Remembering Memorial Day

The Soldier

IF I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

~Rupert Brooke

Wordless Wednesday

(From my in-laws for our anniversary)

Sweet Are the Years...

Happy 14th Anniversary to the sweetest man on Earth!

I love our story -- how we met 22 years ago.

I love remembering those sweet memories with you.

I love being married to YOU!

Yours! Always and forever!!

End of the Run...24

So, my favorite-most-ever show has come to the end of its run.

Finished.

No more.

All done.

The clock has stopped.

Sigh.

Thank you, Kiefer Sutherland and the rest of the cast from the past 8 seasons!

Thank you, FOX Network! Thank you, writers, directors, camera men, makeup people, producers, etc.! Thank you, ALL!

What a wild, wonderful, and awesome ride it's been!

* * *

I'll miss our Monday night 24 viewing "parties," but I'm looking forward to seeing Jack Bauer on the big screen!

Wooooo-hoooooo!

Saturday Sweetheart

Ethan calls Jack Bauer to remind him that Monday is the last show ever for 24. He will explain later but really needs Jack to set up a perimeter and get him a chopper to get across town in the next 3 minutes.

Wordless (mostly) Wednesday

Happy 4th Birthday to my blog!

I cannot believe that much time has passed since I decided to try my hand at this "blogging" thing. It's been such fun -- and quite challenging at times -- to keep up with it all the time.

My apologies for letting two months lapse since my last entry. I promise to come back and fill in the blanks just as soon as I can catch my breath.

So be sure to come back to read it!

Until then, enjoy a piece of "virtual" cake on me! *wink-grin*

T-t-t-t-t-twenty Months Old!!

Really? Really????

Can someone puh-leaze tell this baby to slooooow down?

Thoughtful Thursday

I can't watch or read the news without wondering why...

...someone who fights hard to save the rain forests or whales or the "environment" is applauded as fervent for the "cause"...
...yet someone who fights hards to save an unborn baby or traditional marriage is considered hateful and intolerant.

...someone who pays lots of money to send his children to private school is admired and praised... ...yet someone who homeschools is deemed strange and overprotective.

...someone can teach the theory of evolution to school students as fact...
...yet someone can't even mention creationism as a theory in school.

...someone who believes in abortion is called "pro-choice"....
...yet someone who believes in protecting unborn babies is called "anti-abortion."

It seems to me the very meaning of conservative is practiced by more than those who are deemed as such by those who consider themselves more "liberal."

Hmm...just makes me wonder.

"The very idea that's there's another idea is something gained." ~Anonymous

Wordless (Mostly) Wednesday

So we went to the doctor's today for Ethan's belated "18-month-old" checkup. (He's 20 months...so what's a couple of months, right?)

And the doctor is recording his stats in his chart. "37 1/2 inches tall...35 pounds...Wow! He's the size the of 3-year-old," he said, smiling.

Mother's Day Magic

Ethan has discovered the "magic" of Mommy's kiss.

Now, whenever he bumps himself, he comes over to me and holds up his hand or his knee or his foot and asks for a kiss. The tears (if there were any) instantly stop, and he goes bouncing back to whatever he was doing.

Wow! My lips seems to hold more "magic" than a Band-aid...

* * *

And I'm sure I've posted this before (probably on another Mother's Day), but it bears repeating.

Happy Mother's Day to my mom, my mother-in-law, and my sister, Shelly! What an honor to walk alongside of you on this particular path of life.

BEFORE I WAS A MOM:

Before I was a mom
I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a mom,
I slept as late as I wanted
And never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a mom
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words of lullabies.

Before I was a mom
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a mom
I had never been puked on
Pooped on
Spit on
Chewed on
Peed on
Or pinched by tiny fingers

Before I was a mom
I had complete control of:
My thoughts
My body
And my mind.
I slept all night.

Before I was a mom
I never held down a screaming child
So that doctors could do tests
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
When I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
Could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a mom
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important.

Before I was a mom
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay
I had never known the warmth
The joy
The love
The heartache
The wonder
Or the satisfaction of being a mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a mom.

~Author Unknown

Saturday Sweethearts

Who can resist kids who love books?

This mom can't.

End of the Line

Tonight marked the end of the season for the Wyomissing U9 boys' soccer team, as they took on (and creamed) the Wyomissing U9 girls' soccer teamS.

Their last official game was Saturday and they won, giving them a season ranking of 2nd place. (They only lost ONE game...the #1 team didn't lose any.)

Let me pause and reflect on that.

This is the same team that played last Autumn (minus/plus a few boys)...that ended up the very bottom of the division. They lost EVERY game, except for the one against the moms which they only won because, well, we don't need to go there.....

SECOND place!

To say that we were pleased for them doesn't even touch the emotions. They did an awesome job and really grew together as a team.

Most of them are returning in the Autumn...so here's hoping.

A season parting shot with a new "recruit."

Notions and Emotions

It's a funny feeling when you realize that you're part of the grown-ups -- one of the "older crowd," so to speak...well, at least in the eyes of the "young people."

I haven't really thought that about myself -- the growing old thing -- until recently. I was thinking of my grandparents' ages...and of my parents' and in-laws' ages....and of my sisters' ages...and of my kids' ages....and I suddenly felt old.

There's gray in my hair, to be sure. I dye it every six weeks or so...and feel 10 years younger for a few hours days weeks until the grays start peeking through again.

And my hands are starting to look not so "young and fresh" as in days gone by. They're weather-worn and dried out from washing dishes and clothes and kids and babies. Maybe I need to use some Palmolive...

...or does the fact that I remember the commercial from that make me even older?

Sigh.

When Push Comes to Shove...

A funny thing happens after you become a parent. (Or should I say one of many funny things happen? Idle grass...)

You become an adult.

That's not to say you aren't an adult beforehand. Or that grown-up people without children aren't adults either.

But you make decisions differently than you did before you had kids.

Emily has the chance to try out for "company" again. (This is a special ballet corps that performs most of the dances in any productions they do at her dance studio. You need to try out to be in it, and she needs to be in it to continue dancing in the Nutcracker.)

She's not excited...or keen...or interested (in some ways).

She's been dancing for 10 years now; she still enjoys it for the most part; and she really really really (did I mention: really?) wants to continue dancing in the Nutcracker.

The problem(s)...

She tried out last year...and didn't make it. A blow to her confidence.

The one teacher who helps to judge the tryouts doesn't like her...at all. A blow to her self-esteem.

So why make her continue? Why encourage her strongly to try out again? And why not pull her out of this dance studio and go somewhere else?

The third reason I mentioned above.

Some people dance because they love to dance. Some people dance because they love to perform.

Emily is the latter.

That's not always easy to understand for those who think an activity should be fun and ego-building.

I likened it to my writing.

When I was younger, I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote. Everywhere I went, I carried a notebook and pen/pencil. My parents, my friends, my siblings, my everyone who knew me told me I should try to get published.

But I wrote, well, just because I loved to write. I loved the feeling of creating a story and characters and a whole new world.

Some people write to get published. Of course, they're probably better-off financially than me, but they do it for that purpose. I write because I want to.

So I'm pushing -- pulling, pleading, cojoling -- Emily to try out again. She may not make it (again), but it's a step in the right direction towards her goal to keep dancing in the Nutcracker and any other ballets they perform.

And I know this little "shove" will prove she can do it...it's just a matter of timing.