Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Church Every Day

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Y’all are savvy enough to know that “church” isn’t a building. And I think you’re also savvy enough to know that “church” isn’t a service that’s held once or twice or more times a week (depending on the size and/or ardor of a particular congregation.)

You know that the “church” is the collection of those called out to Christ from around the world–and that the local church is a smaller subset of the universal church that gathers together for God’s glory and their own mutual encouragement.

Well, for my part, I’m thankful for the church–for Highland Park Evangelical Free particularly, and for this wonderful group of people I have the opportunity to live life on life with.

Thankful Thursday banner

This week I’m thankful for…

…Friday’s coffee shop

Listening as Lori and Jenna played and sang. Sharing computer stories with Eric and Cathy. Laughing with Ruth, Anna, and Laurie. Letting the little girl I’d just met “teach” me how to play “Farkle” (using rules she’d made up on the spot.) Jon’s gracious agreement to take my bike home in the back of his truck. Watching JTT from the comfort of the potato–laughing as one person after another jumped during the “scary” parts of the movie.

…Saturday’s Zoo Expedition

Driving down and chatting with Paige. Pictures of lions and tigers and bears. Gorilla’s giving their best “Blue Steel” impression. Bats in the basement and traversing a swamp.

…Sunday’s service and Party with the Pastors
Not enough time for steaks at my house. Find a way to make the time work. Chinese, Doozy’s? How ’bout party with the pastors? We’ve only been to the “newcomer’s” party a half dozen times. How long can we milk the “new in town” story (since even I have been here nine months)? Jacqueline is new. Truly new. So of course we should party with the pastors–we’ll just go along as “moral support.”

…Monday’s Contentment Conversation
Chilling in Anna’s room. Chatting while I try yet again to make my computer work. Challenging me to humble myself and ask for help. Conversing about Contentment on our way through The Greener Grass Conspiracy.

…Wednesday’s Interview
Meeting Rachel. Meeting Cindy. Sharing my stories. Hearing their affirmation. Passing the child protection process. Preparing for girls to stay with me.

…Wednesday’s “Bible Study”
Hugs from Jana. Hilarious Stories. Pranking Pastor Justin. Better than crack brownies. Hearing each others lives. Laughing a lot. Loving our girls (and Pastor Justin and Jana.)

…Thursday’s Sewing Time
Cutting out dresses. Sewing on yo-yos. Discussing books and football and zoos. Companionable silence. Scissors swishing. Enjoying just being with Taylor.

I can’t even imagine what my life would be like without this church, without these people. They have encouraged me, challenged me, become a part of my everyday life.

I am so thankful for each one of them–for Anna and Ruth and Beth and Jacqueline and Paige and Jasmine and Jenna and Laurie and Jana and Justin and Jon and Kathy and Cathy and Erik and Taylor and…the list goes on and on.

Mostly, I’m thankful for God, for the wonderful thing He did when He put together the church, His body–and the church at Highland Park particularly.

Categories Everyday Life

Bat Dreams

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The music was on, the bedroom was ready to accept coats. Everything was in order, but only one coworker had shown up. I was starting to get nervous–this was, after all, a work Christmas party.

My sister threw open the door and flashed on the lights. I woke with a start.

Oh no–I was late for work. I’d overslept.

I glanced at the clock.

4 am.

No I hadn’t overslept.

“How long have you been awake?” Anna asked.

I was absolutely bewildered. I hadn’t been awake. I’d been dreaming of Christmas parties.

“Can you help me catch a bat?”

The story spilled out. Apparently, Anna had been awakened some time earlier by a whirring sound in her bedroom. I guess she’d started yelling when she realized it was a bat–which is why she’d assumed I’d be awake.

At any rate, I threw on some clothing (extra covering necessary lest said bat be rabid and attempting to bite) and went to catch a bat.

By then, the bat had ceased flying about–and we had a difficult time finding it.

I’d searched the entirety of Anna’s bedroom floor before Anna found it curled up in the track on which the windows slid. It was a motionless ball smaller than a mouse.

Perhaps it was dead, I thought. Which was rather a frightening proposition. If so, we’d have to save it and take it in for rabies testing.

My hands clad in oven mitts, I draped a towel over the semi-prone figure. A whirr of movement I could barely feel beneath the towel and my oven mitts indicated that the bat was still alive.

Now to extract the creature for its cubby.

This was the hard part. I couldn’t feel much through the clumsy oven mitts–and even the towel by itself was difficult to maneuver. The bat was snuggled in between two little runners. How could I get it out without squeezing it to death?

I sent Anna out for a ruler. When she returned, I slid the thin metal ruler under the bat and gently lifted it up, enfolding the ruler and all into my towel.

Outside, some distance from the house, I laid down my package and unwrapped it, standing ready for the animal to fly away.

A few moments and it took off. I dropped my used towels and oven mitts into the washing machine, checked my sister for bite marks (there were none) and made my way back into the world of dreams.

Categories Following Christ, Technology

A call for help

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When Cathy said Erik was caught up in my computer-building drama, I didn’t really believe her. She was just saying that he’d be interested in it because he’s a computer guy–not because he actually is interested in it.

I learned that I was wrong when week after week, Erik asked me how the process was coming along.

When I started having difficulties and issued a general request via Facebook, he was pleased to lend me a DVD player.

When I described how I was moving my files onto my new computer via flash drives because I couldn’t hook both hard drives up and have them read correctly, he chastised me for not calling him for an adapter.

Then the computer troubles I thought I’d resolved began again. The OS that I thought I’d installed properly started giving me problems.

I had to start over–and I wasn’t sure how exactly to start.

“Call Erik,” Ruth urged me. “You heard what he said Friday night–‘If I have diet questions, I call you… If you have computer questions, you call me.'”

I didn’t want to do it.

My pride says I can do everything on my own. My pride resists asking for help. My pride wants to be in control.

“Either you call him, or I’ll call him for you,” Ruth threatened.

My throat started to close up and my eyes started watering. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to ask for help. Didn’t want to admit (until I’d figured out how to solve it on my own) that I was having trouble.

But I knew it wasn’t Ruth’s call to make.

It was mine.

I just had to be willing to humble myself enough to call for help.

I called. We talked. Erik gave some suggestions.

It wasn’t that bad.

It didn’t kill me–only my pride.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Love at Last Sight” by Kerry and Chris Shook

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“I think it’s wonderful–love at first sight,” Alice exclaims with youthful longing as Millie and Adam stand before the parson to be wed in the classic musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” Adam and Millie had known each other for barely an afternoon.

Love at first sight is a thing of dreams, of romance novels and chick flicks.

Love at last sight is an art that requires hard work.

Or so Kerry and Chris Shook posit in their book Love at Last Sight.

I was initially drawn to this book when I read that it was not just about romantic relationships, but about all relationships. I’m somewhat of a lone ranger and I think relationship skills are one of my hugest weaknesses. So I was excited to have a chance to learn some valuable information about building lasting relationships.

What I didn’t bargain on was that the book would assume that you already have some pretty deep long-ish term relationships. In the opening chapter, the authors ask the reader to think of three “key” relationships:

“Now I’m not talking about business acquaintances, casual or distant friends, fourth or fifth cousins. We all have a lot of relationships in our lives–maybe too many–but quite frankly, not all are created equal.”

The problem is, I had a hard time coming up with three “key” relationships–which meant that I also had a hard time following the “30 challenge” aspect of the book.

Because this book is set up to be read in 30 days: 1 short chapter every day. At the end of each chapter, there are questions to journal about and challenges to take to help deepen your closest relationships.

I think this format is likely fantastic for people who can automatically think of at least one or two close relationships that they want to strengthen. The book is divided into four weeks, each with their own theme:

  • Week 1: The Art of Being All There
  • Week 2: The Art of Acting Intentionally
  • Week 3: The Art of Risking Awkwardness
  • Week 4: The Art of Letting Go

To be honest, the writing style in this book reminded me of the relevant-fluff preaching style of many of modern evangelical pastor–which I suppose isn’t really surprising since Kerry (and Chris?–I couldn’t tell if she calls herself a pastor too) is a modern evangelical pastor.

The information is good–and I found some of it quite useful on various occasions (even though I didn’t do the whole “program” as it was intended). For someone who can easily identify their own “key relationships”, I’m sure this book will be even more useful.

A few examples of the Shook’s writing style (and things that stuck out to me):

“The truth of the matter is that being all there is not very efficient….If you’re the type of person who tries to make every minute and second of your waking hours productive, then the relationship work of stopping, focusing on another person, and giving them your time and attention will feel uncomfortable and even wasteful. But if you long for a friendship or marriage where you can share rich memories, secret dreams, and bellyaching laughter, you need to know that this is what it takes. Being fully focused in your relationships isn’t efficient, but here’s the great news: it’s stunningly effective.”
~page 26

“The most important thing to remember in planning activities to implement your vision is that they must be steps into another person’s world. Many people want to be closer to someone in their life, but they’re not willing to move out of their own comfort zone and into the other person’s world to engage in something that person would enjoy.”
~page 86

“First, if you’re the one going through the in-between, you may think, I don’t have much faith, so it’s hard for me to see that I’ll ever be out of this place. Jesus taught us that it’s not the amount of your faith but the object of your faith that matters.”
~page 107

Rating: 3 stars
Category: Relationships
Synopsis:A 30 day program to enrich your closest relationships.
Recommendation: Nothing particularly profound, but I have little doubt that when used as intended (working through day by day with your “key relationships” in mind), this could be life-changing.

**I received this book as part of WaterBrook Multnomah’s Blogging for Books Program. Apart from the free copy of this book, I have received no compensation for my review. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Categories The Week in Words

WiW: Happy Announcement

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The Week in Words

It’s selfish to use Barbara’s Week in Words as a medium for my own excitement-especially after I haven’t participated for several weeks.

But it must be said that all my favorite quotes, filling up yesterday’s Facebook newsfeed, had to do with one particular Happy Announcement.

Status Updates from my family:

“[Little Miss] Menter born at 4:49pm today! 7 1/2 lbs.”
~Mom

“Just watched Auntie Joanna dance upon finding out that [her niece] has hair.”
~Anna

“…Waiting to meet the new arrival. It was a girl, as I rooted for.”
~Joshua

“How am I going to have a niece/nephew football team when the oldest kid is a girl? AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
~John

“I’m an aunt!!”
~Grace

Also numbering among my favorites were the responses of family and friends.

On my sister-in-law’s wall:

“CONGRATS!! I was at the Menter’s house when Dan called Mary! I’m so happy for you guys!! :D Can’t wait to meet your beautiful daughter!”
~Amber

On my brother’s wall:

“Hooray for you. May the Lord give you many more until your quiver is full.”
~Uncle Jim

“[Miss Menter] is about an hour old according to my calculations – and I’m sure she already has her daddy and mommy wrapped around her teeny, tiny little pinky finger! Congratulations to you both and I pray God’s continued blessing on you all.”
~Aunt Kathy

On my mother’s wall:

“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!”
~Aunt Janet

On my father’s wall:

“Congrats old man. Now you’re a grossvater.”
~Uncle Jim

Psalm 127

“A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

Psalm 128

“A Song of Ascents.
1 Blessed is every one who fears the LORD,
Who walks in His ways.

2 When you eat the labor of your hands,
You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your children like olive plants
All around your table.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the LORD.

5 The LORD bless you out of Zion,
And may you see the good of Jerusalem
All the days of your life.
6 Yes, may you see your children’s children.

Peace be upon Israel!”

Don’t forget to take a look at Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”, where bloggers collect quotes they’ve read throughout the week.

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Almost Complete

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Yes, I realize it’s not Thursday any longer.

Yes, I realize that I ought to be sleeping right now.

But I am thankful, and I did want to share it.

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This week I’m thankful for…

…a completed survey

State surveyors exited Tuesday afternoon–and didn’t give me any “tags” (i.e. didn’t find me not doing my job properly.) Our kitchen didn’t get a sanitation tag (the most commonly cited tag in the nation.) I didn’t get a weight loss tag (that “unknown unknown” I was so worried about.) Nor did the dietary department end up with any of the odds or ends tags that can trip us up.

But beyond the sigh of relief that says I must be doing an okay job, there’s the normal-old relief of simply being DONE.

…an almost completed computer

It took a week. Just a little longer than survey. But I finally have all my components installed and a (properly licensed) operating system functional.

I’ve probably spent a little over 40 hours this week messing around with one computer trial after another. Which is why I haven’t been writing (or commenting) much.

Now I’m almost done–just have to transfer the last of my files over from my old hard drive and get all my programs installed the way I want them on this computer.

…a coming day of completion

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
~Hebrews 13:20-21

“…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…”
~Philippians 1:6

Categories Book Notes, Books

Appointed Times and Places

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*Spoiler alert: If you haven’t read A Horse and His Boy, this post will give away quite a bit.*

While Shasta dreams of Northern lands, a Tarkahn rides up from the South on a Narnian stallion.

While Bree (the horse) talks of being a free horse among his own people, a roar out of the darkness leads him to cross paths with one of his own people–another captive horse dreaming of freedom.

When Shasta’s only wish is to avoid notice, he is taken to be the missing Prince of Archenland–and overhears the Narnian nobles’ plans to sail out of Calormen unnoticed.

When Aravis is only trying to sneak quietly out of a planned marriage to an obsequious toad, she finds herself sandwiched behind a couch, hearing the councils of the Tisroc, the Prince, and said Toad.

Time and time again, the characters of The Horse and His Boy find themselves in just the right place at just the right time.

Not that they always thought the times and places were right.

Shasta didn’t think so when he served practically as a slave in the fisherman’s hut.

Bree didn’t think so when terror of a lion caused Hwin and him to travel the same path.

Aravis didn’t think so when she came within an inch of discovery.

These were frightening experiences, exhausting experiencing–things they wish they’d never have had to go through.

But an unseen breath propelled Shasta’s boat across the sea to Arsheesh’s hut. An unseen hand guided the meetings of Shasta and the Narnian nobles, of Aravis and the Tarkheenah. An unseen hand hid them behind the couch as they overheard the Tisroc’s council.

All throughout their groping journey, it seemed as though Someone had gone on before, marking out their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.

Someone was giving life to their bodies, purpose to their movements, reason for their being.

“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.'”
~Acts 17:26-28

Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge
This post is yet another collection of notes from my reading of The Horse and His Boy for Carrie’s Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Redeeming Singleness” by Barry Danylak

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Christian books about singleness are all the same.

I should know.

I think I’ve read every one of them.

They all have a couple of requisite chapters explaining why singleness is good before getting into the meat: a) how to be content and productive as a single and b) how to get un-single as quickly and in as godly a manner as possible.

Barry Danylak’s Redeeming Singleness stands out like an apple tree in a field of blowing grass.

In other words, it’s not a thing like the rest of the Christian treatments of singleness.

Redeeming Singleness seeks to establish a Biblical theology of singleness–starting from the beginning, when God said “It is not good that man should be alone”, and ending with Paul’s startling (within the Jewish culture, at least) statement that he “wish[es] that all men were even as [he himself].”

The epilogue neatly summarizes the main thesis of the book:

Christianity is distinctive from its monotheistic sibling faiths of Judaism, Islam, and Mormonism in its affirmation of singleness…it differs from the others in distinctively affirming both singleness and marriage as something good within the new family of God. The reason for this difference has its roots in what makes Christianity fundamentally different from its sibling faiths, namely, its affirmation that Jesus Christ has come in human history as God’s offspring and that through him come all the blessings of the new covenant.

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the promised seed of Abraham, and in him are Abraham’s true offspring….Since all the blessings of the new covenant are realized through our reconciliation to God through Christ, marriage is no longer a fundamental marker of covenantal blessing as it was in the covenant of Sinai. Singleness lived to the glory of God and the furtherance of his kingdom testifies to the complete sufficiency of Christ for all things. The Christian is fully blessed in Christ, whether he or she is married or single, rich or poor, in comfort or duress…

Paul distinguishes the spiritual gift or charisma of singleness by three elements. First, it is characterized by one who, by the grace of God, lives a continent life apart from marriage…. Second, it is distinguished as a life free from the distractions of a spouse and children, a life characterized by freedom and simplicity…. Third, it is a life enabled for constant service to the King and the kingdom. It emulates the model of the eunuch who is ready and waiting to serve the king whenever and however he is called.

~Redeeming Singleness by Barry Danylak, page 213

This is a robust, Biblically-sound theology of singleness; and it is presented in an engaging and surprisingly (for theology) readable manner.

After reading Danylak’s closing chapter on “The Charisma of Corinth”, I truly desired (perhaps for the first time in my life) to have the gift of singleness. While I can’t say that I have the “charisma” of singleness, Danylak’s description of Christian singleness (the “charisma” or spiritual gift of singleness) as a powerful testimony to the sufficiency of Christ made me long to live out such a testimony. Where previously I had recognized and spoken of marriage as a testimony (in a cosmic play-act) of God’s relationship with His church, I can now see the equally glorious testimony that the single-in-Christ have–the testimony of being complete IN Christ, without need of any other mediating person, action, or state.

This book is a powerful and much-needed look at singleness as seen through the lens of God’s redemptive work. I recommend this book for the single and the married–and especially for the friends of and ministers to single adults. This perspective, lifted straight from the Bible, can help the church to encourage and bless the single among them while avoiding the twin pitfalls of glorifying marriage to the harm of the single adult or denigrating marriage in order to “encourage” the single adult.

Check out Three Star Night’s review of this book. She comes to the same conclusions as I–but expresses her thoughts (and mine?) much better than I.

Rating: 5 stars
Category: Theology of Singleness
Synopsis:Danylak traces a theology of singleness throughout Scripture, seeing singleness within the redemptive framework of the Old and New Testaments.
Recommendation: A much-needed resource in an age where singleness is becoming a new norm–and where the church is struggling to find a holy way of dealing with the “new norm”.

Categories Book Notes

Groping for another land

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The Horse and His Boy opens innocently enough, with the fisherman’s hut by a little creek on the sea, where a young boy named Shasta lives with an old fisherman he calls father. But our eyes, like Shasta’s, quickly move northward, to the unknown land beyond the hilled horizon.

Our hearts yearn to know this hidden place; and we are heartbroken at Arsheesh’s lack of curiosity and lack of tolerance for Shasta’s curiosity.

We, unlike Arsheesh, can identify with Shasta’s plight. We know the feeling of piddling about here, all the while thinking that something great, something better, something magnificent lies over the next hill. We feel out of place, uncomfortable. We pretend we’re not out of place, but we know deep down inside that this is not our home.

We long for the North.

Then, one day, as Arsheesh sups with an unexpected guest, Shasta overhears the story that would have him hop the nearest horse and take off for the North.

*Spoiler alert*

The man he called his father was not his father. The man he had struggled unsuccessfully to care for was little more than a slaver, and undeserving of Shasta’s affection. The fishing hut was not his home–probably Caloremen was not either. In fact, he might even be a son of the only-longed-for North.

Here, Lewis sets up in story form what he expresses elsewhere in plainer terms:

“f I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Shasta becomes outwardly what he had been inwardly all along–a wanderer, groping in the dark for something, he knows not what.

When he first discovers the truth that he is not really Arsheesh’s son or a son of Calormen, his mind moves towards fantastic dreams. So he was not the fisherman’s son–then perhaps he was the son of a Tarkaan or of a god! Perhaps the Tarkaan who wished to buy Shasta would later adopt him as a son, making him great.

He wonders aloud what the Tarkaan is like, and a talking horse interrupts his reverie with an answer.

In a series of fortuitous or not so fortuitous events, what had once only been an idle dream of seeing the north became an imperative. Shasta must escape to the north, must make his way out of this place.

And so the blind man’s longings become desperate gropings.

“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”
~Acts 17:26-27

Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge
This post is notes from my reading of The Horse and His Boy for Carrie’s Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge.

Categories Technology

The Saga Continues…

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A little more than a month after ordering the components for my computer, I now have all of the (presumably functional) components together again.

I have the new case, the new CPU, the new fan and CPU fan, the new memory–and another new motherboard.

The replacement motherboard finally arrived this Thursday.

(Tip for NewEgg returns: take a picture of your item before you take everything out of its packaging so that you can remember exactly what needs to be returned should something go wrong. I missed the CPU fan mounting bracket on my first return attempt–and lost myself a couple weeks.)

Since it had been a slightly-less-long day at the office, I decided I would go ahead and get the installation process started.

I installed the motherboard, the CPU and CPU fan, the memory. I connected all the various power cords and the like. Then I pulled my “big” hard drive from my old (current) computer and got it and my (also recycled) DVD drive hooked up too.

Now for the fun part.

Powering up.

Err, maybe I better flip the power switch on the back first.

There we go.

Punch my “del” key and examine my system.

Adjust a couple settings, insert my Windows OS DVD, begin installing my OS.

“Loading files”. A bar slides across the bottom of the screen. All good.

“Starting Windows” the screen tells me–

and then it freezes.

I wait, because sometimes installing an operating system takes forever. I know that.

But this doesn’t seem to be a productive wait.

I turn off the computer, turn it on again. “Del”. Check my system again.

Yes, I have it set to boot from the DVD drive.

Start it up again.

Same thing.

Text my dad.

Repeat. Multiple times.

It’s getting late. Dad wonders if maybe my DVD is broken. He tells me to try the DVD in another computer and see if it gets past the “Starting Windows” screen.

I move my DVD player (and the hard drive) back over to my current computer and try booting using the DVD.

It doesn’t work–my current computer is 32-bit and my new one (and the corresponding Windows 7 OS) is 64-bit.

I try the disc on every computer I can find until I get to one where it works. Okay, it’s not the disc. It’s something else.

An idea grows in my mind. What if it’s my DVD drive?

I remembered reading something when I bought it about it being a great secondary drive–but not so great as a primary. I paid it no attention then, because I already had a CD-Rom drive that I used to install XP on my computer. All I wanted was something so I could watch the documentary DVDs that I get from the library so I wouldn’t have to borrow Anna’s computer.

I hadn’t imagined that I’d buy a new computer and try to save money by using that same DVD drive. I hadn’t imagined that operating systems didn’t come on CD-roms anymore–making my perfectly good CD-Rom drive absolutely worthless as a primary drive.

There was nothing more I could do–except to send out a desperate Facebook plea:

“Anybody have a spare DVD Drive (component) I could borrow to see if that might be why my OS isn’t loading properly? I’d return it promptly :-)”

After work on Friday, I saw that I had a response.

Eric has one, Cathy said. Do I still want it?

Of course I still want it.

She’ll deliver it Saturday morning.

Which means I’ll be offline.

Lord willing, I’ll be getting my new computer set up (and, once the operating system is installed, I’ll be returning Eric’s DVD drive and using my own again).

I apologize to all you faithful readers who have had to sit through my technological tale telling. Really, I’m just bragging here. “See, I can build my own computers too.” (Albeit in a rather muddled manner.) I just don’t understand why men aren’t falling all over themselves to get me. I can cook, I can sew, I can read and semi-intelligently discuss issues–and I build computers! :-) Ha!