Love is the Currency of Heaven

Here is a photograph of the members of my (well, really Dr. P's) lab

2012-01-24T14:22:00.000-08:00

I love working with all of you and I am blessed to spend my time with such nice and gifted people.

Like a Lion Seeking What it Might Devour

2012-01-22T15:15:00.000-08:00

I have been under attack over the past two years. Ultimately, this is a spiritual assault.

Without going into details, someone is telling lies about me and I recently had conformation that my suspicions were correct about some details about the nature of the falsehoods. People that know my character know that these lies have no merit; that I don't say things like that. They also know that I have my integrity. But, as my friend, Shayma said, even if the dirt you're throwing doesn't stick, it leaves a mark (think of picking up mud and hurling it at a earthen middle eastern house the mud doesn't stick but there is a mark. (Shayma is Iraqi and she was trying to translate the heart of the words from Arabic into English.)

Another dear friend, Pam, has reminded me of this video and how the lion is the enemy and wants to destroy the little girl (the innocent) but can't (the plexiglass is God's protection.)

Now, I am supposed to be brave like this little girl but that takes faith that the lion has 0 chance of breaching the plexiglass but I must remember the plexiglass represents God's protection and God never fails! So far, I have weathered these attacks and have seen God protect me.

I hope this blesses someone else as much as it has blessed me and I wish nothing bad for this person that is attacking me. I hope someday whatever is tormenting him to the degree that he wants to hurt other people would be healed. I pray that this person would come to know God's love, grace, and protection but in the meantime before the lamb can snuggle up and nap with the lion, I am thankful for thick plexiglass.

Miss representation Trailer

2012-01-15T16:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, this issue is huge, it is why girls start out so bright and interesting and end up occupying much less than the 51% of positions of power that would correspond with their demographics.

And when a woman dares to become well-known in her field, we are distracted by petty issues such as her looks or the origin of her breasts.

Toward the end of this trailer, we are asked what we can do about the way girls and women are objectified in the media and there was precious little to be done.

This state of affairs is pathetic.

Why should you pay attention to *my* opinion?

Because I have five daughters and they don't give a damn about what other people including the male population thinks about their breasts, their asses, or their attitude. They do all of this without coming off hostile or on the rag (or pms'ing.)

First daughter plays bass guitar in a band. They have been on MTV and have a contract and have a contract to be music on a couple of TV series. (I honestly don't have the details.)

Daughter 2 is a pediatrician.

Daughter 3 is the assistant estimator in the commercial division of a construction company.

Daughter 4 just graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a degree in Civil Engineering and Public Policy.

Daughter 5 just won the Vex robotics tournament today. They won yesterday's robotics tournament yesterday (and won the Judges award for their design and ability to articulate the team's design.) She is 12 and the youngest member of an all-girls' team. I will post footage of her 'bot, it is really cool.

I'll find some footage and edit this post.

Don't fall into the culture trap or that of the patriarchy.

Stop telling little girls how pretty they are (who cares, do we love them less when they're ugly?)

Think about the role' models.

Help them with their interests and let them know they can accomplish whatever they have in their heart to accomplish.

Oh, yes, and if you want to cut on a woman who is a public figure, stay on target.

I don't care about her looks.

I don't want to know where her breasts come from.

I don't want to confuse her with a female dog that is ready to breed.

I want to speak a language where the opposite of emasculate is effeminate.

Odds and Ends

2012-01-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

Just need to update this blog.

Here is a picture of Fi
And Pat and Julianna.

I got my apps into UDel but I don't think I'm going to apply elsewhere.

I don't see myself driving into inner-Philly, the trains (two of them) to Drexel is 1 1/2 hours each way and the subway to Temple Medical campus is dangerous.

Here are a few more pictures.....

Joseph and Jessica (and Kev's wonderful pizza.)

Pat and me being goofy.

Jeanette and Joey

Pat and Fiona

SGM = FUBAR

2011-11-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

Oops, they did it again. It isn't enough for SGM to side with pediphiles because they have a Y chromosome and, donchaknow, God put males on the top of the pecking order.
Never mind they have books and parenting classes which were discredited (causing them to kick me out of their congregation as the result.)

Now, these geniuses are telling people that it's better to watch porn than to read a Christian blog in which people freely (and generally respectfully) opine about these things.

So, here is my joke,

"Why would the Senior Pastor at Covenant Fullofit tell his members to look at porn instead of reading a Christian blog?" "They're going to be screwed by the leaders, they should know what it looks like."

Conversely, they sure as hell shouldn't be doing something as scandalous as thinking for themselves, that might lead to falling into all sorts of sin, dontchaknow!

6 Degrees

2011-10-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

My mom just got home from vacation and brought home anamazing story but she didn’t get the names and email addresses of the maincharacters in the story that could be made into a drama complete with a happyending.

I really want to test the theory of six degrees of separationas well and I will put this on my blog and facebook and allow everyone to gainaccess to this tale because I am a storyteller but this is not my story and Iso dearly want to give credit where credit is due. My mother spent the pastthree weeks on a cruise through the Panama Canal. She had a wonderful time andenjoyed sharing her table with a cute German couple, a set Irish lifetime BFF’sas well as a lovely couple originally from Rhodesia.

Apparently the Rhodesians belonged to the merchant classhaving been the owners of a department store before the troubled times. Butrevolution came to their homeland and our couple (they will be J and Z.) AsRhodesia was tumbling into chaos, J and Z escaped with nothing more than theirtwo young children and the scant clothes on their backs.

Uprooted without means of support of any sort, J and Z spenttime in a refugee camp before the opportunity arose for them to be allowed toachieve resident worker status in England, Canada, and several other countries.J and Z felt as though they had nothing to lose and a new life in a safecountry to gain so they signed the paperwork and waited for the word that woulddetermine their future in an unknown land. They were fortunate to have Canada selected to be their new homesite.

They were told that Canada was a cold land.

They responded by packing a sweater for each member of their littlefamily.

Under those circumstances they arrived at Toronto’s Airport.

They lived in Toronto Airport for three weeks.

About the time, some random man from the Toronto metro areastarted feeling an intense sense that God wanted him to go down to the airportbecause someone needed help.

Since this story is told through the eyes of J and Z, I don’tknow how this man felt I’m assuming he went through the normal human angst uponsensing such specific direction from God (or was it that pizza he ate lastnight?)

But he did listen to that direction in spite of the disarmingspecificity of details.

After several trips to the airport, the Canadian man, (we’llcall him R) finally discovered our little refugee family that was living in theairport with nothing but the clothes on their backs (including a sweater but nocoat.)

Mr. R. went out and secured a wardrobe for each family memberincluding a warm coat, hats, gloves, and scarves.

R went on to find the family a decent apartment in a safepart of the city and furnished the apartment albeit with Salvation Army finds.

He helped J and Z find work so they could support themselveswith dignity.

Eventually, the family moved to Vancouver where the J foundwork managing a chain of restaurants eventually buying into the business. Theirchildren took advantage of educational opportunities and the daughter is now adoctor and the son is a professional in another field (my mother cannotremember the details.)

I want to test the six degrees of separation. I want todiscover the faces and names that belong to this story. J, Z, R, and littleones, your story is an amazing testimony of the goodness that can be found inpeople when they listen to the small still voice God uses when He speaks intoour lives.

Paper is Published!

2011-09-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

Our paper went to publication today. Here is the link to the abstract.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091305711002796

Just want to thank Dr. P. for being the best advisor and my family for putting up with me.

Jim and Dawn's Wedding

2011-09-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend, my baby brother married his sweetheart, Dawn.

We almost missed the ceremony but made it just in the nick of time.

They were married on the 14th Street beach in Ocean City (NJ) and their reception was overlooking the ocean (on a tented deck) I have hopefully been able to manage to upload some pictures.

May you be blessed for many years of love and friendship.

This Moment One Image, No Words, A Gift From This Week

2011-08-12T04:41:00.000-07:00

Dyad (Made them last night)

2011-08-05T07:41:00.001-07:00

It's a Beautiful Day (U2 Concert)

2011-07-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

Finally, my response to the SGMmess

2011-07-12T12:54:00.001-07:00

It’s been nearly a week since the poo has hit the fan at SGM (nee PDI) headquarters.
Pope CJ steps down and hands his scepter of power to his Sith apprentice and before the proverbial door can hit him in the ass, er I mean before all the people wonder, “Why,” four huge hundreds of pages long documents appear online gratis Brent Dettwyler.
Pope CJ and his inner circle of henchmen have been whining and grousing about the blogs for the past several years but, sit down boys, you’re on the wrong side of history and I am generous enough to tell you why.
Those of us with a marginal level of education have heard of Martin Luther. For those of you thinking of the civil rights leader with a dream; wrong dude, I am referencing the fellow that nailed his 99 Thesis onto the castle door.
The name of one of the aforementioned blogs is an allusion to this event.
Martin Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation.
Martin Luther would have been unlikely to have succeeded in this Endeavor without the brilliance of Guttenberg and the printed word which made books (particularly the Bible) accessible to everyone.
Armed with the knowledge held within the printed word, concepts such as salvation by the finished work of the cross and the priesthood of believers were received by an eager populace.

We are in the infancy of a second profound revolution that has literally given everyday people access to almost all the knowledge of all of humanity.
CJ and your Sith apprentice, Dave, people will be set free when they are brave enough to face the truth. I would strongly suggest you take the effort to honestly reform yourselves, bring in accountability in the form of a voting board of members that can kick your can to the curb if you get too humble (humble cj style, that is)
I am also waiting for a call or email extending a hand toward reconciliation but instead of holding my breath, I’m online, I know how to have my voice heard and there are thousands of others just like me, some are even better than me.

Fireworks

2011-07-05T05:14:00.000-07:00

Our day as tourists in the city of brotherly love

2011-07-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

Jeanette and her beau, Joey are here for the holiday and we went tourist yesterday. We ate cheesesteaks at Pats and saw the Betsy Ross house and the liberty bell.

We only got to spend a few minutes at the Art Museum but we're already planning a separate trip so we can spend the day there next time.

One more until I make another

2011-06-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

Artwork

2011-06-19T17:31:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Friday before Father's Day and I'm thinking about how I almost lost my dad last week and I thank God that he was spared (he had a torn aorta.)

Trying to preserve my dad's dignity, I'll post this one picture of the top inch or so of his impressive scar...

But I really missed Pat and I want to thank God for giving my kiddos a really good dad!

We're going out on the boat and I hope it turns out better than last time (got water in the fuel lines cutting our trip short here's a picture of us being towed back to dock.)

Need to make time in my schedule to buy the man a tie ;-)

First Grandbaby

2011-05-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

WAY too busy

2011-05-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

School has been way too busy but I'm on summer break and I will be doing research all summer.

Two exciting things, my second-born, Jennifer is nine weeks pregnant and my son, Jon, just asked Maria to marry him and she said, "yes."

The next year is going to be fun.

Reprint of last year's treasure map post (this year it's on April 3)

2011-03-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

For the past four years, I have been creating treasure maps during the earliest days of spring. For a couple of weeks before creating a treasure map, it is wise to think about what you really want for yourself in the next year. It is also good to clean the house and the house is a metaphor of your inner life.

You are allowed to be audacious.

I pray and ask God to help me discern what I want that is good for me.

This is for you, it is a deeply personal journey.

It *works* I'll post my first and most recent treasure maps.

The first one was much more straightforward and of this world. Everything either has happened or something better or it was more or less. I graduated magna cum laude instead of sigma cum laude. I got my Ikkyu but stopped karate, I got the boat and it looks just like that one but green instead of red. Pat and I went to Whistler mountain the following year and, thank God, Jo came home safely.

The more recent one is more conceptual, thrive in school which,for me, means not worrying so much about grades. Succcessful research, inspiration for my book, balance and direction.

If you are interested in doing a treasure map, start cleaning and decluttering, make space for good things to come into your life. Search your heart and discover what you want for this upcoming year; better yet, pray and ask God what is good for you to want (beware of some wishes.)

If you are a local friend, you are welcome to come over on April 16th and get started here. I'll provide canvas and paints, you will need some inspiration.

Finally, be *audacious* dream big dreams, don't shortchange yourself, there is nothing too big or too small for this project.

Next year at this time, you will be amazed.

Sorry I have been neglecting this blog

2011-03-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

I am in the thick of spring semester and I have more on my plate than I can handle.

I'll be scarce until May.

Once a Mom, Always a Mom

2011-01-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

I have been cultivating this blog for nearly a year and this is the first time I have felt compelled to use it as the venue of a critical analysis of someone else’s writing but this article has come to my attention and I really *must* opine.

The article to which I am responding can be found on my old legalistic church blog. http://www.covfel.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=52015&articleId=5558

I am rather proud that they dismembered me over parenting issues, thus, I opine.

"Once a Mom, Always a Mom
By Cindy Campbell

Editor's note: The following is a blog post that Cindy passed on written by Sheree Phillips that is from the Metro Life Church blog MetroMoms. It is a bit longer than usual, but worth the read. As Cindy says, “May this blog provoke all of us as Mom's to remember that our lives have been purchased by the Savior and that we have no claim to any our 24/7 - no matter what season of mothering we live in.”

Why are women in legalistic systems constantly told that they do not own their own lives as though they are the property of their families, We have *all* been redeemed by grace lest anyone manipulate another this way.

Last Sunday night I spent the evening with my married girls. We included Lauren this time, since she will marry our Joey in a few short weeks. The purpose of the evening was to discuss a wonderful sermon by pastor and author J.R. Miller called, “The Christian Wife.” Although he died in the early 1900’s and the standards and vocabulary can seem a little out of date to today’s sophisticated Christian woman, the truths are timeless, inspiring and convicting. (If you want to get a copy of the sermon follow the link to the MetroMoms blog)

This brings back memories. Why do the leaders of this org always have a purpose for a meeting? Can you imagine having this woman for your monster-in-law.

Preparing for this time together with a married daughter, two daughters-in-law, and a future daughter-in-law caused me once again to realize I’m on the back nine. But my heart and desire as a mother remains the same as when my approaching 30 daughter was the age of your little ones. Back then I wanted her to love being a girl. Love God’s wise and loving design in making her distinctly female, with all the responsibilities and privileges that entails. She was surrounded by brothers (until God mercifully gave her sisters some years later) and although she enjoyed playing with match box cars and didn’t mind getting dirty while playing outside, she was all girl. I wanted her to grow up to embrace godly womanhood. To resist cultural pulls to feminism and resenting her created design to be a suitable helper to a husband and a godly mother to children, should the Lord give them to her. I wanted to do my best to equip her to be an effective home manager.

In other words, manipulate through guilt, shame, and isolation. If you really want her to like being a girl, don’t create a template in which being a girl is so ghastly.

By God’s grace, Jaime loves being a mom. And now she longs for the same things for Kayla, Annie and Danae that I prayed would be her heart’s desire.

She sure as hell wouldn’t confide in *you* if she felt otherwise.

But she still needs the help, encouragement, correction and Titus 2 mentoring of others. At 3 she needed my help to learn to make her bed. At 7 we “used” her baby sister to teach her to bathe, burp and comfort a newborn. At 10 she needed help to understand why lying about cheating on her home school work was a reflection of her sinful jealousy over having to work harder on math than her older brother. At 15 it took time and long talks to help her understand why it was important to be honest with her temptations and sins, even when she was embarrassed. And at 18 she needed help to deal again with those same issues, especially when her lack of humility resulted in needing to apply the gospel when unmortified sin made life rough. (As it does with all of us!)

I believe this entire paragraph is inappropriate. I am remembering a book written by Sheree Phillips in which she was experiencing difficulty bonding with her second child. From what I recall, she had a son who was her golden child followed quickly by a daughter who may have been a fussy baby. Her mom or mother-in-law went over and took the older child for a few days and she really wanted whoever it was to take the infant and let her parent the golden boy instead. In her book, she admitted that it was appropriate for her to learn how to mother her new baby but I wonder if she ever truly bonded with this child and accept her unique temperament instead of micromanaging her with the older brother’s temperament as the ideal template. The superiority of the older brother’s math prowess makes me wonder. It also reminds me of the Barbie doll that sparked controversy that would say, “I hate math,” when you pulled her string.
The woman seems completely clueless about the embarrassment and shame she has poured over this poor kid. Imagine being micromanaged by this woman, having your every weakness thrown in your face and it never ends. Do these girls know they can emancipate themselves after a certain age?

What am I feeling? I guess I want you to know that what you are doing with your life isn’t just for “this season.” Do you think that once the kids go to school or learn to drive you will have more time for yourself? Do you dream of the days when they will actually respond to your training and stop interrupting, making messes and learn first-time obedience? Realize that laying down your life for your children is a lifetime commitment. The break our culture and our sinful hearts long for will only happen if we give in to the myth of midlife selfishness.

Do you realize that Jesus covered all of our sins and weaknesses? You get to sit back and enjoy your kids but yet you want to try to make them perfect in your image (although you never can live up to your own standards, must frustrate the crap out of you.)

Yes, there are days when I can lounge in the pool for 45 minutes uninterrupted, spend some extra time at lunch with a friend or have a leisurely devotional time without wondering what’s going on in the family room. But according to scripture, my life is not any more my own than yours is. I don’t wake up to nurse babies anymore. I just have trouble falling and staying asleep because I had iced tea with dinner or my hormones are wacky. I don’t get anxious about high fevers or whether I’m doing an adequate job teaching a first grader to read. I battle fearful concerns about whether my kids are adequately battling the worldliness or lust or self-righteousness or discontent that can lead to serious consequences in marriages and families.

Does she seem to *enjoy* worrying? Does she seem the stereotype of some ethnic joke about the meddlesome mother from hell? Stop sin-sniffing, it doesn’t make you look good and I’m sure it becomes tedious to your kids.

I’m here to say that motherhood is a life calling. My role has certainly changed over the decades. What my life looks like is different in many ways. But I remain constrained by the gospel to continue giving my life away to my kids. When the Savior bought me with the price of His sinless blood on the cross, He laid rightful claim to every moment of every day of my life through eternity.

Oh, for God’s sake, don’t blame the Gospel on your legalistic constraints Jesus freed us from the law, I am starting to believe you *enjoy* this and finding a Bible verse to quote (not that she has even cited a passage,) makes you feel all smug and righteous inside. You are, in reality, chained to a legalistic system.

So if you’re waiting for the day when you can “get your life back” (as I recently read one author say about midlife when the kids are grown) please stop. Most of the same sins I battled when I was your age I’m still battling. And the same need I had for God’s strength to give my life away 24/7 then remains my need today.

See, that’s the difference between you and me; my sins were nailed at the cross and I have my salvation to cling to and my sins are dead. I don’t focus on sins, I focus on Jesus and, yes, I get to redefine myself in middle age (I suspect I am about the same age as you.) My older children are establishing themselves in successful careers, my middle children are focused on college, and my youngest is almost a teenager. So I went back to school and graduated with my BS in Biology last winter and am now a grad student. I want to live my life for others but I will not have my life defined by patriarchal legalists.
God made women menopause; this is a huge hint that we were to be afforded the opportunity to be something other than mother in the second half of the three score and ten years that the Bible says is a standard life span.

In fact, it’s time to close this lengthy post. I have wedding rehearsal dinner invitations to address, a youth meeting to attend with 2 of my kids, clothes to move to the dryer, and a son who’s been gone for a week to pick up at the airport.

Gee, I have data to analyze, a paper that’s almost ready for publication, a novel to finish, paintings to paint, chocolate candy to make (other menial things like the wash and cooking,) help my son study for Biology, get the youngest ready to go skiing with her sister and brother in law, say, “yes,” to a lunch invitation on Saturday, and take care of a sick child.

Lord, thank you for calling me to a life of devotion to others, especially my family. Give me strength to persevere in my battle against the sin that easily lures me to love myself more than I love them. Pour out Your grace on the young moms who are reading this post today. Give them a long term vision for their mothering and protect them from worldly thoughts of getting their lives back. Their lives, and mine, were purchased by you. How foolish to ever want they back!
Filed under: Tuesday at Fivebucks, Parenting

Let me try my hand at a passive-aggressive prayer....here goes.....

Lord, thank you for taking me out of a system in which my own intrinsic value was meaningless, a system that kept me in bondage by taking my eyes away from the finished work of Jesus and on to my own strengths (aka “Battles.”) Thank you for giving me a new church family that emphasizes grace and not legalistic bondage.
Please let some young moms that are trapped in legalistic systems to read this and be released from the chains that bind them to the corpse of the law and the manipulation of these Pharisees.

Thank you for opening my eyes to see my children as *normal* and not little sinful beings that need regular beatings and belittlement.

I thank you for the years in which I was able to stay home and mother my children and I thank you now for the opportunity I was given to pursue my education and study Biology. Thank you for the privilege of being your ambassador; that I represent you in my everyday life.

Thank you for my life; that I get to have it all but not necessarily all at once.

Two more abstracts

2011-01-10T17:56:00.000-08:00

My first Abstract

2011-01-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

I put it up on facebook and some of my peeps are calling it an Organic Abstract.

Serendipity

2011-01-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

I got two parking tickets the week before Finals and I thought Pat paid for both of them but, apparently, he only paid the one and I ended up with fines and court costs. The aforementioned ticket was issued at 5:00 PM a time when parking is free in the Borough of West Chester.

Today was the day I had planned to take a trip into WC to discuss the ticket with the nice people at District Court and, since I was going to be in WC, I might as well go to WCU and try to review my final in Molecular Genetics and hopefully run into Dr. P. and get some work done in the lab.

Neither of those two professors were in the building but I was soon to discover the real reason I found myself in a rather lonely Schmucker Science building this morning.

As I was approaching the stairwell that led to Dr. G.'s lab I heard someone approaching from the opposite corridor. Being a busybody, I dallied long enough to recognize Dr. Woodruff! He was pleased to see me, in fact, I was, in his words, "The very person I wanted to see."

I was as confused as anyone that might be reading this blog.

Well, he had been locked out of his office and his university ID card did not grant him access in the way it should.

I had access to the room because I had been taking a course last semester that required access and because I had gone to the effort to have my ID card sprinkled with fairy dust that grants me access to the building, chances were good that my card was left unaffected by the usual changes after the end of a semester.

I got out my ID, said a quick prayer, and swiped.

On went the green light, the lock made a happy beep, and busied itself unlatching, and Dr. Woodruff was able to get into his own office.

And I was quite satisfied being part of something greater than myself even if only ffor a brief moment.

An Important Message - From Ellen DeGeneres (Gay Suicide)

2010-10-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

Serendipity

Last week, Julianna and I were going into the Wawa and a man approached me and asked me how old my daughter was. It did cross my mind to wonder why a stranger wanted to know Julianna’s age but I had neither a clue what nefarious thing he could do with that information nor were any red flags waving so I replied, “She’s eleven.” He went on to ask me if she had ever been bullied. “Not to my knowledge,” was my response.
He went on to tell me that his thirteen year old daughter had been bullied with the brand of cruelty that has made, “Mean Girls,” genre of movies consistently popular with the teen and tweenaged demographic.
The poor man was distraught about his daughter and mortified that he had troubled a perfect stranger. I, on the other hand, was starting to see God’s hand in the situation and told him as much because I am the mother of five girls and I am quite familiar with this brand of bullying. I told him that this was a huge problem, that his daughter needs to be protected from the bully and the school should be forced to take the kind of action against verbal bullying that they take against fist fights within school property.
He wanted to pay for the food I had ordered but I wouldn’t accept. “Pay it forward,’ I told him. God has blessed me so abundantly I don’t need the money and the laws of nature work such that paying it forward keeps blessings flowing in the proper direction.
I am saddened to see a rash of teen suicides that are a result of bullying. In many cases, the bullying was anti-gay or outing teens that were perceived to be gay.
This must be stopped period. We need to be safe places for teens to go through the process of finding their authentic selves.

Another good resource for study habits

2010-09-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/index.html

Some thoughts on studying

2010-09-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

These are some things that come to mind to help with studying.

If you have powerpoint slides and the professor mentions something, make a note of it and make up a study card.

If something is in the textbook, is on the powerpoint slide *and* the professor discusses the issue in lecture, make a study card because, chances are, it will be on the exam!

Study in chunks.

Make study cards (I use index cards.)

Study in groups.

Do not pull an all nighter.

Get a good night's sleep.

Exercise.

Manage stress.

Eat well.

The Inner Life of the Cell (Annotated Version)

2010-09-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

The Life InSide a Cell

2010-09-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

Study Tips

2010-09-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

Something is wrong with the html and you will need to copy and paste but the following is a good resource

http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/learn/203.htm#i

Late September Garden

2010-09-26T04:27:00.000-07:00

I've been entirely too busy with school. This is my garden at the end of September.

Gratitude

2010-08-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

Ripples of Gratitude

I had been sharing three things that make my heart glad on my Facebook page every morning. For the past week, I have shifted to a 26 day long gratitude project in which each day highlights a letter of the alphabet and the things that begin with that letter for which I and friends that participate are grateful.
The ripple effect has amazed me.
The following is a compilation of responses that collectively (yes, you guessed it,) make my heart swell with gratitude.
PB said, “You inspire me, too. I wanna' see life like you do...”
PD said, “This is so cool. I may just have to try it!!”
LS said, “You inspire me...seriously.”
TM said, “ I love that you are doing thus :)’

Heightening my awareness of the things that make my heart glad keeps my heart open to the wonders that are available to me in the present tense. Gratitude keeps me positive and hopeful.

This Moment One Image, No Words; A Gift from This Week

2010-07-30T05:05:00.001-07:00

Under Much Grace Blog: What Does the Danvers Statement REALLY Mean? Part I of II: The Rationales

2010-07-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

Under Much Grace Blog: What Does the Danvers Statement REALLY Mean? Part I of II: The Rationales

This Moment One Image, No Words; A Gift from This Week

2010-07-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

This Moment One Image, No Words, A Gift From This Week

2010-07-16T05:40:00.001-07:00

For Colleen Emory (it isn't finished)

2010-07-16T05:37:00.001-07:00

Finished!

Musings

2010-07-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

Musings

On the 4th of July I had a nice house party and Adriana came with her granddaughter, Mirabel. Toward the end of the day, I was finally given an opportunity to sit and hold Mirabel. She is such a sweet little one; she fell asleep in my arms.
It was good to hold a baby since my own baby is eleven and so far, no grandbabies.
I really felt the presence of my Uncle Fred around Mirabel which made me wonder about reincarnation. Sometimes I think it’s real because I get feelings like I did around Mirabel but, the way I discern things, reincarnation goes against my Christian worldview.
But yet I felt Uncle Fred around her.
Adriana, pragmatist that she is, suggests wishful thinking yet I still feel something.
Then I got the distinct impression that Uncle Fred is in Heaven, part of the great cloud of witnesses cheering us on.
Yet this makes me sad to think of the distance and the wait but what I don’t sense gave me delicious chills up and down my spine, a great cloud of witnesses Heaven is distinctly outside of time; it is a place where a day is like a thousand years.
God gave us time because we cannot really process timelessness in our present state.
Mirabel’s Poppy isn’t looking down at his family a lonely old ghost, sure he has Aunt Ludi with him and our grandmom but there are others; *I’m* there and Adriana and even sweet Mirabel, we are all looking at us savoring such a sweet moment the way someone would look at a photograph, not locked in any one moment.

This Moment One Image, No Words, A Gift From This Week

2010-07-09T05:18:00.000-07:00

Chapter One of my Book (yet unnamed)

2010-07-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

Chapter One: Beloved Bird

Autumn, of Anna’s Fifteenth Year

Miss Viola Swamp, Also known as Miss Andersen, was ugly, hideously ugly. She looked like a toad replete with an array of unsightly warts. She was quite large and awkward. Miss Viola Swamp had tested on the Autism spectrum. During school orientation, students are warned the school district has zero tolerance for any student teasing Miss Andersen or behaving in a disrespectful manner. She was, in spite of, or, perhaps, because of her condition, an excellent librarian. She was obsessive about archival records chiding any student that put his or her book away randomly. She could usually tell you what was in a particular book. At times, she could cite page or chapter number. In Miss Andersen’s world, books were as real and animate as human beings. After awhile, the new students get accustomed to her and some of her idiosyncratic ways; they would appreciate her gifting in the realm of academic reference.
Anna had just started the Ninth grade. She had grown tall and willowy over the past five years. She had acquired that slight awkwardness associated with adolescence. She enjoyed science and social studies and some aspects of language arts. She struggled a bit with math and considered the subject to be a necessary evil. Lily was in the last year of a five year Engineering program and Anna was too distracted by her own social life to be occupied with missing her beloved sister. At home, the house was quieter than it had ever been with Josh away at college and Matt in his senior year, living at home but rarely actually at home. Mom was right, of course, things are always in flux and she looked to the future with a sense of adventure.

On a warm early October day, Anna found herself alone in the library in search of a book of poetry. She generally traveled in a social pack but all of her friends had selected a poem to use for their Language Arts assignment and Anna could not find a poem that, in her words, “Spoke to her.” As she scanned the shelves, goosebumps rose as she began to get the feeling she was being watched. She turned around to meet the amphibious eyes of Miss Andersen. She felt a twinge of regret when Miss Andersen averted her eyes into their usual position of a sideways glance. Anna had befriended an autistic student years ago and knew firsthand how rare it was for such a person to make eye contact no matter how fleeting the moment.
“I….I need a book of poetry for a Language Arts project. I would like a book that nobody else in class will use.”
Viola’s lips split into a broad if awkward smile. After a brief period of hunting in the little-visited poetry section of the library, Miss Andersen produced a tattered little book that looked older than most of the staff at the high school. The title of the book had been obscured by an accident at some point in time and the author’s name was barely visible. Avrim Something-szak. On the back jacket a gaunt man stared back at her with haunted eyes; the eyes that had seen things that should never be seen. The eyes seemed to be…begging.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.

Beloved.

Beloved bird, keeper of the keys that unlocked my heart;
without the essence of your love, my heart is but cold metal;
frozen in Despair.
without the warmth of your love
it will never grow outward to reveal its Secrets.
All that is left is my lifeless breath; such futility.
Dare I hope, my lonely hope;
That I should inhabit a realm where you still live.

Someday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anna looked at those eyes in the photo again and looked away, His pleading eyes pulled at her heartstrings with an intensity that overwhelmed Anna. She looked away, looked again and locked eyes with Averim. She opened the book and re-read the poem. Her eyes filled with tears and her tears made her squirm with adolescent self-consciousness as she wondered aloud, “Who was she?”

The effect of a gentle breeze danced across Anna’s skin giving rise to a new crop of Goosebumps but there was not the slightest breeze. Miss Viola had, yet again, been observing her. Miss Anderson maintained her position and locked eyes with Anna. It was as though an alien probe bored into the very essence of Anna’s soul and lingered there long enough to know the crystalline beauty which mortals knew as Anna. A satisfied smile crossed Miss Anderson’s face accompanied by an uncharacteristic look of affection in Anna’s direction. Such a fleeting encounter had the impact of a longer sojourn, but mere seconds passed before Miss Anderson resumed her normal presence and Anna, shaken as she was, made a copy of the poem and left the library with unusual haste.
Anna’s friends found her to be uncharacteristically quiet and introspective that day; she couldn’t stop thinking about Averim and his imploring eyes and Zipporah his beloved. The normal social drama dejour simply couldn’t maintain her attention.
When she got home, she couldn’t stop thinking of his eyes. She tried to google his name but the effort yielded nothing more than the most basic biography. He survived the Holocaust, he lost his entire family. No mention of a Zipporah.

Anna took the poem out later on that day and read it slowly allowing the words to flow and her thoughts digest as she fell into the icy cold pool of his grief. Averim’s haunted eyes stared at her from the back jacket of the book while the sorrowful words were like cold bony fingers clutching her heart. Anna wrote her paper openly wondering who was this Zipporah, Beloved Bird? Where were the keys to his heart?

Late June Garden

2010-06-26T05:21:00.000-07:00

This moment One Image, No Words, A Gift From This Week

2010-06-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

When you get onto a webpage that makes you register and you want to know where the info goes, read on....

2010-03-23T12:21:00.001-07:00

My daughter, Jo, is looking for her first house and I like to hunt the realty sites so I came across one site for which I needed to register. I am rather reluctant to give out my biographical info so I used my University email and made up a name that any live person would know, beyond a doubt, was fictional.

For their purposes, my alter ego was Maya Asshole.

I kid you not.

And, yes, the spam mail is coming in addressed to Maya, Maya Asshole, Ms Asshole, and, I must confess the giggle, Dear Asshole.

Some of it gets filtered but, if your mind is twisted similarly to mine, go ahead and give yourself a Bart Simpsonesque alter ego, my faves are Maya (fill in the blank,) Butreeks, Butkiss, Seymore Butts. I.P. Freely, be creative.

Treasure Mapping (I'm having a Treasure Mapping session on April 16th)

2010-03-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

2010-03-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

Thank you for the idea, Lisa. Every Friday (more or less,) a single photo that captures a special moment no words.

2010-03-11T04:36:00.000-08:00

Here is some of my artwork.

2010-03-10T17:05:00.000-08:00

"Love is the currency of Heaven," is a line from the book I'm working on at the moment. It has a beginning, Nine Chapters, and an ending but it needs to be filled out a bit.

I will post exerpts from the book. I consider this material to be copyrited (copywritten?) It is my intellectual property, if you quote from it, please cite your source.

I'll start with the prologue. This part of the book has a different flavor from the rest of the book but it works, you may not see that until the end of the book.

Everything in the prologue (with a few exceptions wrt Lily's roomate,) is true particularly the dream sequence.

Book with new epilogue

August of Anna’s Tenth Year

Anna stretched in her sleep and curled back up into a tight little fetal ball. Birdsong was barely registering in her consciousness because she was in that transitional phase that provides us with a boundary between the realms of sleep and wakefulness. Lily startled to the sound of her alarm going off and silenced the offensive racket hoping to catch another five or ten minutes of sleep. In the distance, both girls could hear the shower running as well as water running in the kitchen. Anna was playing in a sylvan waterfall of some vivid dream world while the more practical Lily was calculating the time it would take Josh to finish his shower so she could successfully jockey for position ahead of Will.

A beautiful late summer day had dawned and the usual suspects were preparing for their day but forces were at work that were anything but usual and the foundation was being laid that would affect more people than Anna could even comprehend.

Being the youngest child in a large family, Anna had seen her siblings tentatively test their wings and fly away making dynamic lives for themselves. As much as Anna loved her brothers and sisters with fierce intensity and only wanted the very best for their lives, her heart ached at every departure and she dearly wished things would stay the same; that her sister, Lily, would not go away to college today.

Lily, on the other hand, was thrilled at the prospect of going to Carnegie Mellon. She had earned honors in high school and was ready to be the proverbial small fish in the larger pond.
Anna reluctantly shook the last memories of her other worldly dream from her consciousness and transitioned to the ordinary state we call wakefulness. All the household noises spoke of another lazy summer day, but it didn’t take long for Anna to remember today was the day Lily was to go to college for her freshman orientation.

Stilling her racing heart, Anna went into Lily’s room and offered her help packing bags and loading them into the family van.

The trip from Chester Springs to Pittsburgh was beautiful. The family took the turnpike through the rolling hills of Chester, Berks, Lancaster, and York counties. These rolling hills turned into lush green mountains characteristic of the Appalachian range. At high altitude, summer green was being touched by the earliest hint of fall color. As much as Anna willed things to stay the same, it is against the natural order, for change is the constant companion of all things that enjoy the status of being alive.

The kids, grown as they were, held their breath through the four mountain tunnels en route. Naturally each one ran out of resolve about ¾ of the way through the tunnel gasping for air and reminding themselves they would have drowned if they were actually being carried through a watery pass. Everyone enjoyed the sight of giant steel windmills that had recently been erected to generate energy and Anna used these giant landmarks as the halfway point to Pittsburgh although, in reality, they were located more than 2/3 of the way to that destination.
Anna and her family spent time exploring the campus of Carnegie Mellon. Anna saw new construction that would eventually become a bridge named for Randy Pausch who had just lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. They toured Baker hall which had the distinction of being built on such an incline that students made sport of rolling balls and even chairs down its corridors. Several students that self-identified as Nerds fell all over themselves in a gallant attempt to help Lily acclimate to her new surroundings. Of course, they saw, “the fence,” painted in some fraternity’s colors and guarded by several frat brothers who weathered the elements in pup tents.

Anna enjoyed the vibe of campus life and even managed to forget her dread for fleeting moments. Lily was given the key to her dorm room and the family started to help her move her belongings into the room that would be her home away from home. Anna and her mom helped Lily decorate the room. Lily roommate and Lily decided upon a green color scheme. Lily brought curtains that were green stripes with some yellow, red, and blue interwoven; the fabric came from India and had that chic hippie effect. The girls decided where to put the ‘fridge and microwave. The roommate placed her green patterned carpet down and the room started to reflect the personality composite of the two girls who would inhabit the space. Anna’s eyes started welling up with tears when Lily placed her collage of photos up on her new wall. In Anna’s eyes, the collage symbolized Lily and she knew the space the collage had previously occupied would be empty when she arrived home. Lily promised to have her over when the school hosted their annual, “Siblings Sleepover” during Family Week. Anna dried her eyes and started looking forward to the last week in October.

The family enjoyed a visit with the Anna’s older brother, Matt, and his girlfriend, Maria both of whom were students at Duquesne University. Anna enjoyed visiting the beautiful campus that occupied a bluff overlooking the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh. Matt took Anna and the rest of the family up to the top of the, “Tower,” to see his new dorm room. He was at school early because he was working for the university, but he would soon be sharing his quarters with one of his football buddies. The entire floor would be occupied by other friends giving the fellows a lounge room and bathroom to call their own. The dorm occupied the seventeenth floor of the Tower and the view out the window was breathtaking. Anna could see the entire skyline of Pittsburgh. From the inclined plane all the way to the Pitt tower. She could even catch a glimpse of Heinz Field between the downtown skyscrapers.

The family went to the waterfront district of Southside. The girls did a little bit of shopping while the guys hung out in the pseudo-town’s square and passed the time with shallow chitchat. Finally, their pager became animated with lights flashing and unmistakable buzzing. A table was waiting for them at The Claddaugh, an Irish pub with a castle motif. Everyone enjoyed his dinner and the environment lent itself to, at the risk of being arcane, merriment. As the sun was setting, they realized this was the moment Anna was dreading Everyone tried to keep composure if only to provide Anna with the moral support she needed; it was time to kiss Lily, Matt, and Maria good bye.

The ride home was miserable for poor Anna. Try as she would, she couldn’t stop crying. Anna normally had such a sunny personality; her parents simply didn’t know how to handle this protracted foray into melancholy. Her brother, Will, didn’t help the matter with his commentary. “What’s wrong?” “You know you can have Lily’s room, it’s bigger than yours.” Or the classic, “Stop being such a baby.”

Will was trying to distract Anna, but he was, in reality, being obtuse.
Finally, her mother got out of the, “Shotgun,” position and sat next to Anna in the back of the van and snuggled with her.

“I’m so happy with the way things are, I don’t want them to change. I don’t want people to grow away from me.” Anna sobbed.

“I know how you feel, I’m sad, too, but I’m also happy for Lily.” Her mother replied.
“How do I stop feeling so sad?”

“I’m not sure, but I start looking forward to things we have planned soon. I’m looking forward to the new semester.”

“School, ug, everyone says fourth grade is hard.”

“Don’t listen to naysayers, it might be more challenging, but I bet you will enjoy it nonetheless.”

“But I don’t want things to keep going on, I want everyone back at home like before.”

“Let me tell you about a dream I had a long time before you were even born.”

“Is this story made up, real or just a dream?”

“A real dream, but the dream was so vivid, it was almost real to me.”
“Sure.”

“I had the dream when Matt was the baby in the family so that would have been about 1988. In the dream, I wasn’t me but an investigator. I was either an undercover news reporter or an Agent Scully type of FBI officer (but I had the dream before the X-Files went on TV.) The family, which was our family, was living on this farm. It was an old timey sort of house with cinnamon and other baking spices wafting in the air. It felt as though we were back in time in Pennsylvania but when I went outside, we were surrounded by tall mountains like the Rockies or Sierra Mountains in the West. It was arid and the mountain tops were bare and snow-capped. The land on which the family lived, in contrast, was lush and green reminiscent of farmland in Amish Country in Lancaster County. There was a barn with farm animals and a stream running through the property. All along the stream was lush grass; green in spite of the desert environment of the surrounding land. When I went into the living room, there was a talisman on the wall. It was triangular with a Celtic knot pattern. In the middle of the triangular knot sat an emerald egg that seemed to pulse with energy.

I felt a strong sense that the talisman was powerful and the source of an enchantment, but I didn’t know what and I didn’t know if it was good or evil. I had spent the day with the family and they were kind and charming but they also had a timeless quality about them. Finally, we were at the table in the family’s large country kitchen and the mother snuggled her baby up to her cheek. He was in on of those perfect baby stages wherein the baby is happy smiling and laughing all the time. The baby, Matt, just laughed and grabbed her nose. That when I realized what type of power this enchantment held upon this family; they didn’t change. Everyone and everything was stuck in this perfect day in time. I knew it was wrong to hold the family in a state of blissful suspended animation and knew I had to destroy the talisman. I wasn’t sure how long the family had been under the spell or if they would just turn into dust if they had been suspended for too long. I smashed the talisman to pieces and…..woke up.”

“What happened to the family?’

“I woke up.”

“But.”

“I don’t know, but what I did know was that change is good; it is part of being in the flow of life. If I could have stayed in that pleasant moment, Matt would still be a baby instead of the man he is today. Lily, Josh Will, and you would have never been given the chance to be born; to have your lives.”

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“What the heck is a talisman?”

“It is an object thought to hold special powers.”

Anna thought about the dream and watched as the rugged beauty of Appalachian highlands as it transitioned into the lush green hills of fertile Carlisle, York, Lancaster, and Berks counties By the time they returned to the soft green countryside of Chester County, the sun had set behind their backs and Anna was carried into their waiting home, asleep, in her daddy’s loving arms.

2010-03-10T12:13:00.000-08:00

I have a nice large family. I'll start with my oldest and go down the line

First photos Jess, Jenn, Jo, Jon, Jeanette, Josh, Joseph, and Julianna.

There is way too much to be held in one little post so I'll write about them as I'm inspired. Needless to say, I'm proud of all of them but they're also unique people with a lot of diverse talents, views, and gifts.

2010-03-10T12:07:00.000-08:00

Here is my family, I'll start with Pat In April, we will have been married 3o years. That makes me feel old but it's impressive as well. He is a patient man. The first picture is Pat and his dad on Christmas morning

Introductions

2010-03-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

This is my introductory post. My name is Debra Baker and I have many different qualities (like most of you.) I won't try to put them here but I promise I'll cover territory over the next few posts.