I love reading everyone's blogs. Makes me feel like I just had a cup of coffee and a chat with each of you. But when I try to write mine, the coffee gets cold.

What pushes me into finally making an entry is the joy I get from yours, that and the fact that I promised my sister. Hi Sand'! You're still making me braver than I am.

At the moment I'm on vacation. What a glorious gift that is. My first day off I took three naps! I was worn out. I had had a headache for three days and had just finished two solid days of parent conferences. (I'm a teacher.) The first day we stay until 8pm for our parents and then start at 7:30am the next day. We didn't break for meals, we were so busy. Just took five minutes to grab a snack and kept at it.

The second day I drove to Kent for a baby shower. That was fun. Lots of really nice women, terrific food, great gifts and laughter. Caught up with family and got to hug the cute babies who arrived last fall. Melissa's baby will have cousins his age to play with.

The great aunties have a tradition now. We each sew a row on a baby quilt. This one was filled with lively colors and a zoo full of animals. Grandma Annette connected our rows and did the quilting and binding. It looked really good Annette. Thanks.

And now I'm already on day 4. Someone slow down the clock!!! I'm off to the pool to swim laps and then a new project awaits me. More on that later.

Love you all. Me(g)

Rain

It's raining. That can mean so many things...

The entire sky is covered at the moment. To the east a sheet of grey. To the west the clouds are more delineated. And here in the middle the trees are swaying; rain is sliding drop by drop along the windows. This time the rain is cozy. While the trees bend and twirl and the rain slips quietly down, my kitty and I are comfortably tucked away. Blankets and books and tea.

When we look out there is an invitation to reflect. Life must be good if time allows for reflection, if there is a break from work, if the mind can travel through memory, and if there is a calm in which one can reside while one thinks.

It's a great day.

Spring is Coming

I don't know about you, but I get really tired of winter. Snow is great. Short days are OK. Rain is tolerable. But endless grey is hard to take. I play mind games each year. It's not really winter until late December. January isn't really winter; if you watch, Pussy Willow will start to form buds. February isn't winter the Forsythia bloom and the wild currant won't be far behind. March and April bring official Spring and the local tulip festival. Winter? What winter?

It almost works. If I can make it to February, I know I'll survive.

This year was grey, but Spring has been shaping up for weeks. Buds are forming everywhere. Tulips and daffodils are up and out of the ground. I was in California a couple of weeks ago and everything was in bloom there. A great preview of the color to come. The final proof of life returning was the waking of the frogs. We live by a pond and each year the frogs awaken in spring. Its a full tympany of sound. A percussion section that sings the sound of the earth. Last night the first frog woke and began to call the others. Within a week there will be thousands calling out. This is the music of our vernal equinox.

Family

Family. That word hosts a myriad of images, emotions and experiences for people. For many it's overwhelmingly negative and for others its a synonym for strength and comfort. Family stories are horrific, non-existent, funny, warm, wacky, short, long, never-ending.

I'm lucky. I belong to one of the great ones. We use up all of the adjectives like crazy, thoughtful, distant, close, funny, wise, strong, intelligent, original, innovative, energetic, slow, flexible, stubborn, short, tall, skinny, not-so-thin, kind, sensitive, angry, unbending, preoccupied, stressed, overloaded, available, generous, faithful, reliable, and loving. Above all my family is a family. We belong to each other.

There is room for individuality within the group. There is space for variety. There are traditions, but also new members, new routines and new expressions of love and joy and celebration. There is strength to be leaned on, humor to lose yourself and your problems in, there is food, and fun and times together and times apart and ups and downs and life as only life can be, and through it all you aren't alone. You are free and you are connected. How wonderful!

I have brothers and sisters, uncles and aunties, nieces and nephews, cousins and cousins and cousins and more cousins. Big, boisterous, and the best.

I have brothers who call just to say "I love you.", "What's up?". I have a sister I would be lost without. I think we must be twins. My sisters-in-law are so incredible! As the ad says "indescribably delicious"! And my brothers in law are thoughtful, and funny and soo talented. You think I'm exaggerating? NOPE. I'm holding back.

Mom (the best in the universe) deserves an entry of her own along with the kiddos. Nieces and nephews who share their lives, their discoveries, their hi jinks and their love.

Thanks to you all. You make life so rich!!! I love you all. Me(g)

Cats Schmats

Do any of you own a cat? We do. I find I can't live without the pleasure of all those feline moments: delicate baths, soft fur in the face, a lump of love & warmth on the lap and the comfort of the ubiquitous purr. Those teensy tiny fuzzy wuzzy cutesy tootsy little kitty bundles break my heart and say take me home.

I love my cat. But once the downy fur is gone, the musculature developed and the voice box discovered, they become more complex.

• Do I enjoy opening and closing the door twenty (no kidding) times a day? NO! Will I always be her doorman when her little meow rings? Absolutely.
• Do I like to turn the water off and on in the bathtub? NO! Will I always let the water meter run when she cries for a drink? Absolutely.
• Do I like to be woken in the dark of night by a nudge against my shoulder and the odor of fish? NO. Will I always lift the covers and let her nestle against me, purring, grinning, and falling promptly asleep? Absolutely

Cats Schmats.

I sure do love this one! Ain't she cute?

Sunny Days

The last two days have been great. Watching the inauguration was moving. I watched it with friends at school. Instead of a Tuedsay morning meeting we had a Tuesday morning CELEBRATION! We laughed, cried, sighed, stood, clapped, reminisced, hoped, loved and were inspired.

Two of us remembered marching (here, not in the south), remembered debates and discussions, the movement and the discrimination. Our kids come from every background imaginable and for them it was a "no brainer" that everyone is equal. We danced in the halls, we cheered in the classes and yes it was done with respect for all.

Today was an all day class; learning how to help kids struggling with math. And it was actually useful. We started so fogbound that the room looked like it had white filmy curtains. By midday it was burning off with hints of islands, boats muscling their way through the tide and a promise of sun. By early afternoon we could see snow-capped mountains, glistening light refracted from the deep blue and a bald eagle gliding past with a snack in its claws. A beautiful day. A day filled with hope and promise just like yesterday.

My Sister Made Me Do This

If left to my own devices I would crawl under a rock (provided I had a good book and a crack for sunshine) and disappear. BUT ...I have a big sister and she's been dragging me behind her for, well since, OK, OK always.

I usually like drafting along in her wake when the world is calling, but a blog? Techno-smart?! We'll see...

This is for her and for the rest of my computer aged family. Hello. Even our mom, who is a terrific great-great grandma has a blog. Before long all of us will be airing the family linens in the sunshine of the internet. We laugh a lot at ourselves. Hope you do too.

This is my test drive so I'll be back once I've filled in all the other screens.

Bye sis this is for you. I love you forever. Meg