Church...not so blergh after all

I mentioned in my previous post that Angie and I were trying a new church today. We did and it went well.

I was feeling like I didn't want to do this at all. I had a whole list of reasons why I didn't feel like starting over with a new church.

Then Angie said:

"This isn't really about us."

Why does she has to be so simply right sometimes? It's annoying.

We went to the Grandview Christian Assembly and we'll be going back. Not because it was super awesome, but mostly because it wasn't so terrible that I forgot it wasn't about me. It seemed earnest enough and it didn't have the smooth varnish of fakery that the last try did.

Not to make it sound like just a collection of not-too-terrible attributes. It was good and I don't mean to sell it short, but I have become very critical of churches and I am trying to be fair.

The people did truly seem like nice people trying to grow in their relationship with Jesus, and that's the most important thing.

Plus, apparently, this whole worshiping God thing isn't about me and sometimes it means doing what your wife says.

Naked Slanket

I was watching QVC the other day. I saw the following product:

Later, I explained it to Angie and the follwoing conversation ensued.

Me: "Do you know the Slanket?"
Angie: "Yes"
Me: "Well, now they have a luxury version. It's furry and it has a pocket for you hands."
Angie: "Cool"
Me: "It also has a pouch for you feet. Looks pretty comfortable."
Angie: "Why would you wear it naked?"
Me: "...what?"
Angie: "Would you wear it with no clothes on? It's weird."
Me: "Me? Why would you say that?"
Angie: "Well, you said it looks comfortable."
Me: "..."
Angie: "I don't know."

A Parade and the ER (Not Related)

Two things happened on the 4th of July: Nila saw her first parade and Angie had an allergic reaction to her medication.

On Saturday morning, we went to the parade in Upper Arlington. It was about two or three blocks from our house. I don't know that I've ever lived closer to a parade route.

Nila had a great time. She danced with the cheerleaders and clapped with the bands. She did not enjoy the loud trucks or the fire engines. Angie and I had to cover her ears during those moments so that she wouldn't try to shove the small American flags she'd been given into her ears.

We watched for about an hour before we abandoned the affair. Not that the parade wasn't fun; it was just so very long.

In addition to the excitement of the parade, Angie found that she was allergic to her new medication. A rash had developed on the backs of her arms. She called her doctor and he told her to take some benadryl and to stop the meds.

She did that, but on Sunday the rash was worse. And it had spread to her neck, down her arms, her ears, her face. All over really.

She called the doctor again. This time he sent her to the ER.

At the ER, they gave her a steroid shot in the butt and a prescription for Atarax.

The combo helped the rash, but by Tuesday, her throat had swelled and was painful. The ER doc told her to come back if these symptoms presented. She called her doctor, but he did not respond.

So, last night, at about 9:30 pm, we headed back to the ER.

After three long hours, the doctor told her she was fine. he advised her to cut her dosage of the Atarax in half and to go from there.

That seems to be doing the trick.

In other news, Angie's mom is in town for the next couple of weeks.

AngieMeekerdesigns is Open for Business (Again)

It technically never shut down, but we're looking to expand.

If you don't know, Angie and I have hung out our shingle on the web - our e-shingle if you will.

Over the Summer in 2008, Angie started designing web sites for local businesses and non-profits. She's been very successful designed great-looking websites at a very low cost (which I keep trying to get her to raise...)

When she started working full-time in November, she slowed down a bit, but we've decided to push forward. I mean, we've got a great product and Angie has mad skills. Why not stop wasting her talents in a regular 9 to 5?

So, to that end:

• AngieMeekerdesigns.com is actively accepting new work
• AMd is actively pursuing work with Crime Stoppers organizations across the US through YourCrimeSite.com.

In addition to that, Central Ohio Crime Stopper's site will be undergoing a very exciting redesign in the coming weeks. An already great site will get even better.

Nila!

Hey, have you seen my baby lately? Look how cute she is!



Believe it or not, Angie made the dress in this picture. She's very crafty. Check out her blog for more of her craftiness.



I dont' know why Angie put stickers on her cheeks, but she does look cute.

It's all so cute.

Cute. Cute. Cute.

9Q to KYDM: Q9

What did you see as the two things which were repeated over and over in your previous eight questions?

Cultures/International Issues/Kurds
Efficiency/Appropriateness

I cheated and combined some categories.

I'm wild!

9Q to KYDM: Q8

What topic do you think you could write about every day, knowing that there will be no reward?

Cultures other than my own and my perspective of that.

It is hard to narrow that down. I've posted like 8 things on the Glad Lady and I barely care about that!

9Q to KYDM: Q7

What do you think your natural talents are?

I learn quickly
I can organize well
I can recognize processes and make them better
I see how things work
I write well

9Q to KYDM: Q6

What kind of topics do you like researching or finding out about more, without being forced to do it?

Chinese history (Mao and post-Mao)
British Empire
Kurdish culture and history
Web applications

I like to research many things. I do it all the time, so I just made a list of the most recent and the most frequent.

9Q to KYDM: Q5

What topics can you talk to someone else about for hours on end without getting tired or bored of it?

Iraq
Kurdistan
Kurdish Issues
Languages
My family
American church vs. Biblical church
Music
International affairs

9Q to KYDM: Q4

What things, when you do them, you totally lose track of time, and before you know it, a few hours have gone past without you even realising it?

Reading
Talking about things I enjoy
Laughing and talking with family and friends
Being a guest at someone's home
Sleeping!

9Q to KYDM: Q3

What things do you normally excel in without it seeming to be much effort at all?

Standardized tests
Knowing when something won't work
Public speaking
Acting appropriately

I have fallen behind Angie, so I will post a few questions now to make up for it.

9Q to KYDM: Q2

As you may remember (from yesterday), Angie's asking a bunch of questions. Number 2 is below.

What do people say that you’re naturally good at? That is, what do people tend to give you compliments on without you even expecting it?

This question is hard to answer...

I'm good at getting things done. I've been complimented for this before.

I'm good at knowing where I am and how to get where I'm going.

I'm good at learning new things.

I'm a good writer - ironically, I first typed writier...

I'm good at Kurdish grammar.

Oooh, I can write in Kurdish and Arabic better than Kurdish fifth graders.

That's all I have.

9 Questions to Kindle Your Defining Moment: Q1

Angie is asking 9 questions to kindle your defining moment.

If you're like me, you have no idea what that really means. How does one kindle one's defining moment? Who knows, but she defines it as "finding your passion."

Easy enough, right?

Here's question #1 and my answer. Feel free to answer this question on your own blog or comment here.

Or at Angie's blog. The options are limitless.

Okay, question 1:
What are the 50 things in life you most enjoy doing? (Don’t stop until you have at least 50 things listed).

eating
reading
listening to music
discovering new music
traveling
learning languages
learning about new cultures
experiencing cultures different than my own
spending money
board games
learning about personalities
photography
home decoration
trying new things
being right
talking about other people's problems (not mine)
reality tv and soaps
knowing things other people do not
reading and making maps
making up stories
telling people something they don't know
riding subways
walking to new places
going to festivals
swimming
making lists
being organized
going to the library
critiquing things - anything
defending a position
having or leading group discussions
taking formal classes
finding a more efficient way
finding good deals
looking at Nila
eating outside
having freedom to act
looking at art
reviewing products
finding flaws
having true church experiences
learning about peoples backgrounds (motivation)
thinking through things before discussing
OR discussing all aspects of the thing
getting a haircut
driving Mini Coopers
gossip
being witty and funny
laughing

I look forward to question 2 and your answers.

Angie is 30 Now (+ 2 Days)

Sunday was Angie's birthday.

Her thirtieth birthday.

We had a small catered affair here at the house with friends and family.

By that I mean we got more free food from the BBQ guy and had some people over to eat it and eat cake. All-in-all, it was a good time, although it may have been a bit dull. Sorry, Angie.

We played a game called "What's Yours Like?" You can click the name for a fuller description, but the basic premise is this:

One person is the guesser. Everyone else reads a card with a word or phrase on it. The guesser does not see the word.

The guesser proceeds to ask each player, "What's yours like?"

The others answer with clues, "Mine is small." "Mine is under the couch." "Mine is a pot-bellied pig."

The clues depend on the card, of course.

The first word was birthday and Angie was the guesser. Here's how that went.

Angie: "Bob, what's your's like?"

Me: "Mine is festive."

Angie: "Tammy, what's yours like?"

Tammy: "Mine is fun."

Angie: "Grandma Kay, what's yours like?"

Grandma Kay: "Scream"

Angie: ...

Me: "It has to be a sentence. Say the whole thing."

Grandma Kay: "Scream"

Sis: "No, no. It has to be a full sentence. Mine is ..."

Grandma Kay: "Mine is scream."

All together: "That's not a sentence."

That was really nothing compared to the second round when Grandma said "Mine is I came out of" for the word closet. Those of us who knew the word almost died.

For two reasons: It's still not a sentence and Grandma just told us she had come out of the closet. It was alarming.

All that and she still won the game.

Sugar Momma

If you've been following along here, you know that I am still unemployed. I had a great interview last week that has me very excited, but nothing as of yet.

Angie, on the other hand, started a new job on Friday of last week. It's part-time, but she can pick up additional hours as the job demands. Today, she's working from 8am to 5 pm!

I am staying home with Nila being a stay-at-home dad - at least part-time.

Angie's been keeping us afloat anyway with her design company. Now she's working outside the home and it only means one thing:

I have a Sugar Momma.

I may never get a job!

Angie is Famous

If you live in the central Ohio area and you watch Fox 28 news, then you were treated to Angie on the news.

She was interviewed for her work on the Crimestoppers website.

There's a serial rapist in Columbus and it's driven the site's traffic way up. The site was down today, so they did a story and featured Angie.

Yay, Angie.

I tried to find video of it online, but I can't. Angie did a great job.

Also, check out the website. She did a great job with that, too.

**Update**

Angie is also famous on ABC 6. As of 11:15 pm, she was the featured story on the website, too.

See her here.

Nothing to Say

Hey

I don't really have anything to say. I just wanted to check in and let you know that I'm doing pretty good. Angie is good, too.

How're you doing?

Language Learning is CRAZY

It is so much fun for me to watch other people try to learn the Kurdish language. And I am glad that it isn't me this time.

Because I am fluent.

Not really, of course, but I don't have to participate in the regular classes because I've already done this before. Instead, I get to watch everyone else struggle to understand new sounds and words

It's so funny to ear a Kurdish person say a word and listen to the Americans try to repeat it. Today we learned Qonereke meaning shoe (I think it's actually the Arabic word for shoe, I don't know, but it doesn't matter). Angie spent most of the morning saying kunorewe.

It makes me wonder what I sounded like during my first few days of language lessons back in 2005.

I'll bet I sounded pretty good.

Because I'm fluent.

Greetings from Toledo

Yesterday, Angie and I had the opportunity to speak at North Point Church in Toledo, OH (not Toledo, Spain).

The people there were very welcoming and we had a great time. We are delighted that the church has decided to take us on and partner with us for the work in Iraq.

It was really nice to be amongst a group of people with so much interest in or work and people willing to be so supportive. I know that when we share news with them, they'll sincerely pray for us and they will seek out ways to be involved in our experiences. In fact, we even laid the ground work for getting some people together for a trip to visit us.

And by laid the ground work I mean mentioned it! no one ever seems very interested in visiting us in Iraq, but if we keep offering it someone will say yes!

You can read more at Angie's blog, or you can call me up and ask.

Just remember that I have caller ID, though.