Happy Birthday, Tom!

Tom is a great guy and will be a welcome addition to the family. I can't wait to have another brother! Here he is skiing, and later at the 4th of July events at Pierce Lake, in between Sarah and James.

Happy St. Patty's Day

Saint Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays - I'm more than 75% Irish - my mom's maiden name is O'Shea, and my dad's mother's maiden name is Gohery - both very green names :) I think Kahrs is German but my family has always celebrated our Irish heritage. A few years ago we took a family trip to Ireland and met some relatives, and I would love to go again someday.

My grandmother 'Mom' O'Shea made the best Irish soda bread, and my mom's version is very good too. She made bread when I was home last weekend, and I was tempted to try my hand at it today, but unfortunately it's at the bottom of my extensive to-do list.

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

"like heaven above me, the spy who loved me..."

I was in Georgia this weekend and listened to my mom's favorite Carly Simon cd in her car, and now I have The Spy Who Loved Me song in my head...kind of ironic.

Anyway, I had a great time at home. I went to my 10 year high school reunion - wasn't really sure what to expect, but it ended up being fun. One of my classmates is living right down the street from me here in VA!

My sister and soon-to-be brother in law were home as well - my mom and sister accomplished a lot of wedding stuff...only a few weeks until the big day - I'm so excited! I'm going to j. crew to order my dress tomorrow night!

my two fashionistas - warning: guys may find this posting boring

Whenever I have fashion issues I call two of my favorite people: my sister Sarah and my friend Mary. Both have very good taste. Sarah is always on the cusp of fashion and Mary is the queen of matching and accessorizing. Last night I found a great cranberry colored velvet jacket and I knew I really liked it, but didn't have a clue what to wear with it. Both Sarah and Mary gave me great advice and I wore it today...received many compliments.

Thank you girls!

Darwin's God

There's an interesting article on nytimes.com's most read list entitled "Darwin's God." I found one passage particularly striking:

"In 1997, Stephen Jay Gould wrote an essay in Natural History that called for a truce between religion and science. “The net of science covers the empirical universe,” he wrote. “The net of religion extends over questions of moral meaning and value.” Gould was emphatic about keeping the domains separate, urging “respectful discourse” and “mutual humility.” He called the demarcation “nonoverlapping magisteria” from the Latin magister, meaning “canon.”

My opinion: you can't keep them seperate - and you can love and believe in both. Evolution is so exquisite how could there not be a God? I don't believe I'm living a ruderless existence.

When I read this article I kept thinking about Whitman's Learn'd Astronomer:

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide,
and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with
much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.