Things that bring joy to my heart...

American Crocodile

...getting a phone call from my niece asking for my information specialist help as she was on her way to school this morning.

Her question: What is the difference between alligators and crocodiles?

The answer was provided within a few keystrokes from Ask.com. All you have to do is type in your questions, complete with the question mark. I typed in the question exactly as stated above and found an answer from the San Diego Zoo.

There are 3 areas of difference between the croc and alligators.
1) Jaw-shape: Alligators have wide, U-shaped jaws. Crocs have narrower, V-shaped ones.
2) Teeth: The alligator has a lower canine tooth on each side of their jaw that is visible, sticks out, when their jaws are closed. A croc does not have this.
3) Habitat: Alligators tend to live in freshwater areas, while Crocs choose salt-water areas more, because they have a very active and useful salt-disposal gland on their tongues.

Florida Alligator

Maddie then asked, "well, what eats an alligator?"

The answer to that is quite interesting. These animals (both crocs and alligators) are considered apex predators of the food chain, that is, there are no other predators on them except for humans.
This was found on a wiki site, thus I'm not 100% sure it's the best answer that's out there, surely a more detailed one exists. However, while searching for the answer, it was my assumption.

Thanks to Maddie, today has been a learning day.
Keep 'em coming. I love these types of questions. I can find the answers!

Tolerance--the definition is murky

Tolerance is one of those words, like homosexuality, that cause Christians everywhere to blanche. Speak of tolerance in a church or at a college like this one, and you're likely to be shunned.

I heard it in President Obama's inaugural address on Tuesday, and ever since it's been bouncing around in my brain. I know that a group of people, many who are Christians, heard that speech and cringed or scoffed or prayed for mercy on the U.S. because of those words.

It seems like an over reaction, to me, to be so sensitive to the word Tolerance.

So I began to contemplate its meaning and to try to decipher why some Christians fear this word so much. I see so much fear in the American church, and my contemplative efforts this time are framed in the context of understanding why that fear is present and how to dispell it. (Not that I could quell the fear, but even to encourage a few friend or family towards better understanding, and LESS fear would help.)

Tolerance:
Christians hear it and perhaps think "glossing over sin". Tolerating injustice and those things that the Bible and that Christ himself have illustrated or clearly stated as sin. Not seeing, not differentiating between right and wrong. Tolerance on this level is not in accord with God's Word and what we often interpret as His Will.

I guess I tend to envision tolerance in a much different manner. Intolerance to me speaks more of hate, more of differentiating on social or cultural or ethnic boundaries. Intolerance to me is not acceptance people. When I hear the President speak of tolerance, I'm thinking of not judging people based on their beliefs, their lifestyles, their bad choices (which we all make). Tolerating differences in the interest of touching peoples' lives. Jesus tolerated people. He was intolerant of sin, and yet he reached out to people steeped in it. He tolerated their differences (his holiness to their wretchedness) in an effort to reach their souls, to speak to their hearts and enable them to be better, to move on, to turn away from sin.

It can be dangerous for Christians to toss around the term tolerance, to say "Yes!" or "Amen!" when a leader or politician admonishes us toward this ideal. And yet, I would say, follow Jesus. He tolerated differences in order to create relationships. He tolerated the personal, emotional aspects in order to heal those wounds.

Wouldn't we all be wise to follow his example? To choose relationships over differences, to live and speak light and hope into the darkness surrounding us?

Winter Weather is Confusing

Today feels like Spring. Which is depressing because we know it is only late January. We still have February to trudge through, and then March throughout which we hope for Spring, and are yet forced to wait until after Easter.

My soul was able to sing a little today, though, because of the sunshine and relative warmth.

I love that college students decided today is national Coat-is-Optional Day. Just because it feels warmer than usual (which is to say, it's nearly Freezing--32*), they treat it as if it were, truly Spring. Everywhere I turn, students are wearing sweatshirts, sans coats, or t-shirts on the very brave. As if trying to invoke Spring earlier than Nature dictates, their coatlessness is a prayer for relief. It has been very cold this winter.

The Cold Strikes Again

Knowing that last night was to be the coldest night, and feeling the chill, even though our thermostat read somewhere in between 68-70 when I went to bed, I piled on the clothes and blankets and snuggled deep into our huge, comfy bed much earlier than normal.

At 12:40am I received a call from my husband, and I thought for sure it was 4am. So, I mumbled something, hung up, and went back to sleep. Waking up this morning was difficult, you know, because the house was just SO frigid, despite the heat being turned up higher than it has been all year.

I stumbled to the shower and tried to lift the faucet handle. It didn't move. Starting to wake up, I turned to the sink and pushed its handle up. Worked like a charm. Back at the tub, I gave a good yank to the handle and it creaked on. No problem.

It usually takes the water running for about a minute before the water is warm, so I tentatively stuck my finger under the waterfall, only to find my little digit scalded. Being early, it was difficult for me to process the problem underlying the scalded finger. After about five minutes, I realized that the cold water to the shower was frozen.

Abandoning the bathroom drama, I escaped to the kitchen to check the sink there. Its pipes are on the outer wall (unlike the bathroom--or so I thought) and I figured it would be the first to freeze (in fact, this happened last year). Kitchen sink water was hot and cold as indicated by turning the appropriate knobs.

Only the shower, of course, was affected by this frigid night.

Here I am at noon, still in my jammies, and working diligently from my laptop. I called in to work and let them know the issue, in addition to the fact that my Internet was down for two hours this morning (thus emailing them a note earlier had been out of the question).

Around 9am, the Internet began working and I was able to log on to the system and begin my work day. But I am still left with nothing in the bathtub but hot, potentially dangerous water.

A maintenance guy I've never met before has just showed up and, in fact, after he crawled under the apartment to the pipes, he found the frozen pipe joint. I can now hear the cold water rushing in the tub. He fixed it, right at this very minute (12:10pm). Thus, I suppose I'll spend this afternoon at the office and have to shower soon.

It has been an adventure this week. Cold like I've never known it. Internet down. Frozen water pipes, and all of this I'm enduring alone.

Have I slipped back in time? Is it the winter and blizzard of 2007, when I'm alone and not married and have no one to manage the household problems but my own, inexperienced self?

But of course, I forgot...

I failed to mention this in my frozen grumblings earlier.

Today is quite the milestone for me. Today, January 15th, is my two-year anniversary for being in this job, my first professional job, at my alma mater.

I determined today that I believe I may have been in shock my entire first year back here. I never expected to set foot on this campus again, and yet, I found myself living two miles away, jogging the same streets I had jogged as an undergrad, seeing some of the same faces, and calling my professors by their first names (as per their requests).

Strange world we live in. Strange world indeed.

Two-year anniversary but I just feel lousy.
My home is cold and I'm alone, my favorite person away on a business trip to a warm southeastern Disney city. I've no one to celebrate with and, frankly, I don't feel much like celebrating. The cold has seeped deeper than my bones this time, unfortunately, and I don't really know how to thaw out.

Observation

It's sad when the sun is shining in splendid brilliance and still cannot warm the earth above -6 degrees Fahrenheit.

What's up with that?

And so the last few weeks have been...disappointing, cold, and pretty much unpleasant.

(Which is why I've been silent.)

A New Year

Just a cute little pic from Xmas to start off.

I was hoping to have some ideas or resolutions to post for the new year, yet alas, I do not. We've been relaxing for two days, er...I have been. I've visited the gym and watched movies, played games, and enjoyed being lazy for my last two days.

New Year's Eve was incredible. I have never in my life cared much for the holiday. We always watched the ball drop and then went to bed, already clad in our jammies and bathrobes. But this year was incredibly different. In honor of Evan's 29th birthday, he and Emily hosted a smashing party. Beginning with a scrumtrulescent dinner of chuck roast over rice with gravy, green beans, corn bread, and sweet potato casserole, we ate until we were ready to burst. Emily had also created a decorated cake masterpiece (of which I do not have a picture).

The happy, hosting couple.
The delectable spread.

Then, we awaited the other party-goers: Matt and Meredith, Jon and Alisha.

Like always, the Gottschalks do it up and do it right. We played Rock Band on the Wii for hours, and then P.E. teacher Alisha devised the most elaborate double-elimination ping pong tournament for everyone there: parents, siblings, spouses, and friends. It ended up that the Gottschalks ruled the table: Leslie won over all, but the final matches included Mom, Evan, Leslie, and myself. No one knew what a stellar ping ponger Mom was. But she demonstrated to all her secret skill. One of my moves even left my opponent on the floor. That was awesome.

The food was plentiful, too, all sorts of chips and dips, cookies and candy from Mom and beverages galore. Evan and Emily are also the proud owners of the most intense board / card game collection know to mankind. When the parents departed at 3:30am, everyone else decided bed sounded good, and instantly all games and snacks were cast aside. That's right, Carol and Steve set the tone for the party. When they left, it died.

I'm really excited for this year. I have no idea what it will bring, but I feel like I'm in a good place to enjoy the ride. They always say the first year is the hardest, and I fully believe "them", whoever they are. But, I also know I have a big God who promises to traverse the path with us, along side us, even. This is great news for me. It might become a very focused year for me, focused on finding out where I fit in this marriage (I've found the part where I'm the wife--I'm talking deeper levels) and how we'll start working through life as a family, as marrieds.