Almostgotit.com

So far, I have restrained myself.

But wouldn’t it be funny?  In the middle of a big room full of people working away studiously in their cubicles, if paper airplane suddenly came sailing over their walls?  I’ve learned that people often take me for a very serious person when they first meet me, so it’s funny when I get to surprise them. 

I’m a little worried about hitting someone in the eye, though, and the only kind of paper airplane I know how to make is a pointy kind.  I’ll need to study on this some more…

Gantt charts are awesome!  So are computers with two monitors instead of just one!

Also?  there’s a bottle of dishwashing liquid in the women’s restroom at my office.  Discovered it there today when I went in to wash out my coffee cup.

Now I hope this isn’t sexist of me, but WHAT are the chances that there is a corresponding bottle of dishwashing liquid in the men’s restroom?

• Bought some new clothes.  My interview outfit, and all possible iterations thereof, worked very hard those first three weeks but it was time for a change.  It was also time for shoes with soles actually attached to them, versus ones that suddenly start going “Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!” as one walks to an important meeting…

• Paid off my credit card.  Who knew starting a new job was so expensive?  All those restaurants at lunch because it’s hard to remember to BRING one.  All those emergency, late-night trips for more toilet paper, but forgetting we also need groceries.  Leading to even MORE restaurants. 

• Bought a little netbook for our church. They needed one to help with the website, and how fun to bypass all the little budgeting and approval matters and just GET them one.   Giving is fun, and how grateful I am to be in a position where I can give. 

How very, very grateful.

It’s official, so chalk up another one for Obama’s tally!

It’s been a while since I’ve had a regular, full-time job, so I decided that as with every other project, I need to work from a list.  Here’s what I’ve come up with thus far:

1. Finish painting the dining room and then paint the rest of the house, too.

2. Stock the refrigerator and buy a couple of freezers as well.

3. Get rid of everything in the attic.  And closets.

4.  Get braces, this time promising to wear my retainer.

5.  Initiate  intensive 3-day training session in which all other family members learn to cook, clean, drive, and do laundry.

6. Pave over the lawn

7. Plug the back end of both cats, or hire NASA to do it.

8. Go back to bed

9. Blonde?  Or sort-of-blonde?  Which looks more professional?

10.  Kidnap a friend and spend entire weekend indulging together in chocolate and good coffee.

Creative Commons image by Naked Faris (click image to follow)

1. So, I’m going to Italy tomorrow, and just *2 weeks* ago found out my passport had totally expired.  Ever renewed a passport? You do the math.  I found someone to fix it for me,  just barely, and who says America is a totally free and open society in which money can’t buy some people more justice than others?

2. Almostgotit seems to have landed a job.  (Shh, I did not just say that.  It’s not official yet, so now we’re going to change the subject.)

3. I also spent the last few weeks preparing for and taking the GRE. 

4. Going to grad school and holding a full-time job was not the original plan. I was assuming more of an either/or situation, but doing both is starting to look sort of interesting….

5. Also? Did I mention that Mr. Almostgotit decided to paint the central room of our house in the midst of everything else, so there are displaced dishes and furniture and rugs and stuff in piles everywhere, in between the piles of Europe stuff and GRE stuff and job interview stuff and all the other stuff that no one has paid any attention to for weeks?  (Mr. Almostgotit also had a Painting Accident that led to an Unplanned ER Visit, but now we’re going to change the subject again.)

6. Re that “going to Italy” part? — I’ve been in charge of all the ticket-buying and reservations for a number of people, each coming from and going to a different city, and did I mention that in the fray I completely forgot to check the expiry date on my own passport?  Hopefully we will not all end up in a Bulgarian yurt because of some other tiny little detail I forgot.

7. New nieces and nephews have been popping up so fast the last couple of weeks I can’t even keep up, but thank God for Facebook and online shopping

And then there’s

8. Our very terrible dog, the Rhodesian Fridge-Snack named Jerry.  Turns out adult dogs need ongoing training, and we definitely will need to address Jerry’s increasingly anti-social behavior.   In the meantime though, don’t even think of robbing our house, because Jerry is staying here with a house-sitter, and he will totally Eat Your Face Off if you try.

Ciao!

February 26:

March 14:

Hip hip, Hurray!!

Dawn Coppock is one of my heroes.

Dawn has twice been listed among the top 101 lawyers in Tennessee by Tennessee Business magazine.  In 2004, she was named an Angel in Adoption by the U. S. Congressional Coalition on Adoption.  She writes gorgeous poetry and fries a mean chicken liver, as well.

And now she’s saving mountains. 

 The bipartisan, non-sectarian organization Dawn co-founded in service of those mountains and people who live on them is called, LEAF.  LEAF has continued to make great strides in changing the hearts, minds, and votes of our state legislators, and I would like to share Dawn’s beautiful work with you.  

Dear Caretakers of Creation:

We have lots of news this week.

Good stuff first — LEAF is proud to officially announce a star-studded concert, Music Saves Mountains, sponsored by the Natural Resources Defense Council at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on May 19th, to raise awareness about mountain top removal coal mining. Dave Matthews and Emmylou Harris are the featured performers, with special guests, Kathy Mattea, (LEAF’s much loved celebrity spokesperson) Patty Griffin, Patty Loveless, Buddy Miller and more.  Tickets go on sale March 5^th @10 am.  Prices from $ 45-300. For details:

LEAF only gets 10 tickets or I’d send one to each of you. Buy yours early so no one gets left out. If you can buy extra to share with VIPS or friends of LEAF, please do. LEAF runs on a shoe string and has no budget for that. It is long past time for us all to get together and just have fun.  Pat Hudson, Pat Chastain, and I will be there with our families. Please join us.

Now to the most critical issue — at this concert in May, will we be celebrating the first legislative ban on MTR in the country or will we be commiserating? I don’t know, but I do know the next several weeks and the position of Lt. Gov. Ramsey are decisive.   Honestly, Ron Ramsey has been the roadblock from the very first year. I didn’t say that publicly until now in order to give him space to reconsider and join us. Lots of LEAFlets and our sponsors have met with him. He understands the issue and our openness to talk compromise. He remains willing to spend his substantial political capital to stop us.

I am often asked, “Who on earth could be FOR blowing up our highest ridgelines for coal?” In the TN legislature, it is Ron Ramsey in the Senate. The next question I’m asked is, “Why?” I’ll have to leave you to your own speculation on that. The reasons they state change like a kaleidoscope. Last week, Ron Ramsey insisted, in the face of photos of decapitated Zeb Mountain, that we don’t do mountain top removal in TN.  (SB 1406 doesn’t use the words mountain top removal anyway and only talks about a ban on altering or disturbing ridgelines. It’s all a matter of semantics. What Ron Ramsey seems to be referring to is TDEC’s requirement that the rubble of the mountain be piled back on top. Certainly that is better than dumping it in a steam which is currently allowed in Kentucky and West Virginia. But this should not be a race to see which state reaches the bottom first. 

We at LEAF believe that when a man destroys a mountain he exceeds his authority, and when he tries to recreate a mountain he exceeds his ability. Only God can create a mountain.

So what’s the plan? To make sure that if Tennessee loses its mountains we at least get the fingerprints of those responsible. Maybe shining a bit of light will shame folks into doing the right thing. Stay on Ron Ramsey. If we can’t move him we are going to lose. Call [615-741-4524]  write [Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey  1 Legislative Plaza  Nashville, TN 37243-0219] and email [Lt.gov.ron.ramsey@capitol.tn.gov] at least weekly.  Ask Ramsey to cosponsor SB 1406. Ask your friends and pastor to do the same. Modify your letter to serve as a letter to the editor of your local paper. Talk with your friends. Ask them to help. Sample letters from some of you are on our website www.tnleaf.org.

Ron Ramsey is running for Governor. That makes all Tennesseans his constituents. He may become willing to discuss compromise if the political costs get to high. We are counting on you to help him see the number of Tennesseans who care about creation. Christianity has a long history of speaking truth to power, beginning with our Lord. Now is our time to be heard.

So how much time do we have? Not much. SB1406 must pass the Senate Environment Committee before the committee closes and then we’ll need time to get it through the House’s two-tiered committee structure. We don’t know for sure when the committees will close but it is likely to be in April, maybe even early April. We have about a month.

Here is what we are doing. We have posted a You Tube video of Ron Ramsey’s response to a question about mountain top mining before the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce Feb 18^th. We have added LEAF’s commentary. It is pretty pointed. Please view it and pass it on to others who may be interested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-WNSIsZl1U

As you may recall, twelve very prominent scientists wrote a blockbuster paper in the journal Science in January establishing scientific consensus that MTR is a risk to human health and that the ecological damage caused is permanent and irreversible. (LEAF’s paraphrase — “Only God can make a mountain..”)

Two of those scientists are scheduled to testify in Nashville before the House and Senate Environment Committees on March 9^th.If you are inclined to watch on the internet or to visit Legislative Plaza to observe our legislators in action, March 9^th would be a good day to do that.

We are in Legislative Plaza every week talking with policy makers and looking for an opening. We are always pleased for you to join us. We also talk with the press to build awareness of the urgent nature of the situation. Look for new stories weekly. We will keep you updated by Action Alert, Face book and Twitter. Of course we continue our work with churches and educational institutions spreading the message of Creation Care. And we, like you, keep this effort and the mountains in our prayers every day.

Thank you for your support.
Dawn Coppock, Legislative Director, LEAF

Rest in peace, friend Mikael.

Ode to Peanut Butter

O,

How long it doth take

To scrape a single tablespoon of peanut butter

Across the vast and arid plane

Of one whole-wheat matzos.

But the good thing is

That such a tiny,

tiny

layer of God’s Greatest Gift

Will not fall, yea:

Shall not even drip

From that blessed surface

Even if held upside-down.

Which is good

As upside-down is the only way to eat it,

Lest the tongue

Miss the blessing completely.

————————————-
(p.s. — but I *am* down 10+ pounds!  Hurray, Weight Watchers!)