Forgive me

I am not up for much today. My back is out, I slept badly, the cat chewed up all my bell pepper seedlings, and my patience is thin. All that California hopefulness and encouragement seems to have stayed in California.

Home again Jiggity Jig

On the last twenty minutes of Luke and my rather eventful travel day, Luke lost all patience. He strained at his car seat straps and shouted, "ALL DONE! ALL DONE!" and when I responded with a sigh and a nod he shouted, "HOME JIGGY-JIGGY!"

One of the many graces we were granted on our travel day was an airplane backpack packed by grandma and grandpa just for Luke. Grandma added stickers and bug finger puppets, and Grandpa added 3 toy tractors that turned out to be real winners. Luke drove those tractors all over the plane. And as we sat on the tarmac for two hours in a stuffy, overheated airplane, Luke showed his tractors to the flight attendants and the people in neighboring seats. Everyone was very impressed, even the captain - who, when he saw we'd be on the runway for a while, offered his front row seat to Luke and his tractors. Luke was very impressed with all the buttons. The tractors were miffed at being overshadowed.

This morning Luke and I were sitting in the living room playing with the tractors on the windowsill and Luke spontaneously hugged the John Deere and said, "A-guv-oo tractor" (I love you tractor), and planted a great wet kiss on it's hood. No John Deere has ever been so lucky.

Back to our routine today, and back to work for me. Meal planning really takes up a large part of my day, I had forgotten how stressful it is to be in charge of all the meals all the time! Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for all the wonderful meals and for the airplane backpack treats.

Speaking of airplanes, here's my latest project - just a rough draft. I'm having so much fun with it that I won't keep it to myself, even though I'm not even sure Nick and Melissa have seen it yet! But since it's a prayer card for their mission trip, I don't think they'll mind.

Encouraged

This Winter was long and dark, and I often felt like I lived in a tiny cave with a rabid bear who wouldn't hibernate. But after these two weeks in California I will be returning home on Saturday a healthier, happier, encouraged person.

Arriving in California really felt like coming home, and waking up to the birds chirping outside my window every morning felt like waking up in a dream. I have been relaxed in a great big bed with a fluffy blanket and cozy dachshund. I have been loved by family that takes joy in my son's conversation, and joy in breaking bordeaux bars together. I have been generously complimented on my figure by my Plain 'Ol Grammy (and how far a word like that can go towards enjoying just one more bordeaux bar, and extending forgiveness to myself for that extra helping of chardonnay chicken). I may be going back a few pounds heavier, but according to Grammy I could stand some fattening up. I have not planned a single dinner while I was here, but got to participate in the cooking and cleaning in ways that weren't tedious or nerve-wracking since there was always an extra pair of eyes to watch Luke. I was able to sit in the sun, listen to my son laugh while Grandma chased him around the kitchen, cuddle with my dog, plant tomatoes in the garden, read a magazine, take a nap on the couch, eat Thai food, and rediscover that I enjoy taking pictures - just for fun. But the best part of being home has been seeing my son being loved so intensely by people who rarely see him, and being told what a great job Derek and I have done parenting Luke.

We have encouraging, supportive family living nearby in Winkler, but hearing my own mom, dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles, tell me that they think my son is great and it is largely due to my hard work as a parent is a wonderful reward. These people who put a lot of effort and time and money and prayer into my own development think that I've gone and done something real good. This astounds and encourages me. I feel proud of my son, and pleased with the decisions Derek and I have made to get our family to this place. Yes, I feel honored, proud and pleased.

And when I hear the reports that all the snow has melted off the yard of 13 Roadrunner Bay, I am immensely encouraged.

Make Martinis, Not War.

My new hat says, "Make martinis, not war".

Brinks Deli.

One of my favorite views.

work and play - california style

Luke begs to go outside to dig in the dirt, and cries when it's time to go in and clean up.

Luke's favorite ride: the helicopters.

Blue helicopters only.

Where's J'mark?

a train ride

We cleared (with lots of help!) a great big woodpile out from in front of the pig pen so that we could plant those three pomegranate trees in the back of Dad's vegetable garden.

We found lizards and black widows and mice and toads, even a few little skeletons.

Friday in California

This little guy keeps us entertained, and on our toes. I've been waiting since before he was born to hear him speak. It is just amazing to hear what he's thinking, feeling, wanting in actual WORDS. I love it! This morning I went in to get him up after he'd been jabbering to himself for a few minutes and when I walked in he said, "There's a mommy! There's a Ally! There's a black dog!" I turned and sure enough, those two dogs had followed me in. How special that we all have names.

Later this morning we went over and visited my Grandma Judy and Grandpa. Luke walked into their yard and said, "Yuck!" Now, if you know anything about my grandparents you will be surprised at this statement. Their backyard is gorgeously landscaped and intimately cared for. We looked all around and saw what Luke was pointing at: the flowers from their pistachio tree had fallen in the lawn and Luke said, "Yuck, messy!" Apparently he prefers a tidy lawn.

One more story. When Luke and I first got on the plane we saw the man we were going to sit next to and said brightly, "We're sitting next to YOU!" This stinky, rather large, grouchy old man said, "Great." in his most unenthusiastic voice. He stood up and we squeezed in near the window and before long Luke was staring at the man with rapt attention. I tried to direct his attention out the airplane window, but he shook his head and said to our neighbor, "No. Don't pick your nose!" Horrified, I saw the stinky old man with his finger nearly protruding from his eye socket, it was up so high. I wanted to repeat Luke's admonition, but was embarassed and instead politely told the man I wouldn't be offended if he asked the stewardess for another seat. Don't worry, he liked us as much as we liked him and before we even took off he switched seats with a much kinder, more hygienic man to whom I gave a great big "THANK-YOU" after the old man started hacking up mucus and spitting it into his plastic cup across the aisle from us.

First 24 Hours

We are in California, and the trip was as good as could be expected. We sat next to a very sympathetic man and took a couple really good walks up and down the aisle, and Luke even squeezed an itty bitty nap in. We were in such good shape after getting off the plane that instead of running straight home and going to bed, we stopped at In N Out near the airport watching huge planes flying in to land nearly above our heads, drove out and played on the beach, and then stopped at a roadside stand and picked up some fresh strawberries. Luke didn't care for the seaweed which his mother tickled under his chin, but he did learn his new favorite song which he sang over and over and over as we crossed the grapevine, "The bitty bitty bitty bitty bitty pie-der!" The perfect introduction to California.

This morning after picking sweet peas, feeding the doves, riding a little red trike, eating bran muffins next to an open dining room window, and grabbing trains off the track with Grampa's toy backhoe, Plain ol' Grammy and Wuf came by and Grammy celebrated her 75th birthday by getting right down there to play on the floor with Luke and his trainset. Luke recovered some of his lost travel hours by having a three hour nap in the afternoon, and was a lot of fun after a good nap - putting on his helmet before riding the horse. He's a charmer. Before they left they got good-bye kisses and hugs and Luke very affectionately said, "Guv-oo!"

First 24 Hours in CA

on a scale of one to ten:

14.