p is for poverty January 30, 2009

Today I am headed to Indianapolis for the day with a couple of coworkers. We are going to participate in something called The Poverty Experience.  It is a simulation in which participants form families and attempt to navigate 4 weeks of life facing the challenges that those in real poverty deal with every day.  There are vendors for food and food stamps, an unemployment office, the court system and more that we will be forced to deal with for a couple of hours this afternoon.  We agree that it will be interesting and enlightening, and if successful, hope to bring it to our community this summer as an extension of our community impact work.

But the fact is, those of us with resources can’t really understand.  Because on the way home, my co-workers and I will stop at the Beef House and eat whatever we want.  Every day I hear about someone who knows someone who as lost his or her job.  And I can’t help but wonder about the Poverty Experience and if it will become something we don’t have to pretend to understand what the poor face each and everyday.

a is for adventure January 28, 2009

I am staying home this morning because I am sick.  I just have a bad cold, but people tend to frown on it when you cough and sneeze on them.  I can get a lot done from home, anyway.  It’s really cold outside and we have fresh snow on the ground.  It’s pretty.  But it is getting old.  I don’t remember a winter like this where we had snow cover for weeks on end.  It’s been years anyway.

This is a week at home in between weeks away for me.  Last week was some great time with friends relaxing.  Next week, will be a big adventure.   I am going to Austin to take a writing class.  There is so much about that sentence that is a stretch for me.  

I don’t usually travel alone.  I certainly don’t rent cars and explore new cities alone.  I am thankful to have  just been to Austin in the fall so it is somewhat familiar.  I am also kind of apprehensive about this class.  I have not been in a classroom for a long time.  I still consider myself more of a stay-at-home mom that a professional.  I am not that confident about my writing skills and fear having my work torn apart in a public setting.  It goes like this:

TEACHER:  You there, in the back, the middled aged frumpy woman.  Come up here and read what you wrote.

ME:  Roses are red, violets are blue.  Not all poems rhyme.

TEACHER:  That sucks.  Sit down so everyone else in the room can tell you why it sucks.

Two days of that, then I’ll come home.  I hope I get to go to Whole Foods while I’m there.  Then the whole thing will be worth it.  I just hope I don’t start having those old college dreams again where you have to take a final and you haven’t been to class all semester and you can’t find the room.  Except for my freshman year algebra class where that was not a dream.  It was reality.

Now that I have explored the worst case scenario, it doesn’t seem so bad.  I am actually quite excited about this adventure and have decided that the next decade for me will be filled with trying new things.  Already in the next few months I will try:  traveling alone to Austin, taking a class, being a writer, going to Europe, watching my oldest child graduate from college.  

It’s kind of like living not by a plan, but by revelation.  As each adventure is revealed, I’ll embrace it.  A new style for someone who’s epitaph is predicted to read, “So, what’s the plan?”  I just hope I’ll be able to find the room for the final exam!!

p is for planning January 27, 2009

Planning is one of the most enjoyable parts of any trip for me.  Back when life was simpler, I would spend months getting ready for the simplest of outings.  That usually resulted in me being slightly stressed out as I mulled over every possibility.  But it also produced some fantastic results and added special features to trips that our children enjoyed.  Once we surprised our young children with a road trip to see their uncle at college.  As soon as J got home from work, we loaded them in the car and headed out.  They were used to my planning propensity, and so were delighted by this seemingly spur of the moment act.  I had purchased small portable desks, the kind that fit over your lap and can serve as table trays.  I loaded them up with inexpensive art supplies, toys and snacks and this kept them busy for the hours  needed to reach our destination.  That was a fun little trip.

Life moves at a faster clip now and so while I have three trips pending, I have little time to work on the details.  This can be a good thing, alleviating some advance stressing out.  But I also know I am missing out on some of the fun.  So this morning I treated myself to a preview of the weather for a trip I am taking next week.  Looks like sunny with a high of 70 degrees.  Given the perpetual snow and cold we are enduring this winter, those are conditions to dream about.  I also indulged in a websearch for another trip I am taking to Europe.  I found a couple of great packing lists.  For me, lists such as this are pure joy and so I printed them of and put them in a file, determined to pour over them in the near future.

Does planning make a trip better? Some would say “yes” while other travelers prefer pure spontaneity.  I tend to view the planning process as part of the trip, a way to extend the adventure by weeks or even months ahead of departure date.  I will continue  to squeeze some planning where I can, enjoying those moments and look forward to each adventure.

c is for coughing January 26, 2009

I have a little cold and am spending a lot of time coughing.  This has some advantages:

1.  I have tried all the cough drop flavors so I am an expert.  The natural ones with the soothing honey filled center are  best.

2.  My husband did the grocery shopping and brought me chicken noodle soup from Panera.

3.  My stomach muscles are getting a good work out.

Other than that there is nothing good about this.

c is for coffee January 23, 2009

My husband makes the coffee everyday.  He doesn’t drink it.  He makes it for me.  He makes it just the way I like it and it is ready to go when I wake up every morning.  The enormity of this small act speaks volumes of the kind of person he is.  I am a very lucky woman.

w is for warm weekend January 22, 2009

I recently returned from an excellent weekend away.  It’s winter here, and while it would have been wonderful to escape the cold and fly to St. Somewhere, it was equally refreshing to spend the weekend in the warm company of friends.

Three girlfriends and I headed to the northern part of the state for a little shopping, going to the movies, eating out, but mostly reading magazines, watching DVDs, cooking for each other and plenty of conversation.  There was some silliness in that conversation, but also some level 5.  And I found out I have a cute nose.  Long story.

Next year, now that we all realize that this should be an annual event, we have agreed to save up to go to somewhere warm.  After all, where we live there are four seasons:  almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.  (LOL, I just heard that actual joke on the radio this morning!)  But no matter where we end up, a weekend with my girlfriends will always be a warm one!

s is for salt crust January 14, 2009

There is a recipe for cooking meat that involves a salt crust.  You cook the fish or the beef tenderloin encased in a mixture of egg white and salt.  Like 3 cups of salt.  It’s a stiff paste that keeps the moisture in and adds flavor.  Often you stack layers of herbs on the meat in question and then pack the crust around it.  I’ve seen Food Network cooks like Tyler Florence do this technique. 

I wonder if this doesn’t happen to my heart.  I wonder if I’m not mixing egg white cynicism with grains of salt gathered from the sadness and negativity the world displays.  I wonder if my heart can still feel and express compassion as it should.

When the salt-encrusted meat is done, the chef takes a singular stab with a fork or spoon and the crust falls away revealing well-flavored moist and tasty main dish material.

What are the tools to burst the crust on my heart?  What will make me love the people I live with and work with again?  What will make my heart strive to make the world better?  What will reveal the tender goodness of me heart that is encased in world-driven crust?

Today, I will look for the tools that can crack that surface and reveal a softer heart.

l is for lovely Sunday January 13, 2009

It started with sleeping a little later than usual.  I’m old, so this means 7:15 AM.  But it was cold and my down comforter was holding on to me with both hands.  Then I smelled the coffee.  John who rises earlier than me almost always had pressed the magic on button and began the brew.  It took a cup and a half.  We looked at the paper a little and then he made the oats while I took a shower.  Thomas was still sleeping of course.  

John makes fantastic oatmeal.  He makes it every Sunday unless I call it off.  Why would I?  They are chewy and creamy all at the same time and not only that but, get this, he prewarms my bowl.  That’s right.  My oats stay warm throughout breakfast because of this.  Today I chose bananas, pecans and brown sugar, sort of a breakfast bananas foster experience.  Yum.

Off to church for an excellent sermon on Revelation.  Second in the series today we looked at the message to the church at Ephesus.  I’ll be thinking on it all week.  Saw friends there, new and old and then raced home to pick up Thomas to deliver him to church at the second service time.  He goes to a teen service then.

I made delicious turkey salad for lunch today with green apples, pecans, craisins and a sweet waldorfy dressing.  We enjoyed it with baked ciabatta topped with goat cheese, baby carrots and some Sunchips.

The afternoon was spent answering the phone (John) and napping (me).  We also caught some football.  John and I headed out to get some chicken nachos at our favorite neighborhood spot.  Couldn’t help but notice that not many people were smiling.  Especially those with young children.  I remember those days.  Winter seemed much longer then.

Tonight we embrace the return of Jack Bauer in “24.”  It’s a show we enjoy watching together, all three of us.  Grateful for any opportunity to hang out with Thomas as he is a teenager and we are parents, and although he is more tolerant that most we are still oil and water to some extent.

After a couple of hours with Jack, my comforter will call me back to rest up for another week.  It has been a lovely Sunday.

m is for mac January 7, 2009

I am switching computers.  I use a PC and I am switching to a Mac.  It is going very slowly, but well.  Perhaps that is more a function of my aging brain that the computers.  I am moving files and learning programs, and then unlearning everything as I go through the day.  But picking it up quickly again when I resume.  Then of course, there are new apps to download, on top of those already baffling to me.  I am exaggerating, of course.  It’s fine.  And although I enjoy Mac’s cuteness and cheerful attitude, I do not yet consider myself one of the devoted.  Perhaps soon.