A Thousand Thanks

Ironically, just like the last time I posted, yesterday was yet another Monday off from school. Just for the boys; the May Baby had to go to school...but she didn't go until 9:00, and she had a yummy pit stop at Hardee's on the way for a chicken biscuit.

So, Number 119: A three-day weekend...another Monday off.

120. Spaghetti
121. Starting to feel a little like fall...sometimes.

 122. Silvery lavender and neon orange soccer cleats
in a (gulp!) size 10.5

123. The Stayers' hospitality
124. Candy!
125. Fifth Sunday night with all the local PCA churches
126. Tuesday mornings at Starbucks
127. Texts from Laura Young
128. Ponytail holders
129. School uniforms
130. Comfortable shoes
131. The Jones County Fair
132. Funnel cakes
133. Taffy (yes, I know I already listed candy...and a few weeks ago, I listed chocolate.)
134. Cataracts
135. Cold Diet Coke
136. Backpacks
137. Paying bills by phone
138. The smell of pipe tobacco smoke

The February Baby was the inspiration for number 138. On Friday I gave each of the children $40 to spend at Party Universe on a Halloween costume. He bought, among other things, a pipe. And he walked around all weekend with it in his mouth and it was so funny. I wish I had a photo of him. He didn't smoke it, of course, but it reminded me of my Uncle Sonny and the smell of his pipe when we would visit him and Aunt Patsy. What a cozy, wintry smell it is.

A Thousand Thanks

Number 118: Today is a day off from school! Hurray! "Fall Break," but since it's only one day, I think it should go by it's real name...Columbus Day.

The Roosevelt

 

This is an iPhone photo of the Presidential Suite at The Roosevelt in New Orleans where The Good Doctor and I got to stay for our anniversary weekend in June. Insane! This is the view from the door of the bedroom, which was huge, and you can't see it but on the left just past that bench is the foyer (with powder room and a table for a flower arrangement) and past that is the doorway that goes to the wet bar (filled with goodies for us). It was a fun, fun weekend. Next time, we're going to have a party here and invite Harry Connick, Jr. to come play the piano for us.

Sated on Saturday

I know I should give up on the alliterative post titles, but I can't do it yet. It has been a long time since you've heard from me..."you" being me, actually, or one of my ones of followers.

And just a note on my promise to keep you updated on the progress of the fort: I haven't broken it. There hasn't been any progress.

We have been really busy since school started on August 10 for The May Baby and the 11th for the boys. (One month ago!) Seventh grade homework is no joke. Also, lots of football games and horseback riding lessons, meetings for The Good Doctor, and pulpit committee meetings for me. And a whole lot of frantic errands to replace contacts (no glasses under helmets) and get football pads, mouth guards, chin straps, practice pants...

I enjoy watching the boys play, though, and they both seem to be liking it. Both boys sustained their first losses this week, however. The February Baby, whose team was undefeated last year, did not take that very well; he'd been blocking a monster from Poplarville (I think the kid's own child was cheering him from the sidelines). The September Baby was beaming when he came out of the locker room after his game...at least the Jackson Prep offense hadn't gotten around his end, during his six plays.

Anyway, losses have to happen, and it's said that they help build character.

So, I am going to go ahead and continue my thankful list with number 106. Losses
107. Football
108. Coaches
109. Safety, so far, from injuries...physical ones, at least.

And I'm feeling in a bookish mood tonight, so

110. Lord Peter Wimsey and Dorothy L. Sayers
111. C.S. Lewis
112. Jane Austen
113. P.G. Woodhouse and Bertie Wooster
114. Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
115. Harry Potter
116. Ngaio Marsh
117. My bookclub

Under construction

On what may be the hottest day of the year so far, The Three have decided to build a fort. (I think it may end up looking more like a homeless person's shanty.) We spent the morning deciding where it should go...they wanted to do it in the field across the street, near the creek, but I feared that the Providence Architectural Compliance Committee might not approve of its visibility from the street. So we decided on the back yard, utilizing our old swing set that my parents gave the boys for Christmas 2000. I remember swinging the boys on it the morning of May 5, 2001, killing time until it was time to go to the hospital to have Ella. If I were sentimental, I might make some reference here to The Giving Tree. But since I do not fall victim to those types of nostalgic, emotional references, I won't. (No, no. I'm fine...I just have something in my eye.)

When we talked to the Good Doctor at lunch time, he suggested sites in the yard that would lower the eyesore factor. But here it is; smack-dab in the middle of the back yard, visible from every angle.

Enjoy the slanted view here.

 They worked hard all afternoon. You can see the blood (September Baby's thumb), 

and the sweat (February Baby's face),

And this...this is just before the tears.

 I'll keep you posted on the progress.

The Reading Hour

Twenty minutes into our "reading hour" today...

Cokes consumed: 3

Nutella toasts made: 4

Arguments begun: 6

Belches heard: 3

Books lost: 4

Accusations flung: 2

Bags of popcorn popped and eaten: 1

Pets played with: 2

Words read: ZERO.

 Painting by Julian Merrow Smith, www.shiftinglight.com

The Trifecta

Around our house during football season, The Trifecta is when Ole Miss wins and State and Southern lose. But here...here is the true trifecta of my dreams.

All three of my children reading. That's good...that's very good. (And tragically rare.)

But, even better, they're reading in Oxford. Which is, well, no matter how you feel about Ole Miss...Oxford is a great place. I'm not saying it's actually Heaven, but I have heard it called "heavenly."

And then, to make it perfect...they are reading at Square Books Jr.

We went to Oxford while we were in Thaxton visiting Goober the day after Father's Day. He may be having aneurysm repair surgery soon and we wanted to get to see him before all of that. Since I was late mailing his gift, we got to be there when it arrived. Old Guys Rule, with a quote from John Wayne on the back, "You never see a cowboy on a psychiatrist's couch." It was a very fast, but good trip.

If I put a picture on my blog, maybe I won't have to buy them for myself...

How cute are these? I've never seen anything like this in my life, but suddenly I really don't know how I've lived without them until now. Cupcake stands from Olive & Cocoa, my newest favorite catalog full of all kinds of stuff.

Mulling over Multitude Monday

Well, I said that I was no longer going to comment on how quickly Mondays come around or on the fact that I am so late posting, so I won't. (See how I did that...mentioning it by saying I wasn't going to mention it? There must be a literary term for that.) I will count this, however...Number 82. I do not blog for a living.

This past month has been full of excitement. School is out (Number 83). We went to Dollywood. We came home from Dollywood (Number 84). We got a new kitten, Lucy, who is such a joy (Number 85). We went to a couple of soccer tournaments. Soccer ended for us (Number 86). The boys went to Twin Lakes (87). We had Ella's birthday/slumber/swimming party at Mom L's. We went to Flora to celebrate Mama's birthday (88). Kiper and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary (89) and got to go to New Orleans for the weekend (90), because Haley and Will (91 and 92) came to keep the children (94, 95, 96) for us. We got upgraded (97) to the Teddy Roosevelt Suite at The Roosevelt, which was Amazing. A piano in our suite! All we needed was to have a party and invite Harry Connick, Jr. to play it for us. Kiper is determined to learn to play so we can go back next year.

I want to make it to One Hundred this week so I'm going to also mention, specifically...

98. Clancy's Restaurant
99. New Orleans French Bread
100. Beignets (Yay! One-tenth of the way to A Thousand Thanks!)
101. Jazz music
102. Doctors
103. The ability to go see Goober last week on the spur of the moment.
104. An important negotiation that has worked out for Kiper's business.
105. Getting to spend time with Heather and the Starnses today.

My camera has been lost for a couple of weeks. It needs to turn up before we go to the beach on Saturday. I wish I had some photos to liven up this post.

Fullness Friday

Yeah, I was trying to think of something like "Multitude Monday" for my Thousand Thanks entry that happens on a Friday. "Fullness Friday" actually works on several levels...I am full of thanks, today was full of blessings, and I am completely full of Number 71. Fox's pizza and chocolate chip cookies...and rice krispies treats...and such.

72. Post-storm raindrops sparkling on green grass in the morning sun.

73. Children saving turtles from certain death in the middle of the road.

74. MIT, Moms in Touch, our Thursday morning mothers' prayer group at which we pray for PCS and our children.

75. Unexpected time for a pedicure with Heather on the last Friday before school gets out.

76. Words with Friends on my iPhone, and Renee' who plays with me, but almost always beats me.  

77. Our book club, flaws and all, and the fact that, despite being perhaps the least diverse group in existence, and no matter what we've read, I always hear something I hadn't thought of myself and learn something encouraging (or, at the very least, interesting) during our discussions.

78. Arthur Woods, professional car detailer, who cleans my Suburban so thoroughly and beautifully.

79. Looking forward to not having to get out of bed one morning in this busy, fun month. (I am SO staying in bed as long as possible tomorrow!)

80. Blue skies and fluffy white clouds. I can see them as I sit outside on the porch of the "Lil Tire Shoppe" and wait for my car. (Along with enjoying the sky, remembering #74 and playing #75 made the wait bearable.)

81. People who can get a nail out of a tire and plug the hole to stop that slooooow leak.

I like this

This little vase that my mother brought me the last time she came down to see us. It's called, she said, a "mommy vase," especially for those precious, tiny flowers that your children bring you when they're little. I love it so much! And what a perfect, fun gift for a baby shower.

Old Times

This old photo is from, I think, 2001. Our K-group's Christmas bonfire at the Speeds' house...that's a little Speed there on the far left. The May Baby...and the Bentons' May Baby...were too little even to be in the photo.

A Thousand Thanks

Dog tired already on Monday morning and feeling like we didn't have a weekend break. We didn't, really. It was spent mostly driving...driving to Thaxton, driving back and forth from Thaxton to Tupelo soccer fields. It was also spent watching soccer, lugging chairs, pacing, photographing, wringing hands, cheering, wondering if boys had enough cold drinks, cringing at knee injuries, being elated, being disappointed, being annoyed (there was a Starkville team there), watching out for rain.

But what fun! How exciting to see these big little boys...little big boys...in their last few days of elementary school, many just a couple of months away from being teenagers: playing hard, using their healthy bodies, celebrating each other's goals, enjoying each other's company, listening to their coaches, fighting for the ball, running, jumping, scrambling, kicking, falling, bouncing, and rolling but getting up again and still running. How lovely it was to sit with their parents: cheering, encouraging, visiting.

Man...I really hate soccer.

Just kidding, of course.

I like soccer a whole lot. It's the Sunday tournament games that kill me...the four or five games in two days. There is a good reason for having a day of rest on Sunday. I suppose that's why God told us to do it.

61. When we got home last night and the babies had bathed and we were telling them goodnight (or rather, they were telling us goodnight before going up to put themselves to bed because we were too tired to go up and tuck them in) the September Baby, the soccer player, said, "Thank you for letting me play soccer."

62. Cameras with sports mode shooting.
63. Sunday rest.
64. Suburbans with DVD players.
65. Occupied boys on a four hour trip.
66. May, who made us hamburgers to go so we wouldn't have to stop and eat on our way home.
67. A soccer field with shade trees beside it.

68. Soccer siblings sitting in the shade.
69. The end of the school year.
70. Book club to look forward to tomorrow night...and NO soccer practice!

I like...

One of my most favorite things at the moment is my little can of Nivea Creme that I keep in the car. I got it at a drugstore in Petal one day when I was too early to go pick up the May Baby. I've never seen this before or since, so I've had to buy a huge tub of the stuff to use to refill it. When I notice the back of my hands and my wrists while I'm driving, and I see how dry they are, I smear a bit of the thick white cream into my skin and make it softer. It makes me feel like I'm redeeming just a few seconds of the massive amounts of time I spend in the car.

That's me, Mrs. Efficient.

I also like the Snappy Turtle Sundae from Bop's. A vestige of that confection is the blob that you see in the lower right corner of the photo.

A Thousand Thanks

As forecast...a look at our first swim of the season. The Good Doctor was still in Winston-Salem on Mother's Day, basking in the glory of a successful presentation for the First Annual M. Madison Slusher Lecture...and also basking in the wonderful preaching of our old pastor, Reggie Kimbro, at Grace Free Pres.

Our dear Starnses let us join them at Little Tokyo hibachi for lunch and then let us join them at their neighborhood pool for our First Swim of 2010. Well...it was the first swim of 2010 for The Three...not for me, of course. The water is still way too cold. But I had a lovely visit with Heather.

54. The First Swim of the Season

 
55. Lunch with sweet Loleeta on Monday, who always knows the right thing to say. Maybe it's because she is "quick to hear and slow to speak." Thank you, Lo.

56. Airplanes...it's a long way to Winston-Salem in a car.

57. Time in Winston and getting to see old friends. There is something special about the friendships that begin and grow during residency...the Good Doctor likened to the bonds that form between soldiers in the trenches during a war.

58. Faithful, skillful practice administrators who are willing to trade places with me on plane trips.

59. The sounds of boys talking and laughing in bed...way after lights out...waiting for their daddy to get home and kiss them.

60. Adoption. At the alumni dinner after the eye meeting Friday, and here at home, we seem to be increasingly surrounded by families who are adopting children. I am thankful for them, and for the way it reminds me that I am adopted into God's family...co-heirs with Christ. Amazing love, how can it be?

The Day After Mother's Day

I'm just going to go ahead and say that I'm probably not going to post my Thousand Thanks today. I want to add some photos from our First Swim of the Season (which will be Number 54), but my camera is in the car and my camera battery is in the house...somewhere.

We had a great Mother's Day...in spite of (or because of?) playing single mother for the weekend while the Good Doctor remained in North Carolina. We were not as late for Sunday School as we usually are. We heard a good sermon on Psalm 117. We ate lunch with the Starnses at Little Tokyo (a whole hibachi table to ourselves!). Then we swam with them at their neighborhood pool, coming home tired and a little sunburned. It was good.

Number 55 will probably be lunch with Loleeta...that's where I'm heading after I run a couple of errands.

Thanks Anyway

I am gulping back tears. Knowing that today is the day for counting blessings and feeling like I don't have time, I am NOT thankful, I am overwhelmed...there is too much to do, too much expected, too many needs...stupid stuff, things that shouldn't have to be done, it's not fair to be asked. Feeling pressed and pushed and victimized.

And then I read this...

She says she teaches a home-school preschooler co-op. She says she began counting 1000 gifts.

She says she gave all her preschoolers their own gratitude journals. I swallow hard.

Last week she called four-year-old J. to come with his journal and she'd record more of his gifts for him. They sit down. She looks across the table at this little man.

"So, what are you thankful for today?" Teren asks J.

"I'm thankful that it's not my birthday," says J.

My eyebrows shoot high. Really?

"That's exactly what I did when he said that," Teren laughs, gorgeous sky.

"So I clarified, 'You don't like birthdays, J?'"

And J says, "I love birthdays. And I haven’t had one in a long time."

Then why would he.... ?

Teren leans across the table to me and directly lays the little boy's words into my hands.

"I’m saying thanks anyway.”

That story is from Ann Voskamp's blog, www.aholyexperience.com. Her post from today, May 3, 2010.

And I am as seared as she was.

And I know it's not going to help get the bugs identified. It's not going to get K-group dessert made. It's not going to get Ella's birthday presents bought or the cupcakes made. It's not going to get the bags packed for Winston-Salem, or the milk bought, or the laundry folded, or the Mother's Day gifts bought and mailed. But aren't these things part of God's plan to make me and mold me? To give glory to Himself? So surely it will help my heart

to say thanks...

48. For the science teacher who gives too many assignments at the end of the year.
49. For those bugs that I can't, and the book can't, and the web can't identify.
50. For the huge pile of unfolded laundry on the counter in the laundry room.
51. For needing to be in three places at the same time.
52. For thin, grey hair and crow's feet and a sore knee.

And...

53. For Dr. Davis, who reminds and reminds and reminds us that God is our God. He can never be anything less than our God. He is not ashamed to be called our God.

A Thousand Thanks

I know how awful this blog looks now. I tried changing the design template to give myself room to make the photos as big as they could be. But it's kindof ugly. I'll probably change it back soon. In the meantime, I am so very thankful for

36. The safety of all Yazoo Peasters during the tornadoes Saturday.

37. Breakfast for supper.

38. My mother, of whom pancakes always make me think. (Take that, grammar police!) She makes the best pancakes; and she will make them for my children for three meals a day, if that's what they prefer (and they often do). One of my favorite memories is of her cooking pancakes at the old house in Yazoo City (the babies called it "Mom L City") with a toddler September Baby sitting on the counter nearby, helping her flip them and then eating them warm and spread with plum jelly.

39. The other folks on the pulpit committee.

40. A new Amelia Peabody book last week and a new Mary Russell this week!

41. Del Sol Mexican Restaurant.

42. Naps...oh, wait, I used that one last week...so...

42. Natural gas and really hot water...as the song says, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

43. The appearance of the first tree frog on our big front window.

44. Sarah, who likes to clean things out and who came to help me clean out the carport today. (Isn't this beautiful? The children wanted to eat in there!)

45. The first snow cones of the season.

46. KaBoom Bowl Blaster Foaming Toilet Bowl Cleaner.

Look what it does! It really does foam!








47. This...

A Thousand Thanks

I began this list on Monday (honestly!) but never had time to upload photos and finish it until today. Today I have time because I am at home. I am at home waiting for the man from Willmut Gas to come reconnect our natural gas, which was disconnected yesterday due to non-payment. I am so ashamed. And this time, I can't even blame Harry Potter.

So...I'm here. But I can't (won't!) take a shower. I can't make spaghetti sauce. I can't dry laundry.

But I CAN play here and praise God for his goodness.

24. Pizza delivery, when the stove isn't working (see above).

25. Curly, long, thick, dark eyelashes...like their daddy's.

 
26. Fields of red clover.

27. Siblings playing together.

28. A diligent boy who does his work without being prodded...though it tends to make me a lazy mommy.

29. Baby kittens cradled on my babies' chests. (Thank you, Bentons and Lucy, for sharing!)

30. Abundance and bounty.

31. Forgiveness for not being thankful enough...and for not using the bounty wisely.

32. Sunday afternoon naps.

33. This reminder from Ann Voskamp of A Holy Experience (aholyexperience.com):

"Remember that there is but one difference between us and the soil under our feet, under our plowshare, under our food... One difference only between the dirt in my hand and my hand...

The breath of God."

34. And...OH! PRAISE GOD! The Willmut Gas man who came when he said he would!

35. My dear, dear college roommate and enduring friend Mary Beth, whose birthday is today.

A Thousand Thanks

Monday? Again? Good grief. And, honestly, this is the last time I am going to comment on how quickly the weeks fly. From now on, I'll just plunge in with the list.

18. Reconnecting with old friends...even without Facebook. (Thanks, Cindy!)

19. Traveling mercies.

20. For fishing and catching big(ish) fish

and tiny ones.

21. An important goal made on a gorgeous spring day.

22. The third generation of friends with whom to celebrate it.


23. A beautiful week of spring days.

A Thousand Thanks

Again, it is Monday. Doesn't it come around quickly? The day I have designated to add to my list of things for which I am thankful. And not just any Monday...

11. Easter Monday. The first day after the resurrection! Imagine years ago, how word was spreading...rumors? No! Real! Praise God. The "first day of the rest of Jesus' life" in which sits our Heavenly Father's right hand where He intercedes for us, loves us, saves us.

12. Sweet fellowship and succulent food with friends after church yesterday.

13. The silliness and high spirits of boys out of school. Boys who will still sit on my lap.

14. Madras patchwork shorts on a lanky, long-haired 12-year-old boy. Even though he'd rather be wearing gym shorts.

15. A pick-up truck for the Good Doctor, finally!

16. A boy daddy who will let boys burn boxes just for fun. (And it cleaned out the carport!)

17. Corrective lenses and ophthalmic technology.

Failure...matey!

As an English major...nay, as an even slightly educated, English-speaking human...I should be too ashamed to admit this even to my closest friends, much less blog about it to all three of my readers. (I admit to a certain amount of overlap in those categories.) And I should certainly hesitate to expose my child by telling this. It puts my cultural literacy teaching skills in the very worst light. It puts my child's literacy in almost as bad a light. But I have decided to pass the buck and blame the school, thus turning this into an expose' of the deplorable academic failures of our education system, instead of a mea culpa regarding my mothering.

So, today we were in the car and something, I'm not sure what, put the September Baby in mind of Shakespeare, and he asked me something about him...something along the lines of why do people make such a big deal about the stuff Shakespeare wrote?

Now, I took a whole year of classes on Shakespeare in college (besides, Kenneth Branagh's Henry V is one of my favorite movies ever). I felt I was therefore uniquely qualified to answer a question like that. I mean, this is what parents wait for, isn't it? The glimmers of a yearning, curious mind in their progeny...proof of life, proof of intelligence! And I'm The Mother, after all. The Stay-at-Home Mom whose job it is, besides chauffer, to Be There when the Big Questions come up. The ones whose answers shape the future, not only of the child, but of mankind! And there I was, the Literary Parent to the Good Doctor's Science Parent. So, I turned down the conservative talk radio show, put down my iPhone, and began...

"It's 'cause...well...Shakespeare...William Shakespeare...was, like, you know...a really good writer and stuff..."

The February Baby piped up, sounding surprised and a little puzzled, and said, "I thought Shakespeare was a pirate!"

I gasped and swerved. "What?" Shrilly, "A...pirate?!?"

Then I laughed and twiddled the wheel, steering the Suburban off the curb and back into the street. "You're just kidding...aren't you, sweetie? Hahaha!"

"No, I'm not kidding," he said. "Honestly, for the past ten years, I've thought he was a pirate. I never knew he was a writer."

Wow.

Yeah.

That story is all I need, if I ever do need to prove my ineffectiveness as a parent--my utter uselessness at shaping the next generation.

However, as I said, I've decided to take the modern approach and shove the blame off on his school teachers.

And The Three will be drifting off to sleep tonight while listening to me read Hamlet...or, at least, while watching my DVD of Henry V.

Curbing the complaining

While I know this is only my second week of doing this...and two times does not a good habit make (although somehow a bad habit can be established with only one repetition)...and I didn't even remember that this day is "Multitude Monday" until the middle of the afternoon, I think this is an excellent exercise for me: a malcontent, a dedicated complainer, an eloquent caviller, a bellyacher, a sniveller, a griper. (I adore having a thesaurus right on my desktop, available with a touch of a button.) Naming the myriad of good things God has granted me...counting my blessings, as Bing Crosby would call it...has to be the perfect antidote for complaining. I am, in fact, commanded by God to give thanks "always and for everything." (Ephesians 5:20) So, here is number

8.  Since I've already mentioned the thesaurus on my computer, I'll go ahead and expand on that theme. I love my Mac! I am so thankful to be able to communicate quickly with friends and family. We all love the screensaver that works like a slideshow, bringing back memories of past trips and past times. I am diverted by some blogs and deeply moved and encouraged by other blogs that I read from time to time. The ease of being able to track down answers to the random questions that occur to all five of us daily is  so helpful...and educational!

9. I am thankful that my life and livelihood does not depend on my posting blog entries in a timely fashion. I started this on Monday. It is now Friday.

10. It's Good Friday. Praise God for His indescribable gift! Going back to my theme of four days ago, there at the top, just a couple of paragraphs up...How could thoughts of Him ever leave room for any complaining? It just shows how full of sin I am, how much in need of saving, and reminds me again to say how thankful I am for Good Friday!

Multitude Monday

The title of this post is stolen from Ann Voskamp's blog, A Holy Experience, and the Gratitude Community who encourage readers to think of one thousand things they are thankful for. (I still hate ending a sentence with a preposition!) I've been pondering the challenge for some time now and have decided to take up the gauntlet...testing out this new blog site* AND reminding myself on this, the day after the horrible, historic passage of the new health care legislation by Congress, that...no matter what...I have been granted multitudes of blessings by my Heavenly Father.

1....

Now, wait...this gives me pause...I hope to end up with at least a thousand things here, but it's hard to put Number One next to one of them. I feel as if I have to make it the most important thing in the world. At the same time knowing that if I keep this up, many of my entries will be very "of the moment," almost transient things that flit by and for which I breathe a sigh of thankfulness while moving on to the next activity, job, or thought. Wait...really, it's easy. So, right this minute, what is foremost in my mind to be thankful for is the taste of Nutella on the baguette I just ate, and the memories it brought back of my trip to Europe in 1992 with Cindy. But I'll make those Numbers Two and Three, respectively, because I know that Number One must be...

God's grace.

2. The smooth, chocolatey, hazelnutty flavor of the Nutella I just ate, smeared on a piece of chewy Reising's French Bread.

3. My trip to Europe with Cindy, of which said Nutella reminded me so vividly.

4. My husband...gentle, quiet, friendly, peaceful today...in spite of the disastrous decisions our government made yesterday.

5. My children. My boys and my girl. Hale and hearty. Healthy and, mostly, happy.

6. I can once again, and still, walk upstairs to kiss them good night.

7. They want me to.

*This was originally posted at thenatteringnelson.wordpress.com. I'm trying to decide which blog site I like better. Surprise! I can't decide.

Snow!

I guess I didn't post this when I wrote it because I couldn't get the photos exactly the way I wanted them...now, a month later, it seems sillier to be so late for such a dumb reason. I'm going to go ahead and post it, even though it's not still February.

It's February in South Mississippi...a couple of years ago, I had the air conditioner repairman at our house in February! But this year, it has been cold. And it snowed! On Friday the 12th, right before the Good Doctor and I were leaving for sunny Puerto Rico for an eye meeting. The snow was so beautiful and very throwable.

The Ride to Church

Giggle, giggle, nonsense talk, violent scenarios, giggle, sounds of flailing, sounds of hitting, shouting, fussing, laughing.
Okay, boys, time to quiet down, settle your minds, and get ready for church.
Yes, sir.
Two seconds of silence, then continued, though quieter, nonsense words, violent plans for new pellet guns, and insane giggles.
Boys, settle down.
Yes, ma'am.
Click, click, click.
Win, put down the Nerf gun.
Yes, ma'am.
Click.
Win, put it down.
Yes, sir.
Ding, ding, ding.
What is that sound? Thomas, that's mine!
Thomas, give it to her.
Yes, ma'am.
Boys, fold your hands in your laps and settle down.
How do you fold your hands?
Like this...like you're praying.
No, that's not right. It's like this.
No, it's not. You do it like this.
No, like this!
No!
Yes, it is.
No, it's not.
Yes, it IS!

God's mercy alone

Written the night of 21 January:

I had knee surgery today. Knee surgery performed by a clean, unhurried, reasonably well-rested surgeon who speaks the same language I do, who was assisted by friendly, well-trained nurses...surgery in a clean, comfortable, private, climate-controlled, well-lit surgery center with heated blankets, comfortable beds, clean restrooms, drink machines, and plenty of clean water...surgery under gently administered, well-monitored, general anethesia, with my compassionate, patient, and thoughtful husband and mother to sit with me as I waited a few hours for my turn. My clean, safe, well-looked-after, and well-fed children prayed publicly for me at their schools, as did their teachers, as did our friends in their houses, prayer meetings, and churches. Kiper was able to keep our friends and family instantly updated with texts, whether they were one mile (Heather), a hundred miles (my daddy) or 1200 miles (my sister) away.

As I lay down tonight night on my clean sheets, under a brand new blanket, with a glass of cold water and a variety of medicines to ensure my comfort next to me on my lovely, solid bedside table covered with books I love and am able to read by the light of my electric lamp, I could not help but compare my lot to that of those suffering now in Haiti and think of the contrast in our experiences and current states of mind and being.

Why? Why? Why so good to me, Lord? Not through any goodness or merit in me, certainly. Your mercy alone, oh Lord. And there is nothing that I can do to be worthy of such mercy You've shown to me and my family...nothing. But I praise You for it and remember the verse "to whom much is given, much will be required." I pray that You will enable me to give in the same manner I have received.

E-mail to my sister

I want to post photos and memories from Christmas and my birthday and the recent wedding we got to participate in, but I haven't gotten myself together for that yet. So I'm posting this e-mail I sent to my sister earlier because it sort of captures this moment, this day, this stage...it all seems like a pretty big deal right now, but it's all fairly every day stuff that I fear I'll forget quickly. (I also edited it a little because I used too many exclamation points and it didn't seem dignified. Now that I'm 41 I must try to maintain my dignity at all times.)

Hey,

I am so enthralled with Ellen Langford's paintings! Thanks so much for the introduction. I looked at her website and there are about 52 works I want. I've tracked down the one called Thursday Morning and am considering buying it. We'll see.

There's no school for anyone tomorrow. Closed for cold...not really, I think it may be quite icy in the morning. Luke Logan is going to come spend the night with us. I need to take down the Christmas stuff, but all I want to do is cook soup and read, read, read. And drink hot chocolate.

Laura Lee's Slimming Secrets.

I hope you have fun with Kelli. We'll be watching the Championship Game, I expect. I can't decide who I'm really going to be rooting for.

I am watching what we call "regular tv," which means "not DirecTV," our local stations, to check to see if Petal schools are closed tomorrow. (Ella's school follows their lead...they're closed). "Jeopardy" just came on and it reminded me of Aunt Patsy and Uncle Sonny so strongly. I miss those days.

I love you,
Laura Lee

This is the painting I was talking about. Don't you think it would look so lovely upstairs in the playroom? Or in my bedroom? It's called Thursday Morning by Ellen Langford. Margie gave me an Ellen Langford calendar for my birthday and she (Ellen Langford) quickly became one of my most favorite artists. Margie was already one of my favorites...Margie, Raoul Dufy, Julian Merrow-Smith, Lisa Paris, Emily Patrick...and now Ellen Langford.