Last update!

Jesse is in Kansas City!! (Not home just quite yet, but should be within 30 minutes or so.)

Los Angeles

Jesse just called me at work and he's in LA! In Tokyo, when he was waiting for his flight to Seattle, there was one boarding a couple gates down to LA, so he walked over and asked if there were any first class or business seats open, and he got the very last business seat. 2 hour wait until he boards the flight to Denver, and he should be back in KC around 6. Shew...my updates can finally slow down now!

The Long Flight

Jesse landed in Tokyo a little after midnight last night (our time). He was again going to e-mail if he didn't make the next flight, and I didn't hear anything, so he should be in the air heading to Seattle now. At least once this flight is done, he will have all of the majorly long ones out knocked out! I know this is silly, because he is still far away, but just having him on the same chunk of land seems so much nicer. Anyway, I'm hoping that I will get an actual phone call once he is back in the states. Until then, I'm off to get ready for work!

Next flight...

Alright, I got an e-mail from Jesse around 4:15 and he was getting ready to go check in for his flight out of Hong Kong. He was only going to e-mail me again if he didn't make it on. Over 2 hours later and I have no e-mails....so I am taking that as a very good sign.

The weary traveler is on his way home!

So I got up this morning hoping to have an e-mail from Jesse, and he is back at the airport now. This is his flight plan (in his exact words!)

Change of plans, again (are you surprised)
Tomorrow,
Hong Kong to Tokyo
Tokyo to Seattle
Seattle to Denver
Denver to Kansas City.

If all goes well, I will arrive in Kansas City at 5:57pm. If not, then it will be later. These are by far the most open flights though. the tightest one is leaving Hong Kong.

He has a 12 hour wait in the Hong Kong airport, which would be nighttime there - he hoped to stay in the transit lounge to sleep and shower there before heading over for his flight, but immigration wouldn't let him back out, so he said he's sleeping by the ticket counters and won't get to shower after all.

So, let's hope he makes all the flights and doesn't get sick on them. (Staying with Rex, he had some good Filipino cuisine...)

Jesse Update #4

Jesse should be starting his last day in Manila about now. Last time I heard from him, he mentioned that he's really enjoying the trip and has gained some clarity about his life goals/direction. (I promised that I wouldn't drill him with questions about this until after he's rested up...but after a good nap, he's fair game!) I'll update again when I know he's made it to the airport and is on his way home. ***new update from e-mail I just got about two minutes ago: flights are really filling up fast...pray there is space for him!*** In the meantime, here is an interesting factoid he told me about South Korea:

The urinals flush twice. Once when you walk up to them, and once when you walk away.

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

I used to LOVE that game. (Never did I except to be playing it with my husband though...) Just wanted to do a third update real quick...he made it to Manila just fine. Flights on his return trip are filling up fast, so he's thinking about leaving earlier than planned. Not too sure yet...I just get random e-mails like this one:

"these are my options: flt 702 to ICN departs at 1320, arrive at 1800 / flt 918 to HKG departs at 1745 arrive at 1945"

Can't say I blame him for the shortness though. There are some things I will never forget about my time in the Philippines, and trying to use the internet there is one of them. It honestly takes a virtue that transcends patience.

In any case, Mrs. Nikkel won't be sad if he has to come home early due to flights filling up.

Jesse Update #2

Jesse had his day exploring Seoul. He said he felt very safe and comfortable everywhere he went. The scariest thing was apparently the food, as he was afraid to eat from the street vendors (although he said it did look tasty), but he didn't want to get sick and then have troubles on the flight to Manila. Also, we had both talked about the weather in the Philippines before he left, which of course, is stinking hot. However, we didn't really talk much about weather in Korea right now...which is stinking cold. Jesse finally broke down and bought himself a jacket, although he said he was "chilled to the bone", which we all know is a rare thing for Jesse! Anyway, I think between not eating much during the day (he did have granola bars and teddy grahams that I had bought for him to take along) and being so cold all day, he is starting to feel pretty wiped out.

On top of that....he had to make a minor change of plans. He was going to stay the night in the airport again and then take off for Manila the next day. However, when he went to go back to the airport, they didn't want to let him in without a boarding pass. Flying standby on a morning flight, he didn't have a boarding pass. Well, he managed to get Asiana to issue him a boarding pass flying stand-by on a flight that left that night, but he really wanted to just stay in Korea for the night, so he thought at least that boarding pass would get him into the airport, and then once he got in, he could just have them change it to the morning flight that he originally wanted. Well, once he got in, they wouldn't change it. He didn't want to leave the airport again and come back in the morning, because he thought that may send up some red flags with immigration, questioning why he would come and go twice in 24 hours. So, needless to say, he's already off to Manila and was going to get a hotel room there for the night, and meet Rex the next day as planned.

So, let's see...with the time difference, that means that right now he is probably on his flight to Manila, and then as we are all heading to bed, he will be waking up and getting ready to meet Rex that afternoon.

Jesse Update

I just thought I would give everyone a quick "Jesse update" to keep you in the loop (and I know he'd sure love lots of prayers while he's on the trip!) He flew through San Francisco to Seoul (South Korea) and arrived early early this morning our time (evening in Seoul). He got first class on the plane, which he was very excited about because they have the lay down beds in the cabins. He also said the food on the plane was really good. Anyway, he was going to sleep in the airport (trivia tidbit: Seoul's airport has been voted "best airport for sleeping"). When he wakes up, he'll go exploring Seoul for the day and then will fly out to Manilla next, where his friend, Rex, should be waiting for him. Thankfully, because the Olympics were once held in Seoul, their public transit is marked in both Korean and English, so that will be very helpful for Jesse to get around. He sounds like he's feeling pretty good and things have been very smooth for him so far. Anyway, so if you read this today (Saturday) you can pray that he is sleeping well right now in the airport...and if you wake up in the middle of the night tonight, you can pray that he's having fun exploring the city....that's it for now...more later....

Kitchen In Progress

What I spared you all from was the photo where Jesse insisted on showing me his "plumber's crack". Your welcome. After a while, home projects make you act stupid.
Horton and Abe like to help make dinner...
...but most of all, they like snuggle time.

Sort of Book Review, but Not Really

My mom bought Jesse a so-called early birthday present. It's Anderson Cooper's book, Dispatches from the Edge. I stole it last Monday and finished it up Tuesday (ah, the joys of having a job where my boss lets me read personal items on the clock). It reads extremely fast, and I don't think I would have enjoyed it nearly as much, had it not been laced with Cooper's interpretation of how his own past ties into his current life's viewings (aka: genocide, death, etc.) While not extremely personal, it's just enough transparency to warrant some sort of space in your heart for the man. Somehow reading it, I also saw bits and pieces of Jesse. Parts of the book made me angry enough to question whether any media tool can be fully used for good, or whether it more often than not just gives cowards in disguise a place to hide while they tell themselves they are heroes who are bringing us stories to "change the world" I once heard a story (probably from Jesse..or either I read it in his Photo District News magazine) about a photographer who was shooting a piece on starvation. At a critical moment in his life, and the life of his subject, he chose to press the button and snap a photo of a starving child reaching for bread. The child died reaching. Upon returning from the trip, the photographer committed suicide, presumably haunted by the question of whether he could have saved the child's life by reaching the bread for him instead of simply photographing the reach. I suppose there is no good answer, yet when I would read about an adernaline rush in Cooper's book, or the hunt for the most tragic of all scenes, I couldn't help but wonder what humanity is. On one hand, the Western public demands shocking images before being moved to action. On the other, this demand seems to fuel some sort of twisted pursuit for horror. Cooper describes one scene, in which he videotaped a woman being beaten, called a whore, and led away to who knows where by a group of men. He said when he was shooting it, he knew it would never make a news story, but he still shot it - relatively safe behind his camera, behind a wall at his hotel. Did he make the right choice, or did he use his camera to be a coward? I don't have the answer to that question.

More Kitchen

Jesse and I headed out to an early lunch this morning, then walked the dogs, and Jesse headed off to work. I decided to start digging in on the kitchen and ripping off the backsplash. It's always interesting as you dig into deeper into houses. Layer by layer, you see new patterns, and it always makes me wonder who lived here before and what stories they have to tell. In this case, there is some nice wallpaper peeking out for the first time in years. A nice little house and tree scene, which I imagine was up in the 50's. I got one section completely finished, but decided to give it a break and have a little snack before I start in on the next section.

We went to Lowe's yesterday to order our countertops. We had gotten a "rough estimate" from a guy there before, but when we went to order and get the exact pricing, we realized that "rough estimate" we got was indeed very rough....needless to say, our selection was quickly narrowed back down to the four in stock countertop patterns that they carry, which are ironically now the exact same patterns Home Depot carries since their recent "change over". Anyway, it was slightly disappointing, but also exciting because that means we don't have to wait four weeks to get counters, thus is why I started chiseling off the old backsplash today. I'm hoping I can get the majority of it off today.

Anyway, here's how incredibly cool I look while doing home projects....eat your heart out.

Food and Home

Since I've been on break from school, I've been able to focus in a bit more on stuff around the house. New plans to clean out and reorganize the garage have emerged, as well as plans to clean out the office and do some major giving away/ebaying/trashing. I am finally ready to let go of some things that we have carted around with us, move after move, clear from the Tennessee days. I will no longer allow myself the reasoning of "but, someday maybe I will find myself in need of ____________." In the past, that line has been occupied with things such as "huge chunk of wax" or "plastic holder for a razor that I no longer own" or "broken curling iron". Even in the clothing department, I find myself hanging on to items in which I have not worn for years, but "someday when I have a real job and have to dress professionally, this will be just perfect." No more. It is time to cleanse. If it is not useful to me now and is not something that I love and admire, then to the curb (or Goodwill) it will go.

In other exciting news (probably only exciting to me), my step-mom passed along the name of a cookbook that she had heard about. I checked it out at Barnes and Noble and am sold, although I have not actually purchased it yet. It's put out by King Arthur Flours, and is a thick volume of whole wheat recipes - including things like cake, pastries, and cookies. Between this cookbook and Splenda, I might be able to enter the world of sweets again! The Christmas season sure made it difficult to stick to the hypoglycemic diet, but after endulging for a day, and being up the following night with my head over the toilet, I was quickly reminded that I shouldn't mess with my blood sugar.

I have been struggling to eat meat lately and am afraid I am bordering on becoming vegetarian. In fact, I don't know what has gotten into me, but uber-granola ways are creeping into my lifestyle. Everytime I pick up a piece of beef, cow's eyes flash into my head, and everytime I pick up a chicken finger, I feel a twinge of guilt that I didn't specifically seek out a free range product. Regardless, yesterday I tried a spinach lasagna recipe that is pretty good for a meatless meal. I have also been plotting ways to get more healthy stuff into Jesse's work snacks, and found this recipe for bird seed squares. It's not totally healthy, but it's a step up from the corn syrup world that the other snacks we make for him to take to work live in, plus I stirred in some wheat germ for good measure. It officially passed the Jesse taste test, so it is one small step in the right direction.

On the kitchen renovation front, here is a photo I snapped to serve as our official "before shot".

Spring in Winter

For my birthday, Jesse got me some tulips bulbs in this glass container. It's pretty cool because you can see the bulbs, and then all of the roots growing out of them. They grew really fast, sometimes over an inch a day. On Christmas, we had a beautiful bouqet of tulips in our living room. I expected them to fade fast, as most bulbs do, but they are still open and bloomed very nicely right now. It's nice to have a breath of spring in the middle of winter and makes me wish I had planted some bulbs in our yard last fall.

Christmas Day, Jesse worked. I went up to my mom's for a breakfast with her and my brother. Then that evening, I went over to my Dad's, and Jesse met up with me there after he got off work. We had a yummy dinner and opened gifts, then came home and crashed pretty hard. The celebration continued, as yesterday we went up to my mom's. My step-dad arrived back home late Christmas night for the week, so we got to see him, eat another yummy dinner, and exchange more gifts. We also played a game of Trivial Pursuit, (which Jesse and I lost). We were very spoiled this season, as we received many generous gifts. Among them for Jesse are some shiny new tools that he has been wanting, as well as a car jack. I got some clothing gift cards, as well as some books, one of which is a gardening book that has me very excited for spring.

We have been looking at countertops at both Lowe's and Home Depot (much thanks to a certain Canadian Santa whose gift will help pay for this!). We found two styles that we really like, both have warm reddish tones, but I think they are both special orders, which takes a few weeks. We got a general price quote on one a week or so ago, but need to go back and get the exact pricing, as well as figure out how long it would take to get them in. Depending on price and time, we may end up getting something in stock instead. In the meantime, I plan to start chipping off the old tiles this weekend and prepping the drywall for the backsplash.

Otherwise, school doesn't start back up until Jan. 15 for me, and I plan to take full advantage of my break. Jesse booked some vacation time for late January and is plotting a photo trip, although I am unsure of details. I hope something works out for him though!

Pet Peeve of the Season

If you really want to spend a) the money and b) the time to mail me a Christmas card, please do more than just sign your name to the bottom of it. For otherwise, I feel a small sense of guilt as I throw away your card and waste a perfectly good tree.

Exception to the peeve: Photo cards. Although your signature doesn't add a) value to the card or b) any sort of message to the card, your mug does.

Kitchen Update

I bought the tiles for the backsplash. I went ahead with the Rialto Beige tiles from Lowe's. Much to my delight, my birthday money covered it. I'm ready to rip right into it, but it would really be wise to wait and do the counter before installing the backsplash. So, wait I will. I saw countertops that I liked at Home Depot, but the lady told me that they are in the middle of switching suppliers, so I am leary to purchase from them right now. What if I need another piece or something in the future and they no longer carry it? Plus, there weren't any discounts on the inventory that they are trying to move. What's up with that? Oh well. In the meantime, I will check out Lowe's stock.

Kitchen Stuff

I had my finals on Thursday and turned in my last piece of homework for the semester yesterday. Once that was done, I didn't really know what to do with myself. I am so used to spending my days off working on school that I felt a little bit lost. Thus, I have given myself a project....well, actually, I suppose I am dragging Jesse into this too.

We are thinking about doing some work to the kitchen and I am very excited about it. We'd like to get new countertops, redo the backsplash, and put in a new floor. The good thing about our tiny little house is that since the space is so small, it really doesn't cost all that much to redo things. Plus, I have a good jump start on it already from my birthday, in which I got a Home Depot gift card, and some cash. I went to look at tiles at Home Depot yesterday, but the in store selection wasn't so great. I found these tiles on Lowe's website that I like a lot. I love tumbled marble, although obviously it is out of the price range, so why not fake it with ceramic made to look like it, eh? I may buy the tiles from Lowe's and use the Home Depot gift card to get all the adhesive and grout stuff. I want to go with all these kind of natural earthy sort of colors and materials. I think it will set off the green paint nicely and bring an earthy warmth in. We will see I guess. Right now, I only have enough money for the backsplash anyway, but I did ask Santa for a Lowe's or Home Depot gift card....so maybe he will help me out as we are saving.

Otherwise, I have worked a bit on editing a photo book that one of Jesse's wedding clients has ordered. They are quite fun and nice looking, but they do take some time and effort to get the layout and incorporate the couple's favorite images.

In any case, that's life for now!

Feminism

Jesse and I have been having some chats recently about gender roles, and they always get me all fired up (just ask Jesse). As such, I've decided to climb up my tall soap box and say some things.

First, let me say that I am not angry at men, and for the record, Jesse owns more angry feminist music than I do.

And one more thing, to give credit where credit is due, these thoughts are largely influenced by various readings from different sociologists, as well as one of my old professors. Not like I just made these grand observations all on my own or anything. I didn't.

Alright, here we go!

So, the role of women has evolved at the speed of sound in the last few decades, which we all look at and think on the surface that gender equality has nearly arrived. Well, not so much. The role of men, in contrast, has not really evolved at all to keep in pace with women's roles. Well, you think why does that matter? Men weren't ever the ones without rights or who were surpressed, right? Well, for women to gain equality, it means that men's roles must also shift. For example, women used to be confined to caring for the home and children. Now, women are also accepted in the work force. Seems great, right? Well, the problem is, while women have gained the extra responsibility of also being breadwinners, they have not given up one ounce of being homemakers. Women today still do 70% of the housework. It's actually a phenonenom known as the "second shift", meaning that many women today work a full 40 hour week at work, then go home and have to do another work shift, cleaning, cooking, etc. What needs to happen here is not just that women gain more roles, but that men also do. When both are not in line, one gender is still surpressed. Society is still sending mixed messages to women about their role, and we are in utter confusion over the genders. For example, if you ask a woman what she does and she is a stay at home mom, her answer is often "I'm just a stay-at-home-mom." In society today, that isn't good enough. It's "just", as if society has told the stay-at-home mom that is only part of her duty as a woman, and it's simply not good enough to be that and that only. However, talk with a woman who has young children that works full time, and she has probably been labeled and judged as being a bad mother who puts career ahead of her children. Society is telling her "You can work, but not too much or else you must not really care about your children." Society still assumes that the main job of childrearing belongs to the woman, and forgets that she is not soley responsible. There was a whole other half involved in that procreation, ya know? Society still assumes that raising children is solely female responsibility - assumes that the woman will take time off work if a child gets sick, but doesn't assume a man would. So, anyway, all of this leaves women, especially women with young children in a hard spot - being a stay at home mom is not good enough, working too much is not good enough - the only solution is to do it all. Thus the term we all know and love - "supermom". The woman who does it all with a smile on her face. Problem is, supermoms are not superhuman. A person can't do it all without major burn out. The solution here is that we need to see men's roles evolving too - to see an increase in the acceptance of men who choose to stay at home with young children, to see an increase the acceptance of a Daddy picking up his young child and kissing his cut, to see an icrease in the assumption that fathers will play an active role in raising children and in running a household. I think part of the problem with so many defunct father/child relationships is that society tells men that it's not really manly to wear a diaper bag to be involved with your kid, especially your young kid. Now, once they start football or hockey, hey, then it's a-okay to be a Dad, but don't dare sing a lullaby when your child is scared, and don't dare let anyone see your eyes well up with tears when you talk about how proud you are of your kids. It's just not manly, right? We need to get over what is manly, what is girly, and realize that we are simply human beings. I am not so convinced that all of this highlighting of gender differences is good for us. Sure, men and women think differently and may desire different things, but when it comes down to the really important stuff in life, I think we all pretty much just want the same things - loving, intimate relationships, and a home-life where you are always accepted.

Time for a Change

I thought it was time for a change with my blog template, so we'll see how I like this one.

Riley, Birthdays, and N

Surprisingly enough, I like hot chocolate mix better when made with water than milk. Too creamy with milk. Hm. I have my mom's dog to thank for this new discovery. We are dog-sitting this week, and every morning Riley gets a little bowl of milk. Well, tonight I went to have a cup of hot chocolate, but realized if I did that, there would be no milk in the morning for Riley. Now I know it sounds silly to give up my milk for a dog, but without going into a big long story, let's just say I have my reasons and they involve no dog fights when some dogs are getting food and others are not. So, I thought I'd give my hot chocolate a try with water, and lo and behold, I like it better. Good job Riley. It is always fun having him here. I forget how mellow my dogs are until I see Riley. He is just this crazy, happy, dog that you can't help but love to pieces...despite the tree sap that he manages to get all over his fur, or the dog poop that hangs off his fur when he decides to roll in it, or the time you spend bathing him because of it.

Well, as most of you know from Jesse's blog, yesterday was my birthday. I was amazingly spoiled starting from the Saturday before when my mom took me out for lunch and shopping. Then I received cards throughout the week, and a dinner out on Wednesday from my Dad and step-mom, along with some gifts, then on my actual birthday I had Jesse doing all kinds of things for me, and my brother even stopped by to give me a Home Depot gift card (hmmm..which project is next?). It was like a whole slew of birthday madness all week long. I actually even received a card today...it just keeps coming! Anyhow, so with this shower of love, I felt very blessed. This year more than ever before, I just have a keen sense of how extremely wonderful my life is, and how extremely blessed I am. Mainly it's the people. I'm surrounded by people who love me and care about me, and are willing to show it. That's a pretty big deal.

I sure do love this season.

Jesse doesn't have to go into work tomorrow until a bit later, so we are taking N tomorrow morning. Things are improving there. Funny, but we had an incident a couple weeks ago that was awkward, weird, and most people involved were quite upset. The strange thing was, in the end, I think it made me feel closer to N. I think in the midst of it, I realized that what was upsetting me most about the whole ordeal was worrying if N thought that we were mad at him, or if he was at home sad and upset. I was actually very refreshed to see myself worrying over that. Reassured me that yes, even if there have been some struggles, I am really starting to care very much about him. So, anyway, hopefully tomorrow morning we'll have a fun time together. We're going to this place that I haven't been to since I was 12 - Hallmark cards puts all their scrap material into this place, and it's set up with these activities and cool things to make. I remember having so much stinking fun there when I was a kid, and I'm hoping N does the same. (Jesse too...!)

Otherwise, finals are next Thursday....I'm so ready for the break! Let's hope I do well on the exams!