things that make me smile

I know this has been out for a bit, but I just finally watched it tonight.

I was delighted.

If only we could have moments like this every day!

Enjoy...

wanted

A city worker; someone to respond to calls from neighbors with too much time on their hands. Neighbors who use said time on hands to judge and lodge formal complaints with the city regarding grass that they personally feel is too high.

City worker will transmit complaint to sticky note, and leave it on said offender's door, with threat of fining if not resolved within 7 days.

Legible handwriting negotiable.

Thank goodness we have great neighbors. Our neighbor (who knows we're away) intercepted our Official City Notice, and tried to discern what it was exactly that the city wanted us to take care of. I wish I could figure out how to post a picture of what was written on this notice. It was, quite simply, chicken scratch. Our neighbor walked to the back of our house, and in a phone call to me, told me that our grass was not at all unreasonably high yet. To be on the safe side, I hired her son to mow it for us (I thought I'd have been back in VA by now for bit, with Gracie, but no dice) and he's going to continue that for us until I return.

Through the rumor mill, however, we found out that it seems that we have a neighbor who was complaining about the length of the grass on the end unit, the house right next to ours, and the city worker apparently figured, "hey...as long as I've got my pen out..."

Anyway, the post script to this story is that it was our grass that was the issue, and now it's taken care of. Oh, and if you failed penmanship in school, VAB has a job for you...

pets

In the past week, two families dear to me that have had to make separate, but similarly hard decisions about saying good-bye to a pet.

My heart aches for them, and I am reminded once again how amazing animals are, and how quickly, easily and fully they wrap themselves into our worlds, and our hearts.

Even now, as I type, Jackson has gone from sitting next to me and resting his head on my shoulder, to his back so that I can scratch his belly, to curled up beside me, touching me all the while. My parent's cat Calli, and my cat Lucy, have both been in, purring and nudging me for attention (although, I think they may just want to be fed.) And Hanna greets me with a whiskered yawn every time I walk by her napping place.

And Dixie...my sweet, sweet little guardian. What would I do without the warmth of her body beside me so many lonely nights that Scott's been at sea?

There's no doubt about it. Pets give themselves to you so completely, so totally, that saying good-bye (even if it's the right thing to do) may be one of the hardest things we'll ever have to do.

remembering

Nine months ago, Scott and I were blessed with five beautiful, teeny tiny miracles.

Nine months later, we know it is still too soon for us to be holding them in our arms...we have a lifetime before we'll get to do that.

But we also have a lifetime to hold them tight in our hearts...and we continue to do so.

So I send a prayer of love to babies Abigail, Benjamin, Capella, Daniel and Elliott Gifford. It makes me smile through tears of love to know that they're safe and happy, and most certainly with their Great Grandpa Morton, with whom they would have shared a birthday.

...so much love...

birds

Outside my bedroom window here in Minnesota is a bare ash tree. Since I've been home, I've watched the birds come back to the area, and rebuild a scraggly nest bit by bit as the weather has warmed. They rebuilt the foundation, then lined it with soft looking downy feathers. It looked solid and safe, ready for a clutch of eggs.

This weekend, as I day dreamed out the window, I noticed a robin at the base of the tree, and a big blackbird picking at the nest, tearing it apart. This continued through the day, until eventually, the nest fell out of the tree in shreds. The following day, it was gone altogether from even the grass under the tree.

And I'm sad. I enjoyed watching those birds prepare for their future. Now, I've spent the last two days peeking hopefully out the window in case those birds decide to come back and start anew.

I hope that they do.

passing the days

Well, I'm plugging along here in April. The weather has warmed up, which makes me happy. But I am still waiting for more! I am dreaming of days warm enough to put bare feet in the sand on the banks of the river while my dogs splash me as they dive eagerly for the elusive, never ending waves. (Seriously. My dogs have an obsession with the origin of a wave. Especially Dixie. It is a constant source of consternation with her, resulting in a steady stream of frustrated yips and mouthfuls of sand as she tries to catch on in her mouth!) Ah. Summer. Soon enough!

Things I am looking forward to:

*Finishing up the sock monkey I started making today for Grace. My cousin Lalania did one, and it turned out so cute! She invited me over today, and we were makin' monkeys together...
*Talking to Scott next week on the webcams! That's the current plan, at least. We'll see how cooperative the weather is this time.
*Having a fire outside tonight with my family after my dad gets home from work. Cozy!

I posted a few new pics (of events from March) on our flickr page, in case you need something else to browse while online!

winter weather what?!

Winter Weather Watch.

Nice.

April's really pulling one over on me.

And my internet's been really slow. Every time I go to a new site, it first tells me it's not legit, so I resubmit the address, and it g r a d u a l l y shows up.

I'm annoyed.