Saturday, April 30, 2011

My new little experiment

So, in an effort to get things ready with my book and education week presentations, I am entering the 20th century and getting a web site.  Along with that web site, I am starting yet another blog... dedicated to the specific topics of food, mood, and motherhood.

I haven't launched anything official yet, but here are some of the first posts...

http://foodmoodmotherhood.blogspot.com/

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Tender Mercies




Yes, you saw that right.
A street sweeper.
My Today Tender Mercy.

Let me explain...

A few days ago I was on my way home from an early morning workout, and it was still dark as I was driving up the hill to our house.  Suddenly, something jumped out in front of me, and before I could even react, I felt the stomach dropping thump-bump, thump-bump. Of the tires over some poor, unsuspecting animal.

As soon as Jerry woke up, my first words were, "Honey, I hit an animal!  I don't know if it was someone's sweet life-long pet cat, or some sweet baby bunnies' mother!  I don't know if it died, or is now maimed for life!"

Okay... now many of you are thinking how cheesy this is, but hey, it's me - and my middle name could just have easily been 'guilty'.  If there is something to feel guilty about - I will find it and relish it until a myriad of ulcers come to complete fruition :).

... and it didn't  help much that a few minutes after Jerry left for work, I received this picture via text:
with the caption, "The Easter Bunny!!"
... ummm, not really helping, honey!

so for the next few days, every time I drove down and up the hill, I was faced with the stark reminder of my mistake.
wondering if I should go out and scoop it up?
should I get some bunny food and go scour the woods for hungry little baby bunnies waiting for their mom to return with breakfast??
or just see it and feel guilty all over again.

... then it happened.
in the afternoon, I happened to be looking out my window, and saw a street sweeper emerge on top of the hill.
and just like that,
It was gone.
Clean.
Removed forever.

Again, I know super cheesy example, but for whatever reason I felt so incredibly grateful for street sweepers.
who swoop in and clean up my messes.
and make my driving path whole again.

Tender Mercies come in all shapes and sizes.
and today, mine came with a swooshing brush.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

I WANT to share pictures...

Really, I do...

I mean, I took about a bazillion.
And then took a few more.

And that was just of Iguasu Falls...

And each time I took my eyes off the incredibly breathtaking scenery
To glance at the technologically engineered rendition of the view,
I found myself extremely disappointed and frustrated.

So I finally stopped trying to capture it on film.
And tried to stare as long as possible
To just capture it in my mind.

And hopefully never forget how majestic it was
And how incredibly small I felt
And how in awe I became.
And couldn't even put it into words...
I would just have to look at it,
and then look at my husband
and pinch myself to remember that I was actually fully awake and alert
And standing in this part of heaven on earth
Next to my best friend in the world
And life was about as complete as it could be
(minus our 5 kids who happened to be a continent away at the moment...
and who would have probably caused me many heart attacks
as they wandered a little too far out on the many 'not quite up to U.S. codes' board walks
...that went literally out to the very drop off point at the top of the waterfall
Or in the boat at the bottom,
where the driver drove right under the waterfall, so I was sitting literally at the exact base of the waterfall...
getting my own 'little' Iguasu waterfall shower)

Yep.
Breathtaking
Amazing
Indescribably
Uncapturable
Inspirational

Iguasu Falls.
Worth every minute of 5 different plane rides to behold.