Life

I know I am not doing a good job keeping up with this blog. Life seems to get in the way (and facebook).

Here is what has been happening over the past month since I've written...

• Went to a bachelorette party in Harrisburg. Interesting. I'll leave it at that.
• Decided I am NOT getting a summer job this year because grad classes and my kitchen "redo" will keep me busy enough.
• Dealt with the unfairness of Alzheimers as I watched my Grandpa Harnish slip away. Funeral was on Sunday. What a Godly heritage I have!
• Found someone new to do our taxes and saved over $200 dollars for the preparation fee, plus have some money coming back to help fund out trip to Haiti this summer.
• Made African Chicken Curry. Look up the recipe on www.allrecipes.com. It is amazing!

Here is what I am looking forward to (in no particular order) in the upcoming weeks:

• The end of the PSSAs. I really hope our new president makes some changes.
• Easter break!
• Rita's free Italian ice on the first day of spring.
• Catching up with a childhood friend whom I haven't seen in years.
• Trying Sabrina's crockpot yogurt recipe.
• Taking walks outside again.

Hagerstown 10 Cinema

I won movie tickets on Mix95 again last week. This time they gave me a choice of going to the theater in Chambersburg or Hagerstown. I chose Hagerstown (assuming they were referring to the theater in the Valley Mall). Much to my dismay I found out they meant the one on Leitersburg Pike. I've only been to that theater one other time, and I remember it was a little run-down. Anyway, last night Ysmaille and I plugged in our GPS and we were off to the middle of nowhere, where the smell of cow manure permeated our nostrils as we got out of the car. When we got into the theater there was one lone middle-aged man sitting at the back. Ordinarily this wouldn't have been too funny, but we were going to see "He's Just Not That Into You"-- definitely a chick flick. We looked around for seats, but had a difficult time finding one that wasn't ripped or stained. I'm not usually a huge germo-phobe, but this was grossing me out just a bit. The movie was actually really good and I tried not to think of all the butts that sat on the seat before me. All this to say... ewww. Next time I win movie tickets on Mix95 I will definitely choose Chambersburg!

My future child?

Last night I had a dream that I had just given birth to a baby girl. She was beautiful! She had gorgeous, creamy skin, wavy hair, and big brown eyes. It made my heart melt. Then before I knew it she was a toddler and her hair was a wild mess of curls. I loved it!

Does this mean I am ready to be a mother? Somedays I feel I am ready, and yet there is always a feeling of sadness when I think of giving up the life that Ysmaille and I have. I love our ability to spontaneously decide what we want to do with our day when we wake up at 9:00 on a Saturday morning. Not to mention how busy we already are. This week has been such a stressful one for us. In preparation for our cruise next week we are trying to get everything in order. We have already spent well over six hours on homework and are only about a third of the way done. Today I had to spend over two hours in my classroom (on a Saturday!) trying to get everything organized for a sub. We have literally had no free time this week. What would we do if we had a child? How do mothers do it?

I want my beautiful little "dream" girl with curly hair, but I don't know if I'm ready to give up my freedom!

Diversity?

I am taking a grad class on diversity. I never really thought much about adversity because I figured that I wasn't racist. I have friends from all over the world who are different colors than I am. I am even married to a man who is much darker than me. Obviously race isn't an issue for me, but what I am realizing is that I do hold some ugly prejudices in my heart. Diversity is so much more than race! How do I treat people who are different than me based on socio-economic status, weight, appearance, job title, age? It's food for thought.

After realizing that so many of my friends are using this particular site to keep in touch, I thought maybe I should find out what it is all about... I absolutely love facebook because it gives me short "snippets" of what each of my friends are doing, but I have to admit that I miss reading paragraphs. And so from Xanga, to MySpace, to Facebook, and now here I continue to post my journey online for the world to see.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -- a Chinese proverb

My life has been a journey-- a journey that has taken me to many places, allowed me to meet many amazing people, and yet never forget who I am and where I come from.