A little of everything:

• Sen. Obama, I’d be glad to be your pastor. My preaching is edgy only to the extent that the gospel is edgy. I don’t preach partisan, so, call me…
• We had a great time on vacation, visiting family, getting folks graduated and so on. It was not so much restful (a la napping on the beach) but it was restorative. We were in the car a lot, and I would say we made strategic use of the DVD player. I also had little brown bags of goodies that I gave to the girls at various moments along the way. We will be making a pilgrimage in August to the Church of Disney and I no longer fear the road trip. Highest price paid for gas: $4.33 in downtown Windy City.
• Our return trip involved two days of solid driving, but we decided to make the most of it with some recreational stops—an amazing children’s museum the first day, and the farm we joined as CSA members the second day. Part of the CSA membership is the option to do U-pick of additional items for free. So we picked strawberries. Great fun. And while there we saw the only other person I know who is a member of that farm. What are the chances?
• Today is the actual fifth anniversary of my ordination. Despite having to write my own article (I’m over it), there was a nice reception in worship at both services. Many people expressed surprise that it’s already been five years, but my children provide all the evidence needed to prove the passage of time.
• Speaking of children, they had a great time on the trip. Their grandparents’ houses provide all the interest and fun that a grandparent’s house should: vintage toys, hidden closets, and lots of people to play with.
• Quote of the trip from little she-who-is: Grandpa D was quoting a financial seminar in which the speaker said there are three things you can do with money: spend it, save it, or waste it. C replied, “You can also give it to people who don’t have any money.” I. Kid. You. Not.
• Image of the trip from the divine miss M: Thursday night we stopped for the night at a hotel. The girls crashed in one of the queen beds and while I was nursing J I saw M sit up and adjust her covers, then reach over and pull up the blanket so C was better covered. Awww…
• Then the next morning she gave C some of her cinnamon roll, which if you’ve stayed at a Holiday Inn Express you know that is a huge act of generosity. Don’t anybody tell me how many grams of trans fat are in those flaky pieces of heaven.
• Image of the trip from sweet baby J: Oh, just a generally jolly disposition. Aside from some night waking, he went with the flow beautifully.

Books read while I was gone included Dreams from My Father (my name is reverendmother and I am addicted to Election 2008) and two books for the children’s lit series, The Wednesday Wars and The Book of Jude. The former takes place in 1968 and has as its protagonist a seventh-grade boy who’s convinced that his teacher is out to get him. He is the lone Presbyterian in a class in which everyone else is excused on Wednesday afternoons to attend either catechism or Hebrew School. A fun story. The Book of June takes place in Prague during the end of the Cold War and centers around one young woman’s battle with a mental illness. Fantastic.