Carrie: January 2008 Archives

Barack Obama speaks at Dr. King's church.

 

This time, it works. :)

We went roller skating last night! Well. I went roller skating last night. Jade tried on the skates, almost fell and was done. Seth put on the skates, saw the play area with a slide and ball pit, and was done. Greg never even put skates on. So I, who haven't skated in I-don't-remember-how-long, put on some skates and amused all the elementary school kids by trying not to fall. It was fun, and if I had actually built up any speed, would have been good exercise. Next month (it was Jade's school's skate night), Greg promised to skate if Jade would. This should be fun!

Now, I am going to go lie down and try to shake this lovely bug that I have. At least it's a Friday.

A friend of mine at work approached me recently and asked if I would give her a refresher course in knitting. Little did she know just how obsessed I am. So I made her up a little "crack pack" or half skeins and even some whole ones; hand-dyed, hand spun, soft as clouds, itchy but colorful, almost all natural fibers. Something to spoil her and share just how wonderful, tactile, creative, expressive and beautiful knitting can be. I also loaned her these books. Today, we spent a lovely lunch hour in her spacious and peaceful office, knitting and chatting away. She's decided to start with a simple hat, but once she saw my finished sock, she got that gleam in her eye, and declared that her next project would be socks. I think I might have a knit buddy, and yes, I am a geek. But a happy geek!

This evening, I attended a Martin Luther King tribute dinner. There was a young man who gave a passionate rendition of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech that had me reaching for something with which to wipe my eyes. The keynote speaker was Tim Wise. Amazing. He seemed small and unassuming, sitting quietly at the head table, but when he stood up to speak, he was probably the most dynamic speaker that I've ever seen. It was an eye-opening speech, to say the least. I've always known that, as a white person, I've been priveledged. I can never know the experience of a person with brown skin, though I may try and conceptualize it. I know that I'm not a bad person, but I've been ignorant. I felt tonight the same way I felt after reading The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth. There are facts all around that prove an institutionalized racism (or an institutionalized treatment of women and their bodies), yet so many blindly accept The Way Things Are. Not out of malice or even out of racism, but out of a huge blind spot. What we don't know that we don't know. The speech wasn't a listing of facts, however, but a call to action. We can't move ahead until we acknowledge where we are. Where we truly are.

This evening here in Flint it was 62 degrees. 62! In January! We had a thunderstorm, and Jadey came home from school with her coat in her backpack. I love spring-like weather as much as anyone, but this is just disturbing to me. I cannot understand the people who say climate change isn't really happening.

I was poking around in the code for my page (not enough that I actually changed anything), and wow, do I feel a bit inept. I took two whole classes on HTML, but this stuff is far beyond my knowledge. I hate to have to ask Doug every time I want to change something, so it looks like I'll either be supressing my urge to "redecorate" regularly, or will be learning how to use Movable Type. Any bets which option I'll take?

I'm still a geek, and proud, though. I am just a geek in other ways. I am a knit geek, a music geek, a creativity geek. I am definitely an oddball here at work, but in the pleasant sort of way, according to my co-workers, who call me "quirky". Somehow, that label, which I would have hated in my high school days, I love now. Even when my daughter, Jade, calls me weird, I just smile and say thank you.

Except in a blog. I can't believe it's been over two years since I've updated! Ever since I started working outside the home again. It does make things more complicated and busy, but I have those two years to look back over and say that having this job has really has made a huge difference in our lives. The kids love their schools, I like my work, and it's definitely opened up some new avenues for me, especially in singing, believe it or not. I think that my coworkers are my biggest fan base.

It would be very difficult to recount what the last two years have brought us, and so rather than even try, I will say that we are happy, I am happy, and life is very, very good. And now, I'll go on from there.