1.  Driving home from classes today, I had the strongest urge to belt out a number, the kind that rings up your inner diva.  I turned on the radio, and that song "Broadway" was on.  Perfect.  "...cuz I can play this here guitar..."


2.  Angel stopped by the office today.  She was in the first Intro to Lit class I taught at Concordia.  I can still see her dressed up as Mrs. Peters from that play Trifles.  She blessed my ministry back then, and I hope to be a blessing in hers now.

3.  There was a copy of the student paper in my mailbox today containing an article about my recent promotion to assistant professor.  I look hesitant in the black and white photo though I am certain about loving these students.  We talk of the difference between compassion and competition as it plays out in T.C. Boyle's Tortilla Curtain.  We steal poets' words and replace them with our own.  I still can't believe I get to do this job on a regular basis.  Thank you, God.

4. Nora is complaining of a sore throat, is restless in bed. I'm listening to the "female singer/songwriter" station on pandora with my headphones on and reach over to smooth her hair.

5. I've been trying to avoid my late night kitchen rade, one that usually involves a lot of cheese and something crunchy, like an entire bag of chips and a box of cracked pepper triscuits. Yes, I have an emotional relationship with my food. Don't we all? Tonight my appetite is telling me to take a little break, increase my sodium intake by about 400%, that these moments of downtime are as necessary as the others when I trick myself into thinking I'm being extremely "useful and successful." Ah...there's not much more we need to be other than what we were made to be, and that's as easy as it gets, girl.   Put that on your cracker and eat it.