My kid is funny

The laughter of your child is something that is difficult to put into words. In hopes of not over complicating things, her laughter is simply, divine. My favorite is when she tosses her head back and has a hefty chuckle as if she has heard that one a million times. The sound of her giggle is infectious and it makes every long tiring day turn around to be the best day ever. I want to eat her up sometimes I am not sure I can hold myself back so I hug and squeeze her and call her Lydia.

She has new dance moves every day. Last night she kept pushing the button to her weeble house to get to the dance music  tune and she would stick her hands in the air and her butt out and bounce. One time she crossed her arms and shook from side to side. There was little doubt that she was gifted before but now she is a musical savant too. Hopefully dual enrollment in Columbia and Julliard will be a reality by the time she is ready to be in college which I would say would be by 15 however, she isn't allow to leave home until she is 30. So we will see how that all works out.

So I Wrote a Book...

During the last year I was given a great opportunity to join a colleague in an endeavor to write a book for young adults about religion. Talk about dreams coming true. Not only do I get to write about religion, BUT for young adults which I have been working with now for almost 20 years (18 years to be specific but it's been awhile) in some form or another, BUT I get to be a bonafide published author.

There has been some nervousness involved. Would I be smart enough? Capable? Did I know enough? Granted I had to research a lot. I had to double and triple check my facts because I didn't want any one religion to be looked at poorly by the reader because of something that I had written. Then going through the process of editing. Watching the changes from my words to rephrasing or sharpening of the editors evident red marks on the screen. Sometimes it was too much. By the end, when the typesetting was done and the page looked like what a digital book typically looks like, it sent a rush through my body. My words will be out there. Forever. Published.

Why haven't I been shouting all this from the mountain tops? "I AM A PUBLISHED AUTHOR!" Partly because of humility, I think. Not so humble to claim humility I don't think, however, I do struggle with overt accolades and others thinking that I perhaps would think of myself as better than them because I have accomplished something such as this. It is the Camp Counselor that will eternally live inside of me, that always wants everyone in the room to sit in a circle so we can look each other in the eye, be equals and be supportive. I will go get the extra table or chair to make that happen and I have done this in the classroom, at the bar, and around the dinner table for as long as I can remember. Despite this ideal, I am so deeply proud of the work that I have accomplished. thus it is time to shout! In this moment, I ask all you take a seat around the virtual circle and share in this with me.

If you put my name in Amazon: Christine Ortega Gaurkee the book comes up! I do have a beloved co-author and friend, Jessica Tinklenberg deVega. If you put in her name it comes up too! How cool is that? The title is All You Want to Know But Didn't Think You Could Ask: Religions, Cults, and Popular Beliefs. Release Date is February 7, 2011. (Amazon says Feb. 21st.) You can pre-order your copies!