LIFE THAT SHOOTS IN JOY

Watch this video and just try not to smile.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

via laughingsquid.com:
In 2006 video game developer Matt Harding took a 6 month trip traveling to 39 countries and made a video of himself dancing at various locations along the way. In 2008 Matt went on a follow-up trip, dancing his way through 42 countries in 14 months, this time inviting people to dance with him. Both of Matt’s trips around the world were sponsored by Stride Gum.

The song is sung in Bengali. Here is the English version of the lyrics:

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean -- cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

I'M GLAD YOU'RE YOU

I saw this picture today, taken of Dre last weekend. Andrea's sister, Amy, commented that she "loves this picture" of Andrea. I agreed. It captures the very essence of who she is.

Anyone who has spent a fair amount of time with me has surely not escaped my gushing over my sweetest niece and charming nephew, and in turn, has no doubt how I feel about their mom. My sister-in-law, Andrea, is hands down one of my most very favorite people on the planet. And would be even if she wasn't the mother of Aubrey and Pete. I love and respect her beyond words.

She is beautiful and smart and has more patience than a snail crossing a freeway.

She radiates joy.

She exemplifies God's love and lives a faithful and obedient life, even when it's tough.
And she is teaching her children to do the same.


She inspires me all the time.

I thank God for bringing her into our family; for giving my brother such a wonderful partner; for giving Renee' and me another sister's heart to share; for making her the mother to two of the most important people in the world to me; for her being my friend.

Happy Thursday, Dre.

CUKES AND BERRIES

Yesterday was my sister's birthday - Happy Birthday Nee! I was missing her real bad, and even though she couldn't attend, we had a party anyway, complete with chicken spaghetti, one of her favorite dishes; cucumbers, which always remind me of her because she loved to eat them when she was little; and Blueberry pie!

The blueberries came from Deep Creek Farm near Tyler. I stopped on my drive home Sunday and picked up a bundle of the freshly picked berries. And last night, a pie for the occasion seemed like the perfect use because they are little and sweet, just like Renee'.

I forgot to take a picture of the beautiful blueberries pre-pie, and of the pie before it was mostly eaten. Nonetheless, here 'tis.

For a few months, Aaron and I have been receiving fresh, organic, mostly local produce from a company called Greenling. You fill your basket online, set a delivery date, and voila! a bin of garden goodness is delivered right to your door! I like this option for the weeks I can't make it to the Farmer's Market near our house. I seem to be out of town on so many Saturdays, and I hate to miss the local, in-season bounty that is found at the market. So Greenling offers the wonderful, affordable alternative: Farmer's Market Delivered to my Doorstep! When we get a delivery, it makes my head swim diving into the freshness.

We got an order yesterday, and although I keep forgetting to take photos when the produce arrives, I did manage to take this picture of our salad from last night (and today for lunch) of green leaf lettuce, tomatoes and cukes all grown within 25 miles of our home. Yuuuumy!

No matter how good the food is, no meal is complete without wonderful friends to share it. The Brewers and Taylors partied it up with us in honor of Renee'.

Rhett, Zoë and Audrey took turns finding out who could make the biggest splash by throwing toys in the water.
Zoë dominated.


Aaron got out his harmonica for Zoë to play with. She was impressed by her Mom's musical talent.


Zoë had just whispered to me that she is secretly writing
a harmonica song for her parents as a Christmas gift.


The Taylors, relaxing after dinner.

THE LOUD KIDS GET ALL THE ATTENTION

This is what happens when you have a loud, rowdy dog (ahem, Scoop!) who wants you to wake up at 5:30 a.m. on a Friday morning and play. You end up with a large scab of a scratch across you nose. I went to work Friday and the wound hadn't fully developed; it looked more like I had a sunburned nose. By Saturday, it was out in full force. On Monday, I received some interesting looks from people and funny questions including
"Did you scrape your face on the side of the pool?"
"Did you rumble with the greasers?"
"Were you trying to pick your nose and missed?"

This isn't the first time I've had a scabby scratch across my nose. In my first grade school photo, the fact that I have buck teeth and permed hair is overshadowed by the large scratch on my nose, given to me by my loud little sister. She may look sweet, but she has a rowdy streak.

This evening, Aaron noticed that Scoop had suddenly developed a golf ball sized mass on her neck. Aaron says she looks like a hunch back. It's a very strange lump - fairly solid, but not too hard, no scabs. Scoop does not seem to be bothered by it so we're not too worried, but we did call the vet and make an appointment to take her in tomorrow morning if it has not gone down.





Sadie was becoming a little bit jealous of all the attention her younger, louder sister has been getting on the blog lately. She insisted we also take pictures of her fine specimen of a neck.



Sadie was showing us how she does not have a strange lump on her neck, but alas, there's Scoop again, stealing all the attention. Don't tell Sadie.



p.s. This post is dedicated to my younger, louder sister, without whom I would not be known as the "x" one or the "x" one because there would be no sister to stand next to and have those qualities stand out. Who she is defines so much of who I am. And I love her.

FISH TO FEED THE MULTITUDES

A belated birthday and early Father's Day fishing trip for Ronnie. The boys reeled in over 140 fish in five hours. Nice catch!

LOVE IS

I suppose I shouldn't have let the day slip by without so much as a mention on the blog. Yesterday, June 11, was mine and Aaron's third anniversary. We didn't really do anything to celebrate. But maybe we should have. We should have been celebrating that we made it through another year with our marriage intact. Instead, we ended up having a little tiff, spurred on by my crankiness over the afore mentioned After Taste and compounded by the fact that my brain has been taken over by a swarm of extremely moody bees with tiny thought scrambling lasers and bombs that wipe out any trace of calm and reason. The last few months of seemingly hormonal flat-lining are finally catching up with me, in a big way. Kaboom.

As always, when I'm finally able to open my weepy eyes, there's Aaron, forgiving me for Kabooming, wiping snot from my nose with his hand and holding me until I stop convulsively sobbing. And then everything is okay, it really is going to be okay, I believe him; and I don't feel like an egg on a Sunday morning anymore. And I can walk into the kitchen and teach Scoop how to 'sit' and 'shake' before my eyes even have a chance to deflate. La dee da. Look how wonderful life is now, washed in my tears. Is that a mosquito on my arm? I'll just leave it be. We're all God's creatures. Just don't ask me what I want for dinner because that could remind me that I don't like Watermelon flavored Jolly Ranchers and I might go Kaboom again.

So maybe we did celebrate. Maybe, in a round about way, we were reminded of why we got married and why we'll, God willing, stay married.

JUICY SALTY BITTERSWEET

I visited Casey and Renee' in Florida last weekend. We had a great time meeting pirates, enjoying a juicy steak dinner prepared by Casey, putting together Little Girl Robertson's room, and spending the day on the beach (the beach!). Isn't Renee' the cutest little preggo person you've ever seen?! She can pull off the two-piece bathing suit better than most non-pregnant women!

The thing about spending time with the people I love the most but don't see often is that when we part, I have several days of heaviness in my heart until I adjust again to not having them at arm's length to hug and laugh with, to seeing their sweet faces and expressions, to hearing their voices for days at a time. I get spoiled with being near them. The same thing happens to me every summer after my annual girls' trip. I come home and even though I've had the best time, I'm sad for a day or two and Aaron has to put up with my moping and give me lots of extra hugs.

I've coined this phenomenon The After Taste. It's like when you get a taste of something really sweet and you enjoy it immensely, and once you swallow it the taste lingers and makes you want more. The taste hangs around reminding you every second of what you're missing; which makes you kind of sad. And it takes a few good tooth brushings for the taste to be subdued enough that it gets back to being something you just long for and look forward to and have wonderful memories of.

My After Taste is proportional to how much I enjoy myself and love the people I am with. We're now going on three days of After Taste with no signs of letting up. Maybe I need to have a garlic and red onion salad for dinner.