Sunday, November 26, 2006

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Thanksgiving 2006

The turkey is roasting all buttery and brown
A blanket of leaves now carpets the ground
The casseroles are waiting for their turn to bake
Juggling these recipes...how long will they take?

The TV is blaring while our feast is made
Bands marching in step in the Macy's parade
Like a well-oiled machine, everyone's doing their part
For at 7:00am the cooking did start

Desserts waiting patiently for someone to taste
An hour has gone by, the turkey we'll baste
Must go set the table, the time's drawing near
How blessed I do feel to have my family here...

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Basic Instructions

"Winter" as we know it has kicked into full gear over the past couple days. Today, the high today is forecast to be 49 degrees accompanied by a cold rain. Just north of here, there is a danger of flooding when the Etowah River rises above crest. Therefore, when I logged onto weather.com there was a FLOOD WARNING alert for our area. What made me chuckle was the last line. Now this folks is what we call your most basic of emergency instructions:

"ALL PERSONS WITH INTERESTS ALONG THE RIVER
SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS...
AND IF YOU SEE FLOOD WATERS...
REMEMBER TO TURN AROUND
AND DO NOT DROWN."

Do not drown? Is that a command or merely a suggestion? Did I really need to be reminded NOT to drown?

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Eva Performs--Autumn Leaves



"I miss you...most of all...my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall... "

Eva Cassidy ranks right there at the top of my favorite singer/songwriters. She lost her battle to cancer in 1996 at 33 years old so the precious few albums she left behind will have to quench my love for her music.

This song happens to combine two of my favorite things...Eva's heavenly voice and lyrics about my favorite season... autumn.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

A Boy's Prayer: November 14

The scene: Daniel's bedside, Daniel kneeling, hands clasped, flanked on either side by me and Keith

Just when I thought his little prayers had given all they could, this was his prayer tonight. Keith nor I could contain our grins and our chuckles (which I immediately tried to play off as a cough!)

"Dear God,
Thank you for living in my heart.
I just ask you to be with all the people
that are with you up there, God.
And be with all the people here in jail
who have to eat broccoli and pineapple.
And, God...Christmas time is coming
and I want to thank you God for being
my best present. And please give presents to
other people that don't have any, God.
And thank you for washing my sins away.
And please help the blind men to see
oh, and the blind girls, too.
When I think of Christmas, God,
I think of you.
Thank you for sending Jesus to
die on the "cwoss" for our sins.
I love you, God. Hope you live in a lot
of other people's hearts, too.
Amen.


Oh, to have the unjaded, innocent heart of a child again.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

The Blue Balloon

"I must have a scrap of paper in here somewhere," I thought to myself as I dug into my purse outside the appliance store yesterday.

Our son had been so patient...riding lawnmowers pretending to cut the grass, "cooking" us dinner on one of the many ovens we were considering and turning every knob in sight. Watching him pass the time in the Sears appliance outlet took me back many years to my own trips to Sears with my parents.

The scent was always unmistakable. We usually entered through the hardware department and immediately the smell of new appliances and plastic toolboxes would overwhelm my young senses. To me, it was a wonderland and I'm sure to a four-year-old boy it is even more so. I recalled the rows of neatly arranged socket sets adorned with red bows for the holidays, shiny red tool cases on wheels and the rubbery scent of bicycle tires suspended from racks in the ceiling. As my folks would talk over a potential purchase, my sister and I would play "house" and each pick an appliance for our new abode. I must tell you, watching my son engage himself in that same pretend world was heartwarming.

For my son's good behavior, and to ward off the onset of boredom, the salesperson presented Daniel with a shiny blue balloon. He proudly wore it around his wrist for the rest of the afternoon until it was time to leave. Now,I knew this balloon had a short life to live if it were to go home with us. So, I devised a plan. I began to scrounge around for a scrap of paper and a marker. I then proposed that we send the balloon on a journey up to heaven with a message to Grammy (my Mom). His face beamed at the idea and, although I knew it to be a fantasy, I was kind of excited myself.

Paper and pen in hand, I wrote a note that read, "To My Grammy With Love," and then he personally signed his name. We tied the note to the balloon and, on the count of three, 1---2---3... he released the blue balloon up into the air. A gust of wind swooshed it higher and higher as the clouds of an impending storm moved in. Daniel and I watched the balloon until it became nothing more than a tiny dot in the sky and then...it was gone. Surprisingly, not another word was spoken about the balloon.
That is, until bedtime.

Just when I thought he had drifted off to sleep, Daniel rolled over and said (in his sweetest, almost asleep voice) "Do you think Grammy liked her balloon, Mommy?"

My eyes welled up with tears.

"Yes, sweet boy," I replied. "I'm sure she did."

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Preschool President

OK, I had my fill this season of political smear ads...but this one--for a preschool presidential race in Iowa--made me chuckle:



I especially love the "Please Do Not Eat This Ballot" phrase on the voting ticket.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Inspire Me

My mind teeters
On the edge of composition
Rocking ever so gently

Back and forth
Back and forth

Like a tiny pebble
On the moss-covered bank of a stream
Needing only the slightest nudge
To knock me into the creative waters
That are passing by before me.....

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Poets

poets can build
galaxies from pebbles
and breathe the word of life
into brief glances...

--excerpted from "elaborate signings" by kenneth carroll

God

God whispers to us in our pleasures
Speaks in our conscious
But shouts in our pains
It is His megaphone
To rouse a deaf world

--C.S. Lewis

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Random Thoughts: November 3, 06

~~We had a bye-bye tooth ceremony last night. Daniel named his tooth "Joe" and thanked him for living in his mouth for 4 years...[laugh]

~~It's amazing what you can accomplish if you dedicate 15 solid minutes to one task.

~~The peachy-orangey-red maple trees in our neighborhood have produced the most brilliant fall color I have ever seen.

~~It's kind of bittersweet planning a meeting in Hawaii that you won't be attending.

~~What a nice evening last night...curling up with hubby and son to watch Polar Express with a cup of hot chocolate...

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Day is Done

Today has been one of those days. One of those days that you're glad is over--even after acknowledging the fact that every day is precious. But, today has been anything but precious.

I woke up with a sore throat and a case of what I'm sure is PMS. (for any guys reading this...you knew the "chick talk" would make its way in here sooner or later, didn't you?!) Anyway, I wasn't feeling 100% as I drove Daniel to school.

"Be nice to your friends, don't take their toys, listen to your teacher and you'll be a good boyyyy" I sang cheerily as we rounded the circular drive into his school. He happily sang along and I showed him the shiny quarter that would be placed in his "Quarter Jar" if he was on the "green light" when I picked him up.

Each day, as I turn the corner to pick Daniel up, I face the long hallway that seems to keep getting longer as I walk...like a scene straight out of Poltergeist. At the end awaits his teacher cocked and ready to tell me the latest offense on my son's record. Well, today as I waited outside with all the other mothers, the principal opens the door and, in front of all the other waiting Moms announces "Daniel was in my office today for saying a bad word." Thank you. Thanks for all but using a bullhorn to showcase my son's bad behavior. Sigh.....

As I head down the HOD (or Hall of Dread as I like to refer to it) I learn that my son used the "h-e-double-hockey-stick word while going into chapel of all places. My child inherited my timing for sure!

Then, to add the cherry to my already crappy-day sundae, I am told that his front tooth is loose because he collided with a classmate.

Long story short...a dentist visit and a few X-rays later, I receive the news: his front tooth must be removed and will not grow back for another 3 or so years. THREE YEARS??????

So...needless to say, I'm turning it in. I wanted to share the loveliness of this day on my blog because I tend to write about the flowery, ooey, gooey part of parenthood and avoid writing about the challenges.

Well, there you go. I'm sure there will be a sweet moment soon that will balance things out a little. But, for now, I'm off to bed.

After all, tomorrow is another day!