Je suis retourne

I'm sorry for disappearing for a couple weeks. I worried some people. Never fear, Annie's here.

The last six weeks have been a breathless sprint, but I am finally coming up for air (it's not a mixed metaphor if the sprinting is swimming!). So hopefully I'll be a more communicative member of society in upcoming days.

Instead of some rambling play-by-play of recent days (there's been nothing too exciting happening), I'll share some quotes from my life:

Me, to a very frightened 9-year-old: "But Amy, why did you want to come to an aquarium if you're scared of fish?"

A child's prepared prayer during Sunday's service: "And God, please bless the mummies and deddies who are unhappy in marriage and the children who are worried." (one could hear hearts breaking throughout the congregation.)

James Ramsey Ullman: "There were no words for his images. He would have to invent new ones, stretch the dry withered skin of language until it could hold the flesh and blood of life--and the white breath of vision."

Jean Fleming: "These longings keep a sharp edge to our lives, keep them from a flaccid shapelessness that is comfortable but damned. ... The ache for Home is a mercy, our unease absolutely necessary. Homesickness is a kind of reminder, faithful to the end, that without guarding, even a pilgrim might set up permanent camp here beside dry wells and drink from broken cisterns."

Me: "I managed to break two cars and a bed on Monday."
A friend: "Don't forget the toilet!"
Me: "Oh, that's right, two cars, a bed and a toilet."*

C. H. Spurgeon: "Would you lose your sorrows? Would you drown your grief? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead's deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothng which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead."

There's more, but that's enough for now. I have an address, and a temporary phone number. If you want either, let me know!
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* to be fair, I was only responsible for the broken bed, which was soon fixed. The others merely broke while under my care... :)