Corruption

Got walked in on by my mother-in-law tonight.  She came in from work and I yelled, "Oops!" and  skulked away from Loverpants like I had no idea what kind of shenanigans her son was trying to pull on me, right there in the kitchen, at a time when other families were probably just sitting down to watch the 700 Club. Fresh one that Loverpants. Well, I'm not sure what my mother-in-law saw or if she was going for the Academy Award for Actress in a Supporting Role but she feigned exhaustion and said she wasn't hungry and would just need to head to bed.

Oh, and did we have a good time today?

Adore that woman.

It's hard to chart how I got here, how an overachieving schoolgirl from the homogenous suburbs of Cleveland --who was busy concentrating on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary when she could have been unleashing the mysteries of the High School Boy--gets invited to the lifelong dance with the dreamy sweet Korean-Canadian and works in and travels to interesting places and makes beautiful babies and builds McMansions for chickens out of UPS boxes.

Come to think of it, I wonder what those chickens saw in the kitchen tonight?

Corrupting the good Korean boy since 1999, one unseemly face mash at a time.

Above: Christmas 2004, Loverpants and I were engaged and his family still had time to press eject but they didn't and now they're stuck with me. I love them so much.

First Burpday Fruits

So, this is going to be totally inelegant to hijack the spotlight from a precious one year-old's birthday, but let me just go ahead and commit this peccadillo. Many years ago, when I was a freshman in Dating a Korean Man 101, someone helpful told me that my ability to meticulously cut and display fruit would be very important if I were ever to want to be a daughter-in-law of worth. Well I'll have you know the weight of that counsel bore heavy on my heart for years and years. That after the exhortation, I would catch myself in the mirror and ask, "Hey you. How are your chopping and garnishing skills today?" Other times I'd be walking home from the train station and would give myself pep talks. "Gonna get yourself a Ginza! Gonna learn how to use it! Gonna OWN yourself a Ginza!  Gonna make that melon look SICK {Repeat}" I mean, this was serious bidness. While other women thought about what kinds of precious metals they might someday wrap around their ring fingers, I was considering a whole other metal for my hot little hands... And.  I'm only a little bit kidding.

So imagine my delight when I was SWEATIN' IT when my father-in-law said we'd just prepare some fruit arrangement for Little Man's first birthday and by "we" I knew he meant "me." Ufffff.

I first attempted surgery on the watermelon. I had no idea what I was doing. I was chewing up the insides of my mouth with the concentration. Surely my deodorant was not pH balanced for these kinds of shenanigans. Then my mother-in-law passed by the operating table. She told me to do the pineapple, as well. (!!??) So I went all edible arrangements on that fruit and...

wait for it!

voila!  My handiwork!

Little Man? You're TOTALLY welcome! :)

Friend Club

I've only done a very shallow read of the Acts of the Apostles but I know it's been said that it's one of the most ideal portraits of a Christian community. The early believers took care of one another, they had zeal, they had a mission and they didn't lose sight of it. They kept reminding one another of it, through their faith and through acts of service. I'm giving "Oprah" a shallow watch as I do some research and ignore a sink full of dirty dishes. In a bit I'm going to go downstairs and look at the piles of clothes and books I still need to donate and I'll likely feel overwhelmed, turn on my heels, go brush my teeth and find myself at 3 a.m. still wearing my yoga pants and T-shirt and my reading glasses.

But somewhere in the mix I will give pause to the weekend that was, to the warm faces and hushed tones of my beautiful church friends as we stealthily orchestrated a surprise birthday dinner for Loverpants. I will think of the sincere love they have for my children, and how they simply do not hesitate to ever answer a call for help. My church friends are really my church family and they not only remind me that Christian love is possible--they restore my faith over and over that it is real.

*** Helmethead

Burpday Boy + Baby Girl

Bon Chon yo.

Greg.

Juhyun

Church sisters

BK: You, I love.

Photo credits to the talented Dr. Paul Yoo.