Overthinking Out Loud

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ANNA MAE LOUISE WOLLERMAN 12/13/1910 - 2/18/2008 Anna Mae Louise Wollerman has moved to heaven.

This amazing testimony is from a student who was at Union University the night of the tornado. This was circulated to me by email, but it appears to have been a post to her blog or a mass email. I have removed her name to protect her privacy. Well, most of you have probably heard by now, my school, Union University was hit by an F4 tornado this past Tuesday night (Feb. 5, 2008). Thanks for all the calls and messages. I will try to talk to you all as time and my emotional state allows. I don't know what reports you have read, but I was one of the 15 students who got trapped in the wreckage. I was in my dorm room with one of my roommates (K), the 3 girls from upstairs, and my mentor from church. About 2 minutes before the tornado hit, my other roommate (who is an RA) ran in and told us to get in the bathtub. We barely made it. Our ears popped, my mentor (J) looked at me and said, "We have to get in, NOW!" -- then the lights went off. I was the last one in. My legs didn'...

In my last post, I mentioned the members of FBC Blogtown, or at least those in my Sunday School class. Actually, I resided in this little shack on the backwoods periphery of Blogtown for over a year before I met anyone here who is NOT Baptist. (and Yes, non-Baptists, I AM aware of how creepy that sounds). Anyway, this past November I ventured over into another area of town. I found it really interesting and now head for afternoon walks over there frequently. It all started when I decided to try to participate in NaBloPoMo and ended up joining all these groups of Mommybloggers, SuzukiMombloggers, HomeschoolingBloggers, IOnceLivedInHawaiibloggers, Expatbloggers, and so forth and so on. Most of these bloggers had the sense to blog anonymously, so I don't know their names, but it has amazed my how interested I can be in their adventures. Alison , a very nice soup-loving lady in San Diego, is trying to have a baby. It's amazing how complicated this can be nowadays. I understand almo...

I LOVE my email program! In July, we got the new Outlook version and it has the best feature. It will check for me all the blogs that I like to read and put any new posts right in my inbox (actually, right in my Feed box, which is right near my inbox. . .but I digress). Anyway, I thought I would share those blogs with you. Since I live on the periphery of the backwoods of Blogtown, just across the river on the other side of the tracks, my neighbors are varied. I'll introduce you to them in the order that I found them. The real estate developer who sold me a spot in blogtown is Guy Muse , because of his ingeniously visual use of the blog as a medium to raise awareness/prayer support of his ministry and people group. Linda is Guy's wife. I would consider Dorcas Hawker to be my first "friend" in blogtown, although she couldn't really be called a neighbor because her real estate is in a much more swanky part of town. I met Dorcas because we were interested in some o...

There's 51 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it; So the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it! I've mentioned before that I've been homeschooling our oldest son, Blake, in 3rd grade U.S. History this year. Blake attends an international school here in Porto Alegre, but they don't teach US history as a subject this early. Sonlight's two year US history curriculum was recommended to us by our regional educational consultant. We did the history curriculum, the readers and the read-alouds. WE HAVE HAD THE BEST TIME! Blake finished the 3rd grade curriculum yesterday. We had started September 1st on a ten-day training trip we took as a family. Basically, he worked on Saturdays and holidays (we're in summer break now, remember) for 2-3 hours each day and we finished up just in time for the end of summer break! We both learned a LOT of US history and some really good American values (that I never realized were Ame...

"You need to make your own yogurt." I promised you, that's what I found myself telling myself one afternoon last month. Did you know that with about 30 minutes and Senhora Google, you too can become a yogurt-making expert? All you have to do it take some milk (1 liter), warm it (if you're in the states and don't have MilkInABox, then you have to sterilize it first) to 120 degrees, put it in a clean glass jar and add a couple of tablespoons of yogurt. I then set it in a cooler that has some hot tap water in the bottom. I cover it and leave it for 12 hours. Then, I put the jar in the fridge and let it cool. After a couple of hours, I added some vanilla flavoring (about 2 tablespoons), and some sugar (about 1/2 cup). It turned out great! It also supplies us with some lactase, that enzyme that helps us digest milk. Blake and Jeff loved it. Parker still doesn't recognize it as food, but he will soon. I also made butter last night. I was getting ready for our ...

Last night I was stalking googling old friends, a fav internet pasttime for me, when I came across the following story. Jeff and I were in missionary orientation with Mike and Jeanne Melon and their kids, Jeanne and Gregory, back in 2001. They served an ISC term in Paraguay. I'm just proud to know 'em. This article is from a blog called "Remember Me" . Jeanne and Gregory left New Orleans mid-day on Saturday before Katrina hit. Mike, a bi-vocational pastor, completed his work shift and got home just after Jeanne had left. He had planned to leave immediately. But, when he got home he discovered that two senior adults had no way out of the city and would not leave. Mike purposed to ride out the storm and try to take care of them. Mike’s . . .house began taking water about 8:30am and he watched as the water came up the road. He said it was almost surreal. He and the dog relocated to the attic with some food and an axe in case he had to cut his way out. About 1pm in the ...

I just did the Presidential Candidate Calculator . It's a little self-test that tells you which presidential candidate you're most in agreement with on certain issues. Mostly, I learned that I know NOTHING about the major political issues being discussed in the US right now. [They do offer good explanations of the pro- and con- side of each issue.] My result was very surprising. The only thing I can figure is that, even though they weight issues, they don't weight them strongly enough. Either that, or I've been watching too many Alias episodes. . .

I'm taking advantage of Parker's loooonnnng summer break to teach him his letters. We can't start our reading program until he can recognize both upper- and lower-case of all letters. He has learned some letter names in Portuguese, which makes for some interesting interchanges. We're up to I . Mommy: This is a Big I and this is a Little i . What's this (pointing to Big I )? Park: EEEE! Mom: No, it is pronounced EE in Portuguese, but we say I (aye) in English. Park: A ye! Mom: This is an igloo. I makes an ih sound like in igloo . What other words start with the ih sound? Park: CHURCH! Church starts with I ! [clicking sound is heard as pieces fall into place in Mommy's brain] Mom: Very Good! Igreja starts with I .

Sorry, I'm running a little late. I hope that everyone had a very happy holiday season. We really did. We spent our December in Porto Alegre as a family, just the four of us. We had never had Christmas with just the four of us, so I wanted to take the chance to really teach the kids about Christmas, what it means, and start some traditions for them to enjoy through the years. (This was all inspired by the fact that we spent the entire day of Thanksgiving in the car rushing to get to Florianopolis that we totally forgot to ACTUALLY GIVE THANKS or EVEN TALK about the holiday with the kids). [BAD missionary mom, BAD, BAD missionary mom] Anyway, we did have a good season. Here are some things we did: We listened to LOTS of Chrismas music. I DO recommend Charlie Brown Christmas, I DO NOT recommend Christmas with the Rat Pack (they change a lot of words to things that were apparently cute back in the 1950s). We really enjoyed, as much as anything, the weekly Free on Itunes holiday choice...

In case you hadn't guessed, we're out of town. We're on our annual South Brazil Missionary Thanksgiving Retreat in Florianopolis, SC (motto: "Nothing says Thanksgiving like a beautiful South American beach filled with Argentinians") Here's the post for today: You Are Thanksgiving You are a bit of a homebody who enjoys being in the company of people you love. It doesn't take a lot to make you happy. You're enjoying life as it is. You have many blessings in your life, and you are grateful for each one. You believe that life is about what you *do* have. You feel like you have enough of the good stuff. What makes you celebrate: Family, friends, and the changing of the seasons. At holiday get togethers, you do best as: The host of the party On a holiday, you're the one most likely to: Spend so much energy preparing that it's a full time job What Holiday Are You?

And we're off! We're off to our annual South Brazil IMB Missionary Thanksgiving Retreat in Florianopolis (SBIMBMTRIF-motto: "Nothing says Thanksgiving like a tropical beach paradise filled with Argentinians"). I don't think I will have internet access at the hotel. If I do, I have drafted a host of postjunk for your holiday perusal. If not, I may backdate it when I get back or just "keep moving forward". Here are some pics, just to rub it in:

In an attempt to make it through NaBloPoMo, many folks are googleearthing their homes. Here's ours: And closer up:

Once upon a time I had a Boss Brilliant. A brilliant person and I really learned a lot from him. He was known far and wide for his people skills, his ability to work with difficult people and resolve conflicts. One day I sent an email to my co-workers at our office and apparently I came across as bossy. I was fully in my realm of authority to send the email, I had cleared it with Boss Brilliant (BB) and I was merely communicating a decision BB had made to everyone else. Well, the tone of the email didn't sit right with one of my co-workers and he reacted. He responded by sending an email tirade to the boss about my dictatorial attitude. What did BB do? My wonderful BB, acclaimed for his people skills and conflict resolution abilities? He forwarded the tirade to me and left on vacation. He had to come in on his first vacation day to resolve the conflict between me and my co-worker. All of a sudden I realized: 1. How did I know that my co-workers required someone of such exceptional ...

It's official. No more avoiding it. No more forgetting it. It's happened. I'm 40 years old. Entering my 5th decade of life. Oh my. I got such an enthusiastic greeting this morning, I just can't be sad about my age. Blake, my 8-year-old son really goes all out in celebrating Mommy. This is a wonderful result of living in Brazil where there is no shortage of enthusiasm and demonstrated affection. This morning he had made a banner, hung it himself, and painted face paint all over his body saying "Happy Birthday Mommy!!" (exactly backwards because he had done it himself in the mirror). "Look Mom, I did it myself!"

I can't decide if I like NaBloPoMo or if I hate it. I've found several new blog friends, which is sort of a weird thing in itself, but really nice. My long backlog of "recipes I've been meaning to post" is getting shorter. More folks are reading what I write, and I'm writing a lot more. The problem is WHAT I'M WRITING STINKS! Prior to this month's challenge, I only wrote when I had something to say--usually. Now I'm up til midnight frantically scratching out ANYTHING to just say I posted that day. I feel like I'm really junking up my blog. I'm not the only one who feels this way, either. I'm in good company . Actually, the other folks who are saying this I'm still enjoying reading, so maybe it's not as bad as I think. . . Or maybe it is. . . I have a plan. I'm still going to endeavor to post every day. But, come Dec. 2 (I have plans Dec 1), I'm going to delete all the junk.

Many bloggers have special Friday posts of songs, or photos, or links. Here are my Phriday Phinds: Hot to Fold a Towel Elephant How to Fold a Towel Monkey How to Fold a Towel Cat How to Fold a Towel Lobster How to Fold a Towel Dog How to Fold a Towel Swan

Unfortunately, Brazilians haven't discovered Mexican food. Most North American's think that all cultures south of the US enjoy that spicy, tortilla-based cuisine. Nope. Not here. So, we get a pastry dough (used for fried pies). We put it on a hot, ungreased griddle to get just a little of the moisture out, and top it with taco-flavored meat (we like chicken strips). The taco seasoning mix I use comes from AllRecipes . I don't think I'll ever buy seasoning packets again. 1 tablespoon chili powder 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon black pepper DIRECTIONS: In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

These are pictures taken from our apartment. I like to pretend I live on Coruscant .