Taking a break

I think I need to take a break from blogging for a while. I may post every now and then, but I need to focus on my work without letting my mind think about what interesting things I want to write about (which, obviously, have not made it here in the last couple weeks!!) I really need to take a break from reading some blogs too, but we'll take things one step at a time. I'm expecting to get back into the swing of things April 1. Hope you all are well in the meantime.

The pitter patter of little feet…

Eight of them, to be precise, and they certainly go pitter patter. No, we’re not having quadruplets ☺. This weekend, we became family to Marshall and Miles, four month old kitties that we adopted from the Humane Society.

They are fun, sweet, cuddly (one touch from either of us and they purr like crazy!) and VERY playful! Anything that moves must be a toy and anything that remotely resembles a string must certainly be chased (computer cord, anybody?)

After showing them around the house, they lost no time in exploring each room, very systematically making the rounds, sniffing, looking, hiding and playing.

Marshall:

and Miles:

They are curious about EVERYTHING! It’s like having a toddler around the house, except they can run really fast and jump surprisingly high. Most toddlers can’t get themselves onto the bookshelves and top bunks!

But, they’re still little enough that they can both sit on my lap while I work at my computer.

Five Meme

There are actually lots of Five Memes floating around, but I’ve been seeing this one a lot lately and I think it's fun:

5 things that I was doing 10 years ago:
1. babysitting a lot
2. doing LOTS of high school homework
3. playing field hockey
4. becoming my own person
5. driving on my own

5 snacks that I enjoy:
1. chocolate
2. cheese
3. homemade popcorn
4. a good mocha
5. fresh fruit in season

5 songs that I know all the words to:
1. Be Thou my Vision
2. How Firm a Foundation
3. How Great Thou Art
4. Cha Kutumaini Sina
5. LOTS of kids’ songs

5 things that I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Be a blessing to a lot of people, ministries and community groups
2. Start a foundation to invest sustainably in meeting needs in the communities where I work (Kenya and Detroit)
3. Buy all of my food either locally from organic, sustainable sources or from fair trade, organic sustainable sources (gotta have coffee, chocolate, and spices, right? And a good mango and pineapple now and then never hurt anybody!)
4. Increase our energy efficiency: buy a hybrid car and replace the windows in our old house
5. Go to Africa every year and visit other parts of the world
6. Pay off all of Dave’s medical school loans TODAY!
Sorry - I just couldn't keep this one to 5!

5 bad habits:
1. Asking Dave to do something, then getting frustrated that he didn’t do it MY way (I’ve REALLY been working on this one, though, and am getting much better!)
2. Hitting snooze on the alarm clock
3. Being a control freak
4. Spending too much time online
5. Procrastinating when I should be working (ahem…)

5 things that I like to do:
1. Listen to NPR
2. Cook fun and interesting foods from around the world
3. Travel
4. Serve
5. Hike, bike, backpack, be outdoors

5 things that I would never wear again:
1. tapered jeans
2. stirrup pants
3. big, baggy t-shirts
4. a bathing suit with ruffles
5. permed bangs
(can you tell I’m a child of the 80s?)

5 favorite toys:
1. my Apple computer
2. our Nikon digital SLR camera
3. my camelback backpack
4. my ipod that I listen to while getting exercise
5. our dishwasher