August 31, 2007

every time i travel somewhere, my adrenalin starts to flow in the hours before leaving, and i get so excited i can’t stand it. granted, today we’re simply driving to indiana, so there’s a little less adrenaline than when i’m flying across the country, but i’m very excited to see my parents after a number of months, celebrate their birthdays, and have a THREE DAY WEEKEND. (the words “THREE DAY WEEKEND” always scream themselves with capital letters inside my head.”

in the meantime, however, there have been other things on my mind lately. sometimes i feel like my thoughts run in cycles, and the topic of racism is back on top this week. have you heard about the jena six, the six black teenagers in louisiana who are facing life in prison after beating up a white boy, which was essentially the result of racist actions by other white students in their school? take a look at the link. this afternoon i was listening to coverage of the 50th anniversary of the little rock central high school segregation, and it’s hard to believe that it seems little has changed in fifty years. any thoughts? how are you seeing racism in your own neighborhoods?

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another birthday

happy 60th birthday to my wonderful mother, joy louise!  my mother is many things, including thoughtful, practical, resourceful, kind, opinionated, a good listener, committed to her values, smart, funny and genuine.  serving her community and raising her children have always been priorities for her, and she gave my brother and i a tremendous gift by being home with us, reading to us, teaching us, providing for us, and always giving to others.  thank you, mom, and happy birthday!

August 30, 2007

happy wednesday, and happy birthday to my wonderful father!  here are just a few things i love and appreciate about my dad…

…he is very smart. as in, could’ve totally aced law school if he wanted to go.

…he gave my my love for reading.

…he is very generous – with people in need in general, and with our family.

…he is a strong leader, as evidenced by the number of boards that he has sat on for non-profits.

…he has always accepted my brother and i and been there for us, regardless of our good or bad choices.

…he is an interesting conversationalist.

…he is very responsible and has a great work ethic.

…he has an interest in the larger world.

…he is a gifted teacher.

i love you, dad!  also, i can’t wait to see you this weekend.  happy birthday!

August 12, 2007

so it seems i’ve taken an unintended blog hiatus – just long enough to really start missing it. welcome back, interwebbies!

so, what’s been happening the past couple of months, you ask? really, it’s been more of the same – work, school, internship, trying to have quality time with my dear husband. i love all of it – at least, i love the husband time and the internship. i like school, and work is familiar. all in all, life is good.

a few items of note…
…this has taken up my free time for two very spellbinding evenings this week, delaying the process of really digging into this. it was definitely worth the time, and although it’s a novel, i feel like i’ve gotten an education. and, although i have some pretty big issues with the actions of our government at times, sometimes i’m overwhelmed at the vast difference between my freedom and the lack of rights for so many women (and people at large, but especially women) around the world.

…on another political note, last night i caught the dateline(?) special on billy graham and his relationship with the white house. fascinating stuff – i was especially intrigued (impressed?) by the fact that the president graham had the least connection with was jimmy carter, even though carter has been one of our most devout evangelical presidents. apparently, carter felt very strongly about separation of church and state, which led to his distancing himself from graham somewhat. also interesting was graham’s shift from political advisor to strictly providing spiritual guidance following the nixon fiasco, graham’s use of presidential friendship to get into countries such as the soviet union (during the cold war) and china to preach, and the closeness of his relationship with the clintons. it seems bill clinton went to his first billy graham crusade at the age of thirteen – graham had to go to great lengths to ensure that that particular rally was racially integrated, and the footage was pretty cool. also, did you know that bill clinton took hillary to a graham crusade on one of their early dates?

…my brother is currently in israel on a little vacation from iraq. he should be back in the u.s. by the end of september. hurrah!

…we went to a great party/cookout at nikki and zach’s last night. if nikki still had a blog, i’d link her, and then you could all know how cool she is. i love that girl!

…my mother-in-law is going back to school. i’m so proud of her!

…i’m sleepy, and the a.c. is in the bedroom. so i’m going to go to bed now. g’night.

what’s been on your minds lately?