onehundredthirtynine. november 30, 2010. "turtles are slow."

this was the art project in art class today. a turtle. one boy chose to put a leg on the head. i laughed. probably too much.

onehundredthirtyeight. november 29, 2010. "monday."

i actually didn't take this picture today. but i took it in the same place i was today. it feels like my mood today which is "blah."

onehundredthirtyseven. november 28, 2010. "mapples."

an evening for fernando ortega and tea.

i really enjoyed sara groves and baked apples.

onehundredthirtysix. november 27, 2010. "snuggling suits her just fine."

this is Niece Two. isn't. she. SO. CUTE?

onehundredthirtyfive. november 26, 2010. "life lessons with aunt allie."

Niece One will most likely have poor table manners for the next few years. you're welcome, society.

onehundredthirtyfour. november 25, 2010. "thanksgiving."

november 25, 2010. "thanksgiving."

onehundredthirtythree. november 24, 2010. "hats."

that's my sister laura.

and some hats my mom has lying around.

emily declined to be in the picture.

onehundredthirtytwo. november 23, 2010. "the worst thing."

packing...ugh. i'm moving next weekend. but this is kind of a misleading picture because i haven't actually packed anything yet. this is the stuff i left upstairs in boxes when i moved in here.

onehundredthirtyone. november 22, 2010. "lights."

my neighborhood group drove around looking at street lamps tonight. it's ten times more exciting than looking at christmas light displays. we had flashlights, and maps, and there was a winner. and it was me.

onehundredthirty. november 21, 2010. "four more to go."

(series: the book i just finished).

what a fascinating tale of what a world without the fall could have been like. so. very. interesting. bonus: the creepiest devil/evil being ever found in a work of fiction! seriously.

a quote:

"Inner silence is for our race a difficult achievement. There is a chattering part of the mind which continues, until it is corrected, to chatter on even in the holiest places. Thus, while one part of Ransom remained, as it were, prostrated in a hush of fear and love that resembled a kind of death, something else inside him, wholly unaffected by reverence, continued to pour queries and objections into his brain."

onehundredtwentynine. november 20, 2010. "two more weeks."

i'm moving out of this cute little house soon. i just noticed the "for sale" sign today. i love this neighborhood, i do.

onehundredtwentyeight. november 19, 2010. "opening day."

onehundredtwentyseven. november 18, 2010. "another yellow tree."

onehundredtwentysix. november 17, 2010. "improvising."

"i don't think this is the right lid." - courtney.

onehundredtwentyfive. november 16, 2010. "ARK + CSL = ♥"

(series: the book i just finished).

c.s. lewis books usually leave me feeling speechless. i could not have read this book at a better time. its about fear. perfect, perfect, perfect. i can't even talk about this book...see, speechless.

a quote:

"You are guilty of no evil, except a little fearfulness. For that, the journey you go on is your pain, and perhaps your cure: for you must be either mad or brave before it is ended."

oh, and that notecard is what i wrote page numbers on. pages with marvelous quotes on them. i got a little carried away this time.

onehundredtwentyfour. november 15, 2010. "antioxidants."

(series: what's in my colander?)

i am a lover of berries.

onehundredtwentythree. november 14, 2010. "moving right along."

(series: the book i just finished).

the diary of a pharisee. thats what this seems like. a quote:

"Religion is a sublime and glorious thing, the bond of society on earth, and the connector of humanity with the Divine nature; but there is nothing so dangerous to man as the wresting of any of its principles, or forcing them beyond their due bounds: this is of all others the readiest way to destruction."

onehundredtwentytwo. november 13, 2010. "carbon copy!"

mason worthington. accountant by day. rock star by night.

onehundredtwentyone. november 12, 2010. "typical."

we were all having a nice evening by the fire, and shannon popped in some headphones and checked out.

(actually i think he was listening to the latest tune from the one and only kristina pettigrew. acceptable.)

onehundredtwenty. november 11, 2010. "life on the edge."

i "run" on the sidewalks around my job on week nights. today i forgot my runner's fanny pack. which meant i had to tie my car key to my shoe. i felt like a genius. but it also meant i couldn't have my cell phone or ID with me. so i also felt like a target for the perfect crime. no way to call for help. no way to identify my body. but everything turned out ok.

onehundrednineteen. november 10, 2010. "the breaking point."

this is a paper chain countdown.

it draws january 7th nearer. the day.

i quit.

my job.

hopefully. unfortunately a paper chain is no guarantee. it is not a binding agreement. so many things can happen between now and then. and i just thought of how i'll have to register my car in march ($100 if i'm lucky, more if i have to fix things that aren't broken to pass the emissions test), and renew my norton ($60).

but i'm so tired. tired of working hard and being told it's not good enough. tired of being threatened. tired of not getting paid for all the hours i work. tired of waiting to make this leap, but not making it because there are always reasons not to. usually financial. always fearful.

so here we go. 58 days. count me down.

onehundredeighteen. november 9, 2010. "snapshot."

this day was so long, i only had a moment to take out my camera and snap a picture of my favorite part of my commute. passing the skyline. yes, yes i did take this while driving. but it took as much concentration and effort as turning my blinker on, which i rarely do.

i'm just kidding, mom. i turn my blinker on, always. even when there's no one else on the road. even then.

to everyone else: no, i don't.

onehundredseventeen. november 8, 2010. "the road to wigan pier."

(series: the book i just finished).

whenever a booklover buys a book out of some random used book bin for a dollar, they are hoping to find a jewel. and that is what happened with this book. it's a non-fiction book by george orwell. the first half is about poverty. the second half is about socialism. so, you know, not the jewel i imagined. but a jewel nonetheless.

i'm part of a Christian community that thinks a lot about how to live life alongside people from different economic classes, and not as a ministry project...but because thats what the Kingdom of God looks like. walls of all kinds broken down. which is why i love this quote from the book:

"The fact that has got to be faced is that to abolish class-distinctions means abolishing a part of yourself. Here am I, a typical member of the middle class. It is easy for me to say that I want to get rid of class-distinctions, but nearly everything I think and do is a result of class-distinctions. All my notions - notions of good and evil, of pleasant and unpleasant, of funny and serious, of ugly and beautiful - are essentially middle class notions; my taste in books and food and clothes, my sense of honour, my table manners, my turns of speech, my accent...When I grasp this I grasp that it is no use clapping a proletarian on the back and telling him that he is as good a man as I am; if I want real contact with him, I have got to make an effort for which very likely I am unprepared. For to get outside the class-racket...I have got to alter myself so completely that at the end I should hardly be recognisable as the same person."

which i don't completely agree with. ideally, the differences discovered will be appreciated and not changed...but it's still thought-provoking...

onehundredsixteen. november 7, 2010. "everything nice."

i love everything pumpkin, and everything orwell.

onehundredfifteen. november 6, 2010. "sweet 16th."

i tried a new place with a friend today, and she gave me a couple book recommendations. i am mostly excited to read "the story of the dead cow." sounds like a real winner.

onehundredfourteen. november 5, 2010. "family dinner."

onehundredthirteen. november 4, 2010. "that's why they call it fall."

onehundredtwelve. november 3, 2010. "23"

(series: the book i just finished).

267 pages. three days. a quote:

"Words can be like X-rays, if you use them properly - they'll go through anything."

onehundredeleven. november 2, 2010. "the amazing adventures of marsupial man."

i got a letter from a friend today.

i somehow knew it would be about a fanny pack. we have an ongoing joke about fanny packs. although, i thought maybe she found an old one in her closet and was finally going to hand it over to someone who could put it to use.

but i hung this on my desk, and get to laugh at it every day now.

onehundredten. november 1, 2010. "blue sky, yellow leaves, sunlight."

it's going to be very tempting to take a picture of a tree every day this month.

onehundrednine. october 31, 2010. "V is for Vonnegut."

(series: the book i just finished).

he's working his way into my top 5 favorite authors.