How To's

On my google homepage I added a section for WikiHowTo - it has two links to a How To article everyday. Today's were "How to Hypermile" and "How to be Good".

Reading the first I thought, "How to what? Hyper..meaning, high or fast, mile..meaning..mile.. does this mean how to drive many miles in a shorter amount of time? Well, duh, I could tell you how to do that." No. Actually, what it refers to is how to drive many miles on a shorter amount of gas, which actually means, how to drive SLOW! The tone of the article I thought was really quite comical. It's advocating some techniques to maximize your fuel efficiency, and while this is a great thing, it's not the way most people drive nowadays. One quote was really great,

"Even if your brakes are perfectly fine, driving in this manner improves fuel economy because you maintain slower speed, reduce acceleration, and place fewer demands on the engine by going easy on the brakes. This may be frustrating and difficult, however, if other drivers keep cutting in front of you."

The funny thing about that is that... while trying to maintain better fuel efficiency by driving more slowly and farther away from the car in front of you, you're going to automatically put yourself in a position where the brakes will become more and more necessary than they would be regularly! [And, the first time I read this line, I thought that the link for 'cutting in front of you' would lead to a picture of someone cutting in front of you, just in case you didn't know what that meant. Actually it leads to an article about how to handle tailgaters... naturally.]

Here's the whole article:
http://www.wikihow.com/Hypermile

And here's the article on how to be good, just in case you're feeling really cheesy:
http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Good


In other, more relevant, news I've really been enjoying the Olympics! I'm looking forward to the track and field events, as well as more diving. These are the events I'm most anticipating:

high jump, pole vault, running relays (don't know why these are more exciting than just running), and high dive


Here's a lovely picture of mom and me from the last time she was in town:

Olympics

Last night I was telling some friends in my ceramics class that I'm really excited about watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics this Friday. They both said, "Oh, I'm not going to watch it. I'm boycotting China." I was like "hmm... yes. An interesting predicament."

It really led me to think about how much one person can do by not watching an event on TV that is being held in China. If nothing else, a smaller number of viewers as compared to past Olympics will at least give China a message about how Americans feel. But honestly, do you think they care about that? It's just one of those things I think about..how much can I, as one person, do to affect China? Or any other major world issue?

I saw the movie Swing Vote last weekend and I really liked it. I'm a Kevin Costner fan and he was downright hysterical, but I also really enjoyed the themes that they touched on. One of them was this notion of each vote or person counting for something. What do you think??

I just found this article on CNN and it made me smile BIG. :D Imagine what the Chinese will be thinking when someone from Sudan leads the way for all the American athletes in the opening ceremonies! What a thrill. Now that's one person making a difference.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/08/07/flag.bearer/index.html



Random note: I'm also really looking forward to watching Michael Phelps swim. I read part of an article in USA Today last week about him and how his body is just made for swimming. He's got a very long torso, short legs, double jointed knees, and very long feet. Fascinating! I think God smiles when we figure out how He actually made us for very specific purposes. *smile*

One Week with Lukie B

Last week I took off work and spent the whole week in DC being a full-time aunt. It was so much fun!

I would like to direct this post to all of you who constantly visit The Bradley Family Blog and always wonder things such as, Why don't they post more often? Is it really impossible to take more pictures and put them on a website? Do they think we don't care?!!

The answer to these questions is this: Yes, know you want to see more of the Lukester. But taking care of a baby takes WAY MORE TIME than you think. Some of you more mature and reasonable people probably weren't as impatient as I was, but these were the questions going through my head. The other major answer to the question is that taking pictures/videos of Luke is practically impossible unless you have the camera ready and he happens to not notice that you're getting ready to take pictures. Otherwise he won't do or say anything until you let him hold the camera. He can be very controlling sometimes.

Here's another answer for you: Yes, you're right, Lukie B really is the cutest and sweetest 1 year old boy on the earth. I was amazed at how quickly he adjusted to being with just me. There were still moments (especially when he woke up from his naps) when he seemed to be looking for Emily, but other than that he was pretty content. And there were even a few occasions when he would be playing with his toys, then look over to see me sitting on the couch, crawl over to me and get on the couch and give me a big hug and a smile, then go back to his toys. It was just so heart-melting.

The thing I enjoyed most about it, that really renewed my desire to have children, is just the unconditional love. It can get annoying at times that there is just utter dependency and no break at all EVER (until his parents come home), but for the most part, I really reveled in the love fest we had. If I ever went to the bedroom to fold laundry or put something away, I would promptly hear him crawling down the hall to follow me. He just enjoys being in your presence and doesn't want to be away from you. He would rather play at your feet than 15 feet away even though he can see you. It's such a wonderful feeling. And he's very good at unloading the dishwasher. You still have to pick up the dishes off the floor and put them away, but that's all part of the deal. :)

Here are some pictures/videos:

Lukisms:

1. He loves to hit his head while reading the book I Love You Through and Through even though the boy in the book never hits his own head (I checked).

2. He really likes sandwiches with turkey. And he would love to try cream soda - he's pretty sure he would like it.

3. He doesn't like to wear shoes, especially when it's 90+ degrees outside.

4. He really likes to watch the video of U2, though he gets tired of it after about 5 minutes.

5. Favorite toy: Gagun - that's the cell phone. [he will even alert you when your cell phone alarm goes off, just in case you didn't hear it.]

I love you Lukie B!

TGIF

Oh my goodness gracious alive. Or, as Jeffrey would say, "Holy Christian Santa Claus!" (don't ask...)

I can't tell you how thankful I am it's Friday. I absolutely love my job and how I spend Monday - Friday, and most of the time I enjoy the work week just as much as the weekend because I've been learning how to engage God during work and have fun while doing it, but today I'm just so happy to have a weekend coming up.

Last night I got home from work, mentally exhausted, and plopped down on the couch, hoping to rest for 10 minutes before getting up and going for a run. After 5 minutes, at about 9 pm, I pulled myself up off the couch, made a smoothie, drank it, and went to bed. I woke up, still sleepy, at 6:20. This has happened about 4 times in the last 3 weeks (sleeping 12+ hours consecutively). Two weeks ago I blamed it on being sick, which definitely was a factor, now I'm realizing I just need to get more of God because life in general is weighing a little too heavily these days!

There are quite a few impossible situations at work that just need to become possible. That's really the truth in it all...

This morning I read a scripture that was very comforting:
Heb. 2:10 : For it was an act worthy of God that He, for Whose sake and by Whom all things have their existence, in bringing many sons into glory, should make the Pioneer of their salvation perfect - should bring to maturity the human experience necessary to be perfectly equipped for His office as High Priest - through suffering.
Heb. 2:18 : For because He Himself in his humanity has suffered in being tempted, He is able immediately to run to the cry of those who are being tempted and who are therefore being exposed to suffering.

I thought it was very interesting that the suffering Jesus went through was temptation. Of course, the death on the cross seems like enough suffering, but it is always confounding to my pea brain to imagine that Jesus was tempted in every way that I am solely for the purpose of being able to sympathize with me and become a perfect sacrifice. There's so much humility in what he has done, lowering himself just so he can become like us, so that he can die in our place. And even though in every way he is absolutely God, in many ways it is right for us to think of him as being like us so that we will cry out to him in our time of need!! And that's just where I am.. needing help!

So, let that be a comfort to you too! No matter where you are, you're not alone. There is at least 1 person who has felt exactly what you are feeling now.

Thanks to our troops...

While I *am* really grateful to all of our military personnel for everything they've done, it seems like I appreciate them even more when I get a holiday out of it. And not just once, but every single year!

Annalee came up on Sunday just for one day and it was so wonderful! It was one of those times when time seems to be going really slowly and you have lots of great experiences in a very short amount of time. Good conversations, good food, lots of walking and talking, and we even made it to the beach for an hour. The water felt like ice water, so we opted to stay on the sand this time around. Here's a picture... Anna actually is wearing her swimsuit, she's just doing some clever maneuvering to work on her tan lines. You know what I mean.


I asked her if she liked this picture and she said, Ash, your eyes are closed! And I said, "Are you insane?! If I could shut my eyes even more than I am already, I would. This sun is SO bright! I can hardly stand to be laying on my back. I'm going to roll over."

It really was very bright.

Random comment: I saw a very good movie on Saturday called In the Shadow of the Moon. I highly recommend it. It's a documentary about the 24 guys who went to the moon in 1969. Very informative, especially if you weren't alive in the 60s.

Direct Deposit from the IRS

Aren't those the best?! Today when I looked in my checking account I found the $600 stimulus check from the IRS, such a pleasant surprise. Now I just have to go through the arduous process of figuring out what to do with it. So many ways to spend free money... Whenever money like this comes into my hands, I always get very concerned about making sure to hear exactly what God wants to do with it (since it feels much less like "mine" than all the other money I come into). Sometimes I make it more complicated than it actually is...

In other news - I'm coming to DC the week of June 2. I'll actually be there probably May 31 to June 6/7. I'm going to be watching the cutest boy, Lukie B, that week while Em takes a prep class for the bar (see www.richandem.com to verify the cuteness) Soooo.. if you want to get together that week, please let me know! Of course, in my naive mind, I'm thinking I'll be free for lunch and dinner and whatnot, but I'm sure I'll be shocked at how much constant attention Luke requires. This is going to be like Parenting 101 - The Life of A Stay at Home Mom. And as I leave, I'll be telling Em (and every other mother) over and over again how incredible she really is.

In closing, here's an appropriate quote for my current feeling:

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?"
Winnie the Pooh
A.A. Milne

Picture time!

So I finally remembered to bring my camera from home to upload some pictures I took of my condo for people to see who haven't been fortunate enough to visit the lovely city of Norfolk, VA...

Note the wall clock and mirror - two additions from the mother! She's so kind. I still need to hang up a few pictures, hang up a mirror, and add a shelf to to the wall for my mugs (below). Hopefully I'll get all that done in the next two weeks (before my grandparents come to visit!)

Here are two pictures of some mugs that I recently made in my pottery class. I'm actually very happy with them (which is unusual). I've made a couple other things, but haven't gotten them back from the glaze firing yet. One of my goals for this year is to set up a website and start selling my stuff. I'm going to run out of places to put it pretty soon...

And here's a cute pic of the Lukie B. I think this was taken when Rich, Em, Anna, and Luke came to visit in February. I have a feeling that the light is so bright because he was trying to grab the camera and pull it to himself. Crazy kid.

And here's my view of Norfolk at sunset from my living room. When it's not too cloudy, there is always an incredible sunset... I love my city!