there is no good title for this post

I’m still here.  I haven’t disappeared, I just wasn’t prepared to write about what was on my mind.  I’m not sure I’m prepared now, but I’m going to give it a shot.

What’s been on my mind is my friend and her family.  Because I haven’t asked my friend for her permission to write about her, I’m going to use a pseudonym — I’ll call her Beth.  Last Friday, Beth’s six year old nephew died very suddenly.  I know very little about the cause of death — an enlarged heart, I’ve heard mentioned — but, really, does it matter?  Is there ever a good enough explanation for the death of a child?  Don’t get me wrong — losing anyone you love is exceedingly difficult.  But to lose a child?  And to lose a child unexpectedly?  The size of that loss is completely unfathomable.  Anyway, I just wanted to ask you, if you feel inclined, to please say a little prayer for Beth’s family, particularly for Beth’s sister and brother-in-law, the parents of the little boy who died?  They can certainly use all the prayer and comfort they can get right now.  Thanks.

flickr friday

Spring has officially sprung around here…finally!  Just yesterday, the beech leaves on the trees all across the back of my house popped open in the happiest shade of green.  That makes me sooooo… (wait for it) …happy!  Yay!!! The forsythia (above) is beautiful and plentiful this year - I love the big splotches of yellow all over the place.

Just for kicks, I’m splitting up the picture selections this week - here’s a few to get you started:

pour some coffee in me - Hahaha!  This is hilarious…even in spite of the reference to a particularly bad Def Lepard song (blahblahblah…uncomfortable high school memories…blah).

wall of pyrex - Sheesh.  And I thought I was bad.  Next time Joel harasses me about my dishware addiction, I’m showing him this picture.

frizzante - I don’t know what it is about San Pellegrino bottles… maybe it’s the green glass/blue label combination, maybe it’s the red star.  I don’t know, I just love them.

So, it’s been a heck of a week…  I’ve spent several hours every night editing pictures until I’m bleary-eyed.  I think I’m finally starting to make some progress.  On top of that, Joel had two events for work and I was in the throes of data crunching and gearing up for the College Trustees who are meeting on campus this weekend - yikes.  Campus is all a-twitter and a-buzz with spring activities and preparation for Commencement.

We also had a small farewell get-together for my cousins, Rob, Sarah, and Finnegan, who are leaving this morning for their cross-country move to California.  (Why not Alaska, you guys?  Or Hawaii.  I mean, really, couldn’t you get a little further away? )  Even though I’m very sad to see them go, they are excited enough for it to be a bit contagious - Rob has a really cool new job and they’ll be living the Morrow Bay area, which is on the coast about half-way between San Francisco and LA.  (Safe travels, you guys - we’ll miss you!)

A few more photos to light your way:

the emerald staircase

isn’t she lovely

hello? - Eeeee!  Cutie-cute phone!  I have a rotary dial like this, but mine is basic black.

hope is the thing… - I like how the unopened buds symbolize the hope mentioned in the Dickinson quote.  Do you think that’s what the photographer intended?  So sweet.  Great combination, too - one of my favorite flowers with one of my favorite poets.

And finally, to you all, dear friends, Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend!

quotiness

It’s warm and sunny and glorious outside, but despite the loveliness, I’m feeling kind of quiet and reflective today. So, this will be brief — just a couple of quick quotes that are really resonating with me lately and then a few photos:

“Dust in our eyes our own boots kicked up, heartsick we nursed along the way we picked up.  You may not see it when it’s sticking to your skin, but we’re better off for all that we let in.”  All That We Let In by Indigo Girls

“If you’re lucky you’ll find something that reflects you, helps you feel your life, protects you, cradles you, and connects you to everything.”  The Hudson by Dar Williams

Can you see the ant in the second photo? It was super windy that day, so that little guy was holding on for dear life. I know how that is — some days are just windier than others, aren’t they?

See you tomorrow for flickr friday…

today, i am an adolescent boy.

A blog I read pretty regularly posted a link to this video today (Just fyi, totally NSFW - it’s a good thing I had my headphones on):

…and it made me laugh out loud at my desk. My officemate, god love her, probably thinks I’m a total loon. Mind you, I’m not exactly a fan of Bud Light, but still, this commercial is hilarious. Or I’m just juvenile. Or maybe a bit of both. Happy hump day!

friends came to visit…two months ago.

I’m trying desperately to get caught up on all my pictures. In going through all the shots on my computer, which are waiting patiently for my attention, I realized that I never posted about a lovely visit from our good friends Todd, Pebble, and their adorable 18(ish)-month-old peanut. (Sorry, guys — please to forgive?) They arrived late on a Saturday afternoon and, not wanting to waste any time, A. started right in with the cutie-patootieness:

She even has the appropriate expression — you can’t smile when wearing kick-a$$ red boots, you have to look tough.

We relaxed into the next morning with a long breakfast in our happy, sunny dining room:

(Aren’t they a cute couple? )

After that, we visited the new “aquarium” (it’s really just a big fish tank) at L.L. Bean and then went to the Corsican, one of my favorite places, for lunch.

I would have loved to have had more time with them, but they were in the midst of finalizing preparations for a trip to Paris (!) — they’re on staff with Campus Crusade and doing great work with students in Boston… and France apparently. Despite it being a short-ish visit, we were so happy they made the trip to visit and glad to see them for a bit. And it certainly didn’t keep me from taking a zillion pictures of A. — I think this one’s my favorite:

…but really, you can’t take a bad picture of this girl. Look at that cutie little pucker-y smile!

Back soon with more catch-up pictures…

flickr friday

Oy.  I’m not even going to bother blathering on about how I was so busy all day that I just kept getting distracted from writing this post…except I just did.  Oops.  Oh well.

Sadly, I don’t even have a photo of my own to share today…haven’t been able to sort/title/edit them yet.  Soon though, my pretties — I have a slew (i.e. over 400) of Spring! It’s Spring! I’m so happy it’s SPRING!! photos, and various other photos too, just waiting for the right moment to make their grand  entrance.  Just you wait…

Anyhoodle, how about some fun flickr favorites for this friday:

lower mills, no. 2 - I used to live right up the street from this place (when I was young and crazy and lived in the ghetto ).  This is an exceptionally cool shot of it.

sea urchin - Aren’t sea creatures amazing?  I mean c’mon!  Sea urchins?  Horeshoe crabs?  Sea horses?!  They’re so fascinating!

the piano’s been drinking - If you have a spare couple of minutes, click through this guy’s photostream.  The photos are great, he’s funny, and he’s got this whole music thing going on…pretty cool.

suitcases

inner sanctum - Such a pretty, delicate shade of pink.  Oh, how I love magnolias.

memo

i want to be…

j’adore

So it’s Friday!  Are you happy it’s Friday?  I am.  Really happy.  Yay!  Have a great weekend, friends!!

relieved

This is my awesome cousin Rob and his beautiful family:

Rob, his wife Sarah, and the rest of the family are extremely relieved and grateful to have learned yesterday that their sweet, precious little boy doesn’t have to have neurosurgery after all.  After waiting days to see a pediatric neurosurgeon, they were told that his condition (hydrocephalus - fluid on the brain) was improving on its own!  His records will be transferred so he can continue to be monitored after their upcoming move to California (sobbing, wailing, gnashing of teeth), but for now, his prognosis is good.  Thank God!  Prayer works, people — I’m just saying. 

Now we can all go back to munching on those adorable, chubby little arms.  Check out that picture up there and tell me you don’t want to just eat them right up…nom nom nom…  He is such a cutie!

top ten tuesday: crazy-making

Hey, look, it’s my living room. We could actually use this fire today - April showers have finally arrived with a vengeance making it really wet and raw outside. In the midst of all the grayness, I have to keep reminding myself that we need the rain so that the grass will green up, the flowers will bloom, and the trees will leaf out. See, rain is good. Lather, rinse, repeat.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As you are no doubt painfully aware by now, April is giving me a pretty hard time this year. Thank goodness it’s almost over. In honor of there being too-much-to-do-and-not-enough-hours-in-which-to-do-it, I am pleased to present annoyed to present ticked off enough to present Oh, hell, nevermind… Here are the top ten however-many-come-to-mind things that are making me absolutely crazy*** these days:

31. translating 20 pages of handwritten meeting notes into a coherent document of meeting minutes

15. laundry - Ohmigosh, it never goes away!

112. showering and personal grooming - If I could sleep an extra hour instead of showering, blow drying my hair, applying make-up, and getting dressed, I’d be a much happier girl. Don’t even get me started on how often I have to file my nails…

77. travel - In April alone, I have spent almost 80 hours traveling, either by plane or car. Yes, I added it up - I was curious. And that doesn’t even include my hour+ commute to and from work every day! If someone could please invent a matter transporter like they had on Star Trek, I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

96. packing and unpacking - All that travel naturally necessitates some packing and unpacking of clothes and other essentials. And I’m a nervous traveler (Oh, who am I kidding? I’m a nervous everything.) so I tend to get pretty worked about the whole thing. I need a personal assistant who will pack for me. Either that or a sherpa to carry my luggage so I can just take everything with me.

33. photography - Don’t get me wrong - I love taking pictures. It’s the sorting/dating/naming/editing of said pictures that I could do without.

2. lesson planning - Again, I love teaching voice. I’m happy to have lessons to plan. But I’d be happier if the lessons would just plan themselves and miraculously appear on my piano all ready to go.

***This is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Even in the midst of all the busy-ness, I can acknowledge that many of these things are just as much of a blessing as they are a curse. But because they are still crazy-making, I reserve the right to joke around and bitch about them. Just bear with me and use your sense of humor, ok?

flickr friday

iron fence - Boston Public Garden

I think I’ll just jump right in with the flickr favorites today:

goodbye, dear friends! - Cool, old chairs. Too bad I already have too much furniture as it is…

sweet little wood duck - Oh, the cuteness. It kills me.

ocean queen - Mmm, coffee.

perfectly unraveled - Hm. I think those are old yarn spools and that’s what the title refers to? Anyway, I love old Ball jars.

intoxicating - Such a pretty shade of pink. (I know — I’m starting up with the flowers again. I just can’t help myself.)

fog in the park - Something about the light in this photo makes me feel like I’m there. I swear I can feel the cool damp of the fog on my skin…

strawberries and champagne

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Surprise, surprise — we’re on the road again this weekend, off to Pennsylvania for a friend’s wedding. It will be a lot of drive-time (eight hours there, a day of festivities, eight hours back) but that tends to be our m.o. — whirlwind wedding weekends. We once took a four-day trip for Germany for a wedding! That was a little nuts — I don’t think I could do that again. Anyway, have I mentioned that April is kicking my a$$? It is.

What are your weekend plans? Gardening? Spending time with friends? Working on the house? Sleeping? Whatever it is, I hope it fills you up and makes you happy — enjoy!

is it over yet?

I love April.  Really, I do — it’s my birth month, it’s spring, there’s a lot to look forward to, trees are leafing, flowers are blooming — it’s just a really great month!  But seriously you guys, I have to admit something: this year, April is totally kicking my a$$.  There has been some major event (usually requiring travel) going on every weekend since I-can’t-even-remember.  And the weekdays aren’t any better — work is completely over-the-top busy right now.  Granted my birthday was sandwiched in amongst all the insanity — and it was fantastic, don’t get me wrong — but c’mon. It’s enough already.

Maybe some lovely, delicate pink tulips will make me feel a little more serene:

Joel gave me these perfect pink tulips for my birthday — aren’t they pretty?

Ok, that helped a little. 

Any advice for me, dear readers?  I’d be curious to hear…  What do you do when you have eleventy-zillion things that have to be done and there just aren’t enough hours in the day?