Bye, bye

Katrina and Paul are now here:
And Becca is now feeling like this:

This is why I am a feminist

Today, someone in my office was talking about how women are complicated and hard to understand, while men are simple and easy to understand. And, feminist that I am, my blood began boiling the more I listened, until I finally couldn't stand it anymore, so I spoke up and said, "I happen to disagree with you. I'm not denying that women are complicated. I just don't think men are any less complicated. Or that ANY human being is simple. Honestly, is ANYONE easy to understand?"

Their response: "I always say, women are complex, spelled c-o-m-p-l-e-x. Men are simple, spelled s-e-x."

My jaw literally dropped, and I wanted to scream. Or worse. Now I was downright mad. If I had said any of the things that were jostling around on the tip of my tongue, vying for the privilege of being spewed out first, I'm pretty sure I would have been fired on the spot. But instead I just stood there in disbelief, my mouth gaping open like a goldfish, with my face gradually burning hotter and hotter, until I managed get out an incredulous, "WHAT???????????"

Before, they had been dismissing all women as tangled messes of moods and hormones to which there is no rhyme of reason. But this was infinitely worse. Now they were bashing men, too! (And the one speaking was a man, so he was bashing himSELF! Guys, are YOU insulted when someone says something like that?) I refuse to believe that little of men. I'm not denying that thinking about sex is a struggle - for men AND women - I'm just saying that nobody can be boiled down to their sexuality. It's just wrong. I know too many guys who are great and interesting and multifaceted and are interested in and motivated by LOTS of things besides sex.

I'm a feminist because of people like that. Because I hate the battle of the sexes. Because it makes me angry when entire groups of people are dismissed and put into general categories that are just plain wrong. (Not that I'm opinionated about this matter, or anything...hehehe...)

Out with the old, in with the new

Everything is changing! Everyone is moving! Or, should I say, everyone has moved?

Amy has successfully packed and moved to China, moved in with another red-headed housemate, and started teaching English to Middle-Schoolers. (Good luck with them, Amy!!!!!)

Paul & Katrina are successfully packed for Tanzania, with all their furniture, kitchen stuff, and almost all of their books having been brought to the Shaffners' barn in Rockton, PA. Now they are making their "goodbye" tour before heading out to Tanzania in less than a week! Crazy, crazy...

Noel has packed and moved successfully back to his home in the lovely nation of Canada, getting ready for a tour of the world.

And as for me? Well, all my earthly possessions have been successfully packed up into boxes and crates and carted off to Cuba, NY, until further notice. Sometimes I think, "I'm completely ready to just be on my own right now - I can't wait to have my own space!" And then other times it comes crashing in on me, "Who am I kidding? There's no way I'm ready to live by myself again! I've gotten too used to sharing. I don't WANT to have everything to myself!"

So if anybody is looking for a housemate, I'm taking applications! :) Requirements: must love the Triune God, reading books, drinking hot tea, swapping backrubs, and not mind listening to me practice the guitar.

For now, that slot is being filled by Laura & Walter - although I'm not sure how they feel about the whole swapping backrubs thing... :)

Feliz Dia dos Pais!!!!

Today is Father's Day in Brazil. And, even though I'd much rather be there to wish him a FELIZ DIA DOS PAIS in person, here's to you, Dad!
For this day, I knew that I had to post a picture of you teaching, because that is the best way I can find to encompass all the ways in which you have shaped my life. You have taught me so much, in so many more ways than I could ever count. Thank you. I love you, Dad!

Did you know that mice like chocolate?

Well, at least ONE does, that I know of...the one that took up residence on the bottom shelf of my pantry while I was gone in Lexington! I started seeing the signs that I had company in the kitchen last week - you know, the little black mouse turds scattered innocuously in the corners, or behind the flour cannister. But I never saw a pattern, found a source, or noticed anything that had been nibbled on by a rodent. That is, until last night, when I was craving chocolate and I dug through my junk food shelf to find my bag of chocolate...only to find that the Ziploc bag had 2 large, ragged holes in it, and was filled with shreds of paper and foil, but there was hardly any chocolate left! Grrr...now I HAD to do something about that mouse, because it ATE MY CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!! (It must have been a girl mouse, to only have eaten the chocolate, out of all the other things it had access to...and, I must say, one with good taste, because she had gotten through almost all of the dark chocolate, but hardly touched the candy bars.)

Needless to say, I couldn't go to bed last night with the choco-holic mouse still on the loose in my apartment...my mind just wouldn't stop thinking about it! I had removed all the food from that bottom shelf, and I could hear its frantic search for chocolate across the now-empty expanse, even searching in the bag of empty plastic shopping bags, which I kept down there for the noise factor. I thought that if I didn't at least TRY to trap that mouse, I would have nightmares about finding that mouse crawling on me while I slept, or nibbling at my toes, or having taken up residence inside my mattress. But by that point, any stores around here were closed, dashing any hopes of running out and buying a mouse trap! So I improvised, and used my handy-dandy, get-into-anywhere-in-the-gym key to let myself into my office and steal the mousetrap I knew we still had from last summer.

After I baited the trap with peanut butter and a few chocolate chips, I crawled into bed, but I knew my adrenaline was pumping way too much for me to sleep. So I tried to read for about an hour, half-listening the entire time, until I heard some rustling, followed by a loud snap, and then some more rustling that I thought was the mouse running back into its hiding place after a close scare. But I was afraid of what I would find if I went out and looked, so I just stayed in bed and read for a while longer, then ended up dozing off with the light on, then slipping off into a deep sleep. Of course, this morning, the first thing I did when I got out of bed was to check that trap, and sure enough, there it was, caught in the act, never to steal chocolate again...I must say, I did feel a little bit bad for its death, as I took it out of the trap and wrapped it up in a plastic bag and put it in my garbage can. But, hey, at least now my chocolate's safe! :)

(P.S. - Don't worry, I won't post any dead mouse pictures...But I WILL put up some pictures and an update on the Lexington missions trip with my youth group very soon! I just have to wait until Pastor Don burns me a CD.)