Here we are at Adam's Birthday Party!

Signs and blessings

I admit to being a person that believes in signs and blessings. They come to us for many reasons, from an infinite number of inspirations. But, if you don't believe, you will pass on by and the gift goes unnoticed.

Robert and I are getting close to our one-year anniversary of buying our home in Greenwood. I've also dedicated myself to the struggle of getting back in shape, and that touches my life every single day. Yesterday was an 'iffy' day....my bad knee was telling me I needed to rest even though I would have normally gone to the YMCA for either pool or machine exercise. About 9pm I realized I was feeling lazy, sluggish, and slightly irritable. I decided I needed to move some, and because it rained all day I headed to WalMart. Might as well walk a little inside while getting my shopping done. After parking on the food side, I grabbed a buggy and power-walked to the very far corner of the store, way out into the garden shop. At that point my blessings started.

In the discount box I saw Gladiolus bulbs! Everyone in my family will know that Glads were 'the' flower I shared with my Grandmother and Grandfather Kolar, a traditional gift that I still leave on their graves whenever I visit LaPorte.

This morning Robert and I were hanging my new bulletin board in my office when I look out to see an Eastern Bluebird right outside the window looking at me! Bluebirds are traditional blessings on a new home, said to be good luck and the sign of happiness. But.....that's the same place I saw a bluebird ** the first day I visited this house**! I looked out the window, saw the bluebird, and told the realtor that the house was going to be a blessing for us. And I haven't seen them since that day!

And....to make sure I noticed....I just got the third blessing that's the most unbelievable. It's been raining since yesterday morning so this is the absolutely perfect time to finish putting my bulbs in the ground. It's been a steady, soaking rain that softens the ground while also watering- in the flowers. We got a break in the clouds and I ran outside to quickly drop a few bulbs. The second hole I dug brought up what looked like a rock. Robert ran over to grab it for me while I was working the shovel and pulled it out. Not a rock...a SEASHELL. A large seashell, buried about eight inches down in the flower bed at the front of my house. I didn't even break it with the shovel! The sea is a major part of my life. My kitchen is still a work in progress (c'mon, it's only been one year LOL) but it's shaping into a casual beach theme with aqua accents, sand, and beachglass. I collect sea fossils including agatized coral, seashells, and ocean critters. I spent the morning beginning the process necessary to set up my heart's desire, a saltwater reef tank in my living room. And here in my hand was a really nice large shell that had been buried deep in the flower bed at the front of my house. Of course I brought it in, cleaned it up, and added it to my windowsill.

I believe in blessings, and signs, and I take them as a gift sent to my heart. This is my home, and I'm going to be OK.

A rare day for a rare dog

Happy 14th Birthday to my girl Florida!

I hate to admit it, but I'm the rare greyhound owner that usually doesn't do anything to recognize my dogs' birthdays. Unfortunately, watching your dogs grow old is always a sad time, and birthdays have always been a reminder to me of loss. I know that's backwards. I should be celebrating each year we've had together, but...well.....it's hard to explain other than it became a thing of personal caution for us. Like, something you were afraid to notice for fear Mother Nature would notice and bring down Old Age on our babies.

Today, however, I'm celebrating the life of Florida who has been given 14 grand, glorious years. The picture at right was taken by my friend Joanne Johnson, a wonderful photographer who really understands the bond we have with our greyhounds. She captured this look of pure joy on her face just a week ago, just shy of this monumental birthday, running in our new backyard. It's a precious gift.

Years ago Florida saved me. Today, she's once again taught me something like she seems to do so often. Birthdays are for celebrating and I had dared to hope for a full year that we would make this one. We did, together, and her joy fills me too. She is perhaps the wisest dog I've ever known and more bonded to my heart than even my beloved Angel was. Some day, probably soon, I will mourn her passing. For today, I celebrate her greyhound soul!

What does it take to make a home?

I write this blog today from a unique, special perspective. Let me describe for you what I see around me.

I'm sitting at my big oak desk, finally updating this blog after quite awhile. Well....OK....way too long. LOL But never-the-less, I'm sitting at my big old supervisor's desk in the Greyhound Crossroads office. Outside the window, the big back yard stretches all the way out past three rows of pecan trees and a lovely Willow Oak tree that fits the yard perfectly. I'm being visited every few minutes by birds landing on the feeder about three feet away and as they come and go, I search my memory to identify them. What a blessing they are- excitable little sparrows, a mated pair of beautifully marked nuthatches, shining brown-headed cowbirds, and the sweet sad notes of the pair of Mourning Doves that spent quite a bit of time early today searching the ground for tidbits.

At my feet, as close to the desk as they can get are FOUR greyhounds. This is significant because I only have THREE. :-) The fourth dog is Santana, the first foster dog we've been able to host for a very long time. He's doing fine with ours and everyone is safe, happy, and sleeping contentedly after their last run outside in that big back yard.

What's significant about the birds, and the backyard, or the greyhounds each trying to get the coveted spot right next to my office chair?

Because everything I've just described is the result of a life-changing, earth-shattering, amazing change in our lives. Robert and I have bought a new house! How we got here is what I really want to blog about today.

Just after returning from the beach where I get to spend the week with my Mother and DaddyJim, we realized there was a major problem with our heating at the Chappells house. Paula had just had knee surgery, then Jackson ended up in the hospital, and the easiest way to help both her and the hospital situation was to stay with them for a few days. That way we had time to solve the heating issue, help them, and have a shorter drive to work. Those few days turned into three months! We decided that the time had come to make the move from Chappells to Greenwood. We visited our first potential house on my birthday in January, and moved the first load of furniture on Robert's birthday in March. We're here, beginning to get settled, and very very happy.

But honestly, that's the really short version. The REAL story comes in HOW we got here at all.

Paula never, ever, gave up. She just didn't. She said a gazillion times "If you'd move to Greenwood....." every single time she could drop it into a conversation. Over and over, never in a bad way, just insistently and in her own funny way. "If we'd move to Greenwood...." She said it so often it became a family joke and everyone in the room would finish the sentence once she started it. But, she never quit saying it anyway.

Then, when it actually happened, we could have NEVER made it without the support of Paula and Jim. When we made the decision to move I tried to have a really serious talk with them about staying, paying our way, that we didn't want to be a burden to their family. They both just looked at me and laughed. They had already discussed it even before WE were ready and wanted to open their home to us. Words absolutely pale in comparison to the debt of gratitude we owe them. In we came with our dogs, our habits, our expenses, our aggravations, our piles of boxes in the way...did I mention our dogs that insisted on learning how to bark, suddenly, at all the wrong times like when Jackson or Jim were finally asleep? I'm sure it was a pure hassle for them on many days but they never complained, never acted as if they were sorry they did it. They wanted us there in Greenwood until we moved into this new home and that's what we did. Period.

We got a lot of support from everyone else in our family too. They all wanted us closer to town and in a home that made us both very happy. Zoe bought us our first house-warming present; a nice set of beautifully soft, welcoming towels to enjoy on our first night at home. Cynthia, Stanley and Emily helped us transform the gold living room and teal hallway into a nice, warm almond which suits us much better. The family support hasn't stopped with everyone all the way up to my family in Indiana checking in frequently, asking if they could help, giving suggestions and trying to be part of the process.

Following a recommendation from a co-worker, we got lucky with our very first real estate agent in Jennifer Lynn from Prudential Cambridge in Greenwood. She was totally awesome and went way off the beaten path for us throughout the process. Several problems popped up that weren't her fault, and that she'd never encountered before, but that didn't slow her down. She, and her faithful dog Ginger, were really terrific and she was right--- she knew this house was supposed to be ours the first day she saw it. Jennifer, if you read this blog, it WAS. You and Ginger will have to come over and play one day when we have the rest of the furniture for you to sit on. LOL

What does it take to make a home? I don't know, really. I can't put into words exactly what it is about this house that makes it my home. It just is. But what got us here, what MADE this my home, was the support of so many people and so many things that I can't list here. I'm thankful for those of you who reached out to say you were happy for us, and most of all for my priceless sister who never stopped saying "If you'd move to Greenwood". Without that, I wouldn't be home.

Yes, Virginia, there really are miracles in the world.

Once in awhile, something happens to remind us that miracles are still possible. In our world of anger, and a tired environment, and an economy gasping for relief, all of that can disappear in the blink of an eye. A baby arrives in our lives that is much more than 'it's parts', those things that make it alive and healthy. It's a reassurance that we can still open our hearts and see a miracle.

Welcome to our world, Jackson. You have my finger and you have my heart. Aunt Kimmee loves you.

If all else fails.....

sometimes you just have to entertain yourself.

(Our grandson Adam, not quite a year old, during the dance recital last weekend. )

Too Many Lines!!!

Has anyone seen the movie "Amadeus"? There's a famous line in there about 'there's just.....too many notes!'

I'm fascinated by the work of M.C. Escher, particularly his Symmetry/ Tesselation artwork. These drawings don't really have names, but Escher numbered them and in some cases referred to them by familiar titles. This one is "#91, Scarabs". The picture below shows the original printout on the right, carved areas (first pass) in the middle, and the untouched pencil transfer on the left.

This has been a fun one to draw out of the PZKut even if there are WAY too many lines! What was I thinking??

She's got the Blogging Block Blues

OK, I'm just going to post! I'm just going to sit here, put fingers to laptop, and type.

For weeks I've been meaning to post. On the drive to work each morning (which I hate, btw) I think of all these marvelous things we could discuss here. My sister having a baby is a good one-- just call me Aunt Kimmee! I've had a wonderful trip to the with my mother and step-daddy-- those pictures are still hanging out there ready to be put up. We've done the annual dance recital, I've carved up a storm, and all SORTS of other things that one or two folks in the universe might be interested in reading. And yet, day after day, I've been stuck.

So thank you, kind readers....or at least those few who are still reading after this nonsense. This ought to break the block, unplug my brain, loosen the creative typing fingers! Or, I hope it does anyone. If Seinfeld can do an entire tv show about nothing, surely I can be forgiven for one pointless blog entry. ;-)