i just read Phil and Shanna's blog where Phil recounts a visit to the ER (he cut his hand moving equipment, just a few stiches) where he was in and out of the ER in an hour and the whole thing cost him $60. I mean that was the sum total of the bill, $60. and while he is in Prague, the low cost has nothing to do with a severly lower exchange rate between crowns and dollars. I just found his experience a sharp contrast to my bill of $120 for a 15 min doctors appointment, plus $80 in perscriptions. Needless to say, this bill made it impossible for me to make any expenditure for the last week and a half because it drained my account (given that my monthly income is $225) I remember my own dr.s appointment in Prague plus perscriptions only cost me $40. !!!!. I'm just saying, I find my health insurance and health system more than a little frustrating today. but thank goodness its payday.

April (snow) showers bring May (frost) flowers...

nothing is as disconcerting as having one day be sunny and moderate temperatures without a cloud in the sky and discovering the next day a blizzard has landed on your doorstep. i mean really - jack frost, get a life and move to Antarctica where you are wanted. I guess there may have been a day of transition from pretty weather to wet and cold but i have been quarantined to my house due to sore throat and fever. i went out for a mere three hours this morning, only to have my sickness relapse, forcing me back to my book, bed, and hot tea for another day. (i am not going to lie, though right now i feel awful, as long as my voice (which sounds like someone stole my larynx) does not belie any improvement, i am going to sit tight and be 'sick' for as long as possible.) all that to say, i snapped some April snow pics before burrowing back into bed.

i felt like i had a lot to say but now i can't remember any of it. my job is bizarre and beyond explanation. i think everyone i know is on the verge of extreme burn out. including me. this is my voice going out into the electronic cosmos-- Can anyone hear me?! Is anyone there?!

but on a lighter note, i have been reading these incredible short stories from a short story compilation book called Zoetrope (a zoetrope is a device that gives the illusion of motion) --the book is compiled by Francis Ford Coppola and has some connection between film and fiction, but i can't figure out how, specifically, all the short story authors are tied to film yet.

My favorite so far is about a fetus who has special information from a previous life when he worked in a major pharmaceutical company, information that jeopardizes the World Soul--now the World Soul is punishing him by putting him in the belly of a kleptomaniac/crack momma. The fetus tries to talk to his new mother (through zipper in mom's belly), figuring he has a couple months to straighten her out but when mom refuses to listen, he escapes her belly and sabotages her stealing habits by marking the inside of her stomach with an indelible ink pen so that every time she leaves a store she will set off all the alarms, regardless if she is stealing or not.

i just ruined the story for you. but you should read it anyway. its called 'Inside Information' by Nicola Barker. Its great.

Megan, I think its funny that are you asking about three wishes because i just made a (new) three-current-goals listy thing which could almost be three wishes, because it would be great if these things could happen easily:

1. To become fluent in spanish and one other language (not french, czech? german?)
2. To live in south america at least one year (Argentina? where i could learn to tango?)
3. To live on a sustainable farm for a summer/year. (in south america?)

what i like is that it is feasible for all of these three things to occur at one time.

but now i will construct a strictly wishy wish list:

1. To be fluent in two languages, in addition to English (not as ambitious as you dear amy)
2. To be able to play four instruments with extreme skill (cello, guitar, mandolin, accordian, maybe fiddle?)
3. To rock climb and/or run a super long distance trail race (marathon length or longer, yet shorter than the crazy 50 milers).

a saturday in pictures

You know you work for a non-profit when:

... when driving a car has more challenges than the amazing race. Let me account for you my trip to the grocery store to pick up bread in the shelter van. First, I go out to the car and scoop the snow from the driver's seat. The driver's side window is broken and snow and given that we are in the middle of a snow storm, quite a pile has built up. I grab a new towel from the stash behind the seat (present for this specific reason) and drape it elegantly over the seat and climb in. Now, since the storm is still raging, I calculate that the wind is coming from the northeast, so as long as keep my window to the south or the west, I don't get any snow in my face while driving (of course today i forget my hat and mittens, so this is key). All is well on the way to the grocery store. Then I maneuver two shopping carts of day old bread and cakes through the icy parking lot to the car, only having one moment where i completely lost control of both carts. After loading the car, I head back to the shelter. Though I try to choose a route that keeps my window out of the wind, I have no luck given the plain fact that my destination forces me to drive east. So for the whole ride home I am bombarded by blasts of snow, arriving back at the shelter throughly soaked. I think the main question that needs to be asked applicants of the La Puente volunteer program is whether or not they have a good sense of humor, because my ability to laugh at myself and life has been, on more than one occasion, the saving grace of my day.

why small towns are fantastic:

there is a GIANT sign on State ave that is advertising the sale of BULK WORM POOP.

this was a very different easter for me. i really missed my family! thankfully the day was kept full traveling home from Denver, where shawna, emmy, and carman went with me to drive ethan to the airport and to get away from the small town for a bit. but our weekend plans for hiking and such were short lived in light of the snow and ice that fell--i went to the sunrise service with the vineyards (family friends in the denver area) and by the time i got back to the house there was snow- hard to get up the driveway snow-so we got out of dodge before it got worse. it was pretty much the most intense driving experience of my life, on the way to denver and the way back. yikes. anyway-- on top of not being with family, i feel like everytime i am in church there is something i don't agree with that is being said...and its unsettling because its been almost 8 months since i have a had very satisfying corporate worship experience. not to say that the blame isn't mine for not plugging in enough or whatever but i am so emotionally exhausted by the time i get to sunday, just from my job, that when i go to church the talking, listening, being alone, is very overwhelming and i am about to cry all the time.

anyway-Ethan came for a visit and it was a great time hanging out and exploring, also many more adventures and death defying experiences, it was fabulous. so much to say, i will post some pictures, and you can put together the stories.