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November 05 ChihulyMy Chihuly appreciation began many years ago watching the sitcom Frasier. I had always admired a glorious vase-like, art glass stage prop that was always featured behind the sofa, along the wall in Frasier's apartment. As it turns out, Frasier was a sitcom that was set in Seattle, where Dale Chihuly happens to reside. Eventually I put two and two together on my own after happening upon a Chihuly exhibit in Orlando a few years ago. I came away from that experience simply feeling glad to be alive. I felt like a kid in a candy store!
This past weekend I went to a Hearts at Home Conference in Grand Rapids. My friend and I got there early and scoped out the possible places we could go explore. I was excited to see the Fredrick Meijers Gardens was featuring some of Chihuly's work. So we set about getting there, only to take a wrong turn and arrive 15 minutes before they closed. We had to settle for a quick run through the gift shop where we oooed and ahhhed at some of his work they had there. I came away with an actual Venus Fly Trap, which was an unexpected little reward for our efforts...The kids are in awe. It's already trapped 3 lady bugs.
Admiring and appreciating what Chihuly is able to do with glass is a welcome distraction from the more troubling details of life. I hope you have someone in your life inspiring you an infusing little rays of joy into your life....Someone or something that makes you glad to be alive!
November 03 The MonarchLittle Megan is quite the bug collector in our family. A few weeks ago she showed up with a Monarch caterpillar that she proceeded to place in a small jar with some butterfly weed leaves. The next thing I know, she brought this jar to me and a limey green chrysalis had formed. We set this jar aside, up atop a cabinet far out of the reach of the younger members of the family. We checked in daily and watched as golden streaks began forming inside it.
Yesterday, at the doctors office with Sylvia and Megan we got to thinking about that chrysalis and realized we had not checked it the day before. We agreed to look as soon as we returned home. We learned about Dennis's passing just before we went in to see if the amazing transformation had taken place.
Imagine how thrilled we were as we looked up to the jar to find a fully formed Monarch in all its splendor. The children were thrilled and marveled at the transformation. What was really awesome was to see Megan's reaction. She decided she didn't want to keep this beautiful specimen God had created, as she had with other bugs she has collected in the past. Rather, she was eager to see it off to it's new home.
We gathered on the back porch and watched as Megan carefully opened the lid off the jar. She gently lifted it out of it's cramped space. It perched for a while on her little finger before finally fluttering off toward the heavens.
It was a poignant moment to behold as I could not help but think of our friend Dennis. He's no longer held back by his broken down, earthly body...He is fully restored and I praise and thank God for that! October 04 I've been tagged...
My friend Kerrie tagged me...
Eight random facts/habits: 1.) I have a terrible habit of buying fresh spinach and salad greens with the best of intentions to encourage the family to eat healthier. Then I proceed to ignore the greens in the frig until they are spoiled. It's seriously scary/sad/pathetic how many times I have done this and continue to do so. I have always been a meat and potato person to the core. It's a hard habit to break! And sadly the guilt I feel when I do this is not enough to break me of the habit. 2.) I like to dance with myself and often times with just the music playing in my mind....lol My husband and I have a fun tradition we started of dancing to the credits of a movie we have finished watching together. 3.) As I have alluded to before in this blog, I have a thing for nurturing plants that is almost like a maternal transferrence onto the plants. But really, it goes deeper than that...I delight in all life forms and the variety of ways the Lord reveals himself to me. For me it all starts with an appreciation/observation of nature and all His creations. However, when you read #1 on my list, that appreciation does NOT apparently transfer well to spinach and greens...lol 4.) One of the biggest fears I have is of speaking in public, yet every time I turn around, I find myself in situations where I am in a leadership role and making presentations etc. etc. 5.) One of my favorite pastimes is to frequent Estate Sales, Garage Sales, Rummage Sales, Resale Shops etc...It's the ultimate way to RECYCLE, which I also am a big fan of...I'm not exaggerating when I say the majority of our home is furnished with second hand found objects. I recently joined our local Freecycle group and am also a member of our local Defenders group. 6.) Before departing for any vacations I am lucky enough to go on, I always have to have the house entirely in order. In the back of my feeble (morbid) brain I always think to myself, if I were to Lord forbid DIE on this trip, I want know my relatives will come here to a sparkling/tidy house. I'm not sure why this same habit doesn't apply to my every day activites (as evidenced by the grungy floors you would find in my home at the moment...lol) 7.) Any time I have ever taken one of those personality tests, I seem to always come up as an "intuitive" person. I have always felt like I can read people pretty well and fast. I tend to be more of an observer than the type of person who is overly loquatious. I am "social" but don't like to stand out in the crowd...I read recently that fear of public speaking and "standing out" in a crowd relates back to ancient mans fear of being eaten. Yes...I'd like to avoid that...lol 8.) Despite the fact I love my friends and family I actually enjoy VERY MUCH going to movies alone, as well as vacationing alone. My husband fully supports the movie thing and is always willing to watch the children while I go off to the theater. Before I got married I took a couple solo vacations where I made friends easily and just loved the adventure and the ability to see what each new day would bring...It's something I encourage everyone to do once in their lives....
Now I'm supposed to tag 6 other people, but everyone I am aware of has already been tagged or detests this sort of thing. So anyone who reads this that has not yet done one of these types of things and would like to...Go For It! At least Kerrie got me back here blogging again
April 06 Wonderful quote...Everyday the newspaper comes in a plastic wrap. Megan just blew it up, like a balloon and said in all seriousness..."Mommy, I caught the wind!" February 13 It's About TimeIt's about time I posted something. No more excuses!
Lately I've been enjoying blog surfing for mental distraction and enrichment, rather that posting my own feeble thoughts here...lol What little time I actually have to spend on the PC has been spent going places like http://www.drhelen.blogspot.com/, http://schmidthedz.spaces.live.com/, and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-gabriel/ . I really like the challenge to my brain to wrap my mind around a subject the blogger is discussing and come up with my own opinion along the way. Often times, I end up researching a subject and learning so much more about something than I ever knew. This ultimately results in a visit to Amazon.com where I discover books about the subject, and have become a regular patron...Love Amazon.com!
When blog surfing, I love getting a glimpse into the lives of someone whom I would not have a remote chance of knowing in real life...Like http://princesshaiku.blogspot.com/, http://www.saminkie.blogspot.com/, or http://normality31.spaces.live.com/ . There are some incredible, poetic, courageous, and deep thinking souls out there.
The more I blog surf, the more humbling it is to realize how little I actually "know" ...lol I admire the dedication and discipline, and sense of purpose/focus some people have to their blogs. My friend Jamie immediately comes to mind http://bloggingwithmommy.blogspot.com/. Her children are going to have this wonderful, chronological record of their childhoods through her eyes.
In my house, it's an absolute luxury to actually have time to concieve a thought, expand on and gracefully articulate it. The are countless inturruptions. It's one thing to be inturrupted when you are simply reading someone elses blog. You can just go back to where you left off. It's much more challenging to write a blog entry while enduring the inevitable inturruptions. This would explain my absence for so long...That and the fact that since my last post in Nov. 2006, someone in this house has always been sick. Who wants to read about that...lol
As a mom of four, my kids are a top priority. I don't want them to have an image etched in their minds of me sitting and staring at this computer screen. As much as I crave and really enjoy the internet, it has a hypnotic power that distracts me away performing my real life "duties". It is something I am more and more aware of lately and wish to have more of a balance.
To further prove my point, this is the first time in three months I have sat down to write in my blog. Would you believe during the time it took to create this blog entry I :
You get the picture I recently had this "awakening" and have resloved to be the best MOM and wife I can be. I see lots of room for improvement and I've already taken steps do so by reducing the time I spend volunteering and on the internet. It's a start. I'll check in here in another 3 months and let you know how it's going...lol November 20 If I Only Knew Then, What I Know Now.....Recently my 20th year High School Reunion was held. For various reasons, I decided not to go. However, curiousity lead me to order the booklet that updates you on everyone. As I was scanning through the names of my former classmates, I was shocked to learn of one classmates untimely death.
Since it didn't list any information other that "deceased" I was left wondering what could have possibly happened. No doubt something tragic, to die so young. So my fingers lead me to do an internet search, and I just now was shocked to learn that in fact Bill died on September 11, 2001 at the age of 33. He worked for Cantor-Fitzgerald and died in the trade center attack. He left a loving wife and daughter. His son he would never meet, was born less than a month after the attack.
 From our high school graduating class, there were 7 or 8 of us that went on the the University of Illinois. Bill was one of them. His dorm room was right across the street. That first part of freshman year, we all stuck together as we acclimated to college life. After that first year, we had all gone our different directions. But I will always remember him in a fond way. I recall a discussion we had about Peter Gabriel's music, and artist I now consider one of my favorites. I even had a small, brief crush on Bill that wasn't reciprocated...lol He ended up marrying the roommate of one of our high school classmates, a warm, lovely person. He was super smart, driven, and gentle.
I did see him and his wife at our 10th year high school reunion and was happy to learn how well life was going for him and his wife. He tried to explain the line of work he was in and it went entirely over my head...lol
It's interesting how news like this gives a whole new perspective to the events that took place on that awful day. To learn, 5 years after the fact, that a gifted guy I once had the pleasure of knowing, met with such a cruel and senseless demise, stirs up all kinds of emotions that I don't even know what to do with.
This journey led me to this remarkable website that I never even knew about. I've spend a good part of the morning reading through page after page of profiles of the many who perished. Suffice it to say my heart is in my throat.
October 10 Saying Goodbye After a Long GoodbyeLast Friday went different as planned. Michael had taken the afternoon off to help watch the children while I finished up with the final details of the Walkathon planning for the following day. The unexpected call came that said my grandmother was expected to die sometime over the next couple of days. She has had Alzheimers for the last 20 years and been in a nursing home for 15 of those years.
I'll never forget my mothers reaction when I called her to share the news. I was all choked up having just found out, and mom said, "I'm feeling strong!" This is quite the opposite reaction most people that know her would expect.
So I dropped everything and took my mother to see Gram for one last time.
I brought my bible and searched for the Shepard's Prayer in Psalms. I couldn't remember the exact verse number but I knew it was in psalms. It didn't take long before I found it....Psalms 23. Through tears, I read it to my dear, frail, 85 year old grandmother. For an Alzheimer's patient she had always done well with eating until the last couple months. Here is a woman who in her prime was 5ft 10 or 11, and now she was down to a mere 85 lbs. All I could think was, dear Lord, have mercy. Please take her soon. After our final visit with Gram on Friday, Mom and I decided to still go ahead with the walkathon the next day. I didn't have much choice being the coordinator. I would have totally understood if Mom decided to stay home. Without hesitation she agreed to come.
The next morning I picked her up bright and early. She decided to bring along her treasured pet Katydid. In years past, mom has caught little insect critters in the Fall and tried to see how long she could mother them through the winter. One year she had lady bugs and yellow jackets. ...Seriously! Last year she had a praying mantis. This year is was this leafy looking Katydid she named Katrina...She had made quite a wonderful little home for it and the pampering had begun a week or so prior to the walk.
In the midst of meeting and greeting various key speakers and exhibitors for the walk, mom came up to me and announces that she let Katrina go. The importance of her deliberate choice wasn't lost on me...You have to know my mom to truly appreciate the symbolism. Here is a woman who likes to baby little creatures through the winter, and has a consistant pattern of doing so. She gets so attatched, it doesn't enter her mind to set them free. She is giving them a gift after all...Life beyond what they would normally experience if they were to remain out in nature.
This was the first time ever that I can recall her choosing to let the little creature go. It was a most purposeful gesture, as she also faced letting her own mother go. She told me it felt good to let Katrina go. I gave her a hug....Knowing the true meaning behind her actions.
Somehow we managed to coast through the rest of the event. Thankfully it was a huge success, despite a huge emotional strain of knowing grandma would soon leave us.
I'm so glad the Lord gave us that one final chance to say our goodbyes. I'm so relieved Gram is finally at rest and free from the bondage of that broken down body. At her memorial service on Thursday, without my mentioning it, the Reverend brought up Psalms 23 and read it for the family...When he got to the part where the verse says, "He restores my soul...." Reverend said, "See there. God doesn't say, He restores your "body". He restores your soul." I found that a comforting way to imagine my dear grandmother right now...Fully restored. No more pain. At peace after fighting such a very long fight. I will miss her dearly and have for a very long time... September 10 Elvis has entered the building!My husband recently turned 40. Going into it, he declared how he didn't need for us to make a fuss over it or get him anything.
Little did he know, there was already a plan in the works where I had decided to surprise him with a singing telegram of sorts. I just wasn't certain how to go about hiring someone for such a thing. Fortunately for me the Yellow Pages came through and I found the perfect candidate to pay a surprise birthday visit to my husband at work.
Yes, Elvis himself, told me he traditionally doesn't do this type of thing. He normally chooses much larger venues...lol But he made an exception for my husband.
So one recent Monday afternoon, I threw together the most awesome Elvis cake you could imagine. I would love to post a picture of it but it had our last name on it...For those that know our last name, the words said, "Don't Be Cruel to Dr. ------. He's Turning 40!"
While I was decorating it my aunt and uncle show up unannounced at the door. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into as they entered the kitchen, saw the cake and learned about Michael's special visitor that would soon be arriving. They decided they had to come along to Michael's workplace and witness Elvis's surprise first hand.
Michael had no idea what awaited him when he went into the exam room. He thought it was a client who had a question about a medication...Instead he was greeted by Elvis singing CC Rider.
It was a most memorable 40th birthday!
August 21 Where Did My Summer Go?Who pushed the Fast Forward button of life? This Summer went by in record speed. Here are a few things that have occupied our time over the last couple months:
On our vacation there were lots of reminders of our last vacation with Dad since the area we went was an hour or so away from where went last year. I have kept myself SO busy since he died in late January, that any time I slow down, those feelings get pushed back up. The grief is like waves...I can go for weeks witout event, but then a wave of saddness will come through. It has only been 6 months with many reminders/triggers still there and fresh on my mind. Like the bag of Oreo's he had tucked away that I found in the closet the day we left for vacation. Anyways....it's good to be back blogging again.
June 24 Murphy's Law of Child RearingShortly after Dad died, we realized there was a small amount of life insurance from his time withWalMart. Divided three ways with my sisters it ended up being around $4,000. I had NO idea his coverage was still current since he had not been able to work for that last year before he died.
So being the sentimental fools we are, my husband and I thought we would use the whole amount of this unexpected gift, and purchase a cadillac model play set for the kids. You know..... The kind with a rock wall, tire swing, trapeze bar etc...ALL the bells and whistles! We knew their Grandpa would have approved of our purchase and been happy to know this money was spent on his granchildren in such a way.
Well, it just so happens the neighbor behind us has the $150 WalMart variety playset. It's significantly smaller, beginning to rust, and the slide is half the size of our Cadillac model.
Guess which one they seem to prefer
 ....? I qualify this as one of Murphy's Laws of Child Rearing...Sometimes less, is more...lol When it comes to toys, the higher price tag doesn't necessarily mean that they will enjoy it any more than they would a cardboard box, or a poor toad they found.
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