Embrace The Suck

This past weekend, I noticed how full my home feels when my sisters are there. Most of the time the place where I live is "my" home. When my sisters visit, it morphs easily back into "our" home. I may own and maintain it,  but its spirit will always belong to the whole family ... my four sisters, their children and their children's children. I like where I live well enough. I'm grateful for having it. But sometimes I wish I could pick up and move somewhere smaller, closer to my faraway family. I love the homey feeling I get when I know that family sits around the table, or congregates in the kitchen.  I tend to have issues with loud noises, they kind of freak me out. But the sounds of pan lids rattling, dishes clicking together and Coke cans popping, accompanied by my sisters' laughing is music to my ears. The the ocean's siren call lured Jean from the mountains to her favorite place by the sea. The magic of sea air and sunlight is the elixir he...

Chase Mehta First Day of Kindergarten - 2013 Today I noticed parents and children walking to the elementary school near my work. There was a mother with a baby on the back of her bike, leading her bike-riding sons across streets and along sidewalks like a mama duck in Make Way for Ducklings . There was the father holding his too-young-for-school daughter's hand as they walked beside the older brother shifting the weight of his backpack from side to side. What really made them noticeable was the green-polka dotted raincoat and cowboy boots the girl had on. Oh to be young again and be able to dress in polka dots. And there were mothers of older children, who could probably walk the block to school and cross the street with no one watching, but they tagged along anyway. I choose to believe they wanted to share those last moments with their kids who will soon be to old to be seen with their mother; they wanted to watch and wave goodbye because they weren't quite ready t...

The other day while floating in the pool I noticed how the raindrops collected on Sweetie's gigantic elephant ears and looked like diamonds. It made me think I haven't posted many "noticings" lately. Probably because I have been scattered all about and not really paying attention. Here a few things that I couldn't NOT notice. The sweet, tight curls haloing Gracie's head The effortless way Caroline can reach her toe to her mouth. The aches and pains playing hopscotch across my body. How an afternoon storm filled my senses - the tension in the air, black storm clouds, the smell of rain, the crack of lightening  Suzi's deep brown eyes telling me the story of her upset stomach Bella commando scooting across the room to me, just after her mom said she'd probably skip crawling and go right to walking. The way Bella and I smiled at each other when she reached my knee. Having a purpose again A small Christmas bear, dressed in red velvet sitting on t...

It's been almost a year since Gracie came to visit her GPaw and Grammy. What a difference a year makes. She walks and talks just like the real thing. But oh my goodness gracious she is beautiful as ever. You're going to have to take my word on that one! Apparently she doesn't like to have her picture taken. What's up with that? My new favorite song is Little Sugar Warning:  After you've listened to it, you're going to be singing it all afternoon. There is no doubt about it, Eleyiana is my little sack of sugar. Going to sleep smiling tonight, Merry ME

Last week my Cohort in Cahoots, Illuminary , shared a blog award with me. Just knowing there is a Sunshine Award, and seeing the names of other bloggers who have received it, makes me feel sunnier than I might normally be. I'll be honest, sometimes I forget to be sunny. When it's just Sweetie and me in the house, I look at him while he's reading a book. He usually has a furrowed brow, lips turned down, intense look on his face. M: "What? What's the matter?" S: "Nothing's the matter. Why do you ask?" M: "You look kind of upset, mad, grumpy, like something's bothering you." S: " No, nothing's bothering me. This is my normal look." M: " Okay. Just checking." I think maybe my normal look is a few notches below Sunny. [Note to self: add being sunny to my "Change Things Now" List. See post below] All that aside, I'm honored to be on the list with some of my favorite people who, eve...

Girl Cat hides thinking so one can see her.  ME: Find the cat Suzi. Suzi: What cat? How about I smile for a picture? Suzi: Hey! I think there's a MilkBone under here. Suzi: I like this game. Suzi: Look at that, there's a cat under here. Girl Cat: Tag! You're it! Let me just say, Suzi is not the smartest dog on the block. When was the last time you played hide and seek? Merry ME

I have tried three times, and rewritten once, to correct the font size of the last two paragraphs  in the post below. It looks good on my screen, but when I post it, "Honey I shrunk the font" happens. I don't know how to fix it. I hope you have a good pair of reading glasses or don't mind squinting. If you decide to skip the end, I'll understand. Frustrated ME

I'm learning Sweetie likes to change around every now and then. Not long ago, he declared he was ready for some new dishes.  Huh? What's up with that? At the risk of sounding like someone named Luther, I think our plates are perfectly fine.  Okay, perhaps they are a little boring - no flowers, no stripes, just plain Jane white. They still function well, so why bother to change them? And what would we change to?  I don't know how Sweetie would respond to that question, but in my opinion, the answer is clear. We'd go straight to the Fiestaware store we browsed in Savannah, drop down a bucket load of money and walk out with plates, bowls, pitchers and platters in the old fashioned turquoise, yellow and green. They'd be called vintage.  A turquoise disc pitcher of an age long ago never fails to remind me of being at my Grammy's camp in Vermont. It conjures up the whole feeling of camp. The pansies growing, snoozing in the hammock with a Nancy Drew myster...