There have been years--mostly when my girls were even younger than they are now--that Thanksgiving has come and gone and I wonder, Thanksgiving? We did that? And I stumble into the next day just as sleep deprived as I was the next day, grateful although very tired.
This year I am [...]
I'm not one of those people who doesn't take medication. I'm on a first-name basis with my Costco-sized bottle of Excedrin, waited in line for three hours to get the girls their H1N1 vaccines, firmly believe in taking anti-depressants as necessary, and absolutely under no circumstances would endure an all natural' [...]
I can't explain it exactly, but my brain has felt like a big blank this past week, unable to organize my thoughts in a coherent fashion. I know it's because the holidays are coming up, and for as much as I'm looking forward to them, I'm also feeling sad and' [...]
Yesterday, I had the lovely opportunity to go back and visit my MOPS group and talk to them about reading. Last spring, I talked to them about reading to your kids because if you don't they'll end up in prison and you'll have that on your conscience for.ev.er.
Just kidding.
I' [...]
A few weeks ago, Jason and I tentatively started looking for a new laptop. We've had ours for seven years now, and even though it's not exactly broken, it doesn't run all that fast anymore. I have no tolerance for slowness when I'm working in Photoshop. I have little tolerance' [...]
When we moved out to the Family Farm, I started thinking that maybe some of us should buy a cow together. Not a real living, mooing cow, of course. A butchered cow. A very tasty butchered cow.
I had heard of people doing this, buying cows or part of a cow. I guess it's more economical that way. [...]
A lot is written about our veterans, and deservedly so. I have nothing but gratitude for those who serve our country through their military service.
A lot is also written about The Greatest Generation. My grandparents were part of this generation. Both my grandpas fought in WWII. My maternal* grandpa [...]
Weird news of the day:
Danvers High [Salem, MA] parents recently got an automated call from the principal warning them that if students say or display the word "meep" at school, they could face suspension.
Meep doesn't mean much, unless you are Beaker — the hapless, orange-haired assistant to Dr. Bunsen' [...]
When my grandpa joined the Army, he asked my grandma--his friend and neighbor--if she would send him a picture and write to him so that his name would get called during mail call. She wrote to him. I don't know what exactly she wrote, but it was enough to' [...]
{Grandma (center) in 1959}
I don't want it to go unnoticed that I have appreciated the many kind words you have all sent my direction. The emails, the comments, the prayers--to say that I am grateful for the outpouring of kindness doesn't fully capture my heart. But that's' [...]
When I got home from school today, I asked Jason if he had heard about the shooting. Yes, he said. His mom told him when he had gone to pick up the girls from school.
"How'd you hear about it?" he asked.
"NPR." I have an 80-minute commute home on Tuesdays and' [...]
My grandma enjoyed dolls. She didn't collect them or have lots of them, but she had a couple of very old dolls that she kept for awhile. This photo of her with her dolls was one of her favorites. She loved this picture so much, she had it framed' [...]
After the funeral, there was a reception. And after the reception, there was the graveside service with just family.
The service itself was short. We had all said whatever it was we wanted to say at the funeral. We weren't there to talk.
We were there for some' [...]
Although I wouldn't necessarily characterize Grandma as being silly, she could certainly make us laugh. She got a kick out of singing old jingles and teaching us phrases from her childhood. I remember sitting on the kitchen countertop, eating cookie dough batter from the bowl, watching her make chocolate chip' [...]
From the day I was born my grandma was a huge part of my life. She lived next door, and unless one or the other of us was on vacation, I saw her almost every day for 18 years.
We'd get home from school, and she'd walk [...]
I reach under my daughter's chin
and gently drum my fingers--
a movement I learned from my grandma
who in doing that would look into my eyes,
smile,
and strum her fingers beneath my grin,
playing a lovely tune.
No matter how old my grandma got
I picture her hands the [...]
It seems too awful to be believed.
In fact, I tell myself it isn't true. It can't be true. And yet, this morning my dad called me with a phone call so heartbreakingly similar to one I received just a couple weeks ago.
My grandma--my beloved, beautiful, precious grandma who lived next [...]
{All the photographs in this post are from Sarah. She's just amazing with the camera, yes?}
Today I woke up tired. Weary tired. Puffy eyed tired. Wishing I didn't have to teach class tired.
Missing my grandma tired.
Tired. And sad.
And grateful that God gave me a heart capable of loving others.
Yesterday was my' [...]
She flutters across my path, a sweet bird
with feathers orange and crimson heart
and wings of gossamer purple.
I wonder if the trees might grab her up
adopt her as a leaf and teach her
to fall and rustle quietly.
She knows what the trees do not:
while leafs may murmur and sway
little birds must sing and fly fly [...]
Inspired by some easy to follow directions and a couple of free downloads, I started playing around with adding textures to my pictures. They definitely add a lot of contrast to a picture, although I don't know exactly what I'd do [...]
Last Wednesday I called Dr. Paul Offit. I called him at his office, and then we set up a time for me to call him at home later that night (night for him, afternoon for me). And so I did.
It was surreal.
The whole thing happened because I off-handedly mentioned [...]
At 2:45 am on Friday, my grandma slipped into the eternal.
My dad told me several hours later, as I was on my way out to the pumpkin patch. My grandma had been in a coma for almost two weeks, and I had had a chance to visit her in the hospital. [...]
Awhile back I read an article that attempted to explain why elementary school kids are often ridiculously fascinated with dinosaurs. Kids who can't remember to hang up their coats have this odd ability to memorize all sorts of facts about dinosaurs, becoming walking encyclopedias about the eating habits of the' [...]
It was a gorgeous day here at the Family Farm, so I had to get out and take some pictures.
I'm always sad to see summer go, but I do love it when the leaves turn. If only they could turn colors and' [...]
All summer long Sydney has been waiting for the first day of kindergarten. "Is it tomorrow?" she'd ask multiple times a week. No, not tomorrow. After we go on vacation.
We went on vacation, and when we got back' [...]
Today was the day I headed back to school. For most of the summer I hadn't put too much thought into my classes because I knew I'd be teaching the same class that I've been teaching for the past three years. I don't mind teaching the same thing every year. [...]
Even though Jason's grandpa passed away in June, the memorial service couldn't be scheduled until this past weekend.
It was a lovely service, with faraway family in attendance. I offered to create a slide show of Grandpa's life, and I also got to' [...]
Once upon a time Sydney had a pair of bifocal glasses she refused to wear. They were cute, plenty cute. But she didn't like them. And though we paid plenty for those glasses, we' [...]
Here's the thing about vacations: you have to come back from them.
When we were on vacation, all the other adults were talking about how they'd have to go back to work right after vacation. They weren't looking forward to it.
Jason and I kept quiet because no one wants to hear [...]
First things first:
Thank you all for your thoughtful comments about our dear Daisy. Although I cried my eyes out when I wrote that post, since then I've been able to talk about our sweet pup without crying. There's still sadness, but when I asked Sydney if she was still sad' [...]"Tell me a Daisy and Taffy story," Jules implored me before her bedtime. Awhile back, on a whim, I started telling bedtime stories in which the main characters were our beloved dog Daisy and my parents' kitty Taffy.
Daisy and Taffy try to drive the golf cart.
Daisy and' [...]
Although we spent nearly all our days immersed in all things Disney, we did spend one day at Universal's Islands of Adventure.
Islands of Adventure has some great grown-up rides, but aside from a cool Dr. Seuss area, it's not particularly a small child destination. In hindsight, I'm sure the' [...]
We returned Wednesday night from our vacation to Orlando. I'm still exhausted from all the vacationing and fall asleep just about every time I sit down. We had a great time though.
Sometime this weekend I'll upload all the photos into my Flickr set, but in the meantime, here are few [...]
I have long wanted to participate in Amanda's Top Ten {Tuesday}, but my Tues-days are busy with whatever it is that I do, and my Tues-nights have been busy watching So You Think You Can Dance. (UPDATE: The pre-vacation excitement must have gone to my head. SYTYCD' [...]
One of the small inconveniences for where we live now is that we don't live as close to the beach as we did before.
We used to live just over 1 hour' [...]
My town set an all-time record for hot temperatures today. I wandered over to my parents' house to check out their faithful frog thermometer (they've had it my entire life, and it's still accurate). This is how hot it was at 7:30 pm tonight:
It got up to [...]
Jason and I are heading out of town for the weekend in order to not-so-solemnly celebrate TWELVE YEARS of marriage.
Woo hoo!
Twelve years! What was I thinking, getting married at 21? Evidently I was thinking pretty clearly because it was one of the best decisions I've even made in my life.' [...]
So which one of these beautiful women is my mom?
After reading all your guesses, I'm thinking that I must still look like my aunt. The answer is: my mom is in the green. My aunt is wearing the black sweater.' [...]
When we moved into Grandma's house last fall, our plan was to just be here for a year. We figured we'd leave all of Gram's things here since she would perhaps be moving back in. And even if she didn't, then my parents would certainly want a fully furnished house [...]
I have no excuse for being offline except that I've been busy getting the house organized, going to a funeral, folding laundry, making breakfast, and doing freelance work. And feeling a bit overwhelmed, emotional, determined, humored, and scattered. I can't always figure out how to juxtapose blog posts next to [...]
When I was growing up on the Family Farm, we had to keep ourselves happy with a few sticks and some well crafted mud pies. And the trampoline. And a swing set/sand box. And, fine, we had dirt bikes too. So, we weren't totally deprived of all things fun, and it's true that many' [...]
Here's one reason why you photograph fireworks: to show a little celebration. This marks my 1000th Typepad blog post! How about that. It took me four-and-a-half years to get here, which averages out to about 20 posts a month. Not too shabby. Some [...]
I had every intention of posting pictures yesterday, but then I got caught up in another flurry of unpacking and organizing and when I was all done with that, Jason and I had to go out for dinner and movie. And consequently [...]
