catching up on the good

it's been so long since i've blogged i nearly forgot how to access my account. it's been simply exhausting and good and overwhelming and inspiring and full and empty all at once. life is a crazy mixture of so many components, the best of which is time with family and friends. i'll try to be better about regular posts. being a full time student has altered my so-called free time to that which barely exists. to have a goal means to stay on track, and it's very hard to do so, but i'm trying! 

life in pictures of late...

new year, new directions...

 one of many bro nights, where sleeping boys are strewn about

 encounters with my sweetest god daughter - who just participated in a flash mob for prince. seriously, who can say that?

 keeping my sanity with fresh air, open spaces nearby, and this guy

 prom, on the bay...i love being the planner and a chaperone

 simply  beautiful vantage points

 my boy, doing what he does best. this:

 

and this too...

 taylor got herself elected class president the day before. we love her. (just friends.)

  
a closeup of the corsage i made taylor. i made six others, one for each of the chaperones. 

& must include one of my other boys :)(photo by steve f.)

 home improvement progress in the kitchen:

and bath too:

once upon a time i had a dining room table. these days it is generally filled with this:

 a terrible loss...

and precious hours spent together

working for the cause

and working at playing because i *can*. where did 10 weeks of group lessons go??

reasons to celebrate...

and lovely places to retreat to for hours of study

time is swift, fleeting. there is little of it to spend on laundry and home duties, or to document the classes i teach each week in spanish, biology lab, and literature analysis. every weekend is a different gig for my boy, so we drive a lot, and until very early in the morning. there are always extra boys involved. they stay the night, or the whole weekend. another week begins. another week ends. it is all part of this process of life as my young adults grow into who they are becoming, and i wouldn't change a thing. but i truly do not have much "me" time right now. 

for now, it all kind of comes down to this...

 dont' get me wrong. i'm a volunteer on this path, and i am grateful for every minute. there is good in all of it.

professor davis: this is where i talk to you every other monday. :)

annual traditions

the tree decorating pictures are lost to me, and it is not a wonder. my brain is not functioning properly. a nasty cold has taken over since returning from disney. and so i stayed home the night everyone gathered at deacon dave's for the annual tradition of walking through deacon dave's. 

beginning in october, his helpers cover his front yard with several hundred thousand lights. he opens it to all, and many many people attend. 

thanks to sarah and nico for the pictures. merry everything :)

 photos below: nico

season's spirit

the season started slowly, and really, despite me. with the help of good friends, meeting in lovely places and doing good things, the spirit arrived quietly but with purpose. my need to avoid the commercial expectations is overridden and, i must say...the spirit has arrived. friends and family help!

 with martha, for a chai at my favorite cafe: cafe 4 @ neighborhood church 

 a 2 story Christmas tree adorned in jute, nests, and succulents. so beautiful.

 with my mom, decorating the naval museum :)

 and the drive to and from, because *someone* wasn't comfortable driving that far. good thing i can drive a 6-speed! haha

then our girl and her studio had their dress rehearsal for the d*sney parade in the local downtown parade. so fun (but cold!)

 

it took me a while just to take in this gorgeous tree in the lobby of our stay at the CAGrand in D*sney. so so lovely in this inspired environment. photo credit: sarah h.

 next stop: backstage for dress rehearsal. no costumes allowed in the park! thank goodness for starbucks on main street now.

 what i had made for the jazz director...(her first ears!)

 the view (with thumper) while waiting. no pictures allowed backstage...

after 3 hours of waiting among throngs of people...

 our dancers fly by within seconds.

780 dancers participated in this year's parade.

only 66 attended the next day's d*sney dance class.

16 were from our studio.

? 

pictures: stills from ipad video

 

 

 we forgot to get a family picture. oh. my. but we did get one of my cousin and i. so fun to be with her on this trip. 

i would not be who i am today without her.

a few last views of the magic kingd*m...

fantasmic from the pier

photo: sarah h.

 view from the train of small world. photo: sarah h.

and home again.  photos: sarah h.

 

to the gutting of a bathroom and the slow rebuilding. 

we are fortunate to have an alternate during this process.

nothing puts us into the spirit as a bathroom rebuild. :)

friends and family

with yet one more dinner still to attend, the holiday has been a fortunate one with several opportunities to gather for giving thanks. once again i am thankful for my family, both biological and circumstantial, that gives us ample reason to celebrate. thanks, friends! photo by steve

 

3 generations of food

this year we did something a bit differently for the feasting. 3 generations of women from our family came together to share recipes and enjoy companionship, learning and delicious rewards. grilled vegetable salad, one-pot spaghetti, and blueberry cobbler. so fun! i hope we do it again.  love these women, cousin, mother and grandmother.
(that's the headboard i'm working on in the background.)

giving thanks

thankful? profoundly. recently i accomplished a physical feat unachievable just a few months ago...sweeping the patio - pain free. glory be, i can see my way out of this tunnel and it's looking bright and hopeful for the first time in too long. feeling grateful for health and improved wellness.

 

metamorphosis

 once upon a time three girls grew into three women. they entered the world and made their marks upon it, each in her own way.

 years flew by, children grew, the sun rose and set and the tides receded with the ebb and flow of time

 the three women took charge of their lives in their own way and made their way in the world on their own terms

 time, faith, and wisdom brought them back to their core and into the greater unknown

 love, humor, and desire kept them together

 into a greater unknown: metamorphosis, like a free butterfly, migrating, returning, to friendship, to family.

adventure calling

turn off your room's light. open this full screen. turn up the volume. absorb. 

what beauty from patience, vision, tenacity. 

2 months. 

32 states. 

awesome.
i do not know him, only of him as an artist. today's inspiration. :)

adventure calling

sunrise

early hikes with my friend cosby sometimes look like this. the rising sun is positively glorious from up here, but this cell phone is as satisfying to use as a camera, as a shovel for icing a cake. instead, i will focus on being thankful that there are wide open spaces just around the corner from home to set us free.

 

drive on

"How are you doing since retiring? We miss you."

Truth is, I miss you too. I miss ME, I miss IT.  I miss all that I've known, and still wrapping my brain around it.

What if you had to stop doing what you loved? What if it ended, cold turkey, before you could blink or consider? Months on end.  Take it away, take away your loves. Take them away when you least expect it. How do feel? How do you respond? How do you THINK you'd respond? And do you accept it? It's hard to imagine, probably. And likely, it's probably hard to understand.

How am I? I am on the roller coaster of denial, anger, frustration, optimism, frequent but lessening pain, redirecting, relearning, physical strengthening, and focusing on long-term health and wellness, considering options. Repeat all that about three times and that's a typical day in my world, at this moment. It feels topsy-turvy, trying to reorient while all the every day normal things of life drive on. Drive on, we must.

I'm in the in-between, that's how I am. It'll get better, and I'll figure this out. 

one more of b*rthday girl

i have no words to say how much i love this. her other side. :) she cannot believe i reposted this, i'm sure. how could i not?? 

photo: maddyj
http://worldofmaddyj.blogspot.com/2013/11/halloween-2013.html