Ennui

The cure for boredom is curiosity.

There is no cure for curiosity. ~Dorothy Parker

Hi - remember me?

I used to post to my blog on a fairly regular basis. I used to read blogs on a regular basis, as well.

Lately, I haven't done much of either.

Nothing's really been wrong - I think I've just been in a state of ennui. Yep, that's it: a general lack of interest. Not just in blogging - in everything. I think I'll blame it on hormones. I blame everything on hormones these days!

Oh, I've kept busy...

I've been tutoring at the jail twice a week.

Mark is doing extremely well, and really keeps me on my toes. We've moved into high gear because he's due to be released December 23. I want to expose him to as much GED preparation reading and writing as I can before he enters an adult education program in January.

I've been quilting.

I finished this little cowboy-themed table-topper for two dear friends of mine who recently married. I'm also working on several Christmas gifts, which I can't post here until after the holiday, just in case certain people read my blog!

I led a discussion for the first time at my book club.

We talked about the book Pope Joan, which is fascinating for those of you who love historical fiction, like I do. It takes place in the 9th century, so we had an interesting discussion about women's roles then versus now. Thank goodness a lot has changed! Was there really a female pope? Read the book and see what you think.

And today, I volunteered for four hours at a local polling place.

I think this is what drove me to blog after such a long absence: I want to share with everyone what a wonderful experience it was this morning, to be part of the voting process. We had been warned of issues that might come up with voters or demonstrators, asking us to document things with camera phones, etc. I was pretty upset about it all yesterday, wondering what in the world has happened to our country that we're so bitterly divided.

But opening the polls this morning at 7:00 AM and finding a line of cheerful and proud people waiting to vote contradicted every bad thing we'd heard might happen. Yes, we are still very much divided in our nation, and I hope whichever person is elected will work very hard to unite our country once again.

However, the greatest thing I saw this morning was a Mom and Dad with their young adult son. It was his first time voting. They were taking pictures of him in front of the fire station where we were located, standing next to the "polling place" sign and the American flag. The young man was grinning from ear to ear, pointing to his "I Voted Today" sticker. I know it sounds corny, but it was a proud moment to be an American.

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So, I'm hoping that my feeling of ennui has passed and I can once again feel engaged in life. The holidays are fast approaching and this is way too busy of a time to feel blah! Forgive me for not keeping up on your blogs, but know that I'm going to do my best to catch up on things.

Until next time...