Graceful Landing: January 2010

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Birthday Delights

The Man of the House's favorite homemade carrot cake:
Check.

With both not enough candles and way too many at the same time.
I guess he's 30 and holding. 'Cause that's all we had.

His favorite shrimp fettuccine with broccoli:
Check.

Birthday guests in the form of immediate family- just the way he likes it:
Check.

Seeing him smile and enjoy himself amid the kids teasing him about getting old:

Priceless.

Leftovers for Sunday lunch....even better!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Happy Birthday To My Beloved

The love of my life celebrated his birthday today.

I just love that boy!

To think that this little baby

grew up...

and became my husband,

the father of my children,

the apple of my eye...

Is amazing.

I just had to throw this old picture in-

The Man of the House rushing away from the fire and towards the cold Pepsi.

It should be in an advertisement, I think.

Don't you?

The Roller Coaster

I seem to have a problem with change.

Or at least unexpected change.

Okay, basically any major life change.

Things like my father-in-law passing away.

My daughter getting married.

My children growing up.

My dog dying.

Things of that nature.

I just want to be asked first. Reassured that all is well...

ahead of time.

I need prior notice- as in years of notice.

I mean, when you are young you never imagine the twists and turns that your future life will take.

The pain and sorrow and worry.

The joy and happiness and fulfillment.

It's rather exhausting to think about.

Maybe that's why we can't know ahead.

I think of the movie 'Parenthood' with Steve Martin.

There is a wonderful scene where he feels he is a failure as a parent, husband, employee, etc. He just learned that his wife is unexpectedly pregnant on the same day he quit his job.

They are hurriedly getting ready to head to their children's school play.

He's arguing with his wife, when his grandmother- portrayed as somewhat loony- enters the room.

She begins to talk about the old days and how she loved going to the fair (or was it carnival?) with his grandfather. How her favorite ride was the roller coaster.

Here's the movie quote:

[Gil has been complaining about his complicated life; Grandma wanders into the room]
Grandma:You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster.
Gil: Oh?
Grandma: Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride!
Gil: (sarcastically) What a great story.
Grandma:I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.

Isn't that great? In the movie Steve Martin's character, Gil, thinks his grandma's crazy. His wife declares her brilliant.

I agree.

So even though I sometimes wish for the merry-go-round....

I realize the roller coaster of life is what helps me to grow as a human being.

As a mother and wife and daughter, sister, friend...and yes, as a pet owner.

We are spiritual beings having a human experience.

I get that.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Sad Day

I haven't posted in a while.

And there's a sad reason for this.

Just a few short days after blogging about my beautiful Newfie, Norah, she passed away.  Very unexpectedly.

Apparently, she had Twisted Bowel Syndrome.

And we had no idea.

She was always low,low energy.  She was often picky with her food.

This was her normal way.

And she was such a sweet, gentle dog- she would never complain if she felt ill.

We lost a good friend and loyal dog.
We cried. And cried.

And on that terrible day, I loved The Man of the House more than ever before.
You see, he was just as upset as I was.
Just as confused and downhearted.

And yet: He refused my help in burying her- did not want me to have to see her. Buried her beneath a Ponderosa Pine tree, in a special spot. Came in and hugged me for a long time,held our sorrowful girls in his arms while they cried.

There is something about quietly walking up to the bedroom door and seeing the back of your husband; sitting on his girls' bed, holding them- two pairs of arms entwined around his neck and quiet sobs muffled by his strong shoulders- that binds you to him forever.
If you weren't already bound before, that is.

But this is a tribute to Norah. I am finally ready for it.
She may have been with us only a short time- but she left her sweet impression on us forever.

An open letter to Norah:

Dear Norah,

I miss you so very much.

Your SWEET spirit and GENTLE ways will never

be forgotten.

You made Gentlewood Farm what it is.

Your unconditional love is a treasure I will value forever.

Rest in peace, SWEET girl.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Norah the Newfie

She spends her day hard at work.
Those Newfoundlands are go-getters!
As energetic, industrious and diligent as she is, I can certainly see why J.M.Barrie wrote one in as the nanny in Peter Pan.
(The cartoon, of course, featured a St. Bernard)

Yep, that's my Norah:

Not.

This dog sleeps and lounges more than any animal I've ever seen.
If you were to inspect her nails, you'd not find evidence of any hard work whatsoever.

She does, however, occasionally growl from her resting spot if she sees a stranger outside.

Usually in the form of a strange cat.

And then....

She goes back to sleep.

Have a great day!
Newfondly,
Jess

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Price of Beauty

When I was eight, my mother began our family (and female) tradition by getting my ears pierced.
I vividly recall walking down the sidewalk at night, after my amazing 8th birthday party. The first I'd ever had with friends- and at a restaurant, to boot!
My mom told me there was still one more surprise. We were walking there- wherever 'there' was. My grandma was with us, as was my little sister.

Suddenly, true to form, my sister blurted out that I was going to get my ears pierced.   (She also tended to 'accidentally' tell me every time she had gotten candy while I was at school.)

Suddenly, my mind traveled back to a few weeks prior- when I had come home from school, begging my mother to let me pierce my ears. There were several girls at school with earrings and I was fascinated by them.
What I hadn't told her, was that only a few short days later, I witnessed the pain of one of these girls who had a raging infection from said ear piercing.
I had decided on my own that I didn't want earrings after all.

But, there I was- walking toward the shop with a sense of impending doom.   I knew it was an honor to be accompanied by my mother and grandmother on this special day- and that they both wanted to be there to witness it. And I was the nice girl who tried to do what was expected of her.
So it was done. And I was scared. And my grandmother has the pictures to prove it.

Fast forward many years....and I was piercing the ears of my own excited 8 year old daughter.   She was excited and all for it.
My second daughter was also excited. And has an amazing ability to hold in pain. She just goes to her 'quiet place' and you may see a sheen to her eyes or even a single tear fall- but that's it.

And yet, as my littlest girl turned 8, I found myself in no hurry to defile her precious ear lobes.   In fact, I suddenly realized just how young eight years old really is. Why, she was practically just out of diapers!   How long had she been eating solid food? It suddenly didn't seem all that long.

We'd been facing issues like this for a while. When our oldest turned a big, strapping seven, we felt it was time for him to have a BB gun. This became a seventh birthday tradition. Until our last two girls- suddenly they seemed awfully young to have a BB gun. But, our older kids insisted and two more BB guns have been added to our collection. Each with their own carvings or stickers to individualize them.

Thankfully, I thought, my littlest girl has practically no pain tolerance whatsoever. She turned eight only with the reassurance that we would not strap her down and pierce her ears.
Easy for me- I could nuzzle her soft ear lobes a little longer when I tucked her into bed at night. I could rub their softness between my thumb and forefinger as she told me stories about her day, eyes lit up and glassy as she played them out in her mind.

Alas, that all eventually changed.
It changed when she learned how to make her own earrings at a friend's house.
And saw her sister wearing them.
Suddenly, I was besieged by begging.
And I let her beg for a while. I reminded her of how much she hadn't wanted it previously.
And then it came down to the day that I could no longer refuse.
Or couldn't stand to hear begging any more. Because at this point, she'd gotten both her sisters on her side.
And I hate to be bullied. I really do.

So we all went.
And she was so very ready. Well, she was ready.

Now she was becoming scared- very scared.

And unsure.

And after TWO hours of coaxing and bribing and reminding her that we could just go home,

(she did not want to go home- she was just really scared, she said)

The deed was done.

And this was the price of beauty.

Today, however, she's all smiles about the sparklies in her ears!

And I have the pictures I took of her untouched lobes.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

My Daughter's Wedding

I guess I'm finally ready to post about my daughter's wedding.
There was so much work involved this past Fall to create a beautiful, special day for her and her fiancee.
Not only that, but my emotions were so mixed!
It's a strange thing to watch your daughter get married. You see her at all stages of her childhood, with this new, grown up image layered over the top.
I cried a lot that October.
Mainly because my child was grown and I wasn't quite sure how to let go.
They don't call them growing pains for nothin'.
And I think the parents feel them more than the children!

For Fall in Colorado, we were extremely blessed with a beautiful day (it had snowed the day before) and the wedding was perfect. Perfect!

But let me show you what I saw on her wedding day:
And please bear with me. I saw SO many more images than this- but you'll have an idea.

I saw her as my baby daughter....

With her chubby cheeks and bright eyes...

And as my little girl....

The day she fell into a mud puddle...

Out in the Wyoming snow....

At Devil's Tower in Wyoming...

Playing dress up...

and playing dress up with me, her only other girl figure in the house back then.

At the ocean. Always ready for adventure!

All the fishing she did with her dad...

and with her brother and grandpa...

Her many birthday parties....

Her homemade swing she was so proud of...

Spending time with her great-grandparents...

Her years spent volunteering for the Historical Museum

So many Christmases spent together...

Outdoor fun..

Fun with her sisters...

And then....my girl growing up and up and up!

Too fast!

But still always my fun-loving girl...

And then. Before I had enough time to breathe, to accept the fact that she was grown up, to even begin to see and accept any of that...

She fell in love.

So very in love!

And, this daughter of mine; who has always known what she wants and can be very stubborn about that, wanted to be married.

Really, really wanted to be married.

To her handsome guy.

So, after much discussion and planning, my little girl got married.

And I got some single-girl pictures with her before she became a Mrs.

Here, we are oh-so-proud....and wondering at the same time how we got here, to this point in time.

How it could even be possible!

How could my baby girl be this grown up?

All the years of home education- her stubborn will against mine much of the time. Her dislike of English rules and math texts and history dates.

Her amazing skills at crafts and creating things.

Her smiling eyes and huge dimples that had graced my home for all of these years.

Her beauty and zest for life.

Could I live in my home without these things?

I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure of anything. Anything at all....except that she was sure. She was sure of him. And she was happy. And she was radiant.

And so they were married.

And it was a blessed day!

Just look at that joy.

They requested an unusual cake topper.

It turned out beautifully.

The day was filled with family and friends

And it was truly beautiful.

And me? Well, I'm learning to adjust. Raising children means a whole lot of adjusting. If you're not flexible enough, it can break you.

I figure by the time my other children are grown, I will have gained a lot knowledge and insight. And I'll be ready to use it for grandchildren! : )