Lake Woebegon

"Well, it's been a quiet week in Lake Woebegon..."

The school year is winding down to a finish. This Friday is the kids' last day. They're excited. Naomi's taking tests and Declan's doing what Kindergartener's do - recess, recess, and more recess. He's pretty stoked about being a first grader. Me too. All day school and no more preschool / day care fees! We have about two weeks of fun in the sun and then they're off to Tennessee for the summer. I'm compiling a reading list and plotting out my work/volunteer hours to stay busy. I get bored without them around. I'm also placing an inordinate amount of pressure on my significant other to keep me from plunging into the depths of despair. Good luck with that, sweetie.

I finally finished Kathleen Norris' Acedia and Me. Took long enough. I think a byproduct of taking on that book is subjecting oneself to the noonday demon's attacks on a regular basis. It's almost as if some dark force didn't want me to finish it! And rightly so. Norris threw me for a loop towards the end as she expanded the definition of acedia to include not only the absence of motivation and concern, but also the presence of and preoccupation with things and activities that just don't matter. That rocked my world. I took a quick inventory of my life and discovered I have an overabundance of pursuits about which, frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

And so the last few weeks I have been consumed with plans to make a little more sense of my direction and purpose and to focus on the things I actually care about. I'll post more shortly on what that entails, but it's enough to say - I'm excited!

My parents, brother, and sister-in-law were in town recently. It was great having them here. They're always so supportive and encouraging. The kids loved hanging out with Uncle Danny and Aunt Rene.  This was their first time meeting Aunt Rene and it had been five years since they'd seen Uncle Danny.  Grandpa and Grandma stayed all week and did what they do best - gave a tired mom some company and rest.

I'm finally starting to feel like my self again after being sick for several weeks. Fatigue is slowly ebbing away and my energy is coming back. The news is trying to kill me on an all different level though. Sheesh! The south is flooding. I got a message from my best friend in Texas saying Dallas and Houston are under water and Lake Travis in Austin is almost up to level. Sure would be nice to have a little of that in our 100ft bathtub ringed Lake Mead (pictured above in 2006 before the drought). Bitter? Little bit. Ah well. Water under the bridge. Too soon? The conservative evangelical poster child, Josh Duggar, turns out to be a child molester - shocker. Mark Driscoll is back on a platform somewhere feeding his narcissism - predictable. Some Texas mega church leaders attacked one of their female members for pursuing an annulment from her newly discovered pedophile husband - seriously? You can't make this crap up! Bruce came out as Caitlyn and infuriated the patriarchal, purity culture infused, shame based order as they all shrivel in self flagellating horror at how provocative and enticing she is. Talk about a stumbling block. Wowzers! But seriously though. Welcome to womanhood, Caitlyn. If you plan on staying please don't inhibit our battle towards equality and freedom. And please find yourself a counselor because you're going to need one with all the additional struggles you're about to face as the perceived weaker sex.

On the reading front I'm tackling two pieces at the moment: The Father's Tale by Michael O'Brien, a modern retelling of The Good Samaritan and The Prodigal Son and Recovering From Unbiblical Manhood and Womanhood by Susanna Krizo, a response to evangelical patriarchy. Krizo's writing structure is brilliant. The entire book is a conversation between a christian and a theologian. It's very engaging, yet challenging. You'll know what I mean if you've ever tried to write dialogue. In my opinion, writing dialogue is the hardest part of storytelling. Kudos Krizo.

In other news, my man took off to Sao Paulo, Brazil for 10 days. WITHOUT ME! Just kidding. The trip was planned long before we crossed paths. I'm still rather envious though. I didn't think I would be until I started putting together a list of a dozen or so things he needed to see and do while there. The message I got this morning, "I'll never miss breakfast here! Fruits, coffee, that yummy cheese bread you make, meats, cakes, cheeses. I even had cashew juice this morning!" Rat. I know it's amazing!!! I grew up there! There better be tons of pictures when he gets back.

"Well, that's the news from Lake Woebegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking (at least mine is), and all the children are above average."