The Greatest Generation

After two years, to the day, and another child added to the Musing clan, I have returned to writing, in all its honest and embarrassing rapture. I am mostly returning because I have so many things I need to say, and because it's therapeutic.

So what I want to say today, I actually was also considering last Sunday night. Husby and I were watching the James Taylor Carole King PBS special. I was watching these two just-aging graceful peaceful souls, and listening to their clear voices. Their singing sounds like years of life experience. It was nearly heartbreaking to watch them. Their singing and their faces and their love for their profession and one another ....all the reconciliations of their lives...it was palpable. They reminded me of my parents' friends. And even a little bit of my parents, too.

I thought about these people who are just on the cusp of old age. You can read about them all over the New York Times, the Baby Boomers, how they never grew up, how they are going to cost our country - ALL countries - mega mega mega money. But watching these two made me think about how this generation tried to be so peaceful, so different. They tried to turn everything upside down and YET they were, and are still, so dutiful and honorable to their parents. They weren't disrespectful, not really. My mother never would have embarrassed her family or herself. These people got up and went to fight -- to die -- when they were called to do so. They subjugated their preferences and passions to do what they were supposed to do. AND they protested foolishness in ways that they could; they fought for fairness, with optimistic intention. And I think they showed the same respect -- perhaps awe -- to their children, which may or may not have been in everyone's best interest. But these people were brave to be something new, while also showing deference and respect for the ones who brought them to the dance. I admire that.

"The Greatest Generation" was the one who fought World War II. Whether our grandparents were fighting for one country or another, it hardly seems to matter. They are admired for their bravery in battle -- in fighting to keep things same, safe and stable. I thank them all. But this next group of human beings were seemingly inspired to take the fight to another level. To fight for harmony, justice. They tried so hard to swim against the current, because they were so inspired to do it better. They didn't do it perfectly. Who does? And they, too, are worthy of our attention and gratitude.

So thank you for showing us a new way to live in the world, and thank you with all my heart -- to my parents and all their friends whom I watched throughout my childhood -- for bringing me up to the dance.

We'll Always Have Coffee

Husby and I were watching Bones last night, and if you watch the show you'll know that the the lady-forensic doctor 'Bones' and her FBI partner 'Booth' (me likes Booth) have sort of an affectionate undercurrent thing going on. Because that's what makes the show interesting.

The two of them were discussing whether they would see one another anymore if all murders ended. And they proposed that they would like to still have coffee with one another. And it was very sweet. And initimate. And that's how I feel with Husby sometimes. Like maybe we should be very grateful for the seconds, perhaps minutes, of intimacy shared even over coffee at 5:45am. We agreed that we will always have coffee, and we treasure the moment.

In other news, we are very excited to be heading out of the dry desert 115 degree heat for summer vacation. I grew up in the South, and vacation consisted of either visiting grandparents' homes (and doing their summer rituals including canning produce, cooking in the basement where it's cooler, working in the vegetable garden, collecting honey from the bee hives); or going to the Beach. We went to Hilton Head (when we lived in Georgia) and the Gulf (when we lived in Alabama). Every summer. Sometimes more than one trip.

My husband is a good Wisconsin boy, so his summers included bug bites, tube socks and playing in neighboring creeks. His family owns land in a small town in central Wisconsin, so that's where we go for summer. Sometimes I miss the beach of my childhood, and I regret that I have not so far shared the ritual with my three babies. But we have (free) access to the land in Wisconsin. We tube the Pine River, we walk up to the "cafe" at the corner of Highway A and Highway W for local flavor. We cook. We go to Fish Fry (please, please educate yourself on a Fish Fry....it's so hilariously culturally Midwestern/ Wi-SCAN-sonian...I had never heard of such a thing until I met Husby, and among those folks it's as common and normal as going out for pizza...they even compare 'who has a good Fish Fry'). We pick berries, bring carrots to the neighbor's horses (they -- the neighbors that is -- don't speak much, being good Midwesterners), nap in the tree house, amble off to the Covered Bridge, listen to the rain fall, build campfires, singing, laughing, and drinking brandy manhattans all night. We visit Fleet Farm, marveling that we could acquire a fishing license, a aluminum retractable awning, and Farm Life udder antibiotics under one roof. We could walk into any Wisconsin McDonald's and order 'two brat', but the fact is we'll ony walk into Culver's for our fast food fix. Even my food-snob clean-freak mother LOVES her some Culver's, which she encountered when she and Dad visited the Wisconsin land with us one summer.

I leave you with a link to more about small-town life in the great state of Wisconsin, with credit to its webmaster:
http://www.bratwurstpages.com/smalltown.html

and a view of what I'll be seeing for the next few weeks:

A to Z

Oh, sorry for my bad temper in the last week. Or so. Obviously, Papa and I talked a bit. And it's better. A bit. Smoothed over.

Enough about that. It's Friday. I am taking the kids to the pool this morning and for lunch. Laundry is being completed. The children have a sitter, and we have dinner plans tonight with an interesting couple (he's Dutch, she's Brazilian) who live in a very cool area of this town. And I have a new cute top to wear, and a new sparkly bracelet from The Mothership aka J. Crew.

Onward!

I read this meme on other blogs, and awayyyy we go:

A. Attached or Single? Attached
B. Best Friend? Chrissy. The bestest. The smartest and most real person I know. And I adore her awesome family.
C. Cake or pie? Mmmmm.....cake. But only perfect, good homemade cake, and not too much sugar, esp in the frosting. Blergh.
D. Day of choice? Friday. So much promise.
E. Essential item? uhhh, toothpaste? I've learned to live without quite a lot.
F. Favorite color? Green. And yellow. And soft blues and coral.
G. Gummy bears or worms? Neither. See 'sugar'. Eck.
H. Home town? Atlanta
I. Favorite indulgence? Pizza. Cookies with nuts.
J. January or July? Hmmm, January in the Southwest is LUHV-EH-LYYY.
K. Kids? Oh, yes.
L. Life isn't complete without? Your relationships, and the ones you love. Including yourself.
M.. Marriage date? April 24
N. Number of brothers and sisters? Two little brothers.
O. Oranges or Apples? Love them both.
P. Phobias? Ohhhh, so many. Flying's right up there.
Q. Quotes? Mmmm, am I quotable?
R. Reasons to smile? My family of course. My new furniture from the brilliant and lovely Kellogg Collection, my 6 year old son swimming the length of the pool, my baby's tummy, my other son's great affection and charisma and furry head of blond hair.
S. Season? Spring because everything is new and warm. Summer because we don't have as many commitments and we can be lazier. Fall because the air is crisp. Winter because I get things accomplished...especially after Christmas is done.
T. Tag 5 people: I don't do that.
U. Unknown fact about me? I was an Azalea Trail Maid. I swear. I was yellow, and I have to say it was a perfect color for me.
V. Vegetable? I love vegetables. My boys even eat kale.
W. Worst habit? Letting my temper get the better of me.
X. Xray or Ultrasound? U-sound. Less radiation, right?
Y. Your favorite food? Ohhhh, I can't even begin. Anything beautifully grown, thoughtfully and carefully prepared. My grandmother's cooking.
Z. Zodiac sign? Virgo. I am ever so Virgo.

Have a great weekend.

M.M. Hearts C.R.

I love you, Charlie Rose. I love you because you're sincere, interested, interesting, conscientious, and you try really really hard. You care. You have a work ethic, clearly. I love that when I watch you on my local PBS station, like now, I am sipping green tea and each and every one of my children is in a bed, napping or reading quietly.

It's so....focused and all adult around here.

We went swimming and ate lunch at the pool this morning. They're all dry and warm and cozy in their beds now. They had to clean up their playroom before rest. So, not only am I enjoying the green tea and Mr. Rose, I am enjoying his show in the calm of an ordered living space. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!. He's interviewing Big Brown pre-Belmont because apparently we get a lame delay out here in the Southwest....so....it's all sort of boring and overrated at this point.

By the way, those owners of Big Brown? Schiesty. Shifty. That young lady who was all front and center after the horse's Kentucky Derby win, in her black dress, chomping and smacking her gum, thinking she just the cutest hottest little thing ever? Oh honey. No. Spit out that gum, close your mouth, and focus on the person who is speaking to the camera.

Anyway....

I went shopping yesterday. I spent an monthly summer electric bill at J. Crew. But this two-piece? Adorable. I love it. And by some miracle I don't look terrible in it. Yay, I wore it, in navy, today with the three kiddies in tow at the pool. Loved it. Still looked good on the way home. That, darlings, is as successful as bathing suit shopping gets.

Who Am I?

Love this post. Here goes....

So me:

So not me:

So me:

SOOO not me:

So me:

So not me:

So me:

So not me:

So me:

So not me:

So me:

So not me!

Above all, to thine own self be true. That's what I love best; that is "SO ME". People who know who they are, what they prefer, and live authentically. Even if, yes all right, if they love those furry weird modern chairs.

Summertime.....and the Living Is Easy

Summer Is Here. Ahhhhh.......we hang around in our PJs, we accomplish the little things, the gas tank is still full, we swim, we lie in the sun drying off and warming up like lizards. The early days of summer are proof that dreams come true.

It has to be said on this blog, that God is good. I rarely pray for specifics. I try to be mature (sigh) in my prayers. Thankful. Trusting. I pray for wisdom and strength. I pray for protection for my family. I pray for peace in their hearts. But I prayed so hard and so true to God for our sweet baby when she was enduring the rash of unknown cause. I specifically asked God, word by word, for her not to have a dreaded infection, for it not to be MRSA, which every symptom was pointing toward. I prayed the way Father Hesburgh at Notre Dame taught us: "Come, Holy Spirit", because that prayer is an invitation for miracles. It truly is. And, out of absolutely nowhere, her rash disappeared. I randomly threw away our Aveda clove conditioner, which we never buy and just decided to try, which was still 1/3 full. I don't know if that was the cause, but it was inspired. And I am so deeply grateful. We are blessed. And if I don't tell that story, it's like hiding the light under the bushel.

Now, back to my regular ol' life. We have spent this summer swimming, walking the trails in the foothills around our house, at the library. I don't mind having the children around. Ha, ask me again in August. Yes, they talk non-stop, and patience wears thin throughout the day. One of my favorite things about summer is swimming, wearing ourselves out in the water and the sun, snacking on grapes or the short sweet season of cherries so ripe they pop. When my mom was little, she says she used to hang the 'double-cherry' from her ear, pretending to be Carmen Miranda.

The children and I will be spending two weeks in central Wisconsin, berry picking, playing in the rivers, fishing, walking to the covered bridge, and sleeping late(r). We're visiting Notre Dame for a long weekend. Midwest in the summer is sweet, so charming, and smells like grass and blowsy, bloomy summer flower gardens. We'll spend two more weeks in Atlanta with my family, and we'll cap off our travels in Santa Monica on the beach.

Baby Girl is still sleeping, stretching out, enjoying no one coming to grab her for the morning carpool, letting her legs and body grow. I am so thankful for the three of them, and to their guardian angels, and to all the goodness in life that keeps us whole and hopeful.

Rubble

I am here. I am...here....

In previous posts I mentioned a whirlwind of social activities being hosted by us Musing Folks. The birthday parties and wine tastings and pig roasts ( a truly wonderful cochon du lait, for all you Gulf Coasters) were fun and exciting. My favorite time was Baby Girl's Big Pig Roast. I baked her an enormous strawberry shortcake. Well, the cake part, anyway. Yes, of course, I used Bisquick! We had good friends, a bar, a smarmy bartender, the fantastic cochon.

My parents were in town, as well as Husby's mother and 96 year old grandmother. It was a very special weekend.

In the midst of all this social madness, we also have end of year and end of season parties and 'lasts'. Last t-ball game, Spring Sing-Along for preschool boy, Game Day at preschool, May Crowning, Mother's Day, last day of soccer until next Fall, and suddenly another whirlwind of Kindergarten parties, birthday and otherwise. Their 'graduation' is this week. I promise I will likely cry.

And most irksome and troublesome of all was our precious Baby Girl getting a small, weird rash on her back. She has no fever. She does not seem to even notice it. We had the rash cultured for the antibiotic resistant staph, which by the way lives on any surface anywhere, sometimes for months (I can hardly even write that....I literally did not sleep for the three days it took to get back the results). The culture came back negative for any bacteria, including MRSA. And here we are. She'll get a new little spot or two about twice per week. I am at a loss. I would love for a doctor to get to the bottom of its cause. I have been praying for her. I think I am taking her to a pediatric dermatologist next. She has seen her doc and a nurse practitioner. They think it might just go away. And it doesn't appear bacterial. And no one else has anything like it in our house.

This is K-Boy's last week of school...and then summer! I just want to hang out with my children near our house. We'll go to the pool, the library and occasionally the store. That's it. Living in this hot, hot, HOT place, the children and I will escape for almost 6 weeks this year. Of course Husby can't do something like that , but we are very much looking forward to our travels. We'll go to visit family and spending time and visiting fun places throughout the Midwest and South. As a thank-you to my in-laws for letting us live in their cabin in central Wisconsin for a couple weeks, we thought we'd go berry-picking and make them jam for their place. They entertain a lot up there, and they could use it or give it to friends as a memory of the place. I am no Yankee, but I must admit that there is something so perfect about the Midwest in the summer. We go for long walks, tube in the Pine River, read on the porch, grill, sit around the bonfire singing, talking, drinking late, late into the night.

Given my bitterness over the last 'business' trip Husby took, and the fact that another fun customer event is this summer on the beach in Southern Cal, we have decided to suck up the extra hotel room and all join him. I'll be with the kiddies for a good part of it, and I am really looking forward to being on the Pacific. My two boys will love it. I would consider the great and powerful Disneyland with them -- even on my own on a day Husby has meetings with customers -- but the challenge is the 3 year old wants to ride EVERYTHING and the 6 year old is more cautious. Anything can change in a couple months, so we'll play that one by ear as we get closer. As it is, my best friend and her family live in LA so we'll certainly see them, catch up a bit, and hopefully hit their fave Mexican place, Carmen's, for supper one night.

On this Memorial Day, I'll say thank you to both my dad and one of my brothers who served our country faithfully and proudly in the USAF. Thanks, men! We are better because of you.