Political Neophytes Unite!

At the park last night while watching Ali play beach volleyball, I got a text message from Barack. Well, technically I think Barack was busy getting ready for his big speech in Denver so it probably wasn't directly from him. . .but you get the idea.



I think getting people involved and excited by using what's becoming the preferred communication of the masses is brilliant. When was the last time you heard people under 40 excited about a presidential campaign? It's happening now. Especially when you contrast this with McCain who is rumored to not even use a computer.

I responded to this message from Barack. I volunteered to work on his political campaign. I'm sure it will be fun and challenging and like nothing I've ever done before – especially since we're in Findlay.*

I wonder how many other political neophytes volunteered last night?




* There was a quote from a Democrat in yesterday's newspaper that said something like, "If Adolph Hitler was a Republican the people in Findlay would vote him in." Get the picture about Findlay??

Alumni Soccer

Details: Last Saturday; mostly over-30 Alumni team with no subs played both the UF JV and Varsity squads; it was beyond hot; did I mention that there were no subs??

Despite some close calls there were no broken hips on the old lady squad. . .and still there were no subs for the Alumni Team! Did I mention that before?

And no. That wasn't the final score.

Routines

Every morning when Sammy and I step out onto the front porch to begin our walk it's just a little bit darker than the morning before. I'm always sad to see summer end but I also love the cool mornings and evenings that bring the first hints of fall.

We usually take the same route on our walks. I've measured out a two mile trek so when we want to go farther I just add a few blocks here or there. Keeping the same route helps me adjust our pace and keep track of the miles we've covered together.

I'm kind of a creature of habit. As we are discovering, so are most of the people on our morning route.

Most houses are the same every day. At one house we always hear a baby crying. Next door to them is a mom who's trying to roust her kids out of bed to get ready for school. Nearly every morning we almost get run over by the same woman backing out of her driveway. (I've learned to watch for her. Apparently she hasn't adjusted to us intersecting her path just yet.) There are four or five houses where the canine inhabitants bark some kind of warning/greeting to Sammy every day.

Because it's still dark I can see someone in their living room exercising to a video shot on some tropical beach somewhere. Whoever it is, they aren't very habitual with their exercise. I only see them about once a week.

Every morning on the other side of South Main Street I see a man in a suit and tie walking a beautiful black dog. The dog has a gorgeous fan tail, kind of like a Golden Retriever, but he's pure black. The dog is thrilled to be out and sniffing the world at 6:15. The man in the suit always looks grumpy.

Number 62 on my 101 in 1001 List is "Say hello and smile at everyone I pass on the sidewalk when I take Sammy for a walk." I've really been concentrating on that one. I'm flabbergasted at the results.

The first day I saw Mr. Grumpy Suit he looked at Sammy and I across the four lanes of road and looked even grumpier. His dog wanted to come see Sammy. I smiled and we kept walking. The next day he didn't look at us at all. The following day he looked over, so I said a loud good morning with a smile. He kept walking. We continued this way for a week - him and his dog looking, Sammy and I smiling. (Yes, Sammy smiles with his tail!)

Today, Mr. Grumpy Suit smiled and spoke first!

It's happening the same way with the three different groups of teenagers waiting for the school bus at different places on our route! The first few days they were sullen, wouldn't look and certainly wouldn't smile. I was persistent with smiling and saying good morning. Now they look for Sammy so they can smile and pet him!

Is this going to change the world? Probably not. But it changes me. And obviously it has changed at least a few people with whom my life is intersecting right now. I think we underestimate the value of kindness. It's free. It's easy to begin. And best of all, we can consciously choose it at any given moment of our lives.

It's part of my new routine.

Soft Heart

At yoga yesterday morning practice began with meditation. As we lay on the floor Melinda asked us to scan our bodies and identify any areas of resistance or tension that we could find. We were to then release that tension and resistance and scan our bodies again. A few moments later she asked us to focus on our hearts.

"Is your heart soft and open?" she quietly asked. The question startled me. Exactly when was the last time that my heart was soft and open?

The answer to that question scared me. With the exception of being at home and vulnerable with Ali, it's been a long, long time since my heart was soft and open to just anyone.

What does that mean about the emotional space that I'm in? What does it say about my capacity to love? The poet T. S. Eliot, a devoted Anglican Christian, said it this way: "Love is most nearly itself when the here and now cease to matter."

To me, what he is trying to say is that the true nature of love is not based how other people respond to your offerings, but on the sheer openness and softness of one heart to another.

It was an interesting epiphany for me and I worked to put it into practice with some of what I was told this week. Open Door is changing its name. It appears that the mission and vision for the congregation are gone. Instead, there are pledges and promises of money that must be made in order to be a part of what was intended to be a safe place for exploration and questions. At first, what was most troubling to me is that they are planning to send me yet another letter, banning my membership. . .after they asked me to return and worship just a few months ago. . .

"Love is most nearly itself when the here and now cease to matter."

Life is full of choices. And full of consequences. The response I choose today not only reflects on me in this moment – it has repercussions for the future. The way I choose to handle pain, disappointment and regret say something about my ability to love.

After the anger subsided this weekend, the sadness is beginning to wash away. My prayers reflect my desire to move on – with a soft and open heart.

Guerrilla Art

This is what Sammy and I found on our walk this morning.







This one is my favorite. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. After I took a picture of it I said to Sammy, "I don't get it. It's just a fishbowl filled with concrete."

Duh.


This was Findlay, one year ago today.



Yeah. . .a concrete fish bowl.

I love that creative people in my small, sometimes backwards, town did this kind of art. There are a total of 18.5 works that appeared under cover of darkness. The 18.5 marks the number of feet the flood waters rose in our town. The art will stay for a few days, and then – much like the flood waters did – they will just disappear. The works of art are unsigned and not for sale.

Sammy and I have only found seven so far. We better hurry.

Seriously???

"A besotted person was ticketed for disorderly conduct Tuesday after eating crackers off the ground in the 900 block of North Main Street. His pants were around his knees."

You couldn't make this stuff up even if you tried. . .

– must be true. . .

Maybe we should turn this into a creative writing exercise with prizes for the best story! Want to play??

Something Just Clicked

We went to sleep early last night. To me, that is a little luxury. If I want to go to bed early, who cares? So I did!

Of course, that meant that I woke up earlier than normal. At 5:00 on the dot my eyes popped open and I knew I was up for the day. Might as well get started! After cleaning up the kitchen, emptying the dishwasher, folding a load a clothes and taking my shower I decided that I should take Sammy for a walk. He, of course, was thrilled. All you have to do is walk towards the front door and pick up the keys and he thinks it's time for something exciting. By the time you touch his leash he's practically doing cartwheels.

It seems that the theme for this week has been exercise in some form. My 101 in 1001 List is really having an impact on my choices – in a good and healthy way. There was yoga on Sunday. On Monday night after dinner, Ali and I walked Sammy down to the tennis courts at Donnell Middle School and we attempted to play tennis for a half hour. It wasn't pretty but it sure was a hoot. To say that we suck at tennis is mild but we excelled at laughing at ourselves and each other. Even Sammy got in on the act. He chewed through his harness where we had him lashed to the net pole and that freed him to chase the ball – and us – to his heart's content. I think more than one carload of people driving by, staring at the crazy women with the wild dog probably thought we were escapees from the mental ward. . .but once again. . .who cares??

A lot of my 101 in 1001 List has exercise as a component and it's something that I've struggled with most of my life. I'm not athletic. Never have been. (Read "band geek.") But there is something about being strong and healthy that I love. I need to lose 20 pounds and for once in my life, I feel like something inside of me is changing that may allow that to happen.

I reconnected with an old friend on Facebook this week. I haven't seen her in probably three years or so, but when I saw her picture I was stunned! She looks so healthy and confident! I don't really know if she lost weight, or how much, but there is so much life in her eyes and in her smile. I saw her picture and something inside of me just clicked – I knew that I wanted that too.

There's no magic. I know that. I read something this week that has stuck with me.

"If we give our bodies too much at once, our bodies will pull back. The one fight we don't want to get into is with our bodies."

That makes sense. It can't last for me if exercise becomes all about more, faster and harder. Fitness for me must be about mind, spirit and body. It will have to be about crazy tennis laughter, early morning dog walks, bike outings to nowhere in particular and yoga church if it's going to work for me.

I guess we shall see!

101 in 1001: #88

#88 on my list is "Take a Yoga Class."

When I was taking Sammy for a walk last Thursday night we went a little farther down Main Street than usual and that took us down Lima Street towards home. As we walked past Open Circle Yoga studio I noticed that they had a class schedule posted on the door, so we went up to take a peek. I was excited to find that there was a class that fit my schedule – Sunday mornings from 8:30-9:30!

I practiced yoga when I lived in Toledo a few years ago and loved it. For me, it's more about the mind than the body and I missed the wholeness and balance that it brought to my life.

I was a little nervous about dropping in on a class that I hadn't ever been to but I found the people at Open Circle to be very welcoming and friendly. I unrolled my mat in the back row and waited for class to begin. Melinda began the instruction with a period of meditation. We began in Corpse Pose and she asked us to close our eyes and focus on our breath. As I did that I became aware of the cool morning breeze drifting in the open window behind me. I heard a bird rustling and waking up for the day.

Melinda then asked us to set our intention for class that day. An intention in yoga practice is not a goal. It's a way of being in each moment. An intention is deciding what matters most and then aligning yourself – your thoughts and actions – with that.

She gave a us a few minutes to think about our intention for practice that day. As I listened to my breath and slowly began to move my body I knew my intention – to give thanks in all things.

At the end of class, during closing relaxation, she asked us to reflect on our intention again and then to take our intention home and remember it and embody it during the week to come. I'm still working on that.

As I walked home from yoga on Sunday morning I gave thanks again. Looking down the sidewalk, a few blocks away I saw Ali and Sammy coming to meet me. I knew it was going to be a really good day.

Learning

The International Festival at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo was an eye and heart opening experience. Saturday was beautiful when we arrived at the mosque.


There were tents set up with food and other exhibits of each country that has representation in the local faith community. We bought tickets and promptly sampled food from Iraq, Pakistan, Brazil, Turkey and Lebanon. There were vendors selling clothing and women's head coverings as well.

While we were eating there were cooking demonstrations going on and we watched this woman making Turkish breads.


By far, the highlight of the day was the tour of the mosque. I really didn't know what to expect. I didn't know much about the Islamic faith and, based on my perceptions of the outside of the building, I thought the actual worship area might look something like the inside of a cathedral – ornate, formal and silent. It was anything but.

Our tour guide was fantastic. I can't remember his name but he came to the United States from Turkey. He gave us an overview of the Muslim faith and it's tenets. We also got some history so we could put Islam into perspective. He gave us some parallels and connections with Christianity, since that was most of our group's background. Then he opened it up for questions. He was very clear that there was nothing we could ask that he would find offensive. He pushed us for deeper and more thoughtful questions. Finally, we started to open up and connect.

I learned the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims. We took off our shoes and stepped into the prayer space and asked questions. Muslims don't believe that anything other than God is holy, so we were free to move about the space and take pictures as we wanted. In truth, the prayer space more resembles a multipurpose room than a cathedral. There is carpet and stained glass but no "altar space" that Christians are used to focusing on.

Our guide also showed us the "preparation room" in which Muslims wash and prepare their dead for burial. I was most deeply moved when we were in this room because of the obvious love and respect for life.

Over and over again our guide asked us to ask questions. He asked us to reveal the misunderstandings we might have about his faith and encouraged us to get past the biased and uninformed media portrayals of him and all the other Muslims we might have heard or seen.

On many levels I respect that. As a lesbian in a straight world, I often struggle with the way gay people are portrayed in the media. When anyone judges me based on some parade they've seen on TV or some pedophile they heard about on the news, I shudder. It takes effort to look beyond stereotypes. I respect the work required to do so.

We ended the day by having a man write our names in Arabic. He – like the hundreds of others putting on the festival – was warm, funny and very approachable. We got back in the car talking about all we had learned.

The first thing we did after leaving the festival was make a stop at Barnes and Noble bookstore where we bought the book "The Complete Guide to World Religions." I have to think that our tour guide who patiently answered our uninformed questions would think his work was not in vain.


This is called a mirhab. It is used in the prayer room to orient the person who is engaged in prayer towards Mecca. Our guide told us that it is based on the prayer shrine that Abraham erected in the desert in the Old Testament.


A tapestry in the prayer room.

Ravelympics 2008

"Your challenge should you choose to accept it, is to start and finish a project during the 2008 Olympic Summer Games."

Official Start: 8pm Opening Ceremonies, Beijing time
Official End: 11:59 pm, apx. end of Closing Ceremonies, Beijing time

The only rule is that whatever you choose to knit or crochet must be a challenge for you.

I'm a bit more than half way through my project – another Hemlock Ring Blanket. This time, I used 100% wool and I'm a much happier girl!




I have a full week left. Closing ceremonies are Sunday, August 24 at 8:00 so I'm guessing I'll have til about midnight if I need it! Don't know how much I will get knit this weekend. We are headed to Toledo for the International Festival at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo on Saturday. I've always wanted to go and this is finally the year! Tours, arts, foods, expanding my horizons, learning about different cultures and religions. . . can't wait!

Someone asked why in the world we wanted to go to an Islamic Festival. . .my answer was that we might live in Findlay but we don't have to act like it. That was the end of that conversation. . .

Dang. . .and I didn't even get to point out that more people have been killed and more violence committed in the name of Christianity over the centuries than by the followers of Allah. . .

Have a great weekend!

101 in 1001: Life List

Like most of us at one time or another, I think I’ve reached one of those little plateaus in my life. I’m feeling tired, uninspired and down. Whenever I feel this way I let myself stay there for a little while. It’s perfectly OK to feel down. I just don’t want to make a habit of it.

As I thought about why I wasn’t feeling joy the way I wanted to, I realized that I needed to refocus. Instead of looking down – naval gazing – I needed to look up and out. Future instead of past. Horizon rather than the pavement between my feet.

I had heard of the 101 Things To Do In 1001 Days Project before. It seemed like it might be the right time to join.

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable, or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. Represent some amount of effort on your part.)

Start Date: Friday, August 15, 2008
End Date: Friday, May 13, 2011

My plan is to update and blog about successes and failures. I’m already feeling more energized and positive about life!

BECAUSE I LOVE ME
1. Take a vitamin every day. (145/1001)
2. Get my cholesterol checked.
3. Go to the dentist.
4. Floss 3 times a week for a month.
5. Exercise once a week for a month. (1/1)
6. Exercise twice a week for two months. (2/2)
7. Exercise three times a week for three months. (0/3)
8. No fast food for a month.
9. Bake a loaf of bread at least once a month. (4/33)
8/17/08 Cottage Cheese Dill Bread
9/1/08 Whole Wheat Bread
9/7/08 Pita Bread
11/9/08 Banana Bread
11/16/08 Pumpkin Bread

12/26/08 Whole Wheat Bread

1/17/09 Light Sandwich Bread
10. Take a beading class.
11. Take a knitting class.
12. Get a new tattoo.
13. Cook 50 new recipes and document how each one turned out. (4/50)
9/7/08 Hummus
9/22/08 Hamburger Stroganoff
9/27/08 Ken's Chili

11/16/08 Tomato Soup (made up my own recipe)

12/22/08 Salted Caramels

1/10/09 Tortilla Soup

1/28/09 Skillet Spaghetti
14. Do one thing every day that makes me feel good. (166/1001)
15. Lose 20 pounds. (2/20)

BECAUSE I LOVE HER
16. Put a dollar in a jar every day. At the end of 1001 days we will do something fun – just the two of us. (166/1001)
17. Go to a musical once a year. (1/3)

11/15/08 "Oliver" at the Stranahan Theater
18. Go on a date once a month. (6/33)
19. Play hooky.
20. Go to a drive-in movie.
21. Expand our family. We added Oliver - however, I think Ali has more than just Oliver in mind!
22. Go on a picnic – with a basket and a blanket and homemade food.
23. Visit every park in Hancock County together. (3/6)
24. Give ten “just because” gifts. (1/10)

9/16/08 - a cd of piano and surf music - she was having trouble sleeping
25. Take a completely impulsive, spur of the moment road trip.

BECAUSE I LOVE HIM/THEM
26. Take Sammy for a walk at least three times a week for a month.
27. Teach Sammy and Oliver three new tricks. (1/3 Sammy) (1/3 Oliver)
28. Make homemade dog treats.

BECAUSE I LOVE GOD
29. Meditate at least three times a week. (22/130)
30. Pray daily. (166/1001)
31. Spend one weekend a year on silent retreat. (0/3)
32. Work at finding or creating a faith community that challenges and sustains.

BECAUSE IT SCARES ME
33. Donate blood.
34. Learn how to jump start a car.
35. Volunteer for a political campaign.
36. Go whitewater rafting.
37. Ride a horse.
38. Submit one piece of writing to be published.

BECAUSE IT’S HOME
39. Fix the corner on the stair landing with new molding.
40. Organize the craft room.
41. Paint the craft room.
42. Fence the back yard.
43. Tear up the old carpet upstairs and seal the hardwood flooring.
44. Organize pictures. Got a flickr account and burned backups to external hard drive and CD's
45. Organize recipes.
46. Extend the patio.
47. Extend landscaping.
48. Clean out the garage.
49. Get a fire extinguisher for the kitchen.
50. Make a proper first aid kit for the house.
51. Make proper first aid kits for the cars.
52. Dust the house once a week. (23/130)
53. Clean the bathroom once a week. (23/130)
54. Get a new coffee table.
55. Look into alternative heating for the house for the winter.
56. Make shelves for the spare bedroom closet.
57. Organize spare bedroom closet.

BECAUSE IT MAKES THE WORLD BETTER
58. Volunteer at the Humane Society.
59. Recycle more consistently.
60. Actually remember to take the reusable bags to the store.
61. Replace the burned out regular light bulbs with CFLs.
62. Say hello and smile at everyone I pass on the sidewalk when I take Sammy for a walk.
63. When I get good service somewhere, tell the management.
64. Have ten no-spend days per month. (6/33)

BECAUSE IT’S CREATIVE
65. Knit something so difficult I don’t think I can do it.
66. Finish the vintage sheet quilt and actually quilt it myself.
67. Learn to do mosaics.
68. Make a piece of jewelry I love.
69. Take a photo every day. Print and keep the best ones. (71/1001)
70. Dabble in writing a little bit of poetry.
71. Learn to spin.

BECAUSE IT’S IMPORTANT
72. Make a will.
73. Save money every month – no matter how much or how little. (6/33)
74. Update our medical and legal power of attorney papers.

JUST BECAUSE
75. Take a trip by train.
76. Take a trip to Toronto.
77. Read 20 nonfiction books. (0/20)
78. Read 20 of The New York Times Top 100 Books in either 2007 or 2008 to be published in December 2008. (excluding ones I’ve already read) (1/20)
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta (NYT Top 100)
79. Learn to play poker.
80. Clean out the closet and donate ALL the clothes that don’t fit. No saving for “just in case I lose 20 pounds!”
81. Pay for the person’s meal behind me in the drive-thru.
82. Go to a book signing.
83. Get 2740 sold.
84. Build a snowman.
85. Celebrate a solstice.
86. Learn more about history.
87. Write ten handwritten letters. (0/10)
88. Take a yoga class.
89. Visit a national park outside of Ohio.
90. Stand outside in a rainstorm and look up.
91. Blog at least four times a week. (23/130)
92. Take my lunch to work every day for a month.
93. Learn to make beer.
94. Try different wines.
95. Learn to make 10 different cocktails that we actually enjoy drinking. (0/10)
96. Host 10 dinner parties. (0/10)
97. Start some kind of cooking club.
98. Learn to play tennis.
99. Eat dinner at the table with the TV off at least once a week. (23/130)
100. Put $10 in savings for every item on this list not accomplished in 1001 days.
101. Make my new list for the next 1001 days.

We 'Heart' Doctor Melissa!

I know this picture doesn't really look like much, but when you pull in the driveway after a long day and look at the living room window, this is what you see:



When Sammy hears the car he runs to the couch, leans over the back and looks through the screen until you go to the door. Sometimes he crosses his legs while he hangs out there and waits. It's enough to make your heart melt and make you to say things like, "How's mama's baby boy??" in a ridiculously babyish voice that the neighbors can probably hear. . .

This dog is a train wreck. Seriously.

He has a grade III-IV heart murmur. He has demodex which is just a fancy vet name for mange that will never go away. He has scabby, scaly skin that stinks three days after you give him a bath. He limps. He still poops in the house. I've spent more on healthcare for him in the four months than I've spent on myself in the last fourteen years.

But when I look at him, wagging his tail and thrilled that someone is finally home I forget all that. I love that rotten mess of a dog.

On the advice of the best vet a dog can't have – my Uncle Terry, who sadly is much too far away to see Sammy – we went to a new clinic yesterday. Instead of advocating for the same treatment strategies again (and again and again. . .) Dr. James took the time to actually read up on some of the latest treatments for demodex and try something different!

I have no idea whether it will work or not. That's not really the point. Dr. James got down on the floor with Sam because "you can't really see what's going on when he's scared up here on the table." She spent more than a half an hour actually listening - not just talking. And the total bill, at $141, was less than it would have been at our previous clinic, which is part of a national chain.

So far, so good. I'm a bit nervous about giving him Promeris. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence of bad reactions but I'm willing to try.

Right now we 'heart' Doctor Melissa. And if she can make the little face peering over the back of the couch actually grow a little more hair we will 'heart' her even more!!! Need a good vet? Try this one!

It Occurred to Me. . .

as we spent the ENTIRE day yesterday – like giant, lazy slugs – on the couch watching the Olympics; that Michael Phelps used more muscles celebrating their incredible win in the 4x100 meter relay than I have ever used in my entire body. . .

Serendipitous Thoughts on a Friday

These are things on my mind today!

I have a new shero! (Slang Definition: a female hero who kicks ass and takes names!)


It's Dara Torres. And if you don't know that she's forty-one and swimming in the Olympics then shame on you! And, yes, that's her baby!

That takes me to how much I love the Olympics and how excited I am that they are starting today. Yeah, I know they are in China. Yes, I completely support the cause of Tibet and its people. Maybe with the world watching China and exerting a bit of peer pressure. . .



Perhaps it's naive but I also wish the Olympics were free from politics; the athletes were free from steroids; the United States were out of Iraq; politicians and religious zealots were out of my bedroom. . . I know. I know. Moving on. . .

Did you know that there's a word for the smell that comes just as it starts to rain?? I heard it on NPR. The word is petracore. Here's the definition: "More specifically, it’s the pleasant smell that often accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather in certain regions. It was named by two Australian researchers in an article in Nature in 1964, who discovered that the smell is an oily essence that comes from rocks or soil that are often (but not always) clay-based. The oil is a complicated set of at least fifty different compounds, rather like a perfume. It turned out that the oils are given off by vegetation during dry spells and are adsorbed on to the surface of rocks and soil particles, to be released into the air again by the next rains." (definition comes from here)

Now, if they only had a word for the smell of a baby's head. . .

Now that everyone has learned something today – have a great weekend!

This Family Rocks

Sometimes I struggle with the nature and purpose of this blog. Why do I do this? Is it a forum just for me or do I have an audience mentality as I write? Is the purpose of 45 Pines to be about hobbies and the mundane details of my life or is it more about the bigger picture of my existence? What if its only purpose is self-expression? Is that a valid enough reason to share it or should it be confined to a locked book under my mattress? If it's only self-expression that I'm affirming, then why post it for everyone to read?

I've been thinking more about these kinds of things since getting home from vacation. In some ways, the week that we just spent in Wisconsin has changed much about me. I think it changed Ali as well.

To be completely honest, we went up there not knowing what to expect.

It's no secret that I've been estranged from my family - particularly my parents - for quite some time. But the feelings of estrangement go farther back than that. My dad moved us from Kentucky (where I had grown up and where all my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins were) to northwest Ohio 27 years ago. We had little money or time to make the trip down to see everyone very often after that. I went to college up here and eventually got a job and the years just slipped by.

It's not that I ever lost touch with my family. It's just that when you don't see people often you lose track of all the things you once shared in common.

After coming out to my parents and having that go so completely wrong I hesitated to put myself out there with other people for awhile. I had an inkling that things would be OK with the rest of the family but I just didn't want to risk that kind of pain again. So, years passed.

Then Gramma got sick.

She was like the sun to our planets. Her gravitational pull kept us aligned and spinning together as a family system in an intricate dance.

It was her funeral that took us to Wisconsin. And it was there that I felt "family" again.

To be honest, at some moments it was overwhelming. Everywhere you looked, everywhere you went there were Pikes and Curtis' – Pedersons were all over the place too. Our cabin was "party central" so nights dragged on til midnight - full of cribbage, beer, Trivial Pursuit and stories. Ali and I awoke each morning with stomachs sore from so much laughter the night before and whispers (lest we woke our rooomies!) about the wonderfully crazy people who were sharing our week.

We felt unconditionally loved. And, the crazy part for me is that we felt it from biological family.

And that brings me back to why I write this blog. I want to say thank you. And say it out loud.

This family, however extended it may be, rocks.

A Few Favorites

Just a couple of my favorite photos from vacation week.

Where we spent the week, sleeping on the wonderful porch, hearing the lake and watching the lightening.



The best roommates (and coolest people!) in the whole world.



The first bald eagle I've ever seen.



The reasons we went to Wisconsin.





I've uploaded a lot of photos from vacation week to my flickr account. If anybody wants to see or download any of them, just email me and I'll give you my flickr account id!

Hansel & Gretel We're Not. . .

Dear Family,

Please allow me to apologize for our early disappearance from the wonderful lake vacation on Thursday. The plan was to leave on Friday, but on Thursday morning Ali could have auditioned here:



We thought that making a break for our own home – our own toilet – was a good idea. . How wrong we were. . .

Like Hansel and Gretel, we left a trail down southbound Wisconsin Highway 53. But it wasn't made from breadcrumbs.

Alas, we only got as far as Eau Claire before running out of plastic bags. I stopped at K-Mart for Pepto Bismol, more bags and directions to the nearest hotel.

We finally made it home about six o'clock on Friday evening.

We had a most wonderful time with all of you! Just do me one favor will you? Next time you see, email or talk to Ali – ask her if she would like some corn. . .

With Much Love,
Tanya and Ali