Crazy boys . . .

Oh, to be young and have this much time on my hands!

Spasmodic.

Peekaboo . . .

No - not really hiding. Not on purpose anyway. Just busier than all get-out with a three week "conference" going on at work.

Great events. Great people. Lots of details. Late nights. Hope for the world. That's what it's been about.

And gift baskets.


Here they are in all their glory. Inside each was:
- Stumptown Coffee
- Nike hats
- Saltwater Taffy
- Stash Teas from India
- A glass etched Stash Tea mug
- Moonstruck Chocolate Bars
- Roasted hazlenuts, chocolate covered hazlenuts and hazlenuts with dried fruit
- Homemade Biscotti
- Homemade photo cards (thanks Michelle at Full Soul for that idea. Yours will be in the mail to you as soon as you send me an address!)


The concert was Sunday night and the band Caedmon's Call gave us a wonderful show. The musicians were so gracious and thankful for the little touches we put into the "green room" to make them feel more at home. There was fresh, line-caught, smoked Chinook Salmon, Salmon spread, fresh apples and pears from the local farmers' market, a wonderful dinner made by the catering staff at Sunset Church and Sparkling Pinot "Spruce Goose Juice" from Evergreen Orchards in McMinnville. Mandy Mann, and her husband Kevin were the opening act and she went above and beyond by filling in for the absent lead femal vocalist of CC who was home with very sick kidos. They were all just so kind and humble and - well, normal. They obviously love what they do and they are passionate about making a difference in the world. The concert offered attendees the opportunity to hear the plight of the Dalits of India. They are the people of the lowest Hindu caste and face enormous social and economic persecution. Tables at the concert were set up with pictures of Dalit children needing sponsorship to attend special schools set up by our partner organization and that evening, a record number of child sponsorships were collected. How great that our efforts and work provided not only a fun evening for people in Portland, but a real chance at hope for children half a world away . . . It makes the tiredness I feel this week much easier to bear.

Thanks to those of you who have asked about the blog and keep checking back despite my irregular posting lately. It will get better. I promise! In addition to the busy work schedule, I've been faced with some pretty heavy personal challenges lately. Nothing earth-shattering or tragic when compared to the events of the world, but some things that are causing me to ask hard questions about some of my beliefs and practices and how I communicate with others. All great fodder for the blog entries, if I can just keep up with the rest of life and make the time to write it down.

Blessings to you all!

Slogging through

Sometimes life feels like a muddy field.

Here in Oregon, many families have a great tradition of driving by the Christmas tree lots and heading out to one of the many Christmas tree farms to cut their own tree for the holidays. Often, the grounds are wet with weeks of November rains and the mud is thick. It grabs hold of your old tennis shoes, or rubber boots, whatever you've suited yourself up with for the battle. Sometimes you win, you find the spots that have grass or straw covering them and that little bit of vegetation breaks the pull of the mud. Other times, you mis-step or you are so busy looking for the perfect tree, your foot falls just right in a soupy, sticky spot that seems to pull at your foot with a force you wouldn't expect.

No - I'm not ready to talk about Christmas yet. I'm talking about mud. The sloppy, sticky, stuff of life we need to walk through to get the prize. That's where I am right now. Looking for that beautiful, perfect, lovely piece of something but getting stuck in the mud in the process.

It's been a tough couple of weeks. My mind is consumed with preparing, checking, searching, researching, tending, running, sitting, talking, listening, fixing, driving, doing. What I'd really like to do is look up from the mud and see that gloriously perfect life that I'm working so hard for be waiting for me with golden adornment and tropical vacation in hand.

I'd really like to rest. But for now, I'll keep on. Slogging. Through the mud. Because I know the perfect tree is just over the next hill. Really. It will be.

Won't it?

You won't see this in Vogue . . .

The perfect new accessory for fall . . .


The wonderbird Keeko - part time pet, part time fashion icon.

My bloggie-friend Deirdre is starting a new fun weekly writing prompt called "Teaspoon Tuesday". Her topic this week is what would we do with a million dollars. Here's my top 10 list.

1. Buy a new, nicely loaded min-van for hauling kids all over the town.
2. Buy a big screen tv for my honey to watch his sports.
3. Buy some nice dark jeans that flatter my body like Clinton and Stacey always talk about on "What Not to Wear" and not look at the pricetag.
4. Buy my friend Ruth a super-sized fridge. (The woman has three sons and packs her fridge with food like the cartoon closets that look like they will collapse if you pull one item out of them.)
5. Sponsor a Dalit Education Center in India for lower caste children.
6. Walk the streets of Portland and hand out giftcards to the homeless.
7. Make a substantial donation to the Arab Baptist Seminary in Beirut, Lebanon to assist families (Christian and Muslim) who were displaced by the 34-day war.
8. Take my family to the following places; Nashville, TN (to visit family); York, England (to visit family); Disneyland; Disneyworld; Hawaii; Mexico; India and China.
9. Make donations to organizations and causes close to my heart. Northwest Medical Teams, Mercy Corps, American Cancer Society, Special Olympics and my church.
10. Pay off my house, but still live there. I love our house and our neighborhood! I think I would opt for new furniture and maybe a kitchen remodel. :)

What would you do if you hit the jackpot? For more Teaspoon Tuesday, go here.

Life's a Dream?

The wind is blowing here today and it's one of those glorious fall days where the sun is shining, the air has a crispness to it and leaves are starting to drop from the trees. Truly picturesque. Makes me want to grab the camera and go out taking pictures. Maybe I just will (after I catch up on some of your wonderful blogs in this few minutes I have before soccer carpool).

Well, I tried to do Sunday Scribblings this week. I'll post it at the end of this post but won't link it because I'm tired of always being tardy. In fact, I had a dream about that last night. Anytime my life starts edging up the crazy scale, I start having dreams about school. I used to have these horrible dreams that I had to go back to junior high or high school as an adult because there was some gross error and I never really passed all my classes. I used to think these dreams were all related to the fact that I didn't finish college and they stemmed from some deep sense of failure. I know that one doesn't need a college diploma to be successful, but I think a part of me always felt like I let my dad down by not finishing. Well, when I went back to school a few years ago and finished my degree, I really thought my nights of dreaming about school were over.

No such luck. The dreams certainly eased off for awhile, but it seems that whenever there's stress in my life, I revert back to the "late for class, missing homework, missing a schedule, can't open my locker" kind of dreams. At least last night, for the first time, I was dreaming that I was in college again. I feel sort of good about that - like I've graduated in a sense. Could it just be that my subconscious starts laughing hysterically when I try to put myself in junior high or high school in my dreams. "Ha! This chick is WAY too old to walk the halls here anymore. After all, she has a REAL daughter walking the halls of a middle school now. Bump her up to the college dream thread - same pressures, just a different campus with people closer to her own age." I'm such a freak sometimes. OK, most of the time.

So being a parent of a middle schooler is going well. (I'm crouching as I write this, waiting for the sky to fall.) There are some issues we're working through. Like the whole, "Did you remember your books? Your PE clothes? Your soccer gear? Your fees for your classes? Your lunch? Your lunch money? Your homework . . . " Gah! That kid has a lot to remember and she's not always the best at that task. She's doing pretty good, but the one thing we are working on is fully brushing her hair as opposed to the obligatory 4-stroke effort she seems to think does the job. Her long hair tends to get knotted just under the surface in the back, just far enough around that she has trouble reaching it and therefore, thinks it must not need brushing. For some reason, this drives me absolutely INSANE and I'm constantly asking her to brush it again and in true mother/daughter fashion, half the requests end up in a raised voice, a rebellious stomp or tearful pout depending on our moods and which number request we're on. Is it really too much to ask a 12 year old brush out her hair? I hate obsessing over this because my mom was always very critical about my hair and frequently told me, in public, how bad it looked. I am trying so hard NOT to be my mom in this area but I really just have a visceral, physical, blood-pressure through the roof, kind of reaction when she goes out with the chronic bed-head look. So all of you out there who have kindly commented on my parenting skills and thought that I might just deserve "Mother of the Year" honors, you'd better scratch my name off the list, because I think this pretty much disqualifies me.

Ahhh . . . feeling better now that that's off my chest a bit. Thanks ya'll. Oh - and thanks to everyone for the great suggestions for the gift baskets. My good friend Cheryl (who is an awesome floral artist) took me to "market" on Friday here in Portland. Did you know that there are shops where floral designers buy all the cool stuff they use for parties, weddings and other celebrations for much cheaper than we buy it at the local craft store? It was a real treat wandering the aisles and seeing all the very wonderful, creative tools and goodies out there for making pretty things. We found great baskets, filler and other fun things to decorate the green room at the concert (Caedmon's Call - October 22nd - in case you missed my last post). I'm really getting excited to meet these talented artists and see the concert process from the view of the green room (OK - not as one of the band or a real technical groupie, but as the gal who is going to try to make it cozy and yummy with lots of NW goodies - I'll take what I can get.)

This post is getting too long, so I'll post the Sunday Scribbling exercise tomorrow (or soon . . . how's that for being non-commital). Gives me a little time to polish it up a bit. Take care ya'll!

Ideas Wanted

My workplace is hosting a variety of events in the next few weeks with a global focus. One of the events is a concert by Caedmon's Call, a group who is working with organizations around the globe to promote equality for all people groups. Specifically, they work with one of our partner organizations, Dalit Freedom Network, promoting justice, education and social freedoms for people of this persecuted caste in India. We are so excited to have them here in Portland on October 22nd.

So here's where I need you my friends. I'm responsible for putting together gift baskets for their hotel rooms and the "Green Room" at the concert venue. What would you like to get in a gift basket if you were an internationally known band promoting causes like social justice, compassion and helping those in poverty have a real chance at improving their lives? Keep in mind, we're a non-profit so there won't be any Rolexes or I-Pods in the baskets. What kinds of foods, crafts or other items from Oregon would be nice to have with you to remind you of your visit here? Any ideas? I'm hoping that your creative spirits will inspire me with just the right items for these baskets to make them feel welcome and appreciated. Thanks for the help!