There were a couple of topics in particular that really struck a chord with me.  One of these was the discussion on ‘white privilege’.  During our second evening together, we were all asked to fill out a questionnaire composed of true/false statements such as ‘I can choose a bandage in “flesh color” and know it will more or less match my skin color’, or ‘If a traffic cop pulls me over, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race’.  I answered ‘True’ to all 17 statements.  A perfect score.  But as other people in my group shared their scores of 10, 9, 8, etc, I became increasingly ashamed of my A+ paper.  I felt guilty that I couldn’t relate to other people’s stories of discrimination and inequality.  I was living in an easier, more comfortable kind of world, blissfully enjoying race as a total ‘non-issue’.  And so I was embarrassed by my privilege.  Then I read the questions again, stewed awhile, and the more I thought about it, my guilt transitioned into defensiveness.  I didn’t ask for these so-called ‘privileges’.  I wasn’t responsible for the production white-person Band-Aids, or fashion magazines filled with supermodels primarily of my same skin color.  These were things beyond my control, whether they were fair or not.  Sure, Shane and I certainly live privileged lives, but we have worked hard for things like our home, our well-stocked fridge, our clothes-filled closets.  So why should I feel guilty?  This period of defensiveness was thankfully short-lived as I reminded myself that the church leaders I value and trust were not intending to persecute me because of my race – there had to be a constructive lesson behind all of this.  And so I wrestled with this issue of ‘white privilege’ further.  And I came to recognize that I do regularly enjoy a number of unearned advantages based on the fact that I am part of the racial majority.  But what was I supposed to do with this realization?  I was happy to find that one of the topics up for discussion at the learning conference that took place at Quest yesterday was, ‘White Privilege – Now What?’  Jason read my thoughts as he expressed the difficulty in figuring out what to do with the knowledge that we still live in a very racially unjust world, where white people often enjoy certain benefits at the expense of racial minorities.  He didn’t give us a checklist of things we could do to right these wrongs, or a twelve-step process for obliterating white privilege, but his challenge to all of us was powerful: he asked us to allow ourselves to live in discomfort – to be ‘agitators for justice’, to be daily aware of and uncomfortable with the injustice of white privilege.  God has not called us to live blissfully ignorant lives.  No, I don’t know yet exactly how, where, or when I’ll be called to action, but I’m definitely walking around with wider, more aware eyes now.  That’s a start.

But still, blog-worthy or not, an update is in order, so here’s the happenin’ highlights:

Like I said, work is busy.  But it’s good.  The hours are longer than I’d prefer, but the work is challenging, I’m learning a lot, and I’m being trusted with a lot.  Yes, I certainly have those ‘work sucks’ kind of days, but I also have those ‘Man, I was ON today!’ kind of days, and they seem to make it all worth it.

After over a year of scheming and planning and budgeting with our neighbors for our big backyard renovation, construction is finally underway, as of today.  Photos and plans to come, but for now, I will just say that I can’t wait to set up a few chairs in our new yard and share some burgers and beer with friends.  We’ve been dealing with a pretty inhospitable outdoor space for the last couple of years, but all of that is about to change!

I am getting a major vacation itch.  Some of our friends are trying to pull together a winter trip to Hawaii, which sounds amazing.  Shane keeps talking about his desire to visit New Zealand, which also sounds amazing.  But the un-amazing fact is that vacations require both time and money, so nothing is on the books just yet.   For now, I will have to content myself with our little weekend stay-cations (mornings spent in cafes and afternoons spent napping on the couch).  This is not so bad, come to think of it…

Shane will run his marathon in Portland in T minus 15 days.  He has been training like a mad-man, running for hours at a time on Saturday mornings, then hobbling around the house for the following two days.  I am amazed by his driven-ness.  Seriously.

And with that, I’m fresh out of new content.  Tired, too, so I’m signing off for now, hoping I’ll have some kind of adventure or new experience or something to report about in the next few days.

Fresh berries.  My parents brought us a couple of pounds of fresh-picked Oregon blueberries when they were here last week, and Shane and I have been eating them by the handful.

The Lupines that are blooming in our little front yard garden.

This handmade white ceramic vase that we bought on one of our last days in Paris.  It’s nice to have little reminders of our trip such as this one scattered about the house.

My cute new jeans that I got on super-sale at Nordstrom Rack.

Evening and weekend runs with Shane.  We’ve put quite a few miles on these shoes over the past few weeks.  Feels good to be getting in shape together.

Despite the fact that I am married to Mr. Techy-Gadgety-Man, I am woefully uninformed when it comes to the latest trends in technology.  I would rather follow my favorite art blogs and keep up to date on the Jon and Kate plus 8 saga than read about the newest thing in computers or software or cell phones.  But when the release of the iPhone 3GS coincided with my contract renewal period with AT&T, I started to get a little tech-giddy.  I have been jealously eyeing Shane’s sleek iPhone for the last year, as I’ve lugged around my clunky, user-unfriendly Nokia.  And so, here was my chance to have the latest and greatest in cell phone technology – and I seized it.  We pre-ordered the phone and I had it delivered to my happy little hands the day it was released.  Woo-hoo!  So now that I’ve enjoyed two weeks of iPhone-dom, here’s my list of top 5 reasons why I love this phone:

1.  I’m so connected.  I love being able to check email with a little flick of the finger, to upload a photo to Facebook from the top of mountain in Oregon, or to hop on the www.onebusaway.org to check how late my bus may be running.

2.  I don’t get lost anymore.  I used to often call Shane when I was out on my errand runs, wanting to know if there was a Crate and Barrell nearby, or needing directions to the nearest Chipotle.  Now, with Google Maps and GPS, I am able to look up directions myself to anywhere from anywhere, and Shane is relieved that he no longer has to be my on-call yellow pages.

3.  I can travel lighter now.  All of my music can be stored on my phone, so I no longer need to carry my iPod around as well.  And anything that lightens the load in my Mary Poppins purse is a good thing.

4.  I can use it without having to read a manual.  As I mentioned earlier, I am far from tech-savvy, but even a tech-klutz like myself can navigate this phone with ease.  So smartly designed.

5.  It’s pretty.  Apple has done it again.

Now, to be fair, the iPhone certainly has its disadvantages, too.  Ironically, the primary downfall of owning an iPhone is also the primary bonus of owning an iPhone:  I’m so connected.  It used to be the case that as soon as I hopped on the bus in the morning, I would pull out my book to get a few pages of reading done on my way to work.  Now, books have taken a backseat as I hop on the bus and pull out my iPhone to check my email and the latest on Facebook.  Connectedness is addictive.  And so I’ll have to learn restraint.  But all in all, this is a very cool little piece of technology.  Worth every penny.