I apologize for posting two new entries in one day. But I remembered an interesting encounter I had with Jonathan a couple weeks ago, and wanted to share it with you. What brought this back to my memory? Well, if you must know, I am in the midst of a horrific sneezing fit...
Anyway, one afternoon after Jonathan came home from school I sat up and said, "Let's go to Starbucks!" I still had some bucks left on a gift card, and Jonathan was ready and eager to accompany me. He has learned to love and appreciate coffee that last six months or so. A pot of coffee in the morning is not always enough......I'm learning to share! (Warren usually drinks tea.)
So we drove to Starbucks - about a ten minute drive, and at a busy time of day. Then, any time after 2:00 in Worcester is a busy time of day. Once the high schools get out, traffic increases tremendously. Anyway, Jonathan and I pulled in to Starbucks and found a spot to park in the back aisle. As I pulled in, I was overcome with a horrible stench. It was easily recognizable as "one of Jonathan's farts" and I easily reprimanded him. "Could you have waited about ten seconds until you got outside before you did that?" "WHAT?" he asked, dumbfounded. "THE FART!! Couldn't you have waited?" He just looked at me like I was from another planet. We got out of the car and started walking across the parking lot.
He said, "Geez, I'm sorry! But hey, I don't get all over you when you have your sneezing fits!" I stopped dead in my tracks and just looked at him.
"MY SNEEZES DON'T STINK!"
Do yours?
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
They Said It Wouldn't Last!
Yesterday - April 4, 2011 - Warren and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. If you were one of those people who were part of our companion crowd 25 years ago, you'd probably be shaking your head thinking, "That is unbelievable!" We've changed a lot over the years...
We met at a Denver Zephyr's baseball game at Mile High Stadium. Between innings, Warren asked me to dance to a Glenn Miller song they were playing ("String of Pearls). So, our first encounter was dancing on the bleachers. We might have had a few beers tucked away at the time...
And then, out of the blue a few months later, WE WERE GETTING MARRIED!! And we did, and we've had a wonderful/adventurous/exciting/heartbreaking/heartwarming life together.
Last night, over sushi at Haiku Restaurant (el yummo!!), we both agreed that our children were our greatest accomplishments. (This was before we came home to discover that Jonathan had talked on the phone all night and had not done any of the items we listed for him to take care of while we were out...)
And we agreed that it's been hard - adopting two children, dealing with their special needs, missing Katie, being parents of an almost-16-year-old...and missing lots of the things and people we've left behind over the years. But we're not sure if and/or how we can change that. So, it's still sort of hard. But not horrible.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
March Madness
Life has been c.r.a.z.y. for the last month, but something tells me it will begin to slow down just a bit. I hope so.
Here it is - Lent, 2011. I've always enjoyed greeting people with "Happy Ash Wednesday!" just to get a smile out of them. This year was no exception. I hope you all had a Happy Ash Wednesday, and have a Happy Lent!
I've been loving my classes at the Art Museum. It's hard to believe there are only two weeks left of my drawing class, and three of my painting class. It's been good for me, and now I need to see what offerings lie in store for the next session. Last week, we painted a piece of fruit.
It's been fun working with Acrylic paints from a tube instead of those inexpensive craft paints I've been using for my journals and altered books! Who knew?
Life goes on. My goal for this Spring is to get my 3rd floor space in order to spend all my creative time up there - in a "Mom Cave" if you will - and clear off the dining room table! My incentive? The in-laws are coming to visit over Holy Week/Easter. I have the greatest incentive in the world to get this house in "mother-in-law acceptable" order. Not that she'll have much to say about it, but - trust me - she will notice! (This is the same woman who said to me years ago, "If you're going to be a priest's wife, you're going to have to learn how to keep house." I kid you not.
Wish me luck!
Here it is - Lent, 2011. I've always enjoyed greeting people with "Happy Ash Wednesday!" just to get a smile out of them. This year was no exception. I hope you all had a Happy Ash Wednesday, and have a Happy Lent!
I've been loving my classes at the Art Museum. It's hard to believe there are only two weeks left of my drawing class, and three of my painting class. It's been good for me, and now I need to see what offerings lie in store for the next session. Last week, we painted a piece of fruit.
It's been fun working with Acrylic paints from a tube instead of those inexpensive craft paints I've been using for my journals and altered books! Who knew?
Life goes on. My goal for this Spring is to get my 3rd floor space in order to spend all my creative time up there - in a "Mom Cave" if you will - and clear off the dining room table! My incentive? The in-laws are coming to visit over Holy Week/Easter. I have the greatest incentive in the world to get this house in "mother-in-law acceptable" order. Not that she'll have much to say about it, but - trust me - she will notice! (This is the same woman who said to me years ago, "If you're going to be a priest's wife, you're going to have to learn how to keep house." I kid you not.
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Unhappy Camper
There is nothing I enjoy about this.
Warren is off to Connecticut for a conference this week - some sort of "clergy crap" as I lovingly refer to it. So, that leaves me here - "single momming it" - with Jonathan.
Call me spoiled, but usually I get to sleep in and Warren gets up at 5:15 with Jonathan. I arrive later, usually, just as the frenzy of getting out the door is ending. This works, according to Warren, because sometimes a third person just adds fuel to the fire. Okay! See you at 6:15! There is nothing, to me, even halfway attractive about anything before 6 a.m. I'm just sayin'.
So, I've set my alarm for 5:15 every day this week. So far, it's working. I get up and get dressed. I wake up Jonathan and go downstairs and start coffee. Then I holler upstairs to make sure Jonathan is out of bed. Then I go back to the kitchen to figure out what to make him for his lunch. Then I holler up the stairs one more time to make sure he's vertical. Then I remind him that the dog needs to be taken care of.
So, downstairs he comes - usually without shoes on, and no dog. "Go put shoes on and take care of the dog." He looks at me like nobody has ever told him this before. Then he turns, and follows my "orders." If I put a banana on his plate with his breakfast, he asks for a knife...not to cut up the banana, but to cut off "the ends" because for some stupid reason, he does not like the little pointed ends of the banana. Whatever. Breakfast for me!
After he eats, I tell him (every day) to go upstairs and brush his teeth and put his bands on his braces. By this time, he has 20 minutes left - plenty of time to get ready and organized and make it a relaxed exit. But 15 minutes later, I'm yelling up the stairs, "Did you brush your teeth?" "I'm getting there!" he yells back. "WTF?" I think to myself. Then, I'm "nicely" yelling at him to hurry it up because it's almost time to leave.
He grabs his things and throws them into his backpack. "Do you have your lunch?" I always ask. "Oh, crap!" he says, as he runs to the kitchen to grab it. "Do you have bands in?" I always ask. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. So I explain that he's just wasting his own time by not wearing them. But he always has them in his back pocket! You know the rest of that story...
Out the door...on time, if I drive him to the bus stop. I'm a stickler for being on time, so we always have a few minutes to wait and chat. We figure out his schedule for the day. He seems to know a lot more about handling time than I do. What is it with 15-year-olds, anyway? Time for the bus, so I kick him out of the car and come home. Home to quiet and noise and signs of life that is now sitting on a bus headed to Worcester Tech. And I miss him. And I miss him all day, and can't wait to see him at the end of his day...I want to hear all about it and listen to his stories. He tells such great stories, and he's so excited and enthusiastic about them all! Then, I like to watch him do his homework while he has a snack. He's always so ravenous, and eats with such aplomb it's amazing. And then he eats dinner like he hasn't seen food in a week.
So, yes, I miss Warren. I hate being a single parent. But I love my boy. So, if I have to be a single parent for a week I'll just suck it up and enjoy the stories. Maybe I'll have a few of my own by the time Warren gets back on Friday. Maybe I'll even get up early to tell them to him.
Warren is off to Connecticut for a conference this week - some sort of "clergy crap" as I lovingly refer to it. So, that leaves me here - "single momming it" - with Jonathan.
Call me spoiled, but usually I get to sleep in and Warren gets up at 5:15 with Jonathan. I arrive later, usually, just as the frenzy of getting out the door is ending. This works, according to Warren, because sometimes a third person just adds fuel to the fire. Okay! See you at 6:15! There is nothing, to me, even halfway attractive about anything before 6 a.m. I'm just sayin'.
So, I've set my alarm for 5:15 every day this week. So far, it's working. I get up and get dressed. I wake up Jonathan and go downstairs and start coffee. Then I holler upstairs to make sure Jonathan is out of bed. Then I go back to the kitchen to figure out what to make him for his lunch. Then I holler up the stairs one more time to make sure he's vertical. Then I remind him that the dog needs to be taken care of.
So, downstairs he comes - usually without shoes on, and no dog. "Go put shoes on and take care of the dog." He looks at me like nobody has ever told him this before. Then he turns, and follows my "orders." If I put a banana on his plate with his breakfast, he asks for a knife...not to cut up the banana, but to cut off "the ends" because for some stupid reason, he does not like the little pointed ends of the banana. Whatever. Breakfast for me!
After he eats, I tell him (every day) to go upstairs and brush his teeth and put his bands on his braces. By this time, he has 20 minutes left - plenty of time to get ready and organized and make it a relaxed exit. But 15 minutes later, I'm yelling up the stairs, "Did you brush your teeth?" "I'm getting there!" he yells back. "WTF?" I think to myself. Then, I'm "nicely" yelling at him to hurry it up because it's almost time to leave.
He grabs his things and throws them into his backpack. "Do you have your lunch?" I always ask. "Oh, crap!" he says, as he runs to the kitchen to grab it. "Do you have bands in?" I always ask. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. So I explain that he's just wasting his own time by not wearing them. But he always has them in his back pocket! You know the rest of that story...
Out the door...on time, if I drive him to the bus stop. I'm a stickler for being on time, so we always have a few minutes to wait and chat. We figure out his schedule for the day. He seems to know a lot more about handling time than I do. What is it with 15-year-olds, anyway? Time for the bus, so I kick him out of the car and come home. Home to quiet and noise and signs of life that is now sitting on a bus headed to Worcester Tech. And I miss him. And I miss him all day, and can't wait to see him at the end of his day...I want to hear all about it and listen to his stories. He tells such great stories, and he's so excited and enthusiastic about them all! Then, I like to watch him do his homework while he has a snack. He's always so ravenous, and eats with such aplomb it's amazing. And then he eats dinner like he hasn't seen food in a week.
So, yes, I miss Warren. I hate being a single parent. But I love my boy. So, if I have to be a single parent for a week I'll just suck it up and enjoy the stories. Maybe I'll have a few of my own by the time Warren gets back on Friday. Maybe I'll even get up early to tell them to him.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
How Y'all Doin'?
We are just back from six really, really, really fun days in Austin, Texas. Since we lived there from 2000-2003 while Warren was in Seminary, it was easy to choose who to see, what to do, and where to eat. We stayed with our friends who even loaned us a car for the week. We had privacy, freedom, and they had low expectations. All they asked was a couple of dinners together. Wonderful!
Sunday night, our hosts invited some of our St. David's Church friends over. We put together a pot of poblano chile stew, made a salad, chilled some beer and had a feast. A burning fire pit topped off the special feeling of warmth and love, sitting and chatting with good friends.
Monday, Jonathan and I drove south to New Braunfels where I met my CCS friend, Malinda! I've known her for years through CCS and it was just like we'd talked yesterday, once we met. We all went to lunch in Gruene and putzed around some antique stores. Then we drove back to New Braunfels so we could go to a gallery we'd both read about. It was such a fun day, and a thrill to be able to meet and spend time with Malinda.
Tuesday we had lunch with some seminary friends...some still work there, some don't. But we are all still connected because of our relationship with ETSS, and we all had a great time together. While Warren went to a meeting on campus, Jonathan and I strolled around and re-visited some old "haunts" on campus. Most things look the same, but everything is different. The new offices are way too quiet, and even the campus didn't feel lively. Maybe it was the day. Maybe it's because I've changed. At any rate, I'm glad we spent some time there and I'm glad to have those friends.
Wednesday was a day without an agenda, so we decided to do some sightseeing at Central Market. It's the most fabulous grocery store in the entire universe! The produce left us gasping, it was so fresh and beautiful (and even cheap!). We bought a few things for dinner, and were happy about our adventure. Later that evening we all went to Antone's for a tribute by women artists to Gilbert Antone, who started the club way back when. We mostly were excited about Marcia Ball being in the lineup, but had no idea how much we'd love everyone who performed. There were some men on stage, too, but not singing. It was fabulous, and we stayed until 1 a.m.
Thursday we did some more sightseeing at Waterloo Records, and also at Tesoro's, a wonderfully eclectic shop full of interesting imports from Mexico, Peru, Inda, Vietnam...beautiful things and so much eye candy! We dropped a few dollars there, but it was more fun just to look. One more lunch of Tex-Mex and Happy Hour with seminary friends and we were back with our hosts, enjoying another feast, playing Dominoes and having a wonderful last evening together. Here's Warren with one of our hosts, Anne.
And now we're back in Worcester. I've decided not to say "I'm home" because I realized this week that I'm not sure where home is. Worcester is where I keep my stuff, but it's still not home. Not to me, anyway. I'll figure it out. Maybe I'm just a Vagabond and will feel a part of the many different places I've lived and enjoy visiting them. Who knows. At any rate we are back.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Remembering, with Love
Today I remember my mom, who loved Valentine's Day. My sisters and I used to compete to see who could find the mushiest card to give to mom, because she did not like mushy! In later years, we'd send mom a really mushy card but sign the name of one of our sister's, so she never really knew who she was getting "that crap" from. It was fun!
I'm not big on celebrating Valentine's Day...at least it's been a long time since I went to any effort to give Valentines to friends. This year was different, and I'm glad. Eleven friends over at CCS had a little Valentine's Day swap, and it was really, really fun. Making the valentines, making the envelopes, picking out the perfect postage stamp, and then receiving all these beautiful works of art from them in my own mailbox! Now I have a mantle full of love and friendship and beautiful, sweet Valentine's Day art. I'm so blessed!
I recently learned a new little art form called "Iris Folding Paper" and have had so much fun with it, especially when making the valentines for my friends. Here's the valentine I made for my husband (before I wrote "You Drive Me Crazy!!" on it...just kidding).
I'm not big on celebrating Valentine's Day...at least it's been a long time since I went to any effort to give Valentines to friends. This year was different, and I'm glad. Eleven friends over at CCS had a little Valentine's Day swap, and it was really, really fun. Making the valentines, making the envelopes, picking out the perfect postage stamp, and then receiving all these beautiful works of art from them in my own mailbox! Now I have a mantle full of love and friendship and beautiful, sweet Valentine's Day art. I'm so blessed!
Happy Valentine's Day
to all my wonderful friends!
XOXOXOXOXO
Monday, February 7, 2011
Learning To Draw
A woman said to her niece, "I'm going to take a drawing class!"
"Why?" the little girl asked, "Did you forget how?"
Such is my life! I am taking a drawing class at the Worcester Art Museum. Today was my third week of ten weeks, and it was as wonderful as the first time. Our instructor is so encouraging and thoughtful, and the class size is small so we each get a lot of attention!
Today we worked on drawing negative spaces. I've done this before, and loved it. Today, not so much! What we were given was a large twig/branch to draw from. I kept losing my place, and then someone moved and sat across from me and it changed everything. I felt very frustrated.
Then, Teacher said, "Okay, let's take a short break now and go downstairs to see the special Goya exhibit!" I almost swallowed my tongue! Warren and I had spent over a half hour scouring these beautiful etchings and lithographs during the museum's recent "Flora In Winter" exhibit. What drew us to the Goya gallery was NO PEOPLE! It was funny, while we were in there two women breezed through, looking for flowers. One said, "Nothing in here!" and they breezed out. If they only knew what they were missing.
Look here. Look at the negative spaces. Look at the emotion on the faces. Just look. Then, look again. Enjoy.
http://www.worcesterart.org/Exhibitions/goya_bullfight.html
"Why?" the little girl asked, "Did you forget how?"
Such is my life! I am taking a drawing class at the Worcester Art Museum. Today was my third week of ten weeks, and it was as wonderful as the first time. Our instructor is so encouraging and thoughtful, and the class size is small so we each get a lot of attention!
Today we worked on drawing negative spaces. I've done this before, and loved it. Today, not so much! What we were given was a large twig/branch to draw from. I kept losing my place, and then someone moved and sat across from me and it changed everything. I felt very frustrated.
Then, Teacher said, "Okay, let's take a short break now and go downstairs to see the special Goya exhibit!" I almost swallowed my tongue! Warren and I had spent over a half hour scouring these beautiful etchings and lithographs during the museum's recent "Flora In Winter" exhibit. What drew us to the Goya gallery was NO PEOPLE! It was funny, while we were in there two women breezed through, looking for flowers. One said, "Nothing in here!" and they breezed out. If they only knew what they were missing.
Look here. Look at the negative spaces. Look at the emotion on the faces. Just look. Then, look again. Enjoy.
http://www.worcesterart.org/Exhibitions/goya_bullfight.html
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