Our local newspaper is counting down to the fair on the front page by the masthead. Like I need any more reminders that these 50,000,000 4-H projects need to be ALL THE WAY DONE and handed in between 5:00 and 8:00 p.m on Tuesday, July 31, 2012?! A-l-m-o-s-t. T-h-e-r-e. Our children will have their projects completed. S-o-o-n. Repeating this like a mantra and remembering to breathe. ~ Janean
July 28, 2012
Our local newspaper is counting down to the fair on the front page by the masthead. Like I need any more reminders that these 50,000,000 4-H projects need to be ALL THE WAY DONE and handed in between 5:00 and 8:00 p.m on Tuesday, July 31, 2012?! A-l-m-o-s-t. T-h-e-r-e. Our children will have their projects completed. S-o-o-n. Repeating this like a mantra and remembering to breathe. ~ Janean
July 28, 2012
I made a few deliveries
Smiles all around
Hearts touched
Spirits lifted
Love,
Janean
July 27, 2012
We had some more rain this evening followed by the biggest, brightest, most beautiful rainbow I’ve ever seen stretch across several houses that face my own backyard. I looked for a rainbow such as this all last summer. A sign from God that He keeps His promises. The significance of seeing a rainbow today, tonight, after a brief rainstorm, is that the printed copies of my oldest son’s book arrived today. The one he wrote for 4-H. The one that honors his father and the fight he’s been fighting for over a year now. The title is, “On May 25”. It’s a beaut of a little book that also honors the Lord as my twelve year old shares his heart, faith, belief in the power of prayer and the comfort that comes from the prayers of many for our family during this difficult time. My heart was already dancing, soaring and flying. This rainbow, a double rainbow, was an unexpected gift. SO BIG! SO BEAUTIFUL! Praying this new type of chemotherapy works. Praying for complete healing from stage four cancer. Praying to weather this storm with my family of four intact for many years to come. Thank you, God, for the reminder that You are there. Always. From the dark of night to the glow of sunrise, until the sun sets once more, and sometimes, the most special of times, You are in the translucent glow of a rainbow in a perfectly formed half circle.
~ Janean
July 26, 2012
the dog and I
are deck sittin’
as thunder is growlin’
lightening is flashin’
brightenin’ the sky
momentarily
on the horizon
crickets are chirpin’
singin’
rain is comin’
today for sure
hallelujah
July 26, 2012
5:12a.m.
headin’ home as a family
when from the backseat
my nine year old boy said,
“I see the moon man.”
as he gazed out the window
at the dark night sky
I asked, “Do you mean
the man in the moon?”
he confirmed,
“Mmmhmmm, him.”
then he asked
a science question
about the moon
and the tides,
“How does THAT work, anyway?”
I mumbled something
about gravity
and lookin’ it up
later
and went back to grinnin’
about seein’
the moon man
as I gazed out my window
too
July 25, 2012
I used to be the neighbor who grumbled about dogs that always barked.
Now I have one.
That’s irony.
My youngest son calls Blue a barkaroo.
He made up a song about it,
“Blue is the bark-a-roooo
of the cent-ur-eeee.”
Those are the only words, sung on a continuous loop in melodious nine year old boy lilt.
Of course I’m charmed.
He’s my fourth grade son, singing about our big sweet pup who still needs to learn some volume control.
That’s love.
~ Janean
July 23, 2012
I’m sitting in quiet for a bit
Smidge of headache
Gonna take tylenol soon
A friend is coming over for a bit this morning
Will be good to see her even for an hour and a half before my husband comes home for lunch at noon
~ Janean
July 23, 2012
Dear Queen Anne,
I love your lace.
I always have.
Since childhood.
When I’d tuck a stem behind my ear and the delicate blooms would tickle my face.
I picked a dozen and wove the long stems into a crown, oblivious to the minute white petals in my hair long after the crown was gone.
I chose the prettiest blooms and presented them to my grandma in a great big bunch.
Flowers, flowers everywhere in her multilayered gardens, but the only one I was allowed to pick was your lace, Queen Anne.
Time passes.
That young girl, once so carefree, grew into a woman with a family of her own.
But I’m still me.
In the light of early morning, walking my sweet pup on a new path, I spied a familiar flower.
For I never could call it a weed, with a name as lovely as, “Queen Anne’s Lace.”
Hello my friend.
Thank you for waking up my memories, of those childhood days long gone.
My grandma is gone now too.
Smiling down from heaven as I snapped off a single bloom and kept on walking.
Heading home.
Puppy slowing down, pulling less, heeling more.
I know full well it’s against the rules to pick flowers in a public park, as they are there for everyone to enjoy.
I rationalized no one would miss one weed…
Even though in my heart I didn’t think it so.
Thank you for the beautiful, pure white, intricate blooms of your lace, Queen Anne.
I’ll be walking that way again and a flower may or may not follow me home again…
(Depending a bit on who is reading.)
Love,
Janean
July 21, 2012
Part of my growly mood yesterday was anxiety about my husband starting a new type of chemo today. I just didn’t feel like smiling and making idle chit chat to be polite. I wanted to yell, cuss, kick and cry…but I didn’t do that either. Well, not too much.
~ Janean
July 17, 2012
Turquoise Tangles 