Who goes to Siberia in February?

We have friends there right now. They left Sunday to pick up their adopted child from an orphanage. The dad flew all that way with a ruptured disk, in a lot of pain. The mom left a new job here with tremendous responsibility. Yet nothing seemed very important when the phone call came that their son was ready to 'come home.'

All the late nights of waiting for pain pills to kick in and all the extra hours needed to staff an agency and keep patients safe and progressing...nothing seemed all that urgent once the call came...Josiah was ready to come home.

I wrote a while ago about an adopted child in Haiti who had hit the jackpot with two godly grateful parents. Here we are again. The jackpot! Life holds no guarantees or promises but once in a while all the shining forces in the universe combine to create a family. Whatever you call that force, it is a miracle.

We were in Amsterdam. Amazingly we had been invited to a royal dinner and were dressed for the part. Arriving early we selected a table near the wall near the front, sat down and watched the beautiful people of The Netherlands arrive and mingle. We were content to gaze in wonder.

A few minutes before dinner was to begin there were six empty places at our table. A flourish of trumpets and the queen herself, Queen Beatrice, arrived with her entourage. She glided straight to our table and the empty chairs. She scanned our faces and dress and furtively looked around for escape to a more appropriate, and interesting, table at which to sit.

Then I woke up.

And that's what I'm thinking about.

The most astonishing thing!

I was watching a lecturer on a video last week and was stunned to see her hands. At first I was drawn to her hands because they were so beautifully manicured. Then I was flabbergasted to see...six fingers on each hand.

I blinked and blinked once more. Did I see that right? No, there were only five. Then a second later, six again. I was positive I was seeing six, no five...What was going on?

Bifocals will do that to you.

And that's what I think about it.

When I was the mother of young children I tried to always make sure that if there were contingencies or consequences or parameters to a privilege that the children knew these before they accepted whatever it was.

And so, if they wanted the car, they knew that the car had to be returned by a certain time, or that seat belts were required for all passengers or that nine people could not safely ride in the vehicle.

When they were given an allowance, they knew ahead of time that lunches and music lessons had to be paid for out of that allowance. Those were the parameters.

These things were laid out ahead of time so there were no surprises and all parties knew what the expectations were.

It wasn't that the children were unintelligent, it just made good sense to reinforce the rules.

Imagine my outrage (no, it is not too strong a word) when banks were given billions of dollars in federal (read: taxpayer) money and used it for bonuses, retreats, renovation and decorating of offices.

As irresponsible and stupid as that is I wonder at the ignorance of any body that would give this kind of money to anyone without stipulations about how it was to be used. Surely the politicians did not think the banks would use the money responsibly. They had not up to this point which is why they were in trouble. I am not sure who I am more upset with, the bankers or the politicians.

One good thing.

Attorneys are looking pretty honorable to me in comparison.

And that's what I'm thinking about.

Sometimes I sit here and wonder what the rest of the world is doing right now.

Like the peasants in Camelot, wondering what the royals are up to, I think my friends may be out having fun, like maybe they are sitting in a movie theater eating popcorn and watching The Pink Panther. Perhaps in Ohio they are sipping a glass of wine or in California, they are thinking about the next class they will attend or the book they are writing. Here in Indiana I think some friends are getting ready for a trip to Florida to visit...other friends (it is always about this time I wish I had friends living in, say, the south of France).

I think I have friends napping, studying for classes tomorrow, playing games with other friends or even on a date.

I do not believe that even a one of them wonders what I am doing right now (I should just name you people so you know all of you who are not thinking about me right now).

Just kidding about that last.

But that's what I'm thinking about.

My favorite seat is right in front of the window. The sun comes in, the cat lays up behind me; it is very cozy.

I get up from that spot often during the day to read email, write email, blog, to check news on the Internet. My computer, as you may have guessed, is in another room. The computer does run on battery but I prefer to save that feature until I really need it. It is annoying, the getting up and down, perhaps more so for the cat who has to stretch and reposition every time I do.

Imagine the "Ah Ha!" moment when I realized that there is an electrical outlet right behind this spot.

Yep, it has been there for the whole four years I have had the laptop. For the whole four years that I have been up and down, back and forth multiple times a day. DOH!

And that's what I'm thinking about.

One perceives life through their own set of filters and biases. No thought is value free.

Oh my, I need to get back to real life and put these textbooks and their deep thoughts aside for a while.

This morning, some friends left for a week in Haiti. One the one hand I wanted to go with them. On the other hand...well, reread my blog post on flying.

There is a huge multipurpose building being erected on the beach front across the road from Sonlight Academy in Haiti. Pictures arrived this week showing huge cross beams being lowered into place. The men on the team that left this morning will help with building construction. The two women who are on the team will teach in the school and tutor.

Valentine parties will be put on for the students. Candy is a universal 'friend maker.' Sweets are not too common in Haiti and teams coming in from the states often have carry-on luggage full of candy to distribute. The children expect these treats and follow Americans down the street asking for hand outs. They are rarely disappointed.

In a couple of weeks, after this team returns, a second team will go in to Sonlight Academy. This team is headed by a dentist and three assistants.

Cause and effect? I think so.

And that's what I am thinking about.

I am reading a required text that was written 50 years ago by a theologian. It has been reissued and updated several times over the decades. I must say he had quite the command of the English language.

And so I sit on the couch, covered with a fleece lap robe due to the temperatures that seep into the house. On top of the blanket I have two high-lighters and a pen. I hold the paperback edition of the tome in one hand and take notes with the other.

Beside me I have an 8-pound dictionary. I find myself looking up definitions once or twice or, with particularly difficult passages, thrice on one page. I jot the definitions in the margins. Most of the words I have heard, but some not. Some I have even used but never really understood, or knew, their meaning.

So now I do. And my head is spinning.

And that's what I think about that.

The drive was icy. To save time for the friend picking me up for a class I walked to the end of the drive on my husband's arm to wait for her.

Two or three inches of ice covered the drive. I was picking my way very slowly down the slight hill to the street.

You are way ahead of me.

At the end of the drive, with no warning and with no grace, I went down...down...down on my knee (and then rolled over on my behind).

After the initial shock I realized that my friend had gotten out of the car, sliding her way around to me. My husband was saying, 'are you all right?' 'what hurts?'

Besides my ego, nothing seemed broken. When I figured out the former I got tickled. I could feel the ice seeping into my jeans and gloves, the only things touching the ground. As my husband tugged and my friend pulled, I just giggled at the absurdity of it all.

This morning I am sporting a grand bruise on my leg and knee. Sadly it will be covered in long johns and jeans so no one can 'ooh' and 'aah' and ask aghast, 'what happened?' 'are you all right, you poor thing?'

But that also keeps me from having to explain, and give them the visual of the accident. I do not want to do that to their psyche.

And that's what I think about it.

Someone who failed, or forgot, to pay his income taxes is now head of the Treasury Department!

What next?

A middle school drop-out as Secretary of Education?

A convicted felon in charge of the penal system?

A nurse's aid as Surgeon General?

Hugh Hefner appointed as Recreation Secretary?

Where, I ask you, is the proverbial hand basket that this country is in on its way to you-know-where?

And that's what I think about it.

A very disappointing thing happened last Friday.

With a stroke of a pen, President Obama reversed the abortion funding ban.

And that is all I will say about that.