wow - all of the book suggestions make for an excellent list. for now, the winner is nikki and "the birth of venus" since it was on display at the library, and i still have to work up my courage for science fiction... now, as requested by the lovely karen, here are things i like about my neighborhood: ...the houses are big, old, beautiful and cheap ...we have everyone - straight, gay, white, black, poor, rich, criminals, the chief of police ...we can walk to franklin park ...we can walk to the main library ...we could walk to the grocery store if we really wanted to ...our next door neighbors let us know if our car lights are on ...we are right next to bexley and right next to german village ...we have dozens of community gardens ...we have yards ...we have people who are invested in making it a more beautiful place to live ...it isn't completely gentrified yet, and keeps us in touch with the real world ...we have our own taco ninja ...all of our neighbors have dogs ...the first time i drove through this neighborhood when i moved here, it was the first time i felt like columbus could become home

good morning, dear ones! sometimes, i really like lists. there are so many lists i could share with you - the things i like about my neighborhood, good things about my job, cities in which i'd like to live, countries i would most like to visit, my to-do list for the day, ways to celebrate labor day weekend...i suppose all of that could be a little self-abosorbed, though. of course, most blogging is somewhat self-absorbed, so maybe i should just go with it. instead, though, i'll ask y'all for a list. i've been trying to find a good book to read before i go to bed, and i have little interest in the ones i already have. any suggestions? (i'm looking for smart fiction - nothing too dumb, but not too intense, either) i'm going to the library around lunch today. make my list for me, please! happy wednesday!

in honor of receiving my new voter registration card with my updated name, and address, let my point you to the new links on the right. our neighbor.

i don't have a lot of time this morning, but i've updated my links a bit on the side to give you some new reading material. freedom firm, my friends' new organization rescuing child prostitutes in india, now has their website up and running - it's still pretty basic, but go check it out! i've also added my dear husband's business, skreened, which is officially up and running today, and asia's hope, which runs our church's orphanage and does amazing work. these things are close to my heart.

last night we went to the cheap movies with our little household family plus three. this is one of the funniest, most purely entertaining movies i've seen in a long time. i laughed a lot, and there is little in it to offend anyone, unless you're bothered by the occasional on-screen fart. this weekend was also our church's women's retreat. it was good - good teaching, good opportunities to talk with people i didn't know before. it also deepened my longing for more true women friends here. i have amazing sister-friends, but most of them are in other places. but how do i get to make deeper friendships here between work and school and marriage? any and all suggestions would be appreciated. (don't get me wrong - i've met some pretty incredible women. it's just hard to be patient sometimes while new friendships grow.) tomorrow a new boy starts on my team, and he'll be shadowing me for four weeks solid. it should be interesting - i like to be independent and work on my own. this will be good for me. but wish me - and him - luck!

still here. it's been a long week at work - long and good, but also filled with the reality of the depth of depravity that exists in the world. tomorrow evening i leave for our church's womens' retreat. i'm glad. the poor state of fidel castro's health has increased media interest in cuba, and, in turn, my interest. i've always wanted to go there, and now i'm determined to learn as much as i can about the island. my closest brush with it was seeing it in the foggy, twilight distance from our cruise ship last year. right now i'm listening to "buena vista social club," and trying to decide if i should try to hone my spanish or my hindi. any thoughts? wherever we end up some day, i hope it's in the tropics and by the sea. it's bed time. sweet dreams.

so i thought that a break from school would give me lots of time to blog. however, it seems that it's easy to fill up my time with other fun things, such as... ...serving dinner at the family homeless shelter with my home group and finding one of my old families living there. ...having dinner and playing settlers of catan with my high school english teacher and his lovely wife. ...giving the dog a bath after she escaped from the backyard and came home smelling grosser than pretty much anything i've ever smelled. ...trying in vain to find the spot from which the dog escaped. ...making an educated guess - based on the flattened plants - that she actually scooched herself under the fence - the very same fence that has contained her for the past year and a half. ...watching an entire season of a sitcom that i never cared about before. ...reading a christian novel that is not written and exposes the evils of the gaming industry and virtual reality. (i know, i know!) ...planning a trip to my FIRST-EVER OHIO STATE FAIR with my team at work. ...changing my name. ...obtaining financial aid for this semester. ...making the best barbeque tofu pizza ever for our household dinner night. ...spending time with my dear husband, who is on the verge of making this business really work. that is all.

after exactly one year and eleven months of marriage, i've finally taken the steps necessary to change my name legally. now i really am amy joy eversole fox or, more simply "amy fox," which just may be one of the shortest names in the english language. also, i am officially on summer vacation. hooplah! finally, there are a lot of thoughts in my head and heart about things like being mennonite, the concept of home, etc. but for now, i'm going to go play with my husband. happy weekend!