May, may, may and suburns
Gavin and I went to Florida last weekend for Brian's graduation from U of West Florida in Pensacola! The highlight was swimming in the ocean!!!!!! It was SO wonderful, diving into the waves, in the bright sunshine. What a kick-off to this summer:)! I was glad too, because Gavin got in and swam as well (I had my doubts). I admit I was nervous about the jelly fish and sharks too. I was raised in the fresh water, okay?!
Seeing family was good... We got to celebrate Brian's graduation and Mother's Day and we definitly got to eat a lot! Family is complicated too. Especially, because my mom gave me this awesome book about mother/daughter relationships and I was analyzing everything! The book is called, You're Wearing That! and it's by Deborah Tanner. She is a linguist and a sociologist. I think it will really help my relationship's with both my mothers (and fathers) in the longrun. She focuses on mother/daughter relationships, becuase of the uniqueness of this relationship and the emotional power of each to effect the other. It helped me realize that neither his mom or I trust the other one cares for and values us, so instead we read eachother's comment as critical/judgement. This is the ultimate question behind how we react to eachother. This is why adult children may view their mother's concern as criticism. The author calls the non-literal meanings of the things that we say "metamessages". For example, this weekend my mother-in-law asked me after a shower if I "felt better now" and I felt like she was implying something about me not appearing to feel okay before the shower. It's what you FEEL like the other person is saying. This situation shows that the problem is not all HER...it is definitly ME too.
Anyway, I should get back to work now. (By the way the Pampering Day was a success! 29 young moms participated and aside from a couple barbers coming late it went smoothly. Plus, 10 of the moms want to help plan future events, so they are going to be my "steering committee".) Right now I am working on getting funding for a new initiative that we are starting. Basically, we are going to be developing "Health Ministry Teams" in local churches, primarily African American churches on the hilltop. This is one way we are hoping to reduce racial health disparities in our target communities. I am also planning and facilitating a series that will hopefully be aired on cable tv sometime in the future. The focus is on teen girls and violence. Next thursday is our first of many tapings to come. We hope to educate the public about issues these young women are facing, promote strategies for change, provide a forum for these women to process their experiences, and plug them into local resources.
Aside from work, I have a nice burn due to the sunshine... Looking forward to Ethiopian with the Welsh's on Thursday. The OC is entertaining my latenights... And, we haven't grocery shopped in weeks...
Seeing family was good... We got to celebrate Brian's graduation and Mother's Day and we definitly got to eat a lot! Family is complicated too. Especially, because my mom gave me this awesome book about mother/daughter relationships and I was analyzing everything! The book is called, You're Wearing That! and it's by Deborah Tanner. She is a linguist and a sociologist. I think it will really help my relationship's with both my mothers (and fathers) in the longrun. She focuses on mother/daughter relationships, becuase of the uniqueness of this relationship and the emotional power of each to effect the other. It helped me realize that neither his mom or I trust the other one cares for and values us, so instead we read eachother's comment as critical/judgement. This is the ultimate question behind how we react to eachother. This is why adult children may view their mother's concern as criticism. The author calls the non-literal meanings of the things that we say "metamessages". For example, this weekend my mother-in-law asked me after a shower if I "felt better now" and I felt like she was implying something about me not appearing to feel okay before the shower. It's what you FEEL like the other person is saying. This situation shows that the problem is not all HER...it is definitly ME too.
Anyway, I should get back to work now. (By the way the Pampering Day was a success! 29 young moms participated and aside from a couple barbers coming late it went smoothly. Plus, 10 of the moms want to help plan future events, so they are going to be my "steering committee".) Right now I am working on getting funding for a new initiative that we are starting. Basically, we are going to be developing "Health Ministry Teams" in local churches, primarily African American churches on the hilltop. This is one way we are hoping to reduce racial health disparities in our target communities. I am also planning and facilitating a series that will hopefully be aired on cable tv sometime in the future. The focus is on teen girls and violence. Next thursday is our first of many tapings to come. We hope to educate the public about issues these young women are facing, promote strategies for change, provide a forum for these women to process their experiences, and plug them into local resources.
Aside from work, I have a nice burn due to the sunshine... Looking forward to Ethiopian with the Welsh's on Thursday. The OC is entertaining my latenights... And, we haven't grocery shopped in weeks...