Clinical Lactation

It's official. There's a new journal in town. It was revealed last week at the ILCA conference by Kathleen Kendall-Tackett. Clinical Lactation is a new peer reviewed journal specifically geared towards lactation consultants. I am honored to have been selected to be on their Editorial Review Board. Clinical Lactation becomes the second of its kind after the Journal of Human Lactation (another favorite read of mine). I'm excited about this new adventure in my life and look forward to receiving my first article for review. Thank you to Kathleen and the other editors for this honor.

Team Haiti

The return trip to Haiti is well under way. It is not as I envisioned it at all. It is better. I don't have a final head count yet as to who all is going, but there will be about 6 student nurses and 4-5 nurses and maybe a physician on our team. We are being hosted by Heart to Heart International. We will work for a week in their clinic and stay at their house in Port Au Prince. They will provide room, board, transportation to and from the clinic, and interpreters, all for $25 a day per person. We have many organizations collecting (or making) items for us to take with us to give away such as diapers and vitamins. We also have a couple of fundraisers underway and a grant pending. I put up a facebook event page and started a website for the trip. (operationahaiti.webs.com) The project has grown so big, it has taken on a life of it's own. I'm very excited to be a part of this project, and of course I can't wait to return to Haiti. Students are putting together their applications to submit by the end of the week. I'm working on a book signing fundraiser event with a local author and a superb caterer. It's so much fun to put this all together and watch it happen. The best part will be to see lives transform through international medical/humanitarian service.

Scenes from the Holy Land

I spent a recent weekend in seclusion at my friend, Morningstar's retreat center in the Ozarks. I enjoyed silence, worked in her gardens, read, feasted on vegetarian meals, and rested my soul for the work ahead.

Pictures: Morningstar's tipi where she holds many of her ceremonies, the Gaia Garden, Casita: my cabin in the woods, Morningstar's home: Rose Cottage, a view of the meadow that includes a vegetable garden that helps to feed us.

My times of silence and solitude become more important to me as the work load grows heavier. I am grateful for times of refreshment.