"On the Road Again...

...like a band of gypsies we go down the highway."

Well, in our case, it's not exactly a highway. It's six airplanes, followed by a 5-day highway trek across the US. We could have gotten there in four airplanes, but decided to take some decompression time in Waikiki on the way home.

It's always something to watch your belongings packed up into boxes, and packed into crates, and then loaded on a truck. It's amazing that despite moving 8300 pounds of stuff away, we are managing just fine with the four plates and saucepan that we kept behind while we wait for our scheduled departure.

I learned something new...

Yesterday, I learned something new about my host country. When you park on the street in a parking spot that's been delineated by white borders, you have to pay to park there.

I guess it's like having a parking meter there to shove quarters into, but it was just different having a Korean man approach me and try to explain this to me, when the only word I really understood was "Musso" (which is the name of my car -- kind of like someone would use "Accord" or "Mustang").

Well, problem solved thanks to a little explanation by a store owner who spoke good English. The price? 1,000 Korean Won per half hour - about $1.10.

Time for some new art work

Well, despite being too busy to think most days, I took some time this Wednesday to attend my art class. This art class is held every week, but I have only found time to attend three times in the past two and one-half months. But, I am going on an extended trip starting next week, and I wanted to finish two paintings that I had been working on. I HATE to have unfinished projects hanging over me (which should tell you how happy I am going to be in about 6 weeks when I can say I've finished my graduate project and exams, and am just waiting for graduation!)

So, here's the debut of these two new paintings. The one featured here was inspired by a photo of a hibiscus bloom that I took while vacationing in Hawaii in November, taken outside our beach cabin at Pililaau Armed Forces Recreation Center in the town of Waianae on Oahu. It is a departure in subject matter for me. I've now painted four paintings, three of which have been landscapes. This is the first time I've stepped out of that subject matter.

The other painting has been added to my sidebar. It depicts Kimchi pots on a roof top. Anyone who's been to Korea will instantly recognize this icon of Korean life. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of experiencing Kimchi, you can read more about it here. But, truly, kimchi is not something that you can truly know until you have tasted it. (As an aside, I had the best cabbage kimchi that I have ever tasted this week at the home of a friend, Lee JooYeon, who is the wife of our chaplain. Like many things, the store-bought kimchi pales in comparison to that made at home with love.) If this painting looks familiar, it's because I posted an in-progress look at it before during this post on January 15th.

Encouraged by my teacher, Mrs. Shim JungAe, I am entering both into the local military fine arts exhibition and competition that will take place late April through early May.

No, not a blog party, a pity party!

Okay, the fact that my good friend Cheri actually posted a link to my near-dead blog has embarrassed me into posting.

Why no posts last month? I just didn't have the energy. Princess Pea was sick 3 out of 4 weeks of February (stomach flu, cold, ear infection in that order). So, every shred of energy that I had was pouring into taking care of a sick toddler, then trying to arrest the chaos that my home was descending into, then trying to finish my graduate project (now only 5 weeks to go until the deadline). No energy left for personal blogging.

Plus, what time I did dedicate for the internet didn't suit itself for posting to the blog -- you see, often when I try to access blogger, even when I'm logged in, everything displays in Hangul (the Korean language). It makes it really hard to post. I can't do anything except click on the orange button, which I can usually remember means "publish."

Okay, pity party over. Now let's resume blogging...

Colored by Perfectionism

I hope that this post makes you laugh, because I'm not sure whether I should laugh or cry about this revelation.

I think that many of those who know me understand that I am a Type-A perfectionist. I struggle with it daily -- it AND all the things that go with it. (See also procrastination below.)

I am doing a bible study with PWOC entitled "Wives of the Warriors" by Ronda Sturgill. This week we studied many aspects of God's grace to us as believers. The foundation verse for this chapter was 1 Corinthians 15:10:

By the grace of God I am what I am and His grace to me was not without effect.

So, perfectionist me, looking through her perfectionist glasses, reads this verse as saying this: God made Paul the great man he was through an act of grace (yes, I remember the story from Sunday School about the Road to Damascus.). If I seek out God’s grace and He gives it to me, then He will make me like Paul. He will change me into a new creation and work great things through me like the conversion of half the ancient world to Christianity and writing a large portion of the New Testament. (You are also getting a glimpse of something else I struggle with, which I will deal with in a later post – can you guess what it is? HINT: It’s one of the seven deadly sins.)

Well, at least I got the new creation part right. But imagine my embarrassment that, despite reading this verse every day this week, I seem to have MISSED THE WHOLE POINT.

It wasn’t just embarrassment, it was also relief. He doesn’t want me to be Paul (phew… ‘cause those are some big sandals to fill).

By His grace, he made me who I am right now. He gave me the gifts and the foibles that make me uniquely me. He didn’t intend for me to be anything else that what I am now. I am not a disappointment to Him.

This is why we need to study and discuss scripture with those around us. Equally as amazing to me is that God’s plan for me included this misunderstanding, so that I might better understand myself.

I am a procrastinator...

There, I said it.

Can I tell you how many more important things I have to do right now? What is wrong with me? I don't remember that I used to be this way.

So, today, I mailed four boxes that should have been mailed in DECEMBER. I wish that I could say that completes my holiday mailing, but NO! I have at least two more boxes to send out.

I have been kidding myself, saying that I am just eating the elephant one bite at a time, but really, things are getting ridiculous here.

So, what is my brilliant plan to combat this? Today, I was reading a book review on a book called "The NOW Habit." Do I really think that I need to spend more time reading (and thereby less time doing?) Hmmmm......

For now, I'm just going to sleep on it.

Long Absences

Well, as I sit down to write this, it's nearly 1:30pm and I am just enjoying my morning coffee. As you can see, I am running a little behind.

I want to apologize for my absence here. After we got through the grief associated with losing Brian Allgood, we launched headlong into grief and dispair over the dismissal of our nanny. This was followed immediately by the inevitable, Murphy-worthy illness of Princess Pea, which is still underway.

All of these conspired to keep me intensely focused on the happenings and feelings within the four walls of our home. I have completly shut out even important external events, like the birthdays of both of Princess Pea's grandmothers. I simply haven't had the energy for introspection. Getting through the rigors of the day seemed overwhelming, and I often collapsed on the bed at the end of the day, wondering how I was going to get through the next one.

Today, it seems that the fog is lifting a bit. So, now seemed like the time to get back at the task of sharing details and thoughts with you. Please forgive that it has taken this long to get back here.