Inspiration

Love this quote that I recently saw in a store window...

"fill your paper with the breathings

of your own heart"

-William Wordsworth

Favorite Gift

Sometime in the past month or so, a friend asked me what my favorite gift has been.  

Now that takes a lot of thought.   I have received beautiful gifts of jewelry from my husband.   He gave me a first edition of "Margaret's Story", a Eugenia Price book that I love.   Santa gave me my beautiful dolls when I was a child.   My parents gave me a set of luggage when I finished high school.    One year in high school I got a stereo record player and spent most of Christmas day in my room listening to "Bread" albums.  Those are all gifts that I remember being special (they must be; most days I can't remember what I had for lunch the day before!)

Then I remembered a birthday gift I received from my mom a few years ago...my grandmother's Bible.

My grandmother was a tremendous woman of faith.   She raised eight children.   She was married to a farmer who grew tobacco and took it into town to sell.   They had a garden to grow a lot of their food.  She didn't have a lot of material things but she knew God personally, attended church faithfully, and lived her belief each day.    A few years after my grandmother died, my mom had that Bible rebound and gave it to me with a note that said "she thought Grandma would want me to have it".

I cherish that Bible, thinking of my grandmother reading it each day.   The greater gift, however, is knowing those values were passed along to me.   I grew up in the church with loving, Christian parents and an extended church family that was always there for me.   I grew up with that love, and I think the gift I hope to leave behind is that same love passed along to my children and grandchildren.    Maybe even my Bible....



 

 

Unexpected Blessings....

When we wrote the first check for Tyler to go to the University of Central Florida in 2003, we were thankful that he had survived the high school years....and was accepted to a college that he was really excited about.   And...we were going to be EMPTY NESTERS!  It was a new chapter in his life as well as ours.

Tyler was surprised that I didn't cry when we dropped him off.   Really?  I had not had a full night sleep since he got his driver's license.   I was READY for this new season of life.    A couple of weeks after he started his classes, he messaged me (on AOL - this was a while ago!)   Just a "hey mom - how's it going".  I told him everything was going well.  He asked me what I was cooking for dinner.   I told him spaghetti.    He said "I miss how our house smells..."    

OK...that started the flood of tears.   Probably all the emotions that I had bottled up over the past three months of graduation/summer/college entry.   The tears only lasted a few days....(but...just FYI...I was sleeping well at night....I couldn't hear the sirens in Orlando)

I made frequent visits to Orlando.  Sometimes just for the day to stock the freezer with comfort food (spaghetti sauce, enchiladas, meatballs...)    We went to a football game with him.  I began to meet Tyler's college friends.   Then he got involved with the UCF Crew Team.   Great bunch on athletes.   Incredible group of friends for him.

They say that when you go to a big college (this one was over 40,000 students) you have to find a way to make it small.   Some students join a sorority/fraternity.   Tyler joined the crew team.   They were his small group...and his family.    We attended weekend events.   They rowed in Jacksonville and spent the night on air mattresses in our house.   We bought bananas and other snacks and took them to races.   We traveled to beautiful venues like Rollins and Oak Ridge. 

But most of all....we got to know this team.   We met the people on his boat.   We cheered the victories and mourned the defeats.   We met the families.   Actually...we became family.

These "kids" have all graduated now.   They are all successful in their chosen fields.   Our unexpected blessing is that they all consider us family.  They are in each other's weddings.   We've been invited to graduations...celebrations...weddings.   What an amazing gift.   We've traveled around to embrace these celebrations...and look forward to more to come.

We are so thankful for these friendships.   God is good...all the time!

Family Vacation

When I was a child, every summer we would take a trip to Virginia to visit our grandparents there.   It was a wonderful time, playing with cousins, gathering eggs, fresh veggies from the garden, playing out in the "wash house" that Granny had stocked with toys and games, sleepovers with my cousin, Sara, who lived just down the road...

Now we've come full circle, so as adults we look forward to more family vacations.  Most of our family lives away from here so it is a perfect opportunity to travel.

We took advantage of that a few weeks ago and planned a road trip - visiting all of the grandchildren plus a stopover to see my parents.  

Our retirement "rule" is that we won't drive more than 6-7 hours a day.  Hey - we're retired - we don't have to kill ourselves to get somewhere.   So we drove just past Atlanta the first day - stopping in Cartersville for the night.   The next morning we just had a short day to get to Nashville to visit Dan, Tanya and family.

 

We arrived just after lunch to a warm welcome.  We hadn't seen their home since last August when they moved in so it was fun to see all the changes they had made.  We spent three days playing with the kids, enjoying meals together, hearing stories about their school and new friends.   Nashville is a great town and they are making the best of all the opportunities there.   We spent lots of time outside and had really good weather.   Tanya and I got some time away on Saturday and the guys spent time with the kids. It was perfect!

From Nashville we headed to Huntington to visit with my parents.   We got their computer system up and running (prior system crashed) so they are back in business with email, etc.   Mom and I worked at the hospital gift shop one morning and some of my friends from the College stopped by to visit me there.   We ate at Stewart's Hot Dogs, Jim's Spaghetti House, and Tutor's Biscuits (pretty much my must-have food when I go home).    Lots of time spent on the porch just chatting.    Always good to check in with my parents and see how they are doing.

Final leg of our journey was to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania to visit Michelle, Brian, Joel and Adam.   Joel had just finished kindergarten a couple of days earlier so the boys were home and ready to spend some time with Nana and PaPa.   Bloomsburg is a very small town, but they have quite a few kid-friendly activities so we made the best of our time there.   We went to a playground, bounce house place, Joel's baseball game, and an amusement park - plus family dinners at their house in the evening.  The boys are growing up so fast!   Michelle and I even had a spa day while PaPa babysat.

Two more days "on the road" and we were back at home in Florida.  It was a perfect vacation that we will have to make into an annual visit.    Now I need time to rest my body from playing soccer and showing off my gymnastic skills with the grandchildren.   Maybe "Nana" should stick with baking.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Springtime Makes Me Smile.....

I feel very blessed to live in Florida.   I love that our warm weather begins earlier than the rest of the country and that everything begins blooming in early spring.    The warmth of the sun on my shoulders when I'm outside energizes me!

Every sense comes alive during this season.   The smell of freshly mowed grass....flowers blooming....someone starting a grill... Confederate jasmine...sunscreen.    The sounds of children playing outside or splashing in the pool, birds singing sweetly.  The sight of early morning sunshine coming in the window and the herbs and flowers thriving in the perfect weather.    The taste of fresh corn and tomatoes and strawberries from the farmers market.  

I know there are hot and humid days around the corner and there will be pollen on the cars and we will have summer thunderstorms....but I still can't imagine living anyplace better.

Final Day in Dublin

Arriving back in Dublin reminded us that we would soon be on our way home.    We made a visit to Trinity College to see "The Book of Kells" and to the National Museum.   Our afternoon was free, so we went to Christ Church and later met Terry and Kaye at a Pub/Restaurant called "The Bank" for drinks and snacks before dinner.

 

 

Here are some random observations I made while visiting Ireland:

 

This is a thorny plant called "Gorse".  It only flowers once a year, and only for two or three weeks.   It was in full bloom during our visit and there were fields of it everywhere!

 

 

 

There could be another potato famine in Ireland.   Seriously.   When they serve dinner, it comes with two kinds of potatoes (usually mashed potatoes and steak fries).    I guess technically that is two vegetables....

 

I wish I had taken photos of all of the hair dryers at the different places we stayed.   The bathrooms there only have one outlet, and it is designed to plug in electric razors.   The hair dryers were either built-in units that looked like the old ones that used to have a bonnet attached (minus the bonnet) - or they were fastened into one of the drawers in the bedroom so you had to stand right there and dry your hair.  

 

 

The Irish have a different sense of humor....

 

 

 



This is a group of friends that I will never forget!

 

 

Marcus is so knowledgeable about St. Patrick, Celtic spirituality, Ireland.... my husband said that trying to absorb all he shared with us is like trying to drink from a fire hose!   Thank you Marcus for making this an amazing journey.    We're ready for Sicily in 2015....

 

 



Glendalough

We have three days in Glendalough.   This place is magical.   It's a small town nestled in the mountains with rich history and charm.   Our first day begins at the Visitor's Center, followed by a guided walk to St. Kevin's Monastic City with  St. Kevin's Church, Kevin's Well, the Round Tower and St. Mary's Church (The Women's Church).  On Thursday, the women pilgrims hosted a Eucharist at St. Mary's Church for the entire group - such a special, touching service.

 

Our journey on Wednesday took us on a Pilgrimage walk to St. Kevin's Desert.  We visited St. Kevin's Cell (the place where St. Kevin lived as a hermit) and Poulanass Waterfall.  The Upper Lake was breathtaking.

  

 

We had a lot of free time to explore.   We walked to Laragh via the Green Road to have lunch and stopped at some shops there.    We made three wishes at the cross in the Monastic City.    As we prepare to leave Glendalough, we realize that our time in Ireland is coming to an end.

 

Following dinner on Thursday, we were treated to a private concert of traditional Irish music with Claire Roche who is one of Ireland's premier harpists and singer/songwriters.  And she used to live in Mandarin!