Ten on Tuesday

1. Ramy went back to California on Saturday. It's just not the same without him here with us! Rebecca and I will be returning to the West Coast on Thursday. It worked out well for us to have a few more days here with Grammy, and we are happy for that opportunity, but we are sad to be without Ramy. He makes things a lot of fun! I love that one. So glad he married me.

2. One of the things I hope to do this year is to take more pictures of everyday moments. That means catching images of ordinary life in our family, instead of just special events. Some bloggers have a goal of posting an image a day for the whole year. I'm not sure that I can commit to putting up a picture every day, because sometimes I'm just not in the mood to download pics. SO, I'm going to attempt to take a picture of everyday moments every day, but I may only post them once or twice a week. We all do what we can, right?

3. In keeping with this, I'm going to initiate a new element to my blog, kind of like this Ten on Tuesday concept. It's going to be called "Wordless Wednesday." It'll be where I post a picture that may (or may not) tell a story on its own. Me, wordless. Now that's a laugh! Check in tomorrow for the first installment!

4. So, the 111th Congress convenes tomorrow. There's still no federal budget for the 2011 fiscal year (which began on October 1, 2010). That means there's still no job for Elizabeth in Alabama. If you'd like to write to your senators and representatives, ask them to please pass the budget already. It's hurting the economy and costs the government more to do this piecemeal business instead of doing their job and passing the budget already.

5. Good book recommendation: Jonathan Franzen's Freedom

6. Rebecca has been asking me a lot of theological questions lately, and I am feeling completely inadequate to answer some of them! I will soon have a whole post on her religious thoughts, questions, and comments. When we're in the car, she often says, "Tell me about Jesus." Where to begin? I may have to go back to school to take a few classes in theology. Where's the closest Catholic university?

7. While in Tennessee, I've had the good fortune to be able to visit with a lot of old friends. There really is something about catching up with people who have known you for most of your life. There's also something about friends you make in adulthood. They (and I) have the good fortune to not have had to go through things like puberty, mall bangs, teen angst, and calculus with me.

8. On that note, I realized yesterday that I have now been out of primary school for longer than I was in it (I'm talking K-12 here. I know I just actually finished school last year). Wow. My hometown is going to add a second high school this fall. I'm stunned to be someone who will remember how it was in the "old days where everyone in the county went to the same high school and everyone knows everyone because we all went to school together."

9. The Bachelor is back on television. January is off to a good start. It's such mindless smut, I know I should feel embarassed that I watch it. But I don't. I love it. The fact that the hottest Bachelor on history is back is enough for me. I don't care if he snubbed both of the finalists the last time he was on. I don't care if he does it again. It's such great melodrama.

10. While I've been in Tennessee, I've been trying to be something of a nature photographer. If only the birds at my mom's birdfeeder megaplex didn't fly away when I try to take their pictures. Or if only I didn't have to stand still for a long period of time ion the cold winter outdoors in order for them to fly back to the feeder.