A Social Surprise

         

     The sunshine was in full motion over the beautiful city of Boise, I was excited to see my cousin Henry soon! I was thrilled by all my morning chores and setup to having guests arrive soon. 
    The temperature was perfect as I admired the walk along sidewalk in the historic part of town. "Let's go grab an ice coffee on the way to your new office." I said smiling at my husband who had just said that I always roll out the red carpet for company, if it were up to him there would never be any company at all for anything. I never can relate to his reserves for I come from such a huge interacting family. Where as he was raised to not get stuck among any family member for long.
     I have loved my cousin Henry for all of my life, (he was the first baby I can recall holding too) For we always stuck together even if we argued while growing up. We will always be friends I think, we are both proud of each other in our adulthood as well so that kind of respect and friendship is very refreshing!
After every time Henry and his partner come to visit, my husband will state afterwords "Now that was really fun having them here!....I kinda feel like maybe I have missed out not knowing any of my own cousins in that fun way You and Henry are with each other."
   So the sunshine was warm and perfect last Friday afternoon, not to hot and not to cold as I gushed into the Flying M coffeehouse downtown, having not been there all winter it was fun to be out and about with the approaching excitement inside me of seeing my dear Henry soon! 
When suddenly a voice rang out as I adjusted my eyes from being outside to in, "There you guys are!" it rang out from the leather couch and I squealed "HENRY! ALEX! Oh my god you are already HERE!" I threw my arms around them both and laughed on as the joy in seeing such a good family like them warmed my heart and made us all sit down over coffee to laugh all together once again! 
Later on my husband said as we walked over to his internship office "I think they are my favorite kind of company and who knew that I would ever admit to liking company in our guestroom?" 
I just laughed back thinking how fun it is to come from such a big extended family after all. 
My cousin Henry and I will always be the kind of family who sings TV show theme songs or quote every line in story plot and laugh out loud together when we are made aware of how nerdy we can proudly be! In this past weekend having them here was such a wonderful time and I am ever so grateful to the magic of it all, to the family we share!


*My cousins captured in NY Times*http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/us/state-laws-on-gay-marriage-lead-to-disparities.html

The way of Life

  It is a powerful thing to step back and look at the earth around ya for a moment, The beauty and it's need for water,  like in my own self there's such a powerful moment in grasping that water of life.
It is a powerful moment to realize how nothing exists without water, how all of time would be gone if this magical substance was taken from us.....It is important to be grateful for water and life as it goes hand in hand.
I love sitting by the pound in the park for a quiet moment of thought, in my life lately water looks and feels so refreshing that I can't seem to get enough of it. 
I love how the way life pops through the ground shortly after water rolls over it, and I love the way my bare feet get all sticky in mud or can be washed completely cleaned by this same delightful liquid. (Maybe I was a Dolphin in a previous life from the fact I admire and enjoy water so much!) 
While gardening today I was happy to see how well everything is growing from those sparkling water drops that shoot from the hose over the welcoming growing world that is left thirsty like my own self. 

The way of water

         

It's been almost a whole week now in getting more water back into me, and I feel so good again! 
It's AMAZING how magical water is! I shall always keep it close to my heart for the lack of it brought about such weakness and helplessness that I don't want to repeat such a mistake like that again!

Water is the most beautiful thing to look at as well.......I simply love all that it can do, All that it can be for us all!  

(Since I was born under the water sign I shouldn't be so careless to not carry it with me where ever I go)

A peaceful way

          It is getting very busy for the approaching summer I haven't been writing as much in these nice days to be outside, as always gardening takes strength and attention. 
Life gets annoyingly busy here and there so my plan is to keep it all simple and peaceful this summer. I want to find a peaceful way to do this, AND not work so hard, so fast through this favorite season of mine especially avoiding ever being dehydrated again....yes, yes, I forgot to drink water for 2 days of intense working outside and at the pet food store with such sudden heat I was careless in not getting more water to my dry mouth! The dizzy weakness I felt took me down for a whole day unexpectedly and I knew instantly how dehydrated I was in such painful reactions. 
Now all I want is water! All I crave is such refreshing delicious water!
         It is easy to get distracted, to pull weeds and work the ground under the warmth of the sun light without stopping to drink. After a few days doing this though it will knock ya down to get back on track for water isn't just for the garden seeds, it is apart of your own needs too...Oooops! I will pay better attention from now on sheeeesh what a wake up call! I love water, I love it even more as it rescues us all from an early painful death;-)

          It is a peaceful place were water is found, it is a peaceful way to feed the ground and most gratefully it can bring me back around to be on my feet again!

A Loving Way

     

When it comes to Mother's Day I always think of ROSES, they are THE flower for such a holiday. My mother loves mini roses so it is easy to know what to give her for the celebration of such a beautiful day! The fact my Mother gave birth to me is such an honorable event in understanding all the pain and struggle of child birth that unfolded for her, then here I am now, just like that I am breathing and living! 
It is so fascinating to me all these events to bring about another human being, another life force.
 Courage, devotion and loyalty is what makes a good mother when they keep those infants close to their chest. When it comes to Mother's Day I am reflective over all the many great mothers in my life, my own mother has been through so much since her stroke that seeing her now is a delight in getting more time by her side. One day this will not be so as I have seen how she could be taken from me in the blink of an eye, I am deeply grateful this time of now. With mini roses and a good friendship I can spend time with my Mom as she rolls around in her wheel chair or asks me to teach her how to knit with just one hand.......I love her as she is, with her more honest ways which makes after her stroke  more delightful in really knowing what she thinks! I am deeply grateful she took such good care of me as a baby, for she ALWAYS loved babies all through out her whole life. I think her loving way in holding and cuddling babies is one of the most important things she ever taught me.....and I admire her for it!

(My Mother with her first Granddaughter La Rae, late summer of 2006)

A Round About Way

           It happened so quickly my main drive home everyday was changed, it was my favorite way to drive right up through the Train Depot. I guess it still is with the sudden "Round About" put in. I walked by it finally as the hundreds of times driving by never allowed my full attention. It is a very narrow circle in which no one seems to know how it works! AUGH peoples it isn't that hard to just keep driving and NOT crash into each other please! Now my husband hates it of course, I had to hear each time we went through the construction just how much he hated it....I simply stopped going home that way for awhile. I think it's beautifully done, impossible to enjoy the art work while driving by of course but it is very classy when you walk over like I did and stand on it to look down. There is no other way to really understand the message "This is the city of trees" unless you dodge cars and hold your breath to be standing over it then race back to safety like a squirrel fully aware of the never stopping cars flying by!

       My idea of art is in a PEACEFUL place like on a public bench or downtown wall....Oh well they didn't ask me if this new Round About art should lay flat or stick up more;-}

Strawberry Spring

           

    The world of desserts has changed so much for me over the years, in learning so much about the inflammation of sugar I have found ways around it while still tasting life's sweetness! Sometimes cravings for such sugar can be so powerful that on those days I buy berries and cream. Strawberries have been cheap so I gladly made a quick fix to my sugar craving lately by slicing some up and splashing a little lemon juice over them in a bowl with ground cinnamon sprinkled, they sit at room temperature awhile as I whip up some whip cream, it's just heavy cream in a bowl with a mixer. The fluffy fatty stuff is heavenly without any added sugar as I put the strawberries over it and in this picture I also tossed dark dark chocolate chips. The less sugar you can make your desserts the better for you all around! Whip cream has a natural sweetness that I couldn't see why one would put in MORE sugar while it whips up? Berries are the best fruit out there as most everything else is high in fructose which is sugar as well....
             The world of desserts is a wonderful fun place to eat such good yummy things as long as it isn't every night or full of that sweet addicting poison called SUGAR.