lauren laughs

i am just bursting with information today, but i’ll try to save some of it for later posts. susanne sent me a story this morning, “eight places every woman should go…” turns out i’ve already been to one (volcanoes in hawaii, pictured) and i’m headed to another (benin, can you believe it?) so i might as well add the other 6 to my list. though i think i’ll replace the belly dancing trip with the camino de santiago in spain. shoot. you can belly dance in federal hill. also, have you noticed the birds chirping lately? and the geese flying north? knowing that spring is around the bend puts me in the best mood.

this past friday marked the fourth (and perhaps final?) annual wine & cheese celebration. pictured are your lovely hostesses for the evening: anne marie, me and paige. gosh, i’m going to miss these ladies. and i hear the cheese in africa is not so tasty, but maybe i’ll luck out living in a former french colony.

peeps came from far and wide to attend what has become baltimore’s finest tradition. robin drove up from dc with her beau matthew… fellow johnies everett, peter (ever loyal blog reader) and camille (all pictured) drove up from annapolis. adam came from catonsville and megan walked from light street. plus 30-40 of our closest friends.

it was especially fun to have our various groups of friends mix. farhan commented that within my groups of friends, people already feel like they know one another even before meeting, either from my blog or just because i always talk to my friends about other friends as if they’ve already met. what can i say… my friends are my best asset.

i was about to write up a post, when i got my church’s weekly newsletter in my email. it’s worth a read:

There is much study of Lincoln today and a dissecting of his personality and health but whatever the findings and conclusion Lincoln ’s place in history is secure. Great leaders like all people have flaws. Luther was quite possibly bi-polar and he certainly was, as most people in the 16th century were, anti-Semitic. St. Augustine was a womanizer. St. Peter had a temper. Winston Churchill if not an alcoholic was certainly alcohol dependent. All of which simply illustrates a truth: that all people have problems and issues and are sinners in need of grace. Great people are not exceptions and neither are we but we can still admire their greatness and celebrate their accomplishments.

What is amazing is how God raises up the most unlikely people such as the gangly country lawyer, Lincoln, to lead a great cause and to set people free. Some leaders rise to great historical events and others through lack of insight, courage or will fall beneath the burden and are judged failures.

i’ll write my own thoughts tomorrow… i think i need another day or two to process them anyway. happy b-day lincoln.

the frog is a simple yoga position to get into, but a difficult one to hold (especially when you modify it the way we did in class friday. ouch!)

my life right now is like practicing yoga. you get into these positions and they’re uncomfortable and they stretch you to the limit, and you feel like you can’t hold it any more, but you practice patience knowing you really can hold it even if you don’t feel like you can, and knowing that you’ll feel stronger, more open and more fluid because of it, even if you are sore the next day or two. so you concentrate on your breathing, clearing your head, centering your focus, and you find this unusual peace supporting you from the inside out. your core strengthened, you’re ready for the next challenge. i think this is similar to what reinhold niebuhr meant in the serenity prayer when he described hardships as the pathway to peace.

good ole mollie blessed the east coast with her presence this weekend. i haven’t seen molls since my trip to denver in september, and it’s been about as long since i’ve seen rachel (fellow magnolia cupcake). farhan, of course, i see all too often. but not too, too often. the four of us got together at metro last night, oh… and the game was on in the background somewhere. somebody won. and there was prince. but mostly, there were good friends.

i’m going to *hot* yoga tonight, which i’ve grown to love this past month. the room is lit by candles and glowing space heaters that keep the room at a cozy 90 degrees. awesome. and though last week was only my 3rd class at this particular studio, i was able to pull off the move pictured here… though i doubt my face looked that calm.

anna left today 😦 turns out “just 3 suitcases and my carry-ons” is actually a lot of luggage! but with the top down and the trunk not-quite-shut, the cabrio was able to pull through. we were in such a rush, i didn’t even have time to cry. which is good since i’d already cried twice this weekend over anna’s departure. so so sad 😦

considering the hard time i give my friends for not updating their blogs, it’s a shame i haven’t posted on phos in nearly two months. perhaps it’s because this blog is primarily for my own spiritual growth, and i’ve lately taken to other activities to further the development of my faith. nonetheless, i appreciate how phos is a chronicle of what has spoken to me at different times, and to that end i want to keep it current.

one of the books i’ve been reading of late is henri nouwen’s “the spirituality of fund-raising.” a friend of mine tipped me off on this book, and i’m very grateful. what i like about this book is it frames fund-raising in the context of love, which is very much how i’m wired. the first page of the book says, “make love your aim” (1 corinthians 14:1) and the last page of the book says, “love never ends” (1 corinthians 13:8). here are some of the things nouwen says about giving:

those who need money and those who can give money meet on the common ground of God’s love.

asking people for money is giving them the opportunity to put their resources at the disposal of the Kingdom.

people have such a need for friendship and for community that fund-raising has to be community-building.

there’s a lot more that he says a lot better than i could ever say. his words are helpful to me, not because they tell me what to do, but because they remind me that my primary purpose is to love… that is why i am asking others for support (to take my love to benin) and it is how i should ask others for support (loving those i come into contact with).

it’s all about the love.

did you ever listen to ben folds five? there’s this one song… “cuz everyone knows now that every night out will be stephen’s last night in town… ba ba ba ba” that i love to sing (especially if someone in the car is singing harmony with me). well, this week is a lot like that for anna, who leaves for australia on monday. saturday was her going away party, tuesday night we had our last girls’ night (where suzanne taught us how to make homemade fried ravioli, YUM), last night we had pie with carolyn and mom (after anna had a going away dinner with people from work), we have plans for sunday and monday, and i’m sure we’ll come come up with a few more events between now anna’s departure. i like it.

there is a game we all grew up playing… sorry. and then there is intergalactic sorry. realizing intergalactic sorry can only be played on burnett street in b’more, i feel compelled to share with the world just what you are missing out on. the following rules have been submitted by guest blogger, erin.

Rules for Intergalactic Sorry (to be played only at 124 Burnett Street):
1. 7 may be split by 2 players to go forward or backward. Both players must go the same direction. If you draw a 7 and the only possible move you can make is to go backwards 7, you must do so.
2. Sorry: If you have no men left in start, you may take any man on the board and kill another person, sending them back to start. If this occurs, you must take the place of the person killed.
3. 11 may still be used to switch BUT if you have a player in start, you may switch with another player who is on the board and put them in your start.

Notes on Rules:
1. If confused by these rules, always ask Erin.
2. If a dispute occurs during the game in regards to the rules, refer to the ruling made by Erin.

example question:

Dear Intergalactic Erin,

Ok, ok, so like, what if everyone has all of their pieces in start, and me (say, red) draws an 11…can i switch one of my pieces in my start with one of blue’s pieces in start (blue is to my right), thus advancing me 3/4 of the way around the board?

-Confused in Catonsville

answer:

Yes, you may.

and now you know.