Party of Many Colors

One of the babies who was Baptized

Two sets of my friends had babies this December. The couples are from my church and last weekend, they had a joint Christening, with a party following the ceremony. We joked that the babies are meant to marry each other, as one is a boy and one a girl. They looked so adorable in their Baptismal gowns next to each other. However, one of the most remarkable aspects of this party was the people from many ethnic backgrounds. The father of one baby is Lebanese. He came to America in 1982, after being sent to France during the Lebanese Civil War. His wife is American. The wife in the other couple is from Columbia. She came to the US for graduate work and her husband is American, but his grandfather came from Mexico. So, at the party were Lebanese, Columbians, Mexicans, and Americans. You could hear Spanish, English, and Arabic. And we all share one faith. It was beautiful.

A tradition from one of the families that I would like to adopt- The baby in the picture above is wearing a Baptismal gown made from his mother's wedding gown!

Room With a View

After teaching for several years in the inner-city, I have never lost appreciation for the view from my current job. Not everyone has the opportunity to see race horses from their work places.

The town is blue... (literally)

Before I lived in the Indy area, I really wasn't much of a football fan. I enjoyed watching my cousins play for their high school (and now college) teams, but as far as the NFL was concerned, I never really watched. In fact, my two friends from college were surprised when I said that I watched the games now.

However, the second year I lived in Indy, my roommate and I decided to get tickets to a Colt's game (this was before they were really that great and tickets were available the weekend of a game). I remember walking into the Dome and thinking, "Wow! This is where are the men are!" :) From then on, I was hooked.

We took my mom to a play-off game two years ago against the Broncos. After hiking up to our seats (yes, the nose-bleed section) my mom said, "This is sooo awesome!! Now, what color are we?!" Yes, she really did say that, in a stadium filled with.... Blue. I told her we were blue and she replied, "Oh good! I love blue!!" (Ok, so now that I'm typing this, maybe it wasn't odd that I never cared about the Colts before moving to Indy).

Regardless of liking the NFL or not, it would be hard to be living in Indy right now and not get involved in this season. Our town is literally blue. Our downtown buildings have replaced some of their lights to blue and put them in the shape of a horseshoe. One building has clips from games projected onto its side. Yet, it doesn't end there. Driving home from church last Sunday night, I noticed a house that had lights illuminating its front. I was thinking, "Mmm... They didn't have those at Christmas (I drive this same route to work every day)." It took me a few days, and I realized that those were for the Colts. Every Friday is "Blue Day" and many work places allow employees to wear their jerseys. Even my school allows the students to forgo the embroidered polos to wear jerseys with the uniform pants and skirts (tartan plaid skirts and Colt's jerseys do make quite a statement!).

So, however the game ends tomorrow (and I do hope the Colts win) I am glad to see our town come together to support something.

Go Colts!!

Travels...

I'd love to add some more this summer!
create your own visited countries map



I need to get out West more and to Washington D.C.
It's pretty bad that I've been to the capitals of other countries before visiting my own.
create your own visited states map

change

As Martin Luther King, Jr. day is approaching, I have had nagging questions on my mind. What causes change? What factors need to be present in order for change to take place?
I have just finished reading Jean Sasson's Princess Trilogy. She exposes life for Saudi women in these books at the request of an anonymous member of the Al 'Saud family. The author's hope is that by exposing this side of Saudi life, changes might be made. But what will it take for Saudi society to change its views, if it ever does? My mom says that educating women is often the catalyst for change. I believe this is true, but how do women become educated in societies that won't allow it?
I have never been so grateful about being born female in America before, but I also know that things weren't always so equal here. Which generates more questions in my mind. How did change come in America? Is it that our early settlers faced rough journies out West, and the women were integral in making the journies? As I recall, the Women's Suffrage movement began out West. Were our men more open to change for women because they saw how independent and indespensible American women were?
How did Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. effect change? I believe that he was the right man for the right time, but what made the time right for America? He faced much opposition, yet he also had much support. I thank him for his efforts at peaceful change, especially on his holiday, tomorrow.
Now, I know that things aren't perfect here in America. I taught in the inner-city and I know that minorities still face many obstacles, but I am also proud that American society has been able to evolve over the years. I just wonder how we did it.
Maybe I should have been a sociologist!

"I've Never..."

When I was in college, we used to play this game called "I've never..." The way the game worked was that you sat in a circle (each person w/a drink) and would fill in the blank with something that you had done- i.e. "I've never thought a teacher was cute." And if anyone else playing the game had done the same thing, they took a drink. So, basically it was along the lines of truth or dare, w/out the dare. If you had done something, you had to drink. Consequently, to be make the game interesting, you needed to think of really random things that had happened to you.
Fast forward, ahem, more than a couple of years and sometimes when something random happens to me, I often think, "That would make a great 'I've never...'" Yesterday, one such incident happened.
Driving back from spending Christmas break with my family, it was raining. As I was driving along the highway at about 60 mph, with my windshield wipers on, I heard a really sudden crash and saw a black object fly over my car. "Oh my, what was that?" It took me a few seconds (and a look in my rear-view mirror at the flying black object) to realize that my windshield wiper had literally blown right off my car!! Well, I was about 10 miles from the nearest town, so I called my mom to ask her to look on the internet to find the nearest AutoZone. She didn't answer. I got ahold of my sister (yeah!) and she found one; so I headed straight there. Thank goodness the driver's wiper was still intact. I got to AutoZone and asked the guy for a wiper for my car; he also offered to put it on. When we got outside, he said, "Where is your wiper?"
I said, "Somewhere on the highway..." I don't know if he believed me; he looked pretty shocked!

The Best Part About...

The best part about spending the night with your single aunt...

M & M minis and diet Coke for breakfast:)

2007

I would like to do a few things in 2007, although I'm not really a "resolution maker". My goals or ideas for 2007:
1. remember to write my lesson plans down- I did very well at this last year, but I majorly slacked this fall.
2. increase my charitable giving- Every year I'm trying (and succeeding) to give a little more so that I can reach that 10% I'm supposed to be giving.
3. Do either some volunteer work or travel this summer, but hopefully combine those two. The short list of places to visit, currently is Jordan, Cyprus, and/or Jerusalem.
4. Discipline my mind not to stress about things that I should be waiting for God to fulfill. Most single girls can identify w/this one!!

That's it. I think they're pretty attainable! Here's to a fabulously smashing year!!

The Ford Funeral

I don't know what it is about funerals, especially Presidential ones. They always choke me up with all of the traditions. Maybe it's the Catholic in me, because we truly have such beautiful funerals, filled with tradition and glory. I have heard a Protestant say, "Boy those Catholics know how to do funerals!" I'd say the government knows how to do them as well for the Presidents. I cried during the Reagan funeral a couple of years ago and I'm choking up as well during the Ford funeral right now.
Well, goodbye Mr. President. Thank you for your service to our country! You didn't expect to be a President, but you served anyway.

Sunny

This morning, I had to get up and moving pretty early, even though I am still on Christmas vacation. I'm at my mom's house this week to spend some time w/my family and on Tuesdays, her cleaning lady comes. Before you think, "Oh no, poor baby has to get up early to have the house cleaned!" let me explain.
When we moved into this house in 1997, it was a difficult time for us. My parents were getting divorced and my mom and I moved into the city from our suburban home. I was one week shy of starting college, and I was very against our having to move. I felt that my dad should have to move. But, God was so good to us. We moved into a much smaller house, but with a much larger heart of neighbors. I felt as if I'd gone back to the '50s and I loved it! Our neighbors on either side were both elderly. Dorothy, on one side was a widow w/out children to take care of her. Remembering that we are to "take care of widows and orphans" we used to do many things w/her, especially when she no longer could drive (due to an accident, which oddly enough occurred at the BMV:) ). Dorothy had a cleaning lady that came on Tuesdays, which we were always grateful for, b/c as Dorothy aged, she often forgot meds, etc. Sunny, the cleaning lady was so good to her. After Dorothy died, Sunny needed someone to fill the Tuesday spot, and we took her right away.
On to Sunny. Sunny is a gift from God. Truly- I know we all are, but I feel unworthy at times when she is over. Sunny has what, as a teacher, I would describe as being a very low IQ. She doesn't drive and has a horrible stutter. Yet, 5 days a week, she cleans a different family's house. Her husband drops her off at 7:30 and she stays all day until he picks her up at 4:30. In a country where Sunny could probably live off of disability, she works! And she is proud of her work. Today when I was trying to help her, she scolded me and said, "That's what I'm here for- to help you out." She buys gifts for us on holidays. Nothing extravagent, maybe just a pad of paper. If she notices that my mom is low on a cleaning product, she brings it the next time. She only charges something crazy, like $45 dollars! My mom is always trying to give her more, but she won't take it. I think she really just cleans, because she loves to help people. And I think about that. Do I do things for other people because I truly want to help them? Sometimes, but honestly not always. Sometimes I feel as if I have to or they want me to and I'll feel guilty if they don't. There is much to be learned from someone like our Sunny!