Monday, March 21, 2011

COUNTDOWN TO TOO MUCH FUN

Monday is history, thank goodness, it was a nasty one. Only 3.5 days till we break away for Gulf Shores. Anyone up for the trip? Come along, we haven't secured a house yet, planning to get a last minute deal OR sleep on the beach! And then when we get back...Gagglefest on the 1st. So happy we are doing this. So many things have taken place since our last reunion. Anna is Mrs. Clark, Caleb is here, Janelle is too! YAY. God is good, Ladies.
Courtney turned 36 yesterday in OZ. This is the 3rd birthday she has had downunder. I bet no one made a strawberry cake to celebrate her day. She may not eat strawberry cake now, but always asked for one while growing up. The boys liked pies better, but Court always wanted strawberry cake with pink icing. Even the year she turned 6 and only wore lavender, (even her glasses) she had to have her pink cake. Yep, she was a girly girl back then, once refusing to wear anything but dresses for a year. Then her pink stage, no clothing that wasn't pink. But by the time she hit 6th grade it was jeans, sweatshirts and Chuck Taylor hightops. Now it is gypsy skirts and sandals. 
OK< I fell into a trance, I guess. It is now March 21 and I'm sitting on my deck watching dolphins jump from the Gulf of Mexico. Not in OC, in Gulf Shores, AL. Three friends and I are here till Friday on Spring Break. Beautiful weather, terrific house and great company What more can I say? This year we have a couple of smallfry companions, Jake a 5 year old and Bella, 20 months  came along with their mommas. They have been a treat.
Our house is so close to the water this year and is a beautiful place. My room is a large 2nd floor master with its own bath and balcony. I've been spending my days on that balcony reading and watching the boats, dolphins and sea birds. It is amazing how the sights and sounds of the coast can lift the weight of the world from my shoulders and blow the cotton floss from my head. I rarely get in the water, but the ocean has such an attraction for me...I've decided I must have been a mermaid in a former life! Or possibly a whale, hehehe. Deb, my sister, has the same draw toward the desert. Maybe our parents picked us up on a cross country trip! The desert frightens me with its endless open horizon, one of the things I love about the coast. Strangely, I feel exposed in the desert and secure at the coast. It must be me, that makes no sense.
I'm happy to hear that OC is having nice warm temps, too. We, as the rest of the country, have suffered a long, gray, cold winter. I hope each of our students gets to be outside enjoying the warmth and expending some pent up energy. We have eight short weeks left of school, with lots of activities going on. I want to finish on a happy note. This is my last year of being a school counselor and I'd love to leave feeling good about the job I've done here. I know I will miss the kids, the staff and working. I'm ready for something else in my life.
Back to work now, doing the dolphin watch till dinner tonight at Tacky Jacks. A new one for us. I'll let you know what's good. Love

Monday, March 7, 2011

Happy 17th Mackenzie

Today is our grand daughter, Mackenzie Rose's 17th birthday. March 6. She was just past one year old when she began saying, "two March 6" to everybody. We laughed and laughed at the tiny little redhead holding up 2 stubby fingers and denying being just one. Kenzie was such a strong minded little one then, we should have known it would serve her well as the years passed and brought health crisis after crisis; Kenz holds strong through it all. Just this week, she told her nephrologist that she was not spending her 17th birthday in Rileys, she may have been tricked into Christmas there, but not her own special day. Promising to eat and drink, to endure yet another injection this week and more labs next, Kenz came home.
She has requested vegetable beef soup and coconut cake for her Birthday Dinner and as long as G-ma Hedy is able, she will have it. All our grandkids are special to us, each in her/his own way. Mack is the first baby I watched come into this world; I watched in awe as her red curls appeared, followed by the sweetest, round face ever. Maddie was jumping into the doctor's hands as I came around the curtain, she seemed so tiny and delicate with a tuft of blond hair and a little whimper, we couldn't know she wouldn't get much louder. Caleb, I again, was the first to see, that dark head appear, followed by an incredibly long skinny body, so different from his short, chubby sisters, he soon would teach Mom and Dad the difference, Gavin was a speeding train, beating everyone to delivery, he was such a big boy, he practically walked out, there was nothing delicate about him, he was big and tough, looking at all of his family as if to say, "where you been, I've been waiting for you. Lets play". They had me at first glance. Joseph and Shayla were 6 and 1 when they came to us. Both fit right into our family, they were our first grandchildren. Joe was automatically mine. He was so like my boys, ready to be out and gone, exploring the woods and creeks, fishing, hunting and eating his weight in goodies everyday! Shay took a little longer, she was Papaw's girl at first. She had to warm up to me, but once she did, we became inseparable. Tea parties, gardening, cooking and eating out were our favorites and still are. The years have flown so fast, I cannot believe our Mackenzie Roses is almost ready for college and the younger ones are all in school. Shayla is a beautiful young woman at 22 and is a joy for all of us. Joe is facing a big challenge right now, but I feel he will be better for it. He, like so many of his generation, has made some foolish decisions and put himself at risk for so much hurt. We pray he will be given the chance to rcover and go on toward a happy, productive life. Joseph is a sweet soul, we love him and always will.
Birthdays, weddings, funerals, all make me emotional and nostalgic for old times. If only we could have those times back, knowing what we now know, could we do better, love more, tolerate less, expect more, accept less? I sometimes wish we could. I pray I would do better. But we aren't given that gift, so I will seek the joy of my family and love them better from here forward.
It is a cold wet weekend in Southern Indiana, nothing new there! I think the beefy vegetable soup will be welcomed by the kiddos. I do wish Spring will come soon. The daffodils are up in our yard, but not blooming yet. The grass does look greener, maybe. And our ewes are lambing again. We haven't had any births here at the house yet, but should this week. The field at the farm is full of new life, coming in singles and twins! I love that sheep twin so often, nothing cuter than lambies X 2.
I am adding a PS to this post. It is Monday night and another week has started, not surprisingly it resembles most others; the dread of Monday morning, the loud laughter of kids in the halls, the drooping shoulders of the teachers leading their classes out into the cold gray morning for recess, the crainess that is middle school lunch. Like many Mondays before, it is almost over. BTW: Stephen King announces the birth of a fine lamb overnight here at the house. Only three or four more mommas to deliver. Spring will come, we can see the Promise in God's new creatures.
Counting the days til the Gagglefest, Ladies. Enjoy. Love