Aufenthalt

Ten Years Ago Today... Black Valentines Day

2012-02-14T10:04:00.000-05:00

I hesitate to post this because I don't want to ruin anyone's Valentine's Day. I know for most of you it's a lovely day filled with romance, flowers, chocolates and celebration. Unfortunately our family calls it Black Valentine's Day because it's the day our son Sam was stillborn less than a week before his due date. We try to honor his memory in some way every year with flowers in church, or by giving money in his memory. This year marks the tenth anniversary of his passing and I decided it was time to take a look again at the few things we saved in a memory box. I re-read the homily from his Memorial Service and remembered how wonderful and how comforting it was, so I am sharing it here. All of us have lost someone and can be comforted by these words. I hope they help all of you in some way too, and I hope that the Rt. Rev. G. Porter Taylor will not mind my sharing it.

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

Homily by the Rev. G. Porter Taylor (now Bishop of Western North Carolina) given at the Memorial Service for Samuel Robert Holmes on February 22, 2002 at St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church in Athens, Georgia.

We live in a fragile world

Things break.

Plans don’t work out

Life has too many unexpected turns

Then there is the fact that we simply live in time

Things are over before we’ve started.

Time runs out—and we are in the next chapter before we’ve even dealt with this one.

To be human is to be in time in a fragile world.

As a result, to be human is to deal with radical incompleteness.

As I thought about today, I thought of some words from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians:

For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;

but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.

Now I know only in part: then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

We are gathered here to mourn all that could have been. We mourn that we will never know about Samuel Holmes. All the days and years taken away. Death is always a thief, but sometimes the theft comes much too soon.

This is one of those times.

So we do what Christians have always done—

Gather as the people of God—in all of our incompleteness—

to see some reassurance that there is a realm where all is complete—

and there are at least moments when that complete realm touches this incomplete world.

We are here to hold hands with Jim and Beth—

and to weep the common tears of grief over the incompleteness of Samuel’s life

and of all our lives.

For on this side of Paradise we all see in a mirror dimly.

We gather as people of God have always gathered—

To feel God’s compassion—

And to lay our bewilderment and frustration and anger and sorrow in God’s hands.

To take all our whys and what ifs and place them at God’s feet.

But as Paul also says in his letter—We do not lose heart.

Because we know…. we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

We gather here today to sing Alleluia—because one day the incomplete will end.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.

We sing Alleluia because in God all comes to its complete and rightful end.

In Paradise—all those questions get answered—

What would have happened if I had taken that road instead of this one?

What if we had the time we lost?

What if….What if…..What if.

We will not get an answer as to why Samuel Holmes is not here.

We will not get an answer on this side of Paradise to all our what ifs

All we get is the promise—

One day our incompleteness will come to an end

One day we will be with our Lord in Paradise

On that day there will be time—

And on that day we will see all those whom we have lost.

On that day we will see our Lord and Samuel Holmes face to face.

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Took me all week but I finally finished Week 5 #ProjectLife #digiscrap

2012-02-12T19:31:00.001-05:00

Another fun week of doing Project Life. I got started early in the week, but somehow didn't get back to it until today. So excited that I have still having so much fun with this, and that by doing it digitally I can also use lots of other stuff from my digital stash really easily.

Products Used This Week:

From JessicaSprague.com

Project Life Template Design A (regular and flipped 90 degrees)

Clementine Edition Full Collection

From DesignerDigitals.com

Naturally Krafty No 7 Paper pack by Katie Pertiet

Jelly Alpha No. 7 by Michelle Martin (Maplebrook Studios)

Dipped Chips: Book Plates and Brads by Pattie Knox

Ali Edwards:

School words No. 1

Painted Words Brushes and Stamps

Yesterday and Today Week 12 elements from Big Picture Classes class (journaling outline with word Notes)

Free download from Ali's blog (One Little Week work art)

From the Lily Pad

Customizable Journaling Cards No. 2 by Designs by Lily (these are by the designer who created Clementine and go perfectly with the kit)

Fonts:

CK Ali Edward's official font

AL Modern Type

DJB Heather E

#ProjectLife Week 4 and still having lots of fun with this!

2012-02-03T17:35:00.000-05:00

I experimented with a different template again this week. I like having options, but I still love the ease of the original template A. One benefit of doing this digitally is that I can use whatever template I like and don't have to use it again for the flip side the next week. I tried using a different color cardstock for the background, but decided I liked the neutral grey color better so I stuck with that one for now. I stole Cathy Zielske's idea of taking an iPhone screen capture photo with the weeks weather. For the big vertical journaling card on the left hand page I used one of the bigger horizontal cards turned on it's side -- some of them worked this way and others really have to be horizontal. For one of the small horizontal spaces I used Clementine paper and sized it way down so the clock was the right size. I am trying to remember to write notes in my iPhone app Momento when I think of things I want to include. Momento already collects my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts so it's very easy to jog my memory when it's time to put together my pages for the week -- especially the journaling. I often use exact quotes of Facebook statuses for my journaling.

Products Used This Week:

From JessicaSprague.com
Project Life Template Design A
Project Life Template Design B
Clementine Edition Full Collection

From DesignerDigitals.com
Naturally Krafty No 7 Paper pack by Katie Pertiet
Instamatic Frames No. 4 by Katie Pertiet
Rob and Bob Studio Pop Dots Black and White Alpha (can't find them at DD anymore)
Damask Tonals Sunshine Paper Pack by Katie Pertiet
Ali Edwards Travel Memory Sets: Title & Journal Photo Overlays

From the Lily Pad
Customizable Journaling Cards No. 2 by Designs by Lily (these are by the designer who created Clementine and go perfectly with the kit)

Fonts:
CK Ali Edward's official font
AL Modern Type
DJB Heather E

Completed Week 3 of #ProjectLife #DigiScrap

2012-01-30T18:25:00.000-05:00

So week 3 is completed and I'm not behind yet and am still really enjoying doing this as a digital project. It's so much easier for me and I've stopped obsessing about collecting tons of bits and pieces of physical stuff to include, now I am just going to include the really meaningful physical stuff by either inserting it in a page protector or scanning and including it on the page. I kept it pretty simple this week, but played with a different template -- until now I have always used the traditional template/page protector A. I've also been using the iPhone App Momento to gather all my posts from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in one place and also to add my own notes. Looking at the entries for last month really jogged my memory about little things that made an impact such as feeling so happy listening to the Warblers while working. That's not something that would be in my regular calendar. Hope you enjoy.

Products Used This Week:

From JessicaSprague.com
Project Life Template Design A
Project Life Template Design F
Clementine Edition Full Collection

From DesignerDigitals.com
Naturally Krafty No 7 Paper pack by Katie Pertiet
Word Strip Labels No 2 by Katie Pertiet
So Totally Happy Brushes & Stamps by Ali Edwards
Winter Celebrations Element Pack by Ali Edwards (I can't find this on the site anymore though)

Designs By Lili Customizable Journaling Card No. 2

Fonts:
CK Ali Edward's official font
Mom's Typewriter
DJB Heather E

Pages from week 2 of Project Life: #projectlife #digiscrap

2012-01-19T20:36:00.003-05:00

So here are my pages from week 2. I pretty much ignored most of the things I am supposed to be doing since Monday to work on these digital scrapbooking pages. It's just so much more fun to make scrapbook pages than it is to say -- balance the checkbook, tidy my office, go through the mail, etc.....

Without further ado here they are. (Click on the photos to see them larger) I am also going to add an 8.5 by 11 insert and print out the blog post below on our Trip to St. Ann's. Most of the products used are the same as those I used last week so I haven't repeated the credits, but you can see them in my week 1 post below. Thanks for looking!

Amazing Grace -- Visiting St Ann's

2012-01-16T22:03:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share the sermon from yesterday's church service at St. Ann's. Emma and I were there with a small group from our church here in Rhode Island, St. John's. We've had an ongoing relationship with St. Ann's for over 10 years now and one of the things we do is sponsor kids to attend the Episcopal Conference Center Summer camps. Members of St. John's host kids and pick them up and take them to this camp in beautiful rural northwest Rhode Island. Emma has been a camper there too for the past 3 years and loves it. One of the campers who attended from St. Ann's is hoping to be a counselor there this coming Summer. I went down last April and wrote a blog post about it which you can read here. I had the chance to see a couple of the elementary school aged girls I hung out with on my last visit, and to make some new friends. One of the other great things was getting to know the others from St. John's better too -- nothing like sharing meals, and sleeping on the floor together for bonding. One of the absolute best things was watching Emma come totally out of her shell with both the St. Ann's people and our group. She really is terrific with kids. She loved her visit and didn't want to leave on Sunday after church when we headed home. For me these trips are a great reminder of what is really important in life and of how blessed I am. So without furthur ado, here's the sermon:

Sermon by the Rev’d Dr. Martha Overall

Second Sunday after the Epiphany, January 15, 2012

St. Ann’s Church, 295 St. Ann’s Ave., Bronx, NY

When Jesus spoke about angels ascending and descending, I don’t think that he foresaw that he might be talking about the stretch of Interstate 95 between Rhode Island and New York. But, you see, many of our young people, when they go to Rhode Island, come back thinking they have been to heaven.

Some of our boys—excuse me, young men—have told me that they are different people when they are in Rhode Island. When they are free of the stresses and the peer pressure of the South Bronx, they reveal the better angels of their nature. And that can change their whole lives.

One little girl was totally convinced that Rhode Island is heaven. One of the reasons that she was so sure was that when she went swimming in the waters there, the eczema that had plagued her, disappeared.

As a priest who particularly cares about children, I was delighted to have our children experience Rhode Island. But what I did not anticipate was that so many of them would then want to move there. And some of them actually did. Have you ever heard of runaway sheep?

Despite the fact that a haven is a refuge or a sanctuary, Mott Haven does not have a heavenly reputation. In fact, when the label “South Bronx” began to be used with all its unpleasant suggestions, this area is where they were referring to.

Nobody wanted to be responsible for conditions in the South Bronx, so the politicians liked to pretend that we didn’t exist. People were discouraged from coming here. The Gospel says “Can anything good come out of Nazareth,” but it might have said “Can anything good come out of the South Bronx?”

I actually had a supervisor in seminary who couldn’t understand why I wanted to come here. He thought I must want to buy drugs. It used to be that if you looked as though you didn’t belong here, they thought you were a teacher or a social worker. But these days, you could be a friend. Can anything good come out of the South Bronx; you bet it can.

Before Jonathan Kozol wrote Amazing Grace, people used to hide conditions in the South Bronx. The denial of reality was so extreme that on the abandoned buildings that people could see from the Bruckner Expressway, the city actually posted stickers of flowerpots in the windows so that commuters wouldn’t find them so depressing. But conditions will never get better unless the truth is known.

And so Amazing Grace was published and people learned that conditions are very challenging here, but they also learned that there are a lot of good people that come out of the South Bronx.

In the Gospel, when Nathaniel heard that Jesus was from Nazareth, he reacted “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Scholars have observed that the closest thing we have to Nazareth is the South Bronx. Primarily they say that because so many people live in poverty. Mott Haven is still the poorest part of the poorest congressional district in the whole country. Most people in our neighborhood live in what’s called extreme poverty, which means that their family income is less than one-half the poverty rate. That is what conditions were like in Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. Didanything good come out of Nazareth? Does anything good come out of the South Bronx?

There are more ways in which Mott Haven is like Nazareth. There is a strong sense of community among the people of this neighborhood, just as there was among the people of Nazareth. There is also a feeling of powerlessness, because what power we have is not often used.

But the way in which the South Bronx is most like Nazareth is the contrasting economic poverty and spiritualwealth. Because we live very close to the margins, most of us are extremely aware of how much we rely on God. As a result, there’s a church on just about every block in this neighborhood. So, how can anyone question whether anything good can come out of a place like this?

My feeling is that it is more than likely that a lot of good will come out of places like this. You know the old saying: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and those that come out of Nazareth and Mott Haven are mighty strong.

But in addition to strength, growing up here gives many young people compassion—they really can feel other people’s pain.

It also gives them a closeness to God. Even gang members wear rosaries around their necks and if you listen to rap, you’ll hear a lot of God talk.

If you want immediate proof that something good can come out of place like this, all you had to do was to look around here yesterday and today. You would see the results of angels ascending and descending along Interstate 95. The people of our two communities come together recognizing somehow that without each other we are not whole, that without each other we are not what God wants us to be.

And so a lot of good continues to come out of the South Bronx— and out of Barrington. We have a relationship that was born in Amazing Grace and nurtured by God. Those whom God has joined together let no one put asunder. Bringing communities together to reconcile this world to God was also the work of Martin Luther King, the work that we celebrate tomorrow. May we continue that work. Amen.

Note:

Jonathan Kozol wrote Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation in 1996.

Just finished my 2012 week 1 #ProjectLife pages #digiscrap

2012-01-12T22:12:00.001-05:00

Well, I doubt I will be this on top of things all year, but I just finished my pages for week 1 of 2012. I am enjoying doing digital pages using Photoshop and the digital templates and versions of the cards. In some ways it's faster for me, but the temptation to keep tweaking/changing the pages (because I can easily do so) is there. I did the paper version in 2011 and am still working on weeks from last year as well. I am in "get it done" mode on these pages and use my handwriting on the journaling cards and pretty much stick photos in without adding anything to them other than maybe a tag or note. Earlier last year I was editing photos in photoshop and adding borders and things before printing but that was very time consuming. Still, I enjoy this project and also enjoy looking at everyone else's creations.

Products Used:

From JessicaSprague.com
Project Life Template Design A
Clementine Edition Full Collection

From DesignerDigitals.com
Naturally Krafty No 7 Paper pack by Katie Pertiet
Phrase Cards No. 1 by Cathy Zielske
Cut Ups Black and White by Katie Pertiet
Rob and Bob Studio Pop Dots Black and White Alpha

From the Lily Pad
Customizable Journaling Cards No. 2 by Designs by Lily (these are by the designer who created Clementine and go perfectly with the kit)

Fonts:
CK Ali Edward's official font
AL American Typewriter
DJB Heather E

First all digital #ProjectLife scrapbook pages.

2012-01-07T11:14:00.000-05:00

I've been experimenting with the digital version of Project Life available at jessicasprague.com. It's not like the earlier digital version and not like making a book from a template at Shutterfly -- it's real digital scrapbooking where I have total control with Photoshop. I plan to print the pages out and integrate them in with my existing paper Project Life pages, but I am hoping that having this digital option will help me keep up with the project. I can still add in inserts for memorabilia etc... or I can scan bits and pieces to include. I do love having the paper option as well though. So, here's what I came up with:

I was also able to use some things from my digital stash to compliment the kit.

Products Used:

From JessicaSprague.com
Project Life Template Design A
Turquoise Edition Journaling Cards
Turquoise Edition Title and Filler Cards

From DesignerDigitals.com
Naturally Krafty No 7 Paper pack by Katie Pertiet
Word Strip Labels No 2 by Katie Pertiet

From Two Peas
BTuma Snow Kissed Christmas Alphabet

Fonts:
CK Ali Edward's official font
Mom's Typewriter
DJB Heather

Read in 2011: Yearly wrap up

2012-01-06T12:11:00.000-05:00

Here's my list for 2011 starting with the last book I finished and going back in time to the first one I read in 2011. The stars are my rating out of 5 on Goodreads. (For more info you can friend me on Goodreads.com.) Books in bold I read for my book club. Interesting that there are only two 5 star books this year and both were non-fiction, both of which I was reluctant to read but ended up loving. Number 5 is the memoir of a woman who lost a child to full term stillbirth and it was cathartic for me to read, but also very funny -- I know that sounds odd. I could relate to SO much in this book and it was so comforting to know that my feelings were so similar to hers and so "normal" for that situation. I also read more books this year -- often I only get to the book club ones. This is partly because I started getting books on tape to listen to while driving Emma around or on my commute when I don't take the bus. I also read several fast reading mysteries which I love.

The Litigators John Grisham ***
Remembering Wholeness: A Personal Handbook for Thriving in the 21st Century Carol Tuttle ***
The Last Juror John Grisham **
The Ghost Writer Robert Harris ***
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination Elizabeth McCracken *****
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears Dinaw Mengetsu ****
The Private Patient P.D. James ***
One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez **
A Visit from the Goon Squad Jennifer Egan **
This Body of Death Elizabeth George ****
The Murder Room P.D. James ****
Ender's Game Scott Orson Card ***
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Jamie Ford ****
Death of a Witch M.C. Beaton ***
In the Woods Tana French ****
Dressing Your Truth: Discover Your Personal Beauty Profile Carol Tuttle ****
Magic Seeds V.S. Naipaul ***
Faithful Place Tana French ****
Show of Hands Anthony McCarten ***
Girl in Translation Jean Kwok ****
Mermaid Chair Sue Monk Kidd ****
The Gargoyle Andrew Davidson ***
People of the Book Geraldine Brooks ****
Wallpaper City Guide: Montreal Wallpaper Magazine ***
Gilead Marilynne Robinson ***
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot *****
Tender is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald **
Portobello Ruth Rendell ***

What have you all been reading and recommend? I am almost finished The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. It's the book and ended up with at our December book club Yankee swap. I need to finish it up quick to get the January book club book read by mid-month.

Nutcracker Weekend

2011-12-18T16:49:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a big day around the Holmes Household. Emma had dress rehearsal for the Ballet Center's production of the Nutcracker for several hours in the morning, and we were allowed to watch and take photos which I did. I got some good ones. but I didn't want to use a flash and I really need a different lens for low light and movement to get better ones. Maybe I will get one with Christmas money -- though I want a telephoto one also. The photo above is from the end of dress rehearsal when the director, Miss Garance, was giving the older girls some notes. I love how Emma is looking right at her and so obviously is really into the experience. (I also love how the Nutcracker attended as well).

Even though I had watched dress rehearsal I saw so much more at the performance -- the camera really blocks my view of the show as an entire whole. I know I am probably bias, but Emma was fantastic. She really brought the part of the naughty big sister to life and really led the children in the party scene. Clara's character was more of a meek, quiet child. I found myself laughing (in a good way) at many of her facial expressions and gestures. She's really animated and vibrant on stage. The cast as a whole was great too and the production was the usual high quality Ballet Center fare. They did the show exclusively with Ballet Center students from age five on up through High School. The director tweaked the male roles to be female roles so the Nutcracker was the Nutcrackerette and Herr Droselmyer was Frau Droselmyer. The soldiers were majorettes and Emma's role is usually Clara's brother Fritz. The costumes were terrific as were the sets -- just a colorful, fun Christmas experience.

Several friends, both mine and Emma's, were able to come too and I had everyone over to our house first for some light refreshments. That made the event even more festive and I'm glad I stretched out of my comfort zone and entertained.

Emma is very tired today, but not too tired to go see her friend dance in another studio's performance of the Nutcracker this afternoon. She and her friend Katie M. went by themselves after I dropped them off -- it was cool to watch them walk into the theater together all by themselves -- they are growing up.

Emma and I also went to see Festival Ballet's Nutcracker last weekend in Providence to see her friend Ally dance, so it's safe to say we are all Nutcrackered out for this season.

There are more photos in my Picasa web album at this link
https://picasaweb.google.com/egholmes/Nutcracker2011authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKO9s6jc38XdOg&feat=directlink

Halloween at the Holmes House

2011-11-05T11:14:00.001-04:00

Pumpkin Emma decorated at her friend Katie's Halloween party

It was quiet again at our house on Monday -- Halloween Night. We live on a dead end street with only 16 houses on it so we don't get many visitors. The kids on our street all come and there are quite a few but they tend to all come in a clump and this year they started out so early I missed them and Emma answered the door -- I think they were there at 5:30 -- it wasn't dark yet and I was looking for a candle for our jack-o-lantern. We got a late start on carving it this year and had just finished. Emma's friend from around the corner stopped by with her brother and sister as did some of the kids from the Sweetbriar neighborhood behind us. Emma went out at about 6:15 with her friend Olivia next door. Olivia's in 5th grade and her Dad tagged a long a bit behind them. They didn't get back until 7:30 or so and she had a huge haul of stuff in her orange Dunkin Donuts bag we got free last year when we bought doughnuts for her birthday party. I'd forgotten about it, but it makes a great bag. It's bright orange with a purple spider web and large black spider on it. She dressed up as a Nerd using her costume from last Spring's Jazz dancing performance to "It's Hip to be Square". She paired it with a pink and orange argyle sweater she has -- she asked me if they looked okay together -- I said they clash horribly, but that just makes the costume better!

Our front porch decorated for Fall/Halloween. I love these luminaries I got from Target in the $ bins. They have pumpkin and ghost cut outs and look great lit up with candles in them. They are tins.

Hanging up the ghosts we made

Emma in her nerd costume ready to go trick-or-treating

Ready for visitors

Even though Halloween night was quiet I did get my fill of kids in costumes on Saturday. We were invited to a party for family's at my friend Amy's house. They went all out and she had tons of activities for the kids and all the adults dressed up too. I was sort of a cowgirl wearing my half cowboy boots and Emma's straw cowboy hat. Emma went to this party as a ballerina because she wasn't sure the little kids would get the nerd concept. She was the oldest kid there, but enjoyed looking after/playing with the little kids. I am still thinking about the mini-pumpkin cup cakes with chocolate frosting that my friend Alisa made. Yum, perfect bite sized treat and not too sweet. I also enjoyed the hot apple cider with a hint of rum! It was raining so the pumpkin carving contest was held in the garage. I chose to stay in the warm house with my friend Jen and her daughter/my God-daughter Rose. It was neat to see the finished jack-o-lanterns though and we had a fun contest to pick the winner -- everyone voted even the 2 year olds.

Jen and my God-daughter

Emma eating at the kids table. She wanted to. Really!

The yummy pumpkin cup cakes

Emma reading to my God-daughter Rose wearing her Uncle's lumberjack hat.

We survived the 12th Birthday Sleep-over Party

2011-10-19T12:34:00.002-04:00

Emma hosted a sleep-over party for her 12th birthday this past weekend. It went really well. The whole theme/concept was Emma's and she made a lot of the decorations and her invitations herself. The theme was Hollywood/Movie Theatre and she transformed our sunroom/dining room into a movie theatre complete with things like a sign on the bathroom. We managed to find some cool movie themed things at iParty as well included a red carpet and a fake Oscar to use as a centerpiece. I enjoyed photographing their silly fashion photo shoot, but other than that and preparing dinner -- which was hotdogs and french fries -- Emma pretty much ran the show. They are a great group of girls and they were quiet, if not asleep, by 11pm.

The red carpet

Birthday cake from Stop & Shop. It was really delicious!

Place tags and photo holders. I printed out a photo of all the girls and put them in these holders for everyone to take one home with them as their party favor.

Table set for dinner

Voting for which movie to watch

iParty supplies ready to go

Backyard photo shot: Fish Face Fashion

Emma

Ally and Emma

Mary Kate and Emma

Olivia

2011-10-07T08:50:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my baby girl Emma.

I can't believe she is 12 already. I love the woman that she is growing into and I am privileged to be her Mom. I thought it would be fun to take a look at how she has changed over the years. Enjoy.

Emma at age 1. Belmont, MA

Emma at age 3. Athens, GA

Emma at age 6. Athens, GA

Emma at age 9. Barrington, RI

Emma at age almost 12, with her cousin Mia spending Labor Day weekend in Stone Harbor, NJ.

Ten Years After

2011-09-11T20:03:00.000-04:00


9/9/2001

This photo of Emma was taken on September 9, 2001. Two days before everything changed ten years ago. I've been wondering over the last couple of days why I was resisting thinking about 911. I was wondering if I was callous or unfeeling or indifferent. Then today in church one of our congregation spoke during the time when we usually have a sermon. She spent many hours volunteering with other members of our church, and many others at St. David's Chapel by Ground Zero in the months after 911 during the recovery operations. Hearing her recollections lead me back to thinking about what I was doing and feeling ten years ago. That's when I remembered that I was four months pregnant with my son Sam who would later be stillborn at 38 weeks -- just one week before he was scheduled to be delivered via C-section on February 14th, 2002. I also had this beautiful and innocent 23 month old named Emma to care for. So, that started me wondering if that's why I didn't want to go back to 911. That was a rough year for me and one I don't like to go back and dwell on. I know it was a rougher year for many many others. I know Jim and I wished we could have done something to help after 911, but we were so far away in Athens, GA. So, I will remember by posting this photo and loving and cherishing my family and friends, and continuing to ask how I can be God's minister in this world -- what is he leading me to do -- how am I meant to share my talents in big and/or small ways.


9/6/2011

Latest Digital Scrapbook Pages

2011-07-22T15:39:00.000-04:00

My friend Wendy and I decided to get together and work on scrapbook pages at my house this year rather than going to the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Conference in Valley Forge, PA -- which we have done for a couple of Summers. We've been busy today and here's what I've managed to finish. The two page Garden Party layout was mostly done already, but the Party layout is all from today. Enjoy.

It's a real treat to have some dedicated time to work on scrapbooking and chat with a friend with out kids or husbands interrupting -- just Chloe snoring under the table.

It's good to be back in the South: Garden Party

2011-07-12T08:55:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, Jim, Emma, Chloe and I transitioned from a week with my sister and her family at my Mom's beach house in Stone Harbor to my Dad and Hazel's home in Snow Hill on the eastern shore of Maryland. We took the ferry from Cape May NJ to Lewes DE across the Delaware Bay. We had great clear weather and Emma and Jim saw porpoises following the ship. Chloe made it through her first boat ride with flying colors too. After driving for a little under an hour through Delaware we crossed over into Maryland and were in the south again. I don't really get that "southern" feeling from Baltimore, but the Eastern Shore of Maryland is a whole other world, and definitely feels southern to me.

After relaxing at Dad's for an hour or so we got a bit dressed up to go to a "Garden Party" in Temperenceville, VA about a half hour from Dad's across the border in Virginia.

The invitation was to "Supper in the Garden at Queen Hive, home of Mr and Mrs. Terry Thomas. They run Thomas' Garden Center and do this party every year for all of there best customers which includes Dad and Hazel. There home is a lovely 1730s farm house and outbuildings and gardens. We arrived with lots of other people, including ladies in lovely Summer dresses, while a fiddle player and accordian duo who serenaded us. With glass of white wine in hand we wandered the gardens which were fantastic. Then we settled down to eat BBQ and wonderful tomato salad with locally grown tomatoes. The duo played while we ate as the sun went down across the soybean fields. I felt like I was in a period piece on Masterpiece Theatre. I also loved hearing all those wonderful Virginian accents. Yes, we were back in the South. Here are some photos that attempt to capture the evening.

Ladies Dinner Out

2011-06-23T19:22:00.000-04:00

I know -- two blogs posts in one day! I just wanted to share this photo I took on Tuesday evening. I was out to dinner with a lovely group of friends. We've been trying to do this once a month. They all have younger kids than Emma so it's definitely a needed treat for them to get away. This Tuesday the weather was fabulous so we decided to head down to Bristol and have dinner outside on the water. We tried Agave. The food was quite good as was the service. You absolutely cannot beat the view -- certainly not without flying off on a vacation somewhere. We watched the sunset over the Bristol Harbor as we talked, drank wine, ate yummy food and then indulged in desert as well! This is one of my favorite montly outings. Thanks Ladies!

Father's Day in Rhode Island

2011-06-23T19:06:00.001-04:00

We celebrated Father's Day this year with Brunch at one of our favorite little places in Warren, which is the next town over from Barrington. The weather was fantastic and we lucked out and got a table outside on the patio without even having to wait! The brunch was Emma's idea -- she woke up a few days before dreaming of pancakes and asked if we could take Daddy to brunch for Father's Day.

I had this very delicious eggs florentine benefict, with home fries. Jim and I also celebrated with a couple of Mimosas.

All the tables on the patio have these wonderful colorful umbrellas. I love them.

The East Bay is getting ready for the Fourth of July, not just in Bristol where they have the oldest Fourth of July parade in the country, but also next door in Warren. Lots and lots of flags everywhere.

Contemplative Daddy -- or Daddy who doesn't want his picture taken?
Amazingly enough Emma didn't mind having her photo taken. You never can tell with her these days. I hope you all had lovely Father's Days as well if you celebrated.

Gardening Fun

2011-06-06T22:04:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd share a few photos from my garden work this past weekend. Above is my newly purged and tidy tool shed. It's a job to work there and I can find things again!

Chloe wasn't very impressed with the impatiens I planted around our tree stump.

My pots fresh from their bleach soak and suds bath. The weather was perfect for being outside this past weekend: breezy, in the seventies, sunny and not humid. Not at all like Memorial Day weekend when I worked on cleaning out the shed -- then it was humid, hot and overcast, but at least not raining.

Above: Pot on my back patio. Below is one of my newly planted pots on our front porch.

Rhode Island Elementary Chorus Festival

2011-06-04T19:02:00.000-04:00

Emma and Katie H.

Rhode Island Music Educators Association (RIMEA) held their elementary school choral festival yesterday and today. This was the last in a series of 2 day festivals for High School, Middle School and Elementary. Emma is in the 5th grade chorus at Hampden Meadows and they performed this morning. I volunteered to be a chaperon because I really wanted to hear them perform and to hear some of the other choruses too. I was impressed by how good they were when I last heard them perform a couple of weeks ago. They put on a concert jointly with another elementary school chorus in Bristol. Both choruses sang and then they did a joint number, all the money donated went to Japan relief.

So, our day began at 7:30 when we arrived at school to gather and board two school buses for the trip to the University of Rhode Island where the festival was being held. By the time we loaded the buses and drove there and unloaded it was just past 9 am. This kids were all really pretty good -- but it was still loud on the bus. I sat with another Mom and chatted. Emma and her friend Katie H. were actually reading! We were the second group to arrive and got seated in the front several rows. It wasn't long until the first group got up to sing. I had enough time to take out my new DSLR camera and take some photos. The light was really low and I only have the built in flash so the photos are just okay -- but I wanted to capture the kids as they waited and hung out. Here are some of the best:


Our kids in the front row getting settled in.


Boys in the row ahead of us

Hampden Meadows was the last chorus to sing in the morning group so we got to hear all the other choruses sing first. There were some who were really very very good and others that were okay. I was actually pretty impressed by the overall quality! Our kids went back to warm up so only the parent chaperons got to hear the chorus right before them, and then it was our turn. I took some photos as they were coming on the stage. I set the film speed to ISO800 and the shutter speed to 60 so I didn't need to use the flash.


Our group right before they performed

They did a terrific job with all three of their songs! Everybody except a couple of kids were watching Mrs. Degnan the whole time and everyone was concentrating and enjoying singing too. After they sang they did a short clinic/workshop with a college level choral director who showed them how to warm up their head voices and open up their mouths really wide to let the sound out. Emma's mouth is always open wide when she sings and she looks very intent and serious.

All the choruses then received a packet with a plaque with their rating and a DVD of their performance and the judges comments. Hampden Meadows received an EXCELLENT. The highest rating is SUPERIOR and there are a couple below EXCELLENT too.

What a cool experience for all the kids. We made it back to school by 1 pm and the kids had a late Pizza lunch. I went home to eat (something other than pizza) and to recover from my bus ride headache,

St Ann's

2011-05-01T21:21:00.002-04:00

This is what it's all about.... listening, sharing, getting to know each other, forming community.

Lynn (from our group) and Ariadne chat while eating fruit pops

I just got back from an overnight trip to St. Ann's Episcopal Church in the south Bronx, in the Mott Haven neighborhood. A group of about 35 youth and adult members of St. John's Episcopal Church here in Barrington, RI took the trip together to visit St. Ann's, do some service projects, but more importantly just "hang out" with the kids and adult members of St. Ann's, and be in community with them. Members of St. John's have been going to St. Ann's for about ten years now and have formed relationships and connections there. This was my first trip and I was admittedly a bit nervous. I really felt "called" to go on this trip and to get involved; to step outside my comfort zone -- actually way outside of it -- and do something different. It was "outside my comfort zone" for two main reasons -- the obvious one is that I just have no experience with going on missions trips or doing service projects in disadvantaged places, but it was as much outside my comfort zone because I knew I was going to have to be outgoing and "on" for over 24 hours which though I enjoy -- is very draining for this introvert. Lastly, I had to be willing to "go with the flow" and be flexible, to see what needed to be done and step in -- rather than waiting to be told what to do all the time. I am definitely more comfortable just following instructions -- at least the first time I do something.

We loaded all of our stuff on the bus we chartered at 6:30 am on Saturday morning. A lot of what we took were many boxes of donated books for St Ann's after school and summer school program. These were all brand new teacher guides, workbooks, and kids books for grades 1-6. We arrived at St. Ann's around 11 and after unloading all the books and our stuff many of us got right to work cleaning the vegetable garden area. There were lots of leaves to rake and weeds to pull (as there are in most of our gardens here at home -- at least in mine)!. It was sweaty, satisfying work and I had quite an appetite for lunch at 1 pm. By that time the kids from the after school program had arrived to spend the rest of the day with us. We could not have asked for better weather -- it was just perfect warm and breezy sunny weather.

Setting up our beds for that night


Picnic lunch by the basket ball court in the church yard

After lunch we divided up into groups. One group with the kids aged 8 and older went off on our bus with many of our group and took a tour through Manhattan on the way to Battery Park and the ferry to Staten Island for a view of the Statue of Liberty. About a dozen of the kids were under 8 and had to stay back at the church with more of our group. After some initial tears about not being able to go, we had a really great afternoon just hanging out at St. Ann's which is an oasis of green in the city, and has a great playground (built and donated by some other churches and volunteers). There's also a big grass covered hill that was very popular for rolling down. One of the youth group kids had been clever enough to bring lots of nail polish in fun colors and this was one of the hits of the afternoon. While they were out shopping for the hamburgers and hot dogs for the cook-out in the evening, our group leader Al and St. Ann's rector Mother Martha bought fruit pops for all the kids that had to stay at St. Ann's.

Ariadne? hoola hooping.


The girls ran out of girls and women's nails to paint so they coerced our group leader Al and he let them do his nails!!

Angelique and Ariadne painting Martha's nails. Martha's a pre-school teacher so she had lots of ideas for things to do with the kids, as did her 13 year old daughter Julia.

Cindy and Julia helped kids do the monkey bars -- I also took my turn doing this -- it was hard work -- but fun. A few of them got good enough to do it by themselves.

Playing duck duck goose

Mariella or Marabella?

We ended the day with a BBQ outside -- featuring hot dogs and hamburgers and some peanut butter jelly sandwiches, with lemonade or water, and potato chips, with cake for desert. St. Ann's keeps their gates open during the day so there were other families hanging out at the playground, and many of them shared our BBQ with us -- we had plenty of food and it was a wonderful feeling of community to share with everyone. I had the job of making peanut butter sandwiches and serving lemonade.

The older kids and the rest of our group got back about 7 pm from their trek to the other end of Manhattan, hungry and tired, though that didn't stop our group of teenage boys from playing basketball in the churches indoor gym until almost midnight. I and most of the grown-ups went to bed about 9 and just read and relaxed while some of us supervised the group in the Gym. It felt so good to lie down, but it also felt great to have had an active day or getting to know the kids and helping out. I also spent some time admiring the manicure I got from Angelique -- pink and purple, with gold sparkles on top!

I was up by 7:30 and we all ate some breakfast we'd brought with us at about 8:30. Some of us walked a couple of blocks before then to get coffee at a neighborhood pizza and coffee place. I noticed some of our youth were eating French Fries for breakfast -- don't worry I won't tell your parents. Next up was attending church. St. Ann's has two services Sunday's: the 10 am is in English and the noon service is in Spanish. Most of the people at the 10 am service were African American, but not all. I really enjoyed the singing -- the choir was much more animated, and we got to clap along -- plus I knew or could pick up the songs and got to sing which I love. I saw a couple of the kids from Saturday and said hello! I imagine that the others were at the noon Spanish service. We also had time to take our youth on a short walk around the neighborhood. Apparently when groups from St. John's first starting coming to St. Ann's the area was in rougher shape and the apartment buildings next door were crack houses -- they are now fixed up and lived in. The people of this community have been working hard -- with help -- to build up their own community -- which is terrific.

Community garden near St. Ann's

Donated books that we brought down and several of us shelved this morning.

St. Ann's Church -- it's beautiful inside with lovely stained glass windows

One of the other things that St. John's does is sponsor kids from St. Ann's to go to the Episcopal Conference Center Summer camps in northwestern Rhode Island. I met a nice ten year old young man who hopes to come to RI to camp this Summer -- maybe he will be there when Emma is there since they are in the same age group.

This was a great experience and I can't wait to go back and bring Emma with me. It is so important for our kids to see other parts of our country and other types of people -- as some of us said on the bus home -- Barrington can be a "bubble". I was lucky enough to live in many places growing up, many of them cities with diverse populations-- but Emma spends most of her time in Barrington only which is not a particularly diverse place.

P.S. I am adding Jonathan Kozol's book Amazing Grace my reading list. He wrote this book about St. Ann's and their after school and Summer school programs.

Easter and April Vacation Week

2011-04-24T20:40:00.000-04:00

It's back to school tomorrow after a week of vacation for Emma, Jim and me (though I did work on Thursday). We had a pretty quiet Easter. I sang with the choir for both services this morning and Emma and Jim came to the 9:15 service. I guess she is really growing up because she didn't want to do the egg hunt after the 11 am service and she didn't want to have the annual posed Easter photo. I did catch her later in the day outside in her Easter dress -- of course she didn't wear crocs to church.

The weather turned warm and sunny after church so after watching a Glee episode on Netflix watch instantly with Emma I headed out to work in the yard. I filled an entire huge lawn waste bag just with sticks from our shedding oak trees! Then I mowed, and Maggie enjoyed chasing me around. I also cleaned out one flower bed and weeded and planted some day lilies I got from a local friend who just divided hers. Of course Chloe decided to lie on top of them -- hope they make it! After a couple of hours of work I treated myself to a half hour of reading, sweet potato chips and a glass of wine in my favorite garden spot.

Yesterday Emma hosted an Easter egg hunt for kids on our street and kids of friends of mine. It was a last minute thing that she decided to do on Thursday because she wanted to do something festive for Easter. She did all the invitations, egg stuffing and hiding. We had to move the event inside because it was pouring rain, but everyone had a good time anyway. I was glad that we only had 5 kids though -- more than that inside would have been a bit crazy. Emma did a great job and the kids had fun.

On Friday evening I helped out with our church's Stations of the Cross service. The youth group got together for an early dinner and practice, followed by the service. We divided into three groups and each group posed as several stations of the cross complete with large wooden crosses. Then the congregation walked these stations of the cross with brief readings at each station. I was coordinating one of the groups so I only saw the five stations that we depicted, but it did seem like a really neat and moving service, and the youth enjoyed practicing and performing. It was a good way to mark Good Friday.

We spent the first part of vacation week at my Dad's in Snow Hill, MD. Jim and I took lots of photos and I'll post some on the blog -- hopefully tomorrow or later tonight.

A litte bit of everthing: Regensburg, Montreal and Barrington

2011-03-30T17:11:00.001-04:00

I have a few unrelated things I've been wanting to share so I thought I'd just go ahead and do so.

ONE: Jim, Emma and I went to a party Saturday night at Emma's friend Katie's house. The party was for the two German medical students that they are hosting right now (both of Katie's parents are doctors). Katie's Mom thought we'd enjoy meeting them since Jim and I both studied in Germany. So the cool thing was that they are medical students at the University of Regensburg which is where Jim and I met. They were surprised to find anyone who knew where Regensburg was and originally said they were from Munich because it's the nearest "big" place. We enjoyed sharing some Regensburg memories with them and they brought us up to speed on changes and happenings there. It also turns out that the very small town that one of the students grew up in is the town where Jim and I had our first kiss -- Landshut -- our intensive German course group took a field trip there for the weekend! So, small world in many ways and so much fun to talk to "young" people -- turns out they were babies in 1986 when Jim and I met in Regensburg! -- 25 years ago now -- though I can't quite believe that.

Regensburg: The Steinerne Brücke and the Altstadt or Old Town, with the Cathedral dominating the skyline. Yes, it's really that beautiful!

Jim and I as we looked 25 years ago. Taken in front of the Berlin Wall.

TWO: Jim and I had a great trip to Montreal March 16-20th. Neither of us had ever been to Canada, unless you count the Canadian side of Niagara Falls which we both decided didn't count. We were surprised by just how close Montreal actually is to us, it's about the same number of miles away as Baltimore (375 or so), but it's an easier and less congested drive which we made in under six and a half hours with a short detour to drive through Burlington, VT and grab some food. Jim was going up to speak at the International Studies Association Conference and I tagged along with him. It's been about three years since we had a long weekend just the two of us away from home. Needless to say it was a real treat, and great to reconnect with each other. I also particularly enjoyed being in a foreign country and hearing another language without having to fly there for many $$ and suffer jet lag. I could read most of the signs and understand a lot of spoken French, but find it hard to speak in after all these years. I did study French for six years but that was back when we lived in Belgium, more years ago than I want to admit too! I switched to studying German only in 11th grade. Both of us just love walking all over a new city and just getting to know the place -- so most of our photos are just of the sights -- mainly buildings, but I thought I'd share just a few of them.

Checking e-mail on my smart phone and chilling in our room

Jim captured this great shot of old reflected in the new. Saw lots of older architecture blended well with contemporary.

Walking around in the Plateau St. Denis area. I'm carrying the new shopping bag and books we'd just bought. Yes, touring for us includes spending almost an hour in a book store where most of the books were in French!


Loved this add which we saw several places. We also noticed that Montreal has a bit of a graffiti problem

On our way to dinner in the Old Town. Highlight: eating moules frites!

Jim in the old town

Street sculpture -- so European -- at least to me.

Jim taking a photo. For the first time in ages we both had our own camera as I just bought my first digital DSLR. Thus, we have photos of me for a change.

We both can't wait to go back and also to go to Quebec City, now that we see that it's not too far. I was really struck by how the terrain changed when we went from Vermont to Canada -- all of a sudden it seemed that it got very flat and their was farm after farm after farm -- all of them with grain silos with the name of the farm on them. Then all of a sudden we were in Montreal with city and buildings all around and the Mount Royal just jutting up over the city. We came back on a slightly different route and drove across the bottom of Canada above Vermont and came down through the northeast corner of Vermont and through the Franconia Notch in New Hampshire. On that trip it started out flat and very wet -- in that there are lots and lots of little streams -- then before we crossed over into Vermont it became very mountainous again as we ran back into the Appalachians. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know a new place, reading its history and exploring. So glad we had this chance....

A couple of digital scrapbook layouts, one quick, one not so quick.

2011-03-29T19:51:00.001-04:00

I just spent a very happy hour making a quick scrapbook page of Emma's and my trip to the Boston Childrens' Museum and finishing another page I started last night and had a brain storm about when I woke up this morning. I haven't been creating as much in the last couple weeks and I've been missing it. I've been working on my paper Project Life album which is fun, but good to get back to some digital stuff too.

Walking, poetry and my One Little Word #olw

2011-03-12T13:08:00.003-05:00

Chloe, ready for her walk!

I didn't set out this morning to focus on my one little word for 2011: intentional, however, it turns out that my choice to go ahead and take my walk in the morning rather than putting it off was intentional, also my decision to listen to a podcast while I walked was intentional -- I usually don't listen to anything as I like the sound of the world around me and the quiet of my thoughts -- but today I felt like a long walk and wanted to listen to something. So I chose one of the Being by Krista Tippitts podcasts I have on my iPod. Well, the first one I started to listen to just wasn't working out -- the guy being interviewed was annoying me after less than two minutes, so I intentionally decided to abandon it and choose a different one. I am so glad I did, because the one I listened to both entertained and spoke to me this morning. It was Words That Shimmer from January 6, 2011. Krista was talking with Elizabeth Alexander a poet and professor about poetry. She read the most wonderful poem which I decided I had to share with everyone.

Kitchenette Building
by Gwendolyn Brooks

We are things of dry hours and the involuntary plan,
Grayed in, and gray. "Dream" mate, a giddy sound, not strong
Like "rent", "feeding a wife", "satisfying a man".

But could a dream sent up through onion fumes
Its white and violet, fight with fried potatoes
And yesterday's garbage ripening in the hall,
Flutter, or sing an aria down these rooms,

Even if we were willing to let it in,
Had time to warm it, keep it very clean,
Anticipate a message, let it begin?

We wonder. But not well! not for a minute!
Since Number Five is out of the bathroom now,
We think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it.

This poem reminded me to let the "dreams" the wonderful intangible moments of life, the spiritual, the beautiful -- find it's way into my life alongside the more loud demands of everyday living: cooking, food shopping, paying bills etc... I also like how it is so concise and powerful in it's brevity.

So, enough about the poem. My only other thought his morning is how very lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place on this earth, where I can take a 3 mile walk down a wooded bike path, around a lake, down a wooded road, past a golf course and through a lovely neighborhood of homes -- all within walking distance of my little house -- and within easy commuting distance from Providence. I wish I had tried the South Lake route long before now -- it's just so quiet and lovely. I'm afraid I tired Chloe out though. She had a few "sit down" strikes along the way. I'm sort of glad she did as it forced me to stop a couple of times, sit on a rock, and just contemplate. Well, now back to those everyday things -- cleaning the bathroom and tidying the guest room for my Mom's arrival later today!

February break in Baltimore: Photos and more....

2011-03-08T08:38:00.001-05:00

I'm late posting about February break, but I did want to share some of my favorite photos and things that we did. We drove down to Baltimore on Wednesday of February break week as Jim and I worked on Monday and Tuesday. We arrived at Mom's in the late afternoon. She was babysitting for my nephew Nikolas while his twin sister Amelia was at ballet class with her Mom, my sister Kate. I took a bunch of photos of them doing a puzzle together and this is probably the best of them. I just loved the way they were interacting.

Amelia and Kate arrived after ballet and Amelia had a great time helping Mom (her Grandma) cook our dinner. Here she is helping to make the carrots.

On Thursday we drove down to visit Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home in Alexandria, Va just south of Washington, D.C. Originally it was just going to be Jim, Emma and I, but Amelia hadn't been feeling well that morning and so didn't go to preschool. By the time we got ready to leave for Mt. Vernon she was really fine so Amelia and Kate came along with us. Nikolas was at preschool and Grandma offered to pick him up and babysit to we could all go. This turned out to be a terrific day and a great time for Kate and I to talk and catch up while I drove her minivan and she sat in the passenger seat. Jim was occupied with reviewing a journal article in the back seat, and Emma and Amelia were entertaining each other in the way back seat. We arrived around lunch time and enjoyed a nice meal in the Mt. Vernon visitors center where I got a couple of good photos.

Next we spent a couple of hours touring Mt. Vernon. We all got audio tours (except Jim). Emma and Amelia are more engaged when they can push a number and listen to information about an exhibit. There was a tour of the house itself, but then we used the audio tour when we were walking around the outbuildings, learning about what went on in them such as the gardeners house, the clerk's quarters, kitchen, greenhouse etc... The whole place is really well managed and set up and the view from the back of the house over the Potomac is absolutely breathtaking. We want to go back when it's a bit warmer and the distillery and grist mill are open, and when we can walk around the working farm they have there with interpreters.

On the rise behind the house looking out over the Potomac, with Mia running in the background.

This photo doesn't really do the view justice, but it does give you some idea.

Friday it was time for a trip to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore It was sort of a tie in to Mt. Vernon as well as being one of our favorite museums, since it's in the Mt. Vernon area of Baltimore across from the park and Washington monument there. We left Emma with Aunt Kate and the twins, and had a lovely grown up few hours looking at most of the regular collection with Mom. We haven't been in awhile so everything was new to us again. I particularly enjoyed the Ethiopian Art and bought a book about it. I've been intrigued by Ethiopia and the early Christians there since I read the book Cutting for Stone which was set mostly in Ethiopia.

Friday night we had dinner at Kate and Ron's by candlelight and firelight. It was stormy on Friday afternoon and many trees were down in their neighborhood, one across the street and one a few blocks away that took out the power to their neighborhood. Nick had the best time watching the crew clean up the tree across the street on Saturday. They had no power until Saturday afternoon! Emma spent the night with Amelia and on Saturday morning we all headed to the Winter Carnival at the twins preschool. The bouncy castle was a hit as you can see. Kate had to to a shift working in the Winter Wonderland passage so I hung out and kept her company.

Chloe had a marvelous time hanging out with my Mom's golden retriever Mischa. They play really well together as Mischa is really a gentle giant and Chloe is a small agitator. All in all, a fun trip. Thanks everyone!

Last Weekend in Photos: Emma and I spending quality Mother Daughter time.

2011-03-07T17:10:00.000-05:00

Stars on Ice at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence

Emma's friend Katie had extra tickets and invited us!

Daffodils starting to come up in our back yard

Waiting to board the Red line subway at the Alewife T station

Boston Children's Museum

Emma, posing for a photo in the Arthur exhibit at the Children's Museum. She asked me to take this photo.

Very cool and eye catching doors of the Boston Athenaeum

Exhibit of Edward Gorey illustrations at the Boston Athenaeum. It was terrific.

Sam would be 9 years old today

2011-02-14T07:00:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's been nine years since Sam was stillborn on Valentine's Day 2002. I hardly have any photos of myself pregnant with Sam, but I did find this one from our Thanksgiving visit to Pensacola in 2001 so I was about 6 months pregnant here. I'm standing next to my sister-in-law and niece Morgan and a friend of the family. I wrote a long post last year, and am not feeling very eloquent today so I thought I would just share the lyrics from a Dixie Chicks song which always makes me think about the little boy that I don't get to watch grow up.

Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)

Dragon tales and the "water is wide"
Pirate's sail and lost boys fly
Fish bite moonbeams every night
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

The rocket racer's all tuckered out
Superman's in pajamas on the couch
Goodnight moon, will find the mouse
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

God bless mommy and match box cars
God bless dad and thanks for the stars
God hears "Amen," wherever we are
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Godspeed
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

~Dixie Chicks

Sometimes when I sing along with this song I imagine my words and love flying up to Sam in heaven. Maybe that's a bit sappy, but it helped at the time, and does so even now -- though I don't sing it as often anymore.

So, I am especially thankful for my family at this time of year, particularly for Emma and Jim, and for all my friends who have been there for me. Thank you all.

Godspeed......

Struggling with my One Little Word: INTENTIONAL #olw

2011-01-28T17:44:00.001-05:00

Thank you Ali Edwards for your wonderful and honest blog post from January 26th: Daily Work at Home Rhythms & Things I have Learned. It was just what I needed to read. I have been struggling with the word I've chosen and that I felt called to me this year: INTENTIONAL. This word has been mocking me since January started. I want to be more Intentional, to waste less time, to actively chose what to do and then to be doing that and not thinking about other things. I love the way you phrased it in your post:

"I think one of the most important things in setting up your day is to be fully aware of your core values. If you don’t know what you value most it’s pretty difficult to keep that focus first and foremost in your heart and mind. What do you want your life to be about? How do you want to spend your time? What’s most important to you? If those things aren’t being nurtured it’s likely time to make some changes."

Maybe the problem is that I haven't spent enough time thinking about what my core values are so therefore I can't be INTENTIONAL about focusing on them. It is also possible that I butting my head up against perfectionism -- something that I struggle with frequently, or that I am being too hard on myself -- that maybe January is just going to be a slow, lazy, snowy, cold month. Maybe I should just stop fighting, and resign myself to being INTENTIONAL about taking it easy in January instead of mentally beating myself up for not making headway on any of the projects I want to get done this year. The whole point is to do something (or not do something) and then to be okay/intentional with that -- to not feel guilty about what I am NOT doing.

Thank you also Ali, for leading me to the blog Be More With Less: Life on Purpose by Courtney Carver. When I saw the title and banner on her blog I immediately re-focused on my word and why I chose it. Life on Purpose -- that's the essence of what I want -- nap on purpose, eat on purpose, be productive on purpose, spend time with Emma, Jim and Chloe on purpose, work when I'm at work on purpose -- reach out to friends on purpose. I've only just started to explore this blog, but I've liked what I've read so far -- though I am not ready to give up Facebook yet. The guest post on her blog on the 26th was Farewell Facebook by Rachel Jonat of Minimalist Mom.

Lastly thank you Ali for reminding me to read less, think less, and just do more. I too spend way too much time reading about systems, solutions, philosophies, decluttering -- and not so much time just doing it. As you again said so well at the end of your post:

"I like to read about ways to bring peace and calm into our lives. But what I’m really working on is reading less about it and doing more about simply living that way. "

I remember reading this poem way back in High School and loving it and being inspired by it them. It's Welcome Morning by Anne Sexton. To me it really celebrates the essence of everyday life or ordinary sacred life which is so much of what Ali and other bloggers I read have been writing about. So, I'll close with this favorite poem -- I need to re-read it now anyway.....

There is joy
in all:
in the hair I brush each morning,
in the Cannon towel, newly washed,
that I rub my body with each morning,
in the chapel of eggs I cook
each morning,
in the outcry from the kettle
that heats my coffee
each morning,
in the spoon and the chair
that cry, "Hello there, Anne!"
each morning,
in the godhead of the table
that I set my silver, plate, cup upon
each morning.

All this is God,
right here in my pea-green house,
each morning,
and I mean,
though often forget,
to give thanks,
to faint down by the kitchen table
in a prayer of rejoicing
as the holy birds at the kitchen window
peck into their marriage of seeds.

So while I think of it
let me paint a thank you on my palm
for this God, this laughter of the morning
lest it go unspoken.

The joy that isn't shared, I've heard,
dies young.

~Anne Sexton

Amen.

Continuing on nostalgic trip down memory lane

2011-01-25T11:02:00.001-05:00

emma easter 2005, originally uploaded by jimbethmag.

It's cold and snowing and my daughter is decidedly pre-teen so I thought I would share this photo from Easter 2005 when Emma was just 5 and when the weather was decidedly less snowy and cold, on the front porch of our house in Athens. Don't get me wrong -- Emma is still a joy and lots of fun and a great girl, but I am not sure it gets cuter than this!

Sledding, sledding and more sledding

2011-01-15T21:29:00.001-05:00

Even though we only got about 10-12 inches of snow here in Barrington there is still plenty left on the ground. Emma was sick on Wednesday when it snowed and also on Thursday so this was her first day to go out and sled. It was also lovely and sunny and not too cold so Emma, her friend Ali, Chloe and I headed out to St. Andrew's Farm Field where there is a pretty decent hill. It's in walking distance too which is a plus.


Ali, getting ready for her first run


Emma at the bottom of the hill

Mom brought her coffee then sat it in the snow when she was done, and since she's pretty odd she took a photo of it

There were a few other kids out, but not that many

I thought the berries on this tree were pretty

Chloe and I took a walk around the field while the girls were sledding. It was tough walking in some spots as the snow was deep and hadn't been walked on much. Chloe didn't seem to mind at all and was having a great time. When we got back we sat in the snow and watched the sledding while Chloe sat on my lap! This field is one of my favorite places to walk with Chloe in all seasons -- it's so beautiful. I especially like it just before sunset. We all stayed out there for at least an hour and half before heading home for lunch. Ali went home in the early afternoon and then one of Emma's other friends called to invite her to come sledding with them at the golf course, so off she went again. I didn't come this time as I was tired and cold from my morning outing. Chloe and I curled up on the couch for some reading and napping. Not surprisingly Emma fell asleep while watching TV with us this evening an hour before her normal bedtime!

Just finished my January layout for One Little word class #olw

2011-01-13T23:43:00.002-05:00

I just finished the digital scrapbook layout above for the class I am currently taking at Big Picture Classes. It is taught my Ali Edwards who is giving us terrific prompts and inspiration so we can document the word that we've chosen for 2011. There will be one prompt every month for the year. My word is INTENTIONAL. I had planned to do this as a paper/hybrid layout using up some of my paper stash, but as I was sitting on the couch this evening I felt inspired to try a digital version using Ali's outline of boxes and the word: Quotation, Synonyms, Definition and Because. It was just so much easier for me to do it digitally using my digital stash and the journaling that I had already written most of at the beginning of January in a Word document. I still think that I want to do some of this project using my own handwriting and actually paper and ephemera, but I may just leave this layout the way it is. I could also print it and cut it up into the blocks to put into the page protectors. I am not sure what I will do at this point. Once again it is way past my bedtime, but the house is totally quiet, the dog is sleeping next to me and I guess I don't absolutely have to make up snow day hours tomorrow at work. ;-)

By the way registration for this class is open until the end of the year and the cost is REALLY reasonable. Plus Ali is so inspiring!

More Ice Skating

2011-01-10T20:41:00.002-05:00

Emma is absolutely loving ice skating. She went again this evening with her friend Katie for the third day in a row. We've been going to Legion Way rink right here in Barrington. It's actually just a flooded parking lot that belongs to the town. There are lights and a shed with hockey sticks and snow shovels. It's dependent on volunteers to clear the snow and there's no zamboni so the ice can be bumpy in places -- but it's free and nearby. Emma and I bought ice skates with some of our Christmas money. It's also nice to be able to do what you want -- no one telling you what direction to skate in etc... Last Wednesday evening when we went we were practically the only ones there! Katie's Mom and I are taking turns driving them and skating. I am amazed by how comfortable Emma is on skates after only a half dozen times. She wants to take lessons now! Yesterday I watched her doing some simple turns and pivots. I did some more skating myself too, but then stopped to walk and hang out with Chloe. Here are some photos I took yesterday while Chloe and I watched the girls skate.

Off she goes

Emma and Katie (on the far right)

Emma and Katie talking

You can see one of the snow shovels used to clear the snow off the ice.
Everyone pitches in to clear the snow.

Books I Read in 2010

2011-01-04T17:49:00.001-05:00

Well I still didn't get many books read in 2010, but at least I averaged over one per month -- I guess at a total of 21 that's almost two per month -- and considering all the digital scrapbooking I do, plus other activities, being a Wife and Mom and working part-time I should be happy with 21. My ratings are from my GoodReads.com list and are out of 5 stars, and the titles that are in bold are books I read and discussed with my book group. So, without more comment here they are:

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar, 4 stars
A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot, 3 stars
The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton, 3 stars
Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O'Connor, 5 stars
One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus, 3 stars
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon, 2 stars
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving, 3 stars
South of Broad by Pat Conroy, 4 stars
Tinkers by Paul Harding, 3 stars
Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult, 3 stars
Little Bee by Chris Cleave, 4 stars
Women Food, and God by Geneen Roth, 3 stars
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, 5 stars
The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson, 5 stars
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson, 5 stars
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, 4 stars
One Day, by David Nicholls, 3 stars
The Likeness, by Tana French, 4 stars
Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niggenegger, 2 stars
Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese, 5 stars
The Venetian Betrayal: A Novel, by Steve Berry, 3 stars

Snow in Snow Hill: the digital scrapbook layout

2010-12-31T13:07:00.000-05:00

Just a quick and easy page to celebrate my daughter and her cousin builiding a snowman at their Papa's house.
Products used:
Michele Martin
Alana Paper Pack
Ali Edwards
You Mini Die-Cut Kraft Tags
Winter Celebrations Element Kit
Grid No. 02 Layered Templates
Wood Type Alphabet
Winter Hand Drawn Brushes
Pattie Knox
Brad Bonanza No. 01: Digital Fasteners
Mindy Terasawa
Sweet Rainbow Solids Paper Pack (slightly recolored pink solid paper)
Katie Pertiet
Word Strip Labels No. 02

Snow in Snow Hill

2010-12-29T17:32:00.002-05:00

Nikolas sledding -- too bad there aren't really any hills on the Eastern shore

It was a nice day today to go out and play in the snow before the temperatures warm up and the snow melts. We weren't in Snow Hill for the big blizzard since we arrived late yesterday, but they had about a foot of snow on Sunday. It wasn't so cold and windy today. I confess that I watched from the window while my sister took these photos and our kids built the snowman with their Dad/Uncle Ron. The dogs, meanwhile, we all outside having a ball in the snow -- Chloe loves snow and was chasing all around with the big dogs Bella and George. Pumpkin, the west highland terrier was upstairs having a nap with Hazel. Jim has spent the afternoon putting together his lego aircraft carrier that my sister's family gave him.

Earlier the grown-ups went out for a Sushi/Japanese lunch -- while Hazel took the kids to Friendly's for lunch -- she should get an award! Now Dad's cooking dinner and Emma and the twins are playing house again on the stairs to the basement (they are at one end of the family room here and are carpeted and they are hidden from the room by bookcases so they make a great little nook for playing in).

Amelia with her hat on backwards

Emma and Amelia with the snowman they made with Uncle Ron.

I think I like the pink hat better than the Ravens ballcap.

Christmas Gift Tradition

2010-12-27T18:04:00.000-05:00

This is the second year that I've made a CD sized calendar to give as a Christmas gift. Jim actually requested one again this year as he loves having the one I made last year on his desk at work. The great thing about digitally created projects is that it is so easy to make multiple copies. This year I made three copies and gave them to Emma's grandmother's as well. Here are some of the pages. I used a template by Bioggraffiti that was linked to from Persnickity Prints and had the calendar printed there as well -- they did a fantastic job and even included the CD cases which are used as a stand.

Other supplies used:

Ali Edwards:
Ali's official handwritting font
Hand Draw Holiday Word Art
A Week in the Life Twill Strips
(All from Designer Digitals)

Carina Gardner:
Daisy Jane paper packs and embellishments (from JessicaSprague.com)

Katie Pertiet:
Clock Buttons No. 1 (from Designer Digitals)

Holmes Family Christmas Letter, 2010 edition

2010-12-20T22:54:00.005-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,

This year was deceptively eventful around the Holmes household. We never felt all that busy, but, looking back, we find we were. Beth is still working as the law librarian at Partridge Snow & Hahn, LLP in Providence and ferrying Emma around to ballet, jazz classes, and friends’ houses. She spends as much free time as possible assembling digital scrapbooks. A couple of her layouts were published on the blog of a well-known scrapbook artist and graphic designer, Ali Edwards, which was a huge thrill. (See the post here -- I am the second Beth towards the bottom of the post: http://aliedwards.com/2010/05/week-in-the-life-reader-submissions-part-one.html) Beth also attended a scrapbooking conference with good friend Wendy Rees in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. They took lots of digital scrapbooking classes together, shopped the exhibits, and had a great girls’ weekend without the kids.

Beth remains a faithful book-club member. They’ve read some great books this year and continue to enjoy the company, wine, and discussion. (To see what we’ve been reading be my friend on http://www.GoodReads.com) Beth became a godmother again in November to Rose Sillars Rakeman, the second daughter of our friends Jen and Ed. It was an honor to be asked!

Over Emma’s February school break, Emma and Beth spent almost a week in Summerland Key, Florida, about 25 miles east of Key West. Ron and Hazel had rented a house there. Despite the freakishly cool—for south Florida—weather, Emma spent lots of time in the swimming pool. They toured Key West, and Emma informed her grandpa she’d like to live there for a year to get a real sense of how the people live. We traveled to Stone Harbor, New Jersey, for family vacation over the Fourth. We enjoyed our time there, as usual, and visited with Jean, Kate, Ron, Nikolas, Amelia, and all of the dogs.

Jim was in Washington to speak at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the American Enterprise Institute, and the German Marshall Fund. He traveled to Milwaukee to lead a Great Decisions event at the University of Wisconsin, to New Orleans for the International Studies Association annual conference, to Nashville for the National Security Symposium at Vanderbilt, and to Taiwan to address the annual Regional Security Forum put on by the Ministry of National Defense. This month the Atlantic Monthly named his and his pal Toshi Yoshihara’s new book Red Star over the Pacific a Best Foreign Affairs Book for 2010. (See the full write up – Jim and Toshi’s is the 3^rd book featured: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/12/the-best-books-of-the-year-foreign-affairs-edition/67994/ )

Miss Emma is in fifth grade and doing fine. She’s in the school musical and has a solo part. Their performance is in January. Emma started off the New Year with a trip to see the musical Wicked in Providence with Beth. Santa gave her tickets to see it as her Christmas gift. Emma got braces in March the day after Katie, one of her best friends. They like to coordinate the color of their rubber bands. Emma continues with ballet and jazz-dancing classes. She danced on pointe for the first time before an audience at her recital in June. It only for a minute or two, but it was neat!

She went to Summer sleep-away camp at Chimney Corners in Becket, Massachusetts, for the third year, and had another great time. Beth joined her for Mom’s Weekend towards the end of her four weeks there, and enjoyed the best weekend yet. This year Emma took two dance classes, swimming, climbing, arts & crafts, and games. She also spent a week at the Episcopal church camp in northwest Rhode Island with two of her friends from school and church. It was Emma’s second summer there and their first. She is reading all of Beth’s English Enid Blyton boarding school books for about the fourth time and spending lots of time designing and making board games about boarding school, and also writing schedules, curricula and class lists for make believe boarding schools. She and Beth also both love to watch the TV show Glee together.

We look forward to keeping in touch with all of you in the New Year!

Ballet Center Family Day

2010-12-18T15:38:00.000-05:00

Emma chatting with one of the ballet movement class students before the demonstrations

It's that busy time of year again and today's first activity was attending Family Day at The Ballet Center. All the students get together with their families, and demonstrate some of the barre work they do in class, and this year each group did a dance from the Nutcracker. Emma's group did the Spanish dance. Since Emma doesn't have any siblings we brought along her friend Katie.

Next up is dinner and watching Frosty the Snowman with some friends and their kids. Coming soon photos from yesterdays cookie swap.

Demonstrating barre work they do in class

Ballet 3 & 4 class doing the Spanish dance from the Nutcracker

Singing at the State House

2010-12-01T19:53:00.000-05:00

Rhode Island State House in Providence

The Hampden Meadows School 5th grade chorus (as well as the 4th grade chorus) sang at the State House today as part of the Governor's Holiday celebration series. There are concerts by lots of different school groups from all over the state every day at lunchtime in the rotunda of the state house during the month of December. It was an honor to be chosen to be one of the groups performing as there are lots of groups that would like to perform. I was able to nip out of work during my lunch and head over to see them sing. I was really impressed at how well behaved they all were while waiting to sing, and how well they sang! There was some really nice harmony and the space is very alive acoustically and so not all that easy to sing in.

Hampden Meadows School 5th grade chorus waiting to sing. Emma is in the back row center with white sweater and red hairband and silver dress

I watched from the second level so the photo I took is from above. I could get a front row place to stand up there so it was worth the odd viewing angle. I also got a great view of the rotunda above which is much prettier than my photos show. The concert was broadcast on Capitol TV on cable and the school got a copy on DVD so hopefully they will make copies for all of us. We are about to watch the rebroadcast on TV

It was a great break in my day and fun for the kids too.

Looking up at the rotunda

Relaxing after the concert and looking bored as parents take their photos

Raking with the Pugs

2010-11-28T09:44:00.001-05:00

While these photos were taken two weeks ago, I was raking with the pug again yesterday for several hours. I've managed to stay on top of things this year and might get all of those leaves raked up before the first snow this year. Anyway -- I had a not so bad time listening to my Glee cast playlist on the iPod, singing and dancing along to the tunes. Then making this digital scrapbook layout afterwards. Happy Fall!

Another lovely Thanksgiving at the Carter's

2010-11-27T19:14:00.000-05:00

Karen and Make's house

We had a terrific Thanksgiving again this year. We did our traditional Macy's day parade watching. Emma always gets excited about it, and Jim and I thought it was better than usual this year. They showed lots of bands too which probably made the difference. Then in the early afternoon we headed over to our friends Mark and Karen Carter's for Thanksgiving dinner. Karen's is my honorary sister and they are like family to us. When they lived in Baltimore they spent many holidays with my Mom, Dad and my sister's family. It's our third year in a row spending Thanksgiving with them. It's such a treat to not have to travel anywhere on the Northeast corridor on this weekend! We gave up going to Baltimore when we lived in Boston -- the drive was just too awful, and flying isn't much better these days. Karen and Mark live about an hour away in the lovely little town of Hampton, Connecticut. I love their house and it's such a perfect setting for a Thanksgiving gathering. It's a great old house with a newer kitchen, dining, great room added with a wood burning stove and great beamed cathedral ceiling. Mark's parents were there from Maine, and a work friend of Karen's joined us with her friend. He's getting his PhD and is from Taiwan and Karen's friend teaching Mandarin and is from China. So, it was a very interesting and diverse crowd. Poor Emma was the only "kid", but she brought her Ninetendo DS and her book and journal and kept busy. She really enjoyed listening to the real Victrola (old record player) that Mark showed her. They played some old records from the 20s on it -- they are so thick! I think it's pretty cool that the whole thing is mechanical -- no electricity required just cranking the handle.

Uncle Mark taking a break from dinner preparations

Karen changed things up this year and we had a little wine tasting with our cheese and crackers. We tried three different types of local Connecticut wine from Priam Vineyards. I really loved the Salmon River white. I thought it was a great idea -- and fun to try new wines.

Dinner waiting to be served.

The food was all delicious as usual. I have really come to love their mashed potatoes which have tons of garlic and some sweet potatoes thrown in. For desert we had yummy apple pie, or fruits of the forest pie baked by the University of Connecticut bakery, with vanilla ice cream. Finished all of this up with Uncle Mark's fresh brewed from real beans coffee and more conversation. Hopefully we were model guests because we want to come back again next year. I know I am thankful to have good friends who are great cooks and hosts -- I am thankful for many other things too -- including my family and friends everywhere. Happy Thanksgiving!

Emma and Jim.

Jim's latest Professional Event, "From Regional Sea to Global Lake: The Indian Ocean in the 21st Century | Transatlantic Academy"

2010-11-19T09:41:00.001-05:00

Jim just sent me this link with information about this panel he took part in recently. His presentation is there to. I'm pretty impressed by this slides -- now I know what he's doing on his laptop all the time! They are substantive and graphically attractive.

From Regional Sea to Global Lake: The Indian Ocean in the 21st Century | Transatlantic Academy: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

More scrapbook layouts for my latest class #MeTav

2010-10-19T21:43:00.001-04:00

I got some scrapbooking time in today and finished the letters F and G for the album I am making for the Me: the Abridged Version class. Here they are:

My Favorite TV shows: the Digital Scrapbook Layout version #digiscrap

2010-10-13T21:17:00.001-04:00

More 11th birthday celebrations -- the Slumber Party

2010-10-11T20:26:00.000-04:00

Saturday was Emma's birthday slumber party. We spent most of the morning shopping for party supplies, including these incredibly cute M&M tins which we filled with -- of course -- M&M's (purple and orange ones) and gave as one of the party favors. Our color scheme for the pary was purple and orange so they fit right in. Since the stores are always full of Halloween themed things at this time of year Emma decided to go with the flow and use sort of Halloween colors and themes. The first activity was painting pumpkins and decorating them. This was a hit and kept them all busy for some time. Then they played games outside involving pumpkins -- something Emma played at camp. They are old enough now that I don't have to be a hands on supervisor all the time which is great. The dinner menu was -- of course Pizza -- followed by Emma's choice of Friendly's Oreo cookie ice cream cake. They rounded out the evening by watching a movie and doing their nails. They didn't wake up until almost 7 am and then entertained themselves until it was time to go home playing a game Emma got as a present -- PayDay. They all loved it and didn't want to stop playing! Jim and I were even able to watch some episodes of "Friday Night Lights" and drink a glass of wine when they were all watching the movie. All in all a successful and fun party.


Waiting for the guests to arrive


Emma's best friend Ally and her "self portrait" pumpkin


Opening gifts as Jessica looks on

Alternate uses for Pink Disney Princess Chairs -- Pug Dog bed!

2010-10-11T20:08:00.000-04:00

I finally got a photo of Chloe in her "new dog bed". As you can see -- or maybe you can't -- this is actually a very pink Disney Princess chair that Emma got as a birthday gift some six years ago. It's been in the basement for ages and we brought it up when my 4 year old niece was visiting in August. One day Chloe checked it out to see if she could climb in it and she did. That time she didn't stay long, but over the past month or so she has started sitting in it regularly whenever she can't talk one of us into letting her sit on the couch with us. It's cuter in person! I'm glad she's got her own little spot to bask in the sun in comfort!

Pumpkins and Turning Eleven

2010-10-08T11:06:00.001-04:00

Selling pumpkins at St John's church

I always know it's Fall when all the pumpkins arrive at our church. This is the fourth year we've been doing it at St. John's and it's our biggest fundraiser. The church sits up a hill at the top of a lawn across the street from the main shops in downtown Barrington. It's so cool to see all the pumpkins on the lawn as your drive through town. Emma and I always sign up to sell pumpkins and have a great time. Lots of parishioners sign up to sell for two hour shifts and it's one great way to meet other people. I managed to get a photo of Emma last time we worked this past Sunday, during the one slow period. I know I am biased, but I think she's pretty cute. I also enjoy watching all the little kids running around looking at pumpkins. Emma enjoys giving out pumpkin patch stickers to the kids too. I've noticed that it's also a favorite spot for photo taking -- everytime I work there are several kids being posed by pumpkins for photographs -- sometimes with cell phones -- other times with big SLR cameras and tripods.

Emma's big gift from Mom and Dad. She can borrow my iPod for now.

In other breaking news, Emma turned eleven years old yesterday. We had a small family gift opening celebration followed by dinner at Billy's Restaurant here in town. It's a family favorite with kid friendly food, but also adult friendly food and ambience -- and most importantly for me -- wine. Emma was excited because it was going to be her first time ordering off the adult menu since their kids menu is for 10 and under! The downside of this was that we didn't get crayons. Now that wouldn't normally be a problem, but Billy's has bistro style tables covered in plain white paper upon which Mommy (me) likes to doodle while waiting for dinner. I may have to start bringing my own crayons. Last year I embarrassed Emma by writing "Happy Birthday Emma" with a big arrow pointing to her -- right on the table! Emma chose to have the cheese pizza and then chocolate cake for desert. This was a treat for me too since I didn't have to cook dinner, or have leftover cake, and I enjoyed a yummy meal.

Mommy's table doodling from last year's Billy's Birthday Dinner.

Emma's main gift from Mom and Dad was the boombox pictured above. She often borrows my iPod and docking station and I thought it would be neat for her to not have to move the docking station around all the time. I don't use my iPod that much so she can borrow it most of the time she asks, and lots of her music is on it anyway. Since she got birthday money from several relatives she is at least half of the way to buying her own iPod anyway -- if she wants. She also got an IOU for re-doing her room with more tween appropriate bedding. Right now she has pink and purple ballerinas and fairies!

Eleven pink roses

My Mom really outdid herself and sent these absolutely gorgeous pink roses -- it was only later that I realized that she had sent eleven roses -- for eleven years. Now we are all enjoying them! She also sent some Lands End clothes and Emma is wearing the cozy wine colored hoodie with furry lining today.

Opening the flowers while Daddy watches

Me, the Abridged Version class layouts #MeTAV

2010-10-02T13:12:00.001-04:00

I'm taking this great online scrapbooking course at Big Picture Classes. They have lots of neat online classes on scrapbooking, photography and other crafts. I am taking the class "Me: the Abridged Version, taught by Cathy Zielske who is both a scrapbooker and graphic designer. She's also funny, inspiring and engaging. The idea for the class came from the book An Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. The idea is to do an album all about ourselves based on an encyclopedic format. We started by brainstorming entry ideas for the different letters of the alphabet. I've done my title page, which you see below, and have finished the letters A through E. It's been fun but I confess that I still have to make myself write -- once I get started it's fine. I enjoy choosing papers and doing the graphic parts much more though. Still, I like having the written documentation so I push myself to journal more. I am using Michele Martin's Delancey paper pack for the patterned papers. I am also using her Ethan solid papers for the white cardstock. The background paper is Katie Pertiet's Naturally Krafty No. 7. The letters are Ali Edwards' woodshop alpha. I am using the font Georgia in both 14 and 11 points. All of these digital scrapbooking products are available at Designer Digitals. The templates for the class are designed by Cathy Zielske and we get to download those as part of the course fee. Thanks for looking.

Weeknight adult fun, the Great Big Sea Concert

2010-09-16T18:06:00.000-04:00

Wow, what a fantastic concert last night! Jim and I had front row seats and the view in these photos is our actual view taken with my cell phone -- no zoom or telephoto lens. They played at Lupo's in Providence right downcity on Washington Street near Trinity Rep. It's a great venue. It reminded me of what the Georgia Theatre could be like (and might be now that they are renovating after the fire). The basic set up is the same with a stage and an open floor area by the stage with a bar/club area behind. There were 3 bars open -- so very short lines for drinks as well as lots of unreserved seating on couches and benches. Then above there's a large balcony with fixed seating. For this concert they put some chairs and reserved seating on the floor by the stage which is where Jim and I were sitting. Note: the ladies room was huge, clean and had doors on the stalls!! No line during the band's break.

All this -- and we only bought the tickets on Saturday for yesterday's show. They are a great group and have a definite following, but are still accessible and affordable too! Only $35 for each seat! Also, I much prefer to listen to this type of music in a casual setting with a drink in hand -- rather than in a huge concert hall where you can't get up and dance. It was a real treat to be out just with Jim, on a weeknight, in the big city. We were sitting/standing next to a couple in their thirties. They reminded Jim and I of us when we went to our first Great Big Sea concert at the Paradise in Boston in 1999. She was pregnant just like I was at the concert in 1999 -- and they just seemed to be a younger, more energetic version of us. For one of the encores the band dedicated a song to the youngest member of the audience -- my front row neighbors unborn baby. It was very sweet. Plus -- the lead singer is just plain FUNNY -- and entertaining. So cool to see all the instruments they play up close: fiddle, recorder, tin whistle, accordian, bodhran, guitar, bass guitar, drums and some other percussion instruments I didn't recognize. My favorite thing is the acappella bits they do where they stop playing instruments and sing in close four part harmony -- with maybe just the bodhran. Then when they've lulled you with that they will break out all the instruments and pick up the tempo and start in on what I guess is called celtic folk rock?

Now I want to go out and have adult fun again soon -- only it would be better if it were a Friday or Saturday so I don't have to get up in the morning. This morning was a bit rough -- even though we were home by 11pm, I was too keyed up to go to bed until midnight which is a couple hours past my normal bedtime!

Sean playing the bodhran, Alan on guitar and vocals

Not Waiting for Perfect

2010-09-07T13:45:00.000-04:00

Another great post to meditate on -- at least for me.

Not Waiting for Perfect: "

Photo by Krikit ♥

When I was in college, I always carried the idea that “next semester would be better.”

Next semester I wouldn’t have this class with such a heavy reading schedule.

Next semester I wouldn’t be bothered by a work-study job grading papers where the professor would call me at home early in the morning asking me to come in for a half-hour of work. I can hear her now: “Rachel…?” (I would still be in bed.)

There was always something wrong that I would be able to fix “next semester.”

Finally one day it occurred to me that there would always be something to fix, something I wouldn’t like, and something that couldn’t be fixed. I didn’t need to have something be “just right” for it to be good.

Now when I see something about my appearance, my home, my circumstances, my job, my family, or really anything at all that I want to be different, I know that’s part of this life. Even though I keep goals, hopes, and plans, I’ve learned not to let “perfect circumstances” be a condition for my contentment.

How about you?

What to do when you are addicted to complaining

2010-09-07T13:43:00.000-04:00

It's just a banner day in the blogsphere today. I also want to keep this in mind -- I know that it can be one of my downfalls.

What to do when you are addicted to complaining: "

Not too long ago, I caught myself in a conversation with a friend where we spent our whole time together sharing complaints about our lives. In fact we were purposefully seeking out ways to connect through negativity.

You know, commiserating on the difficulties of raising toddlers, the terrible heat, the extra expenses of school season beginning, the monotony of having to clean the house and cook dinner every day.

All too often, if I’m not watchful, I find myself in these kinds of conversations…when my husband comes home, when I drop the kids off to my Mom’s for a visit, when I strike up a conversation with the cashier at a store.

The tendency to focus on the negative and keep ourselves in a constant state of complaining is rampant in our society.

I think it has an addictive quality. And I also think it is destructive to our health.

Read the rest of the article at Steady Mom (where I’m guest posting today!)

I’ll meet you in the comment section

First Day of Fifth Grade

2010-08-30T18:58:00.000-04:00

Emma's ready for Fifth Grade

Here's the requisite first day of school photo. Emma picked this outfit to wear before she went to camp in my-July. That's what I call planning ahead.

The cool shoes!

I love Emma's new purple converse. They are so cool! Of course purple is one of my favorite colors.

Emma looking down Washington Road for the school bus

It's amazing how big her back-pack looks since it only has her lunch box in it, and one book to read. One of Emma's best friends gets on at the same stop so we took a group photo. As far as I can tell the first day went well. She had homework already, and now it's time for me to do my "homework" since she brought a bunch of things home I have to work on.

Aidan, Ava, Ally & Emma

Finally a sunny day in Rhode Island

2010-08-27T10:26:00.000-04:00

The sun came out at last here in Rhode Island. My sister, brother in law and my twin niece and nephew are visiting and the first four days of their visit were rainy -- after almost no rain for a month. We were about out of indoor ideas so we were happy to get out for a day in Newport. We took the new Family audio tour of the Breakers where the tour guide is the house and the focus is on what it would be like to be a kid living there. It was great and my 4 year old niece and nephew actually wore their head phones and listened. Emma was our tour leader and made sure that we all pressed our play buttons at the same time so we would be listening to the same things together. Next we had some lunch and then drove around the Ocean Drive and stopped at Brenton Point to look out to sea and climb around on the rocks -- this was a huge hit and the kids had a great time.


Emma, on the rocks at Brenton Point (Newport)

Mia and Nick outside the playhouse at the Breakers (Newport)

Nick climbing on the rocks at Brenton Point

Mia on the rocks at Brenton Point

Our last stop was at Fort Adams where we went on a tour of the Fort. This wasn't open to the public when Jim and I lived in Newport in the early to mid nineties. It was a terrific tour -- if a bit long for the 4 year olds. The coolest thing about it is that we got to go into the listening tunnels under the fortifications. We all carried flash lights and even went into the 4.5 ft high tunnels. I highly recommend this tour. We were on the last tour of the day at 4pm and didn't finish until 5:15pm! Then we had Dell's Lemonade and watching sail boats go in and out of Newport Harbor. Really -- a terrific day and we were so impressed with how great the kids were!

Nick and Mia watching sail boats in Newport Harbor

Mom's weekend at Chimney Corners Camp

2010-08-16T12:12:00.001-04:00

Emma working on her breast stroke during swim class on Friday

It seems hard to believe that my third Mom's weekend at Chimney Corners Camp (CCC) is over. This year I had a really great time. I think I am getting the swing of things and am better prepared for all the activity and for sleeping in a tent, etc... I also got smart and took today off from work to recover -- something I didn't do last year or the year before. I also carpooled up with another Mom who is also in my Book Group here in Barrington. Her daughters have both been going to CCC for years and its her youngest's last Summer as a camper. We got to camp in plenty of time to set up our tents and eat our Wendy's salads in time to check in right at 1pm. So I started off the weekend not feeling rushed and trying to figure out when to set up my tent. I checked in and found Emma by 1:30. It was SO terrific to give her a great big hug after not having seen her for almost 3 weeks. She got ready for her first afternoon activity which was swim class. I am so very proud of her accomplishments in swimming. She is now in the yellow class level after spending two Summers in the beginning red level -- she skipped right over white level. It was great to watch her swimming and enjoying it too. Now that she is yellow level she can go down the slide and off the diving board and take more boating classes! Go Emma!

Emma taking a break during swim class.

Her second Friday activity was Musical Theatre Class and I posted a video on You Tube of that. They were working on finishing up their dance to the Glee version of Van Halen's "Jump". Then it was on to Climbing. Emma took this activity this past year so it wasn't new to me, but it was still cool to watch her climb all the way to the top with confidence. It's great that they have this indoor climbing wall at CCC. It's in the dining hall and starts at the basement level and goes to the top of the building so it's at least two stories -- maybe more because the dining hall has a very high ceiling with rafters. We also watched one of her cabin mates climb and got to encourage her along the way. She got stuck half way up so we tried to bolster her confidence and get her past that spot -- she did make it to the top!

Climbing class -- Emma made it to the top.

Dinner was yummy and we had a chance to talk to other Mom's and visitors of Emma's cabin mates. There are 8 girls in each cabin with a counselor and 1 or 2 assistant counselors and they eat meals together. For Mom's weekend they had two tables and the Mom's and visitors ate with them. One of Emma's camp friends in her cabin had her aunt visiting her as her Mom passed away when she was two -- another girl in the cabin had a mentor because her Mom couldn't come. The camp provides mentors to any girls who don't have a Mom or other female relative visiting. This girls mentor happened to be Emma's counselor from last year -- so it was fun to catch up with her. The evening activity was an all camp campfire where we sang songs, watched skits and also saw a slide show of photos. Then we headed back to the cabin for cabin chat. Each night the girls and their counselors gather in a circle on the cabin floor around a candle and share the highlights of their day. Then they share answers to whatever the question of the day is. On Mom's weekend the visitors get to share too. I don't know what it says about me, but on Friday night the question was, "Share a Mystery you'd like to solve". My answer was that I'd like to figure out what happened to my new sunglasses that disappeared right after I took the tag off them. The answer of one of the other Mom's was, "I'd like to solve the mystery of how we can have world peace." Another was, "I'd like to solve the mystery of how we can be better stewards of our environment." I told Emma that I hoped she didn't mind having such a "shallow" Mom!

Emma and I were both ready for bed by 10 on Friday evening. She fell asleep immediately next to me on the full sized air mattress. It was so wonderful to have her cuddled next to me. I was able to read for awhile we my book light and unwind.

Miraculously there was no driving rain or thunder storm over night so I was pretty well rested on Saturday morning. Our morning cabin activity was to plant a garden outside the cabin. The girls did most of the work and the final result was great. We returned all the tools to the farm area and had time to visit with the farm animals for a bit. There were 8 week old baby goats that we let out of their stall to play with. They were lots of fun and strangely reminded me of Chloe, our pug dog -- at least in their level of playfulness and ability to walk all over anyone who was near the ground!

Saturday afternoons activities were contemporary dance (there's a video of that on You Tube as well). As usual I enjoyed watching Emma and was really impressed by the dance director and her choreography and teaching. Then it was off to arts and crafts for jewelry making, followed by her last activity -- Recess. We played a Mom's verses Daughters came of Nuke Em -- sort of like Volleyball except you catch the ball. It actually got pretty competitive as the Mom's wanted to win -- no letting our daughters win here! Consequently it was lots of fun. We each one a game anyway.

After dinner I had some much needed "alone" time while I showered and hung out alone in our tent. Emma was off visiting with her friend and her friend's Aunt in their tent. So, I was actually not exhausted for Saturday evenings activity which was a live game of clue where we walked all over camp collected clues to figure out who kidnapped their Unit leader. I did "better" at cabin chat on Saturday when the question was to share something about one of your names. It's interesting that what I don't like about my name is that it has no real connections to my ancestors or family, and that's what Emma doesn't like about her name -- she hates her middle name which is a family name -- McDonald.

Sunday dawned cloudy and cool. Emma and I went to the Alumnae breakfast and looked at the yearbook from when I was a camper in 1978. Then we had our photo taken with other Alumnae Mom's and their daughters. Next was chapel and free time when we took down our tent and packed up to get ready for Jim/Daddy's arrival around noon. He carpooled up with the husband of my friend so each of us only had one car there and didn't have to drive back alone! We had a really wonderful family afternoon together, eating lunch, canoeing, having Emma show us around camp, visiting the 17th century Brewster house where Emma did the Colonial Living activity her first year. Then we played some Tennis -- that was amusing. It was just a wonderful weekend and I am so very proud of my 10 year old daughter who is a caring, capable, friendly, responsible, independent "woman in training". Can't wait to have her home for the year this Saturday!

Missing my son Sam

2010-07-28T15:27:00.000-04:00

Me, 7 months pregnant with Sam, December 2001. Emma is 2 in this photo.

Some recent events have brought Sam to mind lately, and I have been missing him and grieving. A partner at the law firm where I work was killed in a car accident over the weekend. He was 49 and left a wife and two kids under 10. Earlier this Summer a friend when I was in college died of cancer after a long battle, also leaving two kids under 10 and a husband. A friend is also 8 months pregnant with her second child. She has a lovely daughter who is 5 and who is terrific! Emma and she get along really well, and Emma loves playing big sister to her. Babies usually make me think of Sam, but I think it's the combination of the two deaths and also the fact that Emma is away from home at sleep-over camp for 4 weeks. I am always more contemplative when Emma's away -- it just reminds me that she's growing up so fast and that time is precious. The house is empty of kids and I just can't help thinking about what it might be like if Sam was still with us. He would be 8 and about to start 3rd grade at Primrose Hill Elementary. Our lives would be so very different.

We had a grief counselor visit at work on Monday. He spoke briefly at the staff meeting we had upon hearing about the death of our co-worker. I thought that I would probably have heard everything he had to say already because I experienced the death of a close c0-worker in October 2002. She died in her early 30s after being sick with cancer for just 3 weeks or so. We had a grief counselor speak then. Maybe the guy on Monday had the same things to say, but I was just ready to hear them in a new way. After all in October 2002 the loss of Sam was only 8 months old. Anyway, this counselor spoke about the phases of grief and how eventually we will visit with our grief and that these visits will be less and less frequent. We won't necessarily know when the visits are going to happen. I have found this to be very true. Part of me thinks it's odd to be still visiting with it now, 8 years later, but the good cry I had yesterday was extremely cathartic and I should probably let those feelings out more often. After all the counselor also said that we never get over a loss, we just integrate it into our lives and move on.

Please don't misunderstand me here. I love my husband and my daughter Emma, my friends and family. I love and appreciate them all and I know that I have a great life, but that doesn't lessen my yearning for my son who cannot be with us on this earth. There, I said it. It's very hard for me to say that "out loud"

For anyone reading this who does not know who Sam is. He is my son who was stillborn on February 14, 2002 at 38 weeks, just a week before my C-section was scheduled.

Thanks for listening and letting me share.
~Beth

Dropping Emma at Chimney Corners Camp

2010-07-25T22:11:00.000-04:00

Emma, finally got a top bunk! She's in cabin Victory Chimes in the Junior Unit.

Family shot outside Emma's cabin. Is it just me, or does she look a whole lot more grown up than she did when we lieft her for the first time in 2008? Or even last year! Even her counselors from last year commented that she looked much taller and more grown-up.

You can see Emma's cabin in the background of this shot. It's right by a little gathering spot. Here's Emma and Jim having a last father daughter moment.

We saw this sign as we were leaving. It's on the library and game room cabin. We'd just taken a peak inside -- I'd been in, but Jim hadn't see it. There were several old books in there he wanted to borrow, including the biography of Samuel Elliot Morrison. Of course they have lots of other books too -- ones that girls Emma's age and older might want to read. I assured him he could borrow the book and it most likely would not be missed -- I could return in at Mom's weekend.

Jim and I spent our first empty nest evening watching a couple of Tudor's episodes that were so "heavy" that we are now watching an episode of "Coupling" to decompress.

Best to you all!
~Beth

Dropping off Emma at ECC camp

2010-07-21T12:40:00.000-04:00

On Sunday afternoon, we dropped Emma off for a week of sleep-away camp at the Episcopal Conference Center in Pascoag, RI. We set up her bunk and Teddy got comfortable for his week at camp. I got Emma to pose for a photo by her bunk -- she sort of rolled her eyes when I asked!

This year Emma's friend Ally and Katie (who also go to church with us at St John's Episcopal church) are also going to the sleep-away camp. Ally arrived about the same time we did so I got a photo of them together while we were waiting in line. I also managed to get this super one of Jim and Emma together. Leaving Emma at camp is sort of "old hat" for us as it's the third Summer, but I still miss her and miss talking to her on a daily basis. Still, I know she's having a great time and it's perfect for her because she loves constant activity and being with lots of people. We pick her up on Friday evening and then we will spend Saturday doing laundry and packing for her next sleep-away camp. She heads of to 4 weeks at Chimney Corners Camp on Sunday!

Another new layout using Ali Edwards' new templates #digiscrap

2010-07-20T23:38:00.000-04:00

I love Ali's new rounded corner templates. They make it so easy to put together a great looking page. I wanted to highlight this photo so there's no journaling on this page other than the Bible quotation that sums up how I felt about the day the photo was taken -- as well as two small tags with the name of the person in the photo, my niece Amelia and the date.

My latest digitial scrapbooking layouts #digiscrap

2010-07-18T08:58:00.001-04:00

I took lots of photos in Stone Harbor where we just vacationed with my Mom, and my sister and her family. I've been enjoying the last creating layouts with these photos and remembering the fun we had at the beach.

I have included the full products lists and designer credits on my Designer Digitals online gallery.

On the Boardwalk

2010-07-09T12:43:00.002-04:00

Most of these photos are pretty self explanatory. We all went to the Boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ last evening and rode rides and enjoyed a delicious dinner at a new place called Joe's Fish Co. Jim and I had a white pizza with roasted garlic, caramelized onions and shrimp. Mia tried and ate cheese pizza for the first time, and Emma was brave enough to go on the big upside down coaster. Jim, Emma and I rode the Ferris Wheel and I took some photos from the top. Very fun, and great views especially at twilight.

Mini 4th of July Parade on the Nuns Beach

2010-07-04T19:15:00.001-04:00

At the end of the video (about 36 seconds in you will se Gavin, Morgan, Emma, and Mia.

Fourth of July in Stone Harbor

2010-07-04T19:08:00.000-04:00

Another great day at the beach. It was hotter and a bit humid, but still really nice. The water felt terrific and really cooled you off. The photo above is of the kids: Nikolas, Emma, and Amelia in their patriotic clothing. We went out for Springers Ice Cream about 3 ish after being at the beach.

This one is Emma on the "Nuns Beach". You can see everyone gathered for the Nuns sing-a-long.

The Nuns got the lifeguards waving the flag, to lead the kids down the beach singing patriotic songs. They handed out small flags to all the kids and there was someone painting faces too. When the kids got back we all sang several songs and said the pledge of allegiance. The Nuns assured us that our trops in Afghanistan and elsewhere could hear our songs and prayers because they would be carried across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranea and then on to the Gulf.

These are three of the Nuns all dressed up for the Fourth og July! As I type this Uncle Ron is cooking hamburgers and hotdogs in preparation for our dinner -- it's even nice enough to eat on the porch -- not too windy or too hot! God Bless America!

Best Beach Day Ever?

2010-07-03T18:51:00.000-04:00

Today was one of the most fantastic beach days I have ever experienced. There was no humidity, it was hot, but not too hot, sunny, and the water was clear (no seaweed, jelly fish, etc..) and refreshing but not too cold (at least not for me). My sister and her family arrived this morning just after 9am so we all hung out, had lunch and then headed to the beach. Mia and Nik wanted to dig a hole and fill it with water so that's what you see in the two of the photos. They both also enjoyed playing in the sand. Nik is really into batman so he was using shells or whatever to play pretend batman.

My friend Wendy and her family arrived on the beach later and came to say hello. (They are rented a house a couple of blocks away this week) Gavin and Emma both wanted to boogie board but were too shy to ask each other, even though they have known each other since they were babies -- granted they only see each other once a year, but still. I guess that's what happens when you are 11 and almost 11! Their Mom's organized them and then Uncle David walked down to the boogie board beach with them -- I walked down later with Mia and Nik to visit and managed to get a photo of Emma and Gavin on their boogie boards -- apparently they managed to talk to each other eventually.

We survived Ballet recital weekend!

2010-06-21T13:16:00.002-04:00

Can't Stop the Beat: Jazz 3-4 class

Lighting check for Espana

T-shirts on sale in the lobby

Espana: Spanish dance (partly on pointe)

You Can't Stop the Beat: Emma in the middle

Ready for dress rehearsal

It's Monday and we are trying to recover from Emma's dance recital weekend.Another great production and performance by The Ballet Center students, teachers and director. (Carol, I understand now why you used to take a day off after Mica's dance recital weekends). My Mom arrived on Friday just in time for all the excitement. We took Jim out to dinner on Friday evening for Father's Day because he was flying to Taiwan on Sunday morning. Billy's was delicious as usual and we had fun writing Happy Father's Day on the white paper table coverings!

Saturday morning started off with dress rehearsal. Emma was in four different numbers so we had several costumes to get together, try on, sew straps to make them shorter etc.... I got Emma and the costumes to the auditorium at 9:30 and then I went to work in the lobby selling tickets, T-shirts, DVD orders and giving directions. There were a couple of us working so I was able to sneak out and take a few photographs of two of Emma's dance numbers. Dress rehearsal lasted 4 hours -- not too bad considering!

So we got home at 1:45 and rested up until call for the evening show which was at 5:30. Mom had made some yummy tuna salad while we were out in the morning and bought flowers for Emma. Jim managed to sneak the flowers into the auditorium without Emma seeing which was difficult because we all went to the theatre at 5:30 and just hung out until the show started at 6:30. Well, it was supposed to be 6:30, but so many people waited until the last moment to arrive and buy tickets that the show didn't start until 6:45. The performance was terrific -- even Jim, who never gives praise just to make someone happy, thought it was the best one he's seen. The first act was a Spanish dance, performed by the older students, including Emma's class. The pointe students danced on pointe, and Emma (a beginning pointe student) danced on pointe at the very beginning of the number when all the dancers were on stage together -- she was on pointe for just a few minutes, but it was so cool to see her dance -- she was in the front since she is one of the younger, shorter dancers. Of course I thought she did a marvelous job. Next up were the jazz dance numbers. The older jazz students did a tribute to Michael Jackson feature a medley (mashup) of songs. There costumes were black pants, a white sparkly T-shirt and, red sparkly jackets for part. They also used black fedora hats for part of the number. It was really well done. Emma's jazz class did a dance to "You Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray and I loved their psychedelic costumes and the dance was great too. The choreography was pretty involved and intricate, in fact on Sunday's performance one of the dances was off her mark a bit and managed to kick Emma in the face and Emma's braces cut her lip which started bleeding and she had to make a discrete exit off stage while the rest of the group managed do finish the dance with a person missing! (She's just fine).

The second act was the ballet "Alice in Wonderland". They used music from the real ballet, but didn't do all of it (in fact Emma just downloaded the music from the ballet on iTunes -- another benefit of dancing -- introducing kids to classical music). Emma was part of the corridor of doors -- the part where Alice grows and shrinks -- they did this using a big Alice and a little Alice in the same costume, both with blonde long hair. She was also a red card. I was really impressed with the way the director worked the little kids into the ballet and had them on stage in the background while others danced, so they all got a bit more stage time. The girls who danced the solos of the Cheshire Cat and the Caterpillar were really great. The slithery choreography was great. The show was over by 8:45 so not too late. Emma was totally wired -- no surprise there, but said she had a great time performing. Our neighbor was there too and gave Emma and her friend's daughter flower bouquets -- which was a nice surprise for Emma.

Sunday morning I got up at 4:30 AM to drive Jim to the airport to catch the first of 3 planes to Taiwan. I got home at 5:45 and went back to bed, but it didn't really help as I was tired all day. Call for Sunday's show was 12:30 and I was working in the lobby, but managed to see most of the show again. I watched from the back row and got a totally different perspective from the one I got Saturday in the second row. Anyway, lots of fun and hard work with friends. Looking forward to doing it again next year.

FYI: There are more ballet recital (and other photos) at my Flickr site. There's a link in the left hand sidebar of the blog.

Hampden Meadows 4th grade chorus singing Let It Be.MPG

2010-06-02T17:00:00.000-04:00

Librarians Do Gaga

2010-06-01T13:46:00.000-04:00

This is definitely worth a look -- very clever -- though I think you can tell that Librarians in general are a rather geeky, glasses wearing group even if we don't have buns and say "Ssshhhh"!

American Heart Association - Heartwalk

2010-06-01T10:39:00.001-04:00

Emma and I participated with the Partridge Snow & Hahn, LLP team at the American Heart Association walk-a-thon in Colt State Park a few Sunday's ago. We had perfect weather! We are in the bottom left of the photo.

Grandfather Granddaughter Moments

2010-05-15T17:21:00.003-04:00

I created this layout a couple of days ago for the 3 kits 3 ways challenge at Designer Digitals at I love this photo of Emma and my Dad during our visit to the Keys this past February. It was fun to use the 3 kits (the flowers, the patterned paper, and the "Moment in Time Mask" which the brown patterned paper is clipped to. For all of the products used and designers names go to my gallery at Designer Digitals.

A Fitness Journal layout and resolution inspired by @CathyZielske

2010-05-11T10:52:00.001-04:00

CZ-healthy-living-may-2010-, originally uploaded by jimbethmag.

You have to start somewhere -- I made this page to document where I am starting on my journey to better health -- moving more and eating less and better.

My layouts included in Ali Edwards' Week in the Life Samples Blog post

2010-05-10T16:30:00.002-04:00

Wow, I am SO excited to be included in this post on Ali Edwards' blog She's a "celebrity" in the scrapbooking world and I love her style and philosophy of memory keeping. Check out all the great samples -- mine is the second Beth towards the bottom.

Decided to just jump in & start somewhere on #weekinthelife

2010-05-01T16:50:00.001-04:00

So I decided to just jump on it and get started somewhere on my Week in the Life album. I bought the digital templates by Ali Edwards available at Designer Digitals and after searching through all the digital paper I already own I decided to use the Bluebells and Daffodils paper back by Jesse Edwards also available from Designer Digitals. I liked the muted color palette and the spring flower designs which go well with the Spring time frame of this album. It also has grey in it and that way I can use the grey Ali's tags in the templates without having to buy the full set up tags with the PSD files so I can change the color -- plus I like the grey. I figure my photos have a lot of color so the paper doesn't need to and won't compete with the photos. At this point I don't know if I am going to do an all digital album or if I am going to use baseball card protectors so that I can include some actual paper emphemera -- maybe I will do that for some days where I have a lot of stuff and not for other days? I don't need to decide now. I will probably also do what Ali describes in her blog post Bringing it all Together - The Words, and do a variety of things with my journaling and include some whole pages of journaling too.

So, I am trying to remember to not make this too complicated and enjoy the process -- plus there's no deadline! I'll be posting my pages on Flickr as I finish them. Just go to my Flickr photostream -- or check the left of this blog for my Flickr slideshow.

Solitude and Leadership

2010-04-27T12:29:00.001-04:00

Jim shared this with me and it is just a terrific piece, originally given as a speech to Freshman at West Point. There is a lot to think about after reading this, though I must say I mostly agree with him. I am bothered by how busy we are in our society and how much we do all the time and how little we take the time to just be and think and enjoy. I see it in myself too and it is something I have to remain aware of. Also, if Emma needs to have 10+ extra curricular activities, and honor roll and AP classes to get into an Ivy League or top level school then I don't think that going to one is all that important. She hates to be too busy and is always reminding me to slow down, and I think she is right! I encourage you to read all of this -- food for thought and maybe an in depth conversation like the ones he mentions toward the end of this piece?

Click on the link below to read the whole speech.

Solitude and Leadership

Posted using ShareThis

I'm in! @aliedwards: 168 Hours : Welcome To A Week In The Life

2010-04-19T12:21:00.001-04:00

Here's the post from Ali's blog -- I love the quotation, especially the part I highlighted.
~Beth

168 Hours : Welcome To A Week In The Life: "

What do 168 consecutive hours of your life look like?
YOU CAN DO THIS.
Here's one of my favorite quotes to send you on your way:

And while it takes courage to achieve greatness, it takes more courage
to find fulfillment in being ordinary. For the joys that last have
little relationship to achievement, to standing one step higher on the
victory platform. What is the adventure in being ordinary? It is daring
to love just for the pleasure of giving it away. It is venturing to give
new life and to nurture it to maturity. It is working hard for the pure
joy of being tired at the end of the day. It is caring and sharing and
giving and loving…
Marilyn
Thomsen

I invite you to simply take a deep breath and enjoy the process. Capture those little things that you pass by everyday or those little bits of life that really do make up your everyday existence.
I also encourage you to approach this project with what I call the past perspective. Think about what you wish you knew about your parents, grandparents, etc and document those things - simple routines, thoughts, feelings, the hours of ordinary life. Let those thoughts be your guide this week as you document your own daily life.
Look for a very special giveaway post coming today at noon Pacific.

Stress is a perverted relationship with Time

2010-04-17T16:23:00.000-04:00

The title is something I just heard John O'Donohue say in an interview on the Minnesota Public radio show "Speaking of Faith". He's was an Irish poet, philosopher and Catholic scholar. I downloaded their podcasts and was listening while weeding and spreading mulch. He was talking about how we are all so busy all of the time. Anyway, it struck me at the time, which was actually a few days ago now. I didn't get around to writing this until today though the idea was to share the photos and my thoughts while they were fresh in my mind. They are all from Tuesday, April 13th which was just the most beautiful Spring Day here and I spent as much time as possible outside gardening. Emma was home sick and we also spent time cuddled on the couch together (you can see Chloe lying at our feet on the blanket below). We watched a great movie from 2008 which is available on Netflix Watch Instantly called Lost in Austen. A contemporary fan of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice changes places with the character Lizzie Bennett and is living in the world of the novel. Anyway, here are some photos from that day.

Pile of mulch I had delivered: 7 cubic yards!

Daffodils I planted last Fall in the front bed. Some of my favorites that I had in Athens, GA. Ordered from Brent and Becky's Bulbs of course.

BEFORE: Bed behind the house

AFTER: Bed behind out house

Happy Easter from Rhode Island

2010-04-04T20:10:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter! We stayed home this year since no one had any time off. We took it easy -- though I did a lot of singing with the choir -- on Maundy Thursday and at two services on Easter morning. Because I was busy singing Easter morning we went to church together as a family on Saturday evening for the Easter Vigil Service. It was great to sit together and worship as a family -- we don't get to do that often anymore since I am sitting with the choir. This service started out in the dark and we all lit candles from the Pascal candle as it was brought up the aisle to the front of the church. There were several readings and canticles before we started the actual Easter part of the service at which point the lights were turned up.

After the service we went out for Easter Eve dinner at a local bistro in town since it was too late to make something at home and we all thought going out would be a nice Easter treat since we had no special plans for today. The photo directly above this is of Emma dressed up for the Easter Vigil Service last night.

We have had fantastic weather all weekend with temperatures in the low 70s and lots of sunshine and breezes. I've been doing a lot of garden clean up -- mostly getting all the leaves out of the beds and doing weeding and getting ready to mulch. The back beds were pretty overgrown as I haven't paid much attention to them for a couple of years so this was a big project. It was so satisfying and fun though.

Yesterday morning Emma hosted an Easter Egg lunch party for several friends. She did all the egg stuffing and I hid the eggs. The girls had fun finding them and then had Pizza and lemonade outside for lunch. Chloe has been having the absolute BEST time spending all day outside with us and running around chasing kids or my rake. She's crashed right now!

The two photos at the top are of our back yard with our new umbrella and the other is my lilac bush. Last year it only had 3 blooms. I pruned it according to a garden book I have that Dad recommended and this year it just had TONS of buds -- I am waiting with baited breath for them to open.

I hope all of you had a great time time this Easter.

"Dealing": Terrific post from a fellow scrapbooker and Army wife

2010-04-02T21:17:00.001-04:00

I read this earlier this year, but just re-read it and wanted to share it with you all. I was moved to let her the following comment:

"Thank you. This is so so beautiful and meaningful. My husband was deployed in what we call now "The First Gulf War". He was in the Navy on the USS Wisconsin and while I felt pretty sure he was physically safe on that huge Battleship with 16 inch steel plated hulls and still thought often about what he was seeing and how he felt about firing his big guns at actual people and not just target practice. I know I had a box like you did/do and it did take awhile to come out. I wish I could give you a real hug, but am sending a virtual one. I'm also going to pass this on to my husband."

Here's her post:

"Dealing: "

it's funny how we deal with things, isn't it?
for example...we spend a year being scared for our husband's life. for what he is seeing. we cry for the men lost. for their families at home. we watch them on the news, with white knuckles and tears in our eyes. we see them in the papers...we hear about how they are in "death valley".
we go to eight memorial services over that year. each time, losing a little piece of our heart.we hear them call that soldier's name, and we know that that boy will never be able to answer back. we hear amazing grace and we wonder if that will be us standing there without a husband next time.
and then he was home.
and i treasured it. but felt guilty that so many weren't.
and then i pushed it in a little box in a back of my heart and smiled.
didn't think much about that year i spend with the blinds always open in my living room. you see, i didn't want to be surprised when they pulled up and told me J was gone.
i wanted to be ready.
nothing prepared any of us for this year. nothing. not all of our previous deployments, not our strength or our faith. nothing could have prepared us for this.
but i put it in a box with a yellow bow in it. and pushed the box into the back of my heart.
and then a couple of months ago, we had our very first FRG meeting here at fort benning. the commander started talking about casualty notifications, and protocol..
and i came the closest i'd ever come to a panic attack.
i had to make myself breathe. i had to count. pray.
and then i thought "where in the world did that come from???".
it was remnants of that year. they will be there for a long time.
i've allowed myself to slowly start looking at photos from that year.

all photos by adam ferguson.
and my heart broke in a million little pieces. and that box with the yellow bow came out of my heart, and opened up.
for what all of those guys did that year in the valley. they are the strongest men i will ever have the privilege of knowing. and for the ones that didn't make it home...my heart will mourn and remember them always.
i think we need to not grow numb and immune to things that are happening this very moment. this is going on every day.
it's like life is a bubble. and if you don't have a loved one serving, it's hard to "get it". i know that. i know that it's a whole different way of life that is foreign to many people.i understand sometimes it's easier just not to think about certain things, especially things that don't really enter your inner circle...
but please
please pray for these guys/women and their families.
support them in any way you can.
don't just say "i support the troops"...do something to prove it. write a letter. send a package. say thank you to someone you see in uniform.
b/c what they go through, though it is "what they signed up for", is harder and more vivid than you could ever imagine.
even when they come home. especially when they come home.
as for me...i'm going to stop trying to forget that year, and start remembering it instead. it made me a better person, a better believer. and it happened. trying to forget it won't help.
sorry for the serious post, it was just something that was on my heart.
hope you all have a beautiful Tuesday. xo

Braces are better when your good friend gets them at the same time

2010-03-23T22:05:00.001-04:00

Here are Emma and her good friend Katie showing off their new braces last weekend. Katie got hers on Thursday and Emma got hers on Friday. They were comparing notes at our house a couple of days ago.

FAWCO conference in Boston with Mom

2010-03-19T20:08:00.001-04:00

My Mom has been active in FAWCO at least since she lived in Duesseldorf, Germany from 1985-1994, and has been going to their annual conferences for many years too. They are held all over the world, but this year it was in Boston so I was able to attend part of it with her. FAWCO stands for the Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas and is the umbrella group for lots of American Women's Clubs all over the world. It is also an NGO, something I learned at this conference which surprised me. One of their recent projects was raising funds for and providing mosquito nets for children in areas with malaria.

I attended sessions on Friday, March 12th which just happened to be the day before my birthday. I skipped the early morning business meeting, but went to the main morning session which featured a panel of journalists from the Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Tehran Bureau, and WBUR (Public Radion in Boston). It was really very interesting, with great questions from the audience and the moderator -- a FAWCO member who has since returned to the States and resumed her career in journalism.

Next there was a luncheon with delicious food. We met at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Towers right near the public gardens and the back bay. One of the women at our table was the founder & director of a non-profit that provides support and information for American citizens who live overseas and are victims of domestic violence. Some are married to Americans and living overseas and others are married to foreign nationals. I had never thought at all about what it would be like to be living overseas and dealing with something like that -- without any support network! Her organization, the American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center, has been working with FAWCO and she was presenting a session the next day.

The afternoon session I attended was presented my someone from Family Search. He talked about using Web 2.0 tools for genealogical research. He was partly selling familysearch.com, but was pretty up front about it. He did give lots of good information about Web 2.0 tools though. It was SO neat to get a glimpse into my Mom's life and meet some of her FAWCO friends. She is actually a member of FAUSA now which is the group for former FAWCO members or others living in the US who formerly lived overseas. Their missons is: To facilitate the repatriation experience of its members and to help them maintain their international ties in order to bring about a better understanding between the United States and other nations. I know I could have used some assistance with "repatriation" when I moved back to the States after living abroad for 12 years!

The big dinner that evening was a fundraiser for the FAWCO Foundation. There was a live and a silent auction and the theme was Black, White and Read (Red) All over. To go with the newpapers, journalism theme from the morning session. I loved the president of the foundation's outfit which you can see in the photo below. She actually made the skirt cover out of newspaper. The other photo is of Mom and I all dressed up for the event. It occurred to me that we didn't have a recent good photo of the two of us together. I bid on a few things in the silent auction and got a children's book written by a FAWCO member and a lovely set of placemats and napkins. The Foundation funds all sorts of scholarships and the NGO work too. Next year's meeting is in Marakech, Morocco and I told Mom to try and convince the leadership to pay my way over to present on something -- say effective Google searching -- or making the most of your online presence etc.... You know something librarianish.

Day One: The Keys

2010-02-15T21:55:00.000-05:00

As I sit here waiting for Olympic pairs figure skating to come back on I thought I would upload some photos and write a bit about our first day in the Keys. Papa and Emma were up first and went up to a bakery on Big Pine Key to buy croissants and bagels for breakfast. Papa thinks they are the best croissants he has tasted outside France! We ate these on the screened porch and then Emma decided it was time for a swim even though the pool water was only up to 70 some degrees. After she got out we walked out to the end of the pier to check out the view both of the Atlantic Ocean and of the house.

I decided that if I got warmed up I would get in the pool so I went with Hazel and the dogs for a nice brisk walk after which I felt like I wanted a swim. It was quite warm in the sun and in the pool, but a bit chilly in the shade. We spent most of the afternoon alternating between lying in the sun and swimming. This place is fabulous -- in fact Emma declared "this is paradise." Not only does it have a two person hammock under a tiki hut, and a pier and swimming pool with a fountain -- it also has a small private beach area which is separated from the pool and neighbors by a hedge. I took a lovely nap there and did some reading too.

We headed into Key West around 5 pm to check out the street performers in Mallory Square. The main act we watched was terrific. You can see the photo of him juggling fire while riding a unicycle. The thing is he was so funny and entertaining and had terrific timing. It was driving me nuts for most of the performance because his voice reminded me of someone and it took forever for me to realize that he sounded like James, the hairdresser, from Athens. After watching him we had dinner at the Bistro in the Westin hotel looking out over the water. I very much enjoyed my citrus mojito! Emma took the great photo of me and of the little boy looking through the barrier. It was the same little boy, about 2 or 3, who had run away from his Mom at their table and came right over to our table, then when she told him to come back he actually just starred at her, as toddlers do, and then crawled right under our table. It was so amusing for us, but I know that she must have been embarrassed! He did finally come out after she got down and talked to him. We had a GREAT day! Thanks Papa and Ga.

Photos from my sister in VERY snowy Baltimore

2010-02-12T10:14:00.000-05:00

That's my brother-in-law. He got to celebrate his birthday by shoveling snow before it and after it, and by having to drive to Godard Space Center because he was essential personel for a satellite launching of some kind.

Here are some photos from my sister in Baltimore taken after the most recent snowful. Note that the snow is up to the windows and the house is up 7-8 steps from the driveway as well. It's so deep that my four year old niece and nephew can't/don't want to play in it because they get lost and can't walk. After all -- it's as deep as they are tall! The noreaster fizzled out before it got to our house near Providence, RI. We just have a few inches on the ground and the roads were clear almost immediately thanks to sunshine, above freezing temps and of course experienced road crews and the requisite equipment.