Thursday, August 30, 2007

Birthday #3 / Mya's wild ride



Emily and Andrea prepared a fabulous meal (a burrito and taco bar!) at their house last Friday night. Ron and Rhoda came down to celebrate with us. Emily made this amazing cake for my birthday! She turned 25 on the 15th, so they used her numbered candles and added 1!!

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Monday, August 27, 2007

Hurricane Katrina, two years later

I heard this two years ago on NPR about a month after Hurricane Katrina. I think it is such a valuable essay on the true lessons we learned, and should keep learning.
"That was a strong wind blew across the south coast. Thousands of Americans opened their eyes and stared in the crevice that's always at their feet. I lived in that hole once. I was a poor single woman on welfare. I know the desperation of looking for a job with an eviction notice in my bag. I stole toilet paper from public restrooms, not because I'm a thief by nature, but because food stamps don't by toilet paper. I lived in roachy apartments on risky streets, rode the bus to mindless jobs, and I worried about my kids in their overcrowded classrooms with their metal detector portals. Struggle is struggle, poor is poor, suffering is suffering. As my Navaho friend put it, 'if you've been to the bottom, you are one of us.' I hauled myself out - went to school, got a good job. But we who are one of us, we know each other when we meet at conferences and in coffee shops. You who are one of us recognize the metaphor that Katrina made manifest. Everyday our people plead for rescue while the water rises up beneath them threatening to swallow them whole. We who are one of us saw ourselves in those faces. Not because of shared complexion, but because of shared experience. If you haven't lived in poverty's hole, you aren't one of us. You don't know how hard it is to dig out. If you aren't one of us you might be comforted by the belief that you're doing something right, and we're doing something wrong. You might believe that's the difference between struggle and comfort, between daily safety and daily risk, between having and wanting, between being one of you and being one of us. If you haven't lived in poverty's hole you might not know how slippery the walls are, how easy you slide down, how close you are to being one of us. I wonder how many of you, you who aren't one of us, looked down on New Orleans rooftops and opened your eyes to the chasm at your own feet. I wonder how many folks in New Orleans who are one of us have just climbed out of poverty's hole, only to be blown back in by the storm. How many more blown down that hole for the first time are just now learning to be one of us. Those of you who are not one of us, wherever you are, did you hear Katrina whisper your name? Did you hear her ask how many pay checks do you have left, how much do you owe on your car? Did your eyes open wide when you looked in the eye of the hurricane? Did you see us looking back? Were we close enough to touch? I wouldn't close my eyes again if I were you - the strong wind can blow you in." - Cynthia Hendrickson

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

My Job

John here, just wanted to fill you all in on what is happening here at my job. I'm working hard, like I should be and helping people in need. I was hired to be the case manager for a grant from Denver's Road Home. Denver's Road Home is a 10 year plan to end homelessness here in Denver, brought on by our mayor. I'm going to be volunteering for Colorado's Coalition for the Homeless, http://www.coloradocoalition.org/, to learn more about the homeless population and to learn how to better serve them. One fun thing that is going to happen is when I go to the Denver Bronco's stadium and participate in Project Homeless Connect. You can read about it here http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=1174

I do not have a huge case load like some case managers, but I will be busy!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Birthday Dinner..





John took me out to a fancy dinner downtown. The resturant was in the basement of this old bank building. That's where the door John is standing in front of comes in. It was good and fun! Sara - you have to ask John about his prime rib. We both decided you would be a little jealous, it was at least an inch thick! I appreciate John so much, and I was happy to spend my birthday with him!

Monday, August 20, 2007

Happy Birthday to Bethany!





Here are some pictures from my birthday celebration with Ron, Rhoda, Dave, Linda, Emily, John, Ginger, Mya and Sadie!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

3 Month Flashback...





It has been almost three months since the wonderful wedding day. Here are some pictures I got from the lil' sis'.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

New Hair



My Mom requested an additional view, so her wish is my command!!
I got my hair cut last night. Tell me what you think!!

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Through the years..


This is from 4 years ago in San Francisco.

Last year at the golf outing.


We got some adverse reactions to John's stache. Here are some more random pictures I came across recently.

Monday, August 6, 2007

An Afternoon at the Dog Park.






We thought we knew how to get to the dog park, but we were wrong. We left around 1:00 PM and arrived (finally) at the dog park after 3:00 PM. It was an adventure for sure, a typical Simpson misadventure I should say! Ginger and Mya got to run around, play in a puddle, and roll in crushed up earth worms, so they were happy and sleepy. It stormed most of the night last night, which was great. We needed rain, and I love thunder storms so I was happy. Mya hasn't experienced many thunderstorms in her short life, so she had to sleep in her own little pink bed because of all the growling. Brooke came down on Saturday and we went downtown with her for shopping and dinner. It was nice to have her at our house. We had sweet corn for the first time last night. We went to a Farmer's Market on Saturday morning, and were very happy with the sweet corn we picked out. John and a group of volunteers went to a park in Denver to clean up on Saturday. The volunteers are all part of several programs for ex-offenders. John works with other organizations to organize days like this. 33 ex-offenders came to volunteer on Saturday, and John even made it on the 9 o'clock news on Saturday night! They didn't show his face, but it was obvious he was working hard carrying a trash bag! I was so happy that the event was such a success and so many people came. John loves his job, and I'm so happy for him.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

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