well, it's early monday afternoon and i have an unexpected vacation day due to a car problem involving a flat tire and a tie rod...there have been so many times in the past week when thoughts have been begging to be posted for y'all, but i can be the classic procrastinator... here i am now, though! consumerism and financial responsibility have been on my mind a lot lately, or maybe just the general idea of "stewardship." i'm the daughter of a mennonite accountant, which means that my parents have ingrained a fully practical mindset into my very being. the problem is, i'm also a dreamer who makes decisions impulsively at times...so, therein lies the conflict. and i really, really want to live a life and make decisions that please my Father, and are responsible in terms of my relationship to the entire world. so. simple stuff, but i've been much more of a consumer since my return from india, and i feel like this is something that needs some serious refining in my life... in other notes, i had a lovely weekend with my community. friday night rachel, steve and becky hosted a party that brought together a tremendous range of people, including a couple of bulgarians who are fluent in spanish...saturday night i got to hang out with my favorite pair of brothers (nic and jonathon) and their band, brazil. apparently, they've been told recently that they "could be the next u2...." lofty praise, but they're great, and they played at old st. george in cincinnati, which is definitely a place i have to visit more often...