Tit For Tat

She hacked my phone so I jacked her selfies.

2 day pass

this weekend there were horses and bases.

or rather riding and baseball.

another turn on dandy and lots and lots of baseball.

the first game of the season and two wins.

a scrimmage too.

t. bone did his job as pitcher.

his precision is more impressive than his speed.

but he's fast too.

lily found dandy stubborn this week so she's glad that admiral is on the mend.

it was also a weekend of friends and neighbors.

t. bone boasted that he had a yard full of boys (15) while we were out for the night.

i expressed my concern over this, but i wasn't too worried.

it's how it should be:

come one come all, no parents setting play dates, just kids of all ages playing together outside.

and he didn't give away our wealth in gatorade.

sunday was a catch all...filled with odds and ends.

this weekend was the embodiment of the sentiments life is what happens in the moments in between and life is good.

here's the evidence.

On My Mind Monday

This post from Anne lamott's facebook page.

Here are a couple snippets, but please read the whole essay:

Grace: Spiritual WD-40. Water wings. The mystery of grace is that God loves Dick Cheney and me exactly as much as He or She loves your grandchild. Go figure. The movement of grace is what changes us, heals us and our world. To summon grace, say, “Help!” And then buckle up. Grace won’t look like Casper the Friendly Ghost, but the phone will ring, or the mail will come, and then against all odds, you will get your sense of humor about yourself back. Laughter really is carbonated holiness, even if you are sick of me saying it.

Death. Wow. So f-ing hard to bear, when the few people you cannot live without die. You will never get over these losses, and are not supposed to. We Christians like to think death is a major change of address, but in any case, the person will live fully again in your heart, at some point, and make you smile at the MOST inappropriate times. But their absence will also be a lifelong nightmare of homesickness for you. All truth is a paradox. Grief, friends, time and tears will heal you. Tears will bathe and baptize and hydrate you and the ground on which you walk. The first thing God says to Moses is, “Take off your shoes.” We are on holy ground. Hard to believe, but the truest thing I know.

I love her insight as well as her candor.

2 day pass

we welcomed the weekend on the farm on a beautiful spring eve.

the sky was rather showy, but lily was the real star with a little help from dandy.

and an audience of the whole family too.

i took about 500 pictures and then not another the rest of the weekend.

admiral is out of commission for the time being so this old guy is filling in.

they got along like they had known one another for months not minutes.

t. bone made a new friend his first night on the farm.

he decided to call him winslow.

after lily's lesson and before dandy's narcolepsy kicked in, 

she led him out to the paddock.

then she too gave winslow some love.

we said goodnight to the farm...

and headed to a nearby supper club for lots of fried food.

they happen to have my favorite perch sandwich, but best of all...

it was nice to all be together enjoying a beaut of a night.

it's a rare friday eve that ted reserves for family, and my brother and sil joined us as well.
double bonus...double happiness.

saturday coach and i met with a kitchen designer bright and early.

it was our second prospect and a much better fit than our first.

we're starting to get excited about the idea of a brand new kitchen.
and starting to get to the guts of our vision.

the rest of the day we spent in our separate pursuits before coming together for dinner.

coach grilled fajita fixings, lily made guacamole and i made a mexican rice.

ted ate. 

that's pretty much what he does these days...eat, play (sports) and sleep.

we all sang (and laughed) as we played a game of name that tune after dinner.
a little jerry, jack and taylor too.

sunday we were up early for church bright eyed and sweet sounding in our usual pew.

after sunday school, t. bone went golfing with his uncle before two baseball practices with coach.
doesn't everyone workout 3 or 4 times a day?

lily and i took a long bike ride.

my butt is still sore.

then we all gathered around the table again for sunday dinner...

and a little more singing.

i was in bed sunday night before the kids because they were off monday.

as i closed my eyes, i felt such contentment.

it was just an ordinary weekend, but it didn't feel that way.

it felt rather special.
the extraordinary ordinary. 

it was the right mix of work and play, togetherness and solitude, fresh air and cocooning, and because of that, i'm still thinking about it.

On My Mind Monday

And in the end I think I've learned the final lesson from my travels in time; and I've even gone one step further than my father did: The truth is I now don't travel back at all, not even for the day, I just try to live every day as if I've deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it, as if it was the full final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life. 

~ About Time

Mike started watching this 2013 romantic comedy a few days ago.  He stopped and saved it so we could watch it together.   He knew it would appeal to me.  And he knows me well...I rather loved this quirky little film.  It was sweet, but not overly sappy.  I laughed quite a bit and I cried a little.  I also tried to simply enjoy the story without getting hung up on the plot plunders because I appreciate the message.  Everyday I strive to be present in the moment no matter how mundane it may be.

End of an Era

We've been talking about getting rid of our play set since last spring. The family agreed it was time. Yesterday Mike listed it on Craig's List and quickly his phone started buzzing.  It was free to anyone interested in taking it down and hauling it away.  We joked that we should maybe even pay the takers, but surprisingly many were willing.  A family with a van full of kids came and disassembled the set before I could even think about taking one last picture.  One last picture of my kids swinging on the swings they long ago outgrew.  Sadly, there was no sparking cider toast ala Lisa Rinna and her family either. It was rather sudden and unceremonious as are most play set removals I imagine. Miss Bit caught me watching the end of an era from the cover of my bedroom window. Actually, I'm quite sure she called me out as a stalker.  I had to admit that I felt just a little pull at my heartstrings at the prospect of my two being too big to enjoy the teeter totter and slide any longer because to not do so would have been futile.  My girl can see right through me.  Unlike outgrown baseball jerseys and too small smocked dresses, the play set cannot be packed away and pulled out later to prove that once not that very long ago they were small. To that my girl reminded me not to mistake my attachment to my people with a grip on our things.  She said, "You've still got us!"  And then I felt rather silly as we both agreed it was such a good thing that other children would make memories like the ones we remember fondly.  It feels warm and fuzzy to pay it forward.  It feels right.

After dinner a couple hours later, the four of us were singing and dancing in the kitchen playing our version of name that tune.  Mike and I are pros at the classics and, of course, the kids know all the current hits, but they can identify some of the greats like Frank and Cat and Stevie too. I realized as we were all connecting and crooning that this growing up thing is more sweet than it is bitter.  It's only natural that some things have to be left behind in order to move forward.

The family that now owns the set promised to send us a picture.  They've been saving up and squirreling away the best parts of a number of older sets in the hopes of building one double decker super set for their crew.  I'm looking forward to seeing the happy transformation.

April Inventory

Reading: Last week I lost myself in The Girl on the Train for two nights.  It was part Rear Window part Gone Girl and definitely a page turner.  The unreliable narrator intrigued me. Then I picked up Cutting for Stone for the 4th time.  I have started and quit this novel 3 other times so now I've read the first 100 pages 4 times.  I am committed to seeing it through this time, and I really can't explain my resistance to doing so in the past.  I like the story and the style. Of course, I have 3 books in transit to my library so it's going to take willpower.  Lily and I are reading A Long Walk to Water together with heavy hearts.  I think she's going to insist on picking our next book, and it's probably a good idea.

Wondering when I'm going to feel like writing again.  I don't fret like I used to when words evade me because I know it's a process...there is ebb and flow, but still I don't like it.  I don't like it because something important to me is missing in my life, and I feel a little less like myself: off kilter, top heavy, wishy washy.

Noticing that what you give is what you get, the power of intentions and that we are all made up of energy.  Holy energy.

Watching the usuals.  Lily and I have to get caught up on Dancing With the Stars.  Are we the only ones who still love that show?  My Mom used to watch it, and I didn't understand her affinity for the show.  Now I'd give just about anything to sit beside her with a glass of Conch on Monday nights to watch it.  Coach and I tried to watch Going Clear last weekend, but it put us to sleep.  I plan to try again soon.  Cults Scientology fascinates me and have ever since Jim Jones was the Monday night movie.

Listening to The Longest Ride when I walk and still not feeling the chi.  The battery keeps dying when I'm mid miles and I'm starting to think that I just need to give it up.  I'm heading to the library for new audio books today.

Eating my new favorite apple.  It's called the Lady Alice and I highly recommend it if you like tart crisp apples.  I made a delicious cream cheese pound cake for strawberry shortcakes last weekend, and I think I've found the secret to the perfect egg salad: a tablespoon of  chopped fresh jalapeno and a dash or two of white wine vinegar.

Drinking PBRs last Saturday night at the Jackson Blue Ribbon and not remembering a time when beer tasted so dang good.

Wanting to keep crossing things off my eternal and never ending to do list.  I've eliminated some big ones this year and I plan to continue the streak.

Wearing flip flops by day and wool clogs by night.  It's day by day here, but we've had a beautiful stretch of 60 degree, mostly sunny days.

Hoping that our manny can come back this summer.  Maybe even praying.

Thinking that the school year is winding down, and knowing that summer will go fast and then we will have a freshman and a 6th grader.  Sixth grade is when my sharpest memories start.  It was the best of times.  Ninth grade was pretty stellar too.  I'm excited for my two.

Enjoying opening windows, cleaning out closets and drawers, purging and simplifying our surroundings, Susannah Conway's April Love challenge, my breakfast bowl: shredded wheat with a little granola and flax seed topped with berries (preferably raspberries) and coconut milk, getting out for long walks in the fresh air and more daylight and birdsong.

Loving all of the possibilities the present holds.