C.Ruegg

Terrible picture of the lightening Flash makes everything look normal. You can't even tell a massive thunderstorm is going on. Dad: It's a good thing we didn't decide to watch the storm after all. Me: Yeah. Looks like if we did one of our heads would be chopped off and the other person would've been flipped over and smashed. Dad: You know your mom is going to want to keep those chairs. Me: Yeah. She'll insist we bend them back into shape. Dad: And it'll never happen. Me: So, hello new bent chairs that will stay in our lawn forever! Dad: I should probably fix this before someone gets electrocuted. *Both of us look over at the neighbor's yard and we notice that even their clothes are perfectly intact on the clothesline.* Dad: Why is it that not even a piece of grass is missing from their yard, but with us it looks like a hurricane went through? 

So, nearly every year we have this thing on my mom's viking side of the family (which is Danish) called a Cold Table (aka Det Store Kolde Bord -- don't ask me how to pronounce that, I don't know!)   Now for those of you who don't know, a cold table actually isn't a table that's cold (yeah I know! The name is so misleading, right?) but a buffet sorta thing that serves, well, cold food! There is herring (seel), and cheese, stjerneskud (translation: shooting star. Cool, right?), dyrlaegens natmad, and other various foods I cannot pronounce. And last, but certainly not least, there are OPEN SANDWICHES. Which, by American definition, are not sandwiches at all but bread with stuff on them...that you eat with forks...yeah. So, I always had a issue with them. I mean, why eat a sandwich with a fork and knife when you can eat it with your hands much quicker? Plus, when are Danes so civilized? I thought we were vikings. Somehow plundering villages doesn't seem that c

So, for the past couple of days, I've been rather hilariously emotional. Usually this hilarious emotional phase of mine can be kind of overlooked, because I think I'm actually really sad and it is normal to be really sad about whatever I'm really sad about, but this one story I'm about to tell...well, there was no reason for me to be sad at all, which is how I realized: "Oh, super hilarious emotional phase has begun!" Here's the story: I was sitting on the couch with my sister and her husband, watching Iron Chef. Now, I enjoy food and I enjoy people who cook food, but I am not the biggest fan of shows on cooking food, even if they include drama and competitiveness which makes them bearable to watch, but, anyway, I was watching this with my sister and her husband, and found myself welling up with emotion. A cook-person would come on and be like, "I am so passionate about broccoli. I love working with it. Oooh broccoli!"and would be all teary

I found this inspirational and beautiful. It's a prayer by St. John Vianney, also known as Jean-Marie Vianney or the Cure of Ars. I've been reading a book on him recently, and have only gotten up to his childhood, and already I'm drawn in. His life is just so inspiring. Here's the prayer: I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath.    

Based on the conversation I had with my nephew, I made this photo/quote thingy. The photograph is my nephew holding his tiny hands together.

So, I've come to the conclusion, that if you don't have children in your life you are either A.) Really stingy. B) Really lonely, or C) Lack a complete sense of humor, or probably all of the above, because, seriously, who can resist little kids? They are so cute and so funny! Working with 33 little 6/7year olds this year really made my life, and no joke, it was the best year I've ever had. There was stress and there was a complete lack of energy some days, but those little munchkins really knew how to make my day. Quotes and special moments from the kids in my life: Little Boy: Miss [inserts my last name] what were you typing on your computer at the library? Me: I write books. Little Boy: Really?! So did you write all the books at the library? Little boy: Miss ... have you decided if you're going to be a sister yet? Me: Yes, i'm waiting on them to accept me. Another little boy looks over at us. Little boy number one then goes: Miss ...'s going

So, I'm home now. Nothing much has changed. My family is still crazy, the house is still a mess (though slightly cleaner than before), and it's still crawling with ten billion cats, two of which have had babies, which I'm not complaining of. I love kittens; they're so cute! Here are some pictures of the new (yet predictable) stuff going on back home... Notice anything odd? Yeah, that's right, the very small kitten does not belong. I don't know where it came from, actually. It just appeared one day with the rest of the batch. The mom doesn't care; she takes care of it like it's her own. This has happened before where our cats adopt stray kittens and bring them into the house, but usually not at such a young age, and it hasn't happened in a long time. Nonetheless, it's very cute. I think we're going to be keeping the odd ball out. So, there's obviously a new style going on at my house. Yeah, that's r