When I heard this song, at church, I wanted to make a music box for mommy and send it to her to keep stuff in...

Isn't God good?

Time Flies is the book to get!

That Bill Cosby can get me to laugh, when nobody else can. He has some humor about this generation that is unmatched. The vandal of time and gravity that take over are not funny in experience. Midlife is a time when you are wise enough to see what you could've done with your brain and body as they were and haven't the energy to pursue those goals anymore. It can be sad, but not with Bill Cosby commentating on the time crunch. I took a peek inside the book at Amazon.com, on my break and nearly spit up, trying to keep from laughing in the ears of a customer on the phone. (I wasn't on a call, but it came back in my mind when I was on a call and I had to mute the phone to laugh.)
The application of learning in the real world is one of the subjects. How we come out of school with alot of uncategoried vocabulary and sense that hasn't been applied in the real world. Our bodies and minds are sharp, but inexperienced. Then, we grow...old? Grandma Ruth used to just say, Youth is wasted on the young. I tell you as soon as I get 20 bucks I am going to the bookstore to buy it. LOL. I don't buy anything. I may get it for my next birthday from some unassuming happy child or other. But nevertheless, it is on my wish list, for sure. A million laughs to you today, whereever you may find them. Start with Bill Cosby.


An African American Blessing, spawned by Bill Cosby's book:

May the flies of time be shewed away by laughing...

A Beautiful Gray Day followed the other.

I do love the grays and blues on the wrapping paper of my day when I am off to work and you cannot tell whether it is morning or night. It gives me an excitement of anticipation, to be off and out before the sun has had a chance to rise and there are clouds thick and dark to cover it.
I didn't see one of the miniature horses galloping or posing, as they usually do. They must be somewhat fearful of the clouds. The bunch of them, ordinarily have had a couple of morning races with one another, but not yesterday. They were hiding from the rain.
It got chilly and rainy. The temperatures had dipped from 70 to 40 in that one day span and this morning it is back to the January chill of 33. Not to plant anything yet, I guess. I thought it was early planting season. Just a tease, was the weather.
My honey is struggling with this long season of being out of work. He does get some freelance jobs, every once in a while and he has a night custodial job. But it is getting to him that his talents and education feel like they are going to seed.
I am grateful that he is getting to know the children after these many years of being out so much with work and ministry that we didn't see him very much.
All of the children are following him foot to foot. Sometimes that makes me feel unneccessary in the mix. Ethan does show a little writers bent. But everyone strives to be the most superb artist and make their father go ahhh!
He doesn't give out ahhhs at artwork hardly ever. I have to tell him, you can't tell the little ones every single minute detail that they missed. Oh well, I am not the artist and haven't the artists eye and the whole house is quick to remind me of such.
That doesn't go there mother. Your artists eye would have told you that if you had one. I didn't go to "Cooper Union" and I didn't sit at the feet of my husband in art classes. I have no desire to start picking up the paint brushes at this age. I prefer, as my father did the painting of the landscape with the linotype. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I let them decorate my world with color and shapes, the lot of them and I decorate theirs with words, if they would stop to read what I tell them. Go figure~

I thought it was Spring, yesterday!

ESW

Wow! 69 degrees, warm and beautiful. The sky was beautiful and the cows were gathered in a huddle at their usual coffee clatch, when I was on my way home from work. They seem to have alot to talk about when it is warm outside. When it is cold or rainy, they seem to scatter throughout the entire grassy glenn. Yesterday, I wanted to listen in on their gossip, I kept heading home, though.
The clouds were waltzing across the sky leisurely. They obviously had been busy, lately; were not on assignment and were enjoying the vacation day that they had. I felt like I was on vacation when I looked at them for the second 15 minute break that I lassoed myself outdoors to see the sights. I had almost missed it for my introverted habit. It is so interesting how the cold, hibernation habit can make you miss the one day of Springlike weather that could delight us. I didn't miss it. I looked at the weather on my computer. 69 degrees? I am going out to the courtyard.
The courtyard is so beautiful with pansies that defy the weather patterns. The snow killed my pansies long ago and my peach tree is touch and go. I brought it inside, but that one snowfall seems to have been all that it could handle. I certainly hope not. I did love it so. It is looking very dead. Not at my courtyard at work. It is ever blooming and delighting my heart and my pen with sights and thoughts. I see the flowers and the birds, the ants and the beauty as though I am a part of them. Everyday, I try to write to my Ezra about the sights of my courtyard. I use AA Milne as a guide in this. The story of him is that he was an alcoholic and wrote to Christopher Robin about his life through his Winnie the Pooh. My favorite of his is "Now We are Six". I am a bit melancholy that I have been writing about being six, all these years and now that my baby boy is six, I am still not finished writing about being six.
They get so old after six. They get so lost in reality after six. I will keep finding a six year old to love and write to, even after this year of my last boy being six. We spent 5 or six minutes talking about the beauty and wonder of his birth, last night. I love that gleam in his eyes when this big boy thinks about being born and 5 tiny pounds of delight to our family. When will I stop being the shortest in the family, he said. I don't know. I hope it will be a while that you will still be little. It is so hard to watch them grow away.

January is nearly over and I still don't have my resolution list down.

Easter 2004
Em's graduation 2009
Easter Sunday 2005
I didn't do the marathon last year. I didn't lose weight last year. Why don't I just start there. I did learn part of the Hoe down show down dance and enjoy that with my children. That was an accomplishment, if you know that dance. The girls took 1 month going slow to learn it and I am half learned after 6 months.
It is part of our family fun activities. They get a kick out of mommy messing up those kinds of things. I tease them, by messing up the names of things and watching them defend their pastimes, like calling pokemon, pokyman or facebook, face books. They are always correcting me on the things that are their enjoyments. We are looking forward to the end of the semester.
Enoch will get a whole group of new teachers, this semester and start on some new journeys. Evvy is continuing her social development. Friends are everything. Ethan is a safety patrolman and They are trying to get me to sign the papers for Ez to be put in some advanced classes. Something is always brewing in the house, these days and I have to try to keep up. Em is sorting herself out as to what to pursue, she is betwixt and between and Elyse is helping out by working. Family life is just that, family life.

I remember the beautiful baby shower for Amy's birth...

Aunt Gloria had done more than bake a cake for that baby. I guess we were a little jealous that there was a party for somebody else, other than us. There was a huge pink cloth sign that the ladies signed with good wishes. Mommy kept that in her closet next to other things that she would beat us with, when we were naughty. We would go into the closet and use it as a dress up cloth and get beaten to smitherenes. We didn't realize it was sacred. The ladies made such a big deal of Amy's birth. I guess that was when mom felt accepted in the other side of the family and named Amy, after grandma. (just maybe, conjecture, mind you) What a dear girl Amy was and we harrassed her something aweful.
Mommy kept asking us to take her to the potty and tie her shoes and we were old enough to do those things but not without a smack and a pinch to the baby, first. Amy thought everything was hers. That is mine, she would say, all the time. Mine, mine, mine. Grandma Monica would say to Amy, your day will soon come. Hasn't it come? My fulbright sister! Out shining all of the others, in spite of us.
I like that the ladies cared enough to give a shower for the 5th baby. All of the Rosarians were there and blessing mommy and we children remembered with fondness. A mommy definitely needs that at that point. It feels like a bon-voyage, at that point. Well, if I am going to die, this is the way to go, is the spirit. I know Aunt Glo knew that.
Mom was still young and naive about those things, but she was taking it all in stride, just the same.

It was beautiful, how God looked over all of David's older brothers.

He sent Samuel to go and annoint a king to Jesse's house. All of the boys lined up, at their father's bidding. One was missing and they didn't even count him as not there. God could never have meant for that little fellow to amount to anything, they thought. Samuel, himself couldn't imagine that none of these fine boys could have been God's choice for the successor to Saul.
There was a little one. There was a forgotten one who was out in the field singing to God, when the other boys were putting on a show for Samuel. That was the one that God chose to change the world...to kill Goliath...to implement the fear of God into the people and to be the one through whom He would send Messiah. Forgotten, by the family, but the one who changes the world.
Maybe Jo-Amy...I forget you guys name(LOL)...Maybe that is you.
Love you!

Where's Noni's Baby?

Whose birthday is tomorrow? Noni, Noni, Noni. I remember the raspy voice of baby Amy. What a beautiful baby and what alot of energy, my Amy had. "I love you Aphabits...Where'er I go-o-o..."
Amy would show off anywhere. Sing, Amy. I love you Aphabits. We would clap at everything she did. She would never grow to be one of the big ones, that was reserved. Sometimes we would have meetings in Grandma Ruth's bathroom to talk about what the old people were discussing. I would translate what they said into little people talk. Pssp, they are sending Lorraine away...Oh really...
What are they talking about, Jayne? What are they yelling about, Jayne? This is what they said. We have to try to fix it. We had meetings that were for everybody and sometimes we had meetings that were just for the "big girls".
In school, the girls would always exclude me from their meetings, because my mommy hadn't told me the secret yet. I got my tactics given right back to me. I had excluded and I was excluded. Now I am younger than Amy? No! Amy is still not allowed in the big girl's meeting.

I just love how Amy was a loving haunt to Mommy. I think Mommy must have needed that. I used to kiss mommy, I remember the age that, I got too old to run in and kiss my mommy before bed. Amy never got that old. I bet she still calls mommy before bed to give her a kiss. That is a beautiful love. Nobody can be Amy. I love you Amy and I hope that you have a wonderful day, tomorrow.

Today is the "Cumulative" Final!

What does cumulative mean? It means that you will be responsible for all of the content of the class from the first day. Uh, oh! 3 am my handsome other man in the house darkened my door to my bleary eyes. In silence we knew...Today is the day! I stood next to him in the doorway at open house when the teacher rattled a bunch of does and don'ts and the only thing I came away with was cumulative. Uh, oh! Today is the day! Is he ready? Is he alert? Is he fed? That is my business, these days. He went through 10,000 years of human history with his teacher in one semester and all I can say is. Uh, oh! Today is the cumulative final. All of the histories of my discussions on finals with Dad flood my mind and every point that I passed and failed sit on my shoulders. Thanks Dad. He seems to walk beside me and calm me down from my rantings where I would imitate him. No! don't yell at him, tell him that you love him either way, pass or fail, win or lose. I hear you, Dad, I say. I wish I could hug him one more time, but he's implanted so much of himself in me that there is nothing left to hug. Cumulative!

Even with all of the overtime that they are offering at work.

I carved out a minute to go to the dentist. Why did I do that? How many years have I made excuses like this or that to miss it. All the children and Ben had gone, I have very good insurance and I went. 2 hours of the chisel. They were great! I had the best time. Relative decadent care being taken of my body and I didn't have to lift a finger. 1 quadrant down and 3 to go!
Anesthesia, for a cleaning? You better believe it. The hygenist had to take out the Brillo for my teeth LOL and they feel super. I think I will do that again. It was worth the anxiety. Even my baby tooth got whiter. "What do you know?"