It's Just a Flesh Wound

Apparently one is supposed to catch a frisbee with one's hands and not with the bridge of the nose.

Who knew?

Yes, I've been away. Again. Working. Schlepping. Learning all sorts of interesting things. For example:

• Appreciative Inquiry - in the world of organizational development, this idea is based on the concept that we can build organizations around what works, rather than trying to dwell in and fix what doesn't. (And it's antithetical to being a pessimist...which basically means I'm working against type here.)
• Collaboration theory - working jointly with others or together – especially in an intellectual endeavor. (Which is easier said than done. Duh.)
• Transparency - the state of being without barriers, deceit, pretense or other things which clouds "showing up" as the real you. (And you thought I was talking about clean windows.)
• Presence - the place of being present in a metaphysical or emotional/personal sense - and it's more than just taking up space.

All very cool. In fact, I'm going to spend much of my summer learning about collaboration and how it intersects with leadership.

And all of this learning is very much taking up every spare moment that I'm not using to bake the perfect Shavuout cheesecake ("Look Ma! No cracks."), potty train #2 or pack #1 off to camp.

Which brings to me to my goals for the summer:

1. Get to the gym at least twice each week and do something more than haul baskets of laundry from the top floor to the basement on Sundays.
2. Read at least thing for pleasure...but again it'll probably have something to do with school (I've had Hermann Hesse's Journey to the East sitting by the bed for weeks along with Ha Jin's Crazed, Candace Robb's A Trust Betrayed and piles of other books sitting reproachfully gathering dust.)
3. Get through the entire Torah portion on Shabbos and not just have the good intention to do so...and make it to shul on time most of the time (ok, wishful thinking)
4. Practice the piano twice a week...I feel so much better having done something creative. And I've worked so hard to become proficient at a couple of those Chopin Etudes.
5. Enjoy our CSA. We're part of a "shared" farm. Community Supported Agriculture is a good thing. Each week (Thursday) we get a box of produce delivered. Dirt still clings to the leaves of the organic lettuce. OK, so it throws Shabbos menu planning into a tizzy. It's still wonderful to eat berries that taste like, well, berries.

So, before I go off to eat my lunch (a half pint of raspberries), and return to pondering intercultural communication, I have one more goal to add to the list: write just a tad more here. After all, if she can do it (with twins no less) or if she can, too (with a wedding to plan), maybe I can too. I mean, it's only grad school. Oh yeah, and everything else.