Birthday Weekend

Me n Clint, celebrating his 30th, a few weeks ago.
Photo taken by my mom, on her Samsung Smartphone.


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It's the middle of my birthday weekend.
June 1 was the official day, and I spent it at work, then getting a haircut, finishing the day with my mom by seeing Isreali film, The Wedding Plan (in Hebrew, with English subtitles) at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

"After her fiance calls off their wedding a month before the ceremony, a woman decides to keep the reservation and trusts God will provide her with a husband."

Thoughts:

• Hebrew isn't an easy language to listen to. 
• Reading your way through a movie causes you to miss some of the facial expressions and body language.
• Hollywood and Britain are Masters of Romantic Comedies. Israel not so much. But this story didn't need Hollywood's dazzle. 
• Loved the movie, regardless. This show was about one woman's blind faith that God would supply her with a groom; on her wedding day. Haha. Maybe as crazy as Noah building an ark before rain had even been invented. Or as crazy as an army, equipped with only trumpets and lanterns determined to overtake a walled city containing armed warriors. 
• She reserved the hall, bought a dress, sent out invitations to 200 people, hired a couple match-makers, went on a number of disastrous blind dates, and showed up at the ceremony, faint and dizzy, wondering whom God had chosen to be her husband. 
• So inspiring. I think God was trying to tell me something..
• So yes. In case you're wondering, keep Sept 30 available. Invitations have been ordered. 

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I've still been reading more than watching TV:

Can you see where it says "A Novel" on the cover? I assumed I was reading a made-up story. And some parts were just so unbelievable, I kept saying to myself, didn't she have an editor who suggested she keep this 'more real'? Beryl is born in Britain but moves to Kenya with her parents when she's a toddler. Her mom and brother head back to England shortly after so she is raised, wild and free, with her dad on a horse ranch. She becomes the first female horse trainer at the age of 19. She hangs out with an older crowd, falls in love with a safari hunter named Denys and befriends an older Danish woman, Karen, who runs a coffee plantation. Before she's 30, she's the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, east to west. 

I finished the book and wondered what that was all about. 

THEN I read the back pages and realized the book was based on the real life of Beryl Markham. AND Denys was Robert Redford and Karen was MERYL STREEP from the movie OUT OF AFRICA which was based on the real life story of Karen Blixen, the danish coffee farmer. 

Crazy. 

I must've spent an hour going down Wikipedia rabbit holes after that, connecting all the dots and learning about the lives of real people. 

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Another book:

Fascinating. 

Well written.

So enlightening.

Wanna know more? 

Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her life s work. Thrown into a profession of gallows humor and vivid characters (both living and very dead), Caitlin learned to navigate the secretive culture of those who care for the deceased.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes tells an unusual coming-of-age story full of bizarre encounters and unforgettable scenes. Caring for dead bodies of every color, shape, and affliction, Caitlin soon becomes an intrepid explorer in the world of the dead. She describes how she swept ashes from the machines (and sometimes onto her clothes) and reveals the strange history of cremation and undertaking, marveling at bizarre and wonderful funeral practices from different cultures.

Her eye-opening, candid, and often hilarious story is like going on a journey with your bravest friend to the cemetery at midnight. She demystifies death, leading us behind the black curtain of her unique profession. And she answers questions you didn t know you had: Can you catch a disease from a corpse? How many dead bodies can you fit in a Dodge van? What exactly does a flaming skull look like?

Honest and heartfelt, self-deprecating and ironic, Caitlin's engaging style makes this otherwise taboo topic both approachable and engrossing. Now a licensed mortician with an alternative funeral practice, Caitlin argues that our fear of dying warps our culture and society, and she calls for better ways of dealing with death (and our dead)."

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And this...

I read Brenda's journal entries on the Caring Bridge site as she wrote them. After she passed, Carson had them printed and published:

From diagnosis to death, (588 days), these are Brenda's thoughts. 
It's an encouraging and positive read, written by a friend who was encouraging and positive in everything she did. 

Praying that God will use this book for His good purposes...


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Remember I mentioned that Clint had installed security cameras at the lake? (Over the long weekend?) Ones we could manage through an app on our phones? 

This is what the front camera picks up:

Wellll, on any given weekend, I'm usually drive up there, late on Friday night. But because this is My Birthday Weekend, I'm in Surrey. And since I'd read THIS article, I am making a ginormous effort to turn off electronics at midnight. (Baby steps). 

So I closed my laptop and turned my phone off at 12. 

I opened my phone up again at 12:30, because let's be real. I'm never going to fall asleep before 1:30 am anyways.

This was the conversation that was taking place between my kids at 12:25:

Sigh, my next solo overnighter will not be relaxing.

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Manchester and London Bridge bombings are on my mind today.
My heart is sad.
Praying that we will be kind to each other.


Be generous with your smiles.
Ask her how she's doing.
Give him a hug.
Swallow that snide comment.
Don't assume they're talking about you.
Forgive them; they didn't mean it.
Let it go, think on things that are beautiful and worthy of praise instead.
Choose to love; it casts out fear.
Deep calls to deep, so go there.


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Three things I'm thankful for:

1. So grateful for all the messages, notes and cards from friends/family this week. Feeling loved.

2. Lupine

3. Late night conversations with my kids.

4. Thankful for a mom who is totally game for a late night, foreign movie, in Vancouver. And who showers me with gifts. And lets me live in her spare bedroom. And picks out the most beautiful birthday cards.


Peace, friends. xo