One of the hallmarks of Methodist Polity for hundreds of years has been the itineracy of our clergy. From the olden days where pastors rode circuits, to now when appointments tend to average closer to seven years.

Actually, I do have more to say about this book and how excited I am about it. As a therapist, I often am working with clients who struggle with internalized ableism, and it is almost never the “presenting problem”, so they didn’t seek out a therapist with that specialty.

I inhaled most of this @snarkbat.bsky.social jawn in one day because as usual Elsa's writing is just soooo smart + wise + kind + fucking funny + yummy-snax readable and THIS IS A BOOK THAT EVERY HUMAN SHOULD READ because it's about how we love each other better? and it's INTERESTING AF so:

Dear Christians who like to appropriate Judaism: Jesus did NOT have a Passover seder, (that developed after the fall of the 2nd Temple in 70 CE) but he WAS commanded to clean leaven from his house, so if you want the fun! parts of being a Jew, you can enjoy scrubbing your fridge like I am now 💕

It’s so fitting that, a month after it started, my mom sent me a link to this series. The specie story was still retold during my time on the Post in 2000-2004, and the echoes of the other part of the story were pretty apparent to me. Looking forward to listening!

Moving to Canada as an alumni of a “small liberal arts college” means either adjusting my language about my education or adjusting to people being confused about my education.

Never mind jobs you had, tell me five classes you took at university. 1. Queer Religiosities 2. Ancient and Medieval European Political Theory 3. The German Discovery of Sex 4. The Sociology of Movements 5. Class, Status and Power

Just home from visiting family for Christmas and the greatest struggle as parent to two small children is that all I want to do right now is hyper focus on building all the gorgeous Lego flower sets I just got, but we have to, like, unpack and get groceries and stuff 😫

I’ve been a slightly-chaotic (and left-handed) knitter for like 20 years and it wasn’t until this week and seeing a titkok about it that I realized my stitches are twisted. (because I wrap my yarn the wrong direction) 🤦🏻‍♀️ Finishing this project the old way so it matches and then retraining my hands.

A couple dads at school pickup (in BC) today were talking about trying to go to see the blue jays play in Seattle if we won tonight. As an extremely fair weather Mariners fan (and honestly, all sports) does this mean I have to (get to?) talk about sports with the other parents? How does one…do that?

There were a lot of things miss 6 and I discussed about how Girl Guides would be different than Girl Scouts, but I cannot stress enough how little either of us anticipated that the biggest surprise would be how Duck, Duck, Goose is different here.

It seems like there’s a cohort of older kids who take pride in propelling the thing, and sometimes a lot of allowance for littler ones who want on or off. I expect there are also cohorts of leaders with less grace for the littles, but it’s nice to see these ones work.

Four days into grade one and my six year old is “not scared anymore” and knows at least one other kid’s name. Meanwhile, Mama is observing the elementary social rules around the merry-go-round. (How do the kids decide who gets out to push? How much do you have to push before you can sit down again?)

I’m not one for magical thinking usually, but the way some parts of the international move process have been coming together right under the wire these last couple days is making me feel like it’s kinda a good sign for the biggest part.

Last in-person day at the office before my international move means that I have a passenger this morning! Hopefully my beloved (home) office plant will be well-loved in the shared group practice office 🥹

I’ve been closely associated with Canadians since 2009, so you’d think I’d be well set up to blend in when we move to BC. I know about spelling differences, zed and pencil crayons, kilometers and many of the “which measurements are metric and which are imperial” answers.

Because the person I’d usually text this to is a colleague who is on vacation: it is so very lovely to find out that my kid isn’t going to be the only kid in her day camp with same gender parents. Her kinder class was affirming as all get out, but it’s not a replacement for not being the only one.

Social media is weird, to the extent that news of my engagement 14 years ago was posted on twitter before I'd told all my friends. So I've been hesitant to post my family's big news publicly before making sure most close friends and family know. So! We're moving to Canada later this summer!

Two nights of not quite enough sleep combined with being away last weekend and potty training the toddler meant that I fully forgot what time church started today so we are attending on zoom 👀

The sheer delight I just felt in opening a Christmas card from friends, postmarked in May, cannot be overstated. I’m delighted they sent it and delighted to have that connection mid-year. Maybe there’s hope for my family to eventually get Christmas cards mailed.

Working mostly remotely from a suburb, it’s rare that I have a day where it’s definitely better to ride the light rail than drive somewhere, but today is that day! Lynnwood to Angle Lake, here I come! I’m gonna chill and read my book so hard 😅

The Crumpet Shop location in Edmonds is open and is exactly as delicious as I remember! The vibes are different from the original, but the people are friendly and the recipe is the same. And it’s close to my house ❤️

I know the Pitt is supposed to be super realistic (barring the thing the L&D nurses are pointing out in the episode I haven’t seen yet) but why did the parents of a dying kid not have a chaplain sitting with them and calling their priest *hours* ago?!

Edmonds UMC is currently seeking a Family Ministries Specialist, a staff position providing faith-filled, creative, intergenerational learning, and fun opportunities for our children and families. Learn more and apply at www.edmondsumc.org/jobs

And when they came for the Lutherans, I did nothing . . .

Covering the effects of the gender identity EO. If you are an affected worker or see the effects happening, my signal is kurtzleben.01.

Today I had what was probably my last appointment with my absolute unicorn of a family practice doctor, who we’ve all been seeing since 2018. I literally met her for the first time when she rounded in the hospital to meet my less-than-day-old daughter, who is now 6, and she’s moving away.

Trans lives are sacred, regardless of what legislation says.

Is the need for more in-person, low demand third spaces to build community something which churches can provide space to host without it feeling threatening to unchurched/deconstructing/interfaith neighbors?

I had the privilege of growing up around dozens of boomer-aged clergy women who started their careers as the first woman at any given Church, called witches and heretics, told they needed to speak up or dress differently…and Bishop Budde’s fierceness reminds me of them all.

I was really expecting TikTok to be resurrected by fiat on Monday or Tuesday and am kind of glad it was today so there’s a lot lower likelihood of it becoming a terrible Easter sermon illustration

Well, I guess I listen to podcasts while doing my evening tidying again 🤷🏻‍♀️

Okay, are we gonna need some wisdom from hospice workers if the clock app doesn’t die tomorrow and stays in legal limbo for some amount of time? I was already thinking about how to talk about the grief of it with clients but now 🤷🏻‍♀️ anticipatory grief?

One of the side effects of the very cool “starter pack” feature here is sometimes suddenly getting a bunch of new followers and then feeling the need to be somehow profound.

Please God let this be true. Please God let the rebuilding begin. Please God let there be accountability & justice. Please God may everyone still alive be brought to safety & care. Please God may those with power now choose a more whole, more healed future for all the human beings in the region.

How did you name your earliest stuffed animals, if you remember? My bear I got at 2 or 3 is a polar bear and her name is Snow White, which was re-released in ‘87 when I was 2, so it’s possible me or my sister had recently seen it.

National Tsunami Warning Center upgrading quake to 7.3. Estimating some type of wave to hit San Francisco around 12:10 pm. Unclear extent of waves. Obviously stay away from shorelines.

If you just got a tsunami warning, or hear sirens, from the Bay Area north to mid-Oregon? FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS, get away from the water, to higher ground, or to an upper floor of a multi story building if it’s not possible to get to high ground. Follow the signs.

My almost six-year-old has two loose teeth and has lost five already. Those early-tooth-losing genes seem to come from me, because her cousin on the other side is six and coping with some loose-tooth envy. Meanwhile my spouse and I are double-checking the coin stash to make sure we’re ready for #6

Yet again hoping this year that nobody tells my kids about elves on shelves. We don’t have the executive function for that. Or the commitment to the bit.

Happy “it’s pretty windy where I am, so if the call drops I’ll try to reconnect, but will email if I can’t get it working” season to all those who celebrate (big storm rolling in to the PNW this week)

So, uh, now that all the late adopters are here, I suppose I should post something. Hi old twitter friends! Happy to reconnect!

Wow, 2002-era Arthur coming through with an excellent “how to not be a dick to a blind friend” lesson for my five year old this morning

The exquisite agony of watching tech support take over your laptop remotely and start by trying all the same things you tried initially.

Okay, how long til I get invite codes, and is there anything I can do to get them faster? Because I'm done with the other place and I need my therapists and methodists circles over here.

I think I'm only keeping my account in that other place active so I can make sure I can find and follow people I'm missing here.

So, to build my bsky "brand" I'm gonna use my "I actually took my Ritalin but can't get into a full worky task because have an errand to run once @analogrelay.com is out of her meeting (is that how I tag here?)" energy to ponder the UMC/Wespath clergy wellbeing survey results release.

I remember in like 2006, when we were so, so new to social media, that the topic de jour for sociology majors was social media, and now I want to read a senior thesis on how people understand their relationship to different platforms, and how that's highlighted by the advent of new ones?

I got a save the date for my 20th high school reunion today. When I was my daughter's age, my recently-divorced dad drove my sister and me across three states on what was called the "hot lava and fossils" trip on the way to *his* 20 year reunion. The road trip to Seattle isn't gonna be as memorable