Back in Boston, Contd...

A couple of weeks into being back here in Boston, and life is quite peaceful. The picture at the top is the view from our fire escape (we're pretty shielded by trees) and the edge of the purple peppers. The second is E., who kindly (was forced into) visiting the garden on the roof. She helped with the watering process, and is seen here looking pensively at the larger rooftop garden. And a picture of one tomato plant.

As of this post, I am the excited owner of a pda. It is a hand-me-down clie (acquired by Eug), and it's beautiful. I'm really excited about being able to read on it. I'm amazed by my gran who learned how to use e-mail when she was 79 or so, because I already feel like my capacity for learnning or being open to new and exciting technologies is rather limited.

Not much here, but hopefully I can share more soon.

Need help getting 1500 points

Are you living in America?
Do you drink coke or diet coke?
Do you get rewards for drinking coke?

I need help getting 1500 points. We have been picking up coke caps everywhere but can't get near the 2340 points needed for one year of free movie rentals. I know, we don't need a year's free movie rentals. But they took away the get one movie free for 45 minutes and I don't think coke thinks anyone can get 2340 points. So I thought it would be fun to try.

So... if you drink coke, in the 12 packs or the bottles, could you please send my codes on the cap or on the cardboard bit that you rip off? I'll keep you updated on whether we manage to get enough points.

Returning home from home

It's been a long time. Mainly because the people who (I think) read this were the people we've been with. We were in South Africa, first in Durban then Cape Town. Durban, apart from having a cold front, was lovely. We got to see a lot of the people who are really important and special parts of my life, and so it was amazing for Eug to meet them. We had this really good steak dinner with my cousin Debbie and her boyfriend Andrew. We stayed with Debbie and my aunt and uncle, which was super cool. We got to sleep in (recover from jetlag), finish season 2 of Prison Break, get addicted to Blokus (a game of meanness), go to every mall you can imagine for coffee, and think up excuses as to why we couldn't swim in the ocean. I also had to re-remember how to drive a regular car without causing damage to myself and the passenger.

And that was just Durban. Cape Town felt like it went quickly-- we stayed a little in my parents place, who live next door to my sister's, then went on to Hout Bay. Got to walk and think and really get rejuvenated. We didn't too much but it really felt like a major blessing for me. I stayed on for a week and a half after Eug left. Lia invited me to Maputo (Moz) and we spent 2 days together. I really like Maputo, though I can only see it in a limited way.

There was a lot of time to read-- I reread the Poisonwood Bible, read a book called Call Me Woman, an autobiography by Ellen Kuzwayo, and on the flight home I read Finding God in Unexpected Places by Yancey. All of them were great in their own ways, so I put the weight of my recommendation behind them. Hehe. Finding God in Unexpected Places was for me a down to earth way of thinking about how to pray continuously. By seeing the world as purposefull and beautiful I feel more able to praise God, and also focus less on judging or getting angry. The Message's paraphrasing of Phillippians 4: I'd say you'll do the best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious--the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

I'll write more soon. Also, the plants are doing super well. Except the cabbage. I'm going to post some pictures of Mr purple Pepper on Concrete Gardener. I know you want to see how he's doing.