Random Things Entry

The longer it's been, the harder it is to write anything here at all. Vicious cycle. But my brother sent me an encouraging note this morning that reminded me my blog is only here to serve me--not to be an obligation or to try and craft the most lovely entries I can write. But he also reminded me that the blog helps family on East Coast get a little window into our lives here. So I decided to break the silence (again!) and try to write simply a Random Things Entry.

1. Our seminary is on break right now, so I have the week to concentrate on revising my dissertation proposal which is almost, almost there. I've been more hopeful (which doesn't mean terror-free, of course!) these past couple weeks than maybe ever before. Although doing the revisions will be intensive, difficult work, I woke up this morning very aware of the privilege of getting to work on it full time this week. No chapel to plan for tonight; no faculty meetings; no classes to prepare--just dissertating (my new favorite verb).

2. Yesterday at church we were given the opportunity to call out Signs of Resurrection in our world today. It was a rite paired with one the week before, in which we called out places where crucifixion still occur. I realized, in participating in the rite, how much I thirst to acknowledge resurrection and hope in the world today. I see and feel the painful things about life, the broken places are all too evident. And yet, I know I live in hope. I don't get to name that hope very often, though. Maybe this can be a spiritual discipline for me during this season of Easter.

3. Monk never ceases to astound me, everyday. He has been hilarious lately. He loves to make us laugh; and he feels like he's finally figured out how. The two of us have been playing the card game Spit together lately. And I don't think we could laugh more than we do as we play. I am delighted, here on the eve of his tenth birthday, that he can make just as many jokes when he's losing as when he's winning. We finally seemed to have moved through that stage where losing isn't the end of the world.

4. Sometimes I take Monk's hand into mine and I'm amazed at the substance of it, the boyness of it, the strength I can tell that's in it, the otherness of him from me--how can it be? The umbilical cord still isn't entirely cut, though. The other night he was being very silly, jumping around the living room. And he flung himself into the air and onto the couch across the room from me. But he was just off kilter and landed a little on the edge of couch; I heard him hit the more solid part of it rather than landing square on the cushion. And I'm telling you, I felt it--my hands tingled in response to the sound I heard. He was fine, of course. But I marveled that we aren't entirely separate human beings quite yet.

5. Last night I showed Monk how to lift comic pictures off the page with Silly Putty.

6. We've been keeping an eye out for larger apartments in our area. Actually, we'd love to rent a single-family home with a yard. But I think D and I both have the sense that we ought to try and stick it out in this apartment one more year. But not without some changes around here. So we've set up a consultation with a professional organizer! I'm very excited about this. The appointment is set for April 9. So I'll try and remember to update about the process here.

OK, 6 random things.