back in the saddle!

Hurray for the geek squad! Turns out that there was a bad memory stick on the computer, and it is now replaced and the computer upgraded with more memory. If only my brain could be so easily tweaked!

The week has been a hodge-podge of activity, but the main news to share (and some of you already know through other means) is that we're going to be grandparents! When we went to Pikeville for Travis' graduation we were gifted with a framed image of Ashley's ultrasound (see accompanying scan!). We won't know the sex until birth, and I'm already discovering that it's not always easy to find baby things in gender-neutral colors (yes, I've started looking). Due date is late November. They are very excited, as are we, but just wish that they now weren't so far away. It is easier to get to Savannah from here than Texas!

A busy day lies ahead, so I'm off to tend to my details. Glad to be back among the blogging!

argh*$&^^(@*$&^#%

More computer woes. I can now do nothing on my computer, so it's time for the geek squad. This message comes to you from Ken's computer, but blogging from here is a short term solution, and I don't have my pictures! Just wanted to let you know that I was out of comission for a little while. Sigh.

celebrations

I spent half of my fiftieth birthday on the road driving home from Pikeville, KY (home of the Hatfields and the McCoys!), where we were for Travis' graduation. That event dictated our itinerary last week, so in lieu of being able to be together on the actual day, we celebrated with mom and our friends Jimmy and Barbara a little early. In true Mom style, she had made a poster to celebrate the occasion, but this time added a little twist. She collected 50 dimes, one from each year since my birth, and with Barbara's help fashioned them into a "50" in the center of the poster. Beginning in 1957, they progress chronologically from the top of the five. Cool, huh? That's an idea worth stealing! We had a wonderful celebration that evening with lovely scenery, good food, great company and lots of fun.

My actual birthday began with the best possible gift: a call from Junior from somewhere "over there" to wish me a happy Mother's Day and a happy birthday. We were able to talk for several minutes--longer than usual for such calls, and though he can't ever say anything about what he's up to, we were able to talk about other things. In the evening we had dinner out at a surprise gathering with some friends at a favorite local Mexican restaurant--a special evening to cap the day. All in all, a nice round of festitivies to mark the landmark occasion.

We tried to get a picture with the dogs as part of a "this is what Anne looked like when she turned 50" scheme for a small scrapbook, but it's a challenge to get their mutual, simultaneous cooperation. This is the best we could manage--not too bad considering the challenges! Now it's back to the grind and life as usual, with warm memories and five full decades under my belt...

we're baaaaaaaacccckkk!

...and way behind being in touch, since my computer erroneously got left behind on our trip! Fortunately I was able to use the computer of our good friends in Augusta to check email a few times while we were gone, which helped to save my sanity. And thank goodness for that, since I learned that a former parishioner and very good friend died suddenly the night before we left for Melrose. Sadly, her memorial service was the same day as Travis' graduation so I wasn't able to be there, but I was at least able to speak to her family and be in touch. I am still in shock that she is gone.

We had a good week and great weather (not too hot!), but as always these days when visits are squeezed between other commitments on the calendar, it was too short. Ken knocked off the items on his constantly growing "honey do" list with quick dispatch, while our good friend Barbara and I joined Mom in an overhaul of the china "cupboard" (there are no kitchen cabinets for such storage, so this is home to much of what we use!). We removed every item for a thorough washing, necessary purging, cupboard cleaning and reorganizing. See photo for the end result! Your eyes are not playing tricks on you--those shelves are slanted! This side of the house (over 100 years old) has settled over time, and so has one wall of the cupboard.

Once again I didn't get any reading done, but I did get to spend some time doing another of my favorite leisure activities--the NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle! And, in the "hope springs eternal" department, a stop at Borders Books added to the stack of unread books that await my attention.

I'll detail other events in future posts to keep this one from dragging on. In the meantime it's nice to be home and back in touch.

where does the time go?

Hard to believe it's Saturday already. We had our second annual Cinco de Mayo party last night, on the eve of the day because I have a church event this afternoon that made an entertaining schedule a bit difficult. Sadly, no pictures, since our set up was a bit different and the evening evolved a bit differently as a result. So, repeats from last year!

The food was great, with a few substitutions just for a change of pace. On the menu: queso fundido (and no, there was no Velveeta in sight!), tacquitos, chips with guacamole, citrus salsa or tomato salsa, almond chicken mole, fish tacos, corn and black bean salad, and Mexican rice. Everything was from scratch (except the tortillas, we didn't make those), and though it took the whole day to cook, it was worth it.

This morning after furniture gets put back to usual locations, we'll start packing up for our upcoming trip. After church tomorrow we leave for Melrose, then on Saturday we drive to Pikeville, KY, for Travis' graduation from medical school. He will receive his DO, doctor of osteopathy, and then he and Ashley head back to Savannah to pack up for a year in El Paso, TX, followed by three years in San Antonio. Lots of change for them!

We're looking forward to a week's break--Ken especially, who has been working so hard--and time with Mom, who is already there. I'll post from there. In the meantime, have a good weekend!

the merry month of may

I love May. In southern New England, place of my birth and raising, it is the month of dogwood and azaela's, with hints of mountain laurel and rhododendron showing promise. The world is freshly green and blue skies penetrate branches bursting with new leaves and the fragrance of potential. It heralds the approaching end of the school year, daylight stretches longer still, and an air of festivity is palpable. It is the May that lingers in my memory.

May is also my birth month, so it is worthy of honor for that reason as well (at least in my book!). This year, that anniversary will cross the threshold of fifty, an occasion that seems as much incomprehensible as inevitable. Where have the years gone? And where will the next succession of them take me? Although I have always known that we have the capacity--if not the obligation--to chart our own course, I am more aware than ever that I have done myself a disservice by not spending enough time with that chart. Too many intentions and wishes have slipped by to do things I wanted to do, and too many decisions were deferred until it was too late to take sufficient action.

On the brink of a new decade, I feel poised to take some corrective action. As seems to happen as we age, I am more willing to let go of things, as well as ideas. The space created in my home and in my mind is open to entertain new ideas, and to respond to new opportunities (and yes, in some cases to accommodate old "stuff"). It is a time of expansiveness and dreaming that wasn't possible earlier in my life, and for which I am grateful. The big five-oh isn't a frightening benchmark but a springboard for what lies ahead.

As the saying goes, bring it on!