Step Two - There's So Much We Can Do!

Geek level/pride over title reference: high.

Busy weekend: check.  Had a lovely, pearly, girly time with my Phi Mu sisters at Lynn's amazing Pink Carnation Tea on Saturday.  Delicious tea, fabulous hats, fun raffle, and fantastic sisterhood.  When I come home from such an event, I always leave feeling fuller than when I arrived.  Buoyed up by the support of my sisters, and excited for their new challenges and adventures, I feel so fortunate to be part of such a dynamic sisterhood.  Thanks for the laughs, ladies!  Sunday brought more back-and-forth across the metro area.  I whipped out my baking skills and treated my grandma to some Sot Suppe and coffee cake, got the baby to nap during a lengthy car trip, picked up a fantastic passenger (you'd be jealous if I told you who), and N was the best-behaved toddler ever during a nearly 2 hour advisory council meeting in Woodbury.  Good day, indeed.

I'm beginning a challenging internal (occasionally external) cost-benefit analysis over my current position.  I'm supposed to start thinking about whether I want to complete a second year of service.  Props to The Clash for getting to brass tacks on the question I can't yet answer.  My job is educational, great experience, and good exposure.  The one problem: lack of meaningful compensation.  I don't mean to whine, really.  I signed up to be a VISTA and I knew what that'd mean financially...I'm just having a hard time trying to weigh the financial limitations of the position against the plentiful benefits.  Another week or two may flesh some of this out.  Too bad my meeting to discuss this is Tuesday. Eek.

Probably boring you to death, but planned out meals for the week:
M - white chicken chili and cornbread (beans already soaked and cooked)
T - pork roast, cabbage, apples and onions in the crockpot
W - tuna mac 'n' cheese with broccoli
R - beefy spanish rice with peppers and tomatoes
F - fish sticks, carrot and celery sticks, baked apples

Always looking for interesting/dynamic recipes to try, so please share.

I just nodded off, so time to go. Push buttons, save the world...Go!
 

Words: I love 'em

I decided today was the perfect day to start a blog.  Here goes a little bit of something!

I'm home from work/working from home with a sickish little imp, currently slumbering with her buddy bear on the couch.  So sweet and inquisitive, even when she isn't feeling well.
There is a counterfull (a measuring term) of dishes to be washed, not to mention all the other tasks of life built up over the week, but something in me was yearning for a way/place to be heard.  While I may not have all the best words lined up, I do have some potentially useful or amusing stories to tell.  Or maybe I'll post pics of a yummy dinner.  Or my silly monkey-kid.  Or chronicle the lives of my brown and white couch-warmers, Idgie and Bueller.  Or maybe I'll show you the crazy stuff I make when I finally get around to making it.  Haven't figured out what exactly I'm blogging about yet, but let's just say this is me on my quest to be better.  At what?  Everything.  Kinder, healthier, more patient, more creative, more faithful, more inspired, more inspirational...I could go on but I think you get me.

In the meantime, here is a short list of the stuff that makes up our daily family life:
Bumper's first sentence (that we know of, after getting a ponytail hairdo): "I look so pretty now."  She can jump with both feet off the ground, is picking up new words like crazy, and is presently obsessed with the boat in our yard.  More on that later, I'm sure.
Big D is selling bikes, lotsa bikes, and enjoys the lifestyle that goes along with it.  When he's not working, he's really not working and that has been a blessing for all of us.  He has been riding his bike to work pretty often, and is in awesome shape because of it.  He went through his summer clothes and his shorts have to be replaced, as they all completely fell off his body.  It was an amusing runway show ;)
I'm loving my work and enjoying the folks I work with.  Our family schedule has been pretty fun, with dog walks and two family bike rides so far.  Last weekend, I took N to an animal open house at the community nature center, to the best local thrift store (yes, ever), and to multiple parks for lots of climbing and sliding.  I have some artsy craftsy ideas I'm hoping come to fruition soon.  I have been cooking with bouts of energy (homemade, healthy, inspired) and then the inevitable lulls (fish sticks, anyone?).  I was recently honored to receive a nomination for University of St. Thomas School of Law's Alumni Living the Mission Award.  I didn't win, but I sure felt special for being nominated, and had a lovely time at the luncheon catching up with some fantastic folks at UST.

I hope you can gather, my friends, that this life is good.  There are pits and puddles, certainly.  We'll get to those, make some messes, and splash around a bit.  But writing this has really firmed it up in my heart: this life is good.  I appreciate the time you've taken in your day to read up on me.

You can look forward to my adventures in*:
Gardening and composting - Us v. The Raccoons (or coyotes, maybe?)
Cooking (and eating) barley
Finding the right faith community for our family
Sewing a little girl's dress from an old sweater
Lunges - yep, I committed to it online - I mean business!
Finding a professional identity
Thrift store shopping sprees
Chick lit book reviews
Opinionated parenting rants
Stories I enjoyed on NPR
* This list is not meant to be exhaustive.

Hope this finds you well.  Now go push buttons and save the world.