fall expedition

(originally posted on my blog at the original groupee.com social networking site.)

i took a little photo expedition to Carkeek Park, a few minutes from home, on Saturday hoping to catch the tail end of the fall foliage. i was less than impressed with what i captured at the park - i waited too long, as the colors are now more brown than red and the light fog interfered with clarity.

on my way out of the park, this lone leaf caught my eye - suspended between the tree and the ground. it didn't seem to be falling, it was floating - literally - in mid-air. i admired the unusual sight, assuming that a spider's silky thread had entangled the leaf, which allowed it to float in the breeze, without ever falling to the ground.

i had time, so i parked the car, and walked back to the leaf. it danced in the breeze, as if the spider up above was performing with a marionette for my camera. i took about a dozen photos, hoping i'd get at least one frameable one. i got 11 frameable ones.

i chose my four favorites here, as a series. i think i'll have them framed together for my living room. they might not be red, but they definitely display the autumn color that i love.

october in review...

(it seems like i was JUST posting one of these month-in-review posts. maybe that's because i don't post enough. *sigh*)

*saw casting crowns in concert/
*celebrated rebecca's 4th birthday.
*kid's ministry: launched our mid-week program. hooray!
*tried desperately to capture fall on "film" - but never had the time. finally found a little time this weekend, and got a few i love.
*kid's ministry: hosted a costume party for 35 of my favorite little goblins.
*made a costume for my cat, who i promptly entered into Etsy's costume contest.
*celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday.
*dressed up as a crab for halloween. (except that today, i'm wearing cat ears at work. maybe i'll be a crab again tonight.)
*having friends over tonight for a perfectly-pumpkin dinner (and to greet trick-or-treaters, of course!)

heh. looks for all the world like october was a quiet month. whatever!

An Unfortunate Case of Mord-Wixing (or: The Great Cat Costume Challenge Update)

(originally posted on my blog at the original groupee.com social networking site.)

i am sorry to say that there is little chance that my entry into Etsy's handmade costume contest will be considered this year...

last night - the supposed due date of 10/29 - i logged onto etsy to upload my entry, only to find that the details for the contest were missing. using an old bookmark, i pulled them up and discovered that the due date was not 10/29 - it was 10/26. my feeble little brain clearly flipped the 6 into a 9, and my typical "wait till the last minute, it's okay, i have time, i work better under pressure anyway" nature has disqualified me from the contest.

but gracie, having endured 5 separate photo "shoots" until we got a few pictures that were semi-decent illustrations of the costume, would not settle for a simple "oh well, i guess we'll try next year". she was seriously perturbed (see photos above), and in a major strike of indignation, decided to take matters into her own hands (paws). grace emailed the people at etsy (see email below).

note about costume: it turned out quite cute. felt vest, with flippers attached at the shoulders. felt slippers/feet, her least favorite part. felt beak, her second least favorite part. come to think of it, i'm not sure she has a favorite part...

below is the email that grace sent to etsy:

Dear Kind People at Etsy:

I write to respectfully ask that you grant kind consideration to this tardy entry into Etsy's Costume Contest.

My Person, Kate Thaete (username: katethaete) read through the details of the contest, paying careful attention to the due date of October 26th. Unfortunately, suffering from a minor episode of Dyslexia, she read the "6" as a "9".

She finished my costume in plenty of time, but alas, I admit I was resistant on multiple occasions to donning said costume. Only this past weekend was she able to take an entry-worthy photograph.

As a cat, I have a strong sense of justice and wouldn't normally request that you make an exception to such strongly-stated rules. However, I must appeal on the basis of the sheer torment I endured in posing for this photo. In my native environment, my fellow feline and I do not wear these things called "costumes" that you humans insist on wearing each October 31st. We take great pride in our own fur and need not disguise ourselves (but I digress).

So, in closing, I plead with you - please consider allowing this entry into your contest. I believe you'll find it among the best in the Pets category, specifically in the criteria of "Best Animal Usage".

Sincerely,
Grace the Cat/Penguin

Click here to see the entry.

grace eagerly awaits a response from etsy. i don't hold out much hope, but you can bet i'll keep you posted. Wink

(oh, and the monster costume for fugue was ingenious, but i couldn't make it work. it was a little over my head for sewing, and amazingly, cat's don't really like felt pajamas.)

not around much...

my sis-in-law pointed out that i haven't blogged much lately, so nikki - this one's for you!

it's been a busy few weeks... that's nothing new. saturday, we spent some time with matt's family to celebrate rebecca's birthday (that's where these photos are from - i'll post more later).

we're still in the throes of halloween - we're having a Costume Party on sunday for the kids. we do two major outreach events each year (and some smaller outreach events throughout the year) - halloween is one of them. no idea how many kids we'll have, but it should be fun.

and then it will be over. and that will be good. because as much as i love what i'm doing, the truth is that the event planning when done in parallel with the regular ministry planning starts to wear on me after a while, especially as we get closer to the event.

well, that and - i'm ready for christmas. because i'm always ready for christmas.

let's see - a few other little details i want to document for myself... matt and i have met some big financial goals in the last few months and are about to meet the biggest goal we'd set for ourselves - paying off our debt. shortly, we will be debt free (with the exception of the car, but to me, that's acceptable debt). this is a testament to my husband's ability to handle money, and God's divine blessing and providence. so now we're looking to our next few goals, and that's pretty darned exciting too.

and one more for nikki, before i go:

{nikki, i'll send you the files for these and a few others when i get a few minutes on that machine.}

over-n-out.

checking in...

i'm so neglectful of this poor blog. i promise i'll try harder.

a few good things happening right now:

• our church launched it's midweek program - Ethos University - last thursday. we had nearly double the expected turnout, and it was awesome. our kids program is called NEXTgeneration Friends, and so far - so good. it really focuses on rewarding positive behaviors and evidence of spiritual growth, and i like that. Ethos University is our church's primary vehicle for Spiritual Growth, one of our six purposes, so working that into our kids program was a must, and all the prayer and planning has really helped.
  
• i am up to my eyeballs in halloween planning for the kids - a costume party on the 28th. i'm really looking forward to it.
  
• we saw casting crowns in concert two weeks ago - easily one of my favorite christian-rock bands. these guys keep their fingers on the pulse of our culture, and that really shows in their lyrics. they're brilliant. and they're big world vision supporters - and WV helped sponsor the concert. hearing their stories about the kids they sponsored, and the kids they met when visiting some of WV's worldwide operations was awesome, and God really moved in my heart to sponsor a child. we "brought home" anderson, a little guy about to turn 7, living in El Salvador. just thinking about him gets me a little choked up - but let me tell you, i am SO excited to send him letters and cards and little fun stuff to tell him how much i pray for him.
  
• a few photos from the concert - our seats were great, but i didn't want to bring my longer lens, so i stuck with my 50mm. the photos are decent, but i wish i'd been able to move around a little more. (man, i am such a geek.)

during their performance of a song called "the voice of truth", they brought an artist on stage, and set up a huge black chalkboard canvas. in this series, you can see the actual canvas in the bottom left of the photo, and you can see the artist as he works projected on the video screen, which is the upper right of the photo. sometimes the artist is visible - sometimes he's blocked by the bass player...

throughout the song, the artist created this amazing picture of worship - first using words:

then he started drawing lines, progressing into this sketch of three people with arms raised in worship:

and when i thought it couldn't get any more amazing, he started filling in the lines, with his hands:

and adding dimension:

and then suddenly, the "guy" in the middle was holding a Bible:

and the final touch, he used his own hands to fill in the remaining hands on the worshipers - then he stood back and worshiped as well:

and of course, i had to capture the cell phones raised in the air:

my mr. rogers routine

(originally posted on my blog at the original groupee.com social networking site.)

Every morning when I get to work, the office is still a little chilly. So I take off my jacket, and put on my (yes, zippered) cardigan. I'll wear my cardigan on and off for most of the day, and at the end of the day, I'll take it off and put on my jacket as I leave. And it makes me think of Mr. Rogers.

How's that for a random Tuesday morning post.

life lists

today, i'm thinking about life lists. do you have one? i do. i used to call it "50 things i want to do before i die". but that sounded so limited, urgent and macabre.

today i heard the phrase "life list" and i like that better. positive, inspirational, and gives me the freedom to add to it as i see fit.

if you've ever thought about a life list, or are thinking about one now, you should read this article in the NY Times. it's awesome. and i love the way it was written.

currently, it has 49 items on it. i might add more. i might remove some that are no longer in-line with my life's purpose. but for now, it's a good number. and of that 49, i've completed 24. i thought i'd share a little sampling of my list:

• Visit all 50 states.
  
• Learn to drive a stick shift.
  
• See a show on Broadway.
  
• Re-create my family tree.
  
• Have a proper garden.
  
• Have my own piano, and use it.
  
• Travel Route 66.
  
• Get into the habit of making my bed.

what's on your list?

september in review...

gone already - can you believe it?

1. kid's ministry: fall kickoff event, getting the new year of jesus-focused fun underway.
   
2. got back in touch with some friends of ours that we'd been missing.
   
3. began thinking about buying a house.
   
4. paid off our "big" credit card - hurrah!
   
5. contracted a major case of halloween on the brain, which is exhibiting itself in symptoms such as excessive crafting, and premature costume detail.
   
6. kid's ministry: getting ready to launch our mid-week program about 6 months sooner than i anticipated! (in T-10 days and counting!)
   
7. fell in love with altered t-shirts (i keep meaning to post about this...)
   
8. saw Mercy Me live in concert, at the Puyallup Fair.
   
9. photographed some carnival lights at said fair.
   
10. organized (and album-ized) my leaning tower of scrapbook layouts.
    
11. went to the zoo - again. i've been to the zoo more in the last two months than i have in the last five years.
    
12. made my recipe book.
    
13. replaced two cell phones in two days. (i am in no way bragging, it's just mentionable.)
    
14. began a website re-design (that will launch in a few days!)
    
15. listed a few things in the store, with the intention of listing a few more.
    
16. had a few projects picked up for publishing.
    
17. purged, cleaned and organized our bedroom & kitchen.
    
18. purged, began cleaning and organizing matt's office - room makeover: it will now be our "quiet" room, used for quiet things when there's noise in the house. i'll use it for my morning quiet time, matt will keep his guitar there. it will be lovely.
    wow, what a month. no wonder it went so quickly. and hellooo october.