I cannot believe I have never blogged about Zumba!!! Holy cow it is so much fun!!! It is for anybody and everybody that wants to get/stay healthy and in good shape and have fun! There is GREAT music, fun dance moves and tons of variety!! Women everywhere are hooked. I think I like it even more than yoga, and I'm pretty fond of yoga.

Anywhhhoooo check it out!

!!!!!!! This morning, my dear "T" said "Good Morning" to me, before I said it to her. Wayy back in the day, she never even said it if others said it to her!!! THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!!! I LOVE l'ARCHE!!!

Durnit

Oh Fiddlesticks. yesterday i posted an entry, and alas, its gone. oh wellsies. here we go again.

Some things I have been reading about and hence pondering.

It is a true true fact that we are supposedly a free country. We have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is true, mostly, but, in order to have true freedom, we also need some power. imagine living in a cycle of poverty, working, or looking for a job, but not having enough money to ever be remotely financially secure. What if you work so much you can barely see or be with your family, scrimp on expenses, but still barely scrape by. This is true of many, many, many Americans, and then there are many other Americans with so much money and power that they can influence politics in their favor,which is usually the opposite of what the working poor need and want. Ginourmous conglomerates, the media, and special interest politics are taking over our society and the populist does not get heard. They have no power. So for a free country, we are pretty darn not free. People watch helplessly as crazier and crazier things happen. Schools, for example, are simultaneously losing government (state, local, and national) aid, and are being pressured by so many expectations and rules that are not carefully thought out by people far removed from the school system. What are we to do?? Follow the rules that we know are hurting our kids? Say something and get no where? Not follow the rules and get fired or jail time??

Heavens to betsy.

So, I was a vegetarian for more than two years, than I came to L'Arche and messed up. I mean, how can I encourage my core members to eat, if I am not eating. I'm going to try again, but I need support. I used to make the menu so we only mostly had non-meat protein (including fish, which I know is an animal). I would also be willing to eat locally farm (the old sort of farm) raised meat. I think. Maybe not, because I did read that if we stop eating the meat, and eat the grain they eat (thats grown for the overabundance of cows), we would have more food to share with starving people.

Why is life so confusing??? I wish I could stick more firmly to the things I believe. I wished my actions matched my aspirations, goals, etc. I guess I wish I was more disciplined.

some things I TRY to do to help others (including myself) out.

• Shopping at thrift stores (better for the environment, my wallet, etc)
• Eating simply
• buying minimal technology

Stuff I would like to work towards

• going back to vegetarianism
• packing all my lunches (not eating out, even at subway)
• reading instead of goofing of online.

I freaking love my job!! well its not even a job. i just love l'Arche so DARN much!!!!

I have been getting so many hugs, and kisses, and just little signs of appreciation, care and deep love. I love that my core members take care of me just as much as I take care of them. When my co-assistant accidentally punched me in the eye, my core members were VERY concerned. They asked about it when it happened, a few hours after, and the next day, when I had forgotten about it. Some of them simply asked if I was feeling better, whilst others said they'd "take care of (my co-assistant). HAHAHA. If I am getting teased, D.H. always says "HEEyyyy, Be nice to Abby, she's my friend". So darn cute. And then the hugs from Core members who just don't give hugs very often. They just almost break my heart because of how much I LOVE them. I can't believe I can love so much. I also love the plethera of names I am called. My nickname here is "Ida". My real name is Abigail, but most call me Abby. Hence, I am called Abigail, Ida, Abba, Ab, and Idy. Sometimes I am called pancake, or turkey, or waffle, and once in a while beer can, and young lady. LOL.

have to write in my blog more

We just had a LOVELY retreat with all the other l'Arche communities in the Western Region. Thats three in Washington State, 1 in Portland, OR, and one in Orange County, CA.

It was amazingly fun and fantastical to meet other assistants and core members. It was very inspiring to see everyone interacting. I was also excited to see some of the lovely folks we met at previous gatherings/retreats. Well there was really only one. lol.

My favorite moments were:

--observing the love among core members/assistants and the ease of relationships.

--singing a song from ACF (albright christian fellowship), called Blessed Be Your Name. Although I'm not a fan of the kind of Christianity from ACF I had a lot of good times there, and met some amazing folks, so it brought back memories. The song just seemed to fit better here than at ACF. i don't know why.

--Hanging out one on one with TK. just love that woman!

--Seeing P.K. one of our core members that moved to Tacoma. :)

But, L'arche isn't my only life though. I mean its a HUGE part of my life, but there are other things to talk/write about.

I'm reading this fantastical book called "Oil" by Upton Sinclair. He is an amazing writer. I loved his other book, The Jungle. I started reading it because it was on display at the Library, and thought of the Oil crisis. (what happens if the Oil goes everywhere??????). Anyway, its about corruption among politicians and business owners, and its prettty freaking crazy.

An example of that corruption: The main characters in the book Mr. Ross and his son, own an oil company. In order to be able to maintain their company, and make it grow, they had to join this organization that regulated how much they pay their employees, and also the employees hours and benefits. They regulate a low pay, AND do not allow them to schedule employees on eight hour shifts, rather than 12 hour shifts. So if the business owners decide to be humanitarian with their employees, and let them work reasonable, healthy hours, they would be kicked out of the organization, and then lose all support they have for growth (banks wouldn't loan to them, city workers wouldn't help with construction needs, etc). Basically bureaucracy making it difficult to be good to people. WTF.

Anywhoo, I'm off to a meeting <3

Here's a Rant For you

If my thoughts are in pink, maybs they'll seem less mean.

What they hey is up with this crap of people saying this is a Christian Nation!!?? Whatever happened to the first amendment?? It says the government cannot make a law respecting an establishment of religion or impeding the free exercise of religion. also, here's a quote from the 1797 Tripoli Treaty: "As the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded in the Christian Religion". I'm not going to deny that many of the founders of our country were Christian, or did believe in some form of God, please keep in mind that Jesus WAS NEVER mentioned in any of the really biggie court documents regarding the founding. Yes there is a bit about us all being created equal, but keep in mind as well that many of these founders were Deist ,meaning they believe in a Creator but impersonal God (one you can't pray to, well you can, but he's not going to answer).

Its NOT a christian nation. it is a nation of Christians, and every other religion (and not religion) so just ignore ppl who say it is. PLEASE!!! its so ridiculous.