23.3.09

Courage. Confidence. Character.

Just picked up a case of Girl Scout cookies we ordered from our 10-year-old niece, Ashley, this past weekend.  As I pack some of them off as Easter treats to my cousins in GA & CA, I catch myself in a moment of pensive declaration:

To the young woman I was in my blue & white pin-striped uniform & peter pan collared blouse,
To the twenty-something woman I was in my very own one-bedroom apartment where I came of age & learned to enjoy being alone,
To the thirty-something woman I was who moved from paying rent to owning her not-so-big, but cozy one-bedroom home,
To the 35-and-over woman I am who witnessed her father's death before her child's birth,
To the unborn girl who lies deep in my heart's Source,
To the confident woman I strive to be -- comfortable in my own skin, content with what is,
To all courageous women whom I have encountered in my work, among my family & friends,

Discover your power
Connect with others
Take action in your communities

Just like it says on those little cookie boxes.  While these are big lessons our grandmothers, mothers, aunties, sisters and godmothers may have taught us, it's nice to be reminded while treating myself to a couple of afternoon munchies. 

I look forward to attending a one-day women's retreat this weekend with Holistic Healing.  Am hoping to be be inspired.  To love & light.

Dinner conversation
Israeli couscous with ground turkey, peas, carrot, onions & garlic  . . . seasoned with cumin, tumeric & pepper.  A.'s favorite.  As my unemployment funds dwindle A. asked, "What's your objective with your job search?"  

To which I responded, "I just want to be in a place where I can apply my experiences and feel good about knowing that I'm helping others . . . I want to be in a position to contribute to our household income and be able to experience a family."  Knowing that I don't have to run my own shop, knowing that I'm not climbing any career ladder.  Can that be okay?  Can that be enough?  Is that okay that that's what I want? 

A. thought that I might be looking for positions comparable to what I'd peaked at during my tenure at NYU, which isn't the case at all especially given the fact that we both want so much to have a family beyond the two of us.  And if that future includes only one child, that would be a most prayed for blessing.  We've both been mindful of the task of working through the adoption application & more importantly, the budget.  Just haven't actually sat down to revisit the real financial possibility of adoption quite yet, though it's weighed heavy in our hearts for quite some time now.  

Guess we could use a dose of Courage. Confidence. & Character.   Sometime in the next couple of months would be good.