Thoughts on Last Night's Debate

I don't want to share too much about the debate I attended last night because I think it's really hard to stay neutral on all of these really important issues...and I'd argue religion is either the most important or, at the very least, in the top three.

I will say that it was very interesting to hear two sides, however it was also frustrating. Clearly the two men were not seasoned debaters, however Robert Casteline from Denver Seminary was better at delivering his talking points and the better conclusion came from philosophy professor Mark Gowan. Neither side delivered a knock-out debate, though. Since I've been spending the last few months really delving into religion from all viewpoints I have become familiar with many of the arguments for both the monotheistic and atheistic points-of-view. During the debate I wanted to shout out an argument one or the other gentlemen should have been using to make their point. Sort of like, "Hey buddy, you should be saying this!! Duh!" But I didn't. That would have been rude.

The two men were very cordial to eachother, but not everyone in the audience was as kind. I had to ask the two girls behind me to keep their voices down since I wanted to listen to the debate, not the oh-so-awesome deals they got on their boots at DSW. One of them had the nerve to give me the stink eye. Perhaps she didn't get the memo about the whole debate thingy and thought everyone was just hanging around discussing religion and accessories.

I'm very tired today since I skipped out on my chance at sleep before work to attend the debate. I'm hoping last night exempt me from using my brain too much today.

The God Debate

I wasn't going to discuss this here, but this blog is about me and my life so I might as well. I just don't want to be judged for it or anyone to make assumptions, but I know that's bound to happen and I can't really do anything to stop it but explain my position.

Tonight I am attending a debate about God. The questions posed will be along the lines of "Can we have morality without God?" and "Is there evidence for God's existence?" The debate will be held at a local college between Robert Casteline from the Denver Seminary and Mark Gowan, an ACC philosophy professor.

The reason I am attending the debate is because I am genuinely interested in what both sides have to say. I don't think we can be fully convicted in our beliefs or lack of beliefs unless we are fully equipped. I also think it's just a very interesting way to spend a Thursday night. And it's free, which is the number one selling point for me.

So tonight I'll grab a seat in the college cafeteria, coffee in hand to keep me awake since I'll be skipping my nap, and furiously scribble down all the notes I can. If I find any of it worthy of sharing I will post a few talking points from each side tonight. If it's terribly boring I'll fall asleep and have no notes to share. Stay tuned....

FINALLY!

I haven't kept up with posting my daily photos on my photo blog because I (as always) have been extremely busy. I have been taking photos, but when it comes to posting them I haven't found the time. However, since a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders I will be completely updating it tonight with the photos I've been taking all along.

And what was this huge weight you ask? (Okay, maybe you didn't ask but I'm going to go right on ahead and type about it anyway.) I finally got everything squared away for school! If you don't remember, I thought I had everything ready to go so I could start this past August and it all fell through due to some antics of mine seven years ago. I've been working my way through some very tough-to-cut red tape ever since.

I checked my student account to day and found out all of my documents have been reviewed and I've been awarded enough financial aid to cover my tuition and Anna's preschool tuition...but I didn't want to get too excited until I went back and made sure all of my t's were crossed and yadda yadda yadda. Well, they were all crossed!!

This is a gigantic relief for me. I've been wanting to go back to school for so long, but until Sergej graduates and is established in his field there is no way we can afford to pay my tuition out-of-pocket. Not to mention I'll have to put Anna in daycare on top of tuition and books and parking and...lots of stuff. Anyway, the worrying seems to finally be over and I will soon be able to register for classes and breathe a big sigh of relief. I cannot wait to begin this new journey!

Push

Due to the time change early this morning I had an extra hour to kill at work. Our pager is broken so I couldn't leave the main lobby or I wouldn't be able to hear any emergency alarms that might go off (none did.) Normally I kill and hour or two in the gym and yoga studio plus another hour walking around the building. I can honestly say that it's hard to find nine hours worth of stuff to do when I actually have to...but give me a day off of work and on my own and I will never have enough time to finish all my lazy lounging!

On the way to work I stopped at the grocery store and purchased the book Push which has been made into a movie titled Precious. This book is disturbing to say the least. I'm almost finished with it and it's so incredibly heart breaking and devastating. It's about a 16-year-old girl, Precious Jones, living in Harlem who is having her second baby. Both of her children are the product of rape by her father. Her mother is abusive and Precious carries the weight of the world on her shoulders, yet can't read or right. The book is written as a narrative in Precious's broken, uneducated, slang-littered vocabulary. The style takes a few pages to get into the flow of, but once I was able to "hear" the voice, it really takes you into Harlem right next to Precious as she experiences the many trials she faces.

I have been hearing very good things about the movie. It's not a date night movie or something to take the family to, it has a lot of raw emotion and realism. I hope to see it sometime soon, though I'll probably wait until it's out on DVD since I haven't a clue when I'll ever have time to go to the movie theater. Anyway, I guess my point is it's a good read (good meaning eye-opening and horrific I suppose) and it should be a good film as well. If you have the time, go see or read it.

Being a Kid Again

It has been snowing for the last 30 hours or so without stopping. It looks like it is going to continue for another couple of hours or more and we are expected to have a total of around 18" of snow. Sergej's work tends to close down during snow storms because they're located near the mountains and nobody makes it in during storms anyway, so it looks like today will be a snow day for us. Believe it or not, I'm very excited about that!

I wasn't always fond of the snow. In fact, it's a very new development. I always loved how Denver looked after a snowstorm; Everything is white and looks so clean and pure. I just didn't like the cold. However, I bought my first pair of snow boots in 10 years or so and that has made a huge difference. I suppose it just helps to dress appropriately. I'm still figuring out that whole "appropriateness" gig. I'm getting there!

Anyway, we took Anna to a certain big-box retailer last night and picked out a toboggan. Today we are going to drag it down the street to the school that is almost certainly going to be closed (there is a nice big hill on school grounds) and we'll spend the early afternoon showing Anna what being a kid is all about. If that plan fails there is always a park about 1.5 miles down the road with a bigger (and therefore better) hill. One way or another, Anna will get to play in the snow today. She's been asking to play in the snow since August...because she's insane.

I can't help but be a little giddy at the idea of spending a couple hours sledding. I haven't gone in so long! It'll be fun to act like a kid for a little while.

Baked Herbed Asparagus

I love asparagus. A lot. I've been known to eat an entire meal of asparagus before. I decided to bake some asparagus last week and came up with this recipe that is actually very edible and, most importantly, very tasty! It's super easy, too, which is a must for me since I handle most of the cooking while also handling mommy duties.

You will need:

Fresh asparagus (one bunch but if you really like asparagus, get two for good measure.)

Olive oil

Thyme

Dill

Basil

Salt

Pepper

You can change the herbs to suit your taste. Sergej doesn't like rosemary, so I used dill instead. But rosemary would probably go great with the thyme and basil. I think garlic would also be great thrown on there.

Preheat your oven to about 400 degrees. Trim asparagus (for a handy video on the proper way to trim asparagus, click here) and place flat on a foil coated baking sheet. Brush the spears with olive oil. Sprinkle herbs on and add salt and pepper to taste. This is not an exact science, just throw on as much as you think you'll like. I'm pretty liberal with my herbs, so I put plenty on. Bake the asparagus for 12-15 minutes and voila! Your easy side dish (or main dish if you're me) is ready!

The first time I made this I let the fresh asparagus sit in my fridge for a few days and further ripen. The second time I made this the day I bought the asparagus. I prefer letting them ripen a little more so there isn't quite as strong of a taste, but I ate boat loads of the asparagus either way :)

Party Time!

I finally got my furnace working. Sort of. I'll have to eventually call someone out to look at it and do some kind of service that costs hundreds of dollars, but for now I'm fine with it's current state of semi-workingness. I'm planning on focusing on something else for the next few days. Perhaps I'll get some much needed cleaning done since my house is in absolute shambles. My niece will be staying with us tonight and tomorrow night, so Anna will have a playmate while I tend to the other million things that need to get finished. But before I delve into that, we are going to take Anna to a Halloween party today and have a little fun. We will all be dressed as pirates (actually Anna will be dressed as a pirate and Sergej and I will be pretending to be dressed as pirates by putting on some eye patches) and I'm very excited about that because in January we are throwing a pirate themed party for Anna's birthday. So this is just getting my party-planning juices flowing. I haven't planned a party for a while and I'm getting a party itch. Perhaps I should have chosen party planning as my career path.

Anyway, I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend. My three-day weekend is just beginning and I'm hoping to be very productive this week. I may even post here every day! Don't hold your breath, I'm just putting it out there that it's a possibility.