CoodeIndigo

The Bruzzeze-Correa familia is here tonight; they will be here until Friday morning. These girls are just wonderful -- so adorable and funny and smart. Their parents are pretty great guests, too. Helene O'S spoke today at the Coalition of Catholic Organizations Against Human Trafficking; I wish everyone had the chance to hear her. It's just heartbreaking, terrible stuff -- the horrible things that poverty forces people to do. How can so many people believe that women are that expendable? How are we still stuck with this? ("We." As if I share these women's agony.) I gave Helene a ride from the USCCB to some State Department building on G Street, and tried to impress on her the critical situation of staffing in our office, though there's not much she can do about it.  I guess I just wanted to get it out of my system to someone in Maryknoll who might recognize the position that we are in: short staffed in a dire way. This afternoon I had this phone call wit...

Nora Ephron died today. I wasn't her biggest fan though I greatly appreciated her writing and her wit. What's up with the dearth of funny female screenwriters? Bizarre. Molly and I wrapped up some of her Polish pottery tonight -- man, I will really miss some of those bowls and cups. So pretty. So distinct. I hope they all make it to their final destination in good shape. Aaron from David G's campaign called me about petitions, and damn, I hadn't had Nicola sign her sheet yet. I called her, and she was at the pool with Susan. (Mmmph. Wish I'd been at the pool -- today was gorgeous. Truly lovely weather. Hotter than necessary but it was all just fine because there was very little humidity, so it felt like Los Angeles or something. So lovely.) Anywhoo, I told Nicola she needed to sign the sheet, and she said, "Oh, can't you just sign my name?" I said, "After all the crap going on with the DC council, it is not going to be MY fault if anything hap...

Well, I'm sure glad I wrote to Cathy D about the Bolivia visa before I went through the hoops to get one here. She told me I don't need to apply early for one since I won't be there more than 90 days, and she told me to indicate that I am a tourist when I arrive. Whew. That's a relief. One small task to not worry about anymore. One week left for Molly. She's prepped the boxes, gone through the closets, taken things out of the cupboard. It's possible that I am in denial. Not sure what this will feel like, though of course, soon after she's gone, I'll be in Bolivia for six weeks, so it probably won't sink in until the fall, and by then a lot of time will have passed. I regret how much time I've wasted -- well, I feel that about most of my life -- in the past few weeks. There is so much work to do at the office; the stupid new website is an evil thing and will mock me forever. I have to plow through NewsNotes ... I should see if I can figure...

I almost turned in tonight without writing, but decided I need to really stick with this daily blogging thing in order to make it a habit. Sadly I haven't been able to stick it out with exercising. I went to see "Don't stop believing" today, the documentary about Journey and Arnel Pineda, the singer who they found through YouTube videos. How small the world has become, how fast we can act with the internets. How incredible that that sort of thing is accessible. It was a great film, though I did wonder more about the other band members' reactions to Arnel's experience. This evening Laura, Ann, their families and I went to see the Grandsons at a public park amphitheater in Arlington; it was a lovely evening. We had a little picnic and enjoyed the music in this cozy little space. Your tax dollars at work, Arlingtonians. Thank you. Molly has plowed through a lot of her stuff in the back room's closet; all her pottery is sitting out on the kitchen table. ...

Tonight was Molly's going away party. Guests: Patricia & baby Benjamin, Kimberly, Paulina, Rebecca, Sarah & Isaiah, Sr. Margaret Mary, Cindy, Julie, Brandt, Andrew W, Andrew N & Mickey, Jim R, Laura & Patrick, Hans & Yecenia, Uta, Bob F ... and I don't know who else. I am full of wine and beer and hummos and grapes and peanut butter bars. Now that I look at this list, I wonder who I am missing, because it feels like a lot more people were here. I'm grateful to have space where people can gather. The living room is good space, with lots of seating, and it separates well from the dining area, where people can have different conversations. I do wish the kitchen was more comfortable ... Anne! Anne was here! I knew I was missing someone ... This morning started with a walk down to the White House for the TASSC vigil. Good thing I was there when I was since no one else from the office was there, and they announced us. Argh. Embarrassing. As usual, I got an...

So here's a quandry: What/how much do I reveal on this blog? Frustrations with specific people? Deep disappointments about personal issues? Aspirations and future plans that might directly affect others, before I've spoken with them? Today I faced two [minor, not a big deal] dilemmas, and any illusions I have of being a cool head are wiped out. It's amazing how easily I become distracted and flummoxed by decisions, possible outcomes, pros and cons. My head starts to hurt. And then a bit of time passes and things pan out, and I wonder why I was so stressed in the first place.

I can hardly keep my eyes open -- proofing this tomorrow should be interesting. Book group (I) was tonight at Nancy's house. She served apple pie, blueberry pie, cookies, ice cream (chocolate, vanilla and coffee), and margaritas. Margaritas are a new thing for our group -- we tend to be winers. So I had lots -- lots of pie, ice cream and margaritas, because she made plenty and only about half of us came and so there was lots to eat and drink. I didn't want any of it to go to waste. Luckily her house is about 1.2 miles from mine, so I got in a nice 20 minute walk to help burn off the 10,000 calories I consumed this evening. Oh, the book was The Three Musketeers. I am fairly certain I read it in the last 20 years, but damn, when I got into it again, it only seemed slightly familiar. Maybe my memory is fading and I'm conflating books with movies. It is a funny book, for sure, and I'm glad the women who did make a dent it in recognized that.

Lots of walking today: I walked from our office to the House side of the Capitol for a press conference that actually took place yesterday -- oops -- and then walked back after sitting in the heat for nearly an hour. Luckily I had a nice shady seat and my iPhone to distract me during my wasted hour on the Hill. Also, it is mildly interesting to watch the comings and goings around the Capitol on a regular ol' Wednesday. So then I walked back to the office, stopping at the Northwest One library to pick up "How we die," which is the Meetup reading group's next book. (It'll be my first attendance with this particular group -- it seems to fill up pretty fast.) The walks each took about 30 minutes, which is slightly faster than I expected. I didn't mind the heat/humidity too much, though I was quite happy to sit still in the air conditioning once I made it back to the office. About 4:30 I left the office and walked to Dupont Circle to attend *another* Meetup, th...

Molly moves to Boston on July 1. I've never lived with anyone for more than 10 years, except my parents and siblings, so ... yeah, I've never lived with anyone as an adult for more than 10 years. I don't remember how long I lived with Tammy -- five years? She was the only other long term roommate. It will take some getting used to, losing daily contact with someone who has gotten to know me so well, with whom I can speak in shorthand. Who knows almost all of my secrets. But it's a good thing, truly, for something to shift, and thankfully it's shifting without trauma, without rancor or hurt feelings. At least, there's no rancor or hurt feelings yet.

Does anyone use Google plus? I have an account, but I've never "done" anything with it. Can't imagine why I would. (Hello, kind Google overlords who read every blog. Please don't crush me.) One last night of mild weather before the summer onslaught begins its next round. Lots of children are outside, seemingly enjoying themselves. Once the weather turns nasty humid, the windows will be closed -- no more noise of children playing tag or whatever game it is they're playing out there. So I bought a couple of things with Bolivia in mind: 1) A skirt, which, now that it has arrived, appears to be shorter than I expected. We'll see how this goes. And 2) something called a ... well, now I can't remember what it's called. It's one piece of stretchy fabric sewn into a tube that can be pulled over one's head and worn as a headband or something. Seems like a great racket for whoever dreamt it up -- this sucker wasn't cheap. I hope my massiv...

Today was a day for some errands: buy a new printer cartridge, more Brita filters, Wolf Hall* ... Weather was perfect, so I walked downtown and then over to Dupont Circle and took care of my tasks, appreciating as always how easy it is to walk around this city and how interesting it continues to be. Starting this blog was one of the little brainstorms I had during my stroll -- hopefully I'll start writing a bit and get into the habit, and then I can use it while in Bolivia. Fingers crossed! * I am a fan of the DC library, don't get me wrong, but both book groups will read Wolf Hall this year; one book group will meet to discuss it on July 15, so I figured I'd buy it and read it now, and I then I can lend it to a member of the other group whenever they read it. Today was Father's Day, so I thought more often than usual about Daddy. It's been 11 years but I think of him quite regularly, usually wondering what advice he would give about this or that issue. ...