Making a Home

It's good having the whole family together again, and by that, of course, I mean the whole family with the exception of my dad; he has been gone for so long it seems as if he was never part of our family and in many ways he never was. (However, I still wish my dad was around.) In fact, this may actually be first time that it feels like I am part of a real family. Now that Kenny and Hannah are back in town it feels complete when we all gather for dinner:

Mom's in the kitchen slaving over an absolutely perfect dinner, even better than the one last night, or the night before that. She floats, gracefully, through the kitchen, dodging the wild animals and children, every move like an intricate dance set to the music of bedlam, to create something miraculous. She is making more than dinner, she is making a home. This is what she has been doing for many years now-the majority of her life. She does it because she is unselfish; living every day to keep and provide for her family. She does it because she is unfazed by her own needs and desires. She does it because she loves us.

At the the cluttered table, two sit as one–Cherith is sitting down at the table talking about her new reason to life, the new life inside of her. She fumbles through mail and magazines, seemingly unconcerned, but proud, of the burden that she carries. She has changed so much in these past few years and I see my mother in her; I see greatness. I ponder many things as I watch her... How can life seemingly begin from nowhere (as it seems)? How will this new life change this family?

On the couch, where he always is, unfazed by this chaotic house, he sits, watching TV. He is more than Cherith's husband now, he is Tom, he is my brother—far different than the brother I already have. Older and quiet, there is still so much I have yet to learn about this man. Seemingly, he came out of nowhere, but he loves my sister and I see the joy on his face as he plays with his son; he is proud of his family.

Busily, Kenny runs about the house doing errands for just about everyone. He does a better job than I ever did as the man of this house and it is good to have him around. I don’t know how we ever got by without him. He is my best friend, and I am happier with him back and surer of myself. He is frustrated with school, finding a new job, and a new home. He looks unhappy as the pressure builds to provide for his family; he does not realize how much he does for his family.

In mom's kitchen, Hannah is shuffling back and forth trying hard to keep up with an angel. She is pure and sweet and wonderful but still in training; she is smart though and a quick learner. My brother is lucky to have found such a wife; she is great among women and I have much respect for such a young woman.

Tasha seems to wander about this house unfazed by all of the life that is here and how much she is loved—how much she is spoiled. To me, she is still 10 years old and needs me to protect her. I don’t think she knows how much I love her and the joy she brings to my life. She can still make me laugh uncontrollably when she tickles me and all I can do to defend myself is run and lock myself in the bathroom. We are both still kids.

And now there is one more to this family, unable to sit for more than a moment, Dylan is missing again. It is hard to keep an eye on this innocent little explorer, so curious about this big world around him. Looks like he´s into something again, hardly innocent anymore. This beautiful little creation has so much wisdom—he seems to grasp the simplicity of life. I watch him closely and learn from his adventurous and joyful spirit, he is so young but sees life so clearly.

Me, I ´m content as I sit at the table quietly observing the greatest thing I have in life-my family. Not so long ago, I tried to create my own family, but all it created was turmoil and it's so distant now, it’s like it never happened at all. Maybe one day I will try again, but for now I will continue to admire and appreciate the family I have. I couldn’t imagine a better family... or a better life.

I take that back, mom’s calling us to the table again... it just got better!

My Instict (also My Mission Statement)

This is a paper I wrote for an Eng 102 class a couple of years ago. The assignment was to write a paper to convince our classmates to pick (from a list) the subject for our first essay, and yes, I did win.

Definitly, read the whole thing-it's not very long.

Jonathan Dunn
English 102
1/27/06

Two years down and two to go; I'm half way through my college experience. I do not like college like I did high school. High school was this great experience; everyday was an adventurous mess of void. There were no responsibilities or pressure as I casually blew through high school. Being a Special Ed. kid I ditched when I wanted with no consequences and school came easy to me. High School was a four year celebration of my youth. When I graduated I decided to go for round 2 in this crazy institution mislabeled as education, so I applied at the University of New Mexico and couldn't wait to do absolutely nothing for four more years.

"The party's over slacker. Get out of bed and get to class," my mom yelled at me two years ago on the first day of classes at my Auschwitz, "Oh yeah, and on your way home why don't you get a job and pick up a gallon of milk." This had begun my four year (now looking like five or six years) celebration of confusion, responsibility and oldness (and some bad grammar randomly thrown in). I wanted women, parties and more women but instead I traded those in for homework, kids, and a 401K. Okay, so I'm exaggerating a little bit, but hey this is a paper and I want it to sound good.

What it all comes down to, is God created some people to be teachers or lawyers or women and lots of other boring things, but a few fortunate people in this world he created to be slackers, and that's me. This is my purpose in life. I'm not good at a lot of things but I am quite gifted in this field. My instinct (also my Mission Statement) on this matter, like on everything else in life is to do what's easier, cheaper, and faster.

What it comes down to ladies and gentleman is that if we choose to do our papers on the topic of the Death Penalty we don't have to read anything but only have to listen to speakers in class. You should trust my expertise on this; I've been in the field of slacker for 21 years. I mean you already have to go to class (they take attendance), so let's get our work done while we're in class listening to guest speakers instead of having to go home and do this modern method of torture-reading. I mean it's already saving me time. Everyone else in the class probably wasted like 15 minutes skimming through the book on the given topics. All I had to do was look at the Table of Contents and realize that there were no essays on this topic. In conclusion, whether you're for the death penalty or not, I know you're for more free time so choose this as the topic of our first essay. Ah, another successful mission completed, now I get to use all my free time thinking of more ways to make more free time-the joys of life!

To see the original posting of this click here This is Funny.

A New Lover...

So last night I’m out with some friends at the gym working out and trying to get back in shape. Then something amazing happened…

I’ve been here for about 2 hours and I’m starting to get pumped and I say to Eric, my new climbing partner, “What do you say we get out of here, get cleaned up and go catch a movie.”
“Sounds good,” he replies. Eric is new at this gym so I´m showing him around and introducing him to a few of the people that work here and some of the other climbers that I know.
“Hey Jon, how’s it going?” Holger asks as he comes around the corner. Holger is a german exchange student that I met at a party a couple months ago. It was an international party that was at his house and it was one of the best parties I’ve been to this semester.
“Well if you have anymore parties you better give me a call,” I insist.
“For sure bro,” he replies.
And then it happens, something from across the room catches my eye so I turn to see what it is. There standing like a goddess is the most beautiful thing that I have seen in a long time. She is tall and seems to stretch all the way to the ceiling.
“Look at her,” I exclaim.
“Where?” Eric asks but I am already gone.
She is thin and stands with confidence and conceit; she knows that every eye in the room is on her. Quietly, she stands there, feet together, arms at her side, not saying a word but with such beauty it seems as if she is whispering my name. She has a flat stomach, rounded thighs, small jutting breasts and she carries her glorious shoulders high. Her curves are subtle and fluid and for a moment I think that maybe I am only imagining such beauty.
I move closer and I began to feel her yet she is still at a distance. I can feel her drawing me in with her eyes, deep and mysterious, they look right through me. She continues to pull me in and I continue to move closer but I don’t remember taking a single step.
I am very close to her now and I stare at her as I try to comprehend such beauty. The light was not the best but I could see the finely chiseled features of her face. It is strong, molded with determination and courage; I can tell that she's not accustomed to being conquered but only breaking men’s hearts.
I break free of her trance though I am still in awe of her beauty. I leap at her but she does not flinch; I land on her but she does not fall. I can now feel her warmth and for the first time I know that she is real. She seems even taller now as she seems to stretch out to the heavens, from where she descended. I start at the bottom of this angel and move up as I become familiar with this perfect creation that I just met.
I make intricate and accurate moves and I do not hesitate. I do not know if it was instinct of if we were meant for each other; our bodies perfect for one another. When I am done I lower myself and get off of her. I feel like I have known her my whole life and I have this huge sense of accomplishment; I am proud of what I have done. I take one last look at her and turn and walk away.
She calls out for me and asks, “What is your name?”
I do not turn back nor do I answer her, though I am in love with this woman.


So if anyone actually finished this, it was about a route that I finished last night at the rock climbing gym. It was my first on-site of a 5.10 which is good for me. I have only been climbing for a few weeks as I am trying to get back into it like I was a couple of years ago.
For those that don’t know, when you on-site a route that means that you just walk up to the route and you own it. No one tells you how to climb it and when you’re climbing you don’t fall or weight the rope. You just walk up to the rock and without introducing yourself or being polite you get on it and climb it. Then, if it doesn’t defeat you and after you’ve reached the top, you lower yourself and walk away because you just owned that route. Yeah, that was me yesterday.