My New Best Friend

Every summer at least one of the books on my summer reading list includes a biography.  Who knew that people could be so interesting?!  Last year I read the newest tome on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and was captivated by his life. On a whim, that some would say was divinely inspired, I choose a newly edited autobiography by Margaret Thatcher.  The Iron Lady and I have recently been acquainted.  She is my new best friend!

After all we have so much in common!  First and foremost, both of us are born and bred Methodists!  She loved choral music and played the piano at a young age.  We are both avid readers and very conservative in our public finances.  We like to travel.  And we both ended up in very male dominated vocations as working mothers.  

Our interested diverge in two significant ways...she has a college degree in chemistry and I in music.  And the small fact that she became a World Leader and I well, cannot get my dog to behave.  Best friends can be different from one another too.

Anyway- I am only at a mid-point in her career as a public servant, but she sounds so interesting!  What a mind that woman had!  Whew!  I would not want to debate her.

The most curious thing that she repeats often in her reminiscing is how much FUN she had in politics.  Gosh- I do not think I have heard many or any elected American public officials share so candidly about how they enjoyed what they were doing as they debated and wrestled with public policy.  Intriguing- isn't it!

Anyway- I am off to read through her entries from the early 70's (when I was born and her twins were teenagers)!

What are you reading that intrigues you?

Vacation Time...and How Fast We Live

 Rarely, do my feet stay up for long with an overly busy grade schooler, overachieving-working-while-in-grad-school husband, a dog-who-eats-anything-not-tied-down, and a fast growing congregation.  But this week- my feet were up!  (and they almost got sunburned too!)

About March of this year I saw the warning signs of stress and fatigue on my family and insisted that we plan for a week away this summer.  One of the few times I was right that the family can celebrate!  Ha!

No school work (for anyone), no pet messes, no work for the parents, no cooking for me- just sunshine, sand, trees, lake water, boats and the crowds of people at Holiday World!  Ah... sigh with me... it is just divine.

I have read so many trashy books this week that my mind is mush and I need to get something new at the library tomorrow.  

But it is good. 

Oh, so good to get my little family away from the whirlwind of how fast we live these days. Even to hear my daughter mutter over and over while waiting for fireworks to begin... "I am bored."  We unplugged from laptops, iphones, and even yes, the iPad!  It was good to be still.... quiet and maybe begin to hear ourselves and each other again!

Ahh...

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