Micah's 10th Birthday

Talk

I talked to my sister and parents on the phone this morning. We talked about the Myers Briggs test that tells you what personality type you are. A lot of people know their letters and apparently that is fun. So I decided I would take the test online and find out what I am. I was only two letters mostly and 1% of two other letters. I was going to memorize the letters, but now I only remember that I am an "I" and "J". For some, that says a lot. For others, that means nothing. I am one of those that it means nothing to. All I know is that "I" is for introvert.

Today we watched our friends' kids all day long. I took the kids to the park first thing, hoping to help get some energy out. They are in to pillow fighting right now, so I wanted to help tone that down by being outside a bit. The boys played with sticks the whole time and the girl found a rock and made it her friend. It was all fine until her rock pushed her off the swing. She landed on her back, but she was okay.

Later, I took the girl to the market with our friend. We had lunch, did some shopping, got money, and then she had ice cream. What amazed me is that my little friend talked the WHOLE time we were out. She must be an "E". While she and our friends ate ice cream, the little beggar kids watched them through the glass store front. It was too much for my little friend to take. She ended up giving them half her ice cream and the coke she had left over from lunch. I thought the beggar kids would share, but they didn't. There were 5 of them and only two items.

Steve took the boys out to the sports area and I stayed with my little friend. She watched a movie while I did my P90X. Then it was time to find something to do. After the movie she started talking again. She talked about her rock and how excited she was to get home to paint it. So I decided it was time to take her home. She played in her room while I read the paper. And she talked. She talked to her rock. She talked to herself. And she just talked on and on.

I would guess that my little friend talked for 5 hours today. I wonder how many words that is. I am in awe of how she can entertain herself with her rock and how she can have so much to talk about. I tried to match her talking but really just ran out of things to say. I blame it on being an "IJ".

Set Apart

I don't know the statistics, but my guess is that the majority of people have sex before or outside of marriage. Even people who talk about how important it is to wait for marriage have had sex before marriage. The biggest group to talk against sex outside of marriage is the Church. But even in the church there is a growing population of those who have not heeded this advice. So is it just that the world has changed and that it is not seen as a bad thing anymore? Do people really believe that there is value to wait?

I doubt that any campaign can change the mind of the majority, but I do think that the Church needs to change. I think the Church has been lack in talking about the subject. There were several reasons that I chose to wait for marriage. One is that I was afraid to disappoint my parents. Another is the fear of pregnancy and guilt. But fear is not the only reasons. I also believe that as a Believer, I am set apart for God. I believe the Bible is the word of God and teaches truth. So the Bible teaches that sex outside of marriage is not what God wants for us. So that is the main reason that I chose to wait. I think the church needs to teach this. We are set apart! Special! Loved! And God's plan for our happiness is that we only have sex in a marriage.

P90X week 9

This is my 9th week of the P90X. It hasn't gone well. I started off the week with Micah's birthday cake, for three days. Then I sat in meetings for two days and ate snacks and drank chai and coke. Then I ended the week with two Cinnabon rolls. Last night I was looking at my stomach in the mirror and realized I can't do that anymore. Even though I did the workout, I still ate horribly and it shows. I also felt it, meaning that during the workouts I had no energy. Lesson learned. I will do week 9 over again and hope for better decision making on my eating.

Shorts

Delhi is changing. When we first came to India in 2001, I wore the typical Indian clothes, the sarwar kameez. So did everyone else. I wore it to be sensitive to the culture. I still have some sarwars, but I don't wear them often. I only wear them when I go to places that haven't modernized. I have a few friends who live places like that.

Our old neighborhood knew me as the gym owner and I wore workout clothes a lot. I was coming and going to the gym. I got comfortable wearing t-shirts and sweats (which is my Oregon choice of wear). But the neighborhood was still on the verge of changing from the old way to the new way. You would see a few young college girls wearing western clothes and it was a shock to see a girl in shorts or a dress.

Our new neighborhood is more modern. I would say it is less muslim, which may go hand in hand. Anyway, last night I saw two ladies wearing shorts. And one was a pair of short shorts. Both had been out exercising. But it is still shocking and amazing. So now I feel I have the freedom to wear my long shorts that go below my knees.

As a city changes it brings a lot of growing pains. One such growing pain with shorts is that men are still seeing skin as a sexual excitement. I don't know if women are wearing shorts or dresses as a turn on for men, or if it is comfort. When a lady walks by wearing shorts, the men turn their heads and stare. I'm not sure that added attention is good. And I am still trying to figure out if my long shorts are okay or if I am an old woman who should wear the old clothes.

Shopping

I am probably one of the worst shoppers. My cupboards are bare, proof that I don't do shopping. Well, not completely bare. There is oatmeal, chocolate milk powder, some ramen noodles and thai sauce.

I just came back from the market to buy some food for lunch. The problem is that because of the Common Wealth Games, the stores haven't been getting all their stock. Ramen noodles is one of the things that they haven't been getting. I was planning to make that for lunch, since I already had one packet at home. So instead, I bought some eggs, some chips and candles. Not sure what I will make with them yet.

Plastic shopping bags are now banned in Delhi. If you don't bring your own bag to the store, you may end up having to carry your items. I didn't bring my bag today, but had my big purse. So I had to put my items in my purse. For the walk home, I chose to carry the eggs. Eggs here come in plastic bags. You tell the shop keeper (or his son) how many eggs you want and he puts them in a small plastic bag (I guess those aren't banned).

As a reward for a successful shopping trip, I bought myself a coke. Here's to another successful day tomorrow when hopefully they will have the noodles.

Polish

A few days ago I painted my toenails. I have some polish that I got in Thailand. It is a silvery blue color. The next day my toenails were a shiny pink color. Weird. SO I am today trying another coat of it today and we shall see what happens. Maybe it is a mood polish that changes for whatever mood I am in. What a grand mystery.

earphones

There are a few things that Steve buys a lot of. Shoes, shirts, and earphones for his ipod. Right now, sitting on the shoe rack by the front door, are 4 pairs of tennis shoes. He has so many shirts that there isn't enough room in his small (very small) closet. But the earphones are what could drive him crazy.

Steve has invested in some good quality earphones. I got a little upset that he would spend, what to me is a lot of money, on earphones. They break all the time. But Steve likes comfort, so when he hears of good sound with great comfort, he wants them. So when we were in America he bought some nice earphones. That was less than three months ago. They have now been broken for about a month. He is back to using the old Walkman style headset with added cushion from a handkerchief he wrapped around the ear piece.

He has tried the kind of earphones that you stick farther in your ear, then the kind that are soft and cushy that go around your ear. There is the kind that hook over your ear, or the kind that comes with the ipod that just sits in your ear. Nothing is perfect and nothing seems to last long. In the end, earphones are just plain earitating.

Hair Cut

Today I walked into our bathroom and noticed some strands of hair in the sink, like someone trimmed their hair. The only problem was that they were black hairs and our family doesn't have long black hair. Hmmmm. This doesn't sound good. But I figured out what happened when I noticed more clumps of hair on the ground and saw our hair cutting scissors by the sink.

We had a friend visiting. She is only 6. She has dark hair. So I brought the clumps of hair out to see if she knew where they came from. She said she didn't. She didn't know whose they were. She said she didn't cut her hair, so then I was left baffled. But not all six year olds tell the truth when they do something that they aren't suppose to do. So I asked her to show me where she cut. Sure enough, it was right in front. I thought that if it wasn't obvious that I would just let it slide. But if her parents were to comb her hair for her, they would notice right away.

She asked me not to tell her parents. I told her that I would have to. She begged me. She said that she would get in trouble. So I asked her why she did it. But she didn't know the answer to that. I felt bad that we left the scissors out to tempt her like that, so I tried to think of a solution. I decided that we would just tape the hair back on her head. I had invisible tape, so I thought that would work. I wrapped tape around the strands and then taped it to the cut area. It looked good. I told my friend that I wouldn't tell her parents.

So I just took her home. I thought maybe her parents didn't notice. But her dad asked, "What's in your hair?" At that point I decided to leave. So not sure if they figured out what happened or not. Maybe she came up with a good story.

Food

A wise man once said, "Church is not to feed you, but to make you feel hungry." I agree. We should not be going to church starving for a spiritual feast, but instead, when we walk away from being in church we should be more equipped to feed ourselves.

Now, I for one am always walking away from church hungry. It happens to be at the noon hour so I am anxious for lunch. This week there is a lunch at church. So this will be an exception to the rule. I will leave church full.