Winner of i'd know you anywhere

I've announced a winner for my i'd know you anywhere book, but you'll have to go here to find out who it is.

Lighthouse

I feel like I haven't been the best parent of late. I have been short tempered, not particularly present, impatient, and not very creative (school bus themed cupcakes aside). I haven't been terrible or negligent or abusive, and I have had some good moments (campfire and s'mores, nightly reading, etc), of course. But still... I'm lacking, and I know it. Stressful times can do that. I know I'm not doing things the way I want, yet the ability to change is proving difficult.
On Sunday we spent the afternoon touring a local lighthouse. It was a beautiful day, and The May Queen was quite patient and well behaved as we waited (and waited... they weren't at all efficient) for our turn to go up the narrow winding staircase.
She was being loving towards her aunt and grandmother who had joined us for the trip. She was entertaining herself with the rocks and bird skull she found along the shore.After we finally made it through the lighthouse we were waiting for the bus that would return us to the museum where our car was parked. We knew it would be a bit of a wait and I quickly saw that her patience, good behavior and ability for self control were waning. I felt irritated and tired.

And then it happened.

"Wanna play a game of I Spy?" I asked.

We spent the next half an hour or so playing I Spy. A simple enough diversion.But in that brief moment of turning away from the irritation and finding a quick, simple and fun solution, I felt it. A returning to the mom I want to be.

I spy a light, guiding the way.

____________________________

Don't forget to check out my review of i'd know you anywhere for a chance to win my copy of the book!

i'd know you anywhere

I've written a book review for Laura Lippman's new novel i'd know you anywhere. Follow the link to my review site and check it out, and leave a comment there for a chance to win the book!

happy friday!

Third grade

It's the obligatory back to school post!

The May Queen has been looking forward to school starting pretty much since we arrived in Michigan, because she knows that school is a good place to make friends. She had an extra long summer, as Louisiana school ended before Memorial Day. All her LA friends started back up at the beginning of August, but here she had to wait until after Labor Day. She has had her outfit picked out for weeks. This is the first time she hasn't had to wear a uniform, and she's delighted.

Her classroom is an old kindergarten room (the school is now just 3-5 grades) so is extra roomy and fun. She's pretty excited about the lockers. And the Garfield posters. Garfield is a latest obsession.

She'll take the bus "home" every day, to my husbands office, where he'll either bring her home or I'll pick her up (since we don't yet live in the community). She was SO excited to ride the bus, as her private schools have never had buses before. She ran off the bus to give me a hug (yay! melt the Mommy heart) but then declared that the bus was not what she expected. "It's much louder!" And the boy behind her kicked the seat the whole way. She's pretty much decided that the bus is no fun. I could have told you that, kid.

But she did like the bus cupcakes I made to celebrate her first day. She had good things to say about everything else, and didn't seem upset that she played by herself all recess (on the tire swing. Everyone else was supposedly playing something she didn't want to play). I hope she branches out today, but I'm not pushing as she seems content.

I haven't forgotten

The fifth anniversary of Katrina came and went. I didn't post anything. It's not because I wasn't thinking about it. I woke up that morning and put on my fleur de lis necklace and earrings, as small tokens of my heavy heart.

It's odd not to be there. I haven't been watching news coverage. I haven't even watched the Spike Lee movie on HBO, although I am debating recording it. I'm not sure I have the heart to watch it right now.

It has been five years. It is no longer the only conversation in town. It shouldn't be. But it is so much a part of the fabric of the city. Lives were changed. When a community struggles though something like that... it changes you. Forever. It's good to stop and recognize that.

Nearly every New Orleans musician has written a song about Katrina. You really should check out the CD Feeder Bands on the Run for a small taste. Here is one of my favorites...I actually wrote about it in 2008, but this video wasn't made until last year:



Past Katrina Anniversary posts:

2009: Remember

2008: Flashback 3 Years - Hurricane Katrina an edited (but still quite long) rundown of all the e-mails I sent to family and friends during our evacuation from Katrina

2007: I Know What it Means to Love New Orleans a love letter to New Orleans, complete with pictures

Hatred and Fear as American Values?

I was in New York City when I first heard about the controversy surrounding the proposed community center at Park51. You know, the "ground zero mosque."

(Check out that link above, it's the official link for the community center. The more I read about it, the more I think it will be an amazing thing for the community. Unfortunately, it's getting off to a spectacularly bad start, thanks to its opponents)

I remember talking a bit about it with my friend, sort of shaking my head thinking how ridiculous it all was, and assuming it would disappear in a few days.

I'm truly dismayed that people are still talking about it. Bile rises every time I see someone posting on Facebook that they like "I do not support a mosque being built 600 feet from the World Trade Center." It amazes me that the same people who are always hearkening back to our founding fathers and the inerrancy of the constitution are willing to completely ignore the whole "freedom of religion" thing. Because, as Sarah Palin put it, it rubs people the wrong way. I watched an interview with her (never a good idea for my blood pressure) wherein she accused President Obama of being out of touch with what the American people were "feeling."

FEELING.

President Obama had just said that they have every legal right to build a center there, and she is talking about peoples FEELINGS. It's our government's job is to uphold the LAW (and in the next breath Palin accuses President Obama of swaying to polls... aka, public opinion, or "feeling." Please decide, which is it? Is he too swayed by peoples feelings, or not in touch with people's feelings?) It does not matter whether the President thinks (or FEELS) it's a good idea or not. His job is to uphold the law. And the law says that a religious group can build a place of worship on this piece of private property.

Do we, as a country, really want to get into the business of deciding where it is appropriate for a house of worship? To decide that one religion can be in this location, but another not? That is a very, very, very slippery slope. We are either for freedom of religion, or we aren't. If we start deciding that certain religions don't belong in certain areas we are beginning to sound a lot like Nazi Germany.

And here's the thing... people's feelings are hurt because a community center, to be run by Muslims (and that will include a place of worship), is being built near the site of the World Trade Center. The only reason people find this offensive is because they associate all Muslims with the terrorists responsible for the tragedy on 9/11. They can say all they want that they don't, but they prove themselves otherwise. And we cannot stand idly by while they make that horrible connection.

I hate to think that I, as a Christian, will be lumped together with extremists who bomb abortion clinics or carry "I hate fags" signs. (although I know that to some, I am lumped together with them).

The right wing talking heads continue to whip their listeners into a frenzy over a small piece of real estate that most of them will never come anywhere near in their lifetime. They speak only of a "Mosque at Ground Zero", and I've encountered people who think that this is somehow the nation's official memorial to to the victims of 9/11. Because that's the way it's being presented. That's the lie that's being perpetuated. That's the distraction that is keeping everyone thinking about something that should not have been anything but possibly a passing notice in the national news. That's the latest item in a long line of fear mongering

And it's appalling.

Ashes to Ashes

I did a strange thing last night. I poured the remains of my brother in law from a mason jar into a ziplock baggie.

Before my husband's brother died, he requested that some of his ashes be spread over the Pacific Ocean: the place he had learned to surf, a place of family vacations, a place he loved. We buried some of them in a memorial garden on a cold February day after his memorial service, as the wind blew snow in swirls around us. But the rest will finally be released into the waters of the Pacific this week.

This morning my husband took a plane to California, and I was charged with making sure that the ashes would pass through security. Hence the baggie. Double bagged, actually.

This afternoon the jar was still sitting on the kitchen counter. I decided it might make an interesting subject for today's project365 photograph.

021 : 365
To dust we shall return

You can see that there is still a bit of dust in the bottom of jar.


cross posted from View from the Maypole