clumsy me...

Balance in my life is something I could only dream about achieving. Seriously, life seems so out of control lately. For instance, even if I eliminated sleep altogether, I still don't think I could finish all of my work--both personal projects and work projects--right now.

Yet, I keep piling more things on. And today, I'm okay with that. Maybe that's the definition of insanity.

Anyway: here's a sampling of what's happening lately:

• So... The Pittsburgh Project was this weekend. I think everyone had a great time, and so did I (except for one personally humiliating incident; if you want details, you have to call me). Saleem Ghubril is amazing. So is TPP [here's a cool story about it: http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/19980823project1.asp]. Oh, and so are the students who went on the trip. I mean, these people each paid $90 to give up their weekend toward the end of a hectic semester to do stuff like: wash dishes that probably haven't been washed in 7 years and had inches of grease on them; paint; fill patches in sidewalks; fix an elderly widow's basement steps, then clean her bathroom and spend an entire day replacing her ceiling.
  
  While we were there, we heard hip-hop artist Fred Lynch tell us his life story, which is amazingly compelling: His dad was a Vietnam vet who, while in war, was forced (with a gun to his own head) to shoot a little girl strapped with grenades. He never got over it and often tortured Fred and his siblings while they were growing up. If you ever have a chance to hear him speak, he's very passionate and very good. And the text from the first night he spoke was from Psalm 68, particularly these words: A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families. He spoke of God's passion for His children, and how He sets people in their families, intentionally, and
  how He uses that to shape their lives... speaking of which:
  
• Allissa (my 19-year-old sister) announced on her blog today (and my mom confirmed) that she is getting married in a few weeks to a guy she's known less than a few months. We had a very l-o-n-g conversation last night. For all the good it did. I am scaredtodeath for her. I just want what's best for her and even if this was 1962, I still would be terrified. I hear he's truly a great guy but I know one person only -- my friend Lee-- who was actually ready to get married at 19. Anyway, off to North Carolina in just a few weeks then.
  
• Since the last time I wrote about it, I've interviewed three more people for my book, and have one more interview set up on Thursday. Good times.
  
• The first fundraiser for the Ukraine Service-Learning trip is coming up... and the only people who have done any work for it are the leaders. Not good, my friends. And it's risky, cuz it's a "first time ever" thing at Malone. I have all of my fingers crossed. And all of my toes. We'll see! It sounded like fun: it's on Monday, November 21 and it's a flag football game with a twist - the football is replaced by a partially frozen turkey wrapped in duct tape. "Turkey Bowl 2005." Hey---it works for George Fox University.
  
• Though she recently spent another eight days in the hospital, Grandma's had a few really good days. I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with her.
  
• By Friday, I should be done with A Gathered Stillness. That's the project I've been working on for about a year at work.
  
• Michael, who was suffering from "laptop envy" got a laptop for himself after our old computer crashed. Now we spend romantic evenings...typing away at our laptops in front of the tv. Him looking at fishing stuff and ebay stuff and computer stuff, and me blogging and reading other people's blogs and working on my book. Sexy.

Oh, boy. I've written another book tonight. Sorry!