Boy Do I Suck...

...at keeping in touch.

It was inevitable. I am a terrible penpal. I mean to keep up with what's going on in loved one's lives. I mean to send class pictures. Sometimes I find whole sets that I haven't sent or shared. I mean to let people know that I am thinking of them. I know they mean to do the same for me.

Yet I haven't sent all those cards that I keep thinking of sending, nor emails and now the last bastion of civility (heh) - my blog. Well now you know me. Now I've fallen out of touch with you too. Does it mean I love you less? Nay, not a chance. It's this brick of inertia that doesn't let me respond on my keyboard or leave a comment. Work gets me bogged down by being bogged down by work that I am not so excited to be doing. Then I flip around and daydream out the window.

You were all there, sort of like the Wizard of Oz, each playing different parts.

What can I say, sometimes my inertia kicks in, and then well, work, life, family and there's not much left over. But it's been a dismal spell and now I will once again attempt to shake the cobwebs off.

But the good news of this is that part of the reason for my inattention is the attention in real life to meeting up with some Blogger Buddies.

Firstly The Penguin Queen, Monika flew in from Iceland and boy were her flippers tired! Then before you could say - "Holy don't exit the Airport Batman" - Sar arrived on her red stilettos. I picked her up after some bad airport layout (that's my story and it's sticking) tried to prevent me from doing so. Once in my car, off I whisked her to Connecticut. We got together and met up with Neva and Joel and our dear Penguin. The next day, we all met up again as you can see in this picture (Scissors the token non-blogger):


The following days the high continued with a get together with the most lovely Mo'a! I am sure we would still be on her couch if flights and life didn't get in our way. Oh and if we weren't asked to leave. That is so not true, Mo'a kept tempting us with coffee and delicacies to lull us into comfort. And we were lulled. Her nicer than nice hubby, Ken or Heinken as he's come to be affectionately known (Neva's take on Icelandic terms of endearment) generously let us take over their lovely home.

We were still riding high as we met with Al downtown the following day. He and the lovely and fun Mrs. Al hosted us for lunch. We were once again treated like queens (hey if they're not asking, I'm not telling) and then on to a downtown tour as only Al could have given.

So here we are back in reality. You know my NBFF and I don't get together nearly enough and to get to spend time with her and all of these great blogger buds, well I have to tell you, it's been special.

So officially, Monika and Sar - it was so great to spend whatever time that I spent with you. Neva and Joel, DITTO and thank you for all your generosities! Mo'a, HeineKen, Al, and Mrs. Al - thank you so much for your warm hospitality, they were great days for my scrapbook.

And the rest of my blogger buds - you were all there too! I hope I don't forget to send the pictures.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Sometimes you open your window and Spring is in the air. It is still cool, but the skies are a bit bluer, vapor doesn't form in little puffs and rings out of your mouth. Somehow it just feels crisp with possibility.

Sometimes you open your heart for new friendships to be made, it gets warmer still, the skies are even bluer.

Sometimes you lie in bed next to your children and listen to their breath become more shallow as sleep relaxes their body. In the warmth of their weight next to you lies the magic of the universe.

Sometimes you are truly grateful for a wonderful day and you lay down and smile.

And it's that simple.

It's Normal

When something breaks and it falls to the floor, how do you spell that kind of break?

Shattered.

How do you spell it?

S-h - NO! Oooh, b-r-e-a-k.

That was an exchange between Tali and I as she did her homework this evening. There's my brain jumping to conclusions again.

"Did anybody ask me another word for break?" I muttered.

To which she replied (our new tagline): "It's normal".

So where is this post going or what is it about? Well, it could be a recurring G Jumps to Conclusions (you remember the turquoise flowered lunchbox!). That's right Diesel, I have taken to just blurting that out when I do jump to conclusions and isn't it amazing the time saved on no further discussion of the matter at hand.

What matter? What post? Oh nothing. Yeah a post about nothing...it worked for some television show.

It's normal.

Don't buy the chopped meat

I know that I've written of my mother-in-law's shopping skills previously. She has mentioned to us before about buying ground meat for hamburgers. "Why should you - I have the attachment for the Kitchen Aid to ground meat". Who has the time, I wonder. It's not like we buy it often.

She must have worked on Scissors pretty hard as he said when I got home the other day, "I bought some meat at the butcher's, my mother's grinding it up for us". No arguments from me, but I smile. We had the burgers that night and boy, they were pretty good I must say.

Tali visited Grandma a day later and at dinner at home that night she mentions that Grandma has said not to buy ground meat. "She's weakening the fortress from all angles" I mutter under my breath. "She asked me if I had hamburgers last night. She also asked how big they were and how many I had" Tali offers, her smile getting broader as she recounts each of Grandma's breaches. "Did she ask what plate you ate it from" I muse.

You see, this is the beauty of children - she can sit at Grandma's table having honey cake, being peppered with questions. She'll typically answer in one word responses, all the while seeing the absurdity of the situation and being amused by it. I'd just get annoyed. In this scenario, everybody's a winner - we get the ground meat knowing (more or less) what's in it, Tali gets honey cake and Grandma is happy in her knowledge that she has saved us a few dollars.

Oy, makes you want to become a vegetarian.

I Think I Felt Inspired...

...for about ten minutes today. A thought for a post flashed into my head and ideas swirled in layers one on top of another...and then I awoke with a start drooling at my desk.

The Music Stand

It was a warm July day, but not the oppressively hot ones. No, this was no humidity and it was lucky to be 80 degrees. They had gone upstate for the weekend just to get away from the hustle and bustle of every day life. They would spend some time by the lake and meander about in different antique stores. In one such place, that was more hodgepodge than true antiques, she found a brass music stand. She bought it. Over the years it held books or a picture, but was never used for its true calling because well, she did not play an instrument.

Winters and summers passed. The music stand always survived the edits of households. Finally one Springtime, they discovered they were going to have a baby. She was born late in the Fall. Spring times and autumns passed and she would learn to play the violin.

The music stand would finally hold music for a musician. It was happy.