This January I started working full time with this group called the Student Recovery Program. It's a pilot program for at-risk high school boys in the public high school right by my house. I've worked very part-time with these students for over a year now, but this is my (and their) first attempt at being employed regularly with the program.

Ok, so this thing has been broken for a long time, but I am hoping Phil fixed it... so... here is the test post.

My husband pulled out his keyboard today. He says he doesn't like playing it because it's not a Yamaha ES90 (or something), but listening to him play is so good for my heart. I fell in love with him in part because I watched him play piano in church back home. When he plays, his whole self lights up and he just relaxes. It's so wonderful to watch.

I think, lately, I've forgotten how to just relax and be myself. It's time for me to go back to my passion hobbies and spend some time reflecting, playing my flute, journaling, etc. It helps me remember who I am and who God made me to be.

The election here in the US just finished on Tuesday, and now all that serious, crazy stuff feels very distant. However, I put a lot of serious thought into my voting this year and seriously considered who I thought would better run my country - putting into account things I think are important from my faith, my past experiences, and my current life.

Recently I have made contact with several long-lost friends. I generally have Facebook to thank for this. Today, I added two friends on Facebook. One of them I have been thinking about for the last few weeks, so I was thrilled to see her on FB and begin to reconnect with her.

I've also connected with a girl I spent a summer with in Jersey City. I was the adult, she was the teen. She was one of ten girls in her school who were virgins still (this was sophomore year). The school year after I saw her, she became pregnant. I haven't spoken to her - call it lack of energy or whatever.

So life is getting crazy, but a crazy life generally means there are more interesting stories. My dear Philip says my life is interesting enough to blog about, so we'll try this again. My goal is to write here more than once a week. We'll see how it goes. But this is all you get for tonight because bedtime is past and I am still up, sitting in my stinky work-out clothes in my newly organized study. And really, secretly hoping my husband will realize that his NOVA show can wait to be finished until tomorrow - it is on the internet, after all.

So cool. It was so cool.

Phil and I just got home from a family vacation to South Africa. It was an amazing gift to us - two weeks away to enjoy God's creation and make some memories with our family.

We stayed in fantastic places and were absolutely spoiled. The animals we saw were VERY close and breathtaking. Elephants, lions, leopards, hippos, crocs...just a few of the animals we saw. It was absolutely great. I think my favorite memory was getting stuck after dark in the middle of a pack of hunting lions. Yeah, that one was pretty fantastic.

So yesterday all these crazy tents went up across the street from us in a huge field where Phil and I play Frisbee and Bocce. Then this morning a whole lot of people were playing soccer on them - only it was guys and girls, young and old, all sort of playing on the same fields at the same time. None of them were great. We totally didn't get this, so we decided to go investigate.

*disclaimer: this one is pretty depressing.*

You know, you'd think I'd be too old to get homesick and stay homesick. Most days, I love spending the days working away at whatever small project I'm working on for work, investing in girls' lives, and just learning how to do my job well. Even on the days I don't like it, I'm at least busy and not thinking about home.

I'm trying to stay focused... really I am... but my mind is totally going to Africa. I know I have a lot of stuff to do with work, but my mind is running... what if I don't have enough safari clothes? need to get bug spray... what if stuff doesn't get done, doesn't get delivered... good grief I worry too much.

So today I'm being trained on this online learning program. It's a sweet program that I'm really excited about using with our kids. The school people we're working with are getting a little crazy stressed, but I think it will be a great program. Anyways, it will be fun.