AfricanKelli

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I’m home. It was a fantastic trip and I promise to write a bit about it next week.

Just a quick reminder: tomorrow is Team Rex’s big debut! I hope you can make it. The Tempe YMCA Turkey Trot starts at 8 am, registration at 7 am. The Y is located on Rural between Baseline and Elliot in Tempe. Cost of the race is $25. Seeing Rex beat cancer, priceless.

See you there,
K

I’m breaking my nanoblogmo or whatever it’s called for a few days. I’m off to Washington DC to learn how to lobby Congress. And no, I’m not stopping off at the bank first to stuff my pockets. I’m attending a nutrition conference and learning about national food security, with a dash of congressional wooing in the schedule too. Plus, I get to see a bunch of friends who live on the East Coast and experience this thing you all call “Fall.” I’m pulling out my sweaters and thinking of all the photos I’m going to take at the Lincoln Memorial.

Ciao,
K

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My morning routine on a good day includes 20 minutes at the bagel shop, where I sit at a long family-style table and listen to half a dozen men play poker, talk politics and bicker. I usually join in mid-bagel with the political talk and by the time I’ve finished a cup of coffee, I am either annoyed and ready to flee, or wishing I had 20 more minutes to really make my point.
These guys are great. Their interests, political and otherwise, vary wildly, but together they enjoy a certain camaraderie that’s priceless. Strangely, I really feel part of a community when I sit down with them, knowing full well these are neighbors I would have otherwise never met.
All that said, today one of the gang (to remain nameless), started talking about how 2007 will be the “year of the woman.” Gah! Simply because one woman reaches new ground politically does not mean 2007 is the “year of the woman.” I think the expression is exceptionally degrading and pandering. The truth is, there are more women in college then men, more women studying the in sciences than ever before, and more women excelling at the tight-rope walk of successful families and careers than ever before to boot. So don’t put 50 years of progress in this country on top of one woman’s shoulders and tell me that it is “year of the woman.” That is total crap. If anything, it makes me think that we aren’t viewed as equal or gender wouldn’t be an issue.
I learned my fierce independence from two grandmothers, who as single women in the 1950s fought off the social stigmas of being divorced to create careers and raise their children. My Grandma Max took a postal route in rural Pennsylvania because she could be outside and get back in time to pick up her boys from school. My Grandma Sheila became an accountant and used her math skills to run several businesses for decades, all while raising two kids of her own. So don’t throw Nancy Pelosi’s accomplishment at me as though my gender is finally getting our acts together. It is insulting.

~K

*Plus, I can bake a mean cupcake! These are carrot cake with homemade cream cheese frosting. They were delish, although I used a bit too much butter in the frosting and swear I could hear my arteries coughing.

Susan of Persimmon&Pink sent me this lovely bunting this week. Isn’t it fun? I think it adds a great splash of color to my otherwise drab curtains.

Ah Sunday morning, my favorite time of the week. You have such potential. I could lounge in my pajamas all day and no one would be the wiser. I could hop on my bike and ride until my legs burn with agony. I could sit behind my sewing machine for hours while listening to NPR. I could drive to the bagel shop with a new book and a mug to refill with hot, yummy coffee. Hmmm…
Happy day indeed!

~K

An In Stitches sew-along is in the works. I’m staying tight lipped until after the holidays so we can stay focused creatively until then. And by “we” I mostly mean “me.” Stay tuned!