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hughelen
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Name: helen
Birthday: 11/13/1984
Gender: Female
Interests: growing in faith
traveling
being with friends
talking to friends when i can't be with them
unexpected notes that say 'i care'
rainbows after thunderstorms
changing leaves in fall
church
cooking
Expertise: paying with exact change
overthinking everything in my life and then giving it up to God after worrying it like a dog with its favorite bone
mothering all of my friends and cooking food for them
being long-winded
sitting silently for hours
Occupation: Retired
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  hughelen2002
Member Since:
8/28/2004
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| today our country will swear in its first black president, using abraham lincoln bible on the day after martin luther king, jr. day. it's a big day during a hard time. the national mood has changed so much in the last 8 years. we've had september 11th, started two wars, and pursued disastrous policies; but the ONE campaign has gained significantly, and we've elected a minority president long before anyone thought it possible.
it is impossible that anyone would be able to live up to all the hype that this election has created. however, the odds are actually more in favour of obama by coming in during economic crisis b/c the odds are strongly that the economy will have righted itself by the time re-election rolls around. times of crisis also make people more open to change, more willing to try different policies (as well i know, since i've spent the last few months writing 10,000 words of theory on institutional and policy change!).
this is an election that nations around the world have watched avidly. i've been surprised how much attention and debate has been dedicated to it. i was very proud that i actually received my ballot this year and was able to vote in a presidential election for the first time.
where will we go from here? will obama be a godly president? will he have the energy, charisma, and sense of purpose to push through his reforms? i would actually consider returning to the states if they sorted out the healthcare system and cracked down on the excessive carbon footprint of the average american.
time will tell.
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| it might not be a catchy title, but it's incredibly important. here's a reason why:
Women aged between 15 and 44 are more likely to be maimed or to die as a result of male violence than through cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war combined. (Tearfund World Watch Prayer Link)
besides this, women's equality in developing nations is important b/c they are often functionally the sole caretakers of their children if their husbands are away for work or spend too much time in the bar. yet they're also used as weapons of war, where raping women is a common tactic used against the opponent, which adds to already depressing levels of HIV infection.
tuesday, november 25 is this year's international day for the elimination of violence against women.
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| it's been a while since i updated, so i thought i'd write a quick entry before i go home. first i feel the need to offer some excuses for my lack of communication:
1. i got married.
2. i haven't had regular internet access in over two months.
3. i've been writing an incredibly dull chapter about theories of institutional change.
4. i like being married and would rather spend time with my husband than updating my blog.
5. i can't be bothered to spend extra time at the office to use the internet when i would rather get home to said husband.
it was my birthday last week. i don't do birthdays well. between having had operations for two birthdays, having only my parents and 2 friends remember a couple birthdays, having taken exams many years, and other various and sundry traumas, i have a few (understatement) issues about my birthday. don't get me wrong: your birthday is perfectly ok; it's just mine. so i kinda freak out, try to have really low expectations, and feel generally uneasy until it's over.
this year i had a cold. joe and i were meant to go out for a nice, quiet, romantic dinner, but by 6 p.m. i was so tired that all i wanted to do was crawl in bed. then i got upset that i didn't have more energy and didn't want to go out, etc., etc., and by the end of it all i wanted to rewind and start the day over. which we kinda did the next day, when i was feeling somewhat better, we did go out for a meal, and we had a good talk about my various issues. all in all, it was a fairly untraumatic birthday, but i hope it gets better.
i do, however, appear to be aging backwards. is this good or bad? it's a bit ironic, when i've had more people ask me this year whether i'm a fresher than ever before, and it's my seventh year of university education. and i got carded while buying a bottle of wine on saturday, which i think is the first time i've been carded in this country. i suppose in the long run, aging backwards will have its benefits, but it's not entirely flattering to be mistaken for a fresher.
as far as married life, it's good. it's nice to come home to someone every night, to get more attention than i've ever had, to be able to talk about all the insecurities and inner hopes and dreams that i don't discuss with anyone else and not to feel that he thinks any less of me after revealing some of my worse aspects. joe's in work now, which is very comforting, given the number of people being laid off at the moment, and i'm probably going to have extra teaching hours next term, which will again be helpful.
we're going to america for christmas this year, holding a reception in northern california. if you're interested, let me know.
and now i'm going to shut off my computer and go home.
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| there's a bite in the air already, and it's gotten properly cold already. the first week of term is already over, and i have a feeling the next 10 weeks are going to go just as quickly.
the wedding went really well, only a couple hiccups, but then again, there's no wedding that goes perfectly smoothly. i really enjoyed the ceremony, and we had a good time at the reception as well. it was all very tiring, though, especially as one of the hiccups meant that we didn't get into the hotel until past midnight and had to be up around 8 the next morning. i was so exhausted i actually threw up (which is probably more than you wanted to know!).
the whole day was a bit surreal, though: it was a really good day, but i somehow didn't have the feeling that it was *my* wedding, if that makes any sense. that's not to say that being married doesn't feel real b/c it feeels real and like the most natural thing in the world. i like being married.
it has been undeniably stressful, as joe found out he can't start the next year of his course for another year, which means that we're suddenly married, have moved house, and he doesn't yet know what he's going to be doing for the next year. that bit is not so fun, but at least i've got a steady income, so it's not the end of the world, as long as we spend carefully.
he's away already this weekend at a stag do for one of his closest friends, to whose wedding we're going at the end of the month. so i've got the next couple days on my own, sewing curtains and a duvet cover and trying to find a home for my stuff, which is difficult, as the furniture in our flat is rather impractical. we'll get there...
our flat has a lot of repairs that need doing b/c it's had tenants in it steadily for years, and none of them appear to have been picky enough to force the estate agent (it's a managed property with an absentee landlord) to do repairs. this isn't to say that the agents have been unhelpful: we've had a steady stream of workmen through our home the past week. it's just a bit annoying to have to get all this work done after moving in, and it has meant missing more work to sit at home and wait for repair people to come by. but it's slowly getting up to standard, and though it's small, it's starting to feel like home. i think it'll be even cosier once i get the curtains and duvet cover made so that it has that extra personal stamp. i've got some of the burgundy material left from the wedding, and it's going into our new house decorations, so the wedding shall live on! it's a good thing i still like burgundy after sewing 8 bridesmaids' dresses!
married life is good. it's a bit frustrating to have to deal with all these uncertainties and upheavals as newlyweds, but we're very grateful for all the support that other people are offering us, and we trust that it's going to get smoother, hopefully soon!
no internet at home for a while still, so it'll be a while before pictures are up.
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| we're well under 5 weeks now, which means that we don't have enough time to do any of the thousands of things that need doing and, although we're physically in the same place at the same time nearly every evening, we haven't had 'us time' in a very long time, which is taking its toll. we've got so much to organise that if i wake up for even a couple seconds during the night, my brain immediately clicks on and starts going through the checklist of everything i need to do. we've been up talking and trying to work through things well past midnight 4 or 5 nights in a row, which means that we're both completely exhausted but can't turn off, and we pick at each other constantly.
on the bright side, we've got our wedding rings sorted, tables, crockery and cutlery arranged, the majority of the invitations delivered, and i've finally started to get somewhere on sewing those 8 bridesmaids dresses. on the darker side, we haven't yet found a place to live that is affordable, a reasonable distance from uni and not a pit. we had two disastrous viewings last week followed by an appointment to which the estate agent never showed. we had another viewing last night, and the only 15 minutes of the evening that it rained hard, we were outside and got completely soaked. the owners and the house were absolutely lovely, but it's too expensive (was listed at the wrong price) and too far away.
i've got a funding application for fieldwork to put together b/c the deadline is mid-october for any fieldwork between january and june 2009, which means i have to get in contact with a host institution, come up with reasonable dates and a proposal of what i'm going to do, figure out how long it's going to take, start getting in contact with parliamentarians (though they're all on holiday for another month)...and joe's got two re-sit exams, for which it's hard to find the time for him to dedicate to revision b/c of everything else we need to organise.
basically, we're both stressed and need a proper holiday, which i essentially haven't had for months. i've had time off work, but that was for conferences and training courses and moving and wedding planning...and he's had time off work, but that was for essays and exams and appointments.
but i'm very grateful for everyone who's been through all this before us and keeps reassuring me that it's all worth it in the end. we've got the honeymoon booked, and even though it's going to be absolutely manic when we get back (term starts 1 day after), i'm really looking forward to having that week completely away, where we literally can't do anything except spend time together, rest and relax.
we go down to watford for the final time in 3.5 weeks. in the meantime, we desperately need to find somewhere to live, joe needs to pass his exams, we both need to re-learn how to sleep, and we need to feel like we have more time. i'm still glad we're getting married; i just have to get through the next month!
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