Wicked

Ryan and I went out with my co-workers this Wednesday night to the touring Broadway show that's currently in Philly--Wicked. Several times a year my office foots the bill for the cultural advancement of its employees and their spouses (we have a 7-person office). This has been one of the main perks of my job as we have gotten to see sporting events, plays, ballets, musicals, museum exhibits and even the Cirque du Soleil--all of which we never would have been able to afford ourselves. Plus, the nights come with an expense-paid dinner at some of Philly's finest.
Anyway, I found the play to make a very interesting comment on our society. The basic plot is the "back-story" of the wicked witch of the west from the Wizard of Oz (adapted from the book of the same name). It cleverly weaves all the characters from the original movie and tries to explain why this witch was Wicked--if she even was wicked at all. The part I really liked about this was that it flushed out many of our culture's bias based on appearance (the witch was born green) and the herd mentality of believing someone is a villian based on popular opinion. The facet of this that gets under my skin just a bit is the pervasive notion that if someone is doing something wrong, it is because of something in their past that "made them that way" which tends to undermine personal responsibility. To be fair to the play, the "wicked" witch really was good and it was others around her that made her appear bad, but the idea is still there. Has anyone seen this or read the book?

The Sutherland Hotel

Bridger has been entertaining family guests in his room for the past month or so. First it was Nana and Papa and next Grandma and Grandpa came in early March. While the first set of grandparents got feet of snow, the second set to visit only a few weeks later got 75-degree weather. We took them to Valley Forge for a morning stroll (neither Ryan nor I had been there yet after 5 years of living in the area...). Next came aunt Missy visiting for her spring break. We were able to hit the zoo and enjoy Spanish class. Every guest has slept in Bridger's room on a giant airbed so he's been very accomodating with his play-space. And, of course, the guests have been accomodating because they have to wake up right when he does every morning! It's been great to have visitors to help out, though we are looking forward to having a little more space to entertain guests in Missoula.

Hiccups

I felt the baby hiccup for the first time today and I couldn't help but be reminded of the first time I felt Joshua hiccup. Although most of pregnancy is filled with strange movements in your mid-section, hiccups are really the only thing that has a completely comparable outside-the-womb counterpart. Hiccups were always extremely upsetting to Bridger and I would have to nurse him everytime he had them (it would make them stop) up until about 4 months when his little self could handle it. Anyway, I remember feeling Joshua hiccup and realizing that I would never see him hiccup outside the womb. There he was, inside with his little diapragm working fine, but that was the closest I would ever get to witnessing his body in action. It made me grateful for the blessings of pregnancy and it makes me grateful today, even though I'm feeling increasingly slow and fat. God's design really is amazing--connecting mother and child for so long before birth. It was a comfort to me to have that connection when I lost Joshua and I can imagine it has been so for many women through the centuries who have lost babies.

Philadelphia

Here's a picture Ryan took last month when we were downtown one evening. It's really hard to believe that we've lived here almost five years and that we're getting set to move in about two months. We'll definitely miss all our friends dearly.