GPOYW

We are sharing a "cardamom and ginger shake", so I will give you only 1 guess where I am in this photo.  But, seriously people, look at how he has his hand over mine...I mean, are you kidding me with this kid?  I am so in love!

Raise Your Hand if You Recognize This?

When I was a tween or teen, my mother brought one of these home.  I asked her what is was, and she explained that it was a splatter screen for keeping grease in the cooking pan and off the stove.  I noticed that one edge of the screen was ripped out already, and asked her what happened*.  She got this funny look on her face and explained that my kid sister has asked her what it was, too.  Mom told her it was for spanking little girls and playfully bopped her on the butt, which made it rip. In my memory, Mom kept that same ripped splatter screen for eons.    

There is five years between me and Kid Sister, but my older sister is only so by 18 months.  When my mother speaks of raising my older sister while pregnant with me, and then raising two infants simultaneously, her eyes shutter a little and she is at a loss for language to articulate the complete exhaustion she experienced.   When Kid Sister came along, Older Sister and I were a little more self-sufficient.  Mom got to really enjoy having a baby in a way she missed out on with the first two.  I could tell even then at the tender age of 5, 6, and 7 that she cherished having a baby.  (The fact that Kid Sister is pretty darn adorable didn't hurt either.)

My mother is a world-renowned saver, recycler, and repurpose-er, so it is no surprise she held on to a perfectly functional, although slightly blemished tool.  She is also neat as a pin, and it is possible the funny look on her face was a little regret that her jest ended in breaking a brand new purchase.  Tonight when this memory came flooding back as I spied my own splatter screen tucked in the cabinet, I recognized that look as one of a mix of all these things, but also pride and love.  Pride because she had been so witty on her feet (Dad is usually the jester in the family).  And love because it was a laugh she shared with Kid Sister. 

*Or words to that effect.  I don't recall exactly how old I was when this happened.  If I was closer to the teen end of that age spectrum, it is regrettably more likely that I asked her, with all the haughty disdain and world-weariness of a Superior speaking to an Inferior, if she was aware that she had bought a defective product. 

Be With the One You Love

I'm traveling! Again!  Oh, how I love airports. (<-may read facetious but totally sincere)

I was invited to speak at a conference in SFO this month.  The conference ends on Friday so, since I'll be on the West coast already, I'm hopping a jetliner to PDX to visit my kid sister and her posse.  Giddy doesn't begin to describe me!

My SIL and BIL are on vacation at the same time, which means My Beloved and I are on cat-sitting duty.  They live quite far away, however, so cat-sitting include overnight stays.  It just worked out that between my trip out West and My Beloved's o/n stay with the cats that there will be 6 nights and 7 days when we are apart.

This may be a new record for us.

We fell in love long distance which stoked a craving for each other's company that borders on the unhealthy.  Since we have been married, we have tried to stick to a 2-night rule, meaning we're never apart more than 2 consecutive nights.  Sometimes that turns into 3 or even 4, but this is definitely on the outside of comfortable longing.

My Beloved adores his sister and her cats, and I, of course, bleed for my family, too.  We got the "love the one you're with" part down fine.  It's this "be with the one you love" part that we will struggle with this month.

GPOYW

For my 16th anniversary, My Beloved* gave me 16MB of memories

in the shape of R2D2 and C3PO.

*He so gets me.

I Have the Internal BER

Oh, Blossom end rot! Thy name is villainy!

My precious ruby red, heavy-set tomatoes are filled with poisonous black pus.  Well, shit.

Years ago, I watched that PBS special on the farmer's wife.*  It was a fascinating documentary on being a farmer in the US, but mostly focused on the marital dynamic.  I was gripped by the story and convinced I do not have the patience to be a farmer or married to one.

However, the show did not convey the personal heartache from a failed crop.  My sweet, leafy sprouts that I have fawned and cooed over, excited by their promise, have led to naught this year.  My grandparents were farmers of several acres in Massachusetts.  How did they do this?  I am not cut out for the disappointment. I feign a cavalier attitude, but I am crushed: store-bought tomatoes for our house this summer.

My Grampa with his prized bounty, 1965.  

His green thumb decidedly did not rub off on his granddaughter.

* oh.  they divorced in 2006.

GPOYW

Me and two of my aunts

The one on the left sent me Christmas presents every year until I turned 16, including my favorite pair of gold stud hearts, even though I am one of >20-some nieces and nephews. The one on the right took care of my dying aunt and her family.  Then, she won the lottery.  (I heart karma.)

Seriously, people would pay good money for the kind of family I have!

And Then There Was This...

Sixteen years ago today we said our "I do's".  It was a wonderful day, an amazing party.  Yet that day we felt no different than we had on the day before or on the day before that or on any of the previous two years of days than we did on the one day that started with a sunrise on the Appalachian trail and ended with the gobsmack of certainty in the quickening dawn that our respective compasses had finally found their Norths.

This year, we will honor that special event by heading back into the woods to be alone with that feeling for a few days.  Nothing says "true love" like a man still crazy for me when I'm covered in bug bites and have twigs in my hair!

Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

GPOYW

Crazy faces on the merry-go-round!

Surprises

It began on Friday...

Sullen Nephew on California Screamin' about to go into the loop-d-loop

Followed by more on Saturday of the cute and adorable pictures of my nephews and niece and the Disney characters...

(is being a Disney character the best job in the whole wide world?!)

I was missing it all and I couldn't take it.  By Saturday night, I had cashed in 20K frequent flyer points, made my excuses to work, and packed my toothbrush.    

How could I possibly miss out on this hilarity?!

(those ears light up different colors and patterns depending which part of the park you go into)

Or the thrilling rides?!

Bugs Land

Or the opportunity to wrap myself up in Nephew Love?

If ever there was a time to call in sick to work and drop everything, this was it.  I'm so unbelievably lucky.  One of the best decisions of my life, hands down.  

GPOYW

Getting to know the North Country and new & old family

Elliot

 From this...

...to this, in less than 4 years.

I'm so excited, too, my friend!

Happy Birthday, Little Creature

In 2004, she was barely an armful of baby girl.

By 2012, she's conquered the mountain!

Happy birthday, Little Creature!

46 Times

My parents celebrate their 46th anniversary this weekend.


(skip to 0:38)

Memorial Day

GOPYW

I get excited about Metro tickets, too :)

There is No Greater Love

My Beloved did two loads of dishes today and cleaned up the homemade pizza explosion in the kitchen so I wouldn't have to face the mess after a 10hr day and round of grocery shopping.

Are you kidding me?  I so got it made, y'all, and forever glad I locked that down.

GPOYW

Me, Rasnoses, and Rocket bonding over picture books about cold, forlorn wildernesses.

The Hole in My Chest

cannot be filled with chocolate
cannot be filled with sleep
cannot be filled with mindless reading/movies

The hole in my chest can only be filled by the company of my family and the love of a 3yo-soon-to-be-4 Spiderman in training who thinks my name is Jennifer.

Anticipation

My kid sister and her family are coming to town for a whole week!  I've managed to take most of the time off from work, but it has been hard to get all that extra work done because I am SO FREAKIN' EXCITED!!

What I'm Working on Right Now

I'm looking forward to jammin' w my BIL next week on this (as soon as he teaches me the strumming pattern)