Laughter is love lived outloud

The verse that I have pinned to my bathroom wall says, "I praise thee for I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made." It's from Psalm 139, the psalm that brought me home. My senior year in high school, I came across a verse of Ps. 139: If I fly on the wings of morning, even your right hand will find me there. The poetry just got to me, like the line in the hymn that says there is no place that God is not present there.
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There is a girl over there who is half my age and wearing the exact same pink sneakers I'm wearing now. I got them at Payless!
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Tonight I have helped an art teacher who comes in a lot, an aunt whose niece is coming to visit ("she loves to do crafts"), and a boy who wanted a book on making your own rockets. I love my job!! I also troubleshooted with our help desk and told them what I thought the problem was and they called me back to thank me coz I was right!! (Total ego boost.)
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A friend of mine got her heart broken today. Luckily, hot chocolate was near. Chocolate always soothes a broken heart. So does laughter. When I called my sister tonight to fill her in on my day and the events of the week, a story I told her made her laugh and she said you make me laugh and I said life is not worth living if you can't laugh. Which is really true.
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I said I'd post poetry, and I just realized I have a poem stuck in my email account, so I'll dredge it up. It's about basements. My friend's heart was broken in a basement, a basement where she has played ping pong, piano, debated politics, practiced speeches, had great conversations...and the beat goes on. Geography can be redeemed.
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I'm kind of excited about thinking about the Writing Program at Carlow. If I could finish the novella I've been working on since college (too long ago), what a birth that would be--I've been in labor for over 15 years!!

**************** 2 Poems by Sarah Louise*************

Ode to a Basement: on the occasion of my Birthday at the Open Door

This basement has been one long party:
The candles on my nineteenth cake,
The Easter breakfasts, wedding receptions, Alpha dinners.
Cornerstone began the fest:
We faced the other way and sang choruses to a lone piano.

When upstairs was being beautified, church was here, Lou at the helm--
He could always count on me to laugh at his sermon jokes.

Now we journal, paint doors with glue and candle wax,
Offer communion and community one to the other.
Pray--we always prayed, and this hasn't stopped yet.
Now we have candles and anoint each other with oil.

Basements have always been fun:
When at six I gave Lydia the purple dress and Jesus freckles during Sunday school.
Making eyes at cute guys across the Bible verses,
and singing, always singing.

"They will know we are Christians by our love" was my song,
and I knew I was in the right church
when I worked Saturdays side by side
Unionly, at Stanton and Negley.

Ode to a basement: this one and my past and future.
Who knew a cellar would be at the root of it all?

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Trial Size

Who are they kidding?
Three ounces of something
is supposed to get me
through
this?

*********************2 of my favorite Knock Knock Jokes
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Oswald.
Oswald who?
Oswald my gum.

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Iguana.
Iguana who?
Iguana hold your hand...

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I visited a lady today to talk to her about Seminary, even though I decided yesterday that I'm probably going to do the Carlow writing thing, and she had a picture of a girl dancing and the words "I hope you dance." In her office, she had drums that she had purchased from one of the drummers from the band Rusted Root. She runs a summer institute for high school students and one of the classes the past coupla summers has been a drum class taught by this guy. Pretty cool. I would love to learn drums. I like to think I'd be pretty good. (Hee hee.)

I wish I had a picture to post...I'll have to work on that.