My Sense of Justice

Today at the post office, my sense of justice was offended. And I didn't know how to respond.

Here's what happened. Ruthie and I were in the post office, next in line, with no one behind me and several people milling around the lobby area. A young couple comes in and the guy walks up to the front, looking in all the teller windows. He is clearly trying to get someone's attention but there is only one teller and she's with a customer.

Like any person would do, I watch the guy, wondering what he's doing, what he's looking for, etc. After a few seconds of my watching him, the girl who came in with him says, without looking up but very plainly out loud for everyone to hear, "Ain't no one trying to hop in front of you, b----."

I was shocked! What could merit that kind of response? I looked at her, amazed that someone would say that to a total stranger, about something so insignificant. And I was holing a small child, no less! After being shocked, I was outraged. My sense of justice shot right through the roof - what did I do to deserve this? Who does she think she is? And why doesn't she look at me, if she's goign to inslut me and call me names and use foul language, in front of my baby? I must have looked at her for a full minute, which is a long time in that sort of situation. She never looked up - she just stood there, "filling" out her post office paperwork.

The guy, who was apparently after a pen, looked up at her too when she made that comment and he had the decensy to look a little abashed. But I stood there, paralyzed with indecision. I was so upset by it that I was actually shaking. I felt so much like I wanted to say something to her.

"What a bully!" I thought to myself. "And she's probably always been a bully and probably always will be, unless people start standing up to her!" I ran through all kinds of possible responses - the very polite "Have a nice day" on my way out. You know, sort of the heaping coals kind. Then I thought of just simply saying, "That comment was very unnecessary," just to let her know that people have feelings and you shouldn't just go around calling them names for no reason.

Ultimately, I just finished up my post office business and walked out. I still don't know if that was the right thing to do - as a Christian, should I try to say something, try to be kind to her or prevent her from possibly being so mean to the next person? Or is the fact that I'm trying to be like Jesus mean give me all the more reason to walk away? Am I really trying to be helpful or just trying to be right?

I don't know. Ultimately, I didn't want to do anything that would cause a scene with Ruthie or possible endanger her, so I left. But oh, what I wouldn't give to know what the right thing to do was!  I so badly want her to know that she was wrong to do that, that I was fair to be wondering what that guy was up to. And even if I wasn't, that still doesn't give her the right to be so rude! How would she like it if someone did that to her? How I wish I could witness someone put her in her place. How great that would be! See how she likes it when people are mean to her...

Clearly, I have a long way to go in the being like Jesus department.

If this had happened to Ian, he'd probably be thinking about the hard childhood she might have had, or how maybe her boss had totally humiliated her in front of her co-workers this morning, or any other reason that made her that way and how we should really feel compassion for her instead of anger. Well, thspts!

Fleeing the Scene of the Crime

It is amazing how much she can do (or undo, rather) in the short amount of time it takes me to get my shirt on and my hair combed.

And though she is quick to flee the scene, all the evidence points to Bugaboo...

My Upper Lip

Is sore from wiping the sweet off. Yuck. At least it is supposed to be back in the low 80s or even mid 70s by Friday. Somehow, this sun lover just can't take the heat.

It Is a Sad Day

See this? It's Ian's lunch for tomorrow. Waaaa! That's right, kids - summer is over. I am a sad girl. I hope I find the strength to carry on.

Is it too soon to start counting down the Christmas?

A Trip to Best Buy

Last weekend, we took a trip as a family to Best Buy. I needed to buy a laptop and instead of doing my usual (which is scan Craigslist for something cheap), I thought it best to buy a new one. (And when I say I thought it best, what I really mean is that Ian wanted me to, since he thinks all computers on Craigslist are stolen.) Anyway, we went in there, knowing we wanted to buy a pretty inexpensive HP. I had an HP for my consulting work and just recently, my company needed it back. Something about another consultant needing it more - apparently, I'm not as important as I might have thought. 

Moving on.

So while we're wading through all the needless paperwork, Ian starts to walk around with Ruthie. He's gone for about five minutes, then comes back over and when sees that I'm still waiting, he says, "I'm off to look at the giant TVs." Okay, no big deal, I'm thinking.

Finally, I finish up and we get out of Best Buy. While we're in the parking lot, he says to me, "How many inches do you think our TV is?" Oh dear. "I don't know...why? Our TV is fine." "Yes," he says. "But someday it won't be." 

When we get home and I'm opening up the laptop, I see him go over to our entertainment center with the measuring tape. Oy vey. Then he proceeds to give me a run down of the largest possible TV that we could fit in our entertainment center, as he knows I like our center and don't want a wall mounted TV. Apparently, we can get a TV that's 42 inches. Hooray for us. 

Moral of this story? Don't go into Best Buy with your husband. Like, ever. 

But don't worry - I've got faith that our TV will last about another decade or two, considering it's already come this far. 

Garden Delights!

Garden, oh Garden, let me count the ways that I love thee!

Truly, I am CRAZY about our garden. As I've mentioned before, I get all the benefit with none of the work - Ian plants it and weeds it, and when he's home for the summer, he even waters it. Occasionally I go out there and pick a few things, but usually I just holler to Ian while he's out there watering to "bring me a tomato; oh and I also need some thyme!" It's truly lovely.

Just recently, I tried my hand at making my own tomato sauce. You know, the stuff they sell for like $.49 that is basically just pureed tomato? I needed it for a recipe and we didn't have any of the can stuff, so I gave  it a whirl. Here are my tomatoes:

Here is me trying to get it the same consistency as the can stuff - not easy. Maybe I should have peeled the tomatoes?

Here is the end result. It tasted delicious but it is clearly not the same color as the canned stuff. I added it to the Sloppy Joe's I was making and they tasted the same as when I used store bought, so that's good. But I did have to add more spices than usual; I think my homemade stuff was more watery.

On the whole, I would say it's probably not worth saving the $.49 but works in a pinch.

I know I'm sort of obsessed with how food looks, but seriously, look at this photo. Is that not beautiful?

Here is another garden delight - lunch made up of tomatoes from the garden, basil from the garden and mozzarella balls (that I got for free from the rental unit I manage - don't worry, they weren't opened yet). Yummy!

I know people have been growing and eating their own food for years, nee centuries, but still, I LOVE picking something from the ground and eating it moments later. Truly delicious.

Today, I am experimenting with how to use up yellow squash. I found a recipe for summer squash bread which, according to its reviews, is amazing. I thought I would make it into muffins, since I just made some zucchini bread a few days ago. As you can tell, our garden is going crazy!

There Might Be a Better Way

We really need to baby proof our house. Ruthie is so curious and adventuresome and she loves getting into things. It is very fun watching her crawl all around and explore.

We have drug our heals in baby proofing, partially because we are lazy and partially because I didn't feel like having to unhook the knob every time I needed to use the bathroom.

But something has to be done - twice in the past 24 hours she has opened the cupboard door and taken all of our tea bags out of their boxes and spread them all over the kitchen floor.

So while we haven't yet decided what it looks like for us to "baby proof" this place, we have come up with a temporary solution.

Granted, there might be better way.

A Game Lover

Following in the grand tradition of her momma's family, this girlie appears to be a game lover.

This Is How Much Stuff It Takes...

To go to the beach. Pretty amazing that just adding one tiny person has completely changed the way we go to the sand. But all for the better, of course.

I Mean, Seriously?

I just saw a man run the 400 meters who had both his legs amputated at 11 months. If that doesn't move you to tears and make you just love the Olympics, then I would question the existence of your soul.

Mexican Family Vacation

A few weeks ago, we took our annual Sunukjian Family Vacation in Mexico. It was awesome. We had such a good time. Going into it, we were a tad worried, because we'd never vacationed with Ruthie that long. But she did great and she made everything more fun, just as she does at home. She slept great, ate great, had so much fun with her cousins and generally made it so we had a great time, too.

The week was pretty laid back, just as any good vacation should be. We went to the pool each day, ate lots of good food, played games, read, had our annual poker night, and lots of other fun things.

Here is Ruthie, enjoying the pool. She didn't fuss at all but let several of her aunts and uncles "swim" around with her. She really loved it!

Here we are at the beach - we only went to the beach one time, since it's a bit more of a production, but I was surprised how much Ruthie enjoyed it. She crawled all around on the sand and watched her cousins building moats. What's not to love?

As I do each year, I hosted a little Girls' Spa Afternoon at our villa. I did foot treatments and then the cousins helped each other paint toes. It was too cute - my oldest niece Sophie (12) did such a good job painting Abbie's (2) toes and she sat so still so Sophie could do it.

Hannah has missed it the past few years due to naps, but this year, she happily joined in the fun. Here she is, relaxing with some cucumbers while her toenails dry.

We also took our annual family photo, which I don't have a copy of yet (Sheila always sends those out to everyone later). But she did already send out a photo of the grandparents with the 14 kids. Pretty stinkin' cute, huh?

Before that nice and calm picture, we attempted to get a picture of just the 14 kids, lined up in age order in matching black t-shirts. I think we did finally accomplish it, but it was pretty chaotic and hysterical there for a few minutes. When Sheila sends those final copies out, I will for sure be posting it here.

This trip taught me something new about Ian - he is a SUCKER for little girl dresses. I guess I should have known, but I was surprised nonetheless. He was convinced that Ruthie needed a beach cover up. I'll admit, it is cute, but seriously, does a 7 month old need this? 

The only draw back to our trip was that we got lost trying to get to the border on the way home and then when we did get to it and through the line, we got pulled into secondary inspection because of some eggs that we were trying to bring back. Note to self - never, ever, ever bring any food of any kind; it's not worth secondary inspection. But the up side of that is that there are no car seat rules in Mexico, so after I nursed Ruthie in the line, we just let her play on the floor by my feet. She was thrilled!

Of course, more happened than I have pictures here to share - the McCurrys rocked the Talent Show with our air guitar routine to Bad to the Bone (complete with matching outfits and sunglasses) and Ian's team won the Family Olympics. Somehow I don't have any pictures of those events. We also had a family share night with the adults, while the kids watched a movie, and of course, lots of meals together. But you get the idea.

It was a wonderful week. I love spending time with family and I love the relaxing atmosphere of Mexico. Thanks, Mom and Dad. As always, your generosity makes this week (and all the memories!) possible. We appreciate you!!!