* not with ink

Months ago, a friend asked me to blog/ramble out my thoughts (& my thoughts on God's thoughts) on exercise. I should note that the concept of God having an opinion on exercise is amusing to me. I didn't write the post, because I was fairly discontent with my body (isn't everyone, in February??) and didn't want to think about it. Now it is June and I am slightly happier with how I look and less lethargic than I was all winter. But I'm not convinced my attitude is all that better. On most days, when I am feeling sane and calm and thinking more about the rest of the world than myself, I think this about exercise: we should do it. We should be active and healthy and social. Or alone, if that is what we need. We should be balanced and neither overthink nor neglect our well-being. Just know yourself and take care of yourself, and stop kidding yourself. I feel better about myself, healthier, more alert and happier when I am consistently exercising/a...

G went into the ravine yesterday with some friends, even though I had expressly forbidden it. I told him we would discuss this with his mom when she came home. Our conversation went thusly: Mom - G, there are strange men in the ravine. G - Not where we were! Mom - If you don't believe me, we can go down and watch them and you will never want to go down there again. Me - (trying to hide a smile) Mom - I'm telling you, there are strange men there. And they like little boys. G - (looking perplexed, distracted by his quest for more chicken) Me - (still trying not to smile) C, across the room - Do they want to kidnap him? Mom - I don't know if they want to kidnap him, but they want to do SOMETHING to him... (she KNOWS I'm cracking up) C - They want to take him home and cook him and fry him for dinner!! Me - (bursts of laughter) Mom - (silently eating her chicken, totally non-plussed) Today, C and I went into the ravine. We didn't see any strange men, and he se...

I have been meaning to write this post for months . I don't know why I haven't. I don't read the personal blogs of many strangers, and I'm never really sure how I ended up with the ones I do follow, so I can't tell you how either of these two very different ladies wound up being among my favourites. The Frenemy: Sharp-tongued, slightly cynical, younger-than-I-guessed single girl. I think in NYC. Despite our vastly different worldviews & general life choices, there is distinct and important common ground. She is honest about women, how messy we are (figuratively and literally), and regularly pokes fun of Cosmopolitan . I crack up on a regular basis reading her rants, but rarely (never) share them publicly (until now!) since I know the chance of offending someone within the realm of my readership is quite high. I really love this recent entry, "In Defense of Bodies. " ( warning: crude language - probably not for my mom, girls under 18, or others with se...

mother of a child with curly hair: "Do strangers stop you in the grocery store to comment on your hair?" me, to the father of C's friend: "Hi, I'm C's nanny." mother of C's friend: "Au pair. I feel like nanny isn't the right term for what you are." me: "Sure, au pair..." friend 1: "Sometimes I feel like you're more of a hired mom than a nanny." me: "Um, that is a nanny." me: "Let me get the door for you." brother: "Sure. But first, can you take my socks off?" my nephew, in an awed voice: "Aunt Beth, did you know that asparagus are plants? " my nephew, again: "I'm having my ice cream in a clone! " friend 2: "I fell in love with ribs. It is kind of like falling in love with a person, but better. Because there is more licking at the start of the relationship." friend 3: "People say they want real community, b...

Where did this dream come from? I have wanted to travel to the Africa/Middle East/India arc of the world for nearly a decade. The six weeks I spent in northern Africa during the summer of 2009 fed this, and kindled a desire for in-depth interactions with women in Muslim regions of the world. The more I talk with friends who have spent significant time in developing nations, the more I want to go. And the more I'm convinced that I could learn much from the people there. If you have read my blog much over the past year, you will know that the idea of Hope - what it is, where we find it, why we need it - is often on my mind. And over the last year and a half, I have been embracing the idea of taking risks, not just passing time, but LIVING my life. So all these things have been simmering. And then a series of moments brought it all together. Moment #1 For the first time ever, I go to a concert on my own. When I leave, I instinctively turn to the friend next to me so we can discuss th...

And you are invited. There are three parts to the dream and four ways you can be involved. Curious? Good. Because I don't think I can back out at this point, and I am going to be talking about this A LOT in the coming months. It will take a few posts to flesh it all out, but here is the skeleton plan: 1. Travel & volunteer in Africa/The Middle East/India (tentatively May to August 2012). 2. Make a documentary film that looks at life and where hope lives in the developing world. Also, how we North Americans are changed by our cross-culture encounters and experiences. 3. Do this whole thing as a community. This is not about me going off on an adventure, coming back and having three-sentence conversations about my time away. I want to be a part of a team from start to finish. What does that look like? How does something like this become a community endeavor? I am asking for EVERYONE I KNOW to consider being involved by answering one (or more) of the foll...

I have been promising big news this month. It is coming in the next post. Probably Monday. (drumroll please) Teaser: You are invited on an epic adventure.