Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is the story of a man who found his purpose in life is to raise money and build schools in remote parts of Pakistan and Afganistan. Not back in the day when Pakistan and Afganistan were unknown, romantic, vast spaces of beauty and interesting people - but right now in the midst of wars, terrorism, and politics.

He literally stumbled into a village in the mid-1990s after an attempt at K2 and spent some time there recovering. After regaining his health, he also learned the local language, was befriended by the village chief, and promised to build a school. The book tells the story of his journey and his drive to build schools for girls and boys in places that had none. I liked this book because it gives me hope that someday things might get better in corners of the world that I previously had not heard of. It is a good read.

New Fridge, Old Friends

Our fridge decided not to refridgerate last Thursday. I called a local Big Box and ordered a new one and it was delivered the next day. They hauled away my old one. I asked the salesguy if I was crazy for doing this and he said people do it all the time. My main criteria was that it fit in the existing space. It does, we now have cold food again.

My friend of 20+ years is in town with her two boys 8 and 10. Watching my girls try to keep up with them is really cute and somewhat scary for me. We have learned how to play Red Light Green Light, Bingo, and how to make decaf lattes in the play kitchen. I think the girls have learned some new words too. I don't have many friends from 20 years ago, mostly because I moved around a lot, so it is comforting to reconnect with someone who knows me with all my quirks and neuroses. We went for martinis last night and had some real girl talk! That was great, better than great. This girlfriend and her family might relocate to a large city nearby. Wouldn't that be even greater!