Karen Armstrong

I went to a great talk tonight by Karen Armstrong who has written about 20 books. She writes about religious history and comparative religion. I have read a handful of her books, most memorably one about Buddha and one about Muhammed. She has given many TED talks and in 2008 won a prize. With the money she launched a project called Charter for Compassion. That is mostly what she talked about tonight. It was exciting to be in the audience and inspiring as well. I will buy this book but didn't want to stand in line. Even though it would have been wonderful to have her sign it.

Today I spent with the Angels. I picked up Zoey at noon from pre-school and we went sledding. Sasha is loving this deep snow. We went to the tallest hill around and zip, off she went with Sasha is full pursuit. Her first run rather scared me as she went a long, long way very fast. I thought -- would her mother let her do this? After that first one, I taught her how to bail out if she got too close to a tree. She had a blast. I didn't get on the sled, but went up and down the hill many, many times. Then we picked up the big kids at school and spend the rest of the afternoon in the studio, making collage. They are enthusiastic art-makers.

For a real treat, I took them out to dinner at a Salvadorean place in East Boston. They are adventurous eaters - at least by American kid standards. Guacamole, tacos, flan for dessert. They loved that, too. Their parents rarely take them out to eat so they think it's marvelous. My sister was so grateful because both she and her husband could attend a professional conference together. Those kids make my heart sing.