where did november go?

where did the month of november go? I knew I had not posted in a while, but didn't realize I posted only once in November. I look at the brunch photos a couple of entries back and that seems like just the other day.


granted, I'm just back from a fabulous vacation, but the whole month didn't escape while I was swinging thru the jungles of Costa Rica. I'll post more photos once soon.


so, now, december. waiting. yesterday was the first sunday of advent. for me, it is challenging to slow down, to wait. today I found myself hurrying thru my day, looking expectantly to a bit of calm once i left the office. wonder what it would be like to experience that in the midst of the everyday? i have no clue.

home again, home again, jiggity jig

Just back from seven fun-filled days on the Alabama Coast. Orange Beach, to be exact.

It was just what I needed. Time to totally down-shift, de-stress, process a little bit of grief, and relax.

We must be getting soft in our old age, because I don't think we stayed up past midnight more than once. Lightweights.

Eight or nine hours of sleep a night. Full days on the beach, books and trashy magazines in hand. I'll add them up in my end-of-the-month reading tally, but I think I read 5 books. Played a lot of Boggle. Flew a kite everyday. A ninety-nine cent Dora the Explorer kite that no one thought would last more than eight seconds. I made it last all week. Skill, I tell you.

Ate shrimp eighty-eleven different ways. Had to make up for living in a land-locked state.

Our stop at the FloraBama was uneventful...before the Mullet Toss crowd had fully arrived, and Souvenir City (flip-flop mecca) and Priester's Pecans were the favorite field trips.

It was good to be away.

what's up

- just back from a belated birthday beach trip. yeah, i milked this one for all it was worth. squeezed two more birthday celebrations out of the big 4-0.
- got to catch up with my birmingham buddies.
- played a lot of boggle.
- ate a lot of firecracker shrimp (this involves the best remoulade sauce in the world).
- slept a lot.
- sat on the beach a lot.
- watched the sun set and the moon rise.
- had some great conversations.
- did a lot of nothing.
- read Bless Your Heart, Tramp. and random magazines. deep, deep reading, in case you can't tell.
- did read a bit of Breath for the Bones, by Luci Shaw, so all was not mindless.
- enjoying the new foo fighters album - echos, silence, patience & grace. isn't that a great title?
- found the perfect music for the treadmill - florida state's marching band doing the best of college football fight songs.
- drove up to the mountains today so i could catch the aspens in all of their fall glory.
- just spruced up my porch with a pumpkin/mum display to officially welcome fall.
- trying to plan my week now so that i can ease back into work and maybe even a daily routine that doesn't feel like chaos.
- have a huge need for great amounts of creative energy to come bursting forth in the next week or so.

mrs. beasley rides again

Remember Mrs. Beasley? She was one of my favorite childhood toys. Early in her life, she talked. Then I barfed on her, and when you pulled her cord, she spoke in tongues. Then she quit that, and all you get now is a whirring noise when you pull the cord.

Where the hell did Mrs. Beasley surface from, you ask? I'm just back from a 10-day road trip to Tennessee for the express purpose of retrieving some family heirlooms that were in storage. My mom's china and silver, a couple of globes for my vintage globe collection, a rocking chair, a side table, and some other random things had been stored at a friend's house since my dad moved to Nashville last year.

Besides the china and silver, the other item I am most proud to have is the clock that my grandfather purchased in 1927 and hung in my grandmother's one-room schoolhouse. It hung in her classroom for most of the 47 years that she taught school. I'll post a picture once I get it on the wall here.

Back to Mrs. Beasley...she was among the boxes of stuff I sorted through and brought back with me. You should also know that she was baptized on July 4th by my niece. I know many of you will have a problem with the fact that a) she was baptized by a female; b) that same female is only two years old; c) she was not fully immersed.

Mrs. Beasley thoroughly enjoyed her road trip to Denver, and looked out the window the entire trip. Not sure how long she will be around, but she deserves a photo shoot. And she's currently contemplating a retirement option in Richmond, where she could live with her childhood friend, Cookie Maness.

grace, and great writing to boot

Easter Everywhere: A Memoir, by Darcey Steinke

Read this on my vacation. Memoir is one of my favorite genres, so it comes as no surprise that I enjoyed this book. Yet this one was a little different. I was pulled in from the very first pages. Steinke grew up in a very religious family - her father was a Lutheran minister, yet a personal faith eluded her for much of her life. I was drawn to her unending search for grace. Not to mention that the writing is wonderful.

While this was my introduction to Steinke's work, it will definitely not be the only book of hers I read.

serenity now

all fun things must come to an end. tomorrow i go back to work. had a glorious time away from the funhouse. sat on the beach for 8 straight days. read a ton. laughed a lot. enjoyed the company of good friends. ate boatloads of shrimp. caught up on my sleep. detoxed from sugar-free red bull. totally de-stressed.

would that i could prolong this serene state.

ahh.....

corn on the cob

Somehow I have managed to wrangle 8 days away from the funhouse, and have therefore gone away to rest my weary brain and body. The Gulf Coast is always a no-fail elixir for what ails me.

Tonight I picked up shrimp for dinner at a local hole-in-the-wall that advertised the Mother's Day Special as "All You Can Eat Corn-on-the-Cob for $4.95." Only in The South.

vacation planning

Compiling my booklist for my upcoming holiday:

What is the What, Dave Eggers
Easter Everywhere: A Memoir Darcy Steinke
Through a Screen Darkly, Jeffrey Overstreet
They Like Jesus But Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations, Dan Kimball
Boomsday, Christopher Buckley
The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement for Work and Life, Laurie Beth Jones
Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading, Eugene Peterson

Yes, this is optimistic. But I need choices, ya know?

it's a good day

- I left Denver last evening, or I would be snowed in.
- Started off the day by seeing my niece, who was just as excited to see me as I was her.
- Nice little roadtrip by myself to Birmingham. Just me and some Starbucks and some Sufjan Stevens. Which I highly recommend - the Sufjan Stevens. Nothing against Starbucks, but they are just common nowadays.
- Went to a luncheon at my old Bible study. Was good to see some familiar faces and to be around so many people who were excited that I was there. Haven't laughed that hard in a long time.
- Then a visit to a couple of favorite neighborhood stores.
- Now I am enjoying an Americano at O'Henry's, my favorite Bham coffee house, and writing from my favorite perch - a high table in the front of the shop, that is kind of hidden by a bunch of shelves with gifts.
- Will follow this up with dinner with 2 close friends. Likely more coffee.
- Will spend the night in what I refer to as The Cave. Bedroom in a friend's basement that is cool and dark, and has the most comfy huge bed. This will somewhat counter-balance my night last night at my Dad's, which was akin to sleeping in a sweat lodge.
- Tomorrow will catch up with a couple of old (I should probably say former, lest they think I am calling them old) mentors. Probably throw in some BBQ, another special place or two, and then back to Music City.
- Overall, a nice little side trip to feed my soul.

why do i live so far away?