Today has been wonderful in so many ways!

I was having lunch with my friend Sheree to make plans for the upcoming wine gala I am coordinating (lunch was delicious and delightful all by itself, but read on...) when Jenny called to say that WE ARE GOING TO ETHIOPIA IN TWO WEEKS!

I am traveling with Matt & Jenny & Eliana to pick up their new daughters/sisters, respectively in Ethiopia. Mostly I'll be helping wrangle kids on the plane ride back and hanging out with E while Matt & Jenny do red tape-y things. I've never really traveled at all and this is a heck of a way to start! Please pray for us.

Then I got a call from Joshua that he was accepted into his dream grad program at U Chicago. Even though I'll be sad to see the Eleks leave Wheeling, I am so glad for him. We knew he would get in, but it took actually getting in for him to believe it--not a bad strategy I guess.
The rest of the day was spent getting things taken care of for work--lots of emails and phone calls--all of which were full of great news and new opportunities.

Then this evening I went to a wine tasting at GMW which was nice on its own of course, but there was a moment during Dominick's ramblings about Pinot Noir that I had such a vivid flashback to evenings spent on the Veranda when I lived there. The Veranda was this wonderful little urban secret garden/patio that was the site of so many wonderful summer evenings spent with friends, a record player, and wine and cheese. I'm feeling nostalgic--indulge me:

All these pictures are from my 27th Birthday Party--sadly, we didn't often have a camera with us on the Veranda. We really did spend time out there on other occasions!

This is the first time I have been sad not to live there anymore. Since I moved into my little yellow house, I often forget I haven't always lived here. This winter provided many wonderful memories already, but none took place outside, under the stars, warm summer evenings flying by. I have a deck and I look forward to creating new memories there, but so few of my friends from the original Veranda are around--that's a place and time that I'll never have back.

I am not sure when I'll get around to understanding that time really passes, the world keeps turning, people move on, and all this without my having any say whatsoever. Maybe tomorrow.

Talk Radio via Wheeling's Watchdawg

There is a local Wheeling talk radio station that I have grown to love. Though the hosts of the various shows throughout the week are as likely as not to make me scream at the radio in anger-- I once drove around for five minutes yelling things like "That is TREASON! You should be thrown in jail for treason against the government of the United States of America!"-- I still listen at least for a little while each day. There are many reasons why I do this, like, I love to listen to talking while I drive--I prefer NPR in the morning and evening, but when WV public radio switches to classical music at 9 AM, I switch to 1600. More importantly, though, this is the best way for me to hear about what is happening in the Ohio Valley--culturally, economically, politically, etc.

Also, it is really fun to turn on the radio and hear the voice of someone I actually know. Wheeling is a small place, so I know a few of the city council members who are often interviewed. One day, a friend who publishes InWheeling Magazine was being interviewed, and he mentioned Rachel who works for him. At the time she was like 5-6 months pregnant and Dave referred to her as being "big as a house" and "ready to pop" which was funny to me on many levels. The best though, is when someone I know has called into the station to get involved in the conversation and/or contraversy.

Recently, my friend Melissa called in to defend some disenfranchised people against the blanket statements of the afternoon host--good work, Melissa! Of course, the conversation ended with the host asking her about her drink of choice, and her nobility was lost when she was forced to respond to "You DO drink Miller Lite, though, right?" Still, I KNOW her, and she was on the RADIO!

In the last weeks I have TWICE called into the radio to talk on the air about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. I never thought I'd call in. Really. I thought I would listen and occasionally YELL at the radio, but I never thought I'd actually get involved. Both times the hosts have been gracious (even though they are the same people I so often yell at in my car, they didn't hold it against me.) Both times after I hung up, my hands have been shaking and I wish I'd been more articulate. But this is a big deal for me. I've become a person who doesn't take risks, and calling into the radio is a big risk for me. It means risking sounding silly or ignorant or *gasp* inarticulate for even one minute. Putting my thoughts out into public is a big fear for me, and I only write this blog because I believe that only people I know will ever read it, and that makes it safe. (I know I may be delusional, but I'm stickin' with it for now.)

Jenny also loves this station, and we discuss the goings-on with great enthusiasum. Jenny calls in sometimes, too, usually when outraged, though not always. When I was on vacation last year, I called Jenny and we spent a good amount of time discussing the on air conversation and personalities that I had been missing while lying on the beach in NC. Jenny's husband Matt thinks we are ridiculous. He doesn't understand our devotion to "the Valley's watchdawg." I guess, I don't really either, except somehow, I feel connected to these people who I don't know, and through them, to Wheeling.

I like what caring about Wheeling has meant in my life. I like that I've put down roots. I like having a talk radio station that I listen to. I like that this place has become my home in ways that the other places I've lived never were. I like that in a town of about 30,000 people we actually have several radio stations, and at least one that is committed to having local talk about local issues everyday. Thanks, WKKX, for furthering my citizenship here in Wheeling. I want to stay here for a long time, and you're one of the institutions that encourage me to do that.