My Blog and 150 Hits!

That's right, good ol' Laurie somehow got 150 hits to her blog in the last couple of weeks!  How?  Well, seems that the "Funny Halloween Stories" was a big hit.  Who'd 've thunk?  I can't believe how many people have been googling those very words, then visiting my blog.  Apparently, I show up on the first page of links, so I guess it goes to show how a simple title can get your blog a ton of traffic.

Life on the home front has been quiet, for the most part.  My son has been calling regularly from college.  It's a big change from last year when he hardly called at all.  He's facing some major decisions in his college career, and he's struggling.  If you feel inclined, please pray for him.  He's having a rough time of it.

We have several kids out sick with flu-like symptoms.  I saw on the news the other day that if you have flu-like symptoms, to just assume you have H1N1.  Okay.........So Lysol wipes, Purell, and Lysol spray have been getting a lot of use in the office by yours truly.  A few teachers have fallen victim to the bug, so it's really making the rounds.

A bit of good news is that I got on the scales the other day, and found that I have lost 17 pounds in little less than a year.  That may not sound like much, but I didn't think I was carrying too much extra weight, but 17 pounds sounds like a lot.  How did I do it?  I cut portion sizes down to something more normal, and I quit putting sugar in my coffee!  That's it!  Well, I've also been trying to avoid sugary snacks and baked goods.  I still eat them, I just cut back.

 

I've just finished reading a wonderful book.  

Greg Mortenson has become my hero!

He climbed the mountain K2 in Pakistan, the second highest mountain in the world.  He didn't quite make it to the peak.  Upon coming off the mountain, he recuperated in a small Pakistani village where he witnessed the village children traipsing off to 'school' with sticks in their hands.  Their 'school' was a pile of dirt that they sat upon with sticks in hand, writing their letters and sums.  Their 'school' had no walls, no bathrooms, and no cafeteria.  This view into their poverty-stricken life compelled Mortenson to make a promise that was difficult in the keeping, but he did, indeed, keep his promise.  His promise to these school-aged children and their families was to build them a school.  It was the beginning of the organization known as Central Asia Institute.  Greg has gone on to build numerous schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan throughout the years as the director of the organization.

If you're looking for something to read that might inspire you or lift you out of a bad mood, read it!  Yes, read it!  I enjoyed it so much.  It brought home to me that with all our worries and anxieties, we don't have it quite as bad as we think we do.

My reading has taken on a few too many books at once, but I'm enjoying the opportunity to stretch myself through my reading list.  Well, okay, that Barbra Streisand biography might not be stretching me much, but it's an interesting read.

I'm also reading a book called Reading Lolita in Tehran.  For some reason, I have been gravitating toward that portion of the world where turmoil is a way of life.  Reading Lolita in Tehran is written by Azar Nafisi. 

Now, personally, I think that Nafisi is a bit full of her self, mainly because she tries really hard to prove that she's academial, but once you get past that point, it's a pretty good read.  Nafisi was once a Western Literature professor at the University of Tehran.  Born in Iran, she was educated in the United States, but returned to Tehran to teach.  The memoir she presents takes place before, during, and after the revolution that kicked the Shah out, and planted the Ayatollah Khomeini in his place.  (You know, I personally remember all those news stories way back then).

Being a Supreme Ruler - which basically means he was the highest ranking political and religious leader of Iran - he pronounced severe changes to society as a whole, mainly towards women.  Nafisi would gather together weekly with a small number of her former students.  They would read and discuss Western Literature within the realm of Fitzgerald (Gatsby), Austen (Pride and Prejudice), James, and Nabokov.  All this literature had been banned by the Ayatollah, so it was during these covert meetings that the women got to know each other, and the trials they faced as women living in Iran.  I'm not finished reading it yet, so I'll let you know what I think when I'm finished.  So far, I like it!  It brings to forefront the struggles that women in that kind of society face.

I'm also reading A.W. Pink's An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount.  I've read Pink before, so I'm sure that I'll like this one too.  If you are interested in checking out some of his books, they are online for your reading pleasure here.   I happened upon this site a few years back while visiting Theology from a Bunch of Dead Guys which is part of the Spurgeon archives.

Well, I certainly have a lot of reading on my list, but once your house becomes the 'empty nest' you find you have a lot more time for all those things you've wanted to do for years.  I'm also working to complete an afghan that I put on my knitting machine around 2 months ago.  I'm getting there, and when I'm finished I'll post a picture.  

I guess we've caught up by now!  As you can see, I've been pretty busy!