Christmas Letter 2008

Merry Christmas friends and family!

Some might consider this late, but I figure what could be timelier than a Christmas letter written on Christmas day itself? I hope that this letter finds you well, happy, rested, and not too stuffed with sweets!

It has been quite a year for this Hackworth clan. Probably the biggest news is that Corey and I bought our first house in May. We’re still in the process of making it our own (repainting some rooms and changes like that), but we couldn’t be happier here! It’s a split level house with three levels: the upper level has the three bedrooms and bathroom, the entrance level has the living room and kitchen, and the lower level contains an office/entertainment area, half bath, and laundry room. Now that we have so much space, we definitely have room to house you if you’re ever in the area and need a place to crash!

Also on the home front, we added a new member to our family in October! Meet Peet! He was born on August 22 this year (the day after our anniversary!), and he’s a mix of Terrier, Lhasa Apso, and Poodle. We adopted Peet from a local shelter called Pets Without Parents, and he’s pretty much the cutest little bundle of black fluff you’ve ever seen, though he’ll be even cuter once he’s finally potty trained (we’re getting very tired of cleaning up his messes). But Sammy sure loves having him as a playmate!

Corey began his second year in the PhD Program at OSU this fall, and he got to teach his first college-level Latin class this past quarter (or as he refers to it, torturing undergrads!) He must be pretty soft on them though, ‘cause they keep coming back for more. He even had two students wanting to transfer into his class since they liked him so much. He also rocked out the house in a Theories of Religion seminar he took, astounding everyone with his matchless understanding of Foucault and applying the French philosopher’s teaching to Corey’s favorite ancient text, Herodotus’ Histories. Every step of the way seems to be another confirmation that Corey is pursuing the right path—he’s doing what he loves and really excelling at it as well.

On my end of things, I’m still bringing in the dough with my mad table-waiting skills. Even though it’s not exactly college- or masters- level work, I’ve really found a job that I love and enjoy going to every day. The people I work with are fantastic, as are the customers. We even have several ‘regulars’ whom I’ve gotten to know somewhat and enjoy getting to chat with whenever they come in. I’m reminded of the ‘career aptitude’ test I had to take in 8^th grade . . . the top three jobs for me were waitress, psychologist, and teacher. And you thought those tests were baloney, didn’t you? Speaking of psychologist, I forgot to mention I finally graduated from Gordon-Conwell with my masters in counseling this past May! Go me! And I am actually using it too, even if not monetarily. I’m currently volunteering with the ‘Peer Counseling’ group at a nearby church, and that is going very well. I’m also talking to the pastors of my church about starting up a similar group in our own church to meet the great need there. It will probably be a slow process, but it’s nice to finally feel that I am getting back on track with this counseling stuff after a detour of sorts.

It can be difficult to keep updated with everyone, especially when they’re far away, so I hope that this fills in a bit where my communication has been lacking. I pray that God blesses you with peace and love this holiday season, and every good thing according to his will. I would love to hear what’s going on with you as well, so keep in touch!

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

love,

megan, corey, sammy, and peet hackworth

the party

I'd say it was a success. We had a really good turnout and it seemed that pretty much everyone enjoyed themselves. Yay!

Peet was our Santa Claus, and he and Sammy actually did really well during the party...you could tell that they were really enjoying themselves, and they didn't scare any of the kids too bad either. Dad asked me to post some pictures, and I only took a few, but here they are, just for you Daddy!








Here are a few after-party pics, while I had the camera out... Corey with the leftovers
feeding Sammy a piece of ham...now you understand why the dogs liked the party so...

the living roomthe tree...notice my lovely handmade coat hanger and garland star, just like I had growing up
more of the living room...
where the doggies sleepsince I posted the 'house tour' pictures before I was really ready to show off the whole house, here are a few extras...
the 'middle bedroom' as we call it...it's the tiny one. we use it as a reading/craft (for me) room, and it's actually quite pleasant now. I couldn't get a better picture angle cause the room is to small:the guest bedroom, all decked out in Dad and MA's old furniture...and since of course you're curious about the bathroom, but too shy to ask...

fun in the snow

It snowed a week or so back, and the puppies and neighbor kids really enjoyed it. Here's my limited documentation:

leah's snow angel

blog tag?

Well, I suppose I'll play along.

Virginie tagged me in her blog, and I see that I'm supposed to give you a link to it so here you go. I never knew this about V when we were roommates, but she's quite the food photographer (and quite the cook I might add). Much more adventurous in the baking world than I, she posts pictures of her successes along with recipes and/or links (when you're lucky - not to imply that I have actually used them...me, cook? ha!) So here are the rules to this tag game:

1. link the tagger and post the rules (check)
2. post 5 random facts about yourself
3. tag friends and link to them
4. let them know they have been tagged by leaving a nice little message on their blog.

Ok 5 random facts, in the order they come to mind.

1-My house came with a pooper scooper, which I've gotten quite a bit of use out of lately. The house came with a lot of things actually (guess they have as much trouble moving as we do), but I found the pooper scooper particularly interesting because the former owners don't have a dog.

2-Not only do I have a MA in counseling, I'm actually getting to use it (sort of, though not monetarily). I had my first appt with my peer-counselee at the Sunbury Vineyard church on Thursday, and we'll be meeting for regular counseling. Plus, I have a meeting with one of the pastors of my church next week to talk about setting up a peer counseling program at our church! cool.

3-Vodka tonic. Corey corrupted me to start drinking when we were at Gordon-Conwell, but I think he hoped I would only stay with his 'refined' tastes of red wine. He was shocked when I admitted that I thought beer was actually not all that bad (he does like beer much more than I do though), and pretty much flabbergasted when he found out that I drank vodka tonic when I went out with friends after work. It's a slippery slope you see.

4-Sometimes when it's cold and I'm knitting, I have to take off my engagement ring because it slips around on my finger and goes underneath my hand instead of staying on top where it belongs.

5-I'm having a Christmas party this year. I have a house now, so what better way to celebrate. We'll see if anyone comes to it! ;)

Well, you did say random.

Now for the tagging bit...who has blogs?
Grant Wentzel: Ouch. That's Hot.
Jarrod Justice: jarrod justice paintings (can you play tag on a painting blog?)
Praveen & Rebecca: Baby Sethupathy (want more baby updates, by the way!)

So now to just leave the nice little messages and call it done.

adios amigos!

Meet Peet!

We just brought him home from the shelter this evening!

He's a feisty little fellow, only 9 weeks old. Lhasa Apso, Poodle, and Terrier mix I believe.

He likes to perch on people
And he's already trying to establish dominance, stealing the bone right out of Sammy's mouth!

And he came home from the shelter kinda filthy so he got a bath!





Isn't he just adowable!!!

committee for "truth" in politics

Kinda hilarious, in a really sad way.

The Committee for Truth in Politics ran this ad accusing Obama of voting for the early release of sexual predators. While this may technically be true, it's a blatant misrepresentation of what really happened at the Illinois senate vote in 1999:

Presiding officer: Take the record. On that question, there are 54 Ayes, one Nay, and two voting Present. Senate Bill 485, having received the required constitutional majority, is declared passed. Bottom of page — Senator Obama, what purpose do you rise?

Obama: For purpose of correction. I pressed the wrong bottom [sic] on that. I wanted to vote Yes.

Presiding officer: Record shall reflect your intent, Senator Obama.

Wow. Bad time to push the wrong button I guess. Apparently the record doesn't actually reflect his intent after all...oops! (I read about this at factcheck.org)


And this same group has run another ad about Obama's voting record on late-term abortion




What they fail to mention in this ad is that the reason he voted against those bills was because they didn't include a provision to protect the mother's health . . . well, I'll just let you read what Obama has to say about it:

On an issue like partial birth abortion, I strongly believe that the state can properly restrict late-term abortions. I have said so repeatedly. All I've said is we should have a provision to protect the health of the mother, and many of the bills that came before me didn't have that.

Part of the reason they didn't have it was purposeful, because those who are opposed to abortion have a moral calling to try to oppose what they think is immoral. Oftentimes what they were trying to do was to polarize the debate and make it more difficult for people, so that they could try to bring an end to abortions overall.

As president, my goal is to bring people together, to listen to them, and I don't think that's any Republican out there who I've worked with who would say that I don't listen to them, I don't respect their ideas, I don't understand their perspective. And my goal is to get us out of this polarizing debate where we're always trying to score cheap political points and actually get things done.

(from ontheissues.org)

Isn't it fun sorting out all these "facts"? And they call us "undecideds" the Stupid Vote!

political confusion and navel-gazing

Last night at work I was telling Doug (a coworker) about my political confusion, and something he helped me realize is that I need to do my own thinking and soul searching and research, and not be worried or influenced by what others think (or think I should think). The main thing that holds me back (I think) from actually doing my own thinking about it is that I have a feeling that I may be a bit (or a lot?) more liberal in my thinking than Corey, and that makes me uncomfortable, especially because he's so vociferous in his dislike of liberals, so I'd rather just remain ignorant and not have to choose a position rather than risk being on the other side from him (and my mom). Also, as I was telling Doug, I think a large part of my problem is that I'm lazy. I'd rather just go along with someone who I trust and who is intelligent and has thought things through than actually have to think things through myself....just make them do all the work. And I largely haven't been paying attention to the political scene (like my whole life), so when people throw out things about the Clinton administration or the Bush or Regan administration I just have to trust that they're right, since I don't know the facts myself. And how can I argue about what's good or bad about what has happened if I don't even know what's happened? So yeah, I'm uninformed and too lazy to go inform myself.

That aside, I'm discovering that I've been letting my non-confrontational/people-pleasing nature hold me back. I'm scared to argue or debate with others, but I think it's mostly because I haven't exercised my thinking-on-my-feet-in-difficult-situations muscles, and that is a definite area of weakness in me. Doug may be right that I don't give myself enough credit in the area of my own intelligence. Because I can think/argue/articulate points just fine by myself in the comfort of my own living room, but I'm always scared to speak up in public if what I think might be controversial (I often find myself not speaking up at work). I'm starting to think that my keeping quiet when I disagree with people might be a fault in certain situations (not all, of course) because it keeps me from fully engaging in the world around me. I'm not able to argue what good points I have, or have my thinking refined by others, or fall flat on my face, which is also good for me. I think when I keep quiet I do myself (and sometimes others) a disservice, so that's my new goal - to engage in dialogue/debate when I'm scared and would normally keep quiet. We'll see how it goes.