Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Today is Murphy's birthday. He is all of two years old. For the past two years I've had more than my fair share of laughs, all because of this little bundle of energy. I am a very lucky dog mom. To start our day, we trekked to Mello-Creme donuts to get Murphy a birthday donut for breakfast. He enjoyed an apple fritter and a plain old-fashioned donut. Of the two, the plain old-fashioned was his favorite, and I know this because he would take a bite of the apple fritter then put it down. He would then give me that look of "you're trying to give me something with fruit in it." After a few long seconds, he would turn and walk away. As soon as I offered a bite of the plain old-fashioned, he was right there and made no hesitation whatsoever. The entire donut disappeared in seconds. Most of the apple fritter is still in his food bowl. This afternoon we went for a hike along the creek and found the pond we spotted a couple of days ago on our hike across the bare soybean f...

 

 

 

 

 

My summer is well underway, and so far I'm enjoying each and every minute. I really am very fortunate. Not many can say they get their summers off to pursue all kinds of fun things, so I am very thankful I am one of the lucky few who can.  Speaking of being thankful . . . I've fallen into the habit of saying thank you nearly every day to whatever it is that's out there watching over all of us. And I've noticed when I utter the words Thank you, a warm sense of wellbeing just washes through me. I was told recently that my living out here in this house has brought out the happy in me, that the happy is quite evident in the way I look, the way I talk, the way I am.  Yes, I am very happy. Along with the happy is being content. I'm incredibly content. I don't think I've ever really known what this feels like, what this means, until being out here in this wonderful little house. Speaking of wonderful little house . . . the painting is moving along. The base color ...

The weekend weather, sunny and 70's, spoiled me. I need more of those days. Today, however, is not to be one of those days. No. Today is 40's and misting. Today is an inside day. Thankfully I did get the lawn mowed yesterday. I love seeing how pretty it looks right after being mowed. That being said, I'm already thinking about turning as much of the lawn as possible into garden. While I enjoy mowing, I enjoy flowers and trees more. My goal is to turn my lawn into a beautiful, whimsical garden. This can't happen in one summer, I know. It'll be the rest-of-my-life kind of hobby. This summer, I'm mostly going to see what's already here. All the way around the house there are daylilies. I like daylilies, but I might relocate a lot of them to another area of the yard. Maybe on the other side of the garage where they'll get a lot of sun in the afternoons and evenings. I also have a few irises that are nearing their bloom time. And I've found some m...

I have imposed limits on my news consumption. I simply cannot read anymore without becoming emotional. I know we'll get through this, but the thoughts that so many people could be/most likely will be ill and there are those who are so vulnerable make me incredibly sad.  So, to distract myself (since I am now working from home until further notice, and the only way I can really do any work from home is to amuse myself with "fun" breaks in between grading papers), I made a mask. No, not the kind of mask that helps prevent the spreading of germs. Seriously, what would be the fun in that? That would just add to my sadness. I'm trying to alleviate said sadness, so a fun mask seemed the way to go. After much thought, I imposed a couple of rules. Rule 1: The mask had to be made mostly from trash. Rule 2. One rule was enough. So I found an egg carton I'd put into the recycling bin. I cut off the lid and trimmed the sides. Having no idea how to go about ma...

After breakfast, Angel Baby and I lounged around in the room, neither one of us in too big a hurry to go anywhere. We had the whole day, and night since it didn't get dark, to explore the city, or at least the part of the city surrounding our hotel. While we lounged, I made reservations on the bus that would take us to the airport the next day. If there was anything I was a bit nervous about, it was missing our flight home. I'm one who likes to get to the airport five hours before departure. When I'm ready to go home, I'm ready to go home. Once the bus reservation was made, we set out to find souvenirs for friends and family. I really didn't want anything for myself. I'm totally happy with having photos and memories, but Angel Baby wanted a few things that would remind him of our time in Iceland. We found the street with all the gift shops just a block away from the hotel and made our way through the shops as we moved up the street. Angel Baby found gifts fo...

Yesterday I rode my first 50 miler for the summer. I'd planned on doing at least 30, but once I got out and realized how good I was feeling, I just kept going. I ended up having to deal with a short detour, about three miles or so, because county workers were tarring and chipping a road I wanted to take. I was forced to hang a left, going further west than I'd planned. I thought all was just fine when I reached a road that went north, but I soon ran into a real gravel road. Sweetness and I don't do gravel. We tried that once. Things didn't go well. But the only other choice was to backtrack, adding on more miles. I assured Sweetness this gravel road would be fine. We'd go slow, which we did. About a mile in, we found a paved road we could turn onto. From there, we were back on track. The rest of the ride went without a hitch. Well, unless you factor in the guy driving the convertible at the four-way stop, who didn't see me (that's what I'm going with)...

All the Christmas paraphernalia is tucked away for another year. I figured since it's all been up since Thanksgiving, it could all be taken down today. So it's down. Boxed up. Stored away. Ado tearing into one of his gifts! All morning I smiled as I worked. Yesterday with the kids was so much fun. The most ridiculous gift award goes to Funny Delightful Son. He very proudly handed me a small, heavy box as the first gift to open. I tore away the paper and looked inside. A shiny silver shut-off valve slipped into the palm of my hand. I raised my eyebrows, saying, "Thanks?" He just laughed. A few more gifts were opened around our circle. Lovely Beautiful Daughter squealing over the canvas tennis shoes I got her, and Angel Baby admiring the playmat for his new card game. Then FDS handed me another bigger box. I pulled the paper off and read the word Bidet . At that point the shut-off valve made sense. Ado with what was inside the box! I'm not sure who laugh...

This past week being Thanksgiving week, I decided to use a couple of my personal days and take the entire week to just hang around the apartment with Ado. The time away from campus has been absolutely wonderful. I wanted something colorful to cover up the old phone jack on the wall in the kitchen. Now, this makes me smile every  time I walk into the kitchen. I've always wanted to learn to play an instrument. I figured since Funny Delightful Son didn't want to take this to school with him, my opportunity to do so opened up. I now know how to play one song. So far, my week has been me learning three chords on the ukelele, beginning a painting of birds on a wire, painting over the birds because I decided I didn't like them and painting new birds that I now like, going to the dentist for some teeth work I've been putting off (and happy to find out my blood pressure is good -- 112/80 (though the 80 is borderline) -- which I credit to regular meditation), pu...

Since posting about being stuck in a funk, I've cycled over 200 miles, written several thousands of words of new material, and practiced yoga several times. I even made orange-cranberry scones and iced coffee to last me all of last week, so each morning I had a treat after taking Ado on a walk. All of this doing what I love to do has felt so good. I have to wonder why I fall into a funk and not want to do these things. They truly do make me happy. When I pull into the drive after forty sweaty miles, nothing can keep the smile off my face. Especially when I look at the stats on my Garmin and realize I'd kept a 15 mph pace, even given having to go slower while on the trail and making my way through the city streets. The same happiness fills me when I see four or five pages filled up with words, all single-spaced. The satisfaction that comes with completing these things I love feels great. It seems like I should never want to go a day without engaging in one or more of these act...

Central Illinois went from winter to summer without a spring this year. We had snow right into April, along with chilly temps until late April. Then a switch was thrown and the temps went from 40's to 70's, 80's, and today we're supposed to hit 90. The humidity is ramping up, too. My hair is getting wavier and wavier with each hot, humid day we have. I love this weather. I do like fall, winter, and spring. The changes that come with each are beautiful in and of themselves. But hot and humid I absolutely adore. Which is why I don't turn the air conditioner on. The kids are okay with this, at least for now. I know Funny Delightful Son isn't a fan of the heat, but he's not complained so far. I imagine if the nights stop cooling off like they've been, then he'll let me know my anti-air conditioner position is problematic. Ado suffers from the heat. We do our walks early in the day, before seven am, and late in the day, after seven pm. Since we ca...

My year of embracing opportunity continues! Today I said yes to the Museum of Science and Industry, an early dinner at a hole-in-the-wall near the University of Chicago (the food was great), a trip to a 57th Street Books, and a jaunt through a bit of Chinatown. Just when I didn't think the day could get any better, I scratched off the last number on a $3 ticket I bought when I paid for a lucky cat I found for Funny Delightful Son. The image of a money bag appeared, and underneath it was $100. The. Last. Scratch. I very seldom buy lotto tickets, and each time I do I never win anything. Hence the not buying tickets. This win was that cherry on top of the whipped cream of a wonderful day, one that I'll savor for a long time. At the museum, the first exhibit we visited was the U-505 submarine. We walked through and were given a close-up of what life was like on the sub. At one point, our tour leader played a tape of what it would have been like to be on the sub and hear d...

My first Don't Squander Opportunities came last evening at a get-together with friends. Smoked oysters. Eat one, my friend said. They'll bring good luck. So I stabbed a toothpick into a dark brown blob of flesh piled on a plate and plopped it into my mouth. The smokey flavor spread over my tongue and the roof of my mouth. The texture was soft, like a piece of smoked fish. I savored every second of the delicacy. Yummm, I said. I enjoy most seafoods, and the smoked oyster was yet another like to add to the list. My friend, in my phone contacts as Princess Leia because of her affinity for all things Star Wars , however, after very, very hesitantly biting just a small piece off an oyster, grimaced and spit out most of what she could. I wonder if the real Princess Leia would have reacted that way to smoked oysters. I kind of think she would have eaten them with gusto. Cricket sucker, anyone? And my second Don't Squander Opportunities happened as a result of me being ...

I know it's lofty saying today has been the perfect Christmas, but truly, I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful, fun-filled day. Though a frigid wind blew, the sun was bright and the snow glittered. I sat for a while, before anyone else was up and ready to open gifts, watching the birds at the feeder while a fire burned in the fireplace. Right after we opened presents, Lovely Beautiful Daughter and I made our way to the kitchen to get the meal going. I made bread stuffing for the turkey, the bread stuffing I grew up eating every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mom's bread stuffing. I snagged a bite as I made it, just like I used to when Mom made it. That stuffing is Christmas through and through. The turkey roasted in the oven for just over four hours, and during that four hour period, I made a couple of mincemeat turnovers to take to Dad tomorrow. He's the only one who liked the mincemeat pies that Mom made, so I thought I'd make a couple of turnovers just for h...

For the better part of the last ten days, we've not been in areas with cell phone coverage or wifi. I've been on roaming and haven't been able to do much online writing. I was fascinated with how the little towns have phone booths. They have to. No cell phone coverage. On one hand, I love the idea of not being so plugged in. Life is a bit simpler in those places. On the other hand, having had a cell phone for years and always being able to contact people in a matter of seconds via texting or calling, I've become accustomed to the ease the cell phone offers. Now we've reached San Francisco. 1070 miles into the ride. Just under 800 miles to go. Two weeks to San Diego. The ride has been everything I thought it would be. Beautiful landscape. Breathtaking coastline. Incredibly difficult hills. Each day, I marvel at the wonder that is our country, and I truly wish everyone, every single person who lives here, could take the time to explore and experience what is the U...

One of the local bike shops loaned me a beautiful mountain bike to play with for a couple of days. Unfortunately, rain moved in and drenched the trails, leaving them too muddy to ride yesterday as well as today, so I didn't even get to try out the bike in a proper setting. And I have to return the bike tomorrow. Sad face. Just to get some idea of how the bike feels, I took it across the street and rode up and over piles of rubber playground mulch the school district had dumped a couple of days ago. While not the same as riding trails, I had a bit of fun. I confirmed, too, what I had initially thought: I could really get into this mountain biking thing. The thrill (I know, that's probably overstating how much fun I was having) of feeling the bike maneuver up and over the piles just made me want to do it over and over. I was like the kid out having fun and being called to come inside by Mom because it was getting dark. The problem I see with getting the mountain bike is spend...