Sunday, March 23, 2008

My Favorite Things

This is just a random list of things that make me happy these days....
Mariah waking me up for school standing by my bed with my coffee...isn't that the sweetest?
My dog Jack running towards me when I call him like I am the most wonderful thing he has ever seen, his goofy grin with his tongue hanging out sideways....
Caitlin...so happy with her life, her feet barely touch the ground...
Technicolor flowers all around here growing wild....
trips to Stacey's house when we get up early for coffee, just the two of us...
baking with Caitlin, flour up to the ceiling and whoops of laughter.....
Intelligent thoughtful kids in my Sunday school class, who want to get rid of the curriculum and just talk....
sleeping with the windows open....
Tom and I laughing about something no one else would understand....
the smell of last fall's leaves when I rake them up to find new grass underneath....
sitting on the Porch reading the paper all morning in the sun....
Life is good.
Life is good

Friday, March 21, 2008

Alabama Spring

And there's something bout the Southland in the springtime
Where the waters flow with confidence and reason
Though I miss her when I'm gone it won't ever be too long
Till I'm home again to spend my favorite season
When God made me born a yankee He was teasin'
There's no place like home and none more pleasin'
Than the Southland in the springtime

from a song by the Indigo Girls that plays in my head a lot these days
.




Good Friday

Just a cozy night
Making cookies
dying eggs....
I love my life.
Cat baskets to all of you,
Marti

Monday, March 17, 2008

veiw from behind

Have you ever felt that moment
 when you look in the mirror
and think you've lost weight,
 then look over your shoulder
 and find it?
Happens to me a lot
So I've got these black stretch pants on
the front looks good.
Fearful of the cushion lurking behind me,
 I ask my husband,
 "how does this look?"
As all men 
who have been happily married for a long time do,
he answered "fine"
much too quickly.
Now my Tom is not easily duped.
 when I ask him,
"do I look fat?"
his immediate answer is<
 "Do I look stupid?"
but I explained to him
that I know I am a hot 50 year old
(how's that for an oxymoron?)
 I just want to know
 if this is appropriate for school.
"fine", he reassured me again.
I get to school
walk past EVERYONE I know
get into my classroom
 and feel this HUGE lump
on my leg
 like an extra butt cheek
 halfway down my thigh.
What in the hell is that?
I pull a pair of tights out
of my pant leg
that had me looking
like I had a giant tumor!
So much for his future as a fashion consultant!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Prom 08

My baby girl......

Pom Poms and Parades

It was a great weekend
Caitlin’s cheer leading team won the National Championships!
It was amazing because one of the girls twisted her knee.She had to leave the stage in pain and the other girls had milliseconds to decide how to hit their stunts.I can't believe they pulled it off! We are talking throwing people up in the air with part of the base catching them gone! Not the way they practiced at all!
The child who was hurt is okay.
We had a wonderful visit with Stacey and Craig. They always make us feel so welcome and cared for.
The St Patrick’s Day parade fascinates me. They fling potatoes, onions, carrots from decorated trucks into the crowd,so you can take them home to make corned beef and cabbage.
Which brings me to my epiphany of the week....we here on the coast would run pick up a dog turd if you sprinkled glitter on it and threw it at us from a slow-moving vehicle...we love a parade!




Saturday, March 8, 2008

Midnight Singing

Tom and I were playing guitars last night
He knows his way around a song,
 has been playing for 30 or so years.
Me, not so much
I believe that what you cant' learn to do well
 you can learn to enjoy doing poorly.
 the music that flows by osmosis
 from his heart and hands to mine.
 the songs Ive heard so long,
on porches and beaches
 my fingers stumble and find on the strings
and I think
about the magic of a good long marriage....
how he has become more me
 and I have become more him.
as the music flows so does the spirit...
He is as comfortable as this old guitar
in my arms
He loves me
 like he loves his hands..
on the strings.
he doesn't need to think of them,
 they are always there.
hitting the right note
and the things we fear
growing old
being sick
are just another chorus
on this old song

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Cheer Leader Tryouts

You could have cut the tension around here with a knife this week.
It was cheer leader tryouts.
The girls had clinic every day after school when they learned the dance.
They practiced until after midnight every night.
Tryouts were Friday.
Caitlin called me crying.
"I said the wrong words in the cheer, I put my hands down in my back tuck"
Then all the girls and moms went out to eat.
We had to do something to pass the time, so we got pedicures.
I am sitting there with my feet in warm water,enjoying my first time for the luxury immensely,when the call comes in...
THE LIST is posted.
No one is allowed on campus until the call.
I drive with my wet toes
Their are girls gathered around THE LIST.
They are quiet when they see Caitlin
When she reads her name the happy screaming starts.
I am weak with relief...
all the way there I have been planning how to comfort her
what will I say?
BUT SHE MADE THE TEAM!!!!!!!!
Okay
I got dragged into this cheer mom thing reluctantly.
My sneakers and rock T shirts kinda stand out in this crowd
but sometimes you follow where your children lead you.
Caitlin has had a few disappointments.
She lived, breathed and slept gymnastics.She was number 2 in the state until she seriously shattered her leg when she was in 8th grade.
Her balance was a little off after that and she couldn't' do gymnastics at that level any more, so she went into cheer leading.
So this has been a second dream for her.
I have seen few adults who could change the course of their lives with the grace that she has.
As a tradition, the girls who make the team go roll the coaches' houses.
They  rolled the wrong house!
They had to go get the woman and take her and show her the house they accidentally rolled!
and you try not to stereotype....
you try not to talk about cheer leaders being ditzy....