Called to serve (good food)

Man, I haven't blogged much for a while. It's not because I haven't had anything going on. Rather, I've had so much going on that the combination of busyness and paralysis of where to begin has kept me from blogging.

This weekend, for instance, H's parents are staying with us. They go into the MTC tomorrow in preparation for their 18-month mission in northern Missouri. They'll be assigned to two branches to work with less-active and part-member families.

Last night, we took S out to dinner at a local Thai place for her birthday. I can't believe she's 10 already--it seems like she's growing up so fast and has reached the milestone my older sister always called "double digits." I remember well reaching that milestone myself. Anyway, we went to this Thai place and invited both sets of grandparents. None of them were familiar with Thai food, but S loves it. I ordered half a dozen entrees and some appetizers and we passed the food around family style. I tried to stay mainstream with dishes like peanut satays, pad thai, and mild curries. I don't think either grandfather liked it too much. My dad dislikes both noodles and rice generally, and my father-in-law is a self-proclaimed meat and potatoes guy, but they both gamely tried almost everything and seemed to do okay. I made sure not to get anything too spicy, either, since my dad is very sensitive to many spices. It was enjoyable, and H and I enjoyed introducing our parents to some new dishes and trying a couple of new things ourselves.

Go, world!

I admit it, I'm an Olympics junkie. I've been watching the games every single night, and it's been great. Every time I watch the swimmers, though, I remember that I owe my sister $20 from a bet I made around the '84 Olympics when I was a county-wide champion in my junior age bracket. I bet her that I would swim in the Olympics someday. I was good on a local level at least, but I lost interest in swimming a few years later and didn't swim competitively in high school. I guess I liked to talk too much--plus, I couldn't see anything in the pool with my bad vision.

Time capsule

For family night tonight we created a little time capsule. We've been doing work on the bathroom, and there was a space behind the new tub created by a change in configuration of the plumbing, so we decided to put in a nod to a future occupant of the house by putting in a mini time capsule. My contribution was $1, because, hey, who doesn't dream of finding money hidden in the walls of their home? I also whipped up this little poem for whoever finds the capsule:

If you read this Carr family rhyme
You must have our capsule of time
We’ll put treasures inside it
In the bathroom we’ll hide it
And leave it to age and to slime.

We’ll tell you a bit about us
Now you’ve got our old house full of rust
And we hope you are happy
And don’t think it’s too crappy
Like life in a Volkswagen bus.

Of children our family has four
We’re middle-class, not rich or poor
Our mom plays the trumpet
Our father likes crumpets
And all think that laundry’s a chore.

A lawyer, musician, four kids
(Thank goodness none died of SIDS)
From age one to ten
They make quite a din—
Like banging a hundred pot lids

You must be remodeling now
We wish we could tell you just how
To paint and to grout
But you’ll figure it out
For we’ve done the same stuff, somehow.

To God we give thanks for our place
And hope it brings smiles to your face
It’s given us pleasure
And been quite a treasure
Enjoy it, whate’er your life’s race.