For Every Thing There is a Season

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

I learned this week that my friend Bob Webster is now in hospice care. Please take a moment and say a little prayer for him.

I met Bob when I first started working at West as a temporary employee, years and years ago. He has always had kind and encouraging words for me, as I struggled early on and then later when I joined his team in the federal group. I invited he and his partner, Mike, to my wedding, and he in turn invited me to a couple parties he hosted at his house. He was the first person at work I told that I was pregnant--it was the day he was hosting a wine party and I told him not to be offended if he noticed I wasn't drinking any.

Bob could be a curmudgeon, but more than anything he was passionate about theater, classic movies, politics, his Scottish heritage, his cats, restaurants, good food and wine, and the charities which were close to his heart. I learned that he's played the part of Professor Higgins in a local production of "My Fair Lady", which in my mind was perfect casting.

All of us at work who care about him are now bracing for the worst but still clinging to hope that somehow he might still pull through.

It has been a very sad week.

Long weekend!

Friday night was glorious! On the way home Anna and I stopped at a park to play and have ice cream, and then later after we met Edwin at home we all went to another park to play some more. The swings are still her favorite, but lately the teeter-totter and the slides are picking up in popularity. While with Edwin and Saskia at the park later in the weekend, I guess Anna found some very tall slides to climb and go down by herself. Yikes! Probably a good thing I wasn't there to see it (and have a heart attack!). I was told another kid tried to cut in front of Anna while going up one of the slides, but she stood her ground and gave the kid a dirty look. That's my girl!

We went biking for the first time on Sunday, around the lakes. I am so disappointed to see that the paths around Lake of the Isles still haven't been repaved. The walk path has been ripped apart for a couple years now. Hmm. I hardly ever go around that lake, anyway, but still. I loved getting out on my bike again. Anna cried when it was time to go into the trailer and wouldn't wear her helmet. She did stop crying and I let the helmet go, but will try again next time we go out. During the trip we stopped at a playground on Lake Calhoun. This was a new park for us and very nice. Anna loved it! It seemed like all the playground equipment was perfect for her and there was plenty of shade to hang out and have a snack. From there we stopped for lunch at Gigi's Cafe--delicious! I've now been there for both breakfast and lunch. It's at 36th and Bryant, just a couple blocks from Lake Calhoun. Sooner or later we'll try it for dinner as well, we're quite impressed by the number of Belgian beers they have available.

I finally finished painting all the trim in our bedroom, I'm very proud of the accomplishment. Windows are so time consuming, and we have three of them in the bedroom, as well as the door. I think it all looks so much better than before. I still need to replace some of the hardware on the windows, plus I may need to go back and paint the radiator if it's not something we can afford to replace in the near future.

Over the weekend Edwin painted the inside of the little playhouse in our backyard. The house has always been too small for Saskia to enjoy, but Anna loves it as it's the perfect size for her. I had some blue paint that I had planned to use in the downstairs bathroom, but we used it in the little house instead and it looks great. I'm feeling artsy, so my plan is to paint a sun, some clouds, maybe flowers and grass, etc. over the blue. At Settergren's hardware I noticed that they sell a lot of sample-sized paints--perfect for picking up small amounts of different colors. I also have another chair for Anna that is primed and just needs to be painted, and I might as well spend a little time fixing up the outside, too.

Saturday afternoon Saskia and I went to the movie "Bridge to Terebithia". I remembered that I'd read the book long ago, but didn't remember until the movie had started that someone died in the end. I enjoyed the movie despite it having such a sad ending. Saskia said she hadn't seen it before, but who knows. I think it was quite some time ago that it had come out in the theater, and she sees a lot of movies with her mom so I think it's quite possible that she has seen it but just didn't remember.

Otherwise, there aren't too many movies in the theater that I'm interested in seeing right now. I took a few out from the library, over the weekend I watched "Shattered Glass", about the former New Republic reporter Stephen Glass and how he completely fabricated dozens of articles until finally caught and fired. Crazy. Then later, after attending law school, had the audacity to write a book about a journalist who does what he did in real life. Right now I'm watching the Hitchcock film "The Man Who Knew Too Much" with Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day.

Anna has been so funny and sweet lately. She very much wants to be independent, to sit on her own chair (without a booster seat), put on her own shoes, brush her own teeth, etc. I encourage her as much as is reasonable for an 18 month old. She also wants to be a helper, and will pick up a broom and start sweeping, throw things in the trash, even pick up her toys from time to time. I'm so proud!

The weekend was productive and relaxing, full of activities as usual but that is life. It doesn't take much for my time to fill up, and I certainly still have plenty of tasks on my to-do list for a long time to come. It's nice that I can let some of those things slide and go biking, watch a movie, etc. here and there.

So far the plants in my window boxes and flower pots are doing just fine. Despite the rain I've been trying to water them every other day, or every two days. I have yet to plant window-box plants that have survived the summer. This time it is geraniums in the window boxes, hot-pink in color, and yellow and hot pink Rieger begonias in my pots. Supposedly all the plants are hardy strains--we'll see! Edwin even bought me a special attachment that goes at the end of the garden hose to use for watering, so the chances of the plants surviving have improved.

Lots O Pictures!!

Mostly of Anna, of course!

Here is Anna in her booster seat, "reading" and enjoying a cup of milk.


















This one's a little out of focus but I still like it.


















Anna on the pier, at the beach outside our sea cabin.


















More pictures of Anna at the beach. She loved running from the waves and digging in the sand (didn't eat any!).



When we were inside this slave cabin at Boone Plantation, Anna found the broom and got to work!


















Here we are, sharing some "Greek" fries. Anna loved them!

Details, Details

I am just getting over a cold. I've had a couple nights in a row of not sleeping well, one night due to me coughing non-stop (finally I slept on the sofa in our living room) and another night due to Anna being out-of-sorts. I suppose she now has my cold, poor girl. If we can just make it to the weekend ...

It's been a busy time, work has picked up as expected, last Thursday night was our four-year anniversary (nice dinner at home), we hosted two of Saskia's friends for a sleepover Friday night, dinner and movie plans Saturday night, and Sunday it was Anna and I alone for most of the day while Edwin drove Saskia around to her church and hip-hop dance commitments.

The movie we saw Saturday night was a Dutch film, The Black Book, at the Edina theater. We went with friends Jan and Rannveig, Jan also being Dutch. We had a nice dinner together at Teja's prior to the movie, always good conversation with them. It was a very good movie, about a Dutch Jewish woman in hiding during the war, and how she becomes a member of the Dutch resistance and repeatedly escapes death. There were so many surprises, unexpected twists in the story line that I'm still considering how it all played out. Hmm. Much to my surprise J and R talked a lot during the movie, R mostly explaining to J what was going on. They didn't even whisper, just talked in a normal voice to each other. Oh well, I was sitting right next to J and had to shift my attention from the movie to them to notice, hopefully that was true for the other people sitting around us.

At the moment I am home with Anna ... along with the cold she got from me she's had a low-grade fever for the last couple days, so we decided I would stay home with her today. It's a hard call when she's borderline, but often I find it's necessary to stay home with her, as a good-faith gesture to our daycare provider. Erring on the side of keeping her home. I don't mind, as Edwin has agreed to opt out of a work dinner so I can go in later. That way, I should only have to take a half day as sick time.

Last night I went in to work (in anticipation of today) and missed the American Idol finale. I am thrilled that Jordin won, I've been cheering for her for weeks now. She's got it all--fabulous voice, great personality, she's beautiful, and a great attitude all this time. Edwin was pretty disappointed that Melinda was voted off--she's an incredible singer but I honestly got tired of her disbelief at the compliments she'd receive, and although she nailed all her songs she picked songs that I don't think a younger audience could relate to. I mean, would a 20-something even know who Tina Turner is? Probably not.

Last week was the Ugly Betty finale which left me in tears. I wonder how quickly some of these shows go on DVD? This is a show I'd really want to own.

Well, now that Anna is napping I think I will get some rest, too. I was at work from about 9 to midnight last night and I am tired! It worked out well to go in, I got all of my urgent work done so we should be able to reach our first big deadline easily (knock on wood). Hopefully tomorrow we can all be back to our usual schedule, the last day before the holiday weekend.

Yay for Vacations!

We are back from South Carolina! It was such a lovely time, our "sea cabin" was nice, the weather was mostly good, and we spent lots of time on the beach and neither Anna or I ended up with a sunburn. It really felt like a vacation, and a perfect amount of time away from home.

A couple days before our trip Edwin began to have some tooth pain, and the night before we were to leave he realized the pain was far too severe to chance finding someone in SC to treat him, so we decided that Anna and I would travel ahead and he would try to get in to see a dentist in town. It all ended up working out fine in the end ... Anna traveled so well and we were able to make our flights with all the additional baby gear, rent the car, and check into our sea cabin without any problems. Edwin was able to get a flight the next day, so didn't miss much. Whew!

Our sea cabin was located on Isle of Palms, not far from Charleston. There was a tropical storm that was threatening the area, the result of that was a lot of wind initially and one rainy day--not bad! We rented a car and drove around to all the places we wanted to see--Charleston (of course), Boone Plantation, the Tea Plantation, Fort Sumter. We had considered driving to Savannah for one of the days, but later decided to spend more time at the beach instead. It would have been about a two-hour drive, doable, but not necessary. Some other time, some other vacation.

Boone Plantation is home to the Avenue of Oaks ... a long drive of large, live oaks which are over 250 years old and covered in the romantic-looking Spanish moss. Beautiful. We were there on the rainy day, so didn't do as much as we probably could have on a nicer day. Regardless, we were able to enjoy the oaks, took a tour of the main house (not original), and walk through a few of the slave cabins still standing near the house. There was also a butterfly garden and nearby the Charles Pinckney National Park and Museum, which I checked out alone later that day.

The next day we went to Charleston to catch a ferry to Fort Sumter. Wow. The place where it all began. It was good to get the full story, why Charlestonians were offended by Union troops being there, and how that all led to their being the first state to secede. It's certainly interesting to get the Southern point of view of all of those events. I also have to remind myself how much Revolutionary War history is in South Carolina, so now of course I immediately want to rewatch the "Liberty" and Ken Burn's "Civil War" documentaries that I have on DVD.

We also took a carriage tour in Charleston--a must. Anna babbled loudly the entire time, I encouraged her to use her pacifier but it wasn't 100 percent successful. Hope people didn't mind too much. We also went to a nearby tea plantation another day, the only tea plantation in North America. I personally enjoyed this trip since I'm the tea drinker in the house. I didn't realize that the only difference between green and black tea is the amount of time it has oxidized, that otherwise the leaves, etc. are the same. Hmm.

We filled in our time by going to Charleston to walk around the city, and by going to the beach of course. I love to look for shells on the beach and found several to save for Anna. We tried to time our touristy trips around Anna's naps and bedtime. We found a few nice restaurants and also ate in our cabin a few times, usually for breakfast. So the pace didn't get too crazy, plus there wasn't a ton of things to do anyway. Relaxing.

Instead of the trip to Savannah we decided to go to a Greek Festival in Charleston the last day we were there. Anna hadn't napped well that afternoon, and was crabby initially but perked up when she was able to dance and enjoy the live Greek music. Funny girl. She danced and played on a raised platform in front of the band, and enjoyed Greek fries and danced some more before we took her away from the celebration.

I didn't take too many pictures, most of the pictures taken are of Anna. I loved the beautiful new bridge outside Charleston and enjoyed driving over it for our trips. I never tired of seeing the Spanish moss, the palmetto trees, the magnolia trees. Beautiful.

And now we are home.

In Defense of Rosie

For the last several weeks I've been checking out Rosie O'Donnell's blog from time to time, and watching video clips from The View. I think the time that I started was right around the time she questioned whether Donald Trump had any moral authority to determine whether Miss USA deserved a second chance after her partying and wild behavior. Interesting how that whole exchange spiraled out of control.

Now of course Rosie is the target of much more controversy, and I'm definitely offended on her behalf. So many statements are attributed to her that are not true, things she's never said, and it's being spun ... and spun ... and spun.

What amazes me are the people who blow off her comments because she is fat. Or a lesbian. Or is loud. What does a person's weight, sexual orientation, or manner have to do with the substance of what that person is saying? Are people really that shallow? Or, are they unable to think a little deeper than headlines? It's always a sign of weakness to me when a person resorts to attacking a person's physical appearance as a basis of attacking their views. Hello?

I still don't understand how wanting to bring troops home from a fraudulent war means they are not being supported. Or, how not supporting the war, or questioning the reasons why are troops are in Iraq or Afghanistan means I am un-American.

I think so many of these attacks on the opinions of others are basically defense mechanisms, because who wants to admit they are wrong? Funny how everyone's coming out of the woodwork to criticize the president, now that he's comfortably in his lame duck session. Where were they in 2004? Oh, that's right, they're running for re-election now. Or they've just written a book.

As for Rosie's manner, I can understand how it would be difficult to remain calm when you are passionate or upset about something. Innocent Iraqi civilians, our troops are dying in Iraq every day. At what point is someone entitled to outraged, if not now? We are FIVE YEARS into this mess, spending billions and billions of dollars, and there's no end in sight. When is it okay to get upset and demand a change?

So, I'm in Rosie's camp. For people who are so offended by her, I much prefer they actually listen to her words and disagree with her words, rather than her. If you disagree with her because she's fat, or a lesbian, or makes more money than you, then you're missing the point.

Countdown to Vacation!!

I can't believe the trip to South Carolina is almost here! Wow! I can't wait to see the ocean again. Plus, it now appears that I'll be heading to Chicago at the end of July! The week Marion needs off happens to coincide with time that Edwin is in Chicago for work so Anna and I will be joining him for a couple days! Woohoo! I'm confident that I can find enough activities for us while Edwin is busy with his work commitments.

What a glorious weekend! Well, glorious except for Saturday afternoon, when Anna got sunscreen in her eyes and screamed bloody murder while with Edwin at the grocery store. Poor, poor girl. We're still not exactly sure how it happened--if she had some on her hands and rubbed her eyes, or if she rubbed it in her eyes from what I had put on her cheeks and nose. Either way, her eyes were puffy and swollen from crying and she needed extra comforting that night. Thankfully there were no traces of her ordeal the next morning and she was back to being her sweet and spunky self. Since then I've gotten some recommendations for more child-friendly sunscreen which I'll pick up for her soon. We've got a few cute hats for her to wear, plus I'm hoping she'll be more interested in wearing her sunglasses this summer.

Anna has been such a joy. Lately one of her obsessions is rocks--while we're outside she'll pick up a couple and hold them tight. Later I might be able to distract her and take them away, but as soon as she sees new ones on the ground she wants to pick them up. We came across a garage sale on Saturday morning which had a bag of decorative rocks for 25 cents, so I bought them and Anna played with them all weekend. I figured better to play with those than pick up just any rock off the ground. LOL!

Sunday night we spread a quilt on the front grass and ate dinner there so Anna could keep running around the yard. Last night we walked to return movies to the library, tonight we'll probably go to the park. She has been good about not crying when it's time to leave the park, I can only hope that continues.

Time continues to zip by, which is fine with me as long as my days are full. Life feels like it is in balance right now--Anna's healthy, I'm getting enough sleep, I'm not too far behind on my projects around the house, I'm not overwhelmed at work (yet!). All is good.

ONE THING I DON'T LIKE ABOUT SPRING/SUMMER: The ironing! Everything I want to wear, or at least want to wear to work requires ironing. I don't mind ironing at all, but it's a trick to find the time to do it. Sigh! It's certainly not one of those tasks I feel comfortable doing with Anna running around. There are not enough women's clothes that are wrinkle-free, IMO. It's in this area Edwin and I seem to trade places this time of year, since he'll generally wear polo shirts to work every day now and not need to iron.

Well, that's all I can think of for today.