I will be forced to find ways to amuse myself.

Fortunately, I am easily amused. Especially with my new phone and its awesome apps.

So, last week, Jared had to get his motorcycle appraised to see if it was totaled. But he had to drive it there. After I helped him with getting it on the borrowed trailer, a neighbor walked by.

This particular neighbor is a really nice, older guy, but when he stops by to chat, you plan on it being for awhile. So I sat in the truck and waited. And waited. And waited some more.

And then I got out my phone and played with my photo apps some more.

The famous taking a picture of yourself taking a picture. But with the TRUCK mirror!

With another one of those fun “Paper Camera” modes for the photos. 🙂

Huzzah for the simple joys of life. That now involve a highly technical cell phone and fun applications on it.

(And by the way, if you were curious about the outcome of the bike, it’s officially totaled. You might have heard “Taps” playing softly in the distance, mixed with Jared’s sighs.)

Jared swears he doesn’t have a death wish. But I have to disagree. I haven’t been able to figure it out, but I think there’s something genetically ingrained within him that is addicted to adrenaline rushes.

Case in point: In the last post, it was mentioned we traveled afar to go pick up a trailer so Jared could fit four motorcycles on it (for him and three friends) and go to a track day. Anyways, because it was through a certain “program” and there were instructors, Jared could learn valuable skills that could translate not ONLY on a racing track, but on the every-day roads and commuting as well. And since this was for “educational purposes”, I as a teacher should value hands-on practice. (Essentially, he really did say that. I bet you could feel my eyes rolling through this paragraph…)

So, he left me alone last Friday evening to go be an adrenaline junkie with some other adrenaline junkie monkeys, and didn’t return to me until very late on Saturday.

Now, if you talked to him, you would hear him recall the track day like this:

Yes. This is really my husband hanging off his bike in true racing form. But remember,  it wasn’t racing, it was practicing and purely educational, for reals.

But let me show you what happened in the World of Actuality.

 Surprisingly, no Jareds were injured in the low-siding of this vehicle.

Despite all the precautions Jared took, and his great form, for no clear reason, near the end of the day his bike had a nasty low-side/slide (better than a high-side, but still).

To sum it all up into one word: Yup.

There you have it. I am happy to say that Jared is fine, but even though he claims not to have made any head-to-ground contact (and the lack of scraps on his helmet supports this observation), I think he might have jarred his brain just a bit because even though his bike is looking pretty trashed, he is considering fixing it up and continuing to ride it.

However, despite any emotions you might be reading into at a deeper level of this post, I would like to make it clear that I only dislike this sort of thing so much because I DO want to keep him around for a long time! I really do love this man, but his nearly physical desire to put himself into danger without it needing to happen occasionally baffles me.

I received a wonderful surprise in the mail today. I saw a package addressed to me and was confused because the thing I ordered from Amazon arrived yesterday (Big Bang Theory, Season 4!). So, still confused, I opened up the package and out came the book A Wrinkle in Time.

I love this book, mainly because it’s one that my dad got me into when I was young. It was a favorite from his childhood, and I really enjoyed sharing the love of this book with him. Madeleine L’Engle created a blend of science, Christianity, and real life in a way that could be understood by kids. So it’s one that I’ve encouraged lots of kids to read. And there are LOTS of books in connection to the series, so if you do like it, there’s more fun to be had.

It’s a little weird in ways, but I love some of her philosophies and backstories behind this. I came across this passage in where L’Engle discussed how she was rejected many times (From A Circle of Quiet). She writes:

I am often asked how I came to write A Wrinkle in Time.

Even with all the hindsight of which I am capable I can’t quite explain it. It was during a time of transition. We had sold the store, were leaving the safe, small world of the village, and going back to the city and the theatre.

While we were on our ten-week camping trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back again, we drove through a world of deserts and buttes and leafless mountains, wholly new and alien to me. And suddenly into my mind came the names, Mrs. Whatsit. Mrs. Who. Mrs. Which.

But why did those names come to me just then, and from where? I haven’t the faintest idea. I suppose that my writing mind, which is always at work no matter what is happening on the surface level, took over from there. I had brought along some…Einstein, a few other books on cosmology…and…the influence of these books on Wrinkle is obvious. I was also quite consciously writing my own affirmation of a universe which is created by a power of love.

After an early rejection (there were many), “X turned down Wrinkle…saying he loved it, but didn’t quite dare do it, as it isn’t really classifiable. I know it isn’t classifiable, and am wondering if I’ll have to go through the usual hell with this that I seem to go through with everything I write…[and yet] this book I’m sure of. If I’ve ever written a book that says what I feel about God and the universe, this is it. This is my psalm of praise….

…In 1963 (c. three years after the above entry), when I was in Chicago to receive the Newberry Medal for A Wrinkle in Time, a woman who was a fine editor…but who had rejected Wrinkle, said to me, “I know I should have published this book. But I wonder: if I had accepted A Wrinkle in Time, would it have been the right moment for it? If it had been published then, maybe you wouldn’t be here now….”

She was a very wise woman.

I am so glad somebody did publish this book, though. Because it was a book that got my father engaged in reading, and he passed that on to me. I know of many other people, my age, older, and younger, that this book has touched for the better as well.

This is my favorite cover- the book that I still have from childhood for my personal home library.

And what would you know? My dad ordered it from my classroom wishlist on Amazon so I had another copy to share with my kiddos in school, for the very same reasons that I have mentioned already.

So, with a blast from the past and a thoughtful gift, a day that was not the best took a turn for the better. Thanks, Dad! 🙂

…Don’t leave it alone with Bonnie.

Case in point:

I was making dinner to bring to a lady from church who recently had a baby. It’s too hot to leave Bonnie and Stevie outside for long periods of time (unfortunately) and so I left them sleeping cutely on the couch. A few minutes later, I heard a crunching sound.

Immediately, as if it were a dirty curse word, I thought, “BONNIE!” And sure enough, she was chewing on one of my favorite pens.

Fortunately, I caught it in time that the pen will still be useable.

Later in the evening, I was cleaning up the house so Jared could return home to a nice, clean place (which makes him very happy). I had put my glasses on the little banister area between our breakfast nook and the family room, so I thought they were safe.

I was so very, very wrong.

Because I was vacuuming, I came too late to save them. Bonnie had jumped up, managed to get the glasses, and brought them back to the couch to happily gnaw away on them for a good fifteen minutes.

This is what was left:

What should have been a long, wonderful life was cut tragically short. You didn’t even make it the full year. Hopefully I can get replacements soon so I don’t have to depend on the backup glasses Bonnie also mangled (not as badly).

R.I.P., glasses. R.I.P.

I get to draw on the whiteboard.

Who didn’t love to do that when you were in school?!

We’re doing a “one-pager” assignment for The Outsiders, and during my prep period, I drew this example for the kiddos.

One Pager.

Not bad for 20 minutes or so!