Luke and the Bug

So my neighbor seems to think that this bug is a normal thing and I should be used to seeing them in my house even though I've lived here for over two years and have never in my life seen a bug such as this and, frankly, I hope I never see it again. It was quite a specimen, though I didn't hang on to this guy because the bugman (who, by the way, was not at my house because of this bug, but rather because of the hornets who were making a home by my front door...welcome to our house!) was so entranced by it and simply had to hang it on the wall of his office. Maybe another one will show up so Luke can mount it on his wall, after all, this thing is supposed to the norm around here. But since this one showed up while the bugman was spraying my house and gardens I'm guessing that it was trying to outrun the poison that now encircles and protects the perimeter of my home and I'll bet the rest of his posse is now disposed of or doesn't want to breach that perimeter that is supposed to hold them at bay for thirty days.

However, I think secretly Luke is hoping that several of these bugs decide to charge the barrier and come in to his hangout of choice - the garage - to play.

The Loose Tooth

Oh what a joy it is
To be a little boy who is
experimental and courageous

He wiggles it and wobbles it
and fears that he will swallow it
But messing with it simply is contagious

For days he's talked about this
For days he's dreamed about this
And now to get it out absolutely is a must

One minute he's eating his lunch
The next he no longer can munch
And now he knows only in himself can he trust

Off to the bathroom he goes
Moments later he's back and in his hand this is what he shows:
His Tooth!

Le Tour de France

The Tour has just finished. My favorite sporting event. Probably the only sporting event I really care about (oh, except, of course, watching the Cougs with you ,William.) This year, however, it was a little hard to watch. For so many years, as many as I can remember, as soon as each stage was finished I was on the phone with my dad reacting to the days triumphs and disappointments, predicting the finish, discussing the strategies...sometimes he would even call during the final sprint, but I was never sure if I really liked this slight distraction. But this year, even in the final sprint, I found myself longing to grab the phone, stopping just short, knowing he wouldn't answer...ever again.

I've always felt a bit let down at the end of the Tour; I'm not really ready for it to end. For three weeks I have spent every morning glued to the TV, catching Tour updates throughout the day, and basically obsessing about the actions of guys in spandex riding around on bikes; and then when its over, life seems a bit dreary for a couple of days and I'm not sure what to read about in the paper or on the internet. It usually takes a day or so to regain some sort of clarity and focus again.

But now, as I sit and watch, for the third time tonight, the riders race down the Champs-Elysees I cannot help but think of my dad and the grand tour that was his life. He was a great champion and raced as hard as could until he reached the finish line. I wasn't ready for his Tour to finish...and I'm finding it very hard to regain my focus.

Tonight, a heartfelt congratulations to Carlos Sastre, winner of the 2008 Tour de France. And a nod to my dad, a truly great man. I miss you.

Fabulous Florida

William was in Miami to meet with a client and we thought to ourselves that maybe I should join him because we like to spend time together and a little getaway to Miami and the Florida Keys might be just what we needed. So I headed down late Friday night for a little adventure with my husband. What I learned from this trip was:

1) I do not sleep on the red eye...not at all, so this is not a good travel plan for me.
2) When William wants me to plan the itinerary I need to follow my dad's example by typing every detail of the trip and distributing it to each participant ahead of time...and don't let William convince me to stray from the plan.
3) When I say "let's go to Coral Gables" I mean something entirely different than what William thinks it is...it is not a pool or a golf course, but it has both of those.
4) And apparently I have never found my sea legs...even when I'm floating in the water, not on the water.

So we visited Key West and first went to the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum which was filled with salvaged treasure. (A museum review will, of course, follow in a later post.) As a result of our very interesting visit to the treasure trove we didn't quite make it to the Ernest Hemingway house, but that was ok because we looked through the gate and took a picture outside and other than his short story "The Old Man and the Sea" I haven't actually made it through an entire book even though I've started several of them many times.
We had a great time in the Keys. It is so easy to just fall into the very laid back way of life and not worry about time or issues, instead you just go with the flow. Miami, however, is a different story, especially when you don't communicate well with your spouse about what your expectations or desires may be. On our last day we kayaked in the Gulf of Mexico in the morning but due to a squall we packed up and headed to sunny Miami where we were off our vague initial itinerary. This was then complicated by what William thought Coral Gables was (old houses and a golf course) and what I thought it was (a really cool, old swimming pool). We were both right, but by the time William realized I was talking about going swimming instead of driving around looking at old neighborhoods we were a little late to actually enjoy this activity. But we saw the pool and it was really cool.
But I'm wondering if I could have actually enjoyed swimming, after all. I'm beginning to think that water is not my friend because while William was having a great time snorkeling around the reef outside of the Key Largo, I was suffering from seasickness. This is putting things a little mildly. I fed the fish with my vomit four times. And I'm not talking about while I was on the boat; no, no, I threw up four times while I was in the water snorkeling.
I'm glad I wasn't any where near this Ray, feeding him. Instead it was little schools of parrot fish...I'm just glad they weren't nibbling on my toes.
But we had a great trip and I'm saving my pennies for the next time William has an out of state client who needs him to travel...or maybe we'll just up and take off for another few days for no reason other than we're determined to get better at traveling together.

Jane's Big Day

I cannot believe she's eight. My little Jane. The little girl who really isn't so little anymore not simply because she is quite tall but rather because she's so full of wisdom due in large part to the massive amounts of questions she asks and the volumes of encyclopedias that she quite literally reads and how keenly she observes those around her. But still when I think of the first time I ever held her in my arms it is remarkable to think that she is now this very grown up girl who makes so many decisions and choices on her own because she has spent a lot of time researching and so that she can have enough knowledge to figure out what might be in store when she makes those big decisions in her life. Such as her baptism. She really did ask a lot of questions and look for answers about why she might want to be baptized and what it means to become a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and then she made the choice to take this step. And she was very excited about this step in her life. I think she was quite pleased with her special day and I've watcher her enough over the past few days to note that she is taking her new situation in life very seriously. As serious as she may be about this I still find that little "Jane" glimmer in her eye when she catches sight of herself in her beautiful dress that Grandmum made for her. I can tell she's thinking, "Dang! I am looking good!" And she should have that glimmer; after all, what girl doesn't like to look fabulous?!

Grandmum's latest achievement: Here stands Jane in her beautiful dress .

Always the big sister...even when the boys aren't so sure they like it!

Miley, Jane and Me

The excitement in our car last Friday was positively palpable. I don't know that I've ever paid so much attention to the details of Miley Cyrus songs, but during that car ride as we rocked out I got to hear all about how fabulous this particular singer is in the eyes of my precious eight-year old. I might note at this point that my dear husband seems to think that Miley is pretty great since he started really loving one of her songs that he kept hearing on the radio and then he found out it was Miley and he was just a little more than embarrassed. But I think it's really great that he has something in common with our daughter. Maybe I should have sent him to the concert since he probably would have been able to sing along a little better than me. But I couldn't let him go since this was my birthday present for Jane and it just seemed like this should be a girl thing and we're really into girls only things in our house lately because the boys are growing up and Jane and I think they should do boy things with dad while we go shopping and get our nails done and go to Miley Cyrus concerts. I think Jane thought this was especially great because she got to sit next to her cousin Caroline who she thinks is one of the greatest people on the whole face of this great earth.

I don't know if we can top her eighth birthday but I certainly hope she can always remember fun times like that night even when things get a little tough like they did just a few days later when one of her newly pierced ears lost the earring and it was too hard to get the earring back in so she chose to take out her earrings and wait a little while before she gets them re-pierced.

But regardless of the hurdles in life I think Jane believes she has a pretty great life. So great that even though this night might seem like it could have been the greatest night of her life I think that she would say the next day was easily the greatest experience of her life...but you'll have to wait for the next post to find out about that!

The LATE-OVER

The year we knew had to do something big, something great, something fabulous for Jane's big eight! So we had a late-over with her buddies.

Here is the poem we wrote on the invitations
(pink pillowcases):


Jane’s having a party because she’s turning 8

We’d love for you to come...but it’s going to be a little late

So come in your jammies with pillow in hand

Ready for food, fun, and dodging pillows ‘cause you never know where they’ll land!

So we ate and ate and ate...
and of course we had cake

and presents

And Facials

And Pedis

And thanks to Grandmum and Aunt Debbie without whom we never would have the fabulous ribbons sewn on the pillows the girls decorated

Even Mitchell had a little bit of fun...though he would never admit, even if he was being tortured, that anything that has to do with girls can be the slightest bit fun

So after tons of fun with pillow fights and yoga in the front yard, we finally wound the evening down with a little "Enchanted"

All in all, we had a great time ringing in Jane's new big year. A year sure to be filled with many grown up things....like pierced ears which Jane worked very hard for months and months to earn; she proved that she is ready to be a very responsible eight-year old. Her mother, however, is not so sure that she is ready for Jane to be eight but since I can't stop time I will have to simply suffice with trying my very hardest to make these wonderful years filled with lots of things that little girls like....and try to convince her that she really is little. I don't think that's going so well.

Happy Birthday Jane!

Jane had a birthday
Isn't it great
Not one or two or three
But eight!

How much she's grown
So wonderful, so wise
Our little girl
With her big brown eyes

When we look to find her
She's often lost in a book
Or laughing and playing
Giving us her knowing, naughty look

She's happy and lively
Unless its the dishes
She hates the unloading
For mom to forget this chore, she wishes

But Jane, oh Jane
If only eight you would remain
But as you grow
Remember, I love you; this I hope you know