Speed Post

[Oops. this was a draft from 10/25, that never made it up so here it is now...., so much for being speedy....]

I am on the wheel today and likely the rest of this week, plus out of the office Friday for a planning meeting for the professional organization I volunteered to be a "leader" in. It's a lunch meeting that takes me to one of the greatest cities ever, but it's not where I am and smack dab in the middle of my day. I guess it could be worse.

You couldn't fit another meeting in my schedule this week with a shoehorn.

So many things to say on Halloween and child-raising, librarian stuff, and, oh yeah, the election, but all waiting until next time, except for this link, a limited-access, registration required link to an nytimes article about "pimping" the minivan. Replacing the wagon looms, and the prospect of a minivan just makes me feel old--this looks like the antidote.

Out of the mouths of babes....

Just a quick post to summarize the lapse:
at an Association for Research Management Institute for the past week learning a bunch of things that are wonderful but very difficult to implement (shared vision, personal mastery, and other Fifth Discipline goodies). Very effective in a controlled environment where everyone knows what you're talking about, but very challenging in the "real world" with its resistance, sabotaging, schism-ing, etc. I'm not cynical, just daunted.

While watching a DVD on New York (a Burns documentary), my lovely son shouts out: "It's not a democracy, it's a PEOPLE-CY!" Did I mention he's just a couple of months over 2?

The Countdown is On

Political/personal: we've definitely come a long way from all of the Deaniacs (I even linked to all of the Dean sites from this blog). Another debate tonight--rooting for "our side" and against the "other side". Last week I was in a conversation with a fellow librarian, and we veered toward politics (the afternoon of the first presidential debate). He carefully asked "we're talking about the same guy, right?" I should have said something vague like, well, "I'm on the right side," just for fun, but was much more clear about my political leanings.

On the church-search end of things, the last few church sessions have included political comments from the pastors--nothing as extreme as actually endorsing a particular candidate. Among the many things: encouraging us to vote and to participate as citizens, to pray for our leaders and our military (without going into details about that). The most extreme comment was about gay marriage and secularizing holy institutions. This comment did not lead into a more detailed discussion, but simply pointed to the dominant culture's tendency towards secularization and what that means for someone trying to stay close to God and the word. To say the least, these moments are those uncomfortable moments for the new church-goer, especially as an over-educated liberal. These comments and the presence of many W/Bush/Cheney bumper stickers in the parking lot are a bit unsettling. These are also moments of confrontation and squirming, and learning about who this God is. So, I started searching for tonic, and found Christians for Kerry/Edwards. Now if I could only find these folks in our area, maybe I could ask them where they go to church.

Back in October!

As promised, here we are back to our regularly scheduled programming. Many wonderful things happened in the meantime: my 35th birthday, which included this one very significant life event. The folks I've shared this with say "haven't you already...?" This is my third official baptism, but my first as a person who is more fully realized intellectually in order to understand more thoroughly what this act is all about. I don't remember the Catholic sprinkle. My first dunk as a 10 year-old was refreshing, but I don't think I fully got it (Mom says I wanted to have doughnuts afterward-?) and I did plenty of things between 10 and now to warrant a renewal of the commitment.

But, this path is not a trouble-free one, and since that epiphanic day I've had to deal with a huge personnel issue at work, one that brings on all sorts of stress residue: headaches, fatigue, anxiety, urges to overeat, etc. Yep, lots of prayer in there too. I can't say that it's not leading to growth (managerial, spiritual and communication-wise), but I would have rathered a more peaceful entry into my 36th year. While it might have been part of the Big Rail Plan, I can't help feeling mildly de-railed with a small r. October will be a time to get re-railed on the other life fronts. Until the next stop on the Big Rail Plan changes that again.