Random stuff
• We came home to no Internet, which is why the blog has been dark for several days. Bah! Obviously, it’s back now.
• Speaking of blogging, check out this Post article about clergy-blogs, featuring one of the RevGals!
• I’m thinking about growing out my hair.
Vacation Wrapup
• We left Maine Saturday morning at 7:30 […]

This week Aunt S shared a project she’s working on for some nieces and nephews called “C is for Cousin.” I am working on a poem but I’m not sure it’s for public consumption—so here are some ABC’s from Maine:
Ark, Noah. i.e., a LOT of rain beforehand which led to not much beach
Bald eagle sighting
Crack! […]

Busy, fun day—in short, we went to City by the Sea to visit with Songbird while others went shopping; also visited the rocky coast and watched the tide crash in. We’re on our way to see fireworks in a few minutes.
Last night both girls were fit to be tied—neither got much naptime during the day […]

We’re here. Ahhhhhhhh…
Notes from the trip up:
“Let’s just head up I-95″ is a fine plan until you hit NYC at 3:30 p.m.
A walkman for a three-year-old is a GOOD thing, even if the CDs get sticky with chocolate-covered pretzel residue.
M was wonderful except for the last few fussy hours on day 2–which is basically when […]

Quick and disjointed update:
These little dots I’m using to make this list? I learned this week you’re not supposed to call them bullets because that’s violent. Err. Whatever.
The divine miss m was spectacular on this trip. Slept on the plane, charmed my clergy pals, napped on her own for long stretches, you name it. She […]

Excuse me, states *to which* I’ve been… ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.
(Map may take a moment to load)

create your own visited states map
Mamala is here to hang with revbaby while I finish the writing piece for the workshop at the end of the month. Apparently […]

We’re back, as the mountains of laundry, e-mails and to-do lists can attest.
We had a wonderful time. It was a good decision to go to Sesame Place, since it rained a bit yesterday, but the park still had plenty for us to do in the rain. The water park attractions were great, and C surprised […]

And what an innovative title.
All in all, it was a wonderful vacation. R and I had a great time in Chicago, and C had lots of fun at Camp G-mommy. Our trip was definitely low on the lie-around factor, but that was by design. I think we both were probably weary enough to have had […]

My husband, who oversees all things electrical and mechanical in our house, tells me that I should charge my handheld devices (cell phone and PDA) often, so their batteries don’t get too low. But it’s also a good idea to let the batteries drain down low every so often, so they can do what’s called […]

PPB asked me in the previous set of comments whether I’ve been to Iona.
The short answer is, No.
I’m not sure how to characterize the other answer, which is, Yes. So I’ve been told.
Skeptics are really not going to like this one. It sits uncomfortably with me too. But I’m OK with the discomfort. If you […]

Tomorrow afternoon my mother flies in to spend the weekend with little she-who-is.
Tomorrow evening R and I drive 160 miles to Philadelphia and spend the night.
After a relaxed Saturday of sightseeing, we see U2 in concert that evening.
Immediately after the concert we drive home.
The next day is Pentecost, a “high holy day” in the church.
While […]

A strange confession: I love hotels. Nice, big, corporate hotels. Of course, the charm of a quirky bed and breakfast is appealing too, and you can’t beat the low-budget coziness of sleeping on a family member’s pullout couch, but there’s something about the anonymity of a large hotel that has always appealed to me. It’s […]

I’ll be out of town for most of next week at a training. I hope to continue blogging, assuming I can do so without annoying or arousing the suspicion of my roommate, a member of the church. I promise to do my best to bible-blog this week. In the meantime, everybody loiter around Songbird’s place […]

I’m heading to Presbyterian Mecca tomorrow for a few days. (Those who care, know; those who don’t know, don’t care.)
I’m meeting with a group of young pastor colleagues to talk about some of the issues that have troubled the denomination of late. Five of us are on the liberal/progressive end of things, four on the […]

read parts I and II, part III, parts IV and V, and part VI of the travelogue
Part VII: Barcelona
We had a free weekend during our stint in Geneva, so a bunch of us decided to take a Friday-night train to Barcelona. Thankfully, the Barcelona train was much nicer than the jalopy we had taken to […]

read parts I and II, part III, and parts IV and V of the travelogue
Part VI: Geneva
After two days here, two days there, Geneva is where we got to unpack and live for a while.
We took a day train from Florence to Geneva, meandering around mountain after spectacular mountain. Geneva finally announced itself in quiet […]

I’m stuck inside today—more snow on the ground, but C and I are too puny to play in it—so time for more self-indulgent mental travels:
read parts I, II and III of the travelogue
Part IV: Train
The morning before our Dachau day trip we checked out of our hotel, schlepped down to the train station, bought tickets […]

Read parts I and II
Part III: Dachau
First they came for the communists,
and I did not speak out,
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists,
and I did not speak out,
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I did not speak out,
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they […]

For two years running while in seminary, I took a January term that involved an extended international trip. The first Jan. term was a class at the World Council of Churches in Geneva. As a part of that trip I also visited Munich, Florence, and Barcelona. The second Jan. term was a trip to Merida, […]