in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neeeeigborhoooood?

I decided to tap into "extrovert krystin." If you haven't met her you really should. I find that if I try hard enough I can be pleasant and focused when talking to someone (this typically requires sleep and being childfree). Two things I rarely experience these days. My decision is in an effort to "commune".

I whipped up some peanut butter chocolate bars, wrapped them in little red boxes, tied a bow and plan to drag the kids out in the cold so we can get to know a few neighbors we haven't met plus reconnect with ones we have met.

I'm willing to admit that knowing your neighbors has some downsides to it, however in the long run it really is a good thing. And I'm a huge advocate for relationshipping/communicating so to stay true to form I wanted to do something that would encourage conversation. I believe food is essential to conversations. Plus the whole concept of loving one another has been something I'm working through. I will probably continue to work through this for the rest of my life but hey we all have our "things". I find the mantra "treating others the way you would like to be treated" helpful in my "loving others process" and I know if someone showed up at my door with sweets I would be deeply appreciative and if that "someone" was a she, and she had two small children I would be less inclined to assume something suspicious (like a request for a donation). I figure I will meet a few peeps and I will miss a few. Some will think I'm selling something or affiliated with a popular religious sect and hide, those are the neighbors I can't wait to met!

So do dogs understand our language or just our tone? Huh!

So if I haven't mentioned it before I'm finishing my last semester of graduate school or at least attempting to. I have two weeks to finish my comprehenisve paper which is kind of like a glorified lit. review. I swore I wouldn't procrastinate so I'm starting now. Yes, this is me not procrastinating.

I have 40 journal articles to sift through and an additional 3 books. I was feeling good last week while I was accuring my research and reading a few books, but today I've lost that love'n feeling.
So who wants to read some journals and write some summaries for me? huh huh? Any takers? I've always believed my personal strength is motivating OTHERS so I promise to motivate you to do my work.

So today I'm hang'n out at Quest Diagnostics waiting for someone to remove some of my precious blood from my body when in walks Dee (Doris). She's guided in by her very supportive husband. Dee's head is bent to the left and seems heavy for her frail body. At first glance I'm aware that Dee is not well (yes I know I'm in a lab, duh). Despite her mundane demeanor she seems heavy hearted. I think to myself "should I be overly outgoing and strike up a random conversation to get the scoop?" "no play it cool". My next thought hits me like a wave? "I think Dee knows what it is to suffer." Perhaps I thought that since the whole time I was spying on her she never stood straight, never smiled, and looked like she hadn't slept in days. I continue to pretend to play solitaire on my nifty blackjack II phone as I watch Dee. She turns to her husband and says "I'm so tired of this" and with that begins to cry. He gently gets up and begins looking for a tissue. Now hubby seems like the gatekeeper and from what I gather has plenty of history 'protecting' Dee. Hubby decides to go to the car for tissue and I seize the moment to make eye contact. Dee looks at me again and apologetically exclaims her exhaustion. I ask her whats aligning her and she proceeds to roll out the list. To summarize Dee needs surgery again on her esophagus where they will need to collapse it for a 2nd time, she has no stomach, only one kidney left from surviving cancer, a permanent IV in her left arm which caused her to trip and brake her neck this last week, and finally she's back getting tested for cancer again. OKAY what do you say after that that doesn't sound lame and half hearted??? As she cries and continues to apologize for her displays of emotion I simply reply that it's refreshing to see emotion and sometimes we just need to let it out. She informs me that she has had serious health issues for the last 14 years. Umm, yeah I'd be tired too. As Dee leaves I wonder about healing, suffering, sickness, Christ, and people. I'm not sharing this so you feel bad for Dee or to give you insight into my own inabilities to communicate, but because the truth is: There's a lot of people out there hurting for a lot of different reasons. Most of you who read this today will connect with Dee on some level; whether it's feelings of hopelessness, exhaustion, illness, weakness, frustration, pain, desperation, or so on. Dee's pain just happens to manifest in physical ways. So maybe this week we can take some time to ask each other how things are going, or confide in someone about the pain we're experiencing, or perhaps even take some time and pray for Dee.