Draft 2021

So I've been gone again for a while. Not really gone, though wouldn't a trip to a lovely vacation spot be just the thing right now? Anyway, though I've been gone from the internet, I've been quite present in my own life.The greatest mistress of my time lately has been my walking schedule. It's quite difficult to exercise with both EDS and fibromyalgia, but I always feel better when I do. The weather has been so beautiful here the past few weeks and my elliptical has been off-limits due to snake infestation so I decided to take to the trails. Since I hit forty I have gained at least 30 pounds. Most of this came on gradually and in part can be attributed to hypothyroidism. While treatment of my hypothyroidism has been successful, I have never lost any weight. A nasty confluence of peri-menopause, age, and illness have conspired against me. That, and I like food too much to starve myself. I remember reading that to be truly fit one should walk 5 miles a day. Considerin

'Tis the season of graduations and new beginnings. Friends and acquaintances share news of awards, internships, and scholarship choices. And I am happy for them and for their children. But while I am glad to share in others' joyful moments, I always bear a small burden of sorrow for my own children. Sometimes it seems as if everyone else's children are carefree, while mine have never had a carefree moment. Sometimes my heart is so swollen with sorrow over the pain my children have had to endure that it's all I can do not to crumble from the pain. And yet, I know everyone has his own cross to bear. This past year has tested my children like no other, and yet they have made it through the darkness ready and willing to care for and give to others. My oldest son is 24 now, the same age I was when he was born. He has truly been a gift to my husband and myself. He's the child who made me a mother and showed me how deeply one can love another. In his life so far, my son ha

This is Lester. He has no tail. Actually, he has a wee nubbin of a tail, but he doesn't like to talk about that. Lester has allergies that require him to take steroids. While he has been able to avoid 'roid rage, he does acknowledge that his muscular physique and lightening fast speed have been drug-enhanced. Lester loves snuggles, but only in private; open windows, dairy products, and perhaps most of all, boxes. And when it comes to boxes, as far as Lester is concerned, he's one size fits all. Watch as Lester demonstrates how to fit oneself neatly into a shoe box. Precise ordinal orientation is essential to proper fit. Next one must begin tuck and roll maneuvers.  Achieving body-box synchrony often requires repositioning. A final tuck and there you have the seemingly impossible: a 12 pound cat in a standard size shoe box. Applause is not only unnecessary, but annoying.

Well, just about the worst thing that could happen to me, did. Now, I know that if this truly is the worst thing that could happen to me, then I have no right to complain. But I'm going to anyway. Since we moved to this house nearly 6 years ago, I have had many trying wildlife related experiences. First, there was the raccoon that got locked in our van. In the heat. With the windows closed. Someone apparently forgot to close the van door and the raccoon, attracted by various crumbs and other food-related trash in said vehicle, decided to climb in for a closer look. Later that evening the open door was discovered and promptly shut and remained closed for more than 24 hours. It was August in Iowa with a heat index pushing 100 degrees. Somehow that raccoon managed to survive but the van didn't fair quite so well. In his desperate bid to escape, the coon managed to cause more than $600 of damage to the inside of the van. On a lighter note, the car repairmen I called got a good chuc

We've been enjoying radishes from our garden all this week. The lettuces, spinach, and arugula have a ways to go yet. So today we walked to the opening day of the Downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market. It took us about 40 minutes to walk there and a little longer to get home. I picked up several nice bunches of lettuce for $1 a bag, some fresh mint for tabouli, greenhouse grown tomatoes, and some of the first strawberries of the season. We ate breakfast at a neat little coffee shop, too. A fun treat since we've been keeping tight reins on our spending. Our carrots are doing well, though it will be quite a while before they're ready to harvest. The rest of the garden is going in today, but we plan to continue to frequent farmer's markets throughout the summer and fall. It felt really good to walk there and back (though the walk there felt much better than the walk home!) Fresh strawberries and cream are on tonight's dessert menu for sure.

I've been a little down-in-the-dumps today. You know, just generally feeling sorry for myself. Focusing on the negative. Not that this is unusual for me, as I definitely have the dominant version of the cynicism gene. I didn't wake up feeling glum, but something happened this morning that set the tone for the whole day. It was horrible and I'm not yet ready to write about it (don't worry - no one is hurt or anything). But it was the straw the broke the proverbial camel's back. Or should that be the "proverbial straw" or, for that matter, the camel's "proverbial back?" But I digress. The point is that I've not been the happiest of campers today, but looking at these pictures sort of helped me change my focus. First, that gorgeous pitcher? We bought it at a potter's shop in Arkansas several years ago on a family trip to visit my mom. Seeing it conjures up happy memories of the trip, my mom, my family, and that I just plain love this pit

Housework is never done. It can be frustrating to finish a morning of cleaning only to find it mostly undone as soon as you turn around. It's usually fairly easy to find on whom to pin the blame; the cache of dirty dishes in a teenager's room, briefcase and shoes discarded in the doorway, or craft projects left out on the dining room table. But sometimes it takes a little bit of sleuthing to find the culprits. The other day my newly-cleaned bathroom was trashed but who was responsible? Let's see: Muddy paw prints in the bathtub... Someone has been playing in the dirt again. A quick leap from the tub to the top of the toilet... and a tiptoe around the edge of the shower... A stroll through the litter box makes a change in paw prints... Then out into the hall... and down the stairs...  To find the culprits... fast asleep.