One Week

It has been a week since President Obama's inauguration. I have not been paying too much attention to the news this week because I have a fear that he may not be all I hope. But here is some good news from the Sierra Club Insider about Obama's first week as our 44th President.

Obamicon.Me

The Obamicon.Me website can be addictive.

Dream

The dream of my life
Is to lie down by a slow river
And stare at the light in the trees-
To learn something by being nothing
A little while but the rich
Lens of attention.

-excerpted from Mary Oliver's poem "Entering the Kingdom

God

I like this Alice Walker quote from one of my favorite books " The Color Purple":

"God is inside you and inside everybody else. You come into the world with God. But only them that search for it inside find it. And sometimes it just manifests itself even if you are not looking, or don't know what you looking for. Trouble do it for most folks, I think... Yeah, It. God ain't a he or a she, but a It."

Where Did the Weekend Go ?

We had a very busy weekend. Friday evening we took down the Christmas tree and then had dinner with Tony and Nick at Soup Plantation. Nick came home to play a few games of Sorry.

Saturday was spent on a Habitat for Humanity build. Jim and I spent most of the day taping drywall seams in the attic. I was really afraid of the plywood boards resting on the rafters that I had to walk or crawl across to do my job. The ladder was sort of scary too. Learning and conquering fears is the best part of volunteering for Habitat. It is amazing that a bunch of volunteers, over several months, can build a home for a family. Jim and I had a small piece to do but without help the project cannot move forward.

In the evening we went to a Belgian Beer Tasting party at Edie and Mike's house from church. We bought a ticket to the event at the Service Auction in October. Instead of selling stuff, the majority of auction items are events at church people's homes. We had a wonderful evening sampling the beer and visiting but I woke up Sunday morning with a bit of a hangover from drinking six different beers.

Sunday we went to church and then took Christina to pick up her new car, a 2007 Ford Fusion. It is very beautiful. Afterwards, we went to Santa Monica to walk around.

Zion at Christmas

Nick, Jim, and I had a wonderful trip to Zion National Park over Christmas vacation. Zion is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been with lots of great hiking and scenery. To see the canyon covered in snow was magical. Visit my Picassa Web Albums to see our vacation pictures.

New Cell Phone

I gave Christina my cell phone because she broke hers AGAIN. Vanessa gave me Doug's cell phone to use. When I turned it on this morning my list of phone numbers had merged with Doug's list. His phone numbers show what he what he was dealing with the last year of his life- oncologist, radiologist, blood lab, pharmacist, Blue Cross helpline. Funny how life changes what you need to speed dial.

2008 Memories and 2009 Things to Come

Friday Five asks readers to list five things you remember from 2008 and five things you are looking forward to in 2009. Here are mine:

2008 Memories
1. Birth of Luke my first grandson on August 22. He is perfect and it is fun to be a grandma. And seeing what a great mom Christina is to Luke.
2. Doug's illness and death on October 10. It is a sad memory but also happy because I got closer to Vanessa, my daughter, and met so many of Doug's friends that cared so much about him. And getting back in touch with my parents.
3. Hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up.
4. Having a nice glass of wine with Jim in the evening.
5. Hanging out with Nick, Tony, and Vanessa.


Coming in 2009
1. Luke learning to walk and talk.
2. Taking a road trip this summer to the Tetons and Yellowstone with Jim.
3. Yosemite at the end of January- snow, hiking, cross country skiing.
4. Making our backyard garden even better.
5. Inviting friends to dinner at our house.