The Seattle Times has reported that a British school teacher working in Sudan has been charged with "inciting religious hatred" because she "allowed her students to name a class teddy bear Muhammad."

Fundamentalist Muslims are often in the news these days, and considering that all or most of the teacher's students are Muslims, supposedly educated in their faith by their parents, it is obviously ridiculous that the same parents have now asked that the teacher be charged and sentenced to 40 lashes and possible jail time.

But lest you think fundamentalist Christians are above such an stupid row, consider another story posted on the 365gay.com news service about a community college that refused to provide its employees with optional gay domestic partner health insurance coverage, due to pressure from fundamentalist Christians. However, the school is willing to offer employee's the option of PET HEALTH INSURANCE! Offering domestic partner insurance would have cost the school nothing. All costs would have been born by the insured employees. I'm sure there are no "Christians" protesting the offer of pet insurance.

And the world gets curiouser and curiouser.

Today was a holiday from work and the weather was nasty for much of the day. I spent part of yesterday looking at furniture, and today I made the leap. I did something Gene and I had talked about for years - buying a real bedframe. But I didn't stop there. As you can see below, I also ordered a small dresser on which will rest my bedroom TV. Also, I bought a small side table which will sit next to my recliner in the media room. All three pieces are expected to arrive in 4-6 weeks. I suppose the purchase of these items is an example of one way in which I am making things my own.

The bed is a light cherry color and king sized, of course. It should match my current pieces without being identical. The black dresser will sit at the end of the bed, below a window, holding the TV on top. As for the side table, the upper section is a box which opens. I'll keep my remotes inside. You can click on any picture to look at the pieces closely.

Yesterday, I set out to have an adventure in my new car. Sophia came along but Amy stayed home. Bringing along two dogs would have been too much work, so I limited attendance to dogs that matched the color scheme of the new car.

With Sophie packed up and nestled in her crate, we set out toward Pier 52 to catch the 9:35am Bainbridge Island ferry. While waiting to load, I wanted to take the dog out for a quick walk, but I discovered I'd neglected to put a collar on her prior to our departure. Perfect! It was an opportunity to try one of the features of my car's navigation system. I did a search for pet stores on Bainbridge. I found a listing but once we followed the voice commands and electronic map, we arrived only to discover the store had been closed. We conducted a second search and found another pet store in Poulsbo. Eureka! Sophia has a new steel choke chain.

We drove across the Hood Canal bridge toward the Victorian town of Port Townsend. On the way, we drove through Port Ludlow Village. Once we arrived at our destination, we parked on Water street with the beautiful brick buildings surrounding us. The sun had come out. The sky was blue and the weather was warm. It was a perfect day for a walk and some leash training. Sophie did a terrific job and attracted the attention and comments of all who passed by. She still doesn't like to sit on command though.

Later, for lunch, I ate at McDonalds. I don't eat fast food very often, and seldom at McDonalds. I was very disappointed. The double cheese burger was a waste of money.

Then we drove north to Fort Worden State Park. It's a beautiful site. The old officer's row houses are used as vacation rentals and artist lofts. Sophie and I spent time on the nearby beach playing fetch. At first Sophia was afraid of the small scale surf. But soon enough, she was attacking the foamy tide and I was racing after her to prevent a doggy drowning.

By 2pm, we were in line to board another ferry, this time bound for Whidbey Island. We made a smooth passage and headed north through Coupeville. We stopped by the old Captain Whidbey Inn before continuing on to Deception Pass. Once there, we took a walk around the bridge and gazed 180 down to see the rapids forming as the tide changed. Sophie left her mark by peeing on the concrete sidewalk (how embarrassing!). From there we drove straight home. Traffic was bad, but that means the hybrid drive got a good workout.

I was impressed by the performance of my car. We had rain showers at one point in the drive and the automatic wipers worked perfectly. The ride was very smooth and quiet. We averaged about 28mpg - a spectacular figure considering the day included a mix of city, rural, and freeway driving. SUV's are notorious for poor mileage, and my RX engine supposedly won't reach maximum efficiency until 1000 miles of driving has broken in the engine. Still, I'm already happy with the gas mileage. The seat was very comfortable for the entire distance. Using the computer displays, I tried to balance mileage with the flow of traffic. 

We arrived home at 5:45pm - tired but satisfied. I think buying the Lexus RX 400h was a good choice and I don't regret spending the money. Look for yourself. I have a new photo album on the left that has pictures of our adventures, as well as the new car.

It has been a while since I wrote in this blog. Part of the reason for a pause is a lack of interest. Also, much of my writing lately has been personal (I keep a separate journal for private thoughts) and that has been taking most of my energy.

Now I'm past my illness/cold, I'm back to work (again) and I'm enjoying the daily routines of my life. I've been very busy this week. Several meetings at work along with shopping for an investment advisor and choosing a marker for Gene's grave have filled my schedule. I've also returned to counseling after nearly a three week pause.

The beautiful weather this week has lifted my spirits. Once again, I have parents volunteering in my classroom so I don't feel like I'm walking alone on the education highway. There has been some minor conflict at work among my colleagues and I've been able to help sooth feelings and bring people together. I'm proud of my ability to navigate between enemy lines and calm conflicts in order to do what is best for the kids. Maybe I should become a principal.

Here at home, things are moving forward. This weekend I plan on whacking back some of the perennials that have melted away due to the heavy frost we've had lately. The grass looks good because of the lawn service. Now I'm thinking about hiring a cleaning service to help me with the inside of the house. A couple cleanings each month would help me a great deal. The greatest frustration I have is scheduling meetings. As a teacher, my time is tight. I can't take a day off or work from home. So all my meetings are at 4 - 5pm, which isn't easy for some people or companies. All the recent meetings have kept me busy, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed too. So many decisions, so many things to contemplate and so many feelings all at once are not easy to handle.

The dogs and cat are doing well, though they regularly express frustration with my inconsistent feeding schedule. Sometimes dinner is at 6pm, and sometimes it's at 8pm or somewhere in between. The puppy is most vocal about her anger. She thinks food is too difficult to access around here. Apparently she has decided that dumping over her water bowl is an appropriate protest. So, of course, I have taken away her water bowl. If she wants to push the boundaries I'll push right back! Drink up Sophia. You aren't going to see water again until your next meal. Love your like a crutch!

Last of all, Gene's life insurance has paid out. The amount was exactly as predicted from the documents he left. It's time to write a big check to pay for the funeral and burial.