Superman Returns

Thanks to free tickets again from my company, we were able to enjoy Superman Returns this afternoon while Nathan's aunt Grace (from Mexico) babysat. I know there's some mixed reviews out there, but I really enjoyed it. I loved the 1978 version with Christopher Reeve and the 2nd one. Let's forget that they ever made Superman III and IV! Brandon Routh did a great job....I think we can safely say the torch is passed from Christopher to Brandon. It was smart that Bryan Singer got a nobody to play that part...what were they thinking considering Nicholas Cage, Josh Hartnett, Ashton Kutcher and Brendan Fraser?? Some may say there wasn't much of character development, but what's there to develop? We all know them and the story. I can tell they didn't want to do too much and overdo the plot or dialogue (especially after 20 years) and to maybe respect the other versions. Kevin Spacey definitely played Lex Luther more darker than Gene Hackman. The CGI was amazing and very realistic...more realistic than Spiderman....it really looked like he was flying in space, not some animation. Loved how they got Marlon Brando in the film. And of course, the music is what tops it off and makes it Superman. I'm so glad they kept John William's original score in there...he's such a brilliant composer and artist...he always creates and captures the scenes perfectly. If you enjoy these Marvel comic films and enjoyed the old Superman movies, I would recommend that you see this in the theater.

We saw the trailer for Spiderman 3 and it looks awesome!! May 4th, 2007 is too far away!

Floppy Ear

So, Nathan was born with both ears flopped over. The left side came up after a week, but his right side is still flopped over. Doctors told us he's missing some cartilage, so hopefully it'll go up on its own. Other option is to do reconstructive surgery if it's important to us, but we won't go there. I talked to a mother at church who told me her son's ears were the exact same way. Everybody told her to massage it and to keep rubbing it so that it'll come up, but those Korean myths don't work (you have no idea how many Koreans have told us to do this). One day, her son's ears came up on its own when he came home from college! I hope we don't have to wait that long, but there's hope. The wise advice we got from her was to not make a big deal out of it so that he doesn't think there's something wrong with him. Somebody once told us he looks cute because it gives him character.....guess that's one way of looking at it.

Visit with Dan's Niece

Dan's niece is here from New Mexico visiting for 2 weeks (Dan's oldest sister's daughter). I can't believe she's already 11. She was our flower girl in our wedding and she was only 6 years old. Time really flies by.

Enjoying the gazebo and pond in our development.

Nathan trying to climb the steps. Waiting for the day when he starts walking up the steps without our help.

Rachel feeding Nathan some yogurt. Cute!

Nathan waiting for Rachel to pick out her Build-A-Bear while playing with his toy cell phone. Wow, those bears can be costly!!

Welcome Home

Here’s a review of a CD I just got and recommend for those who like this kind of genre:


Brian Littrell: “Welcome Home” – Brian Littrell was a Backstreet Boy and has put out his first solo album as a Christian album. Artists who usually record an album for the Christian market usually gets a little skepticism as people question their motives. However, I read an interview/article with him stating that he went into Christian music because it was about the message, not the sales. He’s shown his sincerity and heartfelt praise to God in the past. The music is exceptional on this CD. He has such a warm and passionate voice like a Sunday worship leader, yet it’s mixed with that pop voice of someone who’s a seasoned artist. There is a beautiful ballad (“Wish”) speaking about how wonderful it would have been to see Jesus as He was growing up and fulfilling God’s plan. There’s an emotional song about a mother searching for her son in the aftermath of 9/11 (“Gone Without Goodbye”). There’s also some great R&B/jazz songs and an a cappella version of “Jesus Loves You” with Take 6 and an intro from his 3 year old. Those of you who like boy bands and enjoyed the Backstreet Boys (I’ll admit it, I did like them!) will enjoy this album that’s long overdue. In a time where adult Christian contemporary pop music is declining, this album just may keep the genre going. Welcome home Brian.

Suffering

I came across this from Pastor Paul Tripp's blog about his daughter's terrible accident. She was crushed against the wall of a pub on the streets of Philly by an SUV (see link below). He was the speaker at this year's Heart & Mind Conference at Jubilee Presbyterian Church. Some of you may be more familiar with his brother's work, Ted Tripp who wrote "Shepherding a Child's Heart". As I read this, I was thinking about what I was going through when my parents refused to see us for the past 17 months and the problems we had with our next door neighbor. What I went through is nothing in comparison to what his family will be going through in the next few years. I'm reminded that in the midst of suffering and pain, Christ is the One who is with us. He has suffered more than anything we will ever go through. Because of that, He understands us and will never turn his back on us.

"Suffering transports you beyond the boundaries of your reason and your control. It forces you to respond to what you do not understand and to react to what you did not plan. It frustrates our love for comfort and ease. It denies us the order and predictability that we tend to expect. Suffering doesn't submit to our desires and it does not cooperate with our plans. Suffering is a kidnapper that comes into our lives, blindfolds us, and takes us to where we do not want to be.

But suffering is not just a kidnapper, it is also a teacher. Suffering teaches you that life in this broken world is frought with danger. It warns you that physical things are weak and impermanent. It points you to the fact that there is little that you actually control. It instructs you as to where reliable comfort and sturdy hope can be found. Like a patient teacher with a resisitant student, suffering pries open your hands and asks you to let go of your life. Suffering invites you to find security, rest, hope, and comfort in Another, and in so doing, assaults the irrrationality of personal sovereignty that is the delusion of every human being. In that way, suffering is not just a kidnapper, and not just a teacher, it is also a liberator. Suffering frees us to experience a deeper comfort and hope than we have ever had before. The problem is that we don't always want to be free. Even in difficulty, we fight to retain what suffering shows we didn't have in the first place.

Pray that we will not fight, that we will be good students, and that we will celebrate our freedom even in the midst of exhaustion and pain."

Excerpt from http://www.nicolenews.blogspot.com by Paul D. Tripp; June 11, 2006.

18 Month Appt

So we went to Nathan’s 18 month appt yesterday and he’s growing very healthy. 32.5” for height (55th percentile), 22 lb for weight (10th percentile) and 18” head circumference (10th percentile). I was a bit sad because he was always in the 90th percentile for height, but the doctor assured me that toddlers will slow down their growth dramatically in the 2nd year and not grow as fast as they did in the 1st year. The doctor that we always request at the practice is only a Physician’s Assistant, but she’s the nicest and most thorough one there out of all the doctors and P.A’s (I wish I had her as my own doctor!). I love how she explains everything to us and as she’s checking him, she gives an update (ex. good heartbeat, strong lungs, great reflexes, softspot on his head is now closed, straight spine, etc.) I hated it when the other doctors checked him and didn’t say anything and I would have to ask if everything was ok. Nathan of course screamed the whole time while she was checking him and giving him the shots, so we had to hold him in our lap. He just started crying as soon as we put him on that table….for some reason he just knew it was going to be time for a checkup when he sat there. This may sound awful, but while he was getting his shots, he just looks so cute when he opens his mouth for a few seconds before the blood-curling scream comes out. Then a few seconds later as I hold him, he stops crying and these tears are still streaming down his face as he starts to smile. Sometimes I think he’s actually crying because we’re holding him down, not because of the actual needle. He always hated being restrained….even as an infant, he hated being swaddled.

Picture is a bit old from Easter, but I haven’t posted one in a while. He loves to hold his pencil during service. I need to get Dan to upload more recent pictures from his camera!

Boss is Back

So my manager in our Dallas office took a 7 week sabbatical from work. I thought it would have been an easy 7 weeks, but boy was I wrong. It's always fun when the boss isn't around, but I think this was the most stressful 7 weeks. I never thought I would say this, but I was actually looking forward to our boss coming back to work. Personality conflicts, power trips, control issues all came into play with our department. What makes it more difficult is that our department is spreadout between myself, Dallas and San Diego office. Unfortunately I saw some real ugly sides to some of my co-workers who were not getting along with each other. It got so bad that I heard they called our boss at his home to deal with this problem. What a mess. He had left me in charge of certain things and all I have to say is that I'm glad I'm not in a managerial position. I never realized how many questions he answers and all the things he's responsible for. Too stressful! Guess that's why they get paid the big bucks. I'm so thankful that he's back today to take back control of everything and put the responsibility back on him! I know people may think I'm not ambitious in my career because I don't want to move up the ladder and go into management, but I'm really comfortable at where I am. I have no desire to be in that high position with the high stress level and responsibility on you. I prefer to do the work and detail. It helps that I have a boss who's not a control freak, who's very laid back and trusts me with my work.

TV Junkie

So, Comcast Cable decided to change our entire channel lineup this week with only 1 day’s notice. I was so upset because now I have to memorize all the channels all over again and not know which channel is what off the top of my head. Then I started thinking about how much TV I’ve been watching…..I’m such a TV addict and junkie. If it were up to me, I could just sit there and watch TV all night (Nick At Nite & TBS is one of my favorites). I realized if somebody asked me to give up my TV, I would absolutely die! I even have to have it on as background noise when I’m doing other things around the house. Maybe I feel that way about TV because it was restricted from me when I was a kid (my parents used to physically lock up our TV to limit our watching). Or maybe I have to watch certain new shows so that I know what's going on in the entertainment world and pop culture. I guess I'll feel like I'm left out if I don't know what people are talking about, especially at work. This is part of my insecurities growing up as I was never in the "popular" or "in" group and always felt left out of everything. In the end, does it really matter who won on American Idol, who won on the Apprentice or what happened on Lost or Grey's Anatomy?

I realized how little time I spend on reading God’s Word…some days I go without even reading it (so bad), yet I spend 10 times more of my time on watching TV then meditating. I need to pray about this because I don’t want Nathan to become a TV junkie as kids learn from example. I guess the lesson here is not to give up TV completely, but that TV in moderation is ok as I still am going to watch my favorite shows. But when it gets to the point where I'm neglecting other duties as a mother or wife, then I need to take a step back. Guess it's good that it's the summer months now so there's not much on TV to watch except reruns!

Four

Since I was tagged by yellowinter!

1. Four Jobs:
a. Bank Teller
b. Piano & Organ Accompanist
c. Financial Analyst
d. Operations Analyst

2. Four Things I Wish I Had Done Earlier In My Life:
a. Traveled a lot more than once a year before we had Nathan
b. Read more books
c. Spent more time loving the people around me
d. Had better self esteem and be more confident in myself

3. Four Places I Have Lived:
a. Doylestown, PA
b. New Britain, PA
c. Grantham, PA (outside of Harrisburg during college)
d. North Wales, PA

4. Four Countries I Have Been To:
a. Italy
b. France
c. Spain
d. England

5. Four Countries I Would Like to Visit:
a. Austria
b. Italy again
c. Anywhere in the Caribbean
d. Switzerland

6. Four of My Favorite Dishes:
a. Shabu Shabu
b. Anything seafood, except oysters
c. Soondooboo Jigae
d. Sushi

7. Four Sites I Visit Daily:
a. Yahoo
b. Friend’s blogs
c. MSNBC
d. TV Guide

8. Four Software Applications I Cannot Live Without:
a. Internet Explorer
b. Microsoft Excel
c. Quicken
d. Microsoft Outlook (for work)

9. Four Things I'll Never Forget:
a. Our dating saga
b. Proposal
c. Wedding & House Settlement within 1 week of each other
d. Pregnancy and Nathan’s birth

Jammin' @ Ikea

So, we went to Dan’s cousin’s house on Memorial Day and they had this cute kid’s table & chair set. Nathan really enjoyed sitting on it and drawing, so we decided we should get one for him too. So we headed out to Ikea in Conshohocken last night. He was such a good boy! We were shopping for almost 2 hours and he didn’t even complain sitting in the stroller the whole time! Well, while Dan was shopping around, they had a live Jazz band there in the café, so I decided to take Nathan there (I didn’t know Ikea had live bands there…they were really good!) He really enjoyed it and bounced up and down a few times to the music. What amazed me was that he was clapping to the beat to 2 different songs! Hopefully he’s inherited Dan’s rhythmic beat and my musical ear….I’ve already started teaching him how to play the piano…well, banging on the piano is probably more like it at this point! I can’t wait for him to get a bit older and take him to those family concerts at the Kimmel Center. Of course, if he decides he’s not interested in music later on, I won’t push it, but a little culture doesn’t hurt, right?!!