Sometimes it is all about me

As I may have mentioned a time or a hundred I have a birthday coming up in a few days.

I've decided to take a cue from my daughters and stretch it out to the nth degree.

Consider this a pre-pre-birthday post.

I'm older and I've earned it.

I love birthdays and I don't even care that I'm turning a certain age that we won't specifically mention here because every birthday is special and meant to be celebrated.

So, how did we kick off Birthday Week?

Silly reader, of course its going to last all week.

Anyway, we spent all day Saturday hiking in a nearby State Forest.

We didn't mean to.

We had planned to just take the dog for a walk and then hubs read about some waterfalls in the forest so we decided to check them out.

Let's just say that thanks to the lack of recent rain they were high and dry.

That didn't stop us from climbing the extremely steep steps all the way to the top.

Still very pretty, even without the water.

And then of course you have to climb back down which is no easy feat with an enthusiastic dog in the lead.

We had to drive a bit further to get to the car park at the trail entrances and along the way we saw this...

It looked suspiciously like a Cottonmouth minding his own business in the middle of the street.

Of course we had to stop the car and hubs had to poke it til it reared its head and loudly hissed.

And I had to calculate whether or not I could find my way out of the forest should anti venom become necessary.

Thankfully it did not.

Cottonmouths are not typically found in NJ and after checking with all knowing Google we could not find anything that looked exactly like this one.

Except a Cottonmouth.

Hmmm.

We eventually pulled ourselves away from the snake and headed for the trails.

Since we'd already climbed a thousand steps with the dog we opted for a trail marked mild but somehow ended up merging onto a difficult trail which ended up merging somewhere along the way with the Appalachian Trail.

It's lucky I'm not old yet because towards the top you had to use your hands to get over the rocks.

Good times.

We did it though and the view was worth it.

The dog might not agree.

It was a long way up.

And a long way down.

Apparently the way up was identical to the route down but that did not stop me from having the following conversation with hubs-

Me: Didn't we take the light blue trail up?

Him: You don't know where you are, do you?

Me: I know where I am.

Him: We took the green trail.

And why do you question me when it comes to directions?

I could have pointed to the car park from the top of that mountain we were just on.

insert here pulling the map out of the backpack with a huff

Him: !Look! !Look at the map!

Me: You don't know what its like to go thru life without any sense of direction.

(no metaphor intended)

Him: How do you not know where you are?

Me: How is it we have been married for 26+ years and you continue to ask me that question?

Him: All you need to do is look for the sun and you'll know which way is west.

Me: Huh?

Him: Sigh. I give up.

Tonite we have tickets to see the NY Jets play the Baltimore Ravens.

I'm feeling conflicted because we lived in the Baltimore area for almost 10 years so I'd like to root for the Ravens.

But we're in Jets country and will most likely be surrounded by Jets fans.

Plus, this is the Jets first game in their new stadium and they gave us Commemorative tickets that are hard plastic attached to a very nice Jets lanyard.

Free bling wins me over a little bit.

Is an NFL Lanyard bling?

Friday my hubs has something fun planned.

He has had it planned for a while.

It's a surprise.

He asked me this weekend if I wanted to know what the surprise is.

Hubs is great at lots of things.

Keeping a secret is not one of them.

He can keep a secret.

He just doesn't like to.

Anyway, I said no.

Because I like surprises.

Usually.

As long as they're the good kind.

I'm sure a birthday surprise is the good kind.

I hope there is no map reading involved.

Finally, lovely blog readers....

I'd love to take questions from the studio audience for my actual birthday post.

I'm not sure there is anything left to tell as I'm pretty much an open book here, but if there is some piece of minutia I haven't covered then please, fire away.

Send me a question and I'll answer it at my blog birthday party this weekend.

If you read my blog on facebook you can come to the party too...just message me your question there.

To
ensure that somebody sends me a question make it a little bit more fun, there will be a prize awarded to the person who submits my favorite question.

No criteria-no rules.

Just submit a question and I'll answer them all and then pick my favorite.

That's right.

My favorite.

Hey, it is my birthday.

thoughts on the weekend, getting older and becoming a radical

Warning: I have a lot on my mind and that's not always a good thing when it comes to my blog.

Here's the thing...my blog is not really a super serious place. There are moments of meaningful thought and a lot of emotion is expressed here but in general my blog is light and fluffy. And that's okay. I read a few blogs that I consider 'deep' and sometimes light and fluffy is a welcome relief. However, when I do want to write something more serious I tend to be misunderstood. I get comments from people wanting to encourage me and cheer me up which I love but which sometimes make me feel like I missed making my point. Or my hubs will dole out a 'get a grip speech' which I sometimes need and can appreciate but I'm not needing that today. Today I just need to put some of these thoughts into written words.

With all that being said, I'm going to try to tell you more today about what's on my mind besides how I spent my weekend. Scintillating as that always is.

I'm celebrating a birthday on Saturday. A pretty big birthday. And I'm feeling kind of eh. I mean, my hubs has some sort of surprise plans for the day which involve me packing an overnite bag and I know there will be lots of fun and special and wonderful happening around here. When I say I'm feeling eh I don't mean about how my family will work to make the day nice, I mean something more.

Do you spend much time thinking about the meaning of life? Seriously? I would like to know your answer. Because lately I've been thinking about it a lot. I suspect if you have very young children at home your answer is no. Life is busy and getting thru the day with everyone fed, clothed, schooled, bathed and loved pretty much takes up most of the space in your brain. But I'm at a different place in my life. And birthdays are a good time for reflecting, right?

I think a few things have occurred recently to get my brain a-swirling...

There was 9-11. And 9-11 always makes me think about the first time in my adult life I smacked head long into evil in this world and it also involved terrorism and senseless death and airplanes. My neighbors. Fifteen years of neighborliness. Friends. Aside from my own mother I don't think anyone influenced my idea of who I wanted to be as a mother more than the mom who lived next door. I loved that family. They moved to London one summer. And just a few short months later on a clear December day that dad, and that mom, and their two beautiful young daughters boarded a plane in London to return to the US for Christmas. That plane came to be known as Pan Am 103 or The Lockerbie Jet. In an eyeblink the world tilted. Why? Over 20 years have come and gone and I cannot answer that question. But I think about it sometimes. And always especially on 9-11.

Guatemala. More specifically Ann Voskamp's blog posts from Guatemala. I've always loved her blog because most days it is like a sea of calm, cool, rest amidst the clanging of the internet. Her writing is beautiful and poetic. And this past week she traveled with Compassion International to Guatemala and I've been reading her posts and I dare you to read them and not shed a tear. Cry, you say? Well then maybe you shouldn't read them Joyce. But I can't not read them. They remind me that there are people in this world whose tin houses are stuck into a hillside that slips away without warning and whose children are recruited by drug lords at the tender age of 7. People who need hope. And food and clothing and water. But most of all hope. The weight of that thought presses in on me and makes me want to act.

Radical. It's a book. A New York Times bestseller that a lot of people are reading including me. Its the type of book that is sometimes called 'jumping on a bandwagon' but sometimes there's a reason why people jump on a bandwagon. I don't agree with everything the author has to say but he does make some really thought provoking and down right uncomfortable points about what we have as Americans and what we do with what we have. As I sip tea in my warm cozy house with a hearty meal on the stove and I write on my nearly brand new Mac about a blog post that tells of little children climbing a hill to outrun a mudslide I cannot help but see the contradiction. Can't we all?

If you know me in person I'm pretty sure radical is not the word that would instantly pop into your head if someone asked you to describe me. But as I roll into a new decade on Saturday I'm kind of wishing it was. I think I need a little bit more radical in my life.

I re-read this many times and debated if I should actually hit publish. I'm thinking out loud, trying to make certain opportunity is not sitting squarely in front of me and I'm too caught up in the superficial to miss the meaningful. I'm just having a birthday and thinking about the meaning of life. About how I can make a difference in a world filled with hungry children and devastating poverty and evil in all its many forms. In this new decade, how do I live a more radical life?

Okay, no worries...while I'm sure you all appreciated this little peek inside my head it will be back to your regularly scheduled nonsense here tomorrow. My usual writing is light with a side of deep for anyone who might be looking.

You know...sometimes it is worth looking.

She ought to be in pictures

Oh wait.

She is.

Lots of them in fact.

Lots and lots and lots of pictures.

I'm sorry, but a birthday happens only once a year and besides...

they tell her story.

If you need more words you can read the post I wrote about her last year.

In the meantime...

Happy Birthday to my baby.

My baby who is sweet

and sassy,

a blonde headed

blue eyed beauty.

Confident

and funny,

a natural born actress

who loves her books

her music

and being in the kitchen.

She was born fearless

and is still not afraid to try something new.

She's a sister's best friend

and a Daddy's little girl.

My mini me

She can exasperate

and fill my heart to the point of overflowing.

She is independent

determined

and full of courage and self-discipline in a way I only wish I could be.

She has traveled the globe,

seen lands far and wide,

and knows that home is anywhere your people are.

She loves her friends,

fun shoes,

animals,

life.

Today she leaves the teen years behind and celebrates her 20th birthday.

Happy Birthday Daughter2!

You, my sweet girl, have made my life fuller, scarier, richer...

you who feels so deeply

and who loves so completely.

Whose smile lights up the darkest days,

whose zest for life has given me more than a few gray hairs,

and whose love has filled every nook and cranny of my soul.

"Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him and He will help you."

Psalm 37:4-5

Calling All Readers

My daughter has a link up on her blog today and I thought I'd play along. We're supposed to come up with a list of our top ten texts...books we want to have in our own libraries and keep forever...books we never get tired of reading. No pressure though. Ha.

I have picked ten. However these are not my only ten. They are just ten that I know I would want in my personal library. And, yes, my daughter and I have some of the same books and I'm sure if my mom and sisters and my daughter2 all made lists we'd probably have some of the same too. Reading is a family affair in our house. I'd love to see your list...click here to link it to Daughter1's blog and see what others have said.

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

2. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

3. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

4. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

5. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

6. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

7. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

8. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

9. Crow Boy by Taro Yashima

10. The Mitford Series by Jan Karon

Happy Reading!

Laboring Over the Random

Let's see...how many times can I use the word labor in a blog post title? At least one more it seems. The random dozen has rolled around again and wow, that was fast! When holidays fall on a Monday I usually spend the whole week thinking its a day earlier than it actually is. Fun questions this week though, so why not play along? Answer the questions on your own blog or in the comments here or on your fb page and link up by clicking on the donuts. Here are mine this week-

1. Describe the best sandwich in the world, according to you.

Philly cheese steak. And this is not just according to me because millions (yes, I'm sure its millions) of people would agree with me. Oh, and it must be made in the Philadelphia or surrounding area. I've had them other places and they just aren't the same. Ultra thin slices of steak with melted cheese and grilled onions on a hard hoagie roll. The roll is very, very important and where a good cheese steak often goes wrong outside the Philadelphia area.

Photo credit...Big John's

2. Which inspires you more: a good conversation, a song, a book or a movie?

I can find inspiration in conversations, songs and books. Off the top of my head I cannot think of any movies that were truly inspiring but there may be something out there. The Blindside?

I'm just getting ready to start Radical by David Platt...pretty sure it's going to be inspiring.

3. What is your favorite board game?

Surprise-I don't have ONE favorite. I like board games...a few favorites are Scattegories, Backgammon, Mexican Train Dominoes and Scrabble.

4. As you grow older, are you more or less patient with small children?

I think I'm still really patient with young children but I guess we all become less patient as we get older. I'm probably not as patient with them as I was 20 years ago but I'm not impatient either.

5. Name one item you never let yourself run out of.

Twizzlers. There's no wrong answers, right?

6. Do you agree with Tennyson's assertion "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?"

Absolutely!

7. Name one National Treasure or landmark that you have visited.

Wow, this is hard because I think we've already established here and in previous randoms that a. I don't do 'just one' very well and 2. I travel a lot. I looked up the definition of National Treasure to see if this would apply only to things I've seen in the US but wiki defines it as -

"a person, place, or object that is deemed to be of value to an entire nation, usually due to its cultural significance."

If that's the case, how much time do you have? I could list hundreds just from my treks around England.

I think for today I'll pick one of my favorite US treasures...Arlington National Cemetery. I've seen treasures the world over but few places move me more than sitting on a grassy hillside in Arlington. I've written about it before and you can read that here.

8. Which is more painful, to be disappointed in someone else or to be disappointed in yourself?

Myself. It happens more often than I'd care to say.

9. What makes your kitchen uniquely yours?

Hmmm...I'm not sure how to answer this one. Maybe its my recipe book with favorite family and friend recipes copied by hand and filed there. Maybe my collection of English and Italian pottery. Or it could be the digital photo frame that sits on the desk in my kitchen and circulates pictures of our family. It is uniquely ours and no one else would have something exactly like it.

10. Are you a crafty person?

in a word, no.

11. What is your favorite or traditional picnic or bbq (cookout) food?

Just one?

Really?

Roasted corn on the cob.

12. Name one leisurely activity you enjoyed over the Labor Day weekend.

Again with the 'just one'. Sigh.

I wrote a whole post on our Labor Day weekend here, however, if I must pick 'just one activity' I'll say a walk with my hubs and our pup in Central Park.

Labor Day without the Labor

What a fabulous weekend!

The weathermen could not have been more wrong and we have had the most gorgeous weather I can remember in a long time.

Crystal clear blue skies with a light breeze and nothing but sunshine.

We spent as much time outdoors as we could manage which was actually quite a lot.

And okay, there was a little bit of labor but it came in the form of yard work which isn't like the normal 9-5 7-7 kind of day my hubs usually works.

Sunday afternoon we decided to take a picnic into Central Park.

We took the pup too because she has been to Central Park before and remembers it as a great place to chase birds and squirrels.

She wears a gentle lead when we walk in the park because it keeps her from pulling your arm out of the socket when she spies a squirrel/bird/sandwich wrapper/trash bag...I think you get the idea...

Walking around the park with Dixie is like walking with a celebrity.

Seriously.

No less than three people had their picture taken with her.

That's my hubs with his arm around a woman he met about ten minutes prior.

The woman and her husband saw Dixie attempt to go for a swim in the fountain and she came over and asked if she could have a picture.

They are from Serbia and the husband has been in the US for about 10 years but she's only been here a few months and speaks very little English.

I think I've mentioned here before that people meet my hubs and proceed to tell him their life story.

Even people who need a translator to help with the telling.

We spent some time hanging out near the Boat House which if you saw 27 Dresses you might recognize as the wedding locale.

This is the spot people come to sail their model boats which is really fun to watch and its also the place you can rent rowboats.

When you see that happening on television they always just walk right up and hop in a boat.

Yeah, that's not quite how it happens in real life.

The queue must have been a day long.

We walked for miles enjoying the spectacular weather and scenery and of course all the people watching.

Because, seriously, is there any place better for people watching than NYC?

I rest my case.

Today was a repeat of yesterday in regards to the weather so we hung out at the Lake in our little town and watched our local water ski team perform.

They range in age from 3 (yes you read that right) to adult and they're good.

There was a little ballet...

and some pyramids...

some jumps...

there were a few adrenaline junkies who did flips and skiied barefoot...

there was some water ski envy...

So wishing he was out there too.

He loves to ski and he's really good at it.

Plus he may have just a little bit of that adrenaline thing happening.

Case in point, he has a chunk missing from the bottom of his water ski where he may have come a little too close to a sailboat one time.

I don't think I'll mention the night skiing or some of the other craziness for which I'm sure he'll thank me.

Anyone else ever get the Sunday night blues?

On a Monday night?

The weather has taken a turn for the cooler, schools will be back in session tomorrow and it seems summer is officially coming to an end.

I think this evening we'll grill the last of the summer corn and slice some of the remaining sweet tomatoes. We'll soak up the last rays of weekend sun and will do our best to make it last just a little bit longer...

"Summer afternoon-summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." Henry James

Labor Day Link Love

Do you have any fun plans for the Labor Day weekend? We hope to remove a layer of dust from the house but that's about as far as we've gotten. We're on the East Coast (if you count up on a mountaintop 45 miles inland as the coast) so we may see some rain which means there will probably be a nap squeezed into our weekend plans too. Don't rainy days and naps go together? Pretty sure its the law.

I have some miscellaneous stuff I want to share before the weekend kicks off so here you go...and don't you like how I used miscellaneous as opposed to random? I'm shaking things up today....

1. Need a new blog header and button? Need a banner for your Etsy shop? Business cards or logo design? You're in luck...daughter1 opened her online graphic design 'shop' and would love to create something special for you. Click here to see samples and to access her shop and order form. What are mothers for if not to promote and encourage and advertise their children's creative endeavors, right?

2. It is always amazing to me to think about people living in this world without something so basic as access to clean water. Most of us just go to the tap and mindlessly turn on our faucets. Or take a shower anytime we feel like it. Or water our lawns and wash our cars or make a cup of tea without giving it too much thought. Did you know that $20 will provide clean water for one person for 20 years? Think about that for a minute.

One of my favorite bloggers, Billy Coffey, is part of a 30 bloggers/30 days campaign which essentially means 30 bloggers are trying to raise $30,000 in 30 days for water projects in the Central African Republic. The $30,000 they hope to raise will provide clean water for 300 families in six communities with 100% of the monies donated going to the actual water project. All overhead has been paid by private funding elsewhere. Hop over here and read what you can do to help. In this instance, a little does a lot.

3. On a lighter note...we went to our first football game of the season last night and saw the NY Giants beat the New England Patriots in the last minute and a half of the game. We sat in the corporate box which, as I've said before, is my preferred viewing method particularly when the temperature outside is 90+ degrees with 99% humidity at 10 PM. Access to air conditioning is a beautiful thing. If you love football...high school, college, or professional... and you haven't seen Kenny Chesney's new video you must watch...it will make you smile.

(it takes a few seconds for the video to appear)

Have a great long weekend! Go Vols!