Making pearls

There are two ways to make a pearl.

The first one happens when an oyster gets something irritating up inside its shell. And it rubs and rubs, and eventually it forms hard layers of coating, and out of what was painful and broken and scarring comes something valuable. Priceless.

The second way pearls are made is when people plant a "seed" inside an oyster's shell. A little chunk of mother-of-pearl. Clamshell. Not really pearl, but not really an offensive material, either. And it rubs and rubs. And forms its coating. And then it is harvested and sold.

Both are pearls. And the second is generally prettier than the first.

But I still like the first better.

what do i have to say?

Not much. Here are some things:

I like doing things in pairs. For me, two heads are not just better than one, they are practically necessary.

I'm playing guitar for church this week.

Shaun Groves has a very sick little boy.

I'm doing a lot of work at the store. We're still going for an October 1 open date, but it'll be tough.

That's all for now. I'm going to go eat a piece of pizza.

Beautiful

When you laugh and no one is watching. You are beautiful.
When you are lost in music, dancing. You are beautiful.
When you think hard, all on your own. You are beautiful.
When you care without thinking. You are beautiful.
When you can’t wait. You are beautiful.

When you know you’re a princess. You are beautiful.
When you know you’re the best. You are beautiful.
When you weren’t the one picked to win, but you did. You are beautiful.
When you let yourself shine out. You are beautiful.

When you’re hurt, but you keep swinging. You are beautiful.
When the air tears your lungs, but you keep breathing. You are beautiful.
When you know you’re broken, but you persist. You are beautiful.
When you know you’re beaten, and you cry out. You are beautiful.
When you really listen. You are beautiful.
When peace comes in sleep. You are beautiful.
When you teach me how to be. You are beautiful.

when you're hurt but you keep swinging
when you're down but you start singing
as long as you can pour it out it proves you're full
you're beautiful
you're beautiful
when you are beautiful

Today/Fish Update

Today I have a cold.

I am taking Zicam to try and shorten it, and lessen its effects.

"Zicam: Mmm.. Zinc-y!"

In other news...

Fish update

My fish died like, two months ago. Thanks for taking an interest in current events, everybody! Like you even care.. YOU NEVER EVEN REALLY LOVED HIM AT ALL!

I am also taking some other things for my cold.*

*But nothing that really explains this post.

Did I mention?

Did I mention to anyone that I was playing a show last month?

Not on this blog, I didn't. Writing here is starting to become a semi-annual affair. Things have been insane in these shrinking days of late summer... School has started, and now we're up to 3 kids in the mix. This means a dearth of "back-to-school" and "meet-the-teacher" and sundry other "time-consuming" and "overly-hyphenated" engagements.

We're not big on over-commitment (dang! there's another one!) around here. In fact, we have a rule that each kid only gets to do one thing (band, scouts, ballet, baseball, etc...). This year, everybody has a thing, but I don't think the dizzying pace will continue once we get all this other "first-of-the-year" stuff out of the way.

Did I mention Matthew was in band? Well, he is. He opted out of scouts. He wanted to play the drums (and I was totally psyched, because I felt that this was going to be the final nail in the coffin of justification that would allow me to buy a drum kit).. but it turns out you can't play percussion unless you've had two years of piano. :-p Stupid rules... So instead, he's playing trumpet. And really, I'm just as pleased. I think I'm probably going to end up learning to play the trumpet, too. : ]]

In addition to their "one thing," the boys have just started "bible bowl." Now, I realize that "one thing" plus "one other thing" is two things.. my math really isn't that bad.. but this is one thing that I've made them participate in, so it doesn't count.

Bible Bowl, for those readers too cool to know, is like Quiz Bowl. Except your only text is the bible.

Did I mention my kids are going to end up stuffed in a locker?

Ha! I kid! I know it sounds like a one-way ticket to Stuffville, but it really isn't. I should know, I did it from 7th grade to 12th, and never once spent time on the inside. Of course, I also spent 4 years on the wresting team. But maybe that can be their "one thing" later on. : )

Busy or not, I think Band 'n' Bowl are going to make for a good year. Obviously, I love the band stuff--I think I was almost as excited as Matthew about getting the trumpet. We're going to have a good time with that. And I'm glad to have the opportunity to dig through the bible with the boys. There's a lot in there that I want to share with them, and I'm not a huge fan of "Dr. Goodbody's 10 Step Devotions for the Young Man in All of Us" or whatever. Jesus said some cool stuff. Best to let him.

Phew! I'm going to stop now. There's plenty more, but if I keep mentioning one more thing, this will become a semi-annual novella, instead of a blog. Emma started ballet again.. Deb is chewing her way into the last year of college.. Hunting season has begun.. Work is still good.. Opening a furniture store within the month.. and if you want more details on that show I played, you can find them here.