Friends are great for so many reasons. I added another reason to that list today while shopping at Food Lion. A friend was kind enough to remind me that I had a blog, and hey! Come ta think of it, I kinda miss writing it.
Much has happened since this past February (such is life, eh?). Some of the highlights have been Isaiah's Blessing and subsequent visit from the Grandparents as well as Auntie Glory. I have finally obtained the magical pre-pregnancy weight by number and the acceptance of the near impossibility of the pre-pregnancy body type. Isaiah learned to crawl upon turning 8 months and quickly proceeded to walking at about 9.5 months. The entire household has mustered up the courage to don bathing suits and enjoy the sun at our apt. complex pool. I finished watching Lost and I thoroughly enjoy the profundity of it all. I am well into Alexander McCall Smith's series about Precious Ramotswe and her No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series (thereby falling asleep with a smile on my face most nights). I have seen my father twice and my sister once and thank the Lord I have yet to see my stepmother. I have been estranged my my maternal side of the family for over a year now. I had surgery that blasted some kidney stones to Kingdom Come. We had to say goodbye to my favoritest station wagon...it was a very soggy farewell. And I fell in love with Wang's. AND my husband turns 27 this week. If he talks about how old he feels one more time I'm going to slap him with a sign that has the number 28 on it and scream hysterically, "See how that feels?!" Note to self: Shut up about feeling old around anyone 29 and up. Try to complain only around teenagers.
So there are some small things in that little summary and then there are some big honkin' thorn-in-my side type thingies hiding out in there. Okay well maybe not hiding but you know? Since I happen to have in my possession a piece of fancy paper that implies my expertise in the area of psychology I will purposefully avoid the big honkin' things. Sometimes you just really shouldn't spoil the sunshine with all the Captian Obvious remarks about troubled childhoods and awkward open-ended conflicts. I'll save it for a day I decide to throw myself a pity party! Instead I shall discuss the coolness of watching a child learn to walk.
It was just me and lil Booger-head at home one day. I'm pretty sure I was glued to the TV watching one of my shows on Netflix while doing five thousand things at once (*high-five to all fellow wives and mothers*) when I decided to roll around on the floor like a dog and nip at my little boys chubby legs while growling. "Grrrrrrrrr," said the mommy to the baby.
"GGgggggeegeeegeeee!" said the baby to the mommy.
Baby crawls to the couch, pulls himself up and peers over his shoulder at the creepy grown-up quickly approaching.
"I'm gonna getchoo, I'm GONNA GETCHOO!" says the mommy to the baby.
And baby takes a wobbly step forward to slap mommy in the eye socket.
"GOOD JOB!" mommy squeals. "C'mon, you can do it, take a step, c'mere little dude, come see me!You can do it!" encourages mommy.
And that's how it started! Just a few steps. That night he was extra hyper and courageous and was able to really get going down the hallway. The next day he was able to achieve even more with his new skill. By the third day he was positively walking fer reals. This past Sunday he enjoyed exploring in the fluffy grass in front of our church. He seemed to take a liking to the bushes with the thick green, glossy leaves. They happen to be my favorite, too. I like ginkgo biloba leaves a lot, too, and I can't wait to show them to him. It smelled like green grass and was just hot enough to require a bit of deodorant. Pretty day. He walked all around just talking to himself. Discovery Mode is just the coolest. It made me think of Kid Zoom Vision. You know, that ability kids have to look at something and then zoom in on the smallest details while effectively blocking out all other stimulus and distraction? I remembered trying to follow all the veins in the leaves of trees as they looked like city streets. Tiny green streets that were filled with....oh I dunno. Chlorophyll or something. Neat stuff.
Something else I really want to put out there. There is an author named Alexander McCall Smith who has apparently lived an interesting life in various parts of the world and therefore has acquired through nature and nurture an amazingly simply and wise perspective that he seems to effortlessly inject into his writing. Such authors are a gift to us on this earth and I think it is our duty as God's children to take notice of this gift he has...this gift that God has given to uplift us and remind us of the good things. I suggest you check out this man. I may just write him a letter. I hope he enjoys that sort of thing as I wouldn't want to bother him. I know I would enjoy my letter but I suspect I'm a tad biased.
For the record, Wang's is a local Chinese, Thai, and Japanese restaurant. Their recipes are different than the 'fast food' type dishes that are so predictable at similar venues. I ordered the Lo Mein and I did not get soggy, greasy noodles with soggy, greasy veggies. Their egg rolls are light and crispy and savory on the inside. The egg drop soup doesn't default to salt. Even the fortune cookies were fresh. This is why everyone in this household has fallen in love with Wang's. If you happen to call for delivery and you get the lovely lady with the heavy accent, just try to mimic the accent. My husband tried making his eyes bug out of his head and gesturing erratically while on the phone but that did not exaclt work? I think maybe I have a gift for accents. Anyway, what she couldn't understand from him, she was able to get from me and then we were able to get yummy food from her and that's what counts. No matter what, it is fun trying to talk like that. I hope I didn't offend. If I did, somebody's spit tastes good.
I would say something about birthdays but I cain't. It's a surprise. Or at least I hope it will be. I have yet to plan anything but I have faith that the Lord will be with me on this one. All I can hope for is a gathering of friends on the day my Anthony was born so we can laugh and smile and take pictures and talk about our kids and play the guitar and sing silly songs that sometimes don't rhyme and eat double chocolate brownies with ice cream and them go home and sleep a lot.
But the last thing I want to share is....hmmm. I don't know how to preface this. Sometimes in life you find yourself in a room full of people and you realize you are all sharing the same sentiment and it can feel powerful. Last Sunday was such a moment and was different in that the shared sentiment was quite erratic. That was some real power! I mean, for a bunch of people to feel one thing at once is pretty amazing but for a bunch of people to feel the same several things over the course of the same consecutive moments was just...so powerful that it was weird. This is a short synapsis is Creative Writing 101 form:
There was the harbinger standing at the podium in his breezy uniform of storm-cloud colored linen. His voice was the static between those clouds, scratching at our eardrums and tapping at our good will. His audience was inspired to draw their children nearer and put on stoic masks of indifference to lead the way for childish response. I think his name was Friday as no one told him it was Sunday and not a day for such news of incarceration. Pleas or no pleas we wished to hear no more, please, but this harbinger forced his static into our hearts when they were most open. Then the lightening struck and eyes grew wide and I imagine some may have wanted to hide; disappear through a trapped door even. It left an ugly mark in the fertile soil of our sacred ground and you could hear all the minds whirring, gears turning as we fought to choose the right response. However, we were not weakened and only temporarily shaken. The small voice that followed did not say anything thunderous but his point was soft and large like a beloved Father's hand. A hand which ushered in that which was briefly lost. I wonder if he knew the job he was performing? I know he knew the rewards for such work, though. And people began to breath again. Some laughed it off as people sometimes do in awkward situations and that dispersed some of the storm clouds still hanging around. Some people fought with their tongues to withhold a gossip and others puzzled over the change in the air as they had actually been away when the harbinger came to speak. They did not know of the thing at all except for unfamiliar looks on all the familiar faces in the aftermath. This must be what happens when Friday is not familiar with this particular Sunday.
But nobody forgot to tell me it is Monday. Time for sleep, peeps! Hope you are all well and hope I see ya soon. Sweet dreams ;)
PS - I dedicate this post to a friend.
