a little late...

it's way past vietnamese new year but i finally got around to uploading a video of the dragon dance in my neighborhood. the vietnamese community in camden dance for us and light fire crackers to celebrate their new year. it's one of my favorite days of the year. 2 of my students were in the dance, one as a buddha an another as the tail of the smaller dragon. chuc mung nam moi!

snow!

we finally had a good snow fall here - a whopping 4 inches!! but it was lovely. i went out in the morning in my slippers and took some pictures. enjoy our little city winter wonderland!





also, as a side note, our dog, victor, just had a little surgery and had to wear to cutest purple cast! so sad for him but funny for us. pictures are below. oh and i'll include some of our newly rehabbed (still in the process of finishing the rehab actually) living room.

women's midwinter retreat

i was fortunate enough to be a part of a wonderful women's gathering last weekend in new hampshire! it was hosted by a kindred spirit in her little country cottage. we gathered around the wood stove and talked and laughed and cried a bit. we shared about our struggles of being christians in a Church that historically overlooks the contributions and presence of women and we went deeper into those places where we have been welcomed. by st. julian of norwich, the catholic worker movement, some of our small communities, poets and writers, the scriptures, our mother god etc. we talked about becoming women more fully instead of what i sometimes see in parts of the feminist movement - suppressing gender and denying our differences as men and women.

some books we read and/or shared:
the dance of the dissident daughter by sue monk kid
caretakers of our common house by carol lakey hess
she who is by elizabeth johnson
is it ok to call god mother? by paul smith

and here are some photos: (what an idyllic place to live and work and raise children!)

hm.

i am due for another update because a lot of fun and great things have happened in the last couple of weeks. until then though... my friend forwarded me this video and i wanted to share it. be careful, it'll pull you in with some thoughtful lyrics, good musicians and singers, diversity and clergy but if you're a christian the phrase "a born again american" should make you very uncomfortable.

yuck

well, we've had a stomach flu outbreak here. 4 teachers have had it so far (myself included) not counting kids who, i'm sure, are the source of the outbreak. it's terrible so make sure you are keeping yourself healthy wherever you are.

i've been laying around, sipping water, nibbling on saltines, and watching bad television for the last couple of days b u t i did find this song on the stomach flu that made me laugh.

the stomach flu rap

it's devastating...

it's devastating that people can create so much evil. i don't doubt that we all have the capacity to engage in the type of atrocities i keep reading about in gaza but i am shocked at the leaders and military personnel in israel... and continue to be shocked by my own government from whom israel receives most of it's weapons.

take a minute and read the article "'Phosphorus wounds' alarm Gazans", not simply for the sake of being sobered but because we need to be paying attention.

a little hiatus

chris and i just got back from a very relaxing week of vacation with his parents during which i read a wonderful book that i have been coveting for some time. i found it at a book store that is sadly going out of business (one of the last few independent bookstores in philly) at half price.


i love this book! it was wonderful and i will be making ravioli as soon as possible along with many of the recipes in the book. i also really want to go back to italy.

just had to share that...

here are some photos from our trip...