There are LOTS of things swirling in my head right now that I’d like to put into a blog post. So many.

I want to write about

• How our list of prayers for the dead should really stop growing
• All of the preschools I’ve been visiting and how there should be one with this
• This Speaking of Faith interview with Barbara Kingsolver that I just re-listened to
  (and how it makes me want to grow more vegetables)
• My sinking suspicion that out life needs to slow down more–and I don’t think we’re that busy
• The latest book I’m afraid to read: Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life

But- I’m trying desperately to launch a new project out the door and know that I have to keep up here or I’ll lose all of you who never leave comments (bad you!) So, here’s a list of words another busy brain has been spouting:

Knows for sure:

Meow
Bath (this was her 1st one)
Mama
Dada
Nana
Papa
Auntie
Ball
Bear
Dog
Cat
Bubbles
Pool
Zebra
Bow (and she does!)
Mail
Peas
Please (sounds more like “eeeese”)
Elmo (Welmo)
did I mention Meow?
Hot
Brrrr (that would be cold)
NO!
No, mama.
Know? (with a raised shoulders and arms)
All Done
Blue (all colors are blue)
Noodle
Basa (that’d be kielbasa)
What’s That (was tat?)
More
Beach (sounds like bitch…)
Melon
Birthday Cake (birday cay)

There are some more words I’ve heard her mimic, but not say without prompting. Of course, I can’t remember most of them.

But my favorite thing I’ve heard come out of her mouth:

Renoir

I’m not joking. We look at impressionist paintings in a little book (in French!)

She’s a genius. Or at least a really cool sponge.

Now that the car-induced week from hell is over, we’ve been buzy making up lost fun.  I was inspired by SAJ to make Audrey a daisy chain crown.  We didn’t have any daisies so I used yummy smelling sweet peas from our garden.

This lasted for a few seconds.   She was much too busy enjoying a special treat– JUICE!

Those Trader Joe’s juice boxes must be super powered because Audrey quickly decided that the ground was not the place to sip apple juice and squish mommy’s favorite flowers.  She needed a new perspective. It was time to climb.

So, that was the beginning of a whole new world for us.   Audrey can officially hoist herself up onto everything.  No table, chair or light switch is safe.

The light switch game now provides hours of entertainment around this place.   I’d much rather have her be entertaining herself with full access to my tables, counter tops and upholstery than the days when she needed my constant attention all. the. time.

Things are good around this place.  I’ve been busy with freelance writing work and Audrey’s busy growing up.  We’re both happy

On Tuesday, we took the VW to a local mechanic who fixed the leak so we had him also replace the timing belt, a slightly overdue piece of regular maintenance.  We thought everything was great until Wednesday morning when there was a very large puddle underneath my car.   Now we were out $400 from the belt and needed to trade it in.  I spent the next couple of days driving the OJ Bronco from test drive to test drive.

I found a lovely little Ford Escape for a great price and was all set to go pick it up.  Jake goes out to fill up the coolant, pops the hood and there’s no fluid missing. The giant puddle that threw my week off was from the sprinklers and we both felt really, really stupid.

Since my car is in good shape, I’ll be driving it for a while.  Then we’ll sell it to a private party and just disclose it’s past.  We really do need to move to a small SUV for child gear hauling purposes but it’s hard to give up the 29 or so MPG I get in my car.  So, if anyone is looking for a lovely commuter car that’s very fun to drive, or has a student that wants a 1st car that’s much cooler than a Civic, we have a:

2000 Volkswagen Passat
GLS, 1.8 Turbo
103 K Miles (or so)
Leather Interior, 6 disc CD & Cassette

Let me know if you or anyone you know in the So. Cal area is interested.  We’ll put in on Craigslist at the end of the summer.

It appears my car is leaking antifreeze.  We may be in the market for an new vehicle, probably a small SUV. Any ideas?

Oh, and here’s how we spent our day instead of at the wedding:

Last week, I went to a lovely bridal shower and was asked more than once, “What’s Audrey wearing to the wedding?”

My original plan– green polka dot dress, lavender headband and purse.

This is what she actually wore today:

The green dress is hiding in there somewhere. It’s cold today.

As you can guess, we didn’t quite make it. After loading up my car to go to church, an evil light flashed and my car virtually screamed STOP at me. Something’s up with the cooling system and we won’t be driving to San Juan this morning. I’m so thankful it decided to die on me in front of the house and not on the freeway. Jake had alreay left for Orthros and serves back at the altar so no chance for a carpool buddy…

May God grant James and Sarah many years! I’m sure the wedding will be beautiful.

I know I’m pretty late when it comes to blogging about the celebration of the resurrection, but Holy Week wore us out. Here’s some pictures (edit: I could not get the pictobrowser to work for the life of me!) of Audrey’s involvement in the many, many hours of services. I’m not being snarky–I wouldn’t have traded a minute of watching the 30 people join the Orthodox church on Saturday or the pageantry of the Pascha service that night. But I am thankful that I won’t be wrangling a 1 year old through it again anytime soon.

The top two photos are from Holy Saturday but did you see my sleepy baby at the bottom? The jammie shot was taken around, oh, midnight and she stayed awake through the entire service and feasting that followed. 10:30 pm until 2:30 and then woke up bright and shining at 6:30 am.

The next day (or the same day if you’re a stickler for time):

She loved her Easter basket full of empty eggs and the sunny time with Mommy and Daddy at a local fountain.

Christ is Risen!

Truly He is Risen!

You might notice Sacred and the Profane looks a little different. I’d like to think our new layout looks less full of itself and will be updated more regularly. While my initial goal for this site was to talk about religion in the news my biweekly (if that) posting made it pretty clear that I wasn’t really reading the news anymore. My time has been pretty occupied with the dichotomy between sacred and profane in my own life so there wasn’t the attention span required to analyze anyone else’s.

The new format also makes it much easier to post via my blackberry. Technology snob? Washington intern? No, I’m just a busy mom and freelance writer and my laptop time is pretty focused on working or reading the adventures of Secret Agent Josephine. If you’ve received an email from me in the last few months odds are high the blackberry was the composition object. There seems to be more time foremails and hopefully blogging when I’m letting Audrey finish a nap in the car or while I’m waiting for a meeting to start.

So I hope you like the new format and hook me up with those comments I love so much.I’ll be tweaking things here and there so if there’s anything you’d like to see, please let me know!

No, I’m not talking about Walt Disney.

The LA Times has this article about the new Billy Graham museum. The 40,000 square foot facility is a shrine to America’s most famous evangelist. Billy Graham packed stadiums with a simple message of salvation. The museum uses a talking cow to do the same trick. The $27-million
museum
also boasts
a splash of
Disney, and
that’s troubled some
of Graham’s admirers.The $27-million museum also boasts a splash of Disney, and that’s troubled some of Graham’s admirers.

While Graham gave his blessing once he was persuaded that the museum would serve as a “perpetual crusade,” many followers, including family members, are wondering if the facility should be a little less gimmicky.

The Times quotes Graham as saying, “I’m humbled that anyone would want to honor me in this way,” he said in an e-mail interview. He added that he’d instructed Franklin and other museum designers “to point people to Christ rather than to make it too much about me.”

This brings to mind the Holy Land theme park, “Where Jesus Walked” that made the news in 2005. I don’t know the status of the proposed development outside of Jerusalem, but I do remember wondering if there was a way to make Christianity any more commercial.

Despite Billy Graham’s blessing, I fear a talking cow isn’t the best way to spread the gospel. But then, I go to a church where the services haven’t changed in 1600 years.

Mariners Church of Irvine (just down the street from my home) uses now has a “canine ministry.”

According to a LA Times article,  the dogs sit outside the church in order “to put people at ease and begin a process that could lead them to God.”

It may be true that animals can break down barriers, ostensibly making it easier for “secular man” to accept a sacred experience.  But honestly, doggy drool on the church steps seems more like a tactic to destroy the barrier between sacred and profane space than anything else.

“The reader will very soon realize that sacred and profane are two modes of being in the world, two existential situations assumed by man in the course of his history.” -Mircea Elide, The Sacred and the Profane

While the words “sacred” and “profane” mark out clearly different territory, more and more I am realizing my existence is a constant dance of the two. It is not a full-fledged battle, nor a comfortable partnership, rather the sacred and the profane vie for my attention and acknowledgment with their quietly confident charms.

Read the rest of this entry »