Summer walks
Late-night porch talks,
Over a firepit outdoors
Chocolate and marshmallows for s’mores,
Tomatoes and cucs off the vine
Warm breezes, feeling so fine,
Picnics and bbq’s in the yard
Summer fun isn’t hard…
Fall is now coming
Bringing it’s own times of fun
What will you miss most
When summer is done?
-RLT, channeling Dr. Suess (albeit poorly!)
Does anyone else think it’s strange that there are so many open seats left in the men’s gymnastics team final at the OLYMPICS? Wha??? Had I known there was a spot with my name on it, a plane ticket would have been purchased long ago!
I am a great fan of the Olympic games. I can remember crowding around the television set with my parents and brothers, cheering on athletes of the likes of Mary Lou Retton. My best friend from Augusta, Georgia, and I even got haircuts like Mary Lou (as did many other all-American little girls of that day)… Sarah looked exactly like the gymnast and I looked like a little boy. Another haircut for the photo album.
Tonight props go to the Japanese men’s gymnastics team for winning, fair and square, the gold medal! Of course, I was rooting for the USA guys, but totally happy for them and the Japanese. These events are so intense… I hold my breath during the rings and everything gets paused for the vault. Love the vault! If there was one single Olympic event I’d want to compete in, it would be the vault… “flying through the air with the greatest of ease!”… So much power and airtime, it looks like fun.
It’s too bad our Blockbuster-pseudo-Netflix-dealie is done this week, because baby, the Olympics are on!!
The sunflower heads bloomed a few weeks ago and now we can admire the lovely and enormous flowers in a new way. The tallest one’s head is so large that the body is bent underneath it somewhat like a geriatric case of sunflower scoliosis. (It’s a virtual planetoid!) The rest of the garden is faring decently, though I’m sure a few more hot August days would be perfect for the tomatoes. We’ve been having the most beautiful fall-like weather… Temps in the 70’s, sometimes going down to the 40’s at night. It’s been a very, very unusual Nebraska summer.
Yesterday we joined some friends at Mahoney State Park. It was a great opportunity to get out of Lincoln and enjoy being together as a family… First we strapped on the Baby Bjorn and climbed the observation tower to enjoy lush views of the rolling hills near the Platte River. My knees began to buckle a bit halfway up the tower but I told Livia that her mom’s not a weenie and thus ignored my shaky, heights-fearing innards. I couldn’t help but chuckle empathetically at this young couple on the top of the tower… The girl was really nervous and wouldn’t step foot any closer to the railed edge. The edge is fairly unnerving, as the floor is made of metal links and you can see straight through to the ground, however many feet below.
After checking out the landscape, we popped Livia into her stroller and walked around the Butterfly Garden (presumably more interesting in early summer), the James Conservatory and wandered various foothpaths and bridges. Mahoney is a family place—perfect for kids a little older than Livia. You got the swimming pool and waterslides, the marina and paddleboats, horseback riding and carriage rides, and a fairly new activity center. Wintertime (and snow) sees sleigh rides at Mahoney. Hmmm… Romantic birthday outing, perhaps? With the start of the Olympics and our out-of-town afternoon, the weekend was quite enjoyable.
Tasting – Burt’s Beeswax lip balm on my teeth.
Aching – In my sinuses.
Buying – Eats, Shoots and Leaves from Barnes & Noble.
Behaving – Like a procrastinating mom. It’s time to mix up some formula and I’m blogging instead.
Desiring – More time (and money) to spend at Barnes & Noble. I had forgotten how enticing their book selections are… and how aromatic their coffees are… and how comfy their furniture looks…
Planning – To spend a long weekend of relaxation with four old friends at a lake house next month.
Snuggling – With a blanketed Pookie on the front porch during a gentle rain.
Choosing – BBQ Chicken Pizza and Crème Brulee for dinner tonight.
Regretting – Too low an insulin dosage.
Living – As a stupid diabetic and a satiated diner. The two are quite compatible.
I’m an escapist when it comes to literature.
When I read, I want a book that takes me away from my familiar living room sofa to a land or time far away. I want to become someone else, to feel what they feel and experience what they experience. Perhaps this mentality explains why I never make it through a book that is overtly trying to teach me something. I have the best intentions of reading books on grace, marriage or apologetics, but I rarely get further than halfway through the publication before it begins to gather dust on my bedside stand.
So here I am, an escapist reader, saying out loud that I love a good John Grisham novel.
Last night I finished up The Last Juror (Doubleday, 2004). Classic Grisham, it tells the tale of a young newspaper publisher and editor in small Mississippi town in the 1970’s. Of course, being a Grisham novel, it also encompasses passionate crimes, a host of attorneys, one crucial jury decision and racial tension. Ah, good stuff. I was drawn further into the story by the following description of Calia Ruffin, an elderly black woman, and her prayer before lunch with the young protagonist:
It would be a lengthy prayer. She thanked the Lord for everything good, including me, “her new friend.” She prayed for those who were sick and those who might become so. She prayed for rain and sun and health and humidity and patience, and though I began to worry about the food getting cold I was mesmerized by her voice. Her cadence was slow, with thought given to each word. Her diction was perfect, every consonant treated equally, every comma and period honored. I had to peek to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I have never heard such speech from a Southern black, or a Southern white for that matter.
I peeked again. She was talking to her Lord, and her face was perfectly content. For a few seconds, I actually forgot about the food. She squeezed my hands as she petitioned the Almighty with eloquence that came only from years of practice. She quoted Scripture, the King James Version for sure, and it was a bit odd to hear her use words like “thou” and “thine” and “whither” and “goest.” But she knew precisely what she was doing. In the clutches of this very holy woman, I had never felt closer to God.
Dear Livia,
Yesterday you turned three months old. Sometimes I want to squeeze you to keep you a teeny baby forever but most of the time I’m just excited to see all the new things you are learning to do. You grow and change all the time… This last month you learned that fingers taste yummy and are nice to suck on when you’re sleepy or hungry. You’ve also learned how to roll over, though you have only done it three times so far. I was on the phone when I placed you on your back and stepped away for a moment. When I turned around again you were on your tummy! Wonder of wonders, you rolled over! You’ve begun talking quite loudly when you’re content… You still coo at your mobiles and the play gym, but the most common noise you make is an “aaa” that erupts from deep in your throat. Daddy and I think you laughed today for the very first time (at Dad’s tickling and zerbert-blowing nonetheless). We do anything we can to make you smile, but most smiling occurs when you’re in a happy mood. There’s no grinning going on when you’re hungry or tired! You still sleep in your wonderfully relaxed position— arm and hands flung out to the sides and legs completely at ease. Sometimes you’ll even tuck your hands behind your head like you’re just daydreaming; it’s very cute. We love getting you from your crib in the morning… You are so thrilled to see us and do these whole body smiles where everything crinkles together in delight. One final important tidbit that happened about one week before you turned three months… You began sleeping through the night! Isn’t sleep wonderful??!
You are our delight. Even though we are watching a lot of movies this month, you are our absolute favorite thing to watch and we love you very much.
Mama
The race to watch as many Blockbuster rentals during one month as we possibly can continues! My goal in this endeavor is to walk into the 16th & Q store and pick out the first new release I’ve always wanted to see but haven’t yet. (Usually I pick one and Jeremy picks one.) Quite a few of my selections are romantic comedies. Something happened approximately six years ago when I got married: my romantic comedy movia quota dropped dramatically and I began to appreciate the finer sides of science fiction, fantasy and action films. At any rate, a lot of my movie selections this month are good for a few laughs and 1.5-2 hours of checking out of reality.
I was prepared to dislike Win a Date with Tad Hamilton based upon some review I once read. Instead I really liked it’s sweetness and cheese… Good stuff. Didn’t enjoy The Rundown. Ugh. I managed to find other things to do during the latter half of the movie—exciting things like scrubbing formula out of Livia’s bottle nipples and applying stain removal spray to the shirt I spilled ketchup on last week. Let’s see… What else did we see? We braved the heights and bitter cold along with the two mountain climbers in Touching the Void. This movie plays like a documentary accompanied by narration from the real-life climbers. Watching it is literally breathtaking and I found myself gasping, in empathy and horror, many times. Definitely worth renting. On my own I took in The Company with Neve Campbell. I heard a friend once say this movie is more like a documentary and he was right. At times I was a bit bored with the dance scenes. Though I love the stage and elements of ballet, lighting and set design, I wasn’t captivated by the exotic dances. That being said, the film reminded me that I need to get to the theater more often—for dances, for symphonies, for plays or musicals, whatever. There’s nothing like seeing performances live on a stage. I was also pleased to see James Franco (Freaks and Geeks, Spiderman movies) in this one though his role was minimal. Favorite scene? Neve’s character’s “duet” dance on an outdoor stage while a storm rolled in. Simply beautiful.
Finally, I’ve got Calendar Girls on pause downstairs (paused to attend to a screaming baby and now to blog). I am totally enjoying this flick! It’s delightfully funny—so much so that I paused it to call my mom and laugh with her since I am watching it alone. The movie stirs up a very strong desire to go explore the English countryside, though for now I must leave that duty to Bethany in Oxford. It’s also awakened the age-old discussion regarding art… What’s the difference between being naked and being nude? What is tasteful art and what is pornographic? Hmmm… Chew on that, if you will, and leave any comments. I’d like to hear what you think!
There is a rocking chair, passed down from mother to daughter, carted all over the United States during various family moves, from Georgia to Nebraska by way of California and Oregon. It’s been painted several colors, the most recent being an aqua blue, and it has an old fashioned woven seat that is falling apart in several places. This story has been told before… The chair was stolen off our front porch sometime last winter. Considering the depths of snow on our porch during that time, it’s no surprise I didn’t notice the crime for some time.
I noticed this time. The latest story goes like this. I walked over to my neighbors’ house Monday evening for a book shower in honor of Livia around 7:15 pm. While all the merriment was occurring, another thief (or perhaps the same one, who knows?) crept up my front steps and stole a 12 inch clay pot, full of soil, salmon-colored impatiens and some small white trailing flowers (I can’t recall their name). This pot is quite heavy, so I imagine a male committed the act. When I came home from the shower, our front porch light hadn’t been turned on and our blinds were still open. The thug could see right into our house and could plan his actions based on the absence of movement within the living room. I noticed that the pot was gone around 10:30 pm.
Just now, after checking our mailbox, I noticed something else was missing… Two small solar garden lights have also been taken. And my anger and frustration is once more aroused.
The sheer INJUSTICE of this is what gets to me. I can only imagine how angry I’d become if a drunk driver killed a family member, or if some other true atrocity was committed against someone I love. These fairly small incidents make me so annoyed! How dare someone simply take these items from my house? They didn’t pay for them. They didn’t spend 30 minutes at Earl May being particular about the color and size of bedding plants. They didn’t water them every other day with love. They didn’t install the lights and appreciate them night after night. They didn’t move around the country, carefully hauling a Southern rocking chair.
It’s not as though I live in a “bad” neighborhood where porch furniture needs to be chained to the floor or where bars should cover windows. Fortunately my neighbors don’t seem to be missing anything. We’ve only had to call the police a few times for fairly small incidents. Argh. No rhyme or reason to someone’s foolishness. I just pray that our thief will be convicted of the wrongness of his actions and that something will make him change his ways… Getting back my flower pot, solar lights and rocking chair, along with a note of apology and a more positive plan for his future, would be nice, too.
* The flowers in the photo are vinca. All pots of vinca are present and accounted for.
Man, showers are the best! Baby showers, that is… Jeremy took the day off today and we went to the mall (I’ve been telling him that all errands are MUCH more enjoyable with him along!). We used a gift certificate at Dillards to buy a few outfits Livia can wear now. We also figured out how to negotiate the stroller on an escalator. I can tell you that I will never attempt to go DOWN by myself—doing so would result in me, Livia and the Graco stroller in a messy pile at the bottom of the moving stairs… not good.
I can’t express how grateful I am for these baby showers. New baby clothes, especially ones from department stores and specialty shops, are expensive!! If it were up to our budget, Livia would only wear garage sale deals (which are lovely and very worthwhile when you can get nice stuff).
All in all, we’ve been really really spoiled by our friends and family. One great big humongous Zion shower and another hosted by Jeremy’s co-workers at iUniverse were enjoyed last week. Tonight is the final bit o’ fun given by my great friends Sarah and Charity. Livia will be one very blessed, well-dressed little girl for the next year, thanks to lots of generous friends.