Great Food Blog

This morning I was searching for a fun soup recipe that I can try this weekend and I ran into this blog: www.eatnvegn.blogspot.com.

Trevan's cousin Kim, and her husband Paul are coming to visit for the weekend and I will attempt to make the Samosa soup for them. It sounds and looks delicious.

I will let you know how it goes.

My First Vote!

One of the disadvantages of moving from one country to another is that your citizenship ends up in the country you don't live in at election time.

This year, I finally was able to exercise my right to vote at the ripe, old age of 27. I consider this to be a momentous occasion in my life and I am very excited that my vote might actually count since I live in Virginia.

Now we can only sit and wait until all the votes are in.

An Inspiring Story

Audrey is a former co-worker of mine. She is a woman of great faith and great conviction. Over the past couple months she has been a God-sent mentor for me as I have struggled with some decisions in my life.

When the primaries started she was an ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton, but once the primaries were over she fully got on board with Obama's campaign, and has even been volunteering some of her time to make phone calls.

This morning she sent me this email, and I just wanted to share it with you because I know the struggle ex-convicts that are trying to live a good and honest life face. Richmond is my home now, and I am proud that such a touching story came out of the streets where I live.

Audrey's story: "I can't get this out of my head so I thought I would share this story. It is short and it is another affirmation that Obama has a heart for the American people no matter where they come from.

Yesterday, I heard a most wonderful story from a man by the name of Tommie Cox. Tommie is a 60 year old African American man who spent about 30 years in prison. He was released last year and entered a so-called training program in the Richmond community. Tommie is a member of my church and a small group of us had been working with Tommie to help him find employment. Over the past two weeks I have been meeting with Tommie advising him on how to fill out applications and dealing with his job search.

As many of you know, on Wednesday, Barack Obama was in Richmond at the Coliseum. It was packed to capacity 13,000 plus. There were over 7,000 waiting outside. Tommie said that he went to the Coliseum, arrived early so that he could get a good standing position to see and hear Obama. When Obama finally began to make his way to the podium, the crowd reached out their hands to touch him. Obama found his hand shaking Tommie's hand. Within that short time, Tommie told Barack Obama that he was an ex-offender, spent 30 years in prison and needed employment. Obama told him that his campaign could offer him short-term employment at $9.00 per hour and the Senator told him to report to the Obama Headquarters. Tommie said that Obama also told him that the $9.00 wasn't much but would hold him until he gets what he wanted. Someone with the Senator then gave Tommie the location of the headquarters so that he could report for orientation and employment.

At 12:00 noon yesterday, Tommie was scheduled to report for work. When I checked on Tommie at about 2:00 p.m., Tommie was employed, he was out canvassing and knocking on doors with an Obama supporter and partner.

I know that some people find these kind of stories hard to believe but I Believe in God, our Creator, who has given Obama ability, skill and all the he needs to lead us into a new era. I Believe! I Believe in Obama! Only God can orchestrate such wonderful things--out of 20,000 people, Tommie, an ex-offender who is struggling to get on his feet, touched one of the most powerful and compassionate African American men in the world. This is the kind of President that I want, the table has been set, all we have to do is partake by Voting. Grace and Peace to Barack Obama and his household! Blessings to you and your household."

One more on the Candidates

I got this in my email about the candidates' educational backgrounds. It is very interesting.

Barack Obama:Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Jurist Doctor (J.D.)

John McCain:United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.

Obama in Richmond!

Today Obama was in Richmond for a rally.

The rally was suppose to start at 12:00, so we got downtown at 9:15 and stood in line for about an hour in the freezing cold. It was great that we got there early because they had so many people come out that they turned people away. Even with that the coliseum was packed, about 12,000 people.

He was so inspiring. He challenged people to take responsibility for the current crisis. Not just blame our problems on the government, but take responsibility for the things we have caused ourselves. We have our own part to play in improving our children's education by being there to turn off the TV and help them with their homework. We have to take responsibility for the energy we consume, the cars we choose to buy, and the lights we choose to not turn off. He made me feel more than ever that I have a part to play in making this a better country and a better world.
It is nice to know that I still make a difference.

Cake - Week 5

This week I decided to be a bit ambitious with my cake since it was my last class. I designed a vineyard as an ode to my in-laws who live close to the Napa Valley.The house is made of chocolate cake. It was very hard to shape, but it was worth it. I tried to create a vine going up the side of the house with some flowers on the side. That did not come out exactly the way I envisioned it, but it looks ok.There is a little mount that come up from the cake with these little green bursts that are meant to look like a row of planted goodies (maybe cabbages).
Here is the aerial view. You can see the pond that is in there.
I put a gold fish in the pond. Thankfully Trevan has this rake that he got at the Pastor/Teacher Convention this weekend. It was a great prop to add to the cake.
So it comes to an end. My class was a lot of fun and I do not regret the many hours I have spent baking cakes and making icing. If you ever get a chance to take a class you should do it. In addition to learning great techniques for decorating your cakes, you also get great ideas from your classmates.

Cake - Week 4

Here is last weeks cake. Trevan and I were gone all weekend to the Potomac Conference Pastor-Teacher Convention and I totally forgot to post pictures.

This cake is meant to be a bit of a painting. Flower blossoms coming out of a basket like in some artsy paintings. I have a very ambitious design for my last cake. Tomorrow will be my last cake and I am very happy and sad to come to the end of this journey.

Tomorrow is also my birthday, so I get to make a cake for myself!

Cake - Week 3

This is my cake this week. It is much smaller and I put a lot of flowers on the top. I was just trying to practice my roses. Next week I will try to decorate it with a bit more purpose.

The actual cake is a butter pecan cake with chocolate syrup and walnuts middle.

I especially like the border with the little dots on the top of the starts.

Cake - Week 2

Here is my cake from this week. We are learning to make roses, and since mine are far from perfect, I decided to play with color to make them more interesting. It is a double layer chocolate cake with strawberry jam filling.

Setting the Record Straight

Someone posted this on Trevan's myspace page, and I think it is a brilliant comparison of the facts. Let's think about who is really ready to lead this country. We cannot afford to make the mistake of electing the wrong person again.

I'm a little confused.Let me see if I have this straight ...
* If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents,you're "exotic, different." * Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

*Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer,become the first black president of the Harvard Law Review,create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive and first in line behind a man in his eighth decade.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress,and then left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a true Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age-appropriate sex education,including the proper use of birth control, you are erodingthe fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up aposition in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America 's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

Cake - Week 1

The new adventure in my life is cake decorating. That's right, I started a class last week and this is my first cake. Not terribly impressive, but let's hope that it gets better in the weeks to come.

Congratulations Roger!!

I'm Back!

I am back in the United States, but I wanted to tell you a bit more about my trip to Switzerland.

On the final Friday I was there it was Swiss National Day. We had fondue for dinner.Then we headed up the mountain to a huge bonfire in celebration of the holiday. This was the view as we walked up to the bonfire. A bit of rain was falling and a beautiful rainbow draped the sky.

When we got to the town hall we followed a brass band to the bonfire.There were two boys that were carrying a huge cake. It is a town tradition.


This is the bonfire. It was about 8 feet tall.
Every so often a cloud would drift by the mountain and we would be surrounded by the cloud. It looked like smoke, but it was really cool and moist. It was very cool!This was a wonderful experience of the holidays in another country. Later than night we went back to the town hall and hung out with the very drunk villagers. They were dancing and singing and eating. Just having a great time!

More Pictures

I was finally able to take some pictures outside. We had been working so hard that it had been days since I had left the house.

This is a picture of Christie and I in the tipi the GID folks set up.
This pictures was taken right outside my room actually, and it is Christie, Rashad and myself.
This picture was taken yesterday when we went down to Vevey and took the boat back to Montreaux. The guys with me in the picture from left to right are Ian, Muaz and Rashad.

I am meeting people from all over the world. Even in our team of coordinators we have people from 12 different countries. I will post more information on that later...

Thunder Storm

Last night we had a thunder storm of epic proportions. Apparently most times there is a thunder storm lightning hits the building. If you notice a rather large house at the top of that second mountain, that is where I am staying. I took this picture from lake Geneva yesterday and it was a bit overcast. Also we were miles and miles away, so the building looks rather small, but you can clearly see how high we are.

I hope that at some point this week I will be able to go all the way to the top of the mountain you see in the very back of the picture. That should be a fantastic view.

My long lost sister?

I met Clementine Lue Clark last year at a conference in Dayton. She is very involved in the work that I do and so we see each other periodically at diverse activities put on by my organization.

Back in Dayton people kept on asking me if we were sisters. Now that we are both at this conference in Switzerland we are getting the same reaction from people. Today, Clementine made a presentation on identity, and I had people coming up to me thanking me for my inspiring words.

What do you think? Are we that similar?She is a Jamaican with a Chinese father and a black mother. I guess it is the multi-culturalness...

The House

The house in which I am staying is called Mountain House and it is a mansion that operated as a hotel for the rich and famous prior to WWII. I believe the building has been around since 1902. Some of the furniture and rooms have a definite antique feeling to them.

Opening Ceremony

Yesterday we kicked-off our conference with an indigenous celebration. A rather large group of indigenous people that are a part of the Global Indigenous Dialogue (GID) have joined us for this conference, and their experiences are quite unique and bring so much to the table.

Here are a couple pictures of the opening ceremony where they offered up an offering of burnt tobacco to invite the ancestors to be a part of our gathering

.

Hello Europa!

Hello Friends,

I am in Switzerland for two weeks with my job. Initiatives of Change owns this fantastic palace from which they run a series of conferences every summer. I am here to help out with the coordination on one of those conferences.

It was an adventure just getting here. The building is half-way up a mountain. The view is fantastic. Check out my view at lunch time today.
That's Lake Geneva in the distance. My lunch was also quite great!

I will keep you posted on the stuff I do while here.

Bucket List

Last night Trevan and I watched the Bucket List.

The theme of this movie has been used over and over again. Someone finds out they are going to die, and all of a sudden their priorities change. They decide to live the life they always dreamed of, but seemed too risky or irresponsible.

These types of movies are suppose to send awakening jolts to our inert systems to get us out of our ruts and into living the lives we were meant to live. Throw caution to the wind and climb mount Everest, visit Egypt, skydive, carpe diem!

However, the majority of us just make excuses for the pathetic lives we live. "Things will be different once I get married, once we have kids, once I get my PhD, once we retire"...the list goes on.

I have been fighting the urge to just survive for quite some time now. I wake up with no purpose and no direction. Some days I just feel like crying, it all seems to hopeless.

Every time I give in to dispair I am reminded of a sermon Trevan preached. The title was "But God", taken from the picture Paul paints in Ephesians about the death and dispair that we were in, But God has set us free.

I have found in these words the will to not just survive, but to let my hair down and go for the life I was meant to live. I am starting my own Bucket List, and I hope to stick to it not just for my sake, but for the sake of the God who has given so much to set me free.

I will keep you posted!

Venus and Serena

I really appreciate these two women, and what they are doing with their lives.

They are classy when on the court, courteous with the media, and seem to keep it real. While some have accused them of not giving enough credit to their competition, they are quite secure in who they are. They believe, along with many others, that if they play their best, no one can beat them. I would argue that even if they are not playing their best they can still beat the majority of people out there.

It was a pleasure to watch Venus defend hers and Serena's work ethic when someone questioned the authenticity of their matches against each other. It was a tasteful answer to a nasty question.

Another thing I appreciate about them is that, unlike a lot of top players these days, Venus and Serena do not look up to their box after every point to get moral support, or to get advice on whether to challenge a call. They just play their game, stay focused, and deal with the consequences of their decisions.

The Wimbledon final on Saturday was really great to watch, even if Serena did a mini-baby-sister-pout after she lost (It is totally fare to hate on siblings that beat you, it's in the Bible I believe). Venus said that she took her job as a big sister very seriously, therefore she did not rub her win in Serena's face. That's really nice of her, I am pretty sure my brother would have made fun of me on the spot. Sibling rivalry is stronger in some families more than in others. I hope the sisters continue playing for many more years.

And for those of you that think they spend too much time away from the tennis courts...Don't hate on a sister's entrepreneurial skills!

Tripping

On my way out of the office yesterday my heal got caught on the cuff of my pants and I fell down a flight of twenty steps. My shoes went flying and ripped up the skin on my left shin.

As I was going down (I swear it felt like I fell in slow motion) I was praying that I would not break anything because I am suppose to be leaving for Switzerland in a month.

Overall it was not pretty or funny at the time, but I have really laughed at the whole situation today. Envisioning myself tumbling down the steps, then trying to look dignified as I picked all the stuff that fell out my purse and put my shoes on while my shin was throbbing is kinda funny. I really tried to pretend like nothing had happened as I limped to my car.

It is really great that nothing serious happened and I will be just fine in a couple days.

On Wimbledon 2008

This has been a great tournament so far. Loving the fact that Djokovic and Sharapova are out. Really happy with the way Gulbis challenged Nadal.

Now if someone can take out Ivanovic it would be just about perfect.

Italian Vogue

There is this really interesting article in today's New York Times on the upcoming issue of Italian Vogue.

The big news is that all the models in the issue are black. I will be definitely buying this issue!

On Multirace

I found this article on multirace people and families in America. It is really fascinating to read some of the comments and be able to nod in agreement with the experiences of other multiracial individuals.

My particularly favorite question I get asked all the time is "What are you?". On any given day, depending on what my hair looks like, I can be mistaken for Indian, Ethiopian, African American, I have even gotten Sudanese and Philippino. When I say Costa Rican, the response is usually a very confused "Really?".

Just to clarify my heritage:

My father is an afro-Costa Rican, whose mother migrated from Jamaica and married a Costa Rican of African/Jamaican ancestry. My mother is an Indian-Belizean, whose family migrated from India to Belize generations before she was born. I was born in Honduras, but am a Costa Rican by ethnicity and an American by nationality (recent development).

So there you have it!

The Things I do for Love

This weekend Trevan and I drove up to Maryland in order to attend, not one, but two baseball games on two consecutive days. Yes, it was Trevan's idea.

Trevan really loves going to baseball games, so I agreed to go with him to the Nats vs. Brewers game on Sunday (Nats won!!! Go Nats), then the Orioles vd. Yankees game on Monday.

The Sunday game was great. We went with Trevan's cousin Kim, and her fiancé Paul. We were all rooting for the Nats, so it was great to have them win in the bottom of the ninth.

Unfortunately, Trevan is an Orioles fan and I am a Yankees fan, so the Monday game was a bit less fun because the Yankees loss, and I had to endure Trevan being extra loud about the Orioles winning.

All things considered, it was a great weekend and I have the sun-burn to prove it.

French Open

Tennis is back! The French Open starts this Sunday and drama is definitely in the forecast at this point.

With Henin's retirement, the field seems open for Sharapova to clench her first French Open title.

The drama on the men's side is even bigger. Flashy, new-comer Djokavic, and three-time French Open champion Nadal ended up on the same side of the draw, which leaves #1 Federer with little competition to make it to the finals. With rumors circulating that Nadal is not in top-shape, this seems to be the year for Federer to finally win the French tittle for the first time.

But I am not buying into the hype. I love Federer, and I sincerely wish I am wrong on this, but he has had a less-than-stellar season so far, and I don't really see Nadal folding and giving up the chance at a fourth consecutive French Open tittle.

I pick Nadal to win this one.

More Venting

You must read Maureen Dowd's Op-Ed pieces on the New York Times. The past two have been especially informative as to why I cannot abide Hillary any longer.

This comment in particular got me to renounce my Christianity just long enough to wish this particular voter went to the really hot place below. Sorry Lord, he is your child too.

"The story quoted Victoria Switzer, a retired social studies teacher, who
could take only one night on an Obama phone bank in the nearly all-white
Susquehanna County, Pa.: “One caller, Switzer remembers, said he couldn’t
possibly vote for Obama and concluded: ‘Hang that darky from a
tree!’ ”

These are the kinds of people that Hillary is happily pursuing. Sorry, but as a self-respecting black person I cannot possibly care any less for the woman, and if she ends up on a ballot I will not vote. Thanks Hillary for ruining what was once a primary process full of possibilities.

She Does NOT Speak for Me!

I am really tired of women groups posting these ridiculous ads in which they claim that Hillary Clinton represents and speaks for all women. I am a woman, and I most definitely do not want her speaking for me.

We are all entitled to our opinions, and my opinion is decidedly anti-Hillary. She is not the kind of woman I look-up to as a role model. Staying in a presidential race that you have already lost is not being a fighter, it is being selfish and desperate. If she was the kind of woman I look-up to, she would have left the race with dignity a long time ago, and had gone to work for the nominee. She would have bargained for women to have higher positions in Obama's cabinet, and would have championed equality for all.

Instead she has stooped to the shameless politics of attack, distortion, and even turning on the water works if it will give her the votes. I am sorry, but I could never look-up to her. She might have accomplished a lot in her life, but that is not the kind of woman I want to run this country.

We are true to ourselves not when we act like men and gain position for it, but when we act like women and gain respect from others.

Green Thumb - Thumbs Down

Ok, I admit it. I have not been posting pictures of the progress of my plants growing because the cilantro plant has been dead for about two weeks now, and the basil plant has not grown past a half inch...I told you this was a bad idea.

Instead of trying to grow my own plants I have decided to cheat. I went out and bought a basil plant that is already full-grown, and got specific instructions as to how to keep it alive for the rest of the summer. Let's see how that works.

On the other hand, my orchid is doing well. We have had five new blossoms since we got the plant. Some of the older flowers are dying off, but that is totally normal, so I have not killed that plant!!! I have the claim the victories I have.

She's Retired?

This piece of news has totally shocked me... Justine Henin is leaving tennis? That is so unbelievable I cannot even explain how confused I am.

It makes sense to leave while you are at the top of the game, but still, she is so good. I guess there are more important things in life after all!

Saw it Coming...

This morning's NYT reported on Disney's potential problems as the June edition of Vanity Fair will reveal a picture of topless Miley Cyrus.

The fifteen-year-old star of the hit show Hannah Montana is a role model to many young girls, and some parents are very concerned that this picture will lead their yound daughters in the wrong direction.

Two things come to mind here:

1. Who did not see this coming? It happens to most child stars. Lohan, the Olson twins, they all seem to break at some point. You kinda knew it would happen to Cyrus sooner of later.
2. Girls today have enough shameful role models to follow. I don't particularly think the picture of Cyrus is terrible, it is actually quite artistic, but it does promote underage girls taking clothes off for a camera, which is never a good thing.

What concerns me is that the message keeps on being repeated that the only way a woman can get any attention is by showing her body. That is what is really wrong, not the picture. Miley is getting so much attention (even negative publicity is publicity) that it only makes it more alluring for other girls to try to do the same.

Masking Prejudice

As human beings we have mastered the art of masking our prejudices by demonizing those we cannot abide. Muslims are terrorists, Blacks are loud, Whites think they are better than me, and the list goes on.

I did not, however, expect to find such blatant prejudice on a blog roll on the New York Times. Timothy Egan posted a blog on April 23, entitled Faith of Our Fathers. He used his ill-researched knowledge to attack the entire Mormon community around the world. Here are some of his comments:

"...But religion can also be used as an excuse for awful behavior – from the torture of the Roman Catholic Inquisition, to beheadings by Jihadist killers, to the sexual manipulation of children by early Mormons and their latter-day sects... [Their] faith was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith Jr., an itinerant treasure-seeker from upstate New York who used a set of magic glasses to translate a lost scripture from God...It would have been just another Christian faith had not Smith let his libido lead him into trouble. Before he died at the hands of a mob, he married at least 33 women and girls; the youngest was 14, and was told she had to become Smith’s bedmate or risk eternal damnation. Smith was fortunate to find a religious cover for his desire. His polygamy “revelation” was put into The Doctrine and Covenants, one of three sacred texts of Mormonism. It’s still there – the word of God. And that’s why, to the people in the compound at Eldorado, the real heretics are in Salt Lake City.
As his biographer, Fawn Brodie, wrote, Joseph Smith “could not rest until he had redefined the nature of sin and erected a stupendous theological edifice to support his new theories on marriage... His successor, Brigham Young, married 57 women – a harem that attracted curious libertines like Sir Richard Burton to study the American social experiment...
Fast forward to this century, when the polygamist group makes the same argument at their West Texas compound and at their earlier one in Colorado City, on the Utah-Arizona border. I was at that Colorado City compound, twice in the last four years. It spooked me: the gnarly old men and their child brides, the creepy guards in their pickup trucks, the sing-songy women tending to a dozen children in houses the size of a Motel 6. They were ripping off the state, living on welfare and food stamps, even as they defied civil authorities. In Colorado City, I spent time with DeLoy Bateman, a high school science teacher, who told of losing his daughter after church authorities ordered her to leave her husband and marry her father-in-law – a man twice her age..."

I am obviously not a Mormon, nor do I believe in children being forced into sexual encounters, but I do believe that this article is divisive, and it is the kind of propaganda that causes the rise of more violence and intolerance in the name of religion. Here is a comment on the blog that expresses my feelings the best.

"What baton are you holding, Mr. Egan? The bodies of 6,000 Mormons scattered
across the Western plains are a testament of the legacy of the baton YOU hold.
What role did the 19th century press play in hyping up persecution, exaggerating
and exploiting the sensational to make a buck and stir up hatreds and violence?
Is there a study you are aware of that suggests Mormons married underage
girls in the 19th century at a rate greater than the general population around
them, or are you just taking a sophisticated potshot from the media cheapseats,
and counting on the righteous indignation and general prejudices of your readers
to carry your point?I think I already know the answer to that question."
Posted by clay a

Another comment I appreciated was:

"All this generalization, as if all 437 children have been abused, if any.
Nothing is proven- what happened to American’s ability to think critically,
instead of having a mob mentality lead by the feeding frenzy of mass media and
bloggers. Where is the blogger who will stand up for due process and innocence
until proven guilty? Did the love of our constitution go by the wayside with the
Patriots Act? Abuse does not occur in any higher percentage in any particular
church or in any particular community. it is everywhere. And do not forget that
the marriageable age in Texas was only recently raised to 16 years from 14
years, so before you go riding your merry
bandwagons to the lynching, maybe
you should wait for due process, if it occurs…."
— Posted by Quaker girl

Green Thumb?

I have killed plants that people swore could not die. There was the bamboo Trevan gave me for my birthday a couple years ago, then there was the cactus...no wait...I have actually killed two of them. Yet, I continue to bring plants into this house hoping that my thumb will magically become green.

This year I have actually taken a stab at growing herbs. That's right, I am growing Cilantro and Basil as we blog.
Do you see the little sprout? I cannot tell you how happy I was when it actually sprouted. I will take pictures every couple days and show you the progress here.

Again, let's hope for a long, productive, summer for our little friends.

Valentine's in April

This year Trevan promised me an orchid for Valentine's day. It took us two months to find one that we were both happy with. On April 14, exactly two months after V-day, we finally bought our little orchid.Let's hope that it survives me, since I have a long history of sending perfectly innocent plants to their graves way before their time...

StoryCorps

If you listen to NPR at all, you might have heard stories from the StoryCorps project. This project seeks to document moments in ordinary people's lives as a sort of live library of memories to pass on to future generations. I am sometimes moved to tears with some of the stories. This story in particular was very touching.

Aired on Morning Edition, March 28, 2008 ·

Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends
his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat
at
his favorite diner.
But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the
No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected
turn.
He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and
pulled
out a knife.
"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and
told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says.
As the teen began to walk away, Diaz
told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be
robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep
you warm."
The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what's
going on here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, 'Why are you doing this?'" Diaz
replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess
you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if
you really want to join me ... hey, you're more than welcome.
"You know, I
just felt maybe he really needs help," Diaz says. Diaz says he and the teen went
into the diner and sat in a booth.
"The manager comes by, the dishwashers
come by, the waiters come by to say hi," Diaz says. "The kid was like, 'You know
everybody here. Do you own this place?'"
"No, I just eat here a lot," Diaz
says he told the teen. "He says, 'But you're even nice to the
dishwasher.'"
Diaz replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice
to everybody?""Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way,"
the teen said.Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. "He just had almost
a sad face," Diaz says. The teen couldn't answer Diaz — or he didn't want
to.
When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, "Look, I guess you're going
to have to pay for this bill 'cause you have my money and I can't pay for
this.
So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you."The teen
"didn't
even think about it" and returned the wallet, Diaz says. "I gave him
$20 ... I
figure maybe it'll help him. I don't know."
Diaz says he asked
for something in return — the teen's knife — "and he gave it to me."
Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You're the
type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your
watch."
"I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope
that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world."

"It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world"

When all you've ever wanted isn't enough

It is a must read book by Harold Kushner. When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough.

If you are like me, you are at a point in your life where things seem confusing, confounding, even devoid of purpose. I keep waiting for some great sign of what I am suppose to do with my life to give it meaning. I pray and ask God for answers.

Kushner writes that we already have the answers, but we go about life without really living. He says "when you have learned to live, life itself is the reward."

It is a quick read. I started it on Friday and finished it Sunday, but I imagine it's effects will change my outlook on life forever.

Obama's Mother

There is this fantastic article in the New York Times this morning reflecting on the life of Ms. Soetoro, Barack Obama's mother. A couple things said in this article have breathed new life into my weary bones. These words describe the kind of person I would like to be. May you find joy and peace in the service of others. May fearless living break down the walls that prevent you from living to the core of who you are.

“She felt that somehow, wandering through uncharted territory, we might stumble upon something that will, in an instant, seem to represent who we are at the core,” said Maya Soetoro-Ng, Mr. Obama’s half-sister. “That was very much her philosophy of life — to not be limited by fear or narrow definitions, to not build walls around ourselves and to do our best to find kinship and beauty in unexpected places.”

“She had a world view, even as a young girl. It was embracing the different, rather than that ethnocentric thing of shunning the
different. That was where her mind took her.”

“She was very determined to be remembered for a life of service and thought that service was really the true measure of a life.”

Busy Song

Have you see the episode of Veggie Tales where Larry gets mugged by bandits and they leave him stuck upside-down in a whole? It is the good Samaritan story with a twist.

While Larry's head is in the whole, the major of his city, and a doctor come along, but instead of pulling old Larry out the whole they sing a song about how busy they are.

Lately I feel like that is exactly what I've been doing. Dismissing the important to take care of the urgent. Much like singing a song.

"I'm busy, busy, dreadfully busy.

You've no idea what I have to do.

Busy, busy, shockingly busy.

Much, much too busy for you."

Gotta get back to work!

Shari the Red Nose...

A great start to the New Year!

This weekend I received a wonderful gift. My friend Rosie came to visit me for the weekend. We had a wonderful time watching movies and eating great food... We also got to talk a lot about life and the crazy things that happen to us as the years go by.

It was a great start to my new year because I was desperately needing to have a friend for a couple days!

Next weekend I will be able to see some other friends of mine, Darlene and Peggy.

I definitely thank God for the wonderful people He puts in my life that make the daily living so much more bearable.

California Holidays - Part Two

More pictures of Ainsley!



Ainsley and uncle Trevan watch as the Redskins beat the Cowboys to get into the playoffs this past Sunday.


She likes sticking her tongue out when she is chilling.