Today is Rita's Nameday!

Rachel said it best with this fantastic name day poem:

R is for your rambunctious ways with Meowzle
I is for- what else?- your intelligence
T is for the terrific friendship we share
A is for your amazing Greek dancing

K is for kielbasa to celebrate our common Polish heritage
A is for your astounding skills as an after-school program teacher
S is for your ability to be silly at times
A is for your astonishingly great personality

A Welcome "home" thanksgiving!

This past weekend was such a treat! Surely reminding me of how lucky I am to have met such beautiful souls~

Having Ish and Dirk come back to Buffalo for Thanksgiving was such a treat. We enjoyed MANY old memories (itchy couches & late nights @ Hardware)....plus we made some new ones as we enjoyed a fun night @ Toro....until our next adventure in NYC~

When you get 3 architects together, a sociologist and a teacher, this is what you get....

It was so nice to see Jason & Gretchen--Heather & Pat....high school seems so far away~~

Thansgiving dinner was a blast @ Dan's house

Happy Thanksgiving---things I am thankful for

Today is thanksgiving. I am taking time out of making sweet potatoes and grading papers to think about how thankful I am....for
For my sister...brothers and nephews/nieces...for being wonderful friends, for supporting me and for being fortress-mates. (and for Baby Aidan, almost being 1-year-old!)
And for my friends......they are my extended family...always there to make me laugh, or to let me vent or help make a party~

And, most importantly--for having parents that are and were such wonderful role models...caring people....and showing me how to love.
And I thank God for making me--ME! I am a lucky soul....and I try not to forget it.

Happy Shower Weekend~

This past weekend, I enjoyed celebrating Mary's wedding shower and Zettie's Baby shower....Both these people are so happy...and their lives are about to change with wonderful new additions to their family.

Borat--Funny man or???

Ok, so if you haven't heard of Borat by now...you must be totally out of touch. He has an irritating way of making you laugh and insulted at the same time. He's insulted women, Jews, and so many others it's too hard to count. This clip was from Romania, where he invaded a Roma village and now they are ready to sue him All in all....it's interesting for sure! http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061114/od_nm/romania_borat_dc_2 :D

Little Summer's first real party!

Happy Birthday Rima and Amresh....

Then The party started!

Our first party was a blast....Full of Indian, Arab, Latin and good'ol American dancin', food and fun~ Thanks to all of you for coming~

Happy Birthday Amresh

Yesterday was my Friend Amresh's birthday.

I have known Amresh for two years---and I every time we spend time together I am reminded how lucky I am to have him as a friend. He is so thoughtful and kind, he remembers when you have that big paper due or when you have a presentation and knows just when to say "good luck" or "great job"! I always seem to have a wonderful time with him, weather it's going to one of Buffalo's festivals to just play Texas Hold'em....he always makes us laugh. He's very, very smart....of course on his way to become Dr. Amresh~

I thank the universe that this wonderful guy came into our lives....he has enriched us all, thanks for coming to Buffalo and joining the Social Justice gang~

Hugs, Di

Happy Diwali!

Diwali rangoli and a diya
Originally uploaded by cloud.number.9.

This past saturday a whole bunch of us got together for the UB GISA celebration of Diwali, or Festival of Lights...
It's always a blast...tons of great dancing...and the best Indian food~
Most of all, the experience of seeing so many of my Indian friends dance and sing together makes me really happy. I really love that all these students enjoy including me in their celebration for the new year....

We can make a difference, one microfinanced loan at a time

Premal Shah , President of Kiva.org


Tuesday night...I again was amazing at the work being done in the world to help those with less opportunities....This is a time when one can argue globalization has worked to help those that are less fortunate become fortunate!

Frontline World aired a story about how a small non-profit organization in San Francisco is making dreams reality in Uganda: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/uganda601/index.html

You can donate very little and change the lives of so many, check out Kiva's web site and donate that extra $20 you might have spent on a new pair of jeans... (Their site is small, so try again if the site is down).
http://www.kiva.org/

Microfinanced loans was a concept developed long ago but most recently re-established by Dr. Muhammad Yunus---the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner!

Helping someone change their lives is just a click away!