F is for still Figuring it out

F is for still Figuring it out

When I was trying to think about what I was going to write for “F” day, my mind was blank except for “Fun” and another word I don't think I'll mention here that rhymes with duck. Although, I do remember asking one of my older sister's friends what the unmentionable word meant and why it was bad to say. However, I didn't think that was a subject I wanted to go into here. “Fun” was such a broad topic, I couldn't seem to narrow that down enough to write a cohesive post about it.

Next I called in my son and asked if he would brainstorm with me a little. He was full of ideas for the letter “F”. However my mistake was starting the conversation before I had something to write with. Here's some of the things I managed to write down that he suggested.

Fireworks: good. I have some decent pictures I took of them last summer. I could use the story about my 18 month old nephew saying, “Bubbles boom.” when he saw them. Maybe.

Fried food: that always tastes good, but don't know if I can expand it into a new post unless I cook something with a recipe. Not gonna happen in time.

Friends: maybe, use the standard theme of new friends in blog land

Firsts: a possibility but the topic is so broad I'm drawing a blank

Forgetting and do a corollary post for “R” on remembering: Got plenty of forgetting examples for this

Fans—I could tell about the fights with my sister over the fan in the room we shared. Don't know if she would like that because I, of course, would be the one who came out looking good.

Furniture: I got nothing

Formaldehyde and dissecting stories: I could tell about the biology teacher who would take a snake out of formaldehyde and throw it at us to make us not afraid of snakes. Not sure that worked.

Fungus: why does fungus sound gross while mushrooms sounds gourmet

Flatscreen TV: I got nothing

.

Floors: already posted about our new floors

Fiber: not sure that's where I want to go here

Fluorescent lights: maybe. I have a few opinions about them.

So there you have it. My undeveloped ideas for "F". When I showed a draft of this post to my son, he said that it was awfully early in the alphabet to do a post like this and maybe I could do one about Fingerprints. Well, it's time to move onto the next letter, so I have to go with what I've got. If I'm really lucky, I'll have another “brainstorming” session with him, and convince him that he needs to write the next post. :)

E is for Everyday Beauty

Sunrise out my kitchen window. 

I think I'm like most people in that I get involved in the details of my everyday life and forget to notice and be thankful for what surrounds me. This was never made more evident to me than a few years ago.

It was early morning and I was standing with several other parents waiting for everyone to show up for a Boy Scout camping trip. I was not in a good mood. The boys, who we could barely wake up a short time ago, were running around pestering each other. It was early enough that it was still dark out and it was cold. I was grumbling to another mom about how cold and sleepy I was when another dad, Tom, joined our conversation. I made some comment about the weather and he responded. "Isn't the cold invigorating. And look at the sky, the sun is rising. It's another day and I always think, 'How beautiful. God has created another beautiful day and he is actually letting me be a part of it."" Wow. That woke me up. Both literally and figuratively.

Since them, I try to remember that morning and what Tom said. I am lucky that I get to be a part of another day. It is easier to do that when I am witnessing a beautiful vista on a warm spring afternoon, but I also try to remember it on the mornings when I've had to get up sooner than I want and it is yet another cold, rainy morning. And since everything reminds me of a song...

For the beauty of the earth; (first two verses)

For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the skies,

For the love which from our birth over and around us lies:

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our joyful hymn of praise.

For the beauty of each hour 

of the day and of the night, 

Hill and vale and tree and flower, 

Sun and moon and stars of light: 

Lord of all, to thee we raise 

this our joyful hymn of praise.

Words: Fol­li­ot S. Pier­point, in Lyra Eu­cha­rist­ica, by Or­by Ship­ley, se­cond edi­tion, 1864.

Music: Dix, Con­rad Koch­er, 1838

Thankful Sunday--April 5, 2015

I am thankful for the A-Z Blogging Challenge.

I had gotten into a blogging slump where it was easy to be distracted by other things and not have much energy left for composing posts. But the thing is, composing posts got the ole creative juices flowing and gave me energy. This challenge has helped me focus and organize my time, so I am back to blogging. And for that I am thankful.

(I am finding it a bit of a challenge to figure out a topic for every letter, but four down and only 22 more to go. Wish me luck.)

D is for Delivery Day

When you mention the subject of pregnancy or birth to any woman who has had kids, she is happy to share her story. This true whether she's had nineteen kids or one, or if it happened last year or seventy years ago. I'm no different. Today, I'm going to share the my delivery day story for my first child, Wally. (But don't worry. This is really a story about getting to the hospital rather than the details of the actual delivery.)

23 hours after it all started, Wally was delivered.

Picture it. It was 5 AM on a warm April day in New Orleans. I had just gotten up to go to the bathroom (again) and I seemed to keep peeing even though I was trying not to. Hmm. Maybe my water just broke, but I wasn't sure. My due date was three weeks away and I didn't seem to have any other signs of labor. I woke up my husband, Ward, and we discussed what to do. We were not sure, but decided rather than bother anyone at that early hour, we'd just show up at the doctor's office when it opened and get the doctor's opinion.

However, a funny thing happened on the way to the doctor's office. It was the day of the Crescent City Classic--a large race that had many of the streets blocked including the one that we needed to cross to get to the doctor's office. So we sat in the car, with me looking hugely pregnant, and listened to a police officer tell us that he couldn't let us cross even if I were having a baby. What to do next?

Ward decided to try to figure out a back way to the hospital. I had a breastfeeding class scheduled for there in a couple of hours anyway. We finally made it to the class and at the end, I told one of the instructors that I thought my water had broken that morning. She got excited and told me to go to the maternity ward.

I was admitted but still nothing more than random contractions. The doctor showed up about an hour later. He said he was very glad we called, because he was in the middle of his son's cello recital and was happy to leave. Because of risk of infection, the baby needed to come today so labor was induced. And then the fun began...

I realize that this story is probably of not much interest to anyone but me, but I had a very hard time thinking of anything to write about for the letter D.

C is for Crocuses

Crocuses are the stars of this week's Second Look. They are popping up everywhere with their bright colors and now I actually believe that spring is here. Besides crocuses, I'm also seeing more bird activity along with some fresh digging around the groundhog holes. It's just not me. I think all of God's creatures are enjoying the warming of spring.

Here are a few things I saw this week

 during a Second Look.

Crocus

Crocus

Crocus

Crocus

These sparrows have been flitting around together and checking out this box for a place to build a nest. However, unfortunately for them, I'm going to relocate them to give the bluebirds a chance here.

Usually, finches are present all winter at feeders. However, this winter they have been largely absent from ours. However, this week saw their return.

The snowdrops continue to bloom.

It's hard to see, but this is the first critter hole that we've seen fresh digging at this spring.