A little taste of Spring

I just wanted to share the pictures I took of the flowers in my front yard this afternoon. After tonight's cold snap, they will probably die, so I wanted to take pictures today to show how lovely they were. Enjoy!

This last one is in honor of the childhood memory story. This wisteria bush isn't nearly as big as the one that covered the tree I talked about in that post, but it is still beautiful.

Easter Sunday

Today was wonderful. I got up, got ready and went to church. When I got there, someone was sitting in my usual seat. I looked around and realized there were no seats available in my usual section, so I walked all the way to the front (You know what they say about Backrow Baptists? Every person who goes to my church is a Backrow Baptist, so the front rows are always free!) I sat down and looked up at the choir, wondering who they were gesturing to and why - and then realizing they were gesturing to me! The director's daughter was waving her hands and mouthing something to me and my mother was motioning for me to come up there. Well, it was in the middle of announcements, so I couldn't do that, but then I realized what they were saying. They wanted me to put on a robe and sing with them.

They were doing an Easter Cantata a little later in the service and the choir was looking a little slimmer than usual. They wanted me to sing with them! The fun part was, I hadn't even opened the book, much less learned the songs. I motioned back to them that I didn't know the music, and they motioned back, come up anyway! So I slipped out, ran to the back, put on a robe and arrived at the door to the choir loft just in time to slip in, unnoticed, as the congregation participated in fellowship time, which is a time when the pianist plays a hymn and everyone greets everyone else and says how happy they are to see each other. It's a very friendly church.

So gasping for breath, I took my place beside my mother, wishing I had spent a little more time on my hair and makeup now that I was standing in front of everyone, and quickly looked over the cantata music. It looked fairly easy, so I knew I should be able to sight read. And so that's exactly what I did. (Thank you to my Sight Reading and Ear Training instructor at the University of Mobile back when I was a voice major! Your lessons served me well yesterday!) The first time I heard the music was when I was trying to sing it, and didn't do a terrible job, if I do say so myself. It turns out that the director was so nervous about the choir being small that he called his two adult daughters and asked them to sight read the canata too. So there were at least three of us up there who had absolutely no idea what was going on! It was a lot of fun!

After the cantata, my sister took the kids to their dad's family for their Easter celebrations and I was alone in the house at last! I did laundry all afternoon and into the evening. I still have one load to do, but I can do it tonight. It's so nice to look in the closet and see all your clothes hanging there, and to look in the laundry hamper and see no dirty clothes to wash. I do hate doing laundry, but it's one of those things that must be done.

Saturday: On the Hunt

Late this afternoon, after I spent most of the day in bed with a crushing migraine and then zombified by the migraine medicine, we had an Easter egg hunt in my front yard. Noah and I hid eggs (half real, half plastic filled with candy) for the little ones to find. Kohl and Hannah were precious, looking all over for the eggs, missing the most obvious ones and finding the more difficult ones, running around the entire yard, trying to beat each other to the same egg. Kohl still likes to follow his sister around, so he kept missing eggs because he is always a couple of steps behind her, but we encouraged him to go out on his own a bit, in a different direction, and he found some eggs by himself. That seemed to help him know that doing it alone is better, so he started being more independent. I love when something clicks in a child's head. You can actually see that light in their eyes turn on when they really get a concept. I could see the light go on inside Kohl when he realized he needed to hunt alone.

After their search, they decided to hide eggs and Noah and I had to find them. We raced across the yard "looking" for the eggs that were hidden in the most obvious places. The only bad thing was that Kohl thought it would be great to hide one of the real eggs under the house, so he tossed it under there. We had to crawl under the house to retrieve it, otherwise the smell in a few days would drive me away from my home! That would be bad, wouldn't it?

After Noah and I finished our hunt, the kids ate the real eggs and then decided to hide the plastic ones around the interior of the house for several hours, alternating who got to hide and who got to search. It was adorable.

A truly Good Friday

As always, when I spend time with my sister's kids, the days turn into a blur of activity, laughter, and fun. I was the only family member who didn't have to go to work today (yay for my job!) Rather than sitting around the house all day, I decided to have what was later dubbed "the day of awesomeness" by my 12 year old nephew.

We started the day with some errands (yeah, fun... but they had to be done) we went by the bank and then to the post office so I could mail out two swap packages for Monthly Adventures on Ravelry. One was sadly overdue but the other was early, so hopefully that will redeem me in the swap keeper's eyes.

We had pizza for lunch at my favorite little pizza place. Noah wanted a sandwich, so I sent him to the sandwich shop next door with some money and he brought his food back and ate it with us.

After that, we went to the movies to see Horton Hears a Who, which was entertaining to all of us, despite the range of ages represented. We chose that one because my youngest nephew (who is a rambunctious 4 year old) has crazy love for elephants and when he saw the previews for this movie his eyes sparkled the way kid eyes do when they are excited about something. I had to take him after that, it's such a beautiful thing to see! Anyway, he sat still through the entire movie, eyes glued to the screen. He never sits still, so I know he enjoyed it.

After the movie, I took them to the community park in Fairhope. There's an ice cream place just a block away, so we walked over and bought some ice cream. It's actually frozen yogurt, but they think it's ice cream, so I'm not going to tell them it's not! Anyway, it was about 80 degrees outside, so a perfect day for ice cream. They played in the park for several hours. I played with them for awhile and then sat down to work on something new that I am knitting for yet another Ravelry project. The place can take over your life if you let it, trust me!

We went back to my house at around 5 p.m. because they were getting hungry and I didn't want to buy dinner after spending so much money already! So that ended the "day of awesomeness." It was a lot of fun, and gave me the periodic taste of motherhood that I need to satisfy that particular craving for awhile. One thing having the kids around all the time has done for me is to make me realize that being a mom is great, but it also changes everything about your life. It has also confirmed what I've thought all along - I'm not ready for it! Also that I don't want more than one or two if I do ever have any. I think that's why being an aunt is so great for me. I love them as if they were my own, but because they are not mine, I don't have to do any of the difficult parenting stuff. It's a good position to be in, I truly believe that.

Journal Topic: Childhood Memories

Explore a memory from childhood, finding all the details you can.

We never really liked sitting still, especially in my grandmother's house. The grownups all talked about their illnesses and their problems. We didn't care about such things and were unable to sit still through all of it, especially without squirming, snickering, and making faces at each other. We were required to sit there for a few minutes at least. Mom called it "visiting" and we were glad when our few minutes of visiting ended. We could go outside and play after answering a few questions about school and homework, soccer and softball. My sister and I felt free when we opened that screen door and ran out into the front yard. It was the perfect yard for children, complete with a huge oak tree right in the center with branches low enough for us to climb if we gave each other a boost and a lift. My sister would go up first. I would help her up from the ground and then she would take my hands and lift me onto the branch. From the highest branch that we could reach, we could see the whole neighborhood, which was more a little collection of homes than a real neighborhood, one of which belonged to our aunt and uncle. Our two cousins lived there, and we would usually meet up with them and play in the yard until our parents were finished visiting.

It seems half of my childhood was spent in trees. The tree from my grandmother's yard was one, the tree in my cousin's backyard was another. We built a tree house in that one, and would collect what we called "dirt bombs" which were really just clumps of dirt from a nearby field, and we would wait for my older cousin to walk by and pelt him with the dirt bombs. It was especially fun for me because I really, really didn't like him. Another significant tree from my childhood resided in my own front yard. I named him Bob (I have no idea why) and he was magnificent. His trunk was so large that I could never manage to put my arms all the way around it, although I did try many times. I even asked my dad to try and he couldn't either. It was the only way I could get him to hug a tree, and then we called him a "tree hugger" for days afterward. I think my love for the environment and my desire to protect it came from loving that tree. Bob had weathered Hurricane Camille, and as a result, was slanted at a fairly severe angle for a tree, roots showing above the surface of the ground. A wisteria bush was planted there, tangled in the roots, and when spring came every year, the vines that wrapped around Bob, all the way up to the topmost branch, would explode into beautiful purple blooms. Sometimes, when the wind would blow hard enough, you could stand under the tree and be showered with the blossoms. The scent on the air during that time of year was amazing. I'm pretty sure that's why Spring is my favorite season to this day.

I wouldn't trade my memories of playing in my grandmother's tree, or my cousin's tree, or Bob in my own front yard for anything. However, I do wish I had spent more time visiting with my grandparents. When they are gone, you can't visit with them anymore.

I'm fairly certain this isn't exactly what the topic meant by exploring a childhood memory. I know it probably meant one specific memory, but I chose to treat it like a writing exercise just to let my mind wander and see what came out. And how appropriate that my mind would wander to trees and flowers on this day, the first day of Spring!

An Irish Blessing

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone! In honor of my Irish roots, I'm posting this blessing to all who may stumble upon this blog today.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

We sang a lovely arrangement of this blessing when I was in high school concert and show choir. We always ended every concert with it. I absolutely loved the arrangement and have loved the sentiment since first hearing it. Have a wonderful day and don't forget to wear green!

the joy of family

One thing about family. They are there to pick you up when you fall. They did it when I had difficult times, and now it's my turn to do it for someone else. My sister is getting a divorce. It's really about time, I've been hoping she would do it for ages now. She will be better off without him, that's for sure.

My sister and I have never been really close. She tends to keep people at arm's length, especially people who are in her family. In recent years, we have formed a better relationship, but still there was always distance. We are really different people and have very different lives, but we are sisters and nothing will change that. This weekend she reached out, and it was a truly amazing experience for me. I think what she is going through right now will help us grow closer, because I will be there for her throughout the ordeal and beyond. Hopefully we can be the sisters I've always wanted us to be.

I spent a lot of time with Noah this weekend. We didn't do much, just went to see a movie and then played computer games while watching Psych (my newest TV obsession) on DVD, but it was great quality time. That kid is growing up to be an awesome person. I can't wait to see what he becomes.