my brother john

children of the same family, the same blood with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power which no subsequent connections can supply. - jane austin

happy birthday john! i love you.

earth week

i do not believe we are to take trees down during earth week. aren't we to plant instead?! my heart has been a bit sad these past few days because i made the decision to take a tree down. my lovely redbuds that line my front stairs, offering a canopy of pink in may and glorious shade in august have been struggling. last year dave, johnny and reedo trimmed them for me so that the branches had more room to breathe. i thought by doing this they would not struggle so hard. but last fall the leaves wilted much too early and turned brown long before the cold frost air arrived. i watched and hoped all winter long that the branches that appeared dead or dying were simply in winter hibernation. frodshoms sprayed them for me. last summer and early this spring. and i hoped that just maybe the blossoms were late in arriving because after all it snows every other weekend even though it is the end of april.

of the four trees i have, two were in trouble. i choose the sacrifice one for now. maybe by loosing one the other will be saved. cinny tells me i need to have faith. i don't think i have the faith she does - though i wish i did. instead all i feel right now is sadness. i realize it is only a tree but it is a tree i loved.

here's keeping fingers crossed that the other tree will make it.

it fascinates me -

that an almost 3 year old boy and an 85 year old gram sound exactly alike when saying "iono" and "yup".
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that I delay getting into the shower just because I don't want to dry off when I'm done. (I love the shower I just don't like drying off...maybe because there is so much of me to dry? hmmm...)
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that I love having robins, finches, wrens, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, etc in my yard but I chase the poor magpies away! (I'm not really sure why I do this other than the fact I think they are obnoxious but it is just a bird for goodness sakes. poor magpies!)
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that 12 oz of chocolate equals 5 lbs of weight gain.
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that 10 years ago i was still thirtysomething. i was also thirtysomething pounds lighter! (soon enough it will have been fortysomething - both years and pounds - oh my).

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that anyone would consider using anything else but good butter. i grew up and out eating "land o lakes". i knew we were all (connors, connors, murdock, parker, gardner and anyone who likes good food out there) kindred spirits tatiana!

.

that i can spend so many hours blog stalking and just ignore the rest of the world!

Grateful for this day

These past few days are I believe the most significant days in history. What happened over 2000 years ago was planned for and anticipated since the beginning of time and the events changed our world forever. Yet I find that all too often I let the days pass from year to year with only a slight acknowledgement. It has been Holy Week. So many miracles were performed, so many lessons taught. Christ raised Lazarus from the dead and then proceeded towards his own. Maundy Thursday, the day the sacrament was introduced to us and lessons were taught by Him who loves us more than anyone else. I often dream of being in the upper chamber of that home where Christ with a bowl of water and soft towels taught his disciples that love was what it was really all about. With the passion of Peter I wish to declare my commitment. Unfortunately, like Peter, I find myself too often hiding in the shadows. It is not that I do not know or believe, it is perhaps that I am just a bit afraid and unsure of what to do.
Gethsemane. I do not need to physically go there to know or feel the significance of this place of crushing. It is the first cold press, symbolic of the First Born, which produces the sweetest oil. The bitter taste of the olive is removed and turned to fragrant, sweet tasting oil but only after extreme pressure is applied. It is not unfitting that He would intercede for us in such a place as this. But like others that love and follow Him I find myself dozing off instead of keeping watch. When I wake from this earthly life I do not want to be greeted by the disappointing question, could I not keep watch?

When I think about these events it reminds me to be grateful of my womanhood. It was to a women Christ first declared himself as the Messiah. It was the faith of Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus, that prompted His compassion to raise the dead. A women, who was about my same age right now, watched as her son was offered up, not without suffering. She did not turn away but stood steadfast in her vigil of love. And in the quiet morning of the third day He appeared once again to a women and, as the Resurrected Christ, instructed her to declare His coming.

I long to be like the sisters of Bethany and the widow of Zarephath or the young Abish who ran through the streets declaring her faith. I need to reach out towards others, offering help and love and in so doing I will touch His robe. For these few days I wish I could set away all worldly chores. It is with family and loved ones that desire to be. I yearn to be inspired to do good things and then follow through with action. "For my soul delighteth in His Words" and they sing out "How great Thou art". Blessed be the Lord God. Happy Easter!

thank you cori

the following is taken from "music and the spoken word" it is one of my favorite entries and as this holy week ends and this season of lent comes to a close i wish to thank cori for her gift of words to us all.

The Power of the Written Word

We have long known the power of the written word. Through their writings, historians preserve the events that shape the destiny of nations. Poets write words that blissfully lift us above the mundane business of life into thoughtful reverie. Novelists, with the magic of their words, transport us into paths of excitement and intrigue. Philosophers and statesmen motivate millions to nobler actions with their written words. Most significantly, words recorded in sacred scriptural writings open our view to the purpose of life and how to live it to the fullest. There is indeed great power in the written word.
Consider the power of our own written words. Some may respond to that idea with the statement, “I’m not a writer!” There are words within each of us that have the power to bless the lives of others. Writing them becomes the gift we give—the legacy we leave. ... Phone calls are nice, but they cannot be reread, bringing joy over and over again.
If we could look into the secret places where people keep their most treasured items, we would find written words from loved ones—words they could not bear to throw away.

It was Shakespeare who wrote, “Go to your bosom; knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know.”1 There is great power in the written word. Writing down what is in our hearts can make a difference in someone’s life now—and perhaps for generations to come.

1"Measure for Measure,” in David St. Leger, ed., A Treasury of Wisdom and Inspiration (New York: New American Library of World Literature, Inc., Signet Key Books, 1954), 91.

ooops

hmmm...i wonder who's blog i commented on? i was reading cori's wotd, "word of the day" posted on her blog. the word yesterday or maybe today was peculiar. you'll have to read her blog . anyway...i made the comment that i wasn't sure how peculiar she was but i thought she was just plain weird! i did place the disclaimer that i knew it was in our genes. well - i verified the post was published and then tonight as cori was reading her blog and comments i asked her if she liked the comment i left. she said "what comment, there is no comment from you". what, but i double checked. hmmmm i wonder who's blog i commented on. well if anyone reads this and i happened to have commented on your blog that i thought you were weird, please excuse me it was meant only for my sister!

not necessarily the breakfast of champions

yogurt and coke. that is what i gave my mom for breakfast this morning. i suppose it is a good thing i never had kids of my own for they would have grown up most likely pouring coke on their cereal, eating cookies and left over steak for breakfast, well actually for lunch because i don't think i would have gotten up in time to make them breakfast, and yummy pancakes for dinner. you want ice cream at midnight, no problem. and i have been known to cook shrimp at 2am, wearing rubber gloves mind you because i am highly allergic to shell fish but mom really likes it. last summer i was really improving on my nutrition skills. i was fixing cheese omelets and toast for breakfast. fresh veggies, fish and fruit for dinner. don't know what happened to me. lately i've been making comfort food like big pots of creamed peas, chicken wings - where it is mostly skin, fat and gristle and not so much meat accompanied with libs ribs sauce of course, filet's with plenty of bleu cheese and delicious dryers lemonade bars that melissa saynor introduced me to. but ... warm weather is coming and i'll have to try and fit into my summer skirts instead of my sweat pants so....after Easter i will try to be better. :).

- - -

ps - besides mom always says "red is best".

pps - can anyone else down a whole roll of thin mints in one sitting?

ppps - and for those who can - walgreens has the best antacids on the market!