Love Thursday - Lavender

The lavender surrounding the front yard is in full bloom. It brushes your legs as you walk past and the bees and butterflies are contently humming and flitting from sunrise until sunset. It's delicate and fragrant, lush but somehow subtle all at the same time. If you want some dried lavender let me know...we will have plenty to go around.

I Almost Forgot!!

A correction:

Those baby squirrels? Not baby squirrels at all. We have a pair of flying squirrels in the birdhouse on the back deck. We were eating a late dinner outside recently when they snuck out to eat from the finch feeder. When I crept closer for a better look they glided away and barked at us from afar. Olivia declared "Oh no! Now I don't know if I'd rather have a bunny or a flying squirrel for a pet!" Decisions, decisions :0) (I'll admit, they are pretty darn cute!!)

I'm A Slacking Slacker

Things have been busy around here and my posting has fallen by the wayside. It's not that I don't want to let you know what's going on; it's just that when I have to choose between hanging out with guests or the kids or Jeremy...well, blogging gets forgotten ;)

That said, summer is officially here! The kids are done with school. Noah had his 10th birthday and we've been entertaining guests for several weeks in a row. It's been a great month so far! My mom and grandmother and great-grandmother came to visit on Memorial Day weekend and it was great to see them. We kept things pretty simple and really just hung out, showed them the town, went antiquing, and chatted. A lot. Our friend Dave came up to visit around that time, too. The kids were thrilled he brought some Wii games we hadn't tried and Jeremy and I had fun just having him around.

Next our friend P came to visit. He drove up on a Tuesday and planned on staying til Friday. We had such a great time that he ended up extending his visit so that he was here an entire week. It was pretty much the best week we've had since moving here. Amazing what an old friend can do for your spirits!

This past weekend my Dad and stepmom came up to spend some time with us. I think they enjoyed seeing us as much as we enjoyed having them here :)

School has been out for a couple weeks now, Noah earned his green belt in Taekwondo and we had a sleepover for his birthday. Luckily P was here to help us wrangle up boys who played video games and ate and talked the entire night. The adults lasted until about 4 am or so but the kids made it the entire night. If only I could bottle up their energy!!

This week the kids are with Jeremy's parents. They are busy catching up with old friends and spending some time with the grandparents. From all the reports we've gotten so far they are having a fantastic time. As for Jeremy and I, we're counting down the days until the weekend. We're heading to Atlantic City for a free trip made possible by pooling resources with a friend. I'm not interested in gambling (it's no secret how badly I play poker, after all) but I'm dying to see the ocean. Perhaps we'll fit in a day trip to Cape May.

The weather has been beautiful here. The rain has started slowing down and everything is lush and green. The house is quiet (almost too much) and clean. The Wii and the tv are mine during the day and I've been reading up a storm sitting on our deck in a comfy chair. It's a good way to start the summer. I'm missing the kids but we've got lots planned for when they get back. There's plenty of time to fit everything in. For now, we just need to figure out when we're getting visitors again. I'm ready!!

Circling

I never did tell you about our robins. As you know, they nested in one of our bedroom windows above our bed. As strange as it was to wake up to find Mama Robin staring at me, I loved knowing that I'd get such a close up view of the babies. I think I included a picture before of the 4 bright blue eggs she laid? Anyway, 3 weeks ago (or so) 3 of the four eggs hatched. For two wonderful weeks I had the chance to watch the babies grow. They changed from hairless, helpless babies with closed eyes and bobbing heads to miniature versions of their parents. I was able to watch the adults bring long, slimy worms and fat, wriggling grubs up to them. I watched them nap and shuffle around while the parents were away. I never took any photos of them after the eggs hatched. The window was splattered with mud from when the nest was built (such a perfect basket of grass and mud) and I didn't want to scare the nestlings by opening the window just so I could satisfy my urge for a photograph. The kids and Jeremy weren't interested in the babies...after all, it took a little climbing and a lot of balancing to get up to the window where they were. I didn't mind scaling the bookshelf, grabbing the top with my fingertips while positioning myself between the bed and the shelves. I couldn't stop watching them! Birds grow so quickly that it was almost like watching a film fast forwarded. I could tell a difference in them every single day. I don't know I have a fascination with birds. I love listening to them. I love their bright colors and funny walk. I love how controlled their flight is and how silly they can be when playing in water or snow. They calm me down somehow and make me take time to appreciate something that doesn't belong to me, something simple, something that could so easily be taken for granted.

Last weekend the fledglings left the nest. I climbed up on my perch to peek at them and saw that they were gone. With a little bit of sadness I asked Jeremy to get out a ladder so we could knock down the nest. (While I love birds the thought of left behind bird mites invading my house and skin does not appeal to me one bit!) Summer is quickly approaching and all my bird babies were on their own.

And, then, on Friday I heard Maggie barking. I walked into the kitchen and looked out the glass doors to see a bird lying on the deck. Apparently one of my fledglings had flown into the door. It was lying on its back, eyes shut tight. It was still small...maybe 2/3 of the size of an adult robin and its grown-up feathers were still coming in. The colors were a mix of babyhood grays and browns along with the adult reddish breast that makes the bird so easily recognizable. I didn't want to scoop one of my babies off of the wood but we had a realtor coming by so I certainly couldn't leave it there. I stood there in the kitchen, hemming and hawing, wondering what to do. Suddenly its wings began to slowly flutter. Its eyes opened and looked around. Maggie barked harder. What was this strange creature on her deck?? The wings moved faster and I began to hope that maybe it was just stunned. I waited and kept coming back to check on it but it wouldn't get up. It wouldn't even turn over. I ran and got some gloves and went outside. I picked her up and noticed that her neck was at an odd angle. Maybe it was broken? She could still move her wings and legs just fine but her neck turned back over her body like she was going to drift off to sleep. I cradled her in my hands and stroked her breast and head until she calmed down. She let me check her wings and legs without complaint and I knew that wasn't a good sign. I sat there with her nestled in my hands for about 15 minutes watching her breathe, watching her sleep, watching her open an eye every now and then to see if I was still there staring. I was pretty sure she would die soon. After all, she was small and hurt and obviously exhausted from the effort of trying to get up and fly away. I put her in the flower box with my newly sprouted pumpkin plants. The wind was chilly and I wanted her to be in a protected spot that she would easily be able to escape from if she shook off her injuries. I tucked my gloves around her and went back inside. All evening I checked on her. I gave her berries which she adamantly refused. She seemed to be getting stronger by dusk - she was determined to fight me when I got too close and she would squawk in fear. I decided to let her be and hope that she'd feel better in the morning. After all, I had no idea how long it took for birds to get over the shock of hitting something so hard.

The next morning she was still alive but still hadn't eaten anything. Her neck was still twisted and she still could not sit up straight. Knowing that she was going to slowly starve to death (my google research showed that robins this age still rely on their parents for food and since she wouldn't let me near her any more...) and knowing that her neck most likely was broken (or something was) Jeremy did a kindness by quickly killing her. It broke my heart but I knew it was the best thing to do. I realize that the chances of this being one of "my" robins was slim but I still felt a closeness to this baby that lived such a short life. She was so light and soft in my hands. I wish there was more that we could have done.

We chose not to tell the kids about the bird knowing that they would be really upset. Instead we went about the rest of our day as normal. And that would have been the end of the story except last night while eating dinner on the deck I happened to look over at the bluebird house. I knew that no birds had nested in it this year (probably due to its proximity to our 3 feeders) so I hadn't thought much about it. As I looked up though I thought I saw something staring at me. We were all quiet and watching when 2 little baby squirrels poked their heads out of the hole to peek at us. Their eyes were huge and their ears were teeny tiny. As much as the squirrels here drive me nuts I suddenly was excited. More spring babies close to the house! I may have lost my robin but I now have the squirrels to watch. It was just what I needed :)

Love Thursday - The Deck

As promised, my favorite part of the house...the back deck. We're up on a hill so when you're outside you're right in the branches of the trees. It's shady and quiet and big enough for us to hang out comfortably. I love it out there. The only thing missing is the sound of the bullfrogs and the spring peepers.

"Some Will Win, Some Will Lose, Some Were Born To Sing The Blues"

Last night the elementary school held their last school dance of this school year. Noah and Olivia decided they had to go because they always have such a great time at these dances. The DJ is pretty great and the kids get to mingle with all their friends in a way that they normally don't get to during regular school hours. Jeremy was out of town for work so I figured it was a way for me to get an hour and a half to myself. Admission was 50 cents for each kid? Sold!

I walked them into the school, handed them some money for snacks and photos and admission and turned around to leave, planning on grabbing some dinner and maybe reading a bit before picking them up at 8:00. I got to my car, pulled on the handle and realized that when Olivia had gotten out of the driver's side door she had locked all four doors! No, no, no, no!! There were my keys and cellphone staring at me. I don't know anyone's phone number in Athens off the top of my head and Jeremy was in the middle of West Virginia. I ran back inside and begged a phone from a complete stranger and called my mother-in-law asking her to call AAA for me (thankfully, my membership was a gift to me from her so I knew she'd have all my info). It was hot and humid outside but it wasn't raining. The ground was wet from earlier storms so there was no place to sit. I alternated between strolling the sidewalks and ducking into the dance to watch the kids. I fended off scary guys asking if I wanted to "sit in [their] van?"...uh...no thanks. I answered questions from old ladies and I waited. After about an hour the tow truck driver showed up and 30 seconds later my door was unlocked. I only had a half hour left until the dance ended and with a 15 minute drive ahead of me, there was no point in going home. I shrugged it off and decided to head back inside.

Girls were crowded around my boy while he danced and laughed and chatted. Olivia was dancing and jumping up and down and I was really enjoying watching them. Three moms that I've met this school year were there and we tried to shout at each other over the music making conversation difficult but amusing. "What?!?!, What?!?!" The kids on the gym floor ranged from preschool to sixth grade and it was interesting to see how excited they got about certain songs. No one slow danced...not one kid. Everyone participated in the air guitar contest and tried to figure out Miley Cyrus' "Hoedown Throwdown." There was shouting and running and twisting and twirling, whispering in corners and new relationships made (yes, N, I'm talking about you...). But my very favorite part of the evening came with the last song. The DJ asked all the sixth graders to raise their hands and had everyone applaud them. This was their last elementary school dance. The music started playing and I was shocked to hear the opening of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'." But I was surprised even more when the 50 or so sixth graders formed a huge circle, arms around each other, starting swaying and singing along to every word. Was this 2009? How do these 11 and 12 year olds all know the words to this song? It was the coolest thing...like some cheesy, unbelievable musical. They sang loudly, they smiled at each other and suddenly I was taken back to elementary school...thinking I was so grown up, thinking that everyone would always be friends, thinking that life couldn't get any sweeter. In that last moment I was right...I was on the line between innocence and adulthood. I'd never had my heart broken, I'd never had a sleepless night, I'd never worried about money or the future. Everything was the way it should be. I realized I was grinning like a fool watching these kids and I wanted to sing along with them. But it was their moment not mine and so I stood quietly by the wall, just watching. I'm just happy my bad luck night allowed me to catch a glimpse of them, shining and perfect for a time.

Looking Forward

It's Spring (as I've mentioned about 4,000 times now!) and once again our thoughts turn to wondering what's next. Back when Norfolk Southern merged with Conrail part of the agreement allowed certain retirement benefits to those Conrail employees that stayed with NS for 10 years. This summer marks that 10 year anniversary and means that we need to assume that more people will be retiring than normal. Maybe this means we'll be moving somewhere new this summer and once again this means we'll have no idea where until we get the call. Jeremy's current territory is the perfect place for new supervisors to start out and he feels ready to move on up in the system (and I think his bosses agree). The latest trainees will be ready to be placed soon so it all may just work out. Of course, with the current economy it's hard to say what will happen. Lots of people are choosing to hold off on retiring for a little while longer so we may be here another year. I'm just hoping that if they do choose to relocate us that they do it while school is out...I hate to have the kids switch schools in the middle of the year again. It's not as big of a deal for Olivia but Noah is getting to the age where, while still friendly with everyone, he is narrowing down his group of really close friends and that makes it harder to come into a class after school has started. I have to keep reminding him that he now has great friends in 3 cities that he can visit...not many kids can say they've made friends at 5 schools by the ripe old age of 10, right?

Anyway, my point is once again we don't know what's next. In some ways I've grown used to Athens and wouldn't mind staying here for another year. The kids love their activities and friends here. Jeremy and I are finally starting to find other couples to hang out with. We're settled and the town is cute (though so, so small). On the other hand, I'm always ready for the next adventure, the next house search, the next new town, the next opportunity. It's just the not knowing and the waiting that kills me :)