Great Responsibility

In our new found conquest of home ownership, Mike and I have slowly begun to realize how entrenched we are in the big "R": Responsibility. Of course, Mike's focus regarding responsibility is centered around such things of fancy as a)the investment value of the house and a well-balanced portfolio b)selecting the appropriate insurance carriers based on value and coverage c)looking at the tax implications of ownership...blah blah blah. My responsibility has been centered on things of an even more earnest nature. Paint colors. I never knew how burdensome it could be to have to commit--out of a palette of a ca-gillion colors--to just a few throughout the house. Do I go bold and paint the colors I loooove, or play it safe and know that most people won't actually snicker when they enter our home? It's almost oppressive, and I might start taking medications soon to deal with the anxiety. ;)

What do you think about this set? (wall color is largest green square, chairs=blue+wall color green, and couch=small green box)



Thank you for your most urgent attention to this matter. ;)

P.S. here's what we went for upstairs: wall=large sqaure, couch=brown with muted teal pillows, and chairs=cream. If you came over for tofurkey, would you laugh? :)

An Image of Pure Joy!

BJ and Louisa's wedding yesterday was a day full of bliss. Happiness was complete in everyone from the extraordinary couple themselves to their sweet, sweet family and friends. Mike and I loved every minute of being surrounded by such a joy-filled group! I can't wait to show you more images from their day, but for now, I wanted to display this image that seemed to capture the mood of the day: pure, spirit-filled joy! 

News Fast

Typically when I think about fasting, I think about the empty feeling I get in the pit of my stomach when I haven't eaten for way too long (i.e., about twenty minutes these days. ooy!). Yet, that empty feeling is exactly what I'm trying to combat via this little fasting idea. I'm thinking I should give up reading the news for a bit. I know very well that I'm not singing a new song here, but I still have to ask: is anyone else getting the sense that the news of the day is getting progressively darker/disturbing? And, I'm just talking national news! International news can produce even more 'my-country-has-more-grim-tales-to-tell-than-your-country' blues, but that will remain outside of the scope of this, ahem, 'discussion.' What is happening? The headlines lately have been incredibly disturbing: shootings in municipal meetings, schools, churches; unspeakable wrong committed against children; unheard of violence and acts of hate committed against the unsuspecting. OUT.OF.CONTROL! I am just hoping these types of headlines are really just inventions of greedy media types who are churning out copiouos amounts of bizzaro headlines in order to match the pile of disgusting goo rejected everyday by landfills for being too toxic. Some of this stuff didn't really happen. right? I'm thinking that might be the Pollyanna in me. (Will I sound too much like my Great Auntie Tilda if I say that violent video games must be somehow to blame for some people thinking it's a good idea to fatally shoot their peers to resolve an argument? Are we training a nation of a depraved version of vigilantes [with well-rehearsed aim, by the way]? OK, before my nephews hear wind of this random thought and throw their PS3s at me, I'll be moving on.) I know. I'm incredibly naive. A simpleton. Just for the record, I'm also waiting for the teacher to come out during our proverbial recess and lay out the rules yet again for anyone who (must) have missed them....we'll all recite the ethic of reciprocity together: love one another as you love yourself. Putting aside the basic philosophical debates you'll hear against that generalization, let's just start there for now. Until then, maybe I'll just have to take a news fast for a brief period to clear my mind. The end.