florida

january came and left and so did we. our flight was scheduled for 6am so we donned our bonnets and found ourselves (yes all 4 of us) en route to the airport and quarter after 4. honestly. what were we thinking? we were thinking eric's sister could use some entertainment, distraction and a full house after her scary gallbladder surgery. so there we were, in alligator ally, driving in our rented H3 (inspired by my huge suitcase and episodes of csi miami) to relieve and entertain the troops in southern florida. needless to say it was a fabulous time, full of seafood, sand, sleepless nights and about a million pictures. did i happen to mention eric's gift to me for christmas was a fancy new camera? although it took about a week to get back on schedule and to catch up on laundry we would do it again in a heart beat. well, except for the whole 6am departure. oh, and as a very exciting bonus we were able to see and spend time with my cute niece lindsey and her husband and her very pregnant belly!

back in focus

so the new year has started and as i looked around at my home tonight i noticed, i am already behind. what does that mean, exactly? well it's the culmination of beautifully appointed christmas trees, dust, spots on the floor, an olive wood nativity and mountains of laundry from hosting a cousin sleepover and family guests. and how do i feel about all of this in 2009? i am so fine with all of this. my floor will get mopped, the trees will find their cardboard boxes and the sparkly decorations will be, once again, retired to their plastic box and placed into the abyss otherwise known as the other garage. why am i feeling ok with this? well, we have been given an amazing gift of perspective this week. one which i will eternally be thankful for. my sweet cousin just laid her 41 day old baby boy to rest. what has this taught me? so much i can't even start to explain but, mostly, what is truly important. a question i have found myself pondering is what if? what if i had just today? what would i do? how would i spend my time? i'm once again thinking about the present. eric, jokingly, looked at me today and stated that if i kept putting things off until tomorrow, i would be left with a bunch of empty yesterdays. hmm, how true this statement is. so, as i am starting this new year, i have a new perspective, or newly remembered perspective and, with all the other goals on my list, i am going to concentrate on living in the moment. baby jack taught me that. enjoy what i have. love who i am. enjoy the stage of life i am in. and to take time to let the people around me know how important they are to me. and kiss my babies a whole lot. so, a big thank you to elizabeth and adam and megan who have shared their sweet baby, their amazing testimonies, their great sorrow and their hope and faith with me. happy new year.

high centered

as i was racing around today, grocery shopping and other errands i came across an interesting site. a green jeep grand cherokee was high centered in a vacant dirt filled lot very close to the local high school. it looked as if the car was trying to get back to the road after a fun filled fling in the muddied lot when the driver decided to take that last jump and well, stopped the fun right there. standing next to the jeep was a tall thin boy... parked on the road, directly in front of the jeep, was a lexus sedan. i could see this situation unfolding and had to laugh at the scene. mom comes to rescue boy, boy is in big trouble, too bad there also was a girl standing there as well. i had to catch myself in mid thought... i was thinking about my response if this was andrew standing there and i had just pulled up. oh, i thought i would be soooo mad, he would be so grounded... and then i thought about his father, and, well, me. my perspective changed. i realized that eric and i had probably been in rougher situations in the 4x4 world but we had been lucky enough never to have been caught. (by the land and by moms!) so, what would my response be if that tall, thin boy were mine? after getting over the "are you ok" i would probably have to run into another room and laugh and then, after i was composed, i would call the tow truck and let andrew work off the bills from the tow and whatever the underside of the car needed. how could i possibly be upset over something both eric and i would absolutely do, if we were back in high school, with our sweetheart, in a 4x4, on a rainy day.

orange

it very rarely is cold, gray, and rainy here. today was cold, gray, and rainy. all day long. it was fabulous. what made it even better is that the orange leaves and pumpkins practically glowed against the background of the storm. very fallish, very thanksgivingish. and, if i had a favorite color today, it would definitely be orange.

cater waiter

dressed in my sensible black shoes, black pants and a shirt just like every other girl in the room, i played cater/waiter tonight. it was my first working experience besides the short stint selling baskets since ohio. it's a little different in ohio. they don't pay as much there and the baskets, well they don't require the wearing of sensible shoes! but all joking aside, there has been a part of me that has always been interested in this field so even though it was "work," as eric put it, i had a great time. i actually enjoyed being in a big, busy kitchen. i enjoyed prepping the appetizers and i can now claim to be fabulous at plating shrimp over rock salt! i enjoyed helping with the last minute touches in the banquet room and even had some flashbacks of my wedding as the colors were very much the same. but alas, reality hit hard and as many romantic what if notions that have wandered around in my head have done in the past, i now know i could not be numero uno, the chief, or the one in charge of something so big. i'm just not that organized! i think i'd make a seriously great number oh, i don't know, 10? or even a fabulous assistant to the designer to the wedding coordinator that works with the caterer. yeah, that sounds about right! oh and it also helped that lesli was there to show me the ropes!

trees

right tree

left tree

this morning i feel quite introspective. there is so much to do... i'd rather think about things instead. as i was cleaning up the breakfast mess my arms and face were being warmed by the november sunshine tumbling into my kitchen. the view outside enchanted me even more. the sky was pristine blue (thanks to the wind) and my left elm tree's few remaining leaves were swirling around in the breeze. i call it my left elm tree because i have two. my right elm tree has not yet decided to give into the cool evenings and brisk mornings. the leaves on him are still quite green. i'd like to think of myself as the right elm tree. a little slow to embrace changes, get things done, and ultimately to lose the things i am fond of, have grown accustomed to and hate to leave behind. because as you and i both know, the tree will eventually lose it's leaves (they are starting to yellow) and i, too, will have to get things done. but for now, i'm holding onto things... i have a whole closet to prove this point. but, i am also holding onto this morning of slowness, listening to andrew read, hearing georgia get excited over what he is saying, smelling sleepiness in their hair and touching their soft, warm faces and arms. because, i know that this too will be gone in time. just like the leaves on my tree, this morning will fall away into my memory. so, as my right elm tree is doing, i'm going to hold on just a little longer today. enjoying my life one moment at a time.

morning commute

lately, it seems we have spent a lot of time on the road. not necessarily to anyplace exciting, just here and there and then back there and here again. so, thought i'd take advantage of just another red light. this was taken on the way to georgia's halloween party at her mommy and me class. she was a little upset, she didn't want to have her hair put up. she was princess lea. think starwars.