an update

just a little update on what's going on in my corner of the world (in case you were wondering. if you weren't, please disregard this post and go back to whatever else you were doing, but thanks for stopping by.)

what i've been doing: working. really mostly working. getting ready for the crazy fall season: national youth workers conventions in sacramento, pittsburgh, nashville. association of youth ministry educators & sales conference in grand rapids--getting ready for more new books to be launched there. all of these are events i'm really excited about.

and when i'm not working: building relationships with my new small group of 7th grade girls and my 2 new co-leaders. 3 weeks in, so far, so good. this wednesday will be week 4.

most fun memories from the summer (in no particular order--by the way, i'm feeling very parenthetical as i write this): the death of snake in my yard (okay, not really a 'fun' memory but it was a highly memorable event), girls weekend with my best friend from childhood & another good friend, and a trip to the tall ships festival.

normally, i go thru klutzy phases but: i've been more of a mechanical jinx recently--car repairs (several), blue screen of death and the demise of my old laptop, and my tv just decided to stop turning on.

biggest surprises of late: how much tv i can find online if i want but how the only time i really miss it is in the morning during the morning news and today show; how much i love my sony reader; how much i like peach green tea from whittard of chelsea (trying to give up my diet coke habit)

a couple of book recommendations: my name is russell fink (fun and surprisingly captivating characters) and reading lolita in tehran (fascinating memoir that prompted me download henry james books and the great gatsby to my sony reader)

and if you've made it this far, thanks friend!

snakes in my yard!

so a couple weeks ago i had a graduation party for my small group girls at my home. the girls and their little brothers went swimming. one of the boys noticed a "super wiggly worm" in the pool. i looked at and realized it was a baby snake. i got the skimmer and fished it out. i'd thought it was a rattlesnake, but wasn't a 100% sure. one of the dads didn't think it was a rattler so we chucked the little thing into the canyon area across the road. these are pix of the little guy in the skimmer basket.

today, i'm pretty sure it was a rattler and we found him momma. when i went outside this morning, my friends who are housesitting next door told me that their little guy who is 2 and his grandpa were met by a huge rattler on their way to the pergola which sits to the end of my house at the end of a square that has 4 little box gardens. they were trying to figure out where the snake had gone when i came out. i walked around the area carefully and didn't see or hear any sign of it. i got a shovel and a hoe out of the shed just in case and went to cleaning up after the party we had last night. dave (housesitting next door) & i started down the path to put up an extra table when he said snake. sure enough there it was about 8 feet ahead of him, a big rattler who was making a meal of a squirrel. this pic is of the snake waiting for his venom to paralyze the squirrel. we were deciding it was going to be super gross to kill the thing mid meal with shovel or hoe when the gardner showed up. woohoo for the gardner who wasn't grossed out enough to not kill it mid meal. and yeah for him disposing of the remains of the snake and the squirrel.

and i have to say, i'm still queasy. i may be all day. watching a snake kill something on tv is gross, but seeing it happen 6 ft from you is so unbelievably disgusting. i know the whole circle of life and nature's way, etc., but it's still just really gross!

great chick flick movie lines vol. 3

from the holiday:

iris: "you're right. you should be the leading lady in your own life for god's sakes!"

in my head right now

there are a couple thoughts that have been dancing around in my head for the last day or so. at first they were just waltzing around and now they're holding a rave with a full-on mosh pit. i'm hoping that putting them down here as place holders will get them to sit down and be quiet for a few minutes.

the cynicism, sarcasm, bitterness continuum. is it a continuum? is it a cul-de-sac? i know they're related but i'm trying to clarify in my head how that relationship plays out. plus, there's a tie in this to the 'out of the heart, the mouth speaks' thing.

moving beyond isolation... when one finds they've become isolated, how do they begin to repair that? how do they figure out how they got there so they don't go back again?

as i have time in the upcoming weeks to dance with these a bit more, i'll update this.

great chick flick movie lines vol. 2

sweet home alabama: earl smooter to melanie: "you cain't ride two horses with one a** sugar bee."