This is just to say

(to borrow from William Carlos Williams)

I feel lonely, lonely, lonely.
Lonely.

The adventures of baby Madelyne

First, I must say that I've realized what's behind my blogging patterns. Basically I only like to blog if I'm in a good mood, a 'blogging mood,' and that just hasn't been very prevalent as of late.
But anyway, I promised a story, so I'm going to tell it.

Last Tuesday, November 25, I heard a strange sound coming from downstairs. When I got to the kitchen, I found Stephanie on the phone, crying. I was worried. She had just returned from visiting her hospitalized father on Sunday, and though he was doing better and was at home when she left, it was the first thing that came to my mind. I must have looked panicked. She turned to me and said, "it's good!" and after quickly ending the phone conversation she again turned to me and asked, "So are you ready to have a newborn in the house?" My response: "Yessss!"


Then I got the rest of the story, piece by piece throughout the day as more information came in from case workers and family members. Stephanie tells the story much better than I do, and will continue to tell the story on her blog, Maddy's World.
We've had Maddy for over a week now, and she's doing really great. She's completely precious and is just a really good baby. I am so grateful that she's with us.
Maddy and I on Thanksgiving

Short version

This is (some of) how I got to where I am now:

In July I was reading Shane Claiborne's Jesus For President. He's a footnote freak. Footnotes on every page. I wrote some of them down, including one about Advent Conspiracy. This led me to the Advent Conspiracy webpage. Which led me to the Advent Conspiracy blog, where churches that had participated in AC told what they did or how they were affected. I was just browsing when the title of one of the entries caught my eye. Something about "Changing hearts in the South Sound." My heart jumped. "The South Sound! I live in the South Sound! A church near me participated in Advent Conspiracy?!" I had been looking for a church since moving to Washington in February, but hadn't had much luck finding the right fit. Could this church be the one? The entry mentioned Soma Communities, which I immediately Googled. As I made my way through the website, I felt certain that this church and I would get along. One of the things I was looking for in a church was an active 'small group' life. Soma's website talked about their missional communities, smaller groups of people in the same general location that meet weekly. Hurrah! When I looked at the map and saw that there was one in Lacey, I emailed Lloyd, the contact person. He got back to me immediately, and I checked out the missional community that week.
Now here I am, 5 months later, living with Lloyd and Stephanie and their son Jake.

That's the short story. It doesn't fill in a lot of the details, but I had to bring you up to now, because now is where I am, and now is where life is happening, and boy do I have a great story to tell.

Day one: a start

Tricia's right, it feels like time to bring back the blogging, but I just don't know how to go about it. Sure, I could just start blogging, but that wouldn't be nearly complicated enough. Did Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde keep the same blog? What about Dante after he returned from the underworld? ... yet none of these metaphors are at all helpful because I neither am I trying to imply that I am struggling with an evil inner personality, nor that I have been, or am currently going through hell. Just that my life now is completely and utterly different than it was then. Anyone have a better comparison that I could use?
Besides that, I never felt like this blog really spoke my voice. Maybe it was the sporadic posting. Maybe it was knowing that people I actually know read it, so I intentionally or unintentionally limited myself to being somewhat likable and p.c., afraid to let myself be truly known. Whatever it was, it didn't work for me. So I guess I either need to stop blogging altogether, or start blogging for real. I'm leaning towards the latter, but I haven't quite made the decision. The thing is... people read this thing! Not a lot of people, but a few. Some I know, some are strangers, but the fact still stands. So the question is, how do I move on from here? Do I owe some sort of update? A little narrative bridge to connect the old life to the new? Or can I just pick a day and start telling its story?

Hello Toxoplasmosis

I don't know if I'm going to ever write a meaningful blog entry again. I was never any good at it anyway.

So this morning I wandered downstairs to find a cup of water sitting on the coffee table next to the couch. Was it mine? I couldn't remember. I did fill an identical cup and set it there last night soon before going to bed, but I thought that I brought it upstairs with me. I took a sip. (I know this may seem gross, but I often just use the same water glass for a few days. I don't know...) Then the thought hit, no, I did carry my glass upstairs last night. Just then Stephanie and Jake came down, so I asked, "Do you guys know if this is mine?"
Stephanie's response: "Don't know."
Jake's response: "I don't know, but the cat was drinking out of it earlier, so if I were you I'd get a new glass!"

Ptew! Ptew!

Red State, Blue State,

Just in case you weren't aware of how 'blue' Washington is before you read this post, let me give you a little anecdote:

On my way home Tacoma, where I attended the largest Biden rally to date, I noticed an alleged homeless man at my exit holding a particularly humorous sign. This young guy (18-23) in tattered, dirty clothes was touting a cardboard sign that said, "Give me $1 or I'll vote for McCain!" It killed me. The greatest part was that he saw me read it and then laughed with me... until the light turned green.

vocabulary

I just learned a new word.

aibohphobia (Pronounced: “Eye-bow-phobia”) An extreme, reactionary & debilitating fear of palindromes.

Probably people who have this phobia don't like me.

I wonder if I have created any aibohphobes?