love affair

I've felt this way for quite some time. It may have been at first sight.
One gaze in the eyes and I'm a goner. I remember looking the very first time. It was years ago already at His Mansion. A few of us went out for the evening. I don't know if anyone else noticed it, but I had fallen and fallen hard.

Lately, it's been the early morning, or late at night.
On a walk one morning with Jordan, we caught a glimpse of them under the trees, in the grass, lying down.
It was so lovely.
And then, the grace of movement is also breathtaking.
It's sad that they disappear as they flee into the woods. But watching them is amazing.
And the flip of the white tail.
Yep, that gets me too.

They are glorious creatures. I love looking on them.

Pix credit: Beth, from our latest camping adventure. She has a really good camera. Hooray!

holding things loosely

My macbook did not arrive solo.
By that I mean, when I purchased it, I could also receive some other items, at much reduced rates, to accompany it. (It needed friends or something.)
One friend was a great scanner/printer, which oddly, I've only employed once.
Although I was reluctant, I also purchased MS office.
And the third friend, a fabulous deal, was an Ipod.

As far as toys go, I'm not really a collector.
And to be sure, my ipod has capabilities beyond what I utilize.
I don't really listen to it that often.
But I've loaded all kinds of my favorite music on it.
In fact, when I lost my harddrive in January, I was grateful to still have all my music loaded on my ipod.

I say all this to say, on vacation, after riding the exercise bike, I joined my family who were watching Enchanted on the big screen in the game room at the little resort we stayed at. It was my cool down of sorts, to sit and join the movie already in progress.

A lingering tho't popped into my head over the next few days, but I ignored it. When we packed a few days later, the tho't reappeared. I couldn't find my ipod. We asked around. We looked everywhere we could think of. We left information at the front desk. But alas, I was convinced the thing had fallen out of my pocket in the game room, slipped b/tw couch cushions, and was now happily in the home of some resort employee. (I don't think the worst of people or anything! Sheesh.)
I experienced a variety of responses. Mostly I was mad at myself for not being responsible. And then I was sad to loose this "thing." And finally I tho't, who really cares, it is, after all, a thing. And maybe someone else gets to enjoy "my" favorite music. Good for them. I came to peace about. Really, others have taught me the importance of holding things loosely. It's much easier to detach and hold onto something else.

Last night my sister calls and mentions they cleaned out their van and found my ipod.
Since they had already snagged my tennis racket from vacation, it should be no surprise that they also took my ipod. (J/k guys.) I was surprised, really, but ultimately I was glad to hear it. I have another opportunity to be responsible for something, whether or not I need it.

And not to be ungrateful or anything, but I'm still wishing they'd find the cool red and black earring that I lost at their house on Easter.
I probably should be satisfied with my recovered ipod!

Sister 3

Of course I can't rank my sisters, as I love them all dearly. But we are ordered, obviously, in the way we entered this very world.
Today, right very now, I celebrate the anniversary of Carmen's birth.
Happy Birthday number three.
I love that you're my sister.
I celebrate who you are and the life you live. It's a privilege to see you in the roles of wife and Mom. The beautiful spirit within your daughters was nurtured and cultivated by you and is most precious.
You are tons of fun to be with. And I don't mind your reminders, you know, to call, email, do the right thing, etc, most of the time! :-)

I'm excited to see what this new year brings.
God Bless you and keep you
God cause His face to shine upon you
and grant you His peace.
Happy Birthday number 3!

pace

my friend beth recently blogged about the summer slow down kids experience whilst in school.

This week I lunched with the instructor that had a major car accident back in January. She mused how before the accident, she had asked God for a break. Now she and her kids joke about being more specific in their prayers. Oodles of bones broken in her arms and legs, well, u can imagine that those fractures were not the type of break she was hoping for. And yet, her schedule drastically changed. She cannot keep the lifestyle or the schedule she once pursued.

Life's pace while on vacation last week definitely slowed down. We played cards, we read books, we took walks, we visited historic and other fun places, we ate when we were hungry, we snacked when someone else did, we took pictures, we talked, we watched movies, we played games, we slept in, we splashed in the pool, we sat in the hottub, we braved the sauna, we disregarded alarms and schedules...well you know the rhythm.

How does one schedule that type of pace into daily and weekly life? We need the leisure. We need the space. We need moments to contemplate, to read, to breathe, to sit and stare,
and yes, I might argue, even to roll down hills to provoke unrestrained laughter.
We need room in our schedules so we can be present to life.
Finding some semblance of balance can make all the difference.

Photo credit: these are all Hildred's from Galena 0608

a few of my favorite things

so last week on the vacation with very little sun,
but with so much fun, we were on a jaunt
in the quaint little town of Galena, Illinois.
We came upon a levy.
And my sister said, "hey, let's roll down the hill."
"What?" Kate responded, "what does that mean Auntie Hildred?"
And so we showed her.

People, I can't even tell you how laughter burst forth from the depths of me as I rolled and rolled and rolled down this hill.
Tears spring to my eye corners even as I type this.

It is one of those pleasurable moments of sheer delight and joy.
Fabulous.

One can't really capture all of that in a photo. But we tried.

060708

This really has nothing to do with anything.
But my Mom reminded me it was 060708 today
and it seems too fun NOT to mention it.

As Gilly in the UK would say, "you know that way?"

I've missed some other noteworthy days...
like 020408 for instance.
So this day, for the blog record, is now mentioned.

In other news,
in the category of just because,

today I'm featuring
a
few
favorite
fotos...
from vacation.

(Yes, I know photos is the correct spelling.
Alliteration, people.
It's the priority over spelling.)

But there are many more to come.
I'll find an excuse to post them,
I promise!
In the meantime,
vacation is over.
And laundry,
mail,
bills,
plant watering,
dinner,
you know, the regular things of life,
they're all waiting.

who knew?

This was new to me,
but it seems about right.

of reptiles, amphibians, and family

I don't know what it looks like in your family
but this is what happens after a few hours at a museum
when we're on vacation.

But before we got all goofy, we were appreciating the amazing animals
that were part of the museum and aquarium that we visited today.
Several of them truly captured our attention.
We saw snakes,
alligators (an albino one was particularly cute),
lizards,
spiders,
centipedes,
crayfish,
turtles,
but our particular favs:

The otters.
They play with frisbees. Did'ya know that?
Very fun.

yet another covert operation

Surprises, as you know, are part of our family's dna.
It would likely be no surprise that when I met up with my family for vacation we had a surprise planned for my nine year old niece Katrina (Kate).
My sister wanted to reward her daughter, my niece, for ways that she has contributed to the family, helped look after her younger sister and cared for younger neighbor girls, especially.
So Friday, my sister told Kate that something special was happening for her on Saturday morning and that two of her three aunties (myself and Auntie Hildred) would be coming to participate. (Not that you care, but this did not include us traveling to Fargo, as the Fargo family, of which Kate is a part, had already traveled to the Chicago burbs to meet up for our family vacation.)
We showed up Saturday morning and whisked her away.
We tried to mislead her by talking about swimming, water parks, amusement parks, etc.
We had a blindfold ready for the walk into the city.

But we needed nothing to distract her, because she had no idea where we were taking her.
Her delight in the experience spread like the shifting shades of color in a Lake Michigan sunset. Her spirit is so unassuming and sweet.
You may have guessed that we are at the American girl store.
Today, i want to appreciate the beauty and innocence of my niece's delight.
Although she was a bit overwhelmed to choose a doll, the smile barely left her face.
At one moment, Kate noticed the cafe and excitedly expressed that she had heard of people eating at the store and that the cafe experience included seating and "feeding" the dolls. How fun it was to show her the ticket for our reservation later that morning!
The lunch was delicious. Kate ordered this creatively presented plate.

Although we were definitely the minority
by not celebrating a birthday,
we still enjoyed cake and other delicious things as dessert.
From the menu to the napkin holders, they definitely attended to details.

And no matter what I think about the business of the American Girl doll industry, the way my niece received the gift and the experience in itself made for an amazing memory. And a very lovely day!
Mission accomplished.