Off time

I have taken some days off between Christmas and New Year's:
to enjoy time with my family
to finish up some projects I don't want to contend with into January
to get some much needed rest between family time and project time
to savor the last bit of the most wonderful time of the year


So far so good!
the first day after Christmas I spent dining and shopping with my children
the second day after Christmas I spent dining and shopping with my husband
the third day after Christmas I spent in my pajamas sorting pictures
today, day four, I did some cooking for the weekend, work on some of the aforementioned projects, and played with my grandbaby.

I made some plans with some friends for events as far out as Valentine's Day.
As I approach bedtime this night I am quite satisfied with the way my time off has been spent.

I have thank you notes still to write. There are still some projects left to finish. But I have some time left. And that's always nice...

Gingerbread kits

 

Today I delivered homemade Gingerbread kits to friends who have small children. I assembled them from as many different kinds of traditional candies as I could gather. My hope is that sometime during the next few days the kits will serve to occupy little ones anxiously await Christmas morning and will provide the makings of a fun memory.

Last year we made snowman kits for friends and family, though few had enough snow to use them. They, like the gingerbread kits are intended to be the stuff memories are made using. At least if we get the kind of weather that is being predicted, the recipients of our gifts will have everything ready for snowman making.

g'baby smocked

 

Last weekend we attended my grand nephew Pierce's baby dedication. It was a sweet, sweet family time. In the wake of the tragedy in Conneticut the idea of promising formally and as a group to encourage this  precious little life to know and love Jesus seemed all the more important.
My grandbaby was in attendance to watch her baby cousin prayed over by ministers of the Gospel and to hear our vows to love and encourage him to be a follower of Christ.
I dressed her in a little red dress that her Aunt Katie wore for Christmas the year she was in kindergarten.
Besides me being happy she was wearing something smocked, I was happy, too, that for this family event she had on something with family history. She has her own dress to wear for Christmas with the family but for this special event I am pleased she wore this special dress. 

Hall decking, continued

Another weekend and more hall decking was done at our house. The dining room is all bedecked for the holidays. There is a wreath on the front door. We made  more progress on the tree. Some old but much beloved wreaths were reworked.
A small tree was lighted in the breakfast room and stands waiting for decorations to be hung from it.
Some wrapping has been done.
Soon it will be on to the baking. There are cards to ready for mailing and packages, too.


Below is the result of some of the hall decking we've done so far, I am happy enough with the results to want to sing "Falalalala, lalalala....

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Back to Middle Earth

Early this morning some of my favorite folk and I went back to middle earth after a long absence.
The almost three hours we spent back there wasn't nearly long enough.
From 12:01 a.m. until almost 3 a.m. we travelled back to the shire, to rivendell, to moria, among other places in "The Hobbit" at a special showing.
It's not surprising that we were all excited after our nine year wait for its premier.
We loved it, because:

• It was enough like the Trilogy to feel familiar and enough unlike them to keep us interested.
• A lot of our favorite characters were portrayed once again by their Trilogy actors. It was fabulous seeing  Elijah Wood as Frodo, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Cate Blanchett as Lady Galadriel, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, once again.
• Characters particular to the Hobbit were well played. I especially loved the brown wizard and his rabbit sled (though what looked to be bird poo on his beard bothered me!)
• The dwarves with their personas and personalities were charming.
• The links between bridging time and story line, especially those involving the young Bilbo and Gollum moved us along the journey nicely.
•  The familiar and altogether new were woven together by Howard Shore's soundtrack and by dialogue cleverly creating a seamless thread of the tale(s).
• The cinematography was amazing, as before.

Even my husband who is not such a big fan admitted it did not seem like an almost three hour long movie. I am hoping that means he will go back with me to visit again soon!

Some Hall Decking

 

We did some hall decking this weekend. The hub was a big help. We got the tree up and got it partially decorated. I thought the granbaby would be more excited about the tree trimming than she turned out to be. She was much more interested in playing in the tubs the decorations came out of.
She wanted me to push her around the kitchen and "go real fast."
No wonder since her mother once pulled her to our house in the snow in her own custom made carriage sled aka a Rubbermaid tub lined with blankets. She's attached a belt to the handle to pull the tub. She was too young then to holler "mush" though it would have been more than funny if she could have.
She's grown up enough to order a couple of grandparents around doing her bidding instead of putting up decorations. When she left our house to attend her first ever sleep over, we were too tired from "mushing" to get a lot done.
Her granddaddy reckoned that she was too young for sleepovers and that she would not make the night. Text messages back and forth revealed that he was wrong. She not only made the night but made it to 1 a.m., as did several of her friends before falling asleep.
I am not sure the child has ever been up past midnight until now.
She's doing lots of big girl things these days. Dare I hope that by next year she will more more interested in hanging ornaments than riding around in a storage bin?

on the ready

 

My last blog entry and discussion of the Lord of the Rings and how I came to be such a fan of the movies and all things Tolkien has got me thinking that maybe it's time I enjoyed them once again. I have vacation days coming up soon and the book and movies are, after all, close by...

Back to Middle Earth

 I became a fan of J.R.R. Tokien rather unintentionally.
I was recovering from a nasty bout with the flu when the last of The Lord of the Ring trilogy was released.
My daughter and several of her friends were watching the first two LOTR movies in anticipation of/preparation for the third.
I watched parts of "The Fellowship" and "Two Towers" between cat naps but did not see enough of them to put together how the creatures and subcreatures and wizards and little men with hairy feet were connected. The kids tried to explain to me. I was more confused.
Finally I decided to watch the movies all the way through. I didn't feel well enough to do much else. Folks at work did not relish my return until I was clear of fever for at least a day.
Half way through the "Fellowship" I was intrigued. By the end of "Two Towers" I was hooked. I did not mind the length of "Return of the King" and in fact, relished every minute of it. On several long afternoon between Christmas and New Years that season, I read the Trilogy. I read the appendices. Then I read "The Hobbit" Then I began looking for other Tolkien works to read.
The husband bought me the boxed set of the trilogy the day it was was released. The kids and I hunkered down and watch it, twice, if my recollection serves me.

We've watched the movies many times since (including appendices!) We can quote much of the dialogue. And we've waited on and discussed the release of "The Hobbit" of a come full circle completion of sorts.
The possibility looked iffy during the time Peter Jackson and Company were negotiating the rights to film the prequel with the Tolkien heirs. I held my breath waiting to see whether the LOTR actors would be playing the roles they'd made famous. Now, all that's left to decide is whether this movie will live up to the hype the way other three films did.
I may have become a fan late, but a die hard fan I became. I expect the same will be true this time.

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It's almost here

I've been counting down the days for months.
I thought about making a paper chain.
I am so excited I can hardly stand it!
Today is December 7 and though Christmas is just around the corner it's not Christmas I am counting down to... Rather it is the premier of "the Hobbit" I am excited about.
One week from today is premier day! It's been a long time coming and I am happy it's almost here.
I have become a serious Tolkien fan. It wasn't always so.
I tried to read the Hobbit in high school. I quickly decided it wasn't my cup of tea.
I didn't finally finish what I started back then until the Christmas season of 2004.
By then I was a fan of the Lord of the Ring trilogy...or at least the movie version of them.
That I will be watching the prequel at this time a week from now makes me very happy.


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Finals Bracelet

The puppy I blogged about earlier this year is back at my house, albeit temporarily. The apartment where she resides has become the site of much study and angst as law school finals approach. The puppy, whose name is Parker, has settled in just fine. The permanent residents of our home are having some difficulty readjusting to her but they will survive.
Parker's pet, my baby daughter, will also survive finals. Though I am sure at this moment she is not so sure, I know the stuff of which she's made. She comes from strong stock. She is a smart girl. She'll be fine.
A dear friend of ours, sent a packagea few weeks ago. Contained therein, was a cherub charm.The charm, was a gift of my baby daughter to our friend, more than a few moons ago, when said friend was preparing to take her own law school finals.
Full circle, the little cherub charm has come I attached the charm to a pearl bracelet, since a pearl is the baby daughter's birthstone. I added a charm to communicate my confidence and good wishes. I hope that during those long minutes when she is trying to recall the rules of civil procedure or elements of some of the torts, she will look down at the bracelet and know that two people  who love her can sympathize and empathize. And she can also be reminded that her pooch is in good hands.



 

thanksgiving table

I am going to admit that this year, I particularly hated to take down autumn/Thanksgiving decorations. Autumn is my favorite season. Thanksgiving may well be my favorite holiday.
Many of the decorations I use were given to me by people I love very much. Some of them, I miss very much, too, which make reminders of them even more meaningful.

Other of the decorations I have used for many years. Those survived the childhoods of my children and several moves across several states. More recent acquisitions are the product of time I spent with my grandbaby making decorations.
 

 

This year we made a cascade of falling leaving to hang from the light fixture in the diing room, over the table. I told her the story, earlier in the season, of how the first fall after she was born, she was colicky and I pulled a rocking chair into the breakfast room where she and I could watch the leaves fall. Her second autumn, she stood with me at the great wide windows of the same room and watched as the leaves "danced."The next year, we went outside and "danced" with them.

We decided it would be fun to make leaves dance inside, right over the dining table. And so we did.

• Right over pieces of my mother-in-law's FriendlyVillage pieces that have been added to for my daughter's use.

• Above my Grandmother's Currier and Ives Trivet.
• Leaves "danced" above the dining table on this, my grandbaby's kindergarten year, over the paper mache Pilgrim and Indian couples I bought the year her Aunt Katie started kindergarten.

I truly hated to take it all down.
Even now, I am thinking about what to do for the Christmas season that we would enjoy as much.
Any ideas?

Ready, set... official start of the holidays

The grandbaby is spending the night tonight and at the moment we are watching "Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer." We helped my Mom deck her halls all afternoon. When we got to my house, the grandbaby said she was too tired for anything but a movie before bedtime "Rudolph" was her choice and I am glad. I am ready to kick off the holidays.
We actually started last night with our Amy's annual Christmas concert in which she played in a handbell choir.
Today is the first day of Advent. We will be counting the days from today onward added ornaments to an advent tree that my children used for many years.

Early bird

I am not an early bird. I don't awaken early. I don't generally arrive early. I don't finish early, most of the time.
But this year, I got a jump on the holidays.
Case in point: yesterday, certain little elves delivered caramel turtle dessert apples that were assembled in careful stages and brightly wrapped before the December page was flipped over on our calendars.
My youngest nephew and I made wreaths for him to give his other maternal aunt, both of his grandmothers and his Mom. We also started decorations for him to give to his teachers and would have finished those had we not run out of supplies.

I have handmade tags finished and several things ready to wrap.
The two scrapbooks I blogged about early are now complete.
All this is so I can enjoy the time with my family at Christmas as much as I did Thanksgiving.
Less rushing, more savoring. That's my goal once again, beyond just November, since it worked out so well.
Here is what I am considering:

• decorating in stages instead of all in one day or one weekend.
• including more of the people I love in activities I usually tackle solo. The drudgery will of some of it will be better with company and the help will be nice.
• making sure I have Christmas music playing as I/we work, unless coversation is preferred over carols.
• doing as little last minute as is possible. I've already gotten a start on that.

Just the thought if it makes me happy.
 I am liking this early bird thing.

Bliss week

As I write this, I am over half way through one of my favorite weeks of the year. I have decided to call it bliss week, since that is what it is for me.
I am savoring the last little bit of fall before Christmas is officially declared at my house.
I once rushed to put the tree up the week after Thanksgiving. It tended to create a sense of havoc and rush that was not a fitting end to such a sweet time with my family.
These days, we nibble left overs and watch/rewatch recorded portions of the National Dog Show and Macy's parade, old and new movies together.
This year, our favorite high school team has made it to the playoffs so we attended a pep rally and a tail gate gathering before the big game. We did just a smidge of Black Friday shopping. We discussed plans for Christmas.It was all, well, blissful, as is this week.

I am still catching up on the laundry and emails and clutter that accumulated while we were feasting and ballgaming and ballgame watching and shopping. I am not rushing to get those done, either. I am just enjoying bliss week.

scrapbook mantra

I am trying to finish up some scrapbooks for Christmas gifts. There are several in the works. I want to finish all of them in time for the holidays but life keeps getting in the way. Still, I press on. Determined, I am.
And I am trying to relax. Scrapbooking can be very therapeutic.
Or so I am told.
I'll let you know how it goes.



 

wewokies

I was solicited to make some baked item for a museum bazaar next week. I poured over cookbooks and searched Pinterest for something unusual but delicious, with historical value. It was a high order.
Finally, I have settled upon something I hope will go over well.
Sorghum is a signature item in these parts. The fall festival is called "Sorghum Days." There are always horses or mules harnassed and walking round and round making sorghum molasses the old fashioned way.
I always buy sorghum at the festival. As I stared into the pantry thinking about what would be appropriate a jar of sorghum caught my eye.





  I found a reciped for sorghum molasses tea cakes. I put my own spin on them and even named them.
I am so pleased with the result. It's been a while since I experimented in the kitchen. Sometimes when I do, the results are mixed. Sometimes there are terrible. This time, they were good.
Whether anyone else likes my sorghum tea cakes remains to be seen. But I am happy about them!

Celebrating Holidays at Home

Several years ago, when my youngest child was a college freshman, we acted as a surrogate family for members of her collegiate tennis team who did not live locally.
We picked up students at the airport and helped them settle into their dorm rooms. We tended the sick and homesick...did laundry... cooked meals.
Especially with students whose families were far away, we became something of a shelter at certain times. Thanksgiving break was one of those times.
Most of the kiddos traveled home for Christmas/winter break, but for fall break and Thanksgiving, they took up lodging at our address.
Students from far, far away gathered with the fam for our annual feast. We had fun discussing their traditions and our own. They were intrigued and many questions were asked about our customs.
I found myself reading about pilgrims and plymouth rock




. I seemed to have forgotten as much as I remembered and found myself pulling out the kids' storybooks and some beloved post cards.
I read up on menus, as they asked why do you have that to eat.

People cookies" otherwise known as gingerbread men, were a special hit.
The following spring I made a batch, complete with raisin eyes, to send home with the students when they departed at semester's end.
The next year, we had a foriegn exchange student take up residence with us. She was a high school senior from France whose placement had not worked out. I was proud to have info when she asked the inevitable questions about why we do what we do at Thanksgiving.
The year after that, the the baby daughter was dating a soccer player from Great Britain. He, too, asked many of the same questions and we had the answers.
This year, a certain five year old has become fascinated with all things Thanksgiving. I can hardly wait to tell her all about it/them.

Smocked garments

I am working on what I believe may be the last thing I smock for my only grandchild. Her mother and aunt, have declared her to be too old for smocked things.

My daughter tells me that she cannot handle the thought that her precious neice would have to wear clothes with smocking as long as she did. She vows and declares that I made her wear smocked dresses until she was in something like junior high.
Not true!
I am pretty sure I wasn't able to make her wear them much past the fifth grade. But I sure made them and caused and compelled her to wear them as long as I could!

 

Pictured above, my baby daughter wearing
a dress I smocked for her back in the day.

Same with the grandbaby. She has started to balk. I have started to bribe her.
Her mother and auntie, as mentioned above, are likewise protesting.
The dress that I am working on is picture smocked with a nutcracker. It is for her to wear to the Christmas ballet next month.
After this one, my daughter tells me, geometrics only, if at all. I am sad in anticipation of non-smocked Easter and Birthday dresses. I suppose I should be happy she has worn them as long as she has.

My scrapbook helper

One of the reasons I am loving to scrap is because it is something I can do with my Grandbaby.
I don't like to scrapbook alone. It seems to me to be a social endeavor. I have a group of friend, as I have blogged previously, who I scrapbook with from time to time.
Lately, the time to tie has not been enough as I have several projects half way to three quarters complete. Since cutting, pasting, drawing, writing are among the Grandbaby's favorite things to do, I have enlisted her help.
 She spent the summer working  on a scrapbook of her own. It is a darling little book that she has picked out the illustrations for, drawn the pictures in, done the lettering, etc.
This fall, shehas also been helping me select embellishments for the pages I am working on for scrapbooks I intend to give for Christmas gifts. That makes the endeavor fun for the both of us and lets me accomplish some of what I need to complete for the holidays while enjoying her.
I mentioned to my husband that she is doing so well as my little scrapbook helper that this year we could make our own Christmas cards. He didn't say what I know he was thinking..."there she is making a hobby work again!"
I'll let you know how it goes...

Hobbyist

My husband says I am the only person he knows who makes hobbies hard work.
I've had my fair share of them. And he is right.
My skills were only passable when I took art classes as a child and again in college. Neither watercolors nor oils were my forte' so once upon a time I decided to try tole painting. I didn't paint all that well, but I worked at it. I abandoned that to take up sketching because I thought it would be easier. It wasn't.
From there I went to handwork. Cross stitch was popular at that time and sewing over lines or into pre-set areas didn't sound all that hard. It was. I invariably selected large and/or complicated patterns and inevitably tired of them before their completion.
My paternal Grandmother and Great-grandmother were avid quilters. They spent the better part of every winter standing at quilt frames spread out across the den of my grandparent's house. I wish now I had shown an interest in learning from them. I was about as interested in learned to quilt as I was to crochet or knit or tat or can.
The regret of not following that particular family tradition led me to bid  on quilting lessons a few years ago, thinking I would pick up on the skills of my grandmother and great grandmother. I learned the basics during the six weeks I attended the class. I even made a few small throws and baby quilts. But, true to form, I selected patterns that were too complicated for my proficiency, or lack thereof.
That particular hobby was made more difficult by the fact that I did not know how to sew on a sewing machine before I started the classes. I didn't take home economics in high school.  Back then, students had one free hour and cheer practice trumped home ec on my schedule. My quilting instructor could have made far more progress with me had she not had to teach me to thread a sewing machine.
I still do a little quilting from time to time. I have tried some applique. But my serious hobby of the past few years is scrapbooking. I find it very therapeutic, especially when I "scrap" with friends who can help me accomplish my often complex page goals.

I am trying to simplify them. Really, I am.

Big hair envy

I will go ahead and admit that one of the reasons I want to dress up for Halloween as the bride of Frankenstein is because she has big hair.
I have always, always wanted big hair. Likely it is the era in which I was raised.
 My mother used to wear a "wiglet" and had it teased and sprayed into her hair to made it stand way high.
All the ladies in the church choir had big hair.
A look back at photos taken throughout my life reveals that I have had the same hairdo since I was approximately 5. The brown football helmet description used by the Julia Roberts character in "Steel Magnolias" to describe her mother's couiffure would fit my hair, as well.
I have tried to deviate, with mixed results.
Once I tried darkening. I warned the beautician that my hair "grabs" color. My hair, albeit temporarily, ended up so black it cast purple.
I have tried lightening but somehow it always fades to a putrid shade of red.
I have gotten highlights. They usually work out alright.
But it's the volume I seek. No amount of product or teasing or technique can accomplish this... I have been no more
My hair, like my children, basically does what it wants to do.
I believe that I can literally watch it fall (read: wilt) even before I have the cap back onto the hair spray can.

That would be me with the brown football helmet hair.
 ( Both of my little sisters have darling little
pixie hair cuts!)

My middle sister has thick, voluminous hair.  I have called it "horse hair" but only because I am so jealous. Several of my friends have hair so thick that they go to the salon to have it "thinned out!"
Now I know, that in the scheme of things, flat fair is not a big deal.  I know that amid all the issues with the economy and global warming and famine, hunger and warfare, big hair is actually a very small deal. I just think I could deal with the world better if my hair stood taller...

All Hallows Eve

My Merida got to trick-or-treat twice this year: once in the day time and once at night. An event on Main Street where we live was a big hit with kids and adults. It was fun seeing the costumes in daylight. There were some really fabulous ones. I very much like the Lego man, the wolfman, a really fabulous Elvis, among others. One little boy had on a costume that made it appear he was riding a chicken. Of course, my Merida was my favorite. She had gotten candy from most of the downtown merchants and was sitting on the curb eating it when I found her, her Mom, two grandpas and a a grandma in tow.  She'd pulled off the Merida wig by the time I saw her, too. The weather was quite pleasant but too warm for that wig, my Merida said.

My Merida ran into some of her cousins, a baby football, Joe Dirt, a sparkly mermaid and spiderman somewhere along the route.

Her sister danced with her dance company to "Thriller" as special entertainment for the event. I hope it becomes an annual event. It was lots of fun and besides, I have wanted to dress up as the bride of Frankenstein for sometime now...

Merida, my Merida

I am advised that my Grandbaby was in a foul mood this morning. It seems she does not think there should be school on Halloween. I've yet to find out exactly why she has taken this position but I know I want to hear the rationale straight from her.  Her logic amazes and amuses me. I can hardly wait to see her tonight. To talk to her...and to see her all decked out for trick-or-treating.
I've yet to see her in full costume. There was a parade costumes at her school last week. I did not get to attend but the pictures I've seen are darling.
 I am tickled that she ultimately settled on the first Disney/Pixar princess, Merida, from the movie "Brave." Her costume suits her. Her ginger coloring just goes with the wild red hair wig that goes with the costume. She did not carry a bow and arrows to school and likely won't tonight, though I intend to get pictures of her with those, too.

I am posting a photo here for you to see. i think she is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen...and a dead ringer for the heroine of "Brave."

 Merida

My Merida

Scarecrows

It took the better part of two weekends but we made scarecrows at our house. The results are happy enough. At least I am happy with them.
At our house there is one on the inside, one on the outside. The grandbaby wanted one for her house so naturally we made one for there, also. Two are girls. One is a boy.
We started with a scarecrow "lady." She is quite the belle. She has a ruffled top and flowing white skirt fitted onto a garden trellis. Her hat was fashioned from a flower pot. Her hair is made of  sprigs of parsley, rosemary and thyme with a but of lavender and wild onion thrown in. Her jewelry is made of acorns and wooden
beads. Her pocketbook is fashioned from a miniature pumpkin. We like her so much that we've left her in the breakfast room. The little boy scarecrow, recycled from years past, is on the porch.  The cool girl pumpkin is in the flower bed at Grandbaby's house.
I was left fully satisfied with the results but a longing to see Leonie Ledy-Lepin, the french foreign exchange student who participated in our first annual scarecrow making fest...

halloween tea party

 

I've blogged about my girls and their tea parties before. My Amy hosts a "tea" to celebrate most holidays. She started on her sister Katie's first Christmas, though she was just barely sitting up. Her little niece Emma is now her Aunt Amy's best tea partner.
They had gingerale and apple cider rather than tea this time. Hay stacks, kiwi fruit and tea biscuits along with Amy's favorite harvest mix were also on the menu.
I chose the theme for the tea table, being a big fan of Frank and his bride, and all.
We used the little lantern our friend Linda Robinson Bailey sent us, for the doll's/bear's table.
They had not even gotten done with this one before they started discussing a "Thanksgiving Tea."

Traditions, traditions...

My first born is the ensurer of traditions in the family. In her economy, anything done more than once, must be repeated thereafter. If it's fun. To her.
My own personality causes me to be drawn to repetition, pre-planning...
so I appreciate this about her.
This time of year is her favorite because it is rife with traditions. Our annual autumn schedule begins in earnest on the fourth Saturday of October with the Sorghum Festival. This year, the festival was the only good thing about us having to miss a family reunion in Natchez, Mississippi.

This year, we were all about the annual scarecrow making tradition. It was not until Halloween night that I realized we had not carved a single pumpkin though we did some intensive pumpkin decorating.
In October, we are all about caramel apple cider and candy corn.
We always take at least a day halloween costume selection and purchase or a weekend to  make them.
The first weekend in November, I go shopping for flower bulbs and other holiday essentials with a close friend. We go as soon as the Halloween things are cleared away and the Christmas goods are on the shelves.
We always take at least one long drive just to view the foliage. Amaryllis and paperwhites are planted to bloom for Christmas. The final touches are put onto whatever we make for the Indian Museum Bazaar, held the Friday before Thanksgiving.
The weekend after, the tree goes up and I go with my sisters for our Annual Christmas shopping trip.
Everything else that happens the months of October and November are scheduled, when possible, around those events.
It suits my personality, her need for order and both our birth order propensities!

Tennis, anyone?

My daughter was in the seventh grade when she decided to be an athlete.
She had taken dance for several years by that time but had not danced competitively. Neither had her career as a gymnast been particularly serious. Had she opted to get serious in either of those areas I would not have been surprised. There was some precedent. For her  chosen sport  there really was none.
She decided tennis was her sport. She had batted a ball around the court some with a cousin who played. But she did not own a racquet. She had never taken a tennis lesson.
When she told me that she intended to "try out" for the junior high tennis team, I suggested lessons, in fact. A tennis club located nearby offered lessons after school and all summer.
"There's no time," she told me. "Tryouts are just in a few days."
Try as I might to convince her she needed to learn the sport better before she played it, she was determined to go for it.
And go for it, she did.
Waiting until the fall would not work, she explained, because only a single seventh grader would likely be selected for the team.
After school lessons would not help. she reasoned, because there was not enough time for them to make a difference.
Oh, and she made the team. 

Of course.
She was determined...
the next year, she made the JV team.
the year after, she made the high school team.
She played in the state high school championships more than one of those years.
She attended her first year of college on a tennis scholarship.
She played at the national collegiate level.
This is why I am not concerned about her ability to navigate the rough waters of law school. She is determined...

Playing games

My sister convinced me to order vintage sets of jacks and and pick up sticks. She said we were long overdue. Perhaps becoming a grandmother has made her uncharacteristically nostalgic.

We spent many hours playing jacks and pickups sticks when we were children. While our elders played canasta and dominoes at family gatherings, we entertained ourselves and each other playing simpler games.
We looked forward to the time we could join the adults.
I have happy memories of telling ghost stories with a host of cousins while in the background the voices of my childhood were heard in the background making "bids" and "downs" and talking about being "set."
Both my grandmothers were avid Scrabble players and were patient enough to play with us almost as soon as we could spell.
My grandmother-in-law kept a wahoo board set up on her dining room table most of the time. We seldom visited her that we did not play at least one round. But none of those games, nor any of the card games we played... not even chinese checkers, which I still love to play,  are endeared to me, and apparently to my sister, like jacks and pickup sticks.
They've just arrived, by the way.  A game marathon is in the works.
P.S. I plan to best her...

Lists and listing

I live by lists.
I often say, in fact, "if it's not on the list, it doesn't exist."
And this is very true.

Something happens between my fingers and my brain when I write. It seems what is written on paper is also seared into my brain.
I have made lists as long as I can remember. Mostly because I wanted to.
I have a friend who accused me of writing things on my list I have already done just so I can check them off.
At this point, I make lists because I need to.
It's not so much the sense of accomplishment that motivations me, but the need for reminders.
I am trying to make the lists using an app on my phone. So far, it's not working.
For some me reason electronic calendaring doesn't work for me either.
But I am trying...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Savoring time...

Time is passing too fast. I always heard it would.
I have often heard that the older one gets, the faster time goes.

Tomorrow it will be October and I am not sure how! Seems like last week I was packing for Italy. No, it seems like I was taking down the Christmas tree. Or making Valentines with my darlings. Seems like just a few days ago that I was waiting up to see the puppy my daughter was driving home from Parker, Kansas with.
Christmas is now less than three months away. The puppy is nine months old and has moved with her mistress to law school. My new grandnephew will be two months old next week.
Time seemed to drag its feet when I was a child.
Long car trips. Waiting on Santa...
Waiting for the day I would be tall enough
to ride the big kid rides at the amusement
park...waiting for my birthday.
Those seem to come around at warp speed
these days, too.
I need to find a way to better savor the time...