Lillith - Blenders - and Time

Ok, so this post is mostly just trying to organize some thoughts that have been floating around my head. I have read several good books lately and like all the good ones they make you think about them for a while. And as I thought about them I start thinking to myself - well what if?? And you reorganise some ideas in your head and those ideas shoot off into tangents. Then they decide to go onto several different hikes and these ones head down the scenic byways while some other ones go straight up and yet others lag behind to chill in the shade. This generally just leads to a crazy mess in my head because they all end up getting hot and tires and losing their hiking buddy and no one can make sense of anything when they all get home.

You know?

So anyway - I have been thinking about mythical creatures. Vampires, angels, and everything in between. Yes I am a Twilight fan. I think because she made them new. I know a lot of people hated them for that very reason but personally I liked it. So there. Another series I read was called the Mortal Instruments trilogy. The good guys carry the blood of angels and are the "police" of the "downworlders". Which are the vampires, werewolves, fairies, witches, warlocks, etc. All of which carry the blood of demons. This was a great trilogy and I recommend it. What was interesting in all my readings of various books involving the mythical and night creatures was how many references to Lilith there were. Even in C.S. Lewis' books he mentions her as Adams first wife.

Now this is the first I have heard about it. So I looked it up and there is oodles of mythology about her. Apparently she was not as submissive and meek as Eve. Also it seems she was very strong and somewhat powerful (power of the angels its hinted). God deemed her unsuitable and cast her out of the garden. Now her children from Adam were also powerful, but cursed because of their parentage. Mostly its only vampires who are associated as children of Lilith, but in other stories all magical creatures and faries are descended from her. Hmmm. Now that time in Eden and the immediate aftermath would make an interesting story yes? And with vague biblical references (and really what other kind are there?) to her, a nod from C.S. Lewis, is there any kernel of truth to a story of Adams other wife??? Hmmmm.

Of course, I am not sure that I buy that reason for Lilith for being unsuitable. Or at least that being the only reason. I just don't picture Eve as being meek and submissive. She had to have a lot of courage and strength and, well, gumption to do all she had to in her life. If you think about all of those "night children" including the faeiries, maybe especially the faeiries, they all have a touch of capriciousness and cruelty. Some more than others. This is attributed to Lillith which seems like a much likelier reason for her being unsuitable for Adam. Humanity needed less power and more compassion? I know I would prefer Eve for a mother.

Another fun topic for me lately has been time. The Hourglass Door started a very fun new story for me about what time is and does. Eric was a fun story that had a section where they travelled in time that is forming a story in my head greatly influenced by my husband. Time I decided is NOT like a river. Thats too linear. Time is whirlpool, every eddy touches the other circling endlessly around. A rock thrown in one eddy will not disrupt the whirlpool but will cause ripples radiating out the edge of that eddy and into the adjacent ones causing unknown problems in both the past and future from that moment! Chaos! Sounds fun! I mentioned this to my mother and she told me it sounded more like a blender. Swirling around, faster at the bottom, and if you push the wrong button everything shoots out the top into squared space making a complete mess of things. I like that too. I think that needs to be a conversation in my story.

Anway this is way too long but I needed to get it out of my head. :)

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Why I love Grace

I have been watching a TV show on TNT lately called Saving Grace. I love it. I really really love it. I know it is rated TVM. I know it is not appropriate for my kids, maybe not my mom either (even though I think she would like it and maybe I will get her to watch it sometime anyway) but I still love it. Here is why.

EARL

Earl is an angel. He shows himself to Grace in the first episode. He looks like a middle aged 50 something guy. He always has a new T-shirt on under an unbuttoned flannel shirt. His hair always needs to be brushed and he is kind of a red-neck. I think he is perfect. I think if God is going to send an angel to someone he will send them in a form they will understand and accept. He is kind and compassionate and dedicated. He is a "last chance" angel. His job is to get Grace to come to God, accept him and help her to help herself. I think its interesting that there is no particular name or form of God that is "better" for him. Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Islam - Earl doesn't care. In fact when one of the other characters converts to Islam he is surprised Earl is still his angel, thinking he was only a Christian angel. Earl just laughed and said " You humans - thinking a name makes any difference." I loved that. He cant force her against her will but he sure messes with her and pushes that as far as he can. But he loves her, every good thing about her. And he sees good things in everything about her that others might not. He worries about her and cares for her. If I were to have an angel looking out for me - I would want it to be Earl.


GRACE

Grace is a mess. A serious crazy mess. She is a homicide detective with the Oklahoma City Police Department. Her sister was killed in the bombing. Her nephew was 10 days old at the time. She has dedicated a lot of her time to her nephew. She loves him with a crazy protective passion. I think that's the word that really describes her. Passion. She puts it into everything. Her work, her dog, her nephew, and just her life. Everything she does she is determined to do to the fullest. She is a loyal friend and a fearsome enemy. Her laugh and her happiness is infectious, her anger and stubbornness would shame a bull. She drinks way too much and sleeps with everyone. And yeah I mean pretty much every guy she meets. She has a really hard time believing in any type of God. This is a little understandable given that starting at age 9 to 12 she was repeatedly sexually molested and raped by her family priest. Even with her drinking and her sex life though - there is still a feel of trying to find as much zest in life as she possibly can. Her pain is real and you feel it with her as are her joys. She is a strong and capable person that those who know her cant help but love even when she makes that difficult. I admire her and all her quirkiness. I want to smack her and tell her to stop being such a stubborn fool. I want to hold her and tell her its going to be ok and I want to go dancing with her because I know we will have a damn good time.

I know with all her faults I still love her and still think she is strong. I like that she doesn't have to be perfect to be strong. I love everything Earl says to her, everything he tells her about whats really important. These are a few of the reasons I love Grace.

Moving Part 2

Well after they sent him on his way - I went home to figure out the best way to move. Now that I finally had orders I could call and set up the mover people and he could set up housing. We decided to live on post. It was most cost effective and we felt it would put us closer to anything we might need with the Army. He was having problems getting some things done though so I flew to Georgia to help him get it settled. We found a house, found the kids schools and got the movers settled so after a couple days there (and a visit to the beach) I went back home. But not to pack. The army was in charge of that. Which is weird. Its very different to see someone packing your things while you just sit there and watch. My dad and some very nice ward members helped me find a car and get it running so that it would get us to Georgia. My dad was awesome and said he would go with me. Which I was grateful for since he did almost all the driving. And you know - the drive was nice. A lot of sameness. Here are some things I learned between my bus trip and my drive to Georgia. Wyoming and Kansas are a lot of nothing. And I mean nothing. Oklahoma is pretty. Tennesee all the way to Georgia is pretty but most of it felt like driving through a long green tunnel.

Anyway my dad was awesome, we listened to a couple of book by Terry Pratchett which I highly reccommend. It was hard to say goodbye. We got to our home and our furniture was supposed to get there about 6 days later. So we borrowed some sleeping mats and dishes. Finished all the paperwork to get the kids in school. And saw about settling in. It was a little weird to live with my husband again - but it was in a completely new place where we both had to get used to new routines so it was easier to settle in than I thought. Actually I think it has been easier for me than for him. The kids are doing pretty well. Curtis hates the dress code at school but he's hanging inthere, :) Josh is playing baseball and Aaron is coaching his team.

It will take some time to get used to being sticky and sweaty all the time and the rain actually makes it hotter rather than cools it down. There is not a lot to do in town or on the post but if you are willing to drive for a bit there is lots of fun stuff to see and do. The beach is only about 45 minutes away and there is a little science center with a little aquarium in it. There is a sea turtle refuge on Jekyll Island, an awesome zoo, dolphin tours (which someday we will go on), not to mention fishing and alligator watching. Usually the alligatoirs ruin your fishing though. :)The wildlife is interesting, on our street we have frogs, turtles, armadillos, red foxes and deer. There is probably more but thats what we have seen so far. It is pretty here. I miss my family of course - we all do - but I think we will be just fine. :)

Moving - Part 1

As usual, I haven't posted for forever. I've been busy so suck it up! :) Well, after my husband came home for Christmas (which was awesome) I had to send him back. But I was on the last half of the separation so I was good. There were things to plan for, like moving and deciding when and where we would live and all of that. We still didn't know which post we would be stationed at. I personally was really hoping for Italy. I mean really - how cool would that have been? But of course that didn't happen. Eventually we found out we would be moving to Georgia! I wasn't really sure how I felt about that. I'm still not. I didn't know anything about Georgia except my gran gran was from there. And it was hot and sticky. I saw a Survivor Man episode where he was surviving in the swamps of Georgia and that didn't make me feel much better. But hey - it's where we were headed so lets make the best of it! I know my family struggled with it. It was suddenly a little more real. The kids were divided. Josh was happy because we would be close to Jacksonville (where his favorite football team is from) and by the ocean. He decided he wanted to learn how to surf. Curtis was not so thrilled. Im not sure anywhere we went he would have been though. He just wasn't thrilled about moving at all. Much less someplace that has all kinds of "beware of alligator" signs up.

The hard part was the waiting. I knew where I was going but we didn't have written orders yet so I couldn't arrange for housing or travel or anything until we had those. Grrrr. One of the lessons of the military. Hurry up and wait. Dont make plans - or at least make very flexible ones. Very flexible - you know like those girls in Cirque de Soleil who canmake themselves into little pretzel boxes. Anyway - it wasn't bad. I mean I didn't have to pack or anything. The army was in charge of that. Which was really wierd.

Before long (and I never thought I would feel like it was going by quickly but man those last few weeks flew!) it was time for Graduation Day!! I bought greyhound tickets because they were a couple of hundred bucks cheaper than flying. Wow that was the wrong choice! I don't recommend it! Ever! 41 hours on a bus REALLY sucks. But hey - lessons learned. I finally got to St Roberts (the little town around Fort Leonard Wood) and checked in to my motel. I was so excited to see my husband the next day I thought I would never sleep. And promptly zonked out. :) Then I got to go pick him up! For 6 whole hours!! I didn't think I could look at him enough. It was awesome. I had to take him back that night for curfew. The next day was graduation! It was really impressive. Really. Then they put him on a bus to Georgia. Right after. I mean, within 45 minutes he was riding away. I just needed to go home and see what we could arrange for us to meet him!