I'm sorry, but it's been so long since I've been out...
I still have the yummy lunch I had at my first time visit to Rama 5 yesterday on my mind. Portions so big I came out with a doggie bag. That doesn't usually happen when I go Thai.
Good food and the pleasure I am able to take in good company have just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
Mystery illness/infection and its adverse affects gone, and a new and improved routine have just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
This is one of those reasons why we realize we really need to get another digital camera to replace our beloved one that bit the dust...
We've got a pond behind our house at which geese hang out and frequent. Don't really know how they do, but they do.
Well, this morning, as Hubby-Honey and I were enjoying our morning tea, I saw, emerging from the path to the pond, the "two regulars". But then, as I looked more closely, I saw with them six fluffballs moving along... goslings!
It was the most precious thing. We let Baby Girl sleep, but we figured Big Boy might find this sight most entertaining, so we woke him up.
He watched in wonder, and like everything else of late, had 20 questions for their every move. Hubby-Honey and I patiently took turns and responded to each one.
As we watched them from the window, my baby studying the Momma Goose's babies, and the Momma Goose instinctively, protectively watching us, I could have sworn, for a moment, we locked eyes with each other.
"Happy Mother's Day," I told her. And, if I were one to "speak goose", I'd imagine that she responded, "Right back at ya," in her squawk.
Moms--geese moms and otherwise--have just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
Happy Mother's Day!
Frankly, this past week was a bit on the challenging side.
Thankfully, the Sunday before last I'd seen In Darfur at Horizon Theatre and was deeply moved by this play by Winter Miller. The theater gave out these wristbands, and after signing letters to legislators and picking up material, I was more than compelled to take a band and wear it.
Which was very timely, because as I went on to live out the rest of the week, when things weren't seemingly going my way, all I had to do was take a look at the green reminder on my right wrist.
Instantly I'd think, "OK, this isn't terrific, but, I'm not a woman living in Darfur, grieving a husband and son that have been murdered by the heartless madmen of the Janjaweed, or holding on for dear life after I and my daughter have been ambushed and gang-raped by said militia men while searching for firewood at night, or starving for just a bite to eat or a little water to take the taste of dry dirt out of my mouth after my whole village has been burned and reduced to nothing and all I have left are the tattered clothes on my broken body...
I know, not the most pleasant things to read about or consider on a Monday, but these are what many are dealing with today, right this moment. Bet they wish they didn't have to consider them either, but sadly, they do.
So last week, before I'd go to chugging straight from my big ol' bottle of "whine", I'd stop, look at my wrist, and instead say a prayer for the women in Darfur.
I got through, and though I really couldn't bring myself to blogging about it, I was able to count and think on those little things I do have that I sometimes take for granted.
And now, today, I have a promise of a new week. Last week, in retrospect, seems not so bad. Time heals. Mine were merely surface wounds of the flesh. For those in Darfur, they are more deeply of the spirit. To say it's going to take a little longer for them is an understatement.
So perhaps you'll join me in saying a prayer for them too, or learning a little more about their plight and doing something, anything, just to say, "I hear, and I want to help." Or, if you get the opportunity, go see In Darfur.
Who knows, maybe my experience of a not-so-fabulous last week was meant for me to have my say here now, so someone can be helped elsewhere later.
The reminder that sometimes, it's not all about me, has just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
Spring Fever, part III:
This time, as experienced by the males in my household, plus my brother visiting for the weekend...
Family sophomoric humor has just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
Spring fever, continued... Kirsten, don't hate me because it's 80 degrees today with sunshine. ;-)
Strolling with a friend down Main Street in historic Stone Mountain Village yesterday, we came across this sign in the window that we couldn't resist.
"Refreshing Peach Mango Iced Tea. Come in and try some!"
We did, and after paying a mere $5.33 for two large cups, we delighted in this nectar-of-the-gods tea that is still on my mind almost 24 hours later.
I'm trying to resist making the drive and getting some more today. I think I've found my Summer Love 2008 beverage already in spring.
Continental Coffee & Sweets, if it's got high fructose corn syrup in it, I don't want to know. You've just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
I've got it. Bad.
Love, love this weather we've been enjoying in Atlanta. Perfect day for celebrating Earth Day.
Green goodness has just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
Having great friends is a wonderful thing. Having great friends who also read is the best thing ever. 'Cause they share things with me that I might have otherwise missed, and these are often things that speak to or resonate with me, and then I'm all the better for it.
I have a number of terrific friends who are readers (guess as they say, "like attracts like"), but today I'm thinking of one in particular who dropped some knowledge on me this past Sunday that I'm still chewing on, and I love that.
For keeping me real and simple, Traci, you've just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
Happy 14th B-day, Ryan! Where did my baby godson go?!
Hello! Great to be back. Are you even still out there visiting? I hope so.
The Thanks Ranks blog and my corresponding email have been down for the last week due to a really lousy merger and acquisition of my old host by a new, very unhelpful one. We had to take matters into our own hands and go elsewhere.
So to my new friends at Bluehost and my tech-savvy Hubby-Honey who wears an 'S' on his chest under his pocket protector ;-), for getting me “live” again, you've just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
The Lion King roared into Atlanta last night, and Hubby-Honey and I got a chance to see it.
I first saw it on Broadway almost 5 years ago, but I was pregnant with Big Boy and more concerned with if I could hang on and wait 'til intermission before disturbing folks with my needing to make a run for the restroom. So it was nice to experience it this time around without such distractions.
Both times, I got so choked up at the opening scene. It's just... beautiful.
If you've never seen The Lion King and you get the chance, go. This gives you a sense of what it's like, but really, you have to be sitting in the midst of it to really get the full affect.
Getting a second chance to take in sheer pageantry and artistic brilliance has just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
I rolled the dice, and got snake-eyes.
Actually, I got one eyebrow that's thinner than the other and an expression that looks half angry and half quizzical.
My lessons are:
1) A $4 eyebrow threading at a salon is NOT a better deal than a $15 eyebrow threading at a spa if you come out looking like the Joker.
2) You get what you pay for.
3) Wearing a paper bag over my head with the eye and mouth holes cut out is not going to work, because it scares my children.
4) It's only hair and it will (hopefully), over time, grow back.
Justifiction for returning the spa for the sake of my pleasant appearance has just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
After being in New York since Thursday, helping his mom get wired with her new computer and easing her onto the information superhighway with the rest of us, Hubby-Honey has returned home safely.
Commence to Big Boy, Baby Girl and me doing a happy dance. Single moms: my hat's off to you.
Being reunited has just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
This is courtesy of Big Boy and Baby Girl. Fair warning: it is going to play incessantly in your head after you hear it.
Rockin' out with my kids has just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
My kind of Easter service. No fancy 'do or duds required--just a warm family huddle. And the kids were occupied by the magnificence of nature ("Bye-bye moon! Hello sun!"). All followed by sweet slumber and a relaxed afternoon.
For a new Easter family tradition, Stone Mountain sunrise service, you've just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
Happy Easter, everyone!
Today my friend Theresa buried her 80 year-old mother.
The service was a celebration of life. In the midst of her grieving process, Theresa gave the family's acknowledgements in her own unique, "Big Love" manner.
Though people had attended to show support for her and her family, Theresa, in her typical fashion, ended up giving us all a gift to go home with, and I'll share it with you.
It was her admonishment to make the most of the time you have, right NOW, to:
* let those you love know you love them,
* address grievances and grow past them,
*call, write, visit, thank those you've been meaning to...
so that when the time comes (and you don't know when), and you or they are the "guest of honor" at such a ceremony, you can have the peace that comes in saying goodbye with a conscious that knows all that was left to said and do was said and done--with love.
And hence, you will be able to experience joy in the midst of grief, and celebrate in the midst of mourning, because you made the most of the moments together you had.
Perhaps no easy undertaking, but well worth it in the end, don't you think?
I do, judging by the way Theresa was able to stand at that podium with a smile and share these words with us. There was no denying that although she will miss her mother, she will be able to go forward knowing in her spirit that the time they were blessed with was time well spent. She has the loving memories to prove it.
For the reminder to give folks their flowers while they're still here, Ms. Rena Belle and Theresa, you've just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
Next to the first day of summer, to me, it's the most wonderful time of the year, and it's just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
My beloved Atlanta was hit pretty hard this weekend with unfathomable tornado activity.
Friday night into Saturday morning made for a scary, stormy time that had even the best of us "brave adults" a little rattled.
Then to have daylight reveal the damage, and to spend a good part of Saturday afternoon playing "dodge the tornado activity in metro Atlanta--Round II" after we'd tried to get out and get on with our day--ducking for cover in the mall, at my folks' house, anywhere with lower level covering--it was all a little much.
But what really, really, did it was for my family to drive around familiar neighborhoods of those we love today and see trees and roots where they didn't belong, and roofs and walls missing from where they ought to be. It broke my heart.
I ache and pray for those who were affected. I am humbled and grateful beyond words that our house was spared. Can't even give a cutesy, "Just been added..." ending this time around, but my gratitude is deep.
Adjusting to our new status with Hubby-Honey not working in the traditional sense to which we were accustomed, I have to be a little more selective with what I purchase on my "Whole Foods runs".
This morning, it was Publix Super Markets proving itself worthy of my purchasing dollars, with Organic Valley milk half-gallons on sale for $3.29. Big Boy and Baby Girl want their "special" and "choco" milk--they don't care where it comes from, so long as it's in the fridge when they're asking for it.
Big Boy had his "Trike-A-Thon" at school today. "Milk makes me strong and healthy!" he exclaimed at breakfast this morning. The secret to his pedaling success, I guess? Milk in place, meltdown avoided, a triumphant trike-a-thon tale this afternoon.
Organics at a bargain and biking at its best has just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
Human 'being' or human 'doing'?
Given this inspired word, I do believe I've been a human 'doing'. I want to change that, moving into my 'being'ness.
This realization, and the joyful shift it has brought about has just been added to The Thanks Ranks.
More to come in this space. Getting back to basics. It feels good.
Happy Birthday, Little Mai!
