stalls?

I wonder if anyone's ever kept a tally of which bathroom stalls are used the most. The long, abandoned bathroom in the basement of the library made me wonder this yesterday morning. Do people like the big, handicapped ones better or the small, fitted stalls that you can hardly turn around in (more cozy? homey?) Or does the common bathroom goer just choose the first one because it's closest to the door? I suppose that a certain personality would habitually use the first stall - in and out. The organized, structured type. Enter, go, come out, wash hands, leave. That's that. I came here for a reason, and now I'm done, so I'm out.

But I bet there are other people who spend a little time choosing a stall...the ones who daydream a little or pray on the toilet. The ones who aren't in a rush and are really only in the bathroom to get out of a work meeting or class for a little think time. One must choose wisely in this case.

I don't think it's disrespectful to pray on the toilet, but then I think about how people took their shoes off when they entered the Holy of Holys and I wonder. What are your thoughts?

pretty pretty bedrooms.

feeling a little homesick today and missing my bedroom at home.

onion, lantern, money.

nights too, it seems a risk to sleep;
i remember you walking by the cathedral,
head down, a bucket of clouds and oil smeared above.
you were waiting to be strewn by my brush or hand,
rearranged and altered in the white spaces.
but it never worked, really,
or at least that's what you said.

it was strict, the way we walked;
only your shoulder remained obscene,
but i never wished that or our perforations away.
and now you sit on my bench under the spruce,
a cup of cold water in your hand
that you won't look up from.

winter edition.

It's so cold outside right now that it makes me want to stay in my bed all day long and do nothing but read C.S. Lewis, Bleak House, and the Bible and drink tea.

a new year.

i love this newly picked, garden-fresh, crisp, unwilted, raw, natural new year already. i only have a pair of considerations for 2011. two of the biggest things that i complain about not having/taking/making enough time for are the Bible and exercise. ultimately, knowing the Lord is not solely about reading your Bible everyday - yes, one understands His heart and passions better by reading about Him, but knowing God also includes conversing with Him, worshiping, and just resting in Him. but it can't be all these things and none of the other. so with this blank canvas of a new year, i desire to be with Him everyday (in all arenas, but especially Bible-reading) and also to incorporate the classic push toward healthier living: exercise 3+ times a week (gwen is signed up with me for this one).

this break has just made me feel so fresh. even working at The Gap has been easy and enjoyable. mornings and evenings have been especially special. i usually get up late, have some coffee, watch the news, and then exercise at the Y with jojo or lifetime with mom. in the evening, the whole family gathers downstairs with blankets and pizza or tea and we watch an episode or two of planet earth. we love nature shows...anything from bbc or channel 2.

it's late now, and i can hear our dog addie breathing outside my door. hearing her sleepy, rhythmic inhale and exhale is making me tired. getting up early tomorrow to go to a core conditioning class with amy and then out to pazzaluna's and swede hollow to celebrate her 21st birthday, so i am off to bed.

peace.

lo

keep the dream alive

thinking of moving here.

dear friends, if you feel that i have fallen off the face of the earth...

...it is because i have. the dark world of LIT 3125 and the others, complete with their various four-credit work loads, have pulled me away from life and writing as i used to know it. i had to pull out the stops for awhile, but it makes me feel like i'm shriveling up inside. i don't like feeling like a dead plant. so in the name of renewal, here is a list of things i am thinking about this winter and looking forward to in the next several months:

boundary water camping
garrison keillor's writer's almanac on mpr
time to read and therefore write
(since reading often leads to writing)
elsie's home in wentworth 
understanding what the feast of the booths was all about in nehemiah
seattle and the northern beaches
amy's cabin
annual sledding at battle creek with jo and liz
zumba and cycling
channel 2 with the fam
finishing my quilt
walker art museum with celinda
i always get to a point in the summer where i wish it was
christmas and a point in the winter where i wish it was summer.
december 26th and i already want hot indian summer.
- by the way, don't get too lazy to get in your car and run errands
in the winter.
sometimes i am like this.
sometimes i just hate getting out of the car and walking into a store
and then walking back outside and getting back in the car.
don't be like this. even though it's cold.
back to the list -
reading all of bleak house by charles dickens
gaining more wisdom about what peace in Christ looks like
returning my weighted exercise ball for one that doesn't have sand in the bottom
finding the ring and pin that i lost
(i know they're in the car, it's just a matter of squeezing my hand farther into the cracks than a hand should really go)
and coming up with a good new years resolution.

finally, here is a song to cheer you up in case the winter is long and hard. its full of clay men with beards and flannel: