i often wonder why God has always provided for my transportation needs in the form of clunker cars. but then around the time i get to wondering that, he likes to remind me with little things every now and then, why he does so.
this morning started out with an adventure when my car battery died at a stoplight on the freeway offramp near my work.
now, although my car is an adventure that i love experiencing, it doesn't mean i dont have those moments of silent panic and then prayer when my car dies in the middle of an intersection, with traffic behind me.
this morning, my silent - and feminine - prayer to heaven went kinda like this:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! (that was the feminine part) Jesus, i dont know what to do. please have it start again!!!
i tried to start it again, to no avail. my battery was dead. can't have someone jump my car in the middle of the road, that's for sure.
okay, okay... what would dad do if he were here? put your emergency lights on. okay... done. now what? direct the traffic behind you to go around.
i got out of my car and signaled the cars behind me to go around, and got back in my car, gripping the steering wheel as if my desperation alone would turn the car back on.
calm down, hope. take a deep breath... you've dealt with worse than this, before. granted... not in rush hour traffic on an offramp, but still! now, what is the next step? the car wont turn over, and there is no one around to rescue you... except maybe that guy!
i watched as a big burly harley davidson-clad man walked across the crosswalk in front of me. i visually measured up his size and breathed a sigh of relief as i thought surely, he is on his way to help me... i am obviously a damsel in distress, here.
not so much.
icky harley dude just leered at me from across the intersection, as i got out of my car. when i saw the look in his eyes, i got right back in my car. the light went green, and i got an idea.
i put my car in neutral, took a deep breath, and put my shoulder into the driver's side door while steering the car and pushing it with all my might. holy CRAP, lil redhottness is HEAVY!!
you would think by now that harley dude would stop leering and help, but no no, my friends... he just stood there... five feet away from a woman pushing her car through an intersection, and just watched me do it.
i sent up a silent prayer as i saw that the parking lot of the walgreens that i was heading towards had a significant increase in elevation, and there was no way i'd be able to push my car up it. you'd think pushing a smaller car would be easy, but it's not.
i saw a blur of movement to my left, and watched a young man dash across four lanes of traffic towards me. he yelled at me to get in my car and steer, and with what i can only describe as heroic strength, pushed me and my car up the incline and into the walgreens parking lot.
i put my car in park and got out, and the first words out of my adrenaline-crazed hero's mouth, echoed my own thoughts from moments before...
"what the hell was that guy doing, just WATCHING you push your car across the intersection? GOD... I'M SO SORRY!! are you okay?!"
although sufficiently out of breath, i was touched by his unneeded apology on behalf of harley dude. i smiled and assured him i was fine. "thank you so much for rescuing me... i didnt know how i was going to push it up that incline!" i gestured back at the entrance to the parking lot.
he smiled as if he knew just how big that 3 inch rise was, when pushing a car and its driver up it. he put his hands on his hips and quickly looked behind him. an empty truck was parked on the side of the road, half a block away. i realized his concern, as he stuck his hand in his pocket, taking out the keys to his truck. "glad to help... are you good?"
"yeah, totally... i've got it from here. THANK YOU!"
"no problem!" ... he waved in my direction as he darted across the four lanes of traffic back to his abandoned vehicle. i glanced across the intersection, from him jumping in his truck, and driving in the direction of the fading figure of harley dude, walking towards downtown reno.
i like to imagine that he was going to give him a piece of his mind...
so, there's my adventure for the morning.
i met man this morning, and what a man he was!
"If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be of no help." - John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Monday, July 27, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
birthday surprise... kenyan style
MVI_0601
Originally uploaded by hopiface
i found this video in my africa archives (can they be archives if it was only a few months ago?) and i thought you all would enjoy seeing a birthday surprise, kenyan style.
mike christensen's wife manon planned a huge surprise party and dinner for him while i was there, and the kids all gathered at the back of the house while he came around the corner, not knowing what awaited him.
anytime anyone was celebrated in kenya while i was there, there was singing and dancing involved... as you can see.
the day ended in laughter and food and fun and games with all the kiddos...
Monday, July 20, 2009
tubing the truckee with umbrella sails
my sister autumn and i are - to say the least - a bit spunky. seldom when we get together, are we doing anything the normal, or obvious, way it should be done. yesterday was no exception.
it has been extremely hot in reno the last couple weeks, and our group of friends have gone tubing a couple times to ease the heat. despite sunscorched flesh and heat exhaustion from being outdoors, it makes the heat a little more bearable if you're in the water and going on an adventure.
yesterday autumn and i wanted to go on the tubing trip down the truckee river, so i checked all three sports authority stores in reno, and of course walmart... not a single store had river tubes.
it was a tragedy.
i called autumn and notified her we would not be able to go down the river. i went home and moped on my couch for a couple minutes, and then got a brilliant idea. i ran to my garage and hauled my huge double inflation, queen sized ozark mattress into my living room. five minutes later, thanks to my electric hand pump, it was filling my livingroom floor.
it was a go!! i called autumn and informed her i was going downt he river on my mattress with or without her. she loved the idea too, so she headed over. i didnt want to be sunburned very bad, so i put on sunscreen and got out my umbrella around the same time autumn showed up with the exact same thing.
a while later and we were headed to the river with our friends, trying to figure out the best way to haul our huge mattress through my neighborhood and to the river's edge. we succeeded, and were soon on our way down the truckee.
it was soon evident that our floating party of seven was not going to stay together. autumn and i were whizzing by them all, as we realized our umbrellas doubled as not only sun shade, but wind sails as well. when people stood up to walk their tubes over the shallow riverbed with rocks and all, our durable ozark mattress just skimmed over the top of em.
many women stared in envy at our floating mattress of relaxation, and our shaded faces as we just floated along when there was no wind... and we could tell many of the men we passed wished there was a way to copy us and not lose their man cards by taking an umbrella out on the river with them.
our friends soon became envious of our speed or travel, and after they caught up to us, they had a blast hooking their legs over our mattress to be carried along with us. tragically, my sister faith ended up kicking open the air hole on the mattress when she threw her legs over, and i couldnt get to it quickly enough to stop a large amount of air from exiting our party float.
it was humbling to stand in the middle of the river trying to inflate our mattress manually, while all the people we passed floated by. it became quite the spectator sport as i yelled sassy comments at my sister faith who had stolen my umbrella by this time, and the other tubers on the river laughed out loud at the fiest happening in the middle of the river.
eventually we got a bit more air in it, and caught up with faith to retrieve my umbrella/wind sail. away we went, on half the air we started with, but still a much comfier ride than most on the river.
thank you ozark, for creating a mattress so durable and awesome as the one we took down the river... and thank you mary poppins for inventing the umbrella wind sail, and giving our imaginative minds an idea.
it has been extremely hot in reno the last couple weeks, and our group of friends have gone tubing a couple times to ease the heat. despite sunscorched flesh and heat exhaustion from being outdoors, it makes the heat a little more bearable if you're in the water and going on an adventure.
yesterday autumn and i wanted to go on the tubing trip down the truckee river, so i checked all three sports authority stores in reno, and of course walmart... not a single store had river tubes.
it was a tragedy.
i called autumn and notified her we would not be able to go down the river. i went home and moped on my couch for a couple minutes, and then got a brilliant idea. i ran to my garage and hauled my huge double inflation, queen sized ozark mattress into my living room. five minutes later, thanks to my electric hand pump, it was filling my livingroom floor.
it was a go!! i called autumn and informed her i was going downt he river on my mattress with or without her. she loved the idea too, so she headed over. i didnt want to be sunburned very bad, so i put on sunscreen and got out my umbrella around the same time autumn showed up with the exact same thing.
a while later and we were headed to the river with our friends, trying to figure out the best way to haul our huge mattress through my neighborhood and to the river's edge. we succeeded, and were soon on our way down the truckee.
it was soon evident that our floating party of seven was not going to stay together. autumn and i were whizzing by them all, as we realized our umbrellas doubled as not only sun shade, but wind sails as well. when people stood up to walk their tubes over the shallow riverbed with rocks and all, our durable ozark mattress just skimmed over the top of em.
many women stared in envy at our floating mattress of relaxation, and our shaded faces as we just floated along when there was no wind... and we could tell many of the men we passed wished there was a way to copy us and not lose their man cards by taking an umbrella out on the river with them.
our friends soon became envious of our speed or travel, and after they caught up to us, they had a blast hooking their legs over our mattress to be carried along with us. tragically, my sister faith ended up kicking open the air hole on the mattress when she threw her legs over, and i couldnt get to it quickly enough to stop a large amount of air from exiting our party float.
it was humbling to stand in the middle of the river trying to inflate our mattress manually, while all the people we passed floated by. it became quite the spectator sport as i yelled sassy comments at my sister faith who had stolen my umbrella by this time, and the other tubers on the river laughed out loud at the fiest happening in the middle of the river.
eventually we got a bit more air in it, and caught up with faith to retrieve my umbrella/wind sail. away we went, on half the air we started with, but still a much comfier ride than most on the river.
thank you ozark, for creating a mattress so durable and awesome as the one we took down the river... and thank you mary poppins for inventing the umbrella wind sail, and giving our imaginative minds an idea.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
adventures in lil redhottness
sometimes i take for granted what an amazingly fun and adventurous life i live everyday... having hannah and evie staying with me this week has helped remind me of the adventure in my life that i take for granted...
yesterday i had to work, so i gave hannah and evie a crash course (no pun intended) on the quirks of my car, lil redhottness.
yes... that IS her name. wanna see a pic of her?
now... lil redhottness was given to me a couple months ago when my old car broke down. she is not new, and she's got some kinks, but she runs and she was free. when Jesus gives you a free car, you say thank you and suck up your desire to get $10,000 in debt just to have that purty, shiny new model.
she might squeal like nails on a chalkboard when you gas her engine; she might go no more than 20mph up a steep hill... and she might shut off occasionally at a stop sign if you gas the engine and then have to slam on the brakes... but she has character and i love her because she was my answer to prayer.
hannah and evie just stared at me wide-eyed with big smiles and laughs as i told them about her quirks as comically as i could. i ended my schpeel on her quirks with, "she might have some character, girls... but driving her just makes life an adventure. you never quite know what engine sound is gonna make you laugh, who's gonna get to rescue you... or how fast that moped that passes you on that hill, is going!"
when i went to work and they took my car yesterday, i thought they'd have some stories for sure... but man! i didnt anticipate how much enjoyment they'd find in their adventures that day.
when i saw them after work, they couldnt get their stories out fast enough. as they told me their stories about lil redhottness, i couldnt stop laughing. i watched with glee as the girls bubbled over with excitement, and i loved seeing my world - my daily transportation routine in lil redhottness - through their eyes.
as hannah and evie laughed and told me their stories, i looked at hannah and i could picture her in a couple months... running full speed into the compound in kenya, so excited to tell everyone her stories from the day! i thought about how i did the same thing, seeing everything as an adventure, and watching my friend daniel's amused expression as he heard his world, his daily environment, described through my eyes.
to see our lives through another person's eyes brings such a fresh joy and a new reminder of the blessings we can sometimes take for granted.
there are adventures to be experienced all around us, everyday. find the adventure, ya'll... it's right under your nose.
yesterday i had to work, so i gave hannah and evie a crash course (no pun intended) on the quirks of my car, lil redhottness.
yes... that IS her name. wanna see a pic of her?
now... lil redhottness was given to me a couple months ago when my old car broke down. she is not new, and she's got some kinks, but she runs and she was free. when Jesus gives you a free car, you say thank you and suck up your desire to get $10,000 in debt just to have that purty, shiny new model.
she might squeal like nails on a chalkboard when you gas her engine; she might go no more than 20mph up a steep hill... and she might shut off occasionally at a stop sign if you gas the engine and then have to slam on the brakes... but she has character and i love her because she was my answer to prayer.
hannah and evie just stared at me wide-eyed with big smiles and laughs as i told them about her quirks as comically as i could. i ended my schpeel on her quirks with, "she might have some character, girls... but driving her just makes life an adventure. you never quite know what engine sound is gonna make you laugh, who's gonna get to rescue you... or how fast that moped that passes you on that hill, is going!"
when i went to work and they took my car yesterday, i thought they'd have some stories for sure... but man! i didnt anticipate how much enjoyment they'd find in their adventures that day.
when i saw them after work, they couldnt get their stories out fast enough. as they told me their stories about lil redhottness, i couldnt stop laughing. i watched with glee as the girls bubbled over with excitement, and i loved seeing my world - my daily transportation routine in lil redhottness - through their eyes.
as hannah and evie laughed and told me their stories, i looked at hannah and i could picture her in a couple months... running full speed into the compound in kenya, so excited to tell everyone her stories from the day! i thought about how i did the same thing, seeing everything as an adventure, and watching my friend daniel's amused expression as he heard his world, his daily environment, described through my eyes.
to see our lives through another person's eyes brings such a fresh joy and a new reminder of the blessings we can sometimes take for granted.
there are adventures to be experienced all around us, everyday. find the adventure, ya'll... it's right under your nose.
dog... food?
my friend michael's sister, hannah, will be going to kenya in the fall to intern with a ton of my friends here in reno. she wanted to come visit michael and meet many of the people she'll be living and serving with, so she and her sister came to visit, and are staying with me for the week.
we all hit it off right away, and we pretty much just laugh the entire we're together.
i had lunch with them today at a vietnamese noodlehouse here in reno that i like to frequent. it's called Pho 777. i love it, and they'd never had it before, so off we went on my lunch break!
they loved the food, and i was so glad i got to experience their first time eating pho!
i think we were about halfway through our lunch, and i stopped chewing, staring in horror at some patrons behind evie. she turned around to look at what i was staring at, and i had to hold back my gag reflex. there, on the table behind her, was a dog in a little pink purse, sitting right next to his master's place setting while she ate.
now, i know very well that people eat around their pets all the time... no worries. i get that... but seriously! at a restaurant? i swallowed laboriously as hannah asked what was wrong. i pointed at what i saw...
i was stunned. "larry always told me vietnamese people eat dogs, but i never thought i'd ever see one on the table in a pho restaurant!"
hannah erupted in laughter, as i looked at her mockingly and said "what? dont laugh... we're gonna die, eating here... why are they letting animals in here? OMIGOSH!"
she gasped for air, and said "hope... that's a My Little Pony set... not a dog!" to which i also erupted in laughter as i realized my imagination had run wild...
for the record, paris hilton and her little purse puppies have now ruined my ability to eat with confidence at a public establishment...
we all hit it off right away, and we pretty much just laugh the entire we're together.
i had lunch with them today at a vietnamese noodlehouse here in reno that i like to frequent. it's called Pho 777. i love it, and they'd never had it before, so off we went on my lunch break!
they loved the food, and i was so glad i got to experience their first time eating pho!
i think we were about halfway through our lunch, and i stopped chewing, staring in horror at some patrons behind evie. she turned around to look at what i was staring at, and i had to hold back my gag reflex. there, on the table behind her, was a dog in a little pink purse, sitting right next to his master's place setting while she ate.
now, i know very well that people eat around their pets all the time... no worries. i get that... but seriously! at a restaurant? i swallowed laboriously as hannah asked what was wrong. i pointed at what i saw...
i was stunned. "larry always told me vietnamese people eat dogs, but i never thought i'd ever see one on the table in a pho restaurant!"
hannah erupted in laughter, as i looked at her mockingly and said "what? dont laugh... we're gonna die, eating here... why are they letting animals in here? OMIGOSH!"
she gasped for air, and said "hope... that's a My Little Pony set... not a dog!" to which i also erupted in laughter as i realized my imagination had run wild...
for the record, paris hilton and her little purse puppies have now ruined my ability to eat with confidence at a public establishment...
Thursday, July 2, 2009
hope: the human chipmunk
a while ago i got a tooth pulled... three years ago, to be exact. it sucked, but needed to be done. i was told eventually i'd need to get it replaced with an implant, and this year is the year to do it.
did you know that without your teeth and roots and nerves, your jaw will recede away to nothing? its true. and that's what started happening with mine. it was like a little river stone being eaten away by the current... of saliva maybe? i dunno... but apparently gums attack bone if there is no tooth there.
so... i went in on thursday afternoon to get a bone graft to build up some of my jaw bone where i got the tooth pulled. just around the time i'd gotten used to the idea of having a piece of a dead person's mandible grafted into my jaw, i was told it was going to be a bit more "extensive" of a procedure...
the doc said "we need to take some of your own jaw bone from the back of your mouth, and graft it in there as well, to encourage cell growth", and i stopped breathing. my jaw bone? no one mentioned pieces of MY jaw being used for this graft. put me under... knock me out right now, cuz i'm not sitting through this while i'm awake, i thought.
ya... queue my freakout session. normally people are put under, via IV sedatives for the whole "let us saw off a few pieces of your jaw bone and then put a few screws in there, too" part of a dental visit.
now... i'm not good with pain. i stub my toe and it's the end of the world... just ask anyone who knows me. so, needless to say i was a wee bit anxious when i heard about the bone saw part.
the hygenist said "would you like some nitris?" and before she got the words out, i'd pretty much strapped on the awkward nose piece myself, breathing is as deeply as possible before she numbed me up with a five inch needle. my doc came over and sat down when i was numb and said "sorry, you're gonna get to listen to my bad jokes for a good long while today", to which i waved my ipod in front of his face and stuck my earphones in.
as he worked away for the next hour and a half, i thought it was pretty ironic that i was listening to Armageddon, the movie, on my ipod. about the time they were drilling three screws into my jaw to hold my bone graft in place, bruce willis was drilling through an asteroid to save the earth.
after four pieces of my jaw, some cadaver bone, the gums being retracted away from four or five of my lower teeth, and three screws being drilled around the bone graft like a tent to hold my gums back when they were sewn back around my teeth, i was the concern of every woman in the office as i staggered to my feet when they were done. i glanced at my hugely swollen jaw and cracked and bleeding lips, thinking "im so glad i am still numb and can't feel anything". i was not a pretty sight, and i headed to faith's house so she could take care of me.
i was too much of a wuss to look at what they did in my mouth, but i needed to know whether i would need the vicodin prescription after the novocaine wore off. i showed faith, and her sharp intake of breath and "uh... yeah. you'll want those pills" had me on the phone with the pharmacy pronto.
i never take strong drugs... but man did i realize what they mean when they say they can be addictive. it was hell one minute with the novocation wearing off, and heaven the next when the vicodin kicked in. beautiful... just beautiful.
so... now i'm just waiting for the swelling to go down. i'm off the vicodine and onto a low dose of anti-inflammatory drugs, hoping to be able to go in public again soon. i'm afraid if i walk outside, children will scream and run away, and old ladies will gasp in horror at the sight of my abnormally large and distended jaw and cheek.
that's me... the human chipmunk.
did you know that without your teeth and roots and nerves, your jaw will recede away to nothing? its true. and that's what started happening with mine. it was like a little river stone being eaten away by the current... of saliva maybe? i dunno... but apparently gums attack bone if there is no tooth there.
so... i went in on thursday afternoon to get a bone graft to build up some of my jaw bone where i got the tooth pulled. just around the time i'd gotten used to the idea of having a piece of a dead person's mandible grafted into my jaw, i was told it was going to be a bit more "extensive" of a procedure...
the doc said "we need to take some of your own jaw bone from the back of your mouth, and graft it in there as well, to encourage cell growth", and i stopped breathing. my jaw bone? no one mentioned pieces of MY jaw being used for this graft. put me under... knock me out right now, cuz i'm not sitting through this while i'm awake, i thought.
ya... queue my freakout session. normally people are put under, via IV sedatives for the whole "let us saw off a few pieces of your jaw bone and then put a few screws in there, too" part of a dental visit.
now... i'm not good with pain. i stub my toe and it's the end of the world... just ask anyone who knows me. so, needless to say i was a wee bit anxious when i heard about the bone saw part.
the hygenist said "would you like some nitris?" and before she got the words out, i'd pretty much strapped on the awkward nose piece myself, breathing is as deeply as possible before she numbed me up with a five inch needle. my doc came over and sat down when i was numb and said "sorry, you're gonna get to listen to my bad jokes for a good long while today", to which i waved my ipod in front of his face and stuck my earphones in.
as he worked away for the next hour and a half, i thought it was pretty ironic that i was listening to Armageddon, the movie, on my ipod. about the time they were drilling three screws into my jaw to hold my bone graft in place, bruce willis was drilling through an asteroid to save the earth.
after four pieces of my jaw, some cadaver bone, the gums being retracted away from four or five of my lower teeth, and three screws being drilled around the bone graft like a tent to hold my gums back when they were sewn back around my teeth, i was the concern of every woman in the office as i staggered to my feet when they were done. i glanced at my hugely swollen jaw and cracked and bleeding lips, thinking "im so glad i am still numb and can't feel anything". i was not a pretty sight, and i headed to faith's house so she could take care of me.
i was too much of a wuss to look at what they did in my mouth, but i needed to know whether i would need the vicodin prescription after the novocaine wore off. i showed faith, and her sharp intake of breath and "uh... yeah. you'll want those pills" had me on the phone with the pharmacy pronto.
i never take strong drugs... but man did i realize what they mean when they say they can be addictive. it was hell one minute with the novocation wearing off, and heaven the next when the vicodin kicked in. beautiful... just beautiful.
so... now i'm just waiting for the swelling to go down. i'm off the vicodine and onto a low dose of anti-inflammatory drugs, hoping to be able to go in public again soon. i'm afraid if i walk outside, children will scream and run away, and old ladies will gasp in horror at the sight of my abnormally large and distended jaw and cheek.
that's me... the human chipmunk.
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