Blessed Assurance

Abby and I were singing about wishes, and I asked her what her wishes would be. She replied:
1. To fly over a rainbow.
2. To fly over the world,
3. I wish I could jump 100 million high
4. I wish I could blow a rainbow through a cloud
5. I wish that the world was different.
6. I wish to go to Europe.
7. I wish I could be a grown-up, to be a princess with a really pretty dress that was gold with jewels on it and a top with light blue.

She asked me what I wished. When I said I wished for God to protect our family, Abby replied:
A: Momma, he already does. You need to wish for things that aren't true yet.

I smiled with tears in my eyes. It is in moments like these that I feel and witness God's grace to me.

the good life

I know it might seem strange to get a hot stone massage in the midst of a heat wave, but I'm so glad I did it! I was given a gift certificate to a spa in town for said massage and thought I'd cash it in after a long week without Matthew (he was in So. California for an economics conference). Abby and I fared fine, and apparently, so did Matthew! He said to me today (speaking of his stay in a college dorm, complete with cafeteria): "I forgot how great it is to have someone cook for you and do your dishes!" I swatted his arm and we both laughed a real belly laugh. I knew what he meant--I too would like to wake up to eggs, bacon, muffins, pancakes, fresh o.j. and a latte (ones we didn't make for ourselves, that is!).

sizzlin' hot

112 F, and rising? Is this for real? Well, yes--Davis is roasting hot right now and we are hiding out in our apartment. Thank goodness our landlords FINALLY replaced our AC unit (one window unit for the whole place and it didn't work for 2 years!). M. is in southern California for the week, and Abbs and I are trying to keep ourselves entertained in doors. Now, I know that we have family members who live in parts of the world that reach 120 F, but 112 feels like a real limit to me! I feel tired just walking to get the mail. I'm wondering how the rest of you (fam and friends reading this) are faring at this point in the summer. Write in with your best wild weather stories. Can anyone beat 112 degrees?

names

Abby likes to talk about having a sibling. The other night as I was putting her to bed, she asked:
A:Momma, can we talk?
G: Sure, what do you want to talk about?
A: Lets talk about when I have a sister or a brudder.
G: What about it?
A: Lets talk about names.

The naming chat ensued. Here are some of Abby's suggestions (some of them jokes, some of them real suggestions)...

Her top picks for a girl: Sparkle Pearson, Twinkle Twirl Pearson (I'm thinking this may indicate a "My Little Pony" influence??)
Some other ideas (delivered with giggles): Elmo, Bed, Edmund, Sunshine, Sally

An Ice Cream Saturday

Abby is on the mend (or maybe all mended). She's been on antibiotics for 2 days, and she is her old self again! On Saturday evening we decided to take her for ice cream.

M: Abby, do you want to go get an ice cream sundae?
A: No. I just want to go get ice cream now.
G: Do you know what an ice cream sundae is?
A: ice cream.
M: It is ice cream with whipped cream and chocolate and a cherry on top.
A: YES, I want to have that. But why can't we have that today?
G: We will have it today.
A: Well, why is it on Sunday?

We explained the difference between Sunday and sundae and decided that we would have ice cream Saturdays afterall.

bummer of a day

Today has been cruddy, not as bad as it could have been, but cruddy. Abbs was up from just after 2 a.m. until 6 a.m. with a fever and headache. We just took her to the doc. One no-fun strep test later and we still don't know for certain what she's got. We do know that her tummy did NOT want the ibuprofen we gave her in the doc's office--she vomited all over the place. I am glad that she did that there and not in our livingroom. She pitched a fit when we made her leave the office in a paper gown with dinosaurs on it: "This is for boys. I don't want to go outside in this; I don't look pretty in it!" I told her that it was better than wearing barf, but I don't think she was convinced! We're home, she's clean, and we're hoping that this too shall pass (quickly). So pray for the Pearsons. Pray especially for Abby's head to not ache and for her to get well. Oh yes, pray that mom and dad avoid getting this bug.

spring cleaning

We've spent the last week "cleaning" our apartment. I think maybe "clearing" is a better word for it. We've gone through every box, every drawer and every corner of our closets in a massive purging expedition. Folks, it has been a long week! Were it possible to weigh the whole lot of our possessions before and after this feat of domestic pruning, the difference would be more than a HALF TON. I'm not joking. Granted, we need to procure more seating for guests, but in the meantime, we are really enjoying the space, the simplicity and the relief.

things that go BUZZZZ in the night

Since returning home from our road trip, Matthew and I have been on a strange schedule. We've ended up staying up to watch the discovery channel until 1 a.m. a couple of nights in a row now, as we've been sucked in to the worlds of killer jellyfish, squid and bees. Little did I know that my hubby has long had a fear of africanized killer bees! We watched part of a program on the tenacious and rather scary buggers then went to bed. Several hours later I awoke to M swatting all around and brushing his arms off. I asked him what in the world he was doing and he said something about bees coming in the window. There were no bees, but that didn't stop the flailing. Once I got him to wake up, things were fine and we fell back to sleep, but I think he had a few more nightmares about bees, judging from the twitchy, wiggly sleep he got.

I've had my fair share of bad bug dreams. I think I've had about 7 or 8 spider nightmares in the last six years. I once dragged M out of bed by his leg in order to rescue him from the monster spider on the bed! I've screamed out, jumped out, swatted, and even yelled out and explative (with guests in our house at the time, no less)! Now I know I'm not the only one who has bug nightmares from time to time. Ususally Matthew laughs in his sleep, or talks, but this was really entertaining.

Banff

Matty and Abby overlooking Banff
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

We rode a gondola up, up, up this huge mountain. Abby loved it! The view from the top was breathtaking (literally and figuratively). We hiked a bunch of stairs to see the view from the very top, which meant M gave A a piggy-back ride and muscled through stairs enough for a whole day's workout. Pictures never seem to capture everything you want them to, but this one gives you an idea of how marvelous a sight these mountains were. Just imagine them continuing in every direction you look!
***
We're back in Davis, exhausted and ready to sleep, so I'll have to post more later. Check back tomorrow!

toward Vancouver

We visited five Cnadian national parks yesterday (most of the day was spent in Banff, Alberta, Canada). We will have pics up soon. I think Banff is my new favorite city! We made it to Kamloops, British Columbia last night and we're about three hours out from Vancouver now. Our plan at the moment is to stay either in Victoria or in Port Townsend, WA tonight. We're in search of an aquarium or a whale watching trip.

Our Banff adventure was stunning. Keep checking in...pictures and updates are on the way. Think GONDOLA over Canadian Rockies. Yes, the pics are awesome.

A Message from Abby

rapids in Glacier
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

Hi everybody,
I love you. Yesterday I went to a place that's really pretty and has lots of water. We drove there. And I threw lots of rocks in the water, and I saw it rushing. I balanced all the way to that rock by walking on a tree log. It was like gymnastics, but it was way deeper under the tree log than the balance beam at my gymnastics place. I love you everybody. Love, abby. Now it's time for blueberry pancakes. I gotta go.

G and Abby, Glacier Nat'l Park (USA)

G and Abby, Glacier Nat'l Park (USA)
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

We made it all the way up to Glacier on Saturday. We made lots of stops so that we could take in the beautiful scenery.

cousins in Montana

cousins in Montana
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

Abby and Alec enjoying the swing which overlooks a huge valley (complete with trains running every 90 minutes or so!). Columbus, Montana.

road trip

The Pearsons-three are on a mountain top in Montana. We will upload pics when we have a faster connection. We will take off on Saturday morning for Glacier National Park, then we will end up on the Washington coast (by way of the Canadian Rockies, we hope) and head south through Oregon to California. We return to Davis in early July and will post lots of pics of our adventures. We may not have an internet connection for a while! Cheers, friends and family!

bug babies

Abby and her cousin have been playing together and imagining all kinds of scenarios. Here is just one of them:

Alec: I'm the daddy and you can be the mommy.
Abby: Yeah! And the rollie polies are our babies!

I think several rollie polies have sacrificed their little bug lives to the too-loving care of two four-year olds. A few ants and spiders have also experienced the same fate, but those were big bad scary bugs, not adopted kid-bugs.

The Grad

The Grad
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

I did it! I finished writing my last seminar paper Thursday morning--thank you Melanie M. for prayers and lattes. Both worked. I'm proud of the paper I turned in. The ceremony went well; I made it across the stage without a hitch. Thanks so much to everyone who has been supportive of me through this. Keep it up! I'll be heading straight into the prelim exam and dissertation research for the PhD.

going the distance

This was (and is) a big week for us: Matthew rode his first metric Century ride last Saturday (100 kilometers/60-something miles). He's hoping to ride a century in miles, and possibly a double century. 200 miles sounds fine to me --if I'm in a CAR. I think 40-50 miles by bike will be my max for this year!

We're awaiting family and friends this week. Gen will get her MA on Thursday! After that we will take a road trip to Montana. We're driving with the bikes IN the car, but we might let Matthew ride his bike part of the way :)

We will keep you posted on our Montana Mileage. M is hoping for 100-200 miles per week!

he drives a hard bargain

I am swamped with my last paper of the school year (it is due in a little over the week). So, I'm staying home from church while Matthew takes Abby to church to give me a couple of quiet hours. A few minutes ago he asked Abby if she wanted to stop by Starbucks on the way to church (they're still an hour early at this point). I chimed in that I would just LOVE a latte, and this is what I got:

M: Nope, Starbucks is a reward to God's people who go to church. That's from 2nd Opinions 3:16. "Go to church and your cup will runneth over with latte."

WHY did I ever agree to marry a seminarian? WORSE yet, an economist. :)

Mark Twain and Mojitos

I handed in my revised thesis today. Matthew took me to a movie to celebrate, and now we are winding down with some reading and yummy drinks. We're trying to expand our library a bit--the modern part of it, that is-- as we seem to own a ton of pre-modern literature, economics texts, theology books, and literary criticism but very little else. On the search for some light reading, Matthew ended up with Puddin' Head Wilson (a wonderful piece by Twain; I recommend it). I have required reading to do: Aphra Behn's "The Widow Ranter." Funny enough, I might have actually picked something like that up anyway. I'm in a book club (I know, WHY would I be in a club that makes me read MORE than I do already?!?), and we've read Wiesel's "Night" and Alexander McCall Smith's "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." Next up is "The Mermaid's Chair," which I have yet to start.

What are your favorite books? Write in with your picks and a quick blurb about why you'd recommend them!

Just call me Lance...

G's first road bike!
Originally uploaded by gennabby.

Matthew's gift to me for Mother's Day and for my MA graduation is this wonderful bike! We tried out lots of bikes, and this one was the winner (by a long shot). This morning Matthew and I went for an 11 mile ride. For cyclists, this might seem like a paltry distance, but I feel like I should win a jersey for making it home in one piece! I really enjoy the smoothness and the speed, and I realize now why cyclists (NOT "bikers") like Davis so much-- no hills. Our ride today averaged about 13 miles per hour, though the other day I was riding 19 mph with the help of a tail wind!

The best part of the ride was the trip back, when I felt more comfortable and solid on the bike (and I knew lunch was right around the corner). The worst part of the ride was getting sprayed by Matthew as he blew his nose into the wind. Gross. It was a light mist, but still. I think I'm going to like riding. I'll keep you posted. My goal for the summer is to be able to ride from Davis to Winters (have coffee and breakfast at Putah Creek Cafe) and ride home-- a 30 mile loop.