Post #2 - The Love Ya Part

I wanted to thank my smiling friend, Mary, over at Pile of Smiles for the Love Ya Award. The Love Ya Award states that it goes to an exceedingly charming kind of blogger who aims to find and be friends. My back of my hand is swooped across my forehead, and my other hand is over my heart, as I swoon and gush with honor as I accept this award!

I told you I live in Utopia. But it's fun, isn't it?

Love Ya back Mary! Thank you for finding and being my friend!

Signed: The Drama Queen

There Aren't Enough Days In A Weekend and Love Ya

I've come to the conclusion that I need eight days a week, the extra day being added to the weekend of course. Fantasy Land has always lived in my mind, why stop now? I'd rather hope for something huge and get some of it, then hope for something small and get all of it. {there is no extra charge for the enlightened rationale' here today folks}.

Eight days a week would have been swell last weekend when we were out of town (again!) for a family reunion having loads of fun laughing and playing ROOK and watching the kids grow right before our very eyes! Kevin is the youngest of eight {here we go with "eight" again, I think we're on to something here} so when this bunch gets together for a reunion, it's a BIG BUNCH. Andrea and company made the trek, and I'll post pics soon! Rhegan ran an errand with me to pick up KFC, and along the way we saw a Pizza Hut and the conversation went like this:

Grandma: I love Pizza Hut, maybe we can have that for dinner this evening.
Rhegan: I love Pizza Hut too! We are just alike, Grandma!
Grandma: I know! On the day you were born, I held you in my arms and said "Rhegan, we are just alike."
Rhegan: I know! I remember!

I love Rhegan-isms! NOW THEN ... to tell you how busy we've been lately, I started this post two days ago and I am just now getting back to it! That's how we roll around here. Just for the sake of bullet points, I'm going to list what's on my mind and on my plate this week:

• I'm doing decorations for an upcoming fundraiser, An Evening in Fletcher Place. Gonna be a good time, with good people, for a mighty good cause. So I've met with the owner to discuss themes, borrowed a truck load full of catering goods from my friend, and have been happily paper-crafting table tent cards and the like.
• I'm continuing on with my Summer Scripture Challenge at our weekly women's bible study. Enjoying the time in God's Word and scrapbooking various scriptures. I feel like a whole cheerleading squad lives inside my head most of the time, and the Summer Scripture Challenge gives me the perfect opportunity to let the squad out. Each cheerleader girl inside my head sends encouraging emails to the girls, and lunches with others, and yaks about what I'm learning and experiencing. Good stuff, girlfriends!
• Got a telephone message from Mac, the neighbor cat, about life A.C. (After Cozy). He misses his bud, but says it's not so bad since he is now the neutered king of the neighborhood. Pfft.
• No more out-of-town weekends planned -- I'm so ready for a stay-at-home season. Routine isn't all that bad, except of course that it's life A.C. We're gonna look for another lil' buddy now that we'll be home.
• BIG rate case going on at work. Happy hands are billable hands in any firm, mine included.
• Neighbor girl is home from college for the summer, and called to announce her exciting new summer career selling cutlery (Oh Joy! Can't you just feel the excitement?) and would I spend an evening viewing her wares?
• My nice niece Brook needed help on her 4-H project, wrapping cylinder shaped gifts, which is oh so much more fun at her Aunt Kay's house with all the scrapping supplies! {And we ordered pizza, isn't that part of a perfect girls night?}
• Fussed on Kevin for various reasons not the least of which was finalizing the WBE application we are trying to get filed for our business. But he did gain points for lunching with my mom and his sister yesterday. So I told him I would give serious consideration to letting him in the house this evening, if he called me at 5:00 o'clock to see how I felt about it then. We do have fun!
• BTW, the "hood" gang is going to the lavish dessert bar at the fundraiser next weekend. I TOLD you it was gonna be a good time!
• Woke up to dark skies and raining cats and dogs (awww, if it was really raining cats and dogs I might've grabbed one. I digress). So when I arrived at the firm this morning I announced to Cat (our receptionist - geez I'm surrounded with paw-prints!): Today is no day to be out and about - I'll melt! Then later today the sun shone brighter than a meteor and the heat was hotter than a frying pan. So when I arrived at the firm this afternoon I announced to Cat: Today is no day to be out and about - I'm toast! If I would just get over my sweet self, the weather could carry on, yes?
• I am blessed beyond words! You'll never know a soul on the face of this earth who is blessed more than me! Psalm 36: 5-7 says: God's love is meteoric, His loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, His verdicts oceanic. Yet in His largeness nothing gets lost. Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks. How exquisite Your love, O God!
• Sure comes in handy for being blessed beyond words, doesn't it?!

Goodbye Cozy

I didn't think I would cry this hard over losing a cat ... but he was our cat, at our house, with our family, for 14 years. This picture taken today was his last, taken minutes before he took his last breath. Cozy was a model patient for the vet 3 days ago when they treated him for hyper-thyroidism and a heart condition. And he rallied for the last few days, absorbing the fluids they gave him and eating his special food. This morning, he wasn't exactly the model patient on his return check-up at the vet, so much so that he worked himself up to the point that they had to give him oxygen! To a cat! I'm amazed. Cozy spent the rest of his day under the church pew, as usual. And there he waited until one of us got home, which was Kevin. And then he took his last breath with Kevin by his side. What a cat! What an amazing cat! He was a part of our family, and we are going to miss him. Like crazy. He was purrfect.

Paws-A-While
They will not go quietly, the cats who've shared our lives.
In subtle ways they let us know their spirit still survives.
Old habits still make us think we hear a meow at the door.
Or step back when we drop a tasty morsel on the floor.
Our feet still go around the place the food dish used to be,
And, sometimes, coming home at night,we miss them terribly.
And although time may bring new friends and a new food dish to fill,
That one place in our hearts belongs to them. . . and always will.

Yes Virginia, there really is a Beach

Lynn & I graciously agreed to shop our way to DC/Virginia Beach so the guys could ride their Harleys, arn't we the bomb? We googled "local scrapbook stores" and away we went! I only ran out of gas once, on the uphill climb of a mountain in West Virginia, and oh, did I mention the trucker who stopped to help? And then the state trooper who stopped to help? And then the DOT guy who helped? After that, we were pretty good to go except for the stop sign I blew through as we exited the highway. God-speed, that's what we had. My macho Harley man explains it this way: "My dear wife, Kay, is a good Godly woman, who prayed that God would allow her to go 600 miles on a tank of gas instead of 300." That's faith, baby.

It was good to hang with the Brandt-ster and Sara B. Did you know that a person is actually capable of holding their breath on the drive through the entire 11-mile under-water tunnel into and out of VA Beach? I think it has something to do with eating fresh seafood, like as in OMG good seafood. VA Beach is pretty fab, by the way. Everyone rents a Schwinn and bikes up and down the boardwalk, ringing their birdie bike bell on their handle-bars, carrying cute doggies in their bike baskets, or riding tandem bikes and 4-people canopy bikes. Get the picture? It's called v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n and I LOVED it!

A stop in Williamsburg means Salmon Salad and Blueberry Pie (to die for). But I think it also means a step back in time - life in the 18th century, where the word of the day was calamanco, a checkered woolen fabric often used for women's shoes. I'm really gonna need to go back there for another word of the day. Or maybe the Blueberry Pie.

Ocean - ahhh - the big beautiful ocean, the sound of lapping waves. Sand between my toes. {Roll with me here, I'm re-living it, okay?} Wouldn't you drive up mountains and blow through stop signs for some serious beach time?

Golden Heart Award

I received this sweet Golden Heart Award from my dear friend Mary at Pile of Smiles. This lady is the real deal, the whole enchilada, the butter on my ear of corn, and the middle of my oreo. I don't ever have to wonder if she's out there - she is always out there with a word of encouragement, a prayer, or a laugh. Do you remember a special friend from childhood? Well, Mary was one of my first blog buddies s0 I'm claiming her as a childhood friend .... for life! Thank you Miss Pile of Smiles! In order for me to receive this award, I must nominate five others. Don't ya love it? Here are a few "Golden Hearts" that I know:

1. First up - Jana at Dear Life. A creative sort, like me, only 89% better and more cooler and younger and hipper. And she loves photography. And she loves Jesus.

2. Second, Doug at Fletcher Place. He was our pastor 100 years ago at the church we met and married at. Then we moved and then he and Judy moved, and then they moved back to where we are, and then they moved to Fletcher Place, and no, we don't have any plans of moving. God has called them to inner-city ministry in downtown Indianapolis, and they are starting a coffee house ministry!

3. Next up - Teresa at Enjoy the Va.Sunshine. What can I say? She's my twin! Papercrafts. Loves Jesus. Husband has a Harley.

4. Fourth, Becky at Hemidemisemiquaver Design. Professional singer, published paper crafter, loves bible studies, mother/wife, she is one of the busiest people on the planet ... but she always takes time to bless others. I love ya Beck!

5. Finally, the Geswein Family Blog. A family involved in missions, living in China. Amazing story, amazing life, amazing testimony.

Mother's Day Reflections-Andrea

I remember giving "this sign" for this picture with Andrea. And I remember thinking how much "this sign" meant - how much I love my daughter Andrea. I can't imagine not being her mom.

I remember us giving the "skinny pose" at Keaton's graduation as only a mother-daughter can do! A daughter is the best thing. And a grown daughter who is now a mother herself is really the best thing! We could talk forever! My great-grandfather used to say to his wife, my great-grandmother, who in turn told her daughter, my grandmother, who repeated it to her daughter, my mother, who used to remind her daughter, me, that to talk well and eloquently was a very great art, but that an equally great one was to know the right moment to stop. My daughter is a day-brightener. I believe that mothers and daughters are the only race of people who speak the same tongue. Enough said, I think.

Mother's Day Reflections-Keaton

I remember the day this picture was taken, at Keaton's college graduation. I remember when Keaton came home one day and said "Hey Mom, can I go to college in Florida?" And I remember saying "Pffft, no!" And then I remember us leaving him at college in Florida, with alligators.

I remember this post entitled God Has Big Plans for This Man's Life, this man who is my son Keaton. This man who is My Spleenless Son. I remember when Keaton sent me shopping for a zipper so we could take this picture after his surgery, Honk If You Have All Your Body Parts. And I remember thinking how blessed I was to be this man's mom. And today, I hope he knows how much his life has changed the dynamic of our entire family. He's all mine, you can't have him!

Mother's Day Reflections-Brandt

I remember this day in DC with my son, Brandt. I remember that he had hair (well, he still does, but not as much!). I remember my fake Gucci purse from the DC street vendor. I remember thinking how neat it was for him to live in our nation's capital -- but so far away from us.

And I remember when he did this! And I remember thinking, that is SO Brandt! And I remember thinking how wonderful it is to be his mom. And 5 years later, it's more wonderful than I could ever have imagined.

Rhegan the Soccer Star

Grandma remembered her camera! My heart belongs to Number 3 in the green! We got through the soccer game with no major injuries, no tears, no nothin! Just a couple of great kicks and a LOT of goals for the green! Is my little Rhegan going to be a soccer star? You betcha! (or something like that)

I ...

don't like That Flu (not sayin' the name because ... well, it's just gross). Three schools around here are closed. Students are quite happy. I think it's disturbing. Frustrating, to say the least. The mood of the nation is definitely affected when people are scared.

know today is May Day. Some things I want to accomplish in May include several craft projects for birthdays and holidays; a cook-out for a neighbor who is moving; long walks as the weather gets better (now that's being optimistic, but the rain Gods just HAVE to be getting tired soon); switch out my winter/summer closet; get a tan and lose 20 pounds (now that too is being optimistic, but I'm just sayin ...).

need to renew my Driver's License this year: Note to self, prepare for a good picture. Do whatever it takes, even if it leaves me unable to stand upright or reach for a bag of Cheetos.

want to assign certain ring tones on my cell phone: I've been thinking about it for awhile (yes, it occupies space in my mind). For Kevin's calls -- Celine Dion, I'm your woman and you are my maaan. For calls from Brandt/Keaton -- That's Allright Mamma. Calls from Andrea -- Princess Leia's Theme.

have no photo's for this blog entry. But if I had been a grandma who rocks, I would have had my camera at Rhegan's soccer game the other day! You remember don't ya, it was that soccer game where she picked dandylions a lot more than she kicked the soccer ball? This is the same game where Rhegan came to sit next to me during a break, and asked for a piece of gum. Yes, I said! I'll give it to you right after the game is over. But she informed me that now would be better. "No, that's against the Soccer Rules, it's against Rule #24!" The biggest blue eyes looked at me in wonderment and said "How did you KNOW that?!"

finished my bible study and Joyce Meyer's book, Battlefield of the Mind. It was s splendid few months of study, growing, sharing, and making new friends. Even one of the older ladies said that she has been coming to the bible studies for years, and this was the best one ever!

am going to lead the next bible study entitled "Summer Scripture Challenge" and I will incorporate scrapbooking into memorizing bible verses. Prayers welcome!

am SO over this rain. I would sweep the porch or something, but ... why? Besides, when I finished I would collapse in a heap on the couch and in the words of Fred Sanford say "This is the big one."

miss my sons. Very very much. Kevin and I have decided to make the annual jaunt to DC for Memorial Day Weekend, so we will bombard Brandt with our friends and Harleys. Keaton has decided to start work on his Masters, in between tutoring and coaching soccer this summer.

have been wondering why Pier One won't send me a new dishtowel after I filled out their stinkin' form online? I mean, is it some kind of hooey that just because I'm a 50ish mom and totally uncool in their eyes?

am not afraid of any kind of That Flu (not sayin' the name because, well, it's just gross). If anything is going to kill me in the next thirty days, my money is on the Obama administration and not some lame pig virus. I'm just sayin ....

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.