A man and his boy

(Gina, I hope you don't mind me pilfering this dynamite picture from you. I just had to share it with everyone I know.)
This is my nephew, Kirby, who left for Afghanistan in November, a couple weeks before his son, Dashel was born. His wife, Gina took this shot of them meeting for the first time, just last week, while Kirby was home on leave.
I can't get over the obvious recognition in Dashels eyes, knowing that he's looking into the eyes of his dad. This is a snap shot of happiness - sheer joy. It's so beautiful, I had to share.

Easter at our house

Easter was wonderful. Once again, I was blessed to have lots of family and friends to our house to celebrate this holy day. Since there were about 40 of us, I was busy and therefore didn't take pictures. (That's my excuse, anyway.) This is unfortunate because Max, Lucy & Harvey looked especially great in their Easter attire.(As we all did, I should add.) I did have the foresight, however, to send Lily to the barn to take some shots of Safety Man, Joe and our dear friend Kevin doing their Jiu Jitsu thing. I know these aren't your typical Easter pictures but this is what I have to show for our Sunday gathering.

Kevin is my friend, Mo's son. They moved to Bellevue a few months ago from the sunny southern California suburbs. I love to have such a good friend so close and am especially happy that she and her family joined the crowd. Kevin is a fan of grappling, like JT and Joe.

Here is Kevin and Joe. I'm not sure what's happening in this picture but I think they're having fun. ????? From my novice perspective, it looks like Kevin has Joe in an arm bar and Joe is about to tap out. But, I don't really know.

Most of you will have pictures of your sweet little ones in their Sunday best carrying their Easter baskets filled with beautifully colored eggs and maybe a spring flower or two. Or maybe a picture of an elaborate table carefully set with your finest china and a big beautiful ham in the background, surrounded my your family and friends in their new pastel dresses and perhaps a bow or two somewhere......Not me. Boys wrestling in our barn while gritting their teeth and grimacing from tapping out of a choke hold are ..... normal for me now. Happy Easter one and all.

To Rosemary, Sharon, Chris, Margie, Karen & Melissa

Which way next year ?... mmmm?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we have been trekking to the wine country for our annual weekend of indulgence for almost 10 years- could that be? Well, regardless of the years, the anticipation and chatter that precedes our trip is almost as fun as the trip itself....but not quite!....

Though most of us are separated by many miles and the babies that brought us together as a Mom's group are now teenagers, we remain friends. Friends that know how to have a good ass time.

Rosemary, Margie, me, Sharon & Karen, poolside. Oh yeah!

Here we are at our usual first stop - Gundlach Bundschu. Chris, Rosemary, Melissa, Sharon, Karen & Margie sampling our first tasty tid bits, drinking our first sips of wine for the weekend and catching up on our varied lives. Man, I love this place. It's the perfect opening ceremony to our Olympic sized fun weekend.

Dig the bird with the red wings... love the sign....

.....and the pristine vineyards and green, green hillsides of one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Rosemary, Margie w/her big floppy hat (ain't it adorable?), Karen, me & Sharon. We're @ our usual last stop on Sunday, before we head back to reality- The Girl & the Fig - Sonoma. Boy, we have this trip fine tuned, don't we? This weekend was perfect - The house, the limo, the wineries, the FOOD, the weather and the company. Perfect.

Was this taken outside of B.R Cohn? I think so. Beyond the brilliant purple iris's, see the gnarly old vines. Some mighty fine grapes come off those masterpieces of a plant. Hallelujah.

Aren't they gorgeous?! Those beautiful oak wine barrels are stunning!...and they smell so good, too. Melissa - (I had to add the Pebbles shot.)
Thank you, AGAIN, for the glorious food. The planning, time, and talent that you graciously give to all of us is a generous gift indeed. You're a gem, as are all of you friends. - precious gems - like diamonds.

Aaaaahhhhhhh. This shot says it best. Until next spring...

To my high school friends - part 2

Seven* of us gathered at Sharon's beautiful Arizona home to celebrate our 50th birthdays in unison. We've known one another for over 35 years and in the case of Mary and me, who met in Mrs. Bodenshatz's kindergarten class, 45 years. That's a hell of a long time when you're as young-like as we are.
Through these years we have shared our joys and celebrations, our fears and disappointments, our loses and tragedies. We've shared the happiness of our graduations, weddings and babies and suffered through the failures, sicknesses and the funerals. We have shared our lives. We live in Greenwich, CT, Santa Cruz, CA and Homer, AK. We're teachers, nurses and dog mushers. We have traveled down different paths and if we met today we may not give each other much more than a nod. We've been mad at each other, disappointed and bewildered by each other but like a family, we plow through these times and continue to love one another. Thankfully, we all take the time and make the effort to gather and replenish this incredibly durable and cherished shared history. And for this, I am very thankful.

Hey! He wasn't invited.

Mary, me, Carol, Sharon, Dierdre and Mo. - Here we all are. *Well, almost all of us. Sadly, Chris bought her airline tickets for the wrong weekend and realized this terrible mistake the day before our gathering. Since Chris has 3 young kids including 2 year old twins, we can understand her confusion but we sorely missed her. Lorraine is missing from this picture because she's the photographer. Below, Mary is taking the shot. (We need a tri pod.)

Lorraine, me, Carol, Sharon, Dierdre and Mo.

To my highschool pals

Since I'll be 50 this year, I prudently went to see my doctor for the typical semi centennial exam. When he noted that I'll be hitting the half century mark in September, I replied that this was better than the alternative to which he promptly asked, "Are you sure?" One point for the doc.

Anyway, this post is dedicated to the women I'll be seeing soon in AZ . We will collectively celebrate our big 5-0 and bravely launch over this daunting hurdle together. Here's to Cruisin' Carol, Mighty Mary, Do it Dierdre, Movin' Mo, Kissin' Chris, Shootin' Sharon, Lovely Lorraine and me, Jivin' Janis.

This song is for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=melUPYJc11U

It was a dark and foggy morning

When I look @ this picture I want to break into song. Home, home on the range. Where the donkeys and other donkeys roam. (When my nephews were very little I remember singing to them when they went to bed. They plugged their ears and pleaded, "Please Aunt Jannie, don't do that anymore." Everyone's a critic.)

Delicious Dishes

Check out my friend Melissa's wonderful new blog. I just posted it on my blog list. The title is Delicious Dishes. She's the hostess with the mostest.

Lent

Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God's sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God. ~ Thomas a Kempis

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Thomas a Kempis

A Nod To My Dog.

I'm not a crazy dog person like some people I know. (Mom) It took years of discussions with Safety Man before we finally took the plunge and went to Petco to adopt a suitable mutt for our family. Luckily for me we struck the big dog jack pot when we found Kicks. (Kicks came with this name. I tried to change it but my kids couldn't agree on a name so he was left with this name as a default. Now that the kids are karate people - the name "Kicks" fits.)

Here he is in his usual mid morning spot looking out the living room window for any dog action that may be happening in our yard.

This is how he looks after his bi-annual grooming appointment.(Shave)

Here are some interesting facts about this dog. 1. He doesn't shed. 2. He's gentle with the kids and even stands sentry during the night, by the kids tent when they camp outside. 3. He doesn't bark. 4. He comes when he's called. 5. He has never run away. 6. He gives the best hugs of anyone in our family and means it. 7. He's very smart (for a dog) and good looking. 8. He welcomes new members of the family and protects them. - even the cats. 9. I have never seen his poop. Don't ask me where he goes. I don't know nor do I care. But I swear to you that in the 6 years we have had him with us I have never seen his poop. Isn't that a big plus for a dog?! 10. Did I mention how cute he is?...... I love him.
The only bad thing I can say about this extraordinary pooch is that he has very bad breath and he puts his nose where it doesn't belong - if you know what I mean. That's it. He's nearly perfect.

13 year old boys are interesting

Joe aspires to be fluent in pig latin. It's been several weeks since he proclaimed this as his goal and already he's quite good (irritating) at it. Do you know that there's a pig latin converter on the internet? There is. How wonderful or in Joe's language -owhay onderfulway.
Here's a sample of our communication - Me: Good morning, Joe. How are you?
Joe: I'mway inefay. owhay arewy ouyay? ~

When will this end? Anyone?