this has got to be one of my favorite times of the year. i know that the holidays are often stressful, but i truly enjoy the time from my birthday to thanksgiving to christmas and new year's. thanksgiving was excellent - time with the fox and otterbein families, great food, time with good friends, complete relaxation. i realized that i haven't worked a full five day week in all of november, which is lovely. i've also been pretty productive, both at work and home - my caseload is going down, i'm not terribly behind on anything, and i've been trying to pick up little things to make our house homier. our tree is up and our carpets are clean (thanks to the generous loan of a steamer from my mother-in-law and her husband!). blaze went to the vet for the first time in years today (thanks to the help of our wonderful roommate, julianna) and she is healthy, although she has dry skin. she's had the occasional skin bump which worried me, but it turns out they're just ingrown hairs. but now she is up to date on her shots and has her tags, so i can worry a little less when she manages to escape the back yard. (seriously, she's a mischievious genius - for five years, she never dug holes, and now i can't seem to stop her no matter what we do. any ideas on how to stop it?) i've been thinking lately about what it really means to dig into building community and share our lives with others. somehow, it seemed easier before i moved to columbus. i think my life has gotten crowded with other things as i've grown older, and finding community as two people being one flesh can sometimes be a little more complicated than doing it as one person, but we want community and we need it. i think we're in a stage of figuring out how to really commit to people. it takes effort, and i've been a lazy. there are people i want to share life with, but i need to get off of my butt and start doing it, eh? really, isn't "just doing it" the key to so many things? for example, it's seems like such a simple discipline to read scripture and pray daily. when i'm doing those things, everything is so much clearer and i'm far more grounded. i know this, but still, i have such a difficult time doing it. so, discipline is another recent theme in my life. scripture, prayer, exercise, eating well, spending time with people, reading actual books, calling and writing friends. these things are lifeblood for me - why is it so hard to neglect them? my brother has invited us to consider meeting him in india or france in the spring. any thoughts on which would be a better trip? ok. time to unwind. sweet dreams!

there are few things quite as attractive as a husband steam-cleaning the carpets.

breathe. new york was absolutely fantastic. we stayed with dear amy rose in williamsburg (the hipster/hasidic part of brooklyn), went to free friday night at MOMA, spent some time with old and new friends at a hallowtween (between halloween and thanksgiving) party in harlem, went to a kind of goofy seminar, and played old-school arcade games. i also got to visit amy rose's church (it's rumored that sufjan stevens is a member). overall, it was a great time. yes, our feet got tired, and i kind of dragged daniel all over the city the first day, resulting in some stress, but i can't wait to go back. since then, i've been working like crazy to be caught up for another four day weekend. finally, tonight, i can breathe, and it's so, so lovely. tomorrow we get to sleep in before having a leisurely two(!) thanksgiving dinners, and then i can do whatever i please until monday. of course, what i will do is likely to involve writing a research paper and steam-cleaning the carpet, but my time is my own, and it will also include reading the books i picked up today, and watching some thursday night television... right now, i'm spending my time watching a movie with daniel and julianna. really, i have been thinking about deeper things recently, and i hope to really write about them this weekend. but, until then, have a very warm and joyful thanksgiving, dear ones!

i had a great birthday, by the way - thanks for the comments, cards and calls! i think i may have confused people, though - we did not spend my birthday in new york. we had a lovely little dinner party to celebrate my, julianna's, and kevin's birthday. it was small and fun and my wonderful husband make his scrumptious sushi. all of this was after i had the day to myself in the best possible way... tonight is our flight to the big city. i'm very excited and keep counting the hours until we go to the airport. i've really only spent one day in new york before, so it's like i'm going for the first time. hooplah! hopefully we'll remember the camera so my posts can be a little more colorful next week. happy weekend!

i'm still wearing my "i voted" sticker. this election is working out much better for me than the last time i voted. the nature of my career makes state and local government pressing issues, and i'm hopeful that our new governor has an understanding of mental health issues and poverty and children and families. i'm hopeful that when i quit working full-time someday, our self-employed family will have affordable health care, due to some of the changes i voted for today. i believe in separation of church and state, and i believe that my primary citizenship is in the kingdom of God as opposed to the u.s.a. i know that politics is corrupt on every level, and i've questioned at different points in my life whether i should even vote or not. but somehow, i've found myself get almost passionate about politics over the past few years. is this a good thing? what do you think?

happy november, dear ones! this is a good day - long, but productive. i keep feeling like i'm getting ready for a vacation, and it makes me feel a little giddy. we were going to hand out candy last night, but instead we went to the library. does that make me a bad neighbor?