I Can't Seem to Get Away From these Random Ones

I wish I could say that I haven't had time to blog but really I have been uninspired. I write about things that move me or are exciting and not much of that has been happening lately....although when I think about the last week I can think of several moments that fit the bill.
John was here during Spring Break and it felt like we had never been apart. He is still a great storyteller and even had me going when he called at work and pretended to be an older student who was just a little weird and had a pet spider that had gotten loose and possibly was in his ear. I didn't immediately think that it was John but was still having a hard time not laughing and starting to worry about my safety...I was in the office alone that day. John looks great and seems happy and we shouldn't go so long next time before seeing each other. There was also the Tim and Al routine from Home Improvement that Tim and John did while hanging some things on the walls for me and Lucy.
My 6th grade girls did some guerilla artwork that was awesome! Scriptures on the sidewalks with chalk and post it notes all over the church building. I loved it and I loved their enthusiasm.
Mary Kate has now been to Italy and Scotland. An ATM ate her debit card in Rome but I think that we have that all remedied at the moment. I will let her tell her crazy connection story from Scotland. Small world.
Today was beautiful! I wish that I had been outside more.

New Book (to me)

I am reading a book by bell hooks called Where We Stand: class matters. Powerful. Everyone should read it. She is moving me to life changes. She opens my eyes to greed and needless consumption. She puts her finger on so many problems that most are not willing or able to acknowledge. Read it and get back to me.
By the way, have any of you read The Shack since I blogged about it? I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Today is Easter. He is risen!

Snippets

Tim is mowing the front yard right now...mostly to get all the leaves that our gigantic trees shed constantly. Not that I would ever complain about having trees when I live in West Texas.
Lucy is at the movies watching Horton Hears A Who. She met some friends there.
We have beautiful weather...sun, warm breeze, blue sky. I am loving it.


John is coming to visit on Tuesday. yay!


You know that I have been working out for 6 months now. Boot camp with swiss ball, yoga, pilates, and tai chi thrown in at the end....I love it. I made a deal with myself that I would workout for 6 months and then add to that healthy eating. Well, last Monday started my 6 months of healthy eating. I need to figure out what the next 6 months holds. I have not been perfect this week with my healthy eating but I would say tremendously better than the week before so that is progress. These are things that I ate that are not healthy: several chips that came with a pretty healthy burrito, bacon on a sandwich, a tiny supposedly healthy frozen yogurt, one cookie, some m&ms. Tomorrow starts week two and I feel pretty good about it...mostly I have eaten: lots of fruit, some hardboiled eggs, chicken, vegetables, yogurt, nuts, turkey sandwiches on swirled rye and pumpernickel, a little pasta with sauce...you get the picture. I think that already I feel better and more alert but we will see how it goes. I am committed to 6 months. That doesn't mean that there won't be some times when I do eat things that aren't perfectly healthy but I want 95% of what I eat to be nutritionally sound. I told one of the students in the clinic what I was doing and he said he would keep checking up with me to keep me honest. Good to be held accountable.

I am still sick. I have been sick since the middle of January. I am getting better right now because I am taking big antibiotics for an extended period. Hopefully this will kick it out of my system but I do have an appointment with an ENT in April....just didn't think that I could wait til April to feel better...what do you think?

Mary Kate is still having a good time. She has just been to Ireland and soon goes to Italy. I will share more pictures soon.

Again, My Mom

My mom celebrated 74 years on March 4th. So today I will celebrate her with a word to describe her from every letter of her name.

Irresistible
Radiant
Indescribable
Strong

Delightful
Energetic
Adorable
Neighborly

Survivor
Tenacious
Original
Nurse
Effervescent

I challenge those of you who know her to do the same thing...you could do grandma or Aunt Dean or Mom or if you knew her with her maiden name you could do Iris Dean Bailey.
I love her.

The Primaries

I live in Texas and today I voted. I got my sticker and I could've caucused tonight. I should have but I went to exercise class. There seemed to be hundreds of people caucusing at my precinct when I came back by on my way home. Exciting! I love that people are involved in this process. This is one of the best things about living in this country. We are a democratic society. The person that we wanted to win may not always win but the transfer of power is peaceful and usually pretty smooth. We try to respect each other. I know that I have not been a Bush supporter but he is a man just as we are all people and has the right do things in the way that he sees fit.
I am going to put myself out there. I voted for Hillary for several reasons....she is smart, she is experienced, we have already watched her walk through the fire and she did it with grace and dignity, her answers are specific, she has a plan that makes sense, and she is a woman.
I know, maybe that shouldn't matter....but to me it does. As a country we need to break the pattern of women always being last....the last to have complete rights, the last to vote...this would break that terrible pattern.
I don't have a problem with Barak Obama but he hasn't impressed me with specifics. He doesn't seem to have a plan. I don't really know where his heart is. I think that I can see a little more where Hillary's heart is...health care, children, women, education. Wow, a president that cares about the things I care about....that would be amazing. I think that she is compassionate.
Okay, I put myself out there. I know that many of you probably vote opposing me and my vote but that is the beauty of it...we can.
I love that the polling centers are usually run by older citizens. They are conscientious, courteous and they always seem like they are having a good time. So much of the world voting is scary but for us it can be a social event. I love that.