Thankfulness Journal, Week 6 Lent

Almost finished with my thankfulness journal, for Lent.  This has been an interesting experience, some days far easier than others to come up with three things to be thankful for, some routine work days a stretch.  A couple friends have told me that me sharing this has helped them to become a little more aware of their lives.  I feel like that pays it forward a little bit.

3/28/12 I am thankful for

sea turtles.

Devon trying parasailing the first time, Tara going on an ATV expedition.

Parasailing in Riviera Maya

Boys making up games wherever they go.

3/29/12 I am thankful for

safe travels home with kids old enough to keep themselves occupied on two flights.

Unexpectedly running into friends in the Charlotte airport.

Fun friends, great memories made on the beach.

3/30/12 I am thankful

for how many errands we can get done in one day, with no work, school, or kid activities.

Most of our family really wanted to see—and enjoyed—“Hunger Games.”  Lots of discussion.

Sometimes popcorn for dinner is enough.

3/31/12 I am thankful

we FINALLY bought Tara new furniture.

For dinner out with Pam and Steve—no kids!—then catching up with Patti and Jason.

All the kids found a friend to hang with, to finish off break.

4/1/12 I am thankful

all three kids decided to clean up/throw out old junk and papers. Overflowing garbage bin.

Tara’s furniture fits great in Ronan’s room, transforming it to a teen room.

Devon finally gets to use the restored makeup table she has wanted in her room.

4/2/12 I am thankful for

Erin A. inviting Tara and I to hear her read her Irish dance memoir aloud at her school.  Such a sweet tale about these two friends that brought Tara to tears.

finding one final container of homemade tortilla soup made with last year’s tomatoes.  I could taste summer in each bite.

Plowing through most of my emails from vacation.

4/3/12 I am thankful for

dog kisses.

sharing my vacation photos.

Ronan’s frigid, windy first track meet actually ended before dark.

C

Lenten Journal, Week 5

Week 5 with the Thankfulness Journal for Lent is easier, throwing a vacation into the mix.  I am behind posting, just returning from Mexico.

3/21/12 I am thankful for

bringing all needed documents to the accountant, and hearing the taxes will be finished in time.

Welcoming book club after frustrating clothes shopping.  Wine and Rob Lowe much enjoyed.

Winning the “quintessential 80’s hair cut” photo at book club.  What fun I had looking through my old photo albums to choose a photo.

True 80's hair, while in England.

3/22/12 I am thankful for

DEVON!!  Happy 14^th birthday!

A meeting postponed results in outdoor lunch with Colette on a gorgeous day.

Birthday dinner at Cheesecake Factory.  Yum!

3/23/12  I am thankful for

completing all vacation prep shopping, packing, errands, bank runs, work with a few hours to spare.

Theresa, for inviting us for dinner the last night in town.

Kerry’s spirit.

3/24/12 I am thankful for

leaving the country.

The smell of salty air.

Soft, white sand beneath my toes.

3/25/12 I am thankful for

no alarms for several days, no dogs jumping on the bed to awaken us.

Fresh sliced fruit and chocolate croissants.

Sky color = water color.  Amazing.

 3/26/12  I am thankful for

friends arriving, finding us on the beach.

Unending cocktails.

Watching my girls get massages on the beach.

3/27/12 I am thankful for

early morning walk on the beach, camera in hand.

finally, a drink at the poolside bar.

Group dinner, on the outdoor patio, divine.

C

Beach Story

Been out of the country, so I haven’t been posting.  Here is a Haiku I wrote in Riviera Maya, Mexico last week.  New habit, Haiku’s in my mind.

Waves caress coral

shimmy crabs plants fish shells while

slyly destructive.

C

Tide pools, underwater view.

Confessions of an Irish Dance Mom

I admit, it is always a letdown when our March Madness is over. Tara has been Irish dancing with the McNulty School of Irish Dance  for 11 years, and March always brings a whirlwind of performances.  I still remember her first public show, at a senior center in Libertyville.  The affection the audience gives the younger kids, who know the steps to only one or two dances, has not diminished over the years.

I remember the nervousness of handing my 6 year old over to the older dancers—all of maybe 14 or 15—while they finalized their “lineup” and parents decided who would be announcing and also running the music.  The procedure became routine as we danced over the years at parades, churches, grocery stores, fundraisers, restaurants, weddings, private parties, taverns, malls, libraries.

June parade from about 2004.

Soon my little girl was the one in-charge of the line up, checking off the dancers there, rehearsing, fixing costumes.  They graduated from skirts and vests to class costumes to finally the sparkly solo dresses, as their abilities increased. These young ladies (and a few young men) have grown into leaders, occasionally fighting off stage moms who want to take charge.  Great practice for beating down bullies.

Navy Pier, 2008

We moms drive from show to show during this busy month, with cars full of dresses, sock glue, make up, sound systems, water, snacks,as performances are added  throughout the day.

We chauffeurs have our own stresses of finding unknown places (thank God for GPS now), no outlets for the sound systems, Ipod malfunctions (way better than the CD’s we used to have to swap out), finding a place to hang out in some smaller locations, dealing with unfriendly managers, forgetting names of parents we only see once a year, dealing with a few parents we would rather avoid, fixing wardrobe-makeup-wig malfunctions.  It is exhilarating but exhausting, trying to help the shows run on time and without incident.   I think my feet hurt almost as the dancers at the end of the day.

This weekend was spectacular, as the older girls in my group had fun between shows putting on their own “flash mob” performance at a train station full of surprised and happy revelers headed to Chicago, videotaping themselves dancing on the streets, two-hour prep before a completely different costumes and hair at the Genesee Theater, five-minute notice to dance with the Shannon Rovers.

Finale of awesome Genesee Theater performance, 2012.

These kids get an immense amount of credit, for performing the fourth show of the day with as much energy as the first.  Kicks as high for twenty people in the audience as 1200.  Whispering start counts and encouragement to the younger dancers, some doing their first shows. Cheering for their partners.  Some (yes, you Breda) announcing shows.  Changing plans and costumes on the fly as shows change mid-stream.

People may put away their green shirts, green beer, green beads, shamrock hats until next year,  but the Irish dancers keep up with the hop-two-threes until the next show.  The countdown to my final year of March madness begins now.  C

PS.  Since people have asked, Tara is a little blond right behind the banner in the top pic, on the right in the middle pic, and the “boy” second from the right in the final shot.

Freeze Frame

They squirm to get out of reach. “Not again,” they occasionally roll their eyes , the shutter open-close click-click-click.

“That’s a horrible background.  Move over here,” I direct them, to sighs as they shuffle across the yard.

Yes, they might sometimes complain when the camera comes out AGAIN, but they loved it today when I was updating the slideshow in the digital picture frame.

My kids have changed so much in a few years.  Even in this short timeframe, they laughed at haircuts and clothing; they reminisced about wonderful vacations, celebrations with families and friends, and fun days in the neighborhood. We were amazed at how the same friends kept popping up in photos over the last few years.

Was this really 4 years ago?

So many memories.  They fade in our minds, but the photos are there to spark a smile.  And the kids still enjoy to look at photo albums of their parents when they were young.  We can share our memories with them in a disk, though I admit that people can keep too many BAD pictures to clutter their files, their walls, their albums.  And Grandmom will be happy, since we can still tag the people in the photos, without even turning over the faded, dated photographs.

Little angels. That's me, on the right in our homemade costumes.

So pull out your camera today.  Snap some pictures of those who you surround yourself with.  You won’t regret it.   C

Snow Stories

So many pictures are open for interpretation.  The captions are mine, on some photos I took today. Look for mystery up, down.  You never know that you will see! C

Just blown snow? Or white frog legs? Dead rabbit?

 

 

Snowflakes, frozen in time.

Chicago winter palm trees? (really grasses from my yard)

Yes, I have a dog track in my yard! Lots of racing, no animals ever hurt here:)

Barn Sale

Who can resist a barn full of items for sale?  When driving by on bikes after a brief stop for lunch and snacks in Benton Harbor, MI we were forced to stop and peruse the barn. C

Fuel Stop

Every town needs one!

It’s the permanent barn sales that inspire me to look but never touch an item, since it appears that the majority of them have been picked from a garbage pile, sitting in oil, now with layers of dust.  Here is a sampling of items that you can buy at said barn sale.  I bet they negotiate!

Holly Hobby

Really? 1970's stereo equipment?

Steve now unseeing in the welder's mask

Best table there--even I can make it look pretty despite lots of green copper.

Pic on TribLocal

One of my photos was just selected to be a top pic on the ChicagoTribune Local website!  I already posted it in an earlier blog, but here it is again.  If you scroll down, it’s mid page ,the lead pic on 2011 photos.  Puts a little bounce in the step when you work really hard and get recognized…by strangers!  C

 http://triblocal.com/lake-zurich

9/22-Realized this webpage isn’t static.  Picture is still on there for “2011 Photos”, but it might eventually disappear.

Release the Horses and Hounds!

Summer gently switching to autumn, yesterday was the perfect day to test out my new camera lens at the Dunham Woods Horse Show.  Hard work, learning this new toy, but what fun I had practicing.  There were so many different events, horses and riders to shoot–here are a few shots. C

The Approach

Nikki & Polisca

Hunt Team circle

Hunt Team Trio

Release the Hounds!

Hounds and Horses

Test Shots

Testing…testing….my new Pentax 300mm DA lens while working on the front porch yesterday.  A few fun shots.  Can’t wait to take it onto the soccer pitch!  Will shoot more later.

Hummingbird on butterfly bush