goodbye, blogger!

And hello Wordpress! It's true...I've been converted. You can find my new blog at www.basilea.wordpress.com.

Thanks for the last 3 years, Blogger, it's been grand!

oh, baby!

So I'm standing next to my brother Mike in line at Starbucks and I hear the cashier ask him, "What are your initials?" (to write on the cup.) Mike stares blankly off to the side and says, "Oh, no, I don't want any of that." The cashier asks more emphatically, "What are your INITIALS?" A little more alert, Mike looks at him but replies, "I don't know what you're talking about." Frustrated on behalf of the poor guy with the pen poised to write on the cup, I chime in and say, "MICHAEL, your INITIALS. M-H." Now catching on to the game, Mike finally engages and says, "Oh, sorry...lack of sleep will do that to you."

The lack of sleep he is talking about is, of course due to my adorable 2-month old (now 3 months) NEPHEW. The kid could steal anyone's heart, and I could just hold him and squeeze him all day long, but like any newborn, he is giving his poor parents a good dose of sleep deprivation. I thought the Starbucks incident was pretty funny, but then...

At Mom's house, Christmas evening, Mike puts the water jug on the kitchen counter in preparation to make Cameron's formula. He holds the bottle, with the nipple still on, under the spout and opens it. My mom and stepdad are watching the whole thing and, in retrospect, both say that they didn't stop him because 1) of course he would take the nipple off first and 2) they were too dumbfounded to say anything for about 2.5 seconds during which the water poured over the bottle, down the cabinet, and all over the floor. My brother came to either simultaneously with my stepdad jumping to his feet and yelling, "Mike!" or quite possibly as a result of him doing so. Either way, the water was all over the floor and definitely not in the bottle.

Oh, poor brother. But who can resist such sacrifice for a kid like this?

You can see more irresistible pics here.

oh, brother

So Jessi tells me that it's "nice" that I call my brother "brother," because, she says, "I call my brother 'terd.'"
"Well," I say, "You have two brothers, so you need to differentiate."
"No," says she, "they're both terds."

halloween in the 'burbs

Wow...last night was my first Halloween neighborhood experience in I-can't-remember-how-many-years. Seriously...high school? Where have I been? Well, things have certainly changed, that is for sure. I kept hearing about how slut-y the costumes have become, but we were lucky if 1 in 3 kids actually had a costume! A lot of them just seemed to be rushing around the neighborhood to collect their candy without much creativity given to the pursuit, but at least it was fun to see the kids. It may be the only "holiday" that really gets neighbors to interact with each other! I was so excited that I bought all the good (chocolate) candy and even got little booklets based on Shrek, Transformers and Harry Potter which had pretty decent biblical thoughts for the kids to read. Laurel and Zoe came over and every time the doorbell rang we all jumped up, falling over each other to get to the door. Unfortunately, only about 20 kids came through in total! I guess this must not be the popular neighborhood.

And then my little gecko friend managed to get inside the house somehow. I saw him running around, but he's too quick for me to catch. I hope he doesn't starve to death inside! (Though maybe it's getting a little cold outside for him...I dunno.)

he's here!

WHAT a CUTIE!!


6lbs 14oz and 20 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well. Dad is hanging in there. I can't believe my little brother is a father!

the all-american passport

I just got my new and improved passport and...wow...is all I can say. Has anyone else seen this "electronic passport"?

The proposed U.S. Electronic Passport is the same as a regular passport with the addition of a small contactless integrated circuit (computer chip) embedded in the back cover. The chip will securely store the same data visually displayed on the photo page of the passport, and will additionally include a digital photograph. The inclusion of the digital photograph will enable biometric comparison, through the use of facial recognition technology at international borders. The U.S. “e-passport” will also have a new look, incorporating additional anti-fraud and security features.

To get an idea of what this "new look" is, check out the official website here. You may want to review the lyrics to "Yankee Doodle Dandy" to hum as you hand your passport to the border patrol officer because it's a bit, well, shall we say patriotic? I am very thankful to be American, but I can't help but think I may feel a bit flashy when using this thing!

the catch-all post

Well, ok, I guess I wouldn't want to stay in Texas forever, but I AM loving my linguistics classes and classmates. You can tell that this place fits me much better than WTS. There, I felt like a fish out of water...here I feel as though I've been awakened from a long slumber. I feel as though my voice matters (yes, I actually speak up in class!) and that I have a wealth of experience and interest to contribute in this area. That's not to say that I don't miss my dearest friends in the whole world. In fact, I can't say that I have any super close friends here yet, but I think this picture explains it all:


A place where students and professors alike are silly enough to dress up as pirates for no real reason? Surely you can see why I enjoy it here. The guy on the far right is Marlin the software pirate. The only thing, as you can see, is that it's mainly a bunch of white people around here...but, at least they are white people who have the same heart for the Lord, for his mulitude of cultures and languages, and for silliness as I do!


Here are some of my peeps who enjoy eating lunch outside, as I do:


Spivey...I miss tremendously. But he is loving his new home and gets all the attention he could ever want, so I am content to know that he is enjoying life and still as crazy as ever. And, I do have a friend who comes by almost every night:



He attaches himself to the window of my front door where he can strategically catch a lot of bugs. I haven't named him yet. Any suggestions?

And last but not least, I finally have made use of my facebook account. Yes, it is true. If you have yet to get on the bandwagon, I would suggest that now is the time. You can add me as a friend here.

I don't have an abundance of internet access as I was previously used to...so I will have to get used to blogging on a limitied cyberspace exposure, something which will most likely continue as I head out to the field!

i miss you, philadelphia!

As I passed through DC to visit with my family and pass off Spivey to my dad (a month ago), my brother commented, "You know, I don't think Jersey people and Texas people go together very well." Perhaps. But don't forget that I have 5 years of Oklahoma experience under my belt. Truth be told, however, I suppose that being back in the Philly/South Jersey area for the past 8(!) years HAS started to get the city of brotherly love running deep through my blood, even if our interpretation of "brotherly love" is "one of the highest homicide rates in the country." But Philly is real. Old, new, grimy, glamorous, ghetto, historical and artsy, all wrapped up in one. And it's the place that I call home while still bound to this earth. Dallas has made me more aware of how East Coast I am, but the adjustments are negligible in terms of enjoying myself and the people while I am here. Nevertheless, Philly, I will miss you! And more importantly, I will miss the place I have called home and the people I have called my housemates for the past five years (and everyone else!)

I have posted many pictures and many stories at the expense of my Machen and WTS friends, but one thing I have not yet done is to document the place itself, namely, my 3rd floor habitation and the transformation which I forced upon it before I moved in! (Laura, I hope you see this!)

The room as I inherited it:








Just a few of the 20-some volunteers who came out to help me remodel:






Et voila! The transformation.






"Mom, take a picture of me in my room too!"


And alas, the common room which is no more...the fire marshall made us clear it all out.

the joys of cross-country travel

Writing from outside Nashville, TN this morning.

Somewhere in the far Western corner of VA, I stop for gas and water. Looking at their fountain drinks, I don't see water as an option, but I see a sink and faucet next to it. Hesitantly, I ask the guy if that water is ok to drink. He says, sure, you can drink it if you want. I nearly go for it, but then I think better of it and go to the back of the little shop to get some bottled water. I hear the guys laughing up front, but I can't really hear what they are saying until I hear one of them say, "I dunno. Her plates are from Jersey though." Haha. A little unsettling though because my car is still parked clear across the lot at the first gas pump.

By the time I get to my next stop, somewhere in TN where I can barely understand what they are saying, I realize that I am a bit sunburned on my left arm from driving all day. I look for aloe and sunscreen in vain. They have shoe polish, condoms, and lighter fluid in bulk, but no sunscreen. I did find some lotion with aloe in it, so as I am applying it to my arm in the restroom, a lady truck driver shows me what truckdriving has done to the side of her face. I am so dumb. Why didn't I put on sunscreen before I left?

At least people sure are friendly in these parts.

my nephew

I'm going to be an auntie!!



And my brother and sister-in-law have finally started a blog.