An Actual Normal Week

If I were to have a week that was without event or surprise, including interactions with Sophia, this would be it. It has been so "normal" that I realize how abnormal that really is. Not that we have a lot of crises around here or anything. We just seem to always have something unusual going on or Sophia seems to be going through a strange phase of some sort. This week, however, Sophia has been great. She has had a few low points, marked with unexplained tears, but she's largely been happy and easy. So that is why you haven't heard anything from me. I have been wracking my brain to come up with something interesting, but it would be a stretch. The interesting thing is that normalcy is possible. Hold out hope, and maybe it will happen for you one day too!

Goofy Girl

Monkey see, monkey do. When Blake was over last Friday, he put Sophia's drum on his head as a Jedi helmet, and this was Sophia's response. I was too late to snap a shot of the first monkey, but here's the second.

Probably the most I've ever done in 1 day

Saturday was packed. We started the day trying to get family photos at Creative Photo in Columbia. That experience was worth its own entire post, so I may get around to that some time. Let's just say that Sophia was more than a little stubborn, and the pictures we got were in spite of her best efforts to appear disinterested.

After our morning together, we dropped Sophia off with Grandmary so we could have a day of fun with our friends. We met Brian and Janelle at Living Canvas Tattoo downtown. Yep.

We each have a permanent reminder of our enjoyable day courtesy of Peter the artist. His work was fabulous, although painful.

Here is Erick's finished product.

And mine.

But we weren't finished yet! After getting our new artwork, we bundled it all up to head out to watch the Tigers destroy the Wildcats.

With a windchill of 29 degrees at kickoff, we only made it to halftime and watched the rest of the game in the warmth of the Chandler home. It was a great way to end an incredibly busy day. Now we're just keeping our artwork clean and trying to convince Sophia that she doesn't need a tattoo.

A Brief Moment

One of my favorite things that happens is when you're driving along, probably sitting at a stoplight, singing loudly to the radio, when a stranger pulls up next to you or turns in front of you singing to the same song. It's a brief moment in time. Blink and you'll miss it. Just a glimmer of the realization that while I'm living and breathing and singing, millions of other people are sharing this experience with me. For some reason, these tiny little glimpses into what are really insignificant moments, become much more to me. They become some sort of glue holding our experiences together. Weird, I know. Anyway, just wanted to share that one with you and ask you this question.

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The Impasse

We should be at TumbleBees right now. Instead we're at home listening to Mickey Mouse. Sophia has been having a little trouble following directions lately (insert sarcastic laugh here). So today when we began talking about going to TumbleBees, I asked, as I always do, "Will you listen to Bob today?" This time, instead of answering yes, even though it's not always true, she said, "Nope." I believed her. Of course I'm probably just as disappointed. Getting out is always a relief. So, I tried again. We talked for a while about what she might do there today and that she wanted to go. Okay, let's try again. Would she listen to Bob today? She replied "No, Mom," with the tone that said, "Weren't you listening five minutes ago, Woman?"

So, here we are. Home. The photo above is real time. Look into those eyes. . .

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Another Homecoming

This last weekend, Erick and I returned to our old stomping grounds of Point Lookout, Missouri - better known as College of the Ozarks in Branson. If you're not familiar, it's a work-study college with conservative roots and lots of rules. After spending only a couple of hours back on the grounds, I was reminded why, other than the debt-free education, I was willing to sacrifice some personal freedom for four years. The campus is seriously beautiful. Fall was always my favorite there, too. The school is just above Lake Taneycomo in the Ozarks, and it is nearly always a feast for the eye.

Here is where I stayed for the first year. My room was on the third floor, just to the left of the small bathroom window in the middle. It was the smallest living space I've ever seen. But it was fun. The fountain to the right was my favorite part of this room. Risha and I left our windows open as long as we could just so we could sleep to the sound of that fountain.

During our short Homecoming tour, we got to see a few of our old friends. Sophia was excited to see Baby Jacqueline, since we haven't seen them since they moved away from CoMo.

I was particularly excited to see Cindy and Jimmy Kinser. Not only because they have a brand new beautiful addition in Josie, but also because I haven't seen Cindy (my roommate senior year) since our weddings in June of 2002! Not cool.

It was great to walk around a little and see some places that really changed my life. This is the chapel where Erick and I were married.

This is Point Lookout. I cut out all the people reminiscing on the spot, so I didn't get the entire vista. This location meant a lot of things to a lot of people. Some folks knew it better as Point Makeout, but for me, it was a place where I could try to sort out my future plans and just take a moment to commune with nature, God and myself.

Here's the way Sophia likes to do just that.