July: poof

Where has July gone? It was a busy month at work and church, that's for sure. It began with a celebration of my 26th birthday, which started with "presents in bed" (a few dvd's, books, and nice warm slippers from Jesse), ended with a friend's exhibit opening, Mexican food, and watching one of said dvd's, with "afternoon tea" at work in the middle. They were going to make me a sugar-free cake, but the woman who would've made it was sick, so they bought a spinach quiche and stuck candles in it. I think, along with the list I maintain of "places I've spent my birthday" I may make note of this unique "cake-replacement". :)

Friends came up to help celebrate the Saturday after my birthday, which turned out to be day 2 of the worst flu I remember having. I still participated in the "birthday game" (pinata) Jesse had so proudly put together. We have some great photos of our friends' poor daughter, distraught after her daddy knocked the pinata down from its hanging place on our clothesline. And also some great photos of Jesse decapitating the pinata. Its head currently rests on our mantle in triumph. (Said friends gave me a great tv series, called "Lost in Austen", for my birthday, about a woman who gets caught up in Pride and Prejudice. I loved it.)

The rest of the month saw year-end stuff at work for me, a work bee at church, the church annual meeting, a celebration of life at the passing of a young member of our congregation, and the start of a new/revived prayer ministry.

In reading news, I read My Seventh Monsoon by Naomi Reed, about time she and her family spent in Nepal, and loved it. I may post some quotes on my profile; she has an acute sense of the seasons of our lives, and had a lot to say about transition that meant a lot to me. I'm currently reading Jesse's copy of The Salmon of Doubt, a collection of writings by Douglas Adams. Of course, he's quite clever and funny, but it's also given me an interesting perspective on his atheism and how he, for lack of a better term, "wore" that.

All of this brings us to August. At the outset, it doesn't appear to be quite as packed as July, but we will see.