Nicole feels

Last day of "freedom" so to speak.

Or am I looking at it backwards? Does tomorrow begin "freedom" in the sense that Nicole is doing something apart from the wife and mom gig?

Too much philosophy for an early Monday afternoon, methinks.

Rob left for DC about 5 AM. He decided to leave in the morning because his initial meeting was in northern VA and we had blinds to hang and painting to finish. The poor guy was up till after one hanging blinds on a freshly painted wall only to arise at 4:30 to get ready to hit the road.

And my promises of "I'll get up with you" were almost for naught since I didn't even know he was up until he kissed my forehead to say goodbye.

Yesterday Kaytlin's new school bud's family went to church with us. They invited us over for dinner in the evening. Evette made a kickin' spaghetti sauce which we enjoyed with equally yummy garlic bread and really sweet tea.

What I found interesting about the evening was when Evette talked about how they were looking for a racially diverse church. That is one huge reason we were excited to come back to this area and be a part of the church here.

The area in which we lived in MO was very white. No easier way to put it. That was just a fact. Rob and I both realized that we wanted our kids to grow up in a diverse community with many different races. Asian, Eastern, African-American, Hispanic, etc. You just didn't find that in our uber-yuppy community outside of St. Louis.

So, as Evette tried to tell us about their church, how every head would turn should we walk in with them, and how they felt so comfortable at our church full of faces of all different colors, the subject of terms came up. Evette said, "I hate to use the word "white", it just, I don't know...I just don't know what to say!" And I could so relate because I am never sure what to say in terms of "black" or "African American".

And you know what? Why do we even have to define things that way? It doesn't really matter, does it? Kaytlin has a friend named Brittany. And we had dinner with her family: Evette, Stew, Jeremy, and Brandon. Two families sharing a meal together by a warm fire while snow fell.

We are so blessed that we can attend a church where no one sees color.

And we are so blessed that our children are making friends regardless of culture or who has a better tan.

I am re-learning to see people from thier innocent perspective, to be color blind.

And it feels good.