The Little Drummer Boy - Bob Seger

I don't know why I cry every time I hear this song, but I do.

Where did my little darlins go?

                                      What has happened to my children? Where have they gone?

                               Where are the babes that would hug and kiss me before they left for school? ...

......and let me dress them?

                                                               They went to teenagerdom.

Have you heard of that? It's scary.

Check up on me once in a while. Will ya?

Marc Broussard - Home

Our drive to school today

7:19 AM - We hop in the car. Joe is next to me in the passenger seat, Lily is strapped in the back.
The car doors shut and we begin the 8 minute drive to the first drop, Lily's school. Here's our conversation. :
Lily:  "Mom, did you know that gymnastics is my favorite sport I love gymnastics my favorite part of gymnastics is the parallel bars but I also like the balance beam did you know that I didn't used to like the beam because it was hard but now I can easily do a cartwheel on it without a problem I also didn't like the vault but now I do I definitely love gymnastics Mom I have an indoor soccer game on Saturday I can't believe how fast the indoor soocer season has come we just ended outdoor soccer I think we're playing badmitton in PE today Mrs. Hershey will only be here 2 more days then we'll have a substitute because Mrs. Hershey is going to have a baby I forget what she's going to name it I don't like badmitton oh I think I told you that already I really like my new backpack it holds so much it is so much better than the other one I was considering bye."
Lily gets out of the car. Joe and I drive across town to the high school. I reach over and pat Joe's thigh and ask him how he's doing.
Joe: "Good."
5 minutes later Joe gets out of the car and says good bye.
The end.

First Friday Music IX

About being 50

1. When I'm called "ma'am" by the bag boy at Safeway, I think - "That's nice he's so respectful. I bet his mom is proud of him.", not - "Who the hell is he calling ma'am?"
2. Bonnie Raitt's line, "Life gets mighty precious when there's less of it to waste.", speaks volumes.
3. Looking older is ok, because I am older.
4. Sometimes when I try to look nice and put on more make up than usual I remind myself of Bette Davis in "What ever happened to Baby Jane." (Anyone out there remember that movie?)
5. I notice that a considerable number of people singing on my ipod are dead. BTW, I would appreciate hearing about good music post 1978, if you have suggestions. (Hint: I prefer lyrics without the words "bitch' & "ho".)
6. 60 has a ring of youthfulness to it.
7. I opened an advertisement for long term care insurance and skimmed it.
8. My dog has caught up to me in dog years and I notice, with some despair, that he struggles to get on his feet.
9. Why not take advantage of the early bird special?
10. I remember my mom calling me in from play to watch the first man walk on the moon.
11. I see things in antique stores that I had as a child, specifically, I saw my old Mrs. Beasley doll recently.
12. I say it's "Hip and Happenin'" and "It's time to get down and get funky." to annoy my kids but truthfully I like those sayings.
13. I never get sick of listening to Bob Dylan.
14. I'm more sentimental.
15. I think if I'm ever going to do a real push up I better start trying now.
16. I'm drawn to articles about senior citizens doing amazing things like running their first marathon at 70.
17. I don't need anymore friends.
18. I've given up trying to look tall & thin and am focused on staying healthy so I can, God willing, be here for my grand kids.
19. My knees hurt when I get up after sitting awhile.
20. I'm going to wear brighter colors.

More snippets from GP's birthday

Sweet.

Sweeter.

Ummm... not so sweet.

Sweet.

Sweeter.

Ummmmm. Fun.

First Friday Music VIII

Balloon Boy at Great Grandma's Birthday

Do you see this balloon?

This purple balloon?

Harvey took a very serious liking to it.

And kept a death grip on it all day. 

He never let go.

 

He was suspicious that the donkey might want it too. Mmmm.

He even navigated the trampoline with it without a hitch.

And smiled with it. Though he was a little uncomfortable letting Max get so close.

I think he was a little nervous here too.

He was much happier being solo. Just him and his big, purple balloon.  

Mom's 80th

.

Treasures

Lily & I had the pleasure of spending the day with Max, Lucy & Harvey.

This is Harvey. We had a picnic in a park near the water while pretending to be pirates & searching for treasure. Max dissed Lily saying she wasn't very good at finding treasures even after she found a whole crab body. She felt under appreciated but didn't let his opinion get her down.

How could you be angry with Max? He's angelic. (a little harsh with his assessments but still very sweet.)

But this dastardly dude was not good at all. He stole an entire loaf of our sour dough from the bench where we naively left it unguarded. He flew off with bag & all then landed on the shore and ate it in front of us. He gloated. We were mad. And hungry.

But we played on.

Until we got hungrier. After we trash mouthed that thief of a gull, we decided to go to Rocket Donuts - the kids favorite spot. Max says, "There's nothing gooder than cream in a donut." Amen to that brotha.

While there, Lucy showed us her impressive ballet moves. She's good. Real good.

Here's one more shot of sweet & oh so lovable Harvey Jack.

And one more of Lucy Lou showing us how it's done.

Treasures - All of them.  (except the bird)

Another reason the northwest is a good place to live.

Beyond the red chair that dangles from our tree over looking the corn field....

.....grows one of natures most delectable treats. Blackberrries.

From these juicy morsels, Lily baked her first pie. It was delicious. We devoured it all  in one evening with only a few crumbs and a sweet memory left to hold on to.

It's summer time and berry season!

I bet you don't see anything like this where you live.

The farmers are working long hours harvesting the precious berries you'll be putting on your ice cream tonight.  If you're not putting berries on your ice cream tonight, I'm sorry for you.

The roads are busy with all sorts of farming business, including hay coming off the fields, freshly bundled and brought to the farms for winter.  

First Friday Music VII

The winner of the most well put insult in a song goes to....

 .....Bob Dylan - from "Positively 4th Street"

I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is
To see you"

Arizona

My brother and his family are moving away from us to Arizona.  I will miss them terribly, but my biggest concern is their safety.

Arizona can be a very dangerous place. 

I'd be very scared if I were them.

A 12 year olds perspective on progress.

Lily : " Mom, do you remember when people played video games on their computers and they would have to put in discs?....now there's Xbox's and Ipod's and stuff. A lot happens in a few years."...Then she asked me if we used outhouses when I was little.
Me : Is it September yet?

A quote from my nephew Kirby

When Kirby was in Iraq in 2004 he wrote, " All I ask of people at home to realize is that whether or not you agree with the foreign policies that landed us in Iraq/Afghanistan in the first place, remain humble in the face of the sacrifices that are being made everyday. There are 19 & 20 year old men who sleep in holes, never quit and who brutally know how costly freedom from tryanny can be."
On July 5th, while on his 3rd deployment to a war zone, Kirby's vehicle was hit by an enemy bomb in Afghanistan, killing two men, critically injuring one and leaving Kirby and another soldier with serious injuries. It's with profound relief we're told that Kirby will fully recover from his wounds.
Through these brave men, I see the cost of this brutality and I am humbled by them. These soldiers have sacrificed so much for our country, a country with a leadership, I'm afraid, that seems more interested in politics than in winning this war. I wish the soldiers could all come home now.

Friday Music VI

Friday Music V

 My favorite part of this video is Leon Russell in his big, blue top hat playing guitar in the background.

Spellbinding mysteries of my linen closet.

My linen closet is always mess. This unfortunate fact makes changing sheets in our house frustrating. A real drudgery, it is. The over stuffed, unorganized closet is exasperated by having 3 different mattress sizes on our beds. It's difficult to find sheets that:
1. Fit
2. Match
3. Belong to the bed you're changing.
This means that when the kids and I change our beds the sheets:
1. Don't fit
2. Don't match
3. Belong to someone else.

Today, I worked up the nerve to finally tackle this Nemesis of a closet. My initial reaction when I pulled everything out onto the floor was to go for a long walk but, alas, I resisted the impulse to run and continued on my quest for a linen closet I'm not quivering in fear to open. I had one quick observation and discovered two mysteries in this endeavor.
The first thing I noticed is that I have a lot of sheets. Sheets dating back to 1987, for heavens sake. These included a frilly, pink & white stripped Laura Ashley set that I bought for Lily when she was in preschool and a dark, green & blue plaid flannel set I bought for Safety Man before we were married. I realize now that I must have a hard time letting go of old sheets. Which begs this question. What do you do with old sheets? You don't give them to second hand stores, do you? Throwing them away seems wasteful. I don't know what to do with them - hence my closet problem, I guess.
After noticing my proclivity to hold onto old sheets, I observed my first curiosity. I have a lot of top sheets and not so many bottom sheets. ??? How do you lose a bottom sheet? I understand missing socks. They're easy to lose - behind the couch, under the couch, in the couch. They can be tucked in an old pair of shoes, under a seat in the car or in a grimy old gym bag. Let's face it. I haven't worn a pair of socks that match since 1999. But I digress. A missing sheet is much more baffling. How the hell do you lose a bottom sheet? Unfortunately, this mystery is yet to be solved.
I did, however, figure out the last mystery. The missing pillow cases - case.( hee hee) I piled together many sets of sheets but couldn't find their pillow cases. Jeez. Losing bottom sheets & pillow cases? Too weird. So, I put on my mom detective hat and started to ask some questions. Being keen to my environment I knew where to start my inquiry. I asked Joe if he knew where some of these pillow cases might be. Not surprisingly he was dismissive of my question answering a quick and terse, "No." I, however, persevered. "Joe, I remember you had several pillows on your bed a while ago. I don't see them anymore. Are you certain you don't know where a pillow case might be hiding? It was like a little light lit up behind his devious 14 year old eyes. He then crawled into the storage area behind his closet and pulled out this:  A plethora of pillows.

Apparently, he was hoarding pillows. (From his sister, I suspect.)
My journey into the great linen closet abyss was moderately successful. I came to terms with my messy closet (my old sheets are stacked neatly together waiting for the final resolution - where do they go?) It's all very neat and in my quest, I found enough pillows to rest every weary head that is reading this blog. Sadly, I never expect to find the various missing bottom sheets. This is bound to be one of my life's baffling mysteries but for now, I am content.