listening to that all afternoon.

One of the songs is called "I Just Got Flipped Off By a Silverhaired Old Lady with a 'Honk If You Love Jesus' Sticker on the Bumper of Her Car" (yes, the title really is that long). It is a pretty amusing song, but it made me think about the kind of witnesses that we are supposed to be.

Maybe that's why I've never put a fish on the back of my car. I try to obey the traffic laws. But I also try to keep up with the flow of traffic. And some days I get distracted listening to the radio or get lost in thought and when I look down at the speedometer, I'm going 57 in a 45 MPH zone. I know that someone will see me speeding down the road and talk about "those hypocritical Christians."

Continue reading "Honk If You Love Jesus!" »

Posted by Gabi at 6:59 PM | Permalink

Well, I've finally caved! I thought I could go without internet at home, but I can't. Now I have an appointment for Tuesday between 1 & 5 (gotta love that narrow window) to get tethered to the world wide web.

It will be a good thing, I think. I really can't spend any time at work typing new entries for my blog. Now I'll be able to do this in the evenings. I've been looking forward to writing more and now I'll have the opportunity to do that.

Posted by Gabi at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Life on a beach is good.

We'd been hoping for something a little quieter while we were in Rocky Point, but that was not to be at our hotel. Our place was undergoing some serious renovating. Construction started at 7:30 am (so much for sleeping in) and on Friday didn't even stop until 8:00 PM. We spent most of Friday trying to find some quiet place to do our work (writing and studying). So before we came home on Saturday, we hung out on the beach and at the pool at Mayan Palace. Now there's the life!

Posted by Gabi at 7:06 PM | Permalink

Had some fabulous coffee here, two mornings in a row. Even had a chance to work on Mom's book a little and chat with my brother, Carsten Michael.

Posted by Gabi at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My brother and I are headed for Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco) Mexico on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to the ocean and some down time. Carsten and I don't get to spend very much time together anymore, so this will be a nice change. Mom - you'll be happy to know that I'll be working on your book a lot while we're there.

What is it about the beach that makes me feel so relaxed? The constant sound of the surf. The fresh salty air. The expanse of it. The relaxed feel of the people around me.

Of course, drinks with umbrellas don't hurt. ;-)

Posted by Gabi at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I ride alone
On a bicycle
Built for two

Read the real definition of Haiku here. However, as a teacher, I was informed that there are variations of Haiku.

Posted by Gabi at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)