Sisu!

Just in case i haven't mentioned it before i'm of Finnish descent. Well -- around 1/4 of me is anyway... the rest is German and English. My maiden name is Jarvie which comes from the Finnish name Jarvinen... i still use Jarvi (without the 'e') as my middle name. Because my mom is an only child and my dad is one of five children, we tended to be more connected with the Jarvie side of the family... thus the Finnish-American culture which included Sauna and SISU! 

Finns are very proud of - well, just being Finns!  Part of that pride is the natural-born characteristic of sisu.   I asked some Uncles & cousins on Facebook what the word sisu meant to them and here's some of what they said:
 Uncle Henry - "guts and intestinal fortitude"  
 Great Aunt Punk used to say it was just "plain guts!"
 Uncle Robert - "determination"  also he recalls a definition that said, 
   'lighthearted courage in the face of opposition that you have little chance of overcoming.'  
Kind of makes you go, hmmmmmm,  eh? 


By the way, did i mention that i've given up Facebook for Lent?  It's become far too addictive for me, so i figured this was a good time to give it a rest.... but that's another story!
   

A Full Heart

Last Sunday was Valentine's Day: Psalm 150 Sunday at our church.  Every musician in the congregation was invited and encouraged to join the music team for that day to lead worship. I was there on guitar. It was our second year of celebrating in this way - only one service for the special occasion. It was great!

Since i had to be there at 8:30 for rehearsal (and jim didn't) i went ahead and jim came later with Benny. This is totally opposite to our normal schedule when he is the one who has to be there early for music rehearsal!  I know he enjoyed seeing me go out the door before him!

After the service we set off south to Middletown and the Pretorius' church for James' 20th birthday celebration. We met in their Youth building basement... a nice mix of cafe and game room with large windows looking out to the basketball hoops!  

Diana had a taco salad bar set up and others brought goodies to add for lunch. We went in with Art and Louise Fabian who arrived just after Benny's walk. After eating we were obliged to play games - "old people" vs. "young people!"  Since James was the 20-year-old it was decided that he was the dividing age and everyone 20 and up was "old!"  

The first game was a coin toss to the pool table pockets. The 'big' game was Pictionary which was a tie - the tie-breaker went to the 'young folks' 

Thommy and Emily line up for the coin toss while Uncle Art looks on...

  

 Having a good time as Grandma MaryCarol takes her turn at Pictionary!

It was great to get to see James and the family again... glad we went!  On the way back north we called Mom and decided to make a stop at Addison Ave. for a few hours.  Our first job was to shovel out the driveway and back stairs.  That snow was heavy and packed!  A cup of tea and good conversation were welcome valentines! 

We got back on the road to home around 5:30... before dark. Yay! 


Stopped at church so Jim could pick up his car which was left in the lot.... i decided to go in and get my guitar which i had left there from the morning, so jim got a head start on me.  As i was approaching Fulton Road (less than a mile from home) a deer crossed 25A in front of me and landed in the corn field.  On a whim i decided to turn west on Fulton to get a picture... nice!

As i drove a little further down the road i realized this deer was trying to catch up to the herd.... around a dozen deer all together.  I got a few shots but they were too far away for my camera to do justice...

 

I like this one because of the old homestead house floating in the background... wish the deer were more in focus...

 

Benny was so excited and jumping around the car the whole time i was trying to get these pics...he would have liked to chase the deer through the woods! 

Seeing all these deer in one place was my valentine from God... i stayed on the road watching them from the car for many minutes... in fact the Sheriff stopped by to make sure i was "OK" !   A nice way to end the day!

weighty issues

Weighed in at the doctor's today... shocking how those digital scales can be so OFF!  This is the most i've ever weighed outside of pregnancies... i really need to move more and cut out the chocolate!.... Ahhh but Valentine's Day is just around the corner... then again, jim said i may have to get my own gift this year since his foot (achilles) is still injured and he can't hobble to the store yet!
So maybe i'll get myself some yummy lite yogurt or something...

I started following a semi gluten-free diet a few weeks ago. Have found one muffin recipe that is not too bad.  This is an attempt to see if the lack of gluten will help my digestion...  I haven't noticed a huge difference yet, but as i said, its a SEMI gluten free thing so far, so maybe that needs to change?   Time will tell.

Supper tonight was red sauce with meatballs & veggies over rice noodles - "Maifun" -- quite acceptable, if different!

Winter Snow 2010

Ohio has had a much snowier and colder winter than usual this year. This suits me fine ... i love the snow on the trees... except for all the shoveling involved! Being from Michigan i have no problem driving in snow as some do around here. It's always amused me how panicky people in this area get at the thought of a 3 inch snowfall. I've been a little 'snap happy' with the camera - wanting to capture all the loveliness of this snowy season... i'll try to choose just the best shots to post here!

Lovely Lacey Branches covered with ice and frost in early January













Neighborhood creek under snow - Feb 7th

 

Our sleepy Shed and pines - side yard

West yard - Feb.6

 

Spring bloom in the lacey snow-covered kitchen window 

Paperwhites in the kitchen bay window with a snowy backdrop and some feeding birds

  

After the storm passed we had a brilliant blue sky on Saturday - Feb. 6th