Almost five months have gone by without posting...nor writing much more than anything other than emails everyday. Sad state of affairs. Thought I ought to at least stop by and post a photo or say something random, give a recap of some days, but my mind's all cluttered with Cael's upcoming deployment and the preparations still to be made for it.

Here we are all together in December at a wedding


I got older

Days Go BY

So do the years... 21 in fact. I miss this guy.

Sunrise Waves

Mary,

This is a very short version of when we went to watch the sunrise back many months ago when you were here to visit

Big Thrills and Free Slurpees

Well, you might not gather what big a thrill it is to get a free slurpee on what we like to call "National 7-11 day", because the girls wouldn't let me take a picture despite the event we make of it. It's become a tradition here ever since Cael let us in on the exciting news that 7-11 gives out free sample-sized slurpees on their "birthday". Unfortunatly, the girls were being a pain all morning, so due to a lack of anything better, I am forced to enclose the dorky proof our endeavor below.

Summer Fun and Summer Sunburn

Happy 4th of July! Each year when this holiday rolls around, it still conjures up images of my childhood when 4th of July was a much anticipated event. We'd take off to Plant Drive Park early to play games and eat snowcones and be a part of the community fun. At dusk we'd head over and sit on the station wagon overlooking the water at Lake Catherine watching fireworks. Oh, the good ole days. Dad's birthday fell on the fourth and he'd take part in the pie eating contest at Plant Drive since he was on the city council. My friend Julie and I had the good fortune of winning $5 playing bingo there (we were THAT good)... and back then being patriotic was our duty and our honor, not a political faux pas. I miss those days. Despite the 4th of July incident of 1994 when the handful of sparklers blew up in my hand and caused so much pain and misery, I still love the holiday and the am ever thankful for the country and freedom it celebrates.

Our pre 4th fun


This 4th, we will be hiding out in the house I'm afraid...no sunny 4th of July events for us! No way! We had the good fortune of being invited to go wakeboarding on Monday on the intracoastal. BEAUTIFUL day and no one on the water but us. We had a really great time, but my pastey white-gray skin got more than it bargained for... Casey (the new wakeboard queen) scorched her back and shoulders. Before we knew it we had been out there for about 5 hours. We are two days into our recovery now and still in pain. Yesterday was just torture. We resorted to taking Advil last night as we lay on the couch groaning still. My skin is a deep, deep red on my knees and thighs, the pain of the burn seeping into my muscles and feeling like blood pressure cuffs on my legs when I stand up or walk. My shoulders look like someone painted stark white stripes across burgundy red skin where my bathing suit straps were. You think we would know better... You would think wrong. Here are some photos of Casey the wakeboard queen and the friends we spent the day getting burned to a crisp with. No photos available of Chris and I on the beach in our bathing suits... awwww... I know... too bad!

Saturday Morning at Dunkin Donuts

It was Lynn's birthday today, so what better way to start a birthday than to hang out at Dunkin Donuts? Apparently we did the same thing last year, as one of the regular guys there (who took a couple of pictures for us, by the way) remembered us being there for a birthday last year. Lynn said, yes, he was right, we did go there last year as well. We used to go there all the time, so it all tends to blend together for me. Nice to know we are THAT memorable... or is it?

Memories of 8th Grade Graduation

It's all over but the celbration dinner! The crying? Well that's over and done with too... for this event anyway. Despite the drama and trauma of the past week (and two months), videos are finally done and shown. Disaster swooped in at the last moment, caused tears, upheaval and plenty of drama, but it was averted in the end. The events of the past week alone could make for good reality tv... and they have definitely added a touch of extra and unwanted age to my features. But above all of that, Casey has graduated 8th grade. She leaves behind beloved teachers (one of whom she has had off and on since first grade, and whom she ended with as her homeroom teacher again this year in 8th grade. Mrs. Koenig and Miss Denney (her other favorite) will be missed. It will be a big change in the coming year. She is moving on to another school while her friends, many of whom she's been with every school day since K5 and first grade, will move on to different schools.

Tomorrow we celebrate with her friends and their familes by sharing dinner together at a restaurant on the ocean. No doubt pictures will follow since the girls are dressing up again and we are planning a photo shoot on the beach... well, that is if the weather cooperates. It's raining. This is big news. It's been raining for hours, it seems it's going to rain for days. We can't complain. We want it and need it. We are desperate for it. But we do have beach plans tomorrow evening, and my roof is leaking in two places... I would like the rain in moderation. it's a love/hate thing, you know?

Sarah came and did Casey's hair for graduation and is coming again tomorrow with plans for another gorgeous "do". It was really fun having her come and help. Her stylings were much admired by all. Me? I am now trying to adjust to life unattached to my videos. Today for a while, I was completely lost as to how to go about the day without a demanding vdieo and the stress of the whole process harrassing me. The chair in front of the computer didn't need me and that was odd. That is where I have lived for two months pretty much non-stop. A very odd feeling. But after a very brief sort of floundering around this morning, I recovered and remembered how to obsess about photos and grocery shopping, vacuuming and doing dishes and errands and running kids around. I do obsess so well.

I have roof leaks to check, so carry on and enjoy the photos!

The Birds of my own

The pages of the book are open, the pen's ink ready, my hand a willing accomplice, but insightful words aren't forming.

Now, Back to Parris Island

I know... I'm not in chronological order - again! Agh! But I thought it was time to get some of Cael's USMC graduation shots up for you. I have been stuck because all of my photos are in the other computer and it has no internet right now. So tonight I worked on transferring pics from webshots to photobucket. Blech! Big pain. For now, here is a sampling of the sights (also not in chronological order... help... what's happening to me?) from Parris Island Recruit Depot.

Cael, the United States Marine Corps bootcamp graduate and Casey

The Traditional Pre-Easter Egg Hunt

Okay, I got a little out of order, I put the Easter morning sunrise photos before these... oh well... I should get some stills off of my video to show you some of the action during the hunt, but no time for now. Maybe later...


As it is, our numbers dwindled significantly this year with Cael in the Marines, Cally away at college, Joel in Tennessee and Daniel in New York, Ben in Atlanta and Katie just plain MIA. Oh... and Tommy was in Mexico...


Zach cooked some great burgers and hotdogs for us

and Casey was the egg stuffer. Shannan hosted us and

she and I were the lone egg hiders this year. She and I

along with Casey, spectated the furniture refinishing.

Mom was very tired and laid low. I'm rambling on and on,

and adding space here in order to push the picture below

down past the white side bar that is covering it up on my aol

browser. The archive sidebar doesn't show up on safari,

go figure...just in case the archive sidebar is blocking your view,

I am rambling. You're welcome.


But anyway, the rest of the cast; David, Bethany, Sarah,

Paul, Zach and Casey carried on the Kiedis egg

hunting tradition with style and had lots of fun.


Our time began with some furniture refinishing

by Bethany and Sarah. They found this coffee table

for $30 at Goodwill and spent much of the time sanding

and staining it. We were their audience and Paul helped

them with the staining. Everyone was impressed by the outcome.






The Easter basketheads have grown up, but old habits die hard...





The cousins with their spoils... and their dirty feet...


Fun with eggs...


David and Casey...


The ladies lounge awhile after all the excitement...

A New Day, A New Life... New Hope

It's Easter... and Casey and I went to the Sunrise service at Currie Park overlooking Palm Beach this morning. We enjoyed the beauty of a cool South Florida morning at sunrise on the intracoastal. Nothing quite like it, especially with donuts and coffee at hand. I wanted to share the photographs because the scene was so beautiful, so evident of God's presence. These pictures make me feel like I felt very early this morning as I sat thinking about what God has done for me through the resurrection...

He descended upon my life... filled it up with His comfort... peace... joy... forgiveness... and His hope... He envelopes my life with His goodness, wrapping me up in the warm light His presence brings into my life each day, available for any and every moment.

Happy Easter! Happy day of HOPE!

My Cuties

One day soon I will post something really new. For now, here is the Christmas photo. I love it because it was the last good shot we got before Cael went into the Marines. I won't see him with so much hair for a long, long time. Plus, who knows when all the kids will be home at once again... times are certainly changing... (sigh) Won't be long and Cally will head back to school and I will be without the errand runner she has been for me while she was here. Gotta love a girl who doesn't mind getting in the car to make food runs for you. She even said she would go and get the oil changed in my car this week. I know! It's my lucky moment, and I am enjoying it fully while it lasts. I think she was appalled when she saw the little oil change sticker they put in the window eons ago. The mileage on it was some number so many digits away from what the odometer reads now that she probably felt she just had to intervene. Works for me!

Words of Wisdom

"Isn't there anyone who can tell me what Christmas is all about?"

"Sure Charlie Brown. I can tell you what Christmas is all about."

...For unto us is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ, the Lord."

Letters Home

It's been quite a journey already since Cael enlisted in the Marine Corps, and it's barely begun. He left on the 27th of November and is now a Marine recruit entrenched in a new way of life... and so then are we. Each day there is a lot to think about. A lot to pray about. A lot to hope for. And a whole lot to figure out. I am just happy that he has been able to experience this. After his 3 months of training in boot camp, after he has been strengthened as well as humbled, I look forward to seeing Cael receive the honor that he will have earned, the honor that comes with the title, Marine.

Oh my gosh! I just went to the mailbox and there was an envelope with a Marine logo in Cael's handwriting. It is a page and a half on Marine notepaper. I yelled out loud, I was so excited! It begins... "Well hello, holy crap this stuff is insane..." Maybe that gives you an idea of how it's going there. I can't explain how exciting it is to hear from him. When you don't know, you imagine all sorts of stuff good and bad. Apparently the Drill Instructors are as demanding as you might expect, but he says he respects that they are trying to train he and his platoon. That's good news. So there it is for today - and now... I'm going to go and read my letter a couple dozen more times...

Just for fun

I know, I know, you've already seen these photos and just last month at that, but I wanted to add snowflakes to update them for winter. After all, winter may be nearly a month away but we turned off the AC and turned on the space heaters this week right before thanksgiving, which tripped a breaker and everything. It's been downright chilly in here. And besides these kids are so darn cute, I can't get enough of them whether you can or not. So until I get my latest roll of film developed, I'm showing reruns.

A few moments in the driveway

We had only a few moments together in the driveway in passing before the cousins and Tommy and Shannan headed to Daytona for Thanksgiving. Here is what you get when you hand the camera to the kids for a few minutes:

Why Am I Here?

Why am I here blogging, I mean. I can only figure that I'm blogging because I don't have any other diversions from my work that I can fall back on legitimately at the moment. Last night I managed to divert myself with hours and hours of photoshop work. I had taken pictures of the kids while they were all still here together (see above) since they probably won't be again until who knows when, what with Cally going back to college and Cael planning to go into the Marines any day now. Out of the 24 or so I took, I took three photos (all similar) of the kids together on the front porch step. Each of the kids looked best in a separate shot... of course. Once I got started trying to blend each of their best pictures together into one photo and had a bit of success... there was no stopping me. It became an obsession (and what doesn't, you might ask?). This went on into the early morning hours and became a sort of contest with myself. The good news is, I WON! Oh... which one of me won? That's the beauty of competing with yourself... whichever you that you want always wins. The me who did an incredible work of photoshop magic really did make the most impressive showing. I would include the photo to prove it, but at this point, after putting that much time into something so frivilous, I must save it for the Christmas card. To give it away so soon would be premature, for sure. Plus then you would see how much time a person can waste in an evening on something of such little consequence. So in order to make the most of my wasted time, I will wait on sharing it. I give you the above group of other photos I took, however... These I didn't do any photoshop magic on. These are our untouched reality.

Good New/Bad News

The bad news is someone tried to steal my car last night.
The good news is we think that Cael happened to go out to his car while the attempt was in progress, thereby thwarting the thief, causing him to slither out one of the back car doors.
Bad news is the steering column is broken and the ignition jammed, the wiper lever broken off and the wires cut = I'm out of a car.
Good news is my insurance will cover it.
Bad news is it'll cost me a $500 deductible.
Good news is I have free car rental.
Bad news is the car alarm on the rental (a Ford Escape) has gone off once an hour for 9 hours since we got it. This has left me as wound up as a 5 year old boy on koolaid and red dye number 4 (or is it 5, or 8?) You get the picture.
Can we just admit it? I am an electromagnetic force of nature! There can be no doubt now.
Worse news... the rental place closed right when the alarm problem began.
Good news is there is very cold air conditioning in rental cars and the window goes up and down freely.
For now, I'll leave it at that.

On another note, the happy day of the free tree being moved to the back yard suddenly turned sour. The tree seems to have died a quick death. It's gray and somewhat crispy today. Okay, brittle even. I feel a little like Charlie Brown sometimes. You know how when they touched the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, the needles all fell off with that little clinking sound. The free tree's leaves do that now. Is the doctor in?

But some other good news is that Cael pressure cleaned the awnings that have been down since tropical storm Ernesto, plus he did the back patio and other areas. Soon I will be able to open the awnings again and see the light.
Bad news is that now I have to paint EVERYTHING... worse, I have to decide on paint colors. What was I thinking! I should have been laboring over this for months. Paint color is not a one day decision. I know... I'll stall by priming first.

That's all for now. My nerves are shot. I'm gonna have to sleep with the car clicker in hand. My neighbors have been listening to the alarm go off all day. Introducing the dagger sounds of loud honking into the darkness of night as well isn't going to make me real popular.

Silly Free Tree Video

Once upon a time, about 3 or 4 years ago, a tree popped up out of nowhere and grew in our front yard. It was considered a "bad" tree by Florida standards. It was a carrotwood or carrothead, or something related to carrots. I can never remember. Anyway, during the hurricanes of '04 it toppled and we had to chop it down. A sad day. Despite the fact that it was a "bad" tree, it had grown very quickly and gave lots of shade and I found it to be rather beautiful. I lamented its demise.

Then one day out of the blue, another free tree popped up in the exact same place, growing right at the base of the oleander bush. Only this was a completely different type that I like to think is some sort of Florida Oak, but you can tell that I make these things up because I'm too lazy to look them up. Anyway, this puppy of a tree grew very quickly and within the past two years has grow quite a bit. Since our backyard was stripped of the orange and grapefruit trees recently, I decided we should transplant the free tree to the back yard and let the oleander have it's space (and perhaps this will give it room to produce a new one for me). So today, Cael finally moved the free tree for me, and so I share with you the joy of having a new tree in the back yard... shade and all. Waalaa!

Math in a New Light

Just caught part of the NOVA film, Einstein's Big Idea, tonight, which apparently debuted last year. It expounds upon some of Einstein’s brilliant observations that revolutionized physics, in particular, e=mc2. This film captured a moment I never grasped by way of a text book. It was the producer, Gary Johnstone’s, take on Einstein’s creative observation and insight which translated into a sort of creative comprehension of Einstein’s theories on light, matter and energy in me. It is amazing how much more interesting something so flat-lined like math or physics can be when someone points to the story surrounding the facts. In the film, attention to the details of observation, supported by a peek into the cast of supporting characters in Einstein’s world, whom we would never meet in the same way in a classroom, makes the story behind the facts come to life. What a difference to be captivated by learning through art rather than to be taught a lesson. As a kid you have seemingly unending facts crammed into your head. Surprising the ones that stick, maybe even more so that any do. For me, the ones that did certainly weren’t about e=mc2. Yet in another moment, craftsmen and artists can spin all those facts into something personal and meaningful.

Gary Johnstone, the director and producer of Einstein’s Big Idea took some flack for playing out the drama of the story, but how else would you captivate those for whom math and science has always been painfully alien. I found it completely fascinating the way in which the math of creativity came into play in Einstein’s life. You know, I think I actually enjoyed math tonight! I must have as I found myself sitting forward, chin in hands, watching and listening for more. Bravo Gary Johnstone! This is a huge accomplishment. But then the film did mention electromagnetic fields too and we all know that there has been a recent interest on my part in that subject.

My imagination and interest were especially sparked during the scene when Einstein began to grasp that light is the constant in the universe. This thought and those surrounding it were fascinating to me. I will have to watch this again as the story moved on while I was contemplating all of this.

It appeared from the portrayal in this film that Einstein found himself in an intense observational niche that seemed to build for a time, as often happens with creative people. Once the creative’s eyes are opened to what God has placed within the range of their senses, their insight goes into overdrive and it’s nearly impossible for them to stop “seeing”.

"The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday life"
-This quote has been attributed to a number of people including Albert Einstein. I'll have to look into it further.

But whomever said it, perhaps if we all spent a little more time refining everyday life and being a bit more observant, who knows what any of us might come up with.


"After a certain high level of technical skill is achieved, science and art tend to coalesce in esthetics, plasticity, and form. The greatest scientists are always artists as well."
—Albert Einstein

Cool stuff.