Tuesday, June 26, 2007

i feel old.
lately, i've been really getting into dirty jobs with mike rowe. last night, i watched it for about 2 hours and was wondering how some jobs make it on the show, then soon realize that in fact, it was a dirty job. that got me thinking and looking back on my job experiences. did i have a "dirty" job. not that i can recall. i mean, working fast food in itself can be dirty. the grease getting onto one's face and into the pores can make any one clean faced teen a walking pimple.

but that's not what constitutes a dirty job. just the nastiness of some jobs out there can be downright disgusting. josh and i had to tear apart an old kitchen some years back. that was nasty. all the bugs and filth. but it only took about a week to completely demolish it. the people on the show work the same job day in and day out. one person that worked in a drain foundry has worked there for 25 years. the same job. i guess that's dedication.

Friday, June 22, 2007

another year gone by. some frivolous words said, others more serious. but all have been done this past year, for tomorrow is orangefrog's 2nd birthday. another year that bit the dust.

ok, so 2 is now the magic number. but in dog years, that is 14. my dog is 4 (dog years: 28) and is a downright nincompoop (but the kids love him). what does that say about the blog? complete idiocy? random acts of foolishness? or maybe something a little more?

i know that there have been some pretty stupid words typed out for the world to see and when i re-read them i furl my eyebrows, roll my eyes and think to myself: "why am i such an idiot?" [case in point, the donut post. yeah, we won't talk about that.]

but then, there were the times that it kept others in the loop. when we went into india last november (has it been that long already?) to let those that supported us to be apart of the things going on and the life changing experiences (mine/ours included).

not too long ago, i went back to the beginning and read the goings on and memories flooded back. i can remember what was happening at that instance in my life along with those feelings and emotions. i can smell those scents in the villages of cuba (even now) when i read about that trip or the faces of those in india at the hong kong market. the orchid garden in singapore and the salty sea air of cancun. tasting that coca-cola wild cherry in the toyko airport (that bottle/can was weird, let me tell you). i had to guzzle it down since liquids aren't allowed on the plane.

driving to oregon on a family trip was an experience in itself. the aquarium at newport in the rain. flying to california with the kids gives me pause on taking them to india. whoa! india with the entire family unit (LORD have mercy, please!).

yesh, experiences and memories are what we have left after the day is over and the kids are put to bed. the dishes are done and the dog and cat are fed. the moment by moment photographs your brain processes each and every second of each and every day.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

first day of summer is finally upon us. ah, great season is here. and how do i celebrate this occasion? by listening to some punjabi mc.

i personally like mundian to bach ke due to the knight rider theme sample.
apparently, talking like a pirate is harder than it seems.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

ok, i've been tagged again and so i guess i'll do this. i'm supposed to share 7 different things about me [ex. unusual, habitual, unknown, etc]. i don't know what to share about me, so here goes...

#1
i make radio programs for our pastor and 2 other pastors. yesh, i'm in the ministry. i also dup cds/tapes (tapes which are being fazed out [phew!] ) and have been doing so for the last decade (?!?!?!). i also work with kristin who introduced me into this vast world of blogging.

#2
i love traveling. i love international travel especially. if given the choice to go to an american hotspot or that of a foreign city, i would much rather get that stamp in my passport. my favorite place(s) to go are singapore and cancun. singapore is such a beautiful city with nice humid weather. cancun has the heat and beach.

#3
some of you may know, others may not...i am a twin. yesh, it's true. but we aren't identical. we are brother and sister. i am older by 2 minutes. she's only been able to celebrate our birthday one day before me when she was in israel on holiday. i also have an older brother. some of the stupidest questions have been asked about our twinage.

Q "what's it like to be a twin?"
R "i don't know. what's it like not to be a twin?"
Q "so you aren't identical because she has long hair and you have short hair?"
Q "if she gets hurt, do you feel it and vice versa?"

#4
i get to wear flip flops and shorts to work. it's a fact.

#5
my two favorite books when i was growing up were:
where the wild things are and the star bellied sneetches.

i made a new coffee drink here at our coffee shop called a star bellied sneetch. it consisted of coffee & milk (of course), vanilla and caramel with a caramel star drawn on top. t'was good. haven't made it in a while though (hmmmmm).

#6
i love to take pictures. i want my pictures to tell a story/ies without me having to describe anything. i would like my photographs to speak to people and move them emotionally. i want to be able to do missionary work through photography. to reach those that aren't being reached and then tell a story with no words. to just have pictures describe themselves and the people involved. does that make sense?

#7
hopefully soon, rin and i will be taking our family to india to do missionary work with rin's family. i've been there twice and rin once, but our daughters tell us that they want to go as well. let's see what happens.

now i'm supposed to tag out up to seven others and have them do the same said thing. let's see...
idaho native
my thoughts, exactly
spuds in india
not by a long shot!

Friday, June 15, 2007

yesterday i was cleaning out my office due to my computer being upgraded. whilst doing this, i found some old pictures of my first car. a 1986 honda crx. i bought it for $2500 with my parents help. i had been saving my money from my evening & weekend job at zip's drive thru on government way. i rode my bike back and forth, sometimes biking home around 2 in the morning on a friday night and then back to work saturday at 8 in the morning. minimum wage was my pay at $3.15/h but i was able to save $2000 and my parents fronted the other $500.

good times in that car. many places gone to and many roads driven. miles upon miles spooled onto the odometer. i went anywhere and everywhere that i could. no more hitchin' rides to the mountain or finagling a lift to the beach.

big seth and i went to schweitzer a few times. seth didn't know how to ride, so i taught him the basics of boarding. one evening on our return trip home down that winding road, seth took off his boots and his socks were steaming. then, he proceded to remove those socks and put on fresh dry ones. it wasn't until that summer, when i was cleaning out my car that i found one of his nasty socks buried under my passenger seat. i drove up to his house and gave it to him. he knew that he had lost a sock, but didn't realize that he lost it in my vehicle.

i had my two 12s bumping the bass. my blaupunkt removable face kept the cds spinning. i had a full length racing mirror which kept me from having any blind spots. none, what-so-ever. it only cost me 10 bucks to fill my tank. gas was only .93¢ and a fill-up lasted me for 2 weeks. whenever i went to a board shop, i got a new sticker for my mystery machine. i had many made as well. the stickers i designed had special places. no decals on the body though, just windows. my jimi hendrix was on the windshield, middle top [that sticker is not shown *sniff*].

many summers, josh and i would drive up to the beach and meet friends or just drive around in the evenings. when rin and i started dating, [they say] my music could be heard a mile away, so her family knew i was on my way to see her. on a cold evening, after dinner and a proposal, rin and i went and visited with family to spread the news. it was my first car that took us to those places. alas, it was also my first car that had to have an engine rebuild and a clutch replaced. after rin and i were married, 5th gear started going out and soon the inevitable: i had to trade it. i do sometimes miss that car, but at least i have those memories...

Thursday, June 07, 2007

hey y'all...here is rin's parent's webcam in india. i've also linked it on my family blogs category in the right column. siliguri, india is 12 1/2 hours ahead of our pacific time, so if you want to see it in the daylight, you gotta remember to check it out during our evening. with that said, enjoy...

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

a taste of transformers. mmmm, tasty...
the weather report had promised us a huge disturbance with cold air invading the hot air that we have been having these last few days. it finally came last night. i was watching tv when rin asked me if i had heard thunder or if it was on what i was watching. i didin't hear anything, so i muted the set and looked outside. there was a purple flash, but no noise. i grabbed my camera and stepped into the backyard, but the houses were in the way, so, with rin following, headed to the front yard.

flashes abounded, but no electrical fingers. i kept getting awesome purple skies and clouds, but i really wanted a good bolt. i got into the car and headed down to a field and watched the skies for those bolts so i could freeze them on digital film, but alas, still only flashes. the majority of the storm was one city over, so the lightning was a distance away and we didn't even get any thunder.

while i waited for about an hour, the rain started drizzling, so i opened up my umbrella that i had gotten in darjeeling and waited with the chirping crickets for the sky to rip open with more of God's handiwork. alas, i only got a few shots out of 100.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

today we are celebrating my youngest daughter's birthday. her birthday is a few days after christmas, so we decided to have a summer birthday for her so she doesn't miss out. my side of the family is coming out to our house today. we split up the parties by family because there are a lot of people combined.

rin and i had already stuffed the piñata the other day and now we are preparing the food. the dog got bathed and the patio cleaned off. fiesta time is almost upon us...

Friday, June 01, 2007

i am going to pop. i've had too much to eat today, and it's barely the afternoon. the school here had a picnic for all the parents / students / teachers / staff. good food. but i also got a personal pan and i had to leave room for that. plus, add in the drinks that i've had and i am hurting now. gotta leave some extra space for my strawberry lemonade later on today. . .


high score: 152,275

no pooping