Author: Dame

I have been super busy today what with our website, domestic goddesshood, errands, and what not. And I don’t even have a paying job. I’m grouchy because I have a writing project and a self-discovery group I’m trying to work on and no time to devote to either. Granted, I like to call it creative unemployment, but dang, I’m busier now than when I was raising kids on my own and working outside the home to boot. I need some creative time. Okay, it felt good to vent here.

“Suppose, instead of living to get money to spend, we lived by not spending?”
~Rumer Godden from one of her memoirs, A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep

Check out the Kitchen Sisters latest project — What’s Your Story? — the secret lives of girls and women around the world.

Not at all what I was going to write about today but it has me too excited to blah blah blah my own thing today.

** image from Kitchen Sisters

Other bloggers who inspire me. McCabe, her humble and gentle soul, her awesome videos, and her welcoming spirit.

Jen Lemen for putting it all out there from the beginning even though she had no idea where she was going with it all.

Stef for hanging in there even when she gets discouraged, and inspiring me to do so too. Now she’s starting a new year fresh with some shiny ruby shoes that are gonna take her over the rainbow.

Pixie cuz she’s another Virgoan mystic who totally gets how sublime going into the mystery can be.

What’s that saying about making a difference? If you have made a difference to one person, you have made a difference to the world?

** postcard image from pixie campbell’s animama series **

I am a wanderer, a traveler, a gypsy, I love going places. My dad was in the Marines when I was growing up so I moved a lot up until the end of high school.

Southwest is running this spectacular sale through today. I’ve had a longing to revisit San Diego County where we lived my first two years of high school — I can only imagine how much it’s changed — Fallbrook, Vista, San Luis Rey, Oceanside, Julian, Escondido, Carlsbad, all those towns I remember — but Marty’s never flown and I feel guilty taking another trip without him. So, I’m thinking if we take advantage of this sale, either North Carolina (where I also lived), or Tennessee (never been there). I have a credit I have to use by January and these crazy offers Southwest has from time to time are just too tempting to my gypsy soul.

Here’s a couple of shots of my dream car — I saw it when we were out at St. Timothy’s on the first day of horseback riding camp. Even on a gray day, it looks like it can take you over the rainbow, doesn’t it? I love finding magic in our everyday world.

I love July 1st in the summertime. It is Canada Day, Jimmy’s birthday and my daughter’s birthday. When she was little she always referred to it as “July 1st in the summertime.” So, the day she was born 20 years ago, I woke up and figured, “yeah, this could be it.”

She was actually due on Bastille Day. Rather than waiting around, we all went strawberry picking that morning with her “Evelyn Gramma” and her big brother “Guy Guy” (her babyhood names for them). We always called Anthony the “little guy” when he was younger. He was 5 when she was born.

I was scheduled for my evening shift that afternoon, 3P to 11P. I was a unit secretary in a trauma unit in Burlington, Vermont. It was a Saturday and sometimes weekends could be quiet. I went to work and as my contractions were increasing, I popped upstairs to L & D on my dinner break. My nurse-midwife, Linda, was on call that night,checked me out, and said “yep, you’ll probably have your baby by the morning.” This was around 5:30P. It ended up being one of those quiet Saturday evenings when the work is done early, and it’s pretty laid back around the nurse’s station.

Around 7:30P, I went to the bathroom, and my water broke, soaking my ankle socks and the floor. Rita, our housekeeper mopped up after me as Lorraine, our nurse’s aide wheeled me off the unit in a wheelchair, straight up to L & D. The nurse manager, who was there for Molly’s birth was quite impressed and asked if I’d be interested in working on L & D when I returned from my leave? We were all getting quite the chuckle out the whole scene.

By the time I had arrived on the unit I was 9 CM dilated so things were happening fast. Jacqueline and Anthony arrived before Jason did. My twenty-something sister was Anthony’s support person, but at one point I looked over at her, and it looked like Anthony was doing the supporting. She looked like she was ready to pass out. Jason arrived a bit toasted (celebrating beforehand I suppose) about 15 minutes before Molly was born at 8:48PM. All 6 pounds 9 ounces of a wee baby girl whom I was not expecting — for some reason I just figured I’d have another boy.

But, nope, I had the baby sister her brother had wished for just the day before. Only I didn’t name her Mary Anthony like he had asked, but rather Molly Rose. Here she is today with her friend Brian on their way to Provincetown.

(No birth pictures — they didn’t turn out except for the couple her brother took with his little Kodak 110 Instamatic. I was devastated when the film came back undeveloped from our camera. It was a 35MM and the film hadn’t engaged, so we basically shot a blank roll. However, the adorable little guy in Mickey Mouse scrubs, and the just born baby girl are treasured visions I hope to always remember).

…because sometimes I learn this blogger stuff by accident. For example, I’ve been posting these weensy pictures, totally missing the small – medium – large choices in the upload photo box.

I discovered it yesterday as I was doing my post for another blog (it’s our business/life together kinda blog). I found the size choices doing that post, then when I did my post for this blog and uploaded my photo I thought, dang, why is my photo still so itsy-bitsy?

Now I know — hooray, hooray! It’s those little things sometimes that can make such a difference.

I’ve been using my new camera and loving it — and slowly editing my umpteen photos. Here’s a few more from Baltimore at the big ranch after some Honfest. Above is a picture of Leah and her friend playing with her new fisheye lens.

The top picture is the lovely barista from El Rancho Grande (she reminds me of Jennifer Garner) and the bottom picture is a mama Hon and her little Honette.

Two weeks ago today I left on a jet plane to visit with family in Baltimore. It was a glorious week and it’s been hard landing since — mostly because of gray days and a more scattered community here. I miss the smell of the honeysuckle of my childhood, the neighborhoods and blue skies with those cotton ball clouds.

I am slowly learning to get my template looking the way I want it. I wanted three columns on my Minima template and found a site with very simple instructions called, what else but Three Column Blogger.

Next up is learning to use the software that came with my camera to download all the pictures I took while I was away. Hoping to get to that in the next couple of days.

Where was I, you ask? Well, let’s just say I was charmed by the Charm City. Another hint is one of the links in my sidebar if you aren’t familiar with where the Charm City is.

Sometimes I am a talkative silver saxophone with tons of sound in a bright room playing jazz all around.

Sometimes I am a fast wind whipping by fast shooting across the sky making things blow away.

Sometimes I am a sad weeping willow tree swaying in the breeze my tears made of petals.

Sometimes I am an oil pastel bursting with all the colors in the universe.

– poem by my niece Hannah, 9