April Twenty-Twenty Two

 

It’s good to know you’re here: A Prayer
Almighty One,
I used to think I had to approach
You/Thou
With formal language or
Unknown tongues or
Recited acronyms, bless it.
Now it’s nice to simply be us,
Together,
Isn’t it?
 
God of our rapid tests and nose swabs,
God in our bewilderment and grief,
God in our wordless prayers and our persistent fears,
God in our exhaustion and anger,
It’s just so good to know you’re here.
 
(Your presence these days
feels like vast patience and deep power,
poetry and prairie sunsets.)
 
God of our laughter and science,
God in our joy and comfort,
God in our patience and our kindness,
God in our rising up and renewal,
It’s just good to know you’re here.
 
I’ll bring everything I am to you,
None of it is a surprise, I know.
I don’t need to pretend to be less
Angry, disappointed, scared, sad,
Joyful, hopeful, awake, alive.
 
Emmanuel, God with us,
It’s your very with-us-ness
That gives us permission to pray
As fully human,
Fully beloved,
Fully known.
You’re here, and always, then, now, forever,
It’s just good to remember this again.
 
It’s just good to know you’re here,
Still, always,
In conversations that never really begin or end,
Wending their way through every aspect of
our Lives and your Love,
 
God in our cluttered homes and holy hospitals,
God in the sacred places we’ve forgotten,
God in the ordinary cathedrals of the spruces,
God in the grey sky and grocery list,
It’s just good to know you’re here
With us, still, always.
 
Amen.
-Sarah Bessey 

When It’s over, I don’t want to wonder 
if I have made of my life something particular, and real. 
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened 
or full of argument.
I don’t want to wind up simply having visited this world.
—Mary Oliver

April, dressed in all his trip, hath put a spirit of youth in everything. -William Shakespeare 

Today by Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,

so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw

open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,

indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths

and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight

that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight

on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants

from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,

holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,

well, today is just that kind of day.

click below for the hilarious story behind the gold dress that I have on loan for 2 weeks that I wore in a 1/2 Marathon today: 

Goldee Dress by Nuu Muu

Rules for Raising Teenage Boys

I read an article today titled "21 Completely Subjective Rules for Raising a Boy" by Catherine Newman and these are a few of my favorite tips that left me a little misty-eyed...  https://cupofjo.com/2018/12/raising-teenage-boys-advice/

6. Familiarize yourself with the expression “second dinner,” and buy lots of Trader Joe’s frozen entrees for hungry nighttime foragers.

8. Be trustworthy. Be respectful. If they turn to you with something bad or hard, the first message should be, “I’m so glad you told me.” The second message should be, “How can I help?”

14. Take a picture of the heap of gigantic shoes by your front door because one day they will not be there and you will want to tearfully reminisce.

15. Teach them the important life skills: How to send a thank-you note. How to listen and ask questions. How to walk into a kitchen and say, “Put me to work.” How to call their representatives about an important issue. How to clean a bathroom, do a load of laundry, scramble an egg. How to sit patiently on the sofa between their two grandparents with their two new iPhones, nodding slowly and saying, “Here, let me show you,” when the grandparents are convinced the Google has gone missing.

20. Lying in bed at night, scanning around to check for various dangers and unhappinesses, you will mentally find your son safe in his bed, in his room, in your house. And you will remember to be so, so grateful. Because one day you will buy him a memory foam mattress topper and a set of twin XL sheets and, poof, he will leave behind a heartbreaking boy-shaped hole.

                       

Throwback Thursday 4.28

 

4.28.21

4.27.21

4.27.21

4.27.20

4.27.2019

4.27.2019

4.27.2014

4.27.2014

4.28.12

4.28.09

4.28.09

4.28.09

4.28.08

4.27.08

4.27.08

Jimmie's Hat

 

It's Spirit week at Roosevelt, and yesterday was Western day. We grabbed Jimmie's hat from the costume box, and even though it was too small for Taylor's head and he decided not to wear it to school, he was a good sport to let me snap this goofy photo before he headed to school. 

Try Easy

 

This was an email sent on Earth Day last week from the wonderful company that makes my favorite running dresses, and it's a breath of fresh air. 

Hello, Loves! Happy Earth Day! We’re in a funny mood here at Nuu-Muu and it has been a while since I’ve written. It’s April and the edge of spring and we’re somehow supposed to have the energy to talk about Earth Day and renewal and emerging from winter and enjoying the draw of the warmer season. AND YET. JEEEEEZ. Are you working as hard as we are to keep it all together right now? The flowers are blooming and our human hearts are catching up. The trees are budding yet it feels like we’re still in the midst of a pretty big storm. Flip flops are out but the pandemic isn’t over yet, right? And all around we see our people shedding the distractions of life and looking each other in the eyes and getting very, very real. And so, on Earth Day we offer compassion to the humans who inhabit our planet because we, too, are part of Earth’s creation, and we’re sending you a huge dose of TRY EASY. Easy with your hearts, easy with your minds, easy with your physical selves, easy with your people. Feels like we all need a little TLC so we’re just plain old beaming a giant basketful (or two or three) to you.  Thank you, Earth Day, for the reminder that sometimes we can just write love notes to each other. Take it easy, humans.

Now we are Six!

 These were Elsa's wishes for her birthday party this past weekend (translation below if you need it): 

Have a cake in the shape of a cat, sleep in a tent in the backyard, watch something on TV, and anyone coming should wear purple. But if you don't have anything purple, use pink! 

We did our best to follow her wishes! 

   

 

Cheers to 50 Years!

 

Oh what fun to bring some cheer to Bill's 50 years! 

 

This is FIFTY! 

Jason, Bill, and Dave 

James B & Renee 

Elizabeth, Bill, and Christine 

all the Converse shoes at the party 

Goldee's second debut at the party!