Happy birthday to two special guys in my life…
To Jeremy, my awesome husband: I wish you much joy in this next year as we establish our own little Tredway family. May the Lord grant us wisdom in the journey and an abundance of love and grace in our household!
To Andrew, my younger brother: How the heck did you get to be 23?? (That means Adam’s just plain elderly and I must be middle-aged!) I wish you a year that includes a fabulous graduation and, afterwards, a new path for you to explore, wherever the Lord directs you.
Hmmm…
Can you get fired from your job because of your blog? Troutgirl and Dooce were.
Can you shame a major television network and their chief correspondent because of your blog? Yes, yes you can.
I have learned that the strength of a blog is also it’s weakness. On this page in the vast worldwide web I am allowed to speak freely. No editor to chop my chosen words or correct my grammar. No advisor to read it before it’s published and tell me to rethink rash statements. No guide to remind me that 12 year old cousin Bobby, an unknown pot-smoking college freshman, my highly respected pastor and my Granny are all reading my words. Nope.
The beauty is that in Blogland, I go it alone. The problem is, similarly, in Blogland I go it alone.
“We’ve all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.”
– Robert Wilensky
Reader’s Digest, Sept. 2004 (p. 111)
Several years ago I seemed to hear quite a bit about “Girls’ Weekends”. Women who had been friends for years would get together once a year for a weekend o’ fun—they could travel to a new city together, rent a beach house, establish a theme for their time together, etc. I had lost touch with good friends over the years due to laziness and distance but greatly wanted to be a part of a girls’ weekend.
Thus began what my friend Haley calls the Horn Creek Reunion Tour. We just completed Year Three.
Nine years ago (ten for Autumn, Charity and I) we met at Horn Creek camp in the gorgeous Sangre de Cristo mountain range in southern Colorado. All PCA kids, we signed up for PYA and created memories to last a lifetime. In 1995 we were Cabin #2. Counseled by the fun-loving Amy Rathjen—very newly pregnant with her firstborn I might add—we grew to love each other. Cheesy letters of teenage drama and spiritual encouragement (ahem, Bryonie!) criss-crossed the nation courtesy of the United States Postal Service. Every so often one of us would be blessed with a package of Haley’s gourmet chocolate chip cookies. Within a few years we were college students—one year even saw four of us all at Covenant College. Haley, always the faithful correspondent, kept in good touch from Belhaven in Mississippi.
And then, three years ago, we took the plunge. A location was arranged thanks to the graciousness of Autumn’s family. A menu was planned. Plane tickets were purchased. And Charity’s mom’s SUV was procured for us Nebraskans who were close enough to drive.
I think I can speak for all of us when I say our girls’ weekend is highly cherished. I am extremely proud of all my friends—of their gentle spirits, of their constant encouragement, of their diverse achievements and, most of all, of their deep desires to glorify God. We plan to continue this tradition (afterall, who wouldn’t want to lay on a deck by a lake, eat, drink and talk with friends for two days straight?) for many years to come. Last year we decided that we’d bring our babies, when we had them, and so Livia was part of our deck-lounging this year.
Here’s to good friends, good food, good conversation and one great weekend a year!
(Check out Charity’s blog for more photos.)
I’ve survived a crazy weekend, one full of obligations and fun. Friday evening saw a large group of Zion ladies at The Leadership Center in Aurora, Nebraska, for our annual Women’s Retreat. It was this same evening that I learned that “extrovert” doesn’t mean that people cannot drain you of every ounce of energy in your being! The combination of work responsibilities, mommy responsibilities and multitudes of friends exhausted me and I wondered how I’d finish out my busy weekend! But one night of fairly good sleep (only fair because Livia decided to chat it up at 3am in our hotel room) gave me a reprieve and I woke up to enjoy the rest of the retreat Saturday morning. By the way, Pam Benton was our speaker and I enjoyed her immensely. Between her wise words and the night away, I felt refreshed and encouraged.
Saturday night was a family wedding out at The Columns in Pioneers Park. After six years of marriage I am still amazed that another family welcomes me with open arms. I love being a Tredway and it’s great to be wholeheartedly included in family festivities. Congrats to Megan & Marc on their nuptials! (And nice work to Anne and her quartet! You sounded wonderful!) The reception was in the Apothecary building in the Haymarket — awesome location.
Sunday morning the weekend adventures continued as fall Sunday School classes began for Zion kids. We handed out balloons to all the little ones in another practice of I’m-an-extrovert-but-this-drains-me activity. All our volunteers were warned to NOT give away untied balloons (helium-suckers beware!) and to NOT give balloons away to kids who hadn’t yet been to church. I could just imagine Pastor Stu preaching amidst bouquets of yellow, green and blue balls! The kids at our church are completely adorable and I felt like a very cool person for providing them with something as wonderful as a balloon. Who knew a round, colorful piece of rubber containing gases could be so fun?
The weekend was rounded out by a family dinner celebrating Chelsea’s 21st birthday. Happy birthday, Bean! It floors me that Chels could be 21… How did I (and Jeremy) get to be so old? I remember her being a little 14 year old at youth group. Next thing you know I’ll be pulling out my bifocals to read my mail. Sigh…
Today is my Monday breather. And now that I’ve fulfilled all blog duties, I think I’ll go take a nap.
Listening: to Sommer Waite’s Pass in Front of Me. Sommer is so talented and creative. Her music fits any mood I have and I’m proud to claim her as a friend. Check out her website and listen to her work.
Pondering: the impact of our television within our family. I know that some folks really despise the tv and think we should do away with it altogether; I’m not one of those people (obviously). However, I won’t tolerate the other side either. Who needs to watch tv 24/7? When the television is turned off the following seems to occur: I read more books, I have more quality time with family and friends, I complete more household chores. And then, when the tv comes back on, I don’t even care what I’ve missed! And yet, I like to catch the morning news and weather (the internet just doesn’t do it for me) and I plan on watching a few favorite programs like Alias and The Amazing Race. Anyone have opinions to share regarding tv? I’d love to hear them if they’re not extreme is one direction or another.
How can it be September already? And where did August go? The calendar says today is September 1 and I’m having a hard time believing it’s true! Perhaps if August repeated itself I’d feel more prepared for the fall.
Being a stay-at-home mom and an ESFJ, there are some days when I run to the computer for conversation and community. Blogs and emails can only provide so much stimulation and I know I’m in trouble when I’m hanging on to every last comment dropped into Blogland. Don’t get me wrong—I love blogging. It’s just that sometimes I have a hard time tuning out others’ voices in order to find my own. Thus begins my self-imposed retreat from blogging. I’m heading out of town shortly and will be delightfully disconnected from the internet. I intend to enjoy every minute of my little unplugged vacation and I vow to try very hard to not wonder about the messages in my overflowing email account.
In the meantime, thanks for making Blogland fun for me. I enjoy reading everyone else’s blogs. I love writing my own. I appreciate all the comments left here. The dialogue from the last post continues—it has certainly brought new and mysterious folk out of the woodwork and provoked them to comment. Thanks, all!
The people-pleasing side of me wants to post only happy, congenial, peaceful topics on View from the Prairie Box. To shy away from hot topics, however, goes against my staunchly-held value system and I cannot and will not ignore what I believe to be true. So, here and there you will read blog entries like the one below. This is an election year afterall! One thing I ask is that you write your comments respectfully. I have no qualms deleting entries that are excessively rude. And, when possible, provide a link to back up your comments.
That being said, I’m totally annoyed at how many people are protesting the Republican National Convention in NYC. I’m all for the freedom to protest, I just think it’s creating hazardous conditions, a ticking time bomb, in an already congested city.
One more thing… I refuse to be apologetic for being a Republican. It’s not popular to be conservative these days. Believing that “life begins at conception” and that abortions should never be allowed, saying that marriage is an institution for one man and one woman only, is definitely not smiled upon in most circles. I know many of my friends believe differently, but I’ve had it with trying to tone down my position in order to pacify others. I’m politically conservative with no apologies.
I’ve been wondering why this group in particular should not be allowed to voice their opinions regarding the current political race. Isn’t this America, the land of free speech? If their comments can be proven libelous, only then should they be forced into silence.
(Thanks, Keith. I pulled the link from your blog.)
I had a very interesting grocery shopping experience at SunMart the other day. SunMart, in my opinion, is notorious for it’s poor produce section… Suffice to say I’ve ended up with mold on strawberries and wilted green onions on too many occasions. Knowing I only needed items like cereal, eggs and bread, I made the quick trip to SunMart.
Walking through the front doors, apparently I caught the eye of this 30 to 40-something dude. And I’m thinking, darn it! Why haven’t I had my wedding rings repaired yet? (I had them cut off when my arthritis was at it’s worst in May.) This guy looked like he had three young wives back home in Turkey or something so I counted it as a cultural thing that he was openly gazing at me. But then he started to follow me. I’d go into an aisle and he’d go into the same one. I’d move on to another section, he’d walk past on his merry grocery shopping way, and then wait! turn immediately around and pretend to look for something on my aisle. Grrr… I’m a survivor of a previous negative shopping experience, one where I was highly intimidated by a much older man, one who didn’t care one iota that I couldn’t have dinner with him because I was MARRIED. So this time I was prepared to tell SunMart dude to bug off boldly if he tried anything. (Girls, don’t ever be intimidated by creepy guys! Be straightforward and rude if needs be.) This is highly anticlimactic. My apologies. SunMart man purchased his groceries and apparently went home without a fourth wife. My aggression was tempered by the Lady in the checkout lane…
This Lady looked like a victim of Auschwitz. Though I’ve had some experience with women with bulimia or anorexia, I have never never never seen someone is this state. She was ahead of me in line, we were separated only by a young mom and her toddler. The rosy-cheeked, chubby, healthy tot accentuated the utterly starved, skeletal being in front of his cart. It was such an odd experience. I kept racking my brain, wondering if somehow her condition was not self-imposed, that perhaps it was a medical condition. Did she have cancer? I don’t think so. Her skin was almost translucent, cheeks drawn tightly over thin, high cheekbones. Her eyes were enormous behind large, round glasses perched upon her bony, pointed nose. Her teeny shoulders were caving in and her old-fashioned clasp purse seemed like much too much weight for her delicate arms. I was horrified. I wanted to do something desperate, like call 911 or some hotline, but that seemed reactionary and ridiculous. I watched her pay for the three items on the conveyor belt, then walk out of the store. My heart still feels heavy with concern for her. I bought my fatty Pop Tarts and called it a day.
Ugh. SunMart. Whatever your ethnic, economic, religious, health background may be, you’re welcome to shop here. Just don’t expect fresh veggies.