Friday, April 27, 2007

Apple Sunshine, again



Is she just the cutest thing ever? This is where she chooses to sit while I'm driving. Yes, we take her everywhere. Don't worry, we were stopped at road work.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Skirt Love


Okay, I'm delusional. I envisioned lovliness. We would look beautiful, our fabrics piled neatly, looking so... neat, 2 skirts a piece finished, lovely photos of our finished skirts. Not exactly what happened. First off, I hadn't showered in almost 24 hours, and had taught 5 classes, so I didn't look and smell so hot. There goes that vision. Then I dumped my breaking shopping bag of loot onto my sisters table, totally covering her lovliness (and yes, it was lovely). The dogs played, then got on each other's nerves. Apple Sunshine went after Gordy, not a good thing. Sammajamma woke up. We played with the puppie and we played with Sam. As soon as we started, it was time to leave. Ugh. Well, two days later, I have finished my skirt and showered (well, that came yesterday). I will make some adjustments for the next one, but other than that, I am pleased. It will be a perfect summer skirt. I'm not delusional when I say I will be wearing skirts all summer and that will be lovely.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Getting to know you

This has been going around via email with My Handsome Prince's Family, so thought I would share it here:

1. What is your occupation? Wife, Mother, fitness instructor
2. What color is your underwear? Honestly, I mostly go commando
3. What are you listening to right now? Songs that Speak of the Spirit - a playlist I made of songs that speak of hope, peace, faith, etc.
4. What was the last thing you ate? roast beef, mushroom, swiss cheese panini that I just made for Emma and me
5. Do you wish on stars? no, eyelashes
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Never thought of it
7. How is the weather right now? beautiful
8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Emma to ask what she needed from the grocery store
9. Do you like the person who sent this to you? yes
10. How old are you today? 43
11. Favorite drink? good coffee. Did I say good?
12. Favorite sport to watch? swim meets but haven't been to one since my girls stopped swimming
13. Have you ever dyed your hair? yes, but I refuse to hide my grey
14. Do you wear contacts or glasses? glasses to read
15. Pets? Gus, the designer dog, Apple Sunshine, the princess and Punkin, the Queen
16. Favorite month? July
17. Favorite food? Mexican
18. What was the last movie you watched? The Pursuit of Happyness (yes, it's spelled that way)
19. Favorite day of the year? A day with my family
20. What do you do to vent anger? internally fume, then explode, yelling
21. What was your favorite toy as a child? Can't think of a toy, just playing outside with the neighborhood
22. Fall or Spring? Fall
23. Hugs or kisses? Hmm, both
24. Cherry or Blueberry? depends on what it is. Fresh cherries, yum. Blueberry pie, yum
25. Do you want your friends to email you back? ok
26. Who do you think will respond? I haven't decided who it is going to
27. Who is least likely to respond? see above
28. Living arrangements? My Handsome Prince, Emma and Audrey
29. When was the last time you cried? When Ellen sang on Sunday. That song always makes me cry.
30. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes and dry cleaning
31. Who is the friend you've had the longest? My sister
32. What did you do last night? spent it in the car with My Handsome Prince coming home from the eastern shore
33. Who inspires you? My husband and children always inspire me to be a better person
34. What are you afraid of? car accidents and rats (that's why I never go to Elizabeths)
35. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? All if they are on the grill
36. What is your favorite car or truck? I guess that would have to be the one I'm driving, as long as it runs and is dependable I don't really care, although I really miss my puzzle truck
37. Favorite dog breed? Morhound (hound plus moron, yup, that's Gus) and Chihuahua, of course this will change with whatever breed follows these two
38. Number of keys on your key ring? I'm not going upstairs to count
39. How many years at your job? Wife, 22 and counting, Mother 19 and counting, Fitness instructor 20 and counting, but 6 at the YMCA
40. Favorite day of the week? Any day but Tuesday
41. How many states have you lived in? 2
42. How many cities have you lived in? I've lived in 4 towns
43. How many countries have you lived in? One

Feel free to answer these yourself.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Ready, Set, Go!

Okay, it's Tuesday. My bed is made, I had plain oatmeal for breakfast, delivered the papers, went to Pilates, taught my Seniors, checked a couple things off my to do list, have killer workouts for my classes this evening and am planning a date with my hook, my rug, and a movie. How's that?

Monday, April 16, 2007

Monday Musings

I know Sunday is the official start of the week, but I feel Monday is the start. It's the day when the routine starts again. The day when you can really make the changes that you need to make. The day you organize the rest of the week. Today, the new session started. It WAS (key word here) the day I was jumpstarting my fitness and diet routine. What did I do? Slept in, ate nachos for lunch. Yuck. Can Tuesday begin my week?

Anyway, I'm trying to get my classes together for the week. I've looked at the rosters and see it's mostly the same people so it's time to challenge them and myself. It's time to start lifting, swimming and running again. I've signed myself up for a weight management course so I have a support system to make the right choices. I haven't changed much, but just need that inspiration and motivation to keep this up. It's a lifelong pursuit and anyway that I can achieve it, I will.

This week I need to finish my Love rug, make my songs of the spirit cd, pick up chips at the Utz outlet for 200 people, make a giant pasta salad, make 2-3 pans brownies, help the Prince with his scrapbook page for his Grandma. Those are the big ticket items along with routine cleaning, teaching, delivering papers, cooking, and working nights. And who can forget...OZOMATLI, Wednesday night Baby! "Party people rock the house, party people rock the house!"

I had all kinds of reflections of my time last week. There is no other way to say it. It was sad, terribly sad. My Dad, in his own grief, sick with a virus, was a rock for his brother and performed the ceremony just as he should. I had to call my sister the day we were leaving, just to talk to her, hear her voice, tell her I loved her. And the mystery of life goes on. There are still mornings to rise, meals to make, rides or walks to take, work to do, with a void, a hole, so enormous that it's almost inconceivable, and yet we/they do. My Uncle, his wife, my cousin, Pete, Ben, and Maddy. I wish them peace when they are ready.

I called my elementary schoolhood friend, Karen, who lives in the midwest, to tell her the news. She knew my cousins, lived a block behind them. She, too, had news. Her partner of many years had died unexpectedly shortly after she had seen him. Sad. The tragedy at Virginia Tech hit close to home, also. It was Emma's friend's dorm that was hit. She is okay, but she, too, has an emptiness to fill.

I am home, with my children, my husband, checking in on my father, getting together with family. Life goes on.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Cousins

Today I watched my kids with their cousins. I watched them all hunt for Easter eggs, with my two sharing a basket. They kept others occupied while we hid, too. I watched (or rather, heard) the oldest and the youngest have a screaming competition, and turn the younger, grouchy screams to laughter. I watched the middle one tenderly care for the puppy. I watched the girls gather together on the couch, eating their candy, and also take up one corner of the table to eat together, my two gathering their girl cousin to them. We talked of how much they enjoy being together, despite the range in age from 19 to almost 2. It's a wonderful, family relationship. May the Circle Be Unbroken.

We were like that growing up. We were a pack with our cousins. There were 7 of us growing up together, and just like Sam, another came along later. By that time, our family had moved from the midwest to the east coast, so we did not watch him grow up. We spent weekends at Grandma and Grandpa's house, eating cinnamon rolls, carving pumpkins, wearing Easter masks or cowboy hats or whatever holiday/prop was on hand, going to dog shows, the circus, helping Grandpa over at the church, or just hanging around. We always wanted to sleep together in G & G's room, with the roll away cot and I guess someone on the floor and a few in their bed (we kicked them out and they slept on the pull out in the tv room). Grandma would tell us stories and rub our backs. When Mark and Christine moved in our neighborhood, literally two blocks away we were estatic! Mark and I were 6 months apart, Rachel and Christine, one year. Now, one of our pack is gone. Daughter, Grandaughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Cousin, Friend.

My sister and I grieve. We spend a lot of time on the phone wondering when is the right time to make the trip? What do we do for the family? How do we express our sadness? We talk of our father, our uncle, our Grandma, her husband, her children. We just talk. I'm so thankful for that. I will travel with my father this week to Illinois to attend the funeral.

I was gathering songs for my Songs that Speak of the Spirit cd and came upon Paul Simon's "Father and Daughter". I cried. It spoke to me of my Father, but even more, my Uncle, and know the words are true "There could never be a Father that loved his daughter more than I loved you."
If you leap awake
In the mirror of a bad dream
And for a fraction of a second
You can't remember where you are
Just open your window
And follow your memory upstream
To the meadow in the mountain
Where we counted every falling star
I believe the light that shines on you
Will shine on you forever (forever)
And though I can't guarantee
There's nothing scary hiding under your bed
I'm gonna stand guard like a postcard of a golden retriever
And never leave till I leave you with a sweet dream in your bed

Chorus: I'm gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father who loved his daughter more than I love you

Trust your intuition
It's just like goin fishin'
You cast your line and hope you get a bite
But you don't need to waste your time
Worryin' about the market place
Try to help the human race
Strugglin to survive its harshest night.
-Paul Simon

Monday, April 02, 2007

Let's Play Top 10

1. Lucinda Williams concert. Wonderful venue, small sit down theatre, very intimate. Great performance, despite the fact that she had to start two songs over. Such a perfectionist in performing yet looking so uncomfortable on stage. She makes herself vulnerable. It was a great evening with a friend. Bar hopping in the 'burg, lovely dinner, great music, how could it be better?

2. A conversation with my sister about effort. It's making me realize that the source of my own, Whatever, funk, is the lack of my own effort. I'm just going through the motions. It started about others lack of effort, with the classic Why should I bother if no one else cares? and then the lightbulb went off. I realized how hard I worked last year and how much it paid off.

3. Not necessarily top rating but top in memory. The Anders Osborne show I went to that he did not. Bummer. Got our money back, had a good time with Tasha and my Prince, but we were so looking forward to listening to Anders jam and he did not.

4. Puppy, puppy, puppy! AppleSunshine has been so much fun! Neither I nor the Handsome Prince or even Audrey thought much of getting a puppy. Now that she is here, she is so much fun. She is personable, friendly, small, smart, and starts puppy classes this Saturday.

5. Keep up with the Joneses. My neighbor totally finished her quilt. Need I say more.

6. The emergence of spring. Rebirth and regrowth. Remember these? They are budding and flowering!

7. Emma made a school decision.

8. Audrey conquered a fear and auditioned for the Ensemble. Now it's just sit and wait.

9. I finished PT, thank goodness and am feeling better but not quite whole.

10. I can't even come up with 10. Isn't that pitiful?