Serenity & Sensation

Part of my evening trip tonight was all about peace and serenity. . .that would be the part that included my 3 mile walking route down the beach. Follow along.


Trying out the water for the first time as I began my walk.


Um. Everyone else is doing it (taking pictures of phragmites). . . isn't it purty?


I don't know if certain friends get as excited over dead fish as ice-sculpture fish, but this one sure was cool.



Waiting patiently to get out in the water.


Nature is so incredible.


Cool shadows on my return trip.


Sitting on the beach as the sun set.

The other part - pure sensation. And fun. And CHALLENGE. I set a new record.

I've held the record (and was the inital "setter") since I "went in" on April 18th two years ago. My parents captured the moment then.

Today, I was by myself, so I called my sister & her family to get verbal support (and give verbal proof). Then I set my 10 second timer on my camera. Over and over. The Saginaw Bay on March 26th? No problem.






I thought I'd have to run out quick and get dressed. However, given the shallow water (I had to lay down to get wet), it was warmer than I expected, so I sat in the water for about 15 minutes just enjoying it. I think Gina thought I was crazy, but I was just happy. . .




I also checked on my sisters' cottage and took some more pics - these are my favorite:





I hope you all get to sit in some water at a deserted beach soon.

Coming Out...

I had a coming out party for my chiminea on saturday. I was so happy to see it sitting in it's proper place on my deck again after the cold winter.




The s'mores were good.





Gizmo is thrilled to be able to look out at it too.

"It smells like girls in here"

Yep. Amy and I went out on the town tonight.

One of our stops was at the paper. Talking about stories. Giving story suggestions. Making a short photo tour (generally the photo tour takes place around town, but on this occasion we just stopped downstairs).

Obviously the effort we made to go out tonight was noticed, based on the title comment. (Good or bad? We won't make that call.)


Either way, maybe that's a problem, that we don't usually remind people that we're female.

Hmmm.

Right now, we reek of cigarette stench.

In the future, though, beware of strong-smelling lotions and potions.

School's almost out. . .for some of us.

Every day I tell Michelle that I don't think she's going to make it the next day. One of these days I'll be right.

It's a very scary prospect, though, not having her here for those 6 weeks.

Dan has pretty free rein in talking to Michelle about "dropping" and other pregnancy terms, given the fact that he's spent the last 8 weeks in the NICU with his new son.



Michelle's not too keen on pictures at the moment, but eventually she gave in and hammed it up at the copy machine.


While Michelle's at home, we'll be surviving here at school with our "fearless leader." He doesn't seem too daunted at the prospect.


I'll miss Michelle.

One of "those" days.

Ever have one?

The days where everything goes wrong. Everything is depressing, frustrating, etc.? Yep. I'm having one. Maybe it's an accumulation of the stresses of the last few weeks, but I'm having trouble explaining it to myself, and I don't like that.

The up-side: Amy and I are sitting here at our favorite coffee shop laughing about it as I keep discovering more things (like missing a deadline) that have gone wrong for me today.

Oh. Another good thing - my neighbor found my cell phone today. Haven't had a chance to talk with him to find out where/how he found it, but I have it back. That's good.

On that note, let me share a lesson for the day, which is a definite positive, if you choose to let it be.

While out walking, Amy and I came upon a bunch of papers blowing across a trail. Unbelievably, it took us about 10 seconds and me saying "should we pick that up?" before we stopped and picked it up.

A bit later when we were walking on a sidewalk, I looked down and noticed that I stepped directly on a piece of paper. . .then took two more steps before I stopped and said, "This is ridiculous. If I can look down and purposely stomp on that piece of litter, I can certainly also pick it up and clean it up, even if I didn't leave it there."

Why is it even a question whether people (or "I"!) will stop to clean something up?

Let's all do our part. It's not about whose job it is. Or who started it. Or what kind of day we're having.

We always have a chance to make the world a better place. Let's make it one of "those" days.

Check out this shirt, modeled by Sean: great message!


A picture of the flooding during our walk:

Birthdays. . .

are mixed blessings. . .

On one hand, they bring opportunities for time with friends, a reason to celebrate, and great sweets (uhhh, maybe even too many sweets). Check out my cake at school (with Michelle trying to hide behind it. . .)




On the other hand, they're like a second New Year. . .a time where you're almost forced to revisit where you are in life, and ponder whether you're where you thought you would be back when you thought about this particular age.

Where did I think I'd be at 34? I'm not sure exactly, but I know there are some aspects of my life that aren't where I thought they would be. For instance, the "single" part. . .given the fact that I thought 26 was the perfect age to get married, I'd say I'm pretty well behind on the marriage-and-kids scale. Not making AYP in that category (that's "adequate yearly progress" for those of you not up on your school lingo).

But really. . .It's my real path, not my "ideal" path. Evidently marriage at 26 and first kid before 30 (to reduce the risk of breast cancer, you know) wasn't in my cards. Big deal.

Lots of thoughts about my career and life purpose lately too. . .and what I'm going to be "when I grow up." Yep, I haven't changed much since that call to Dr. Reid back when I was 17. . ."when I grow up I want to be. . ." - it's still OK to say it.

Maybe that's what 34 is all about:

recognizing where I am.

and recognizing (more clearly than ever) what my true goals and values are, without limiting them to specifics situations that I can't yet see.

Hmmm.

Deep thoughts by Lou. At 34.

March Madness

There's more to march madness than just high school and college ball. We had good family times as we watched Tyler's 7th grade club team saturday.



Did'ya know that Peyton likes 7th grade bball??


Aunt Kay, want a snack?


Doesn't matter if you're sick. If you're not playing ball, you have to play "favorite-cousin-tyler."

Dancing frenzy. . .

This weekend I danced a lot. And it was good. Two very different nights, two great nights.

Friday night, Amy, Amber, Kay and I went to Diamondbacks. After the tough week, it was a beautiful thing to two-step until I was dizzy (it happens more often when I haven't danced in a while!).


Kay's head. With the ceiling lights.



Doug in his normal post - if he's not on the floor!



Ken is probably the best male country dancer in the state. We were thrilled that he showed up. It was especially flattering that he was thrilled that we were there too.

I can't wait to go back.



Saturday night, Amy, Kay and I went to the Creative Spirit Center to watch Bryan Rombalski and Third World perform. Fantastic. Afterwards we went out with a group of cool people. There just happened to be a (tiny) dance floor there. Amy and I tore it up. . .but we were no match for Bret.

Wow. You learn something new every day. Amy and I are still in awe, I think we'll have to watch the pro again before we can show you new moves. Too bad we didn't have a camera so we can't post any pictures.

Midland's beauty. . .

After the stress of yesterday, we were treated to a gorgeous day in Midland today. It was good to be out in it.

No Comment.

What a wierd thing to say when I have so much to say.

What I will say:

Death is hard on everyone. Lots of people react without thinking things through. Lots of emotions are flying everywhere. But in the end, it's all about how we respect one another. And how we support each other through it.

Love you all. Even if I can't (really) talk to you.

~Namaste~

30? Aarrrggggghh!

Thirtieth birthday parties are so much fun. Especially when someone as brilliantly creative as Christy is planning them.

Our "Ode to Cap'n Morgan" last night found us scavenging around town to capture pirates:

Living the pirate's life,


. . .swabbing the deck,


. . .and being "mutinous"...
(for those, ahem, people who may not "get" this picture, note the Coffee Chaos coffee cup inside the Starbucks shop. . .and then look up the definition of "mutiny". . .love you!)



When we returned to the ship, we played a bit of pirate plenko. . .



and ate lots of chocolate. . .(the dark chocolate coins were my favorite, but the cake was good too!)


Good friends, good times. . .


. . .and good opportunities to review Chad's 30 years on DVD! (note that I captured Chad's reflection in the TV!)




Thanks for the excuse to be pirates, Chad. . .aka Cap'n Morgan aka "the gay pilgrim." Happy Birthday!!

Snow day escape. . .

I DO love my snow days. . .:)

This morning, however, as I watched the various tragedies on CNN at the gym, I decided to do something that would make my snow day much less enjoyable: donate blood.

Donating blood is a huge process for me, often including several days of planning. I try to eat more meat, drink more fluids, etc. You see, I passed out the first time I braved it (at 30. . .I was a chicken!) Every time since then (4.5 times - last time my blood stopped running. . . . .??), I've had a miserable time afterwards.

The actual donating is no problem, in fact, when I donated the first time I was cockily saying "that was nothing" as I ate my snacks and drank my juice. . .and then passed out. However, my body evidently doesn't like being deprived of that pint, so it makes the rest of the day miserable.

After making the decision at the gym this morning, I came home and raced through a list of tasks I wanted to get done ahead of time. One last task was stopping by Family Video and getting movies for "afterwards." I made my way to lunch with a friend, then drove to the Blood Bank at 12:45 - they're open until 1:00, so I tried to get every last minute out of the "good" morning before getting on the table.

When I entered, the nurse told me not to sign in. There were noxious fumes in the clinic from carpet glue somewhere in the vicinity. The environmental people were there discussing whether if was safe to let people donate. . . .the verdict - NO!

I was released from my self-imposed traumatic but GOOD task . . .with a whole afternoon of enjoyable free time just waiting for me. Whoo-hoo!!

So. Until another day. I will probably try again, with as much planning as possible to make it tolerable.

If you are able to donate - and especially if your body handles it well - please do. There are lots of people (like me) who struggle with it, and also many people who just can't at all. We'd love to be able to donate easily!!!

As the slogan says, It's About Life.