Once upon a time, there was a girl who got two strikes.

When the first ball was pitched to her, many years ago, she didn't think she wanted to play. She was looking for something else... perhaps a soccer ball or a tennis ball or even a fancy-dress ball... and so she didn't realize the importance of the game, and she missed the ball. Strike one.

A long while later, when the second ball was pitched to her, she had begun to realize just how much she valued this game, and she wanted desperately to hit the ball and make a home run... but she was already playing in another game by that time, and she didn't believe it would be right to abandon it in the middle and let down her team-mates. So she missed the second ball. Strike two.

Now, a great number of years later, the girl stands still in the empty baseball field, waiting and watching and wondering.  Coming back here, she realizes this is her home... this is where she always belonged and should have been all this time. But now, is the game over?  Is she out after two strikes, and must simply give up and walk off the field for good... perhaps look for something else to do with the rest of her life? Or, if she just waits quietly enough... patiently enough... long enough... might the pitcher come back onto the field and deliver that third pitch?  Might she finally feel the sweet perfection of bat hitting ball, and the wind coursing through her hair as she runs with all her might toward her destiny?


Once upon a time, there was a girl who got two strikes.  And the rest is still unwritten.

A very exciting thing happened a few weeks ago. Well, we didn't know at first that it would be exciting, but one day, Dianna came home from school saying the art teacher had asked her and two other girls to go for extra art lessons that week. I couldn't decide if it was something to do with Dianna having extra talent in art, or whether she was just behind in art and needed to catch up!

We soon found out the answer. At the end of her extra art classes, Dianna came home with a paper inviting us to attend a young artists' exhibit at a gallery in Raleigh that Friday!!! Apparently, each year in our county, three children are selected from each school to have their artwork displayed in this exhibit, and Dianna was one of the three chosen from her school this year! We were thrilled and super-proud of her!! :)

We enjoyed seeing Dianna's artwork in the exhibit. She was given a certificate of Artistic Excellence, and her picture was displayed in the gallery for two weeks! Here are a few pics from the event.

The girls dressed up and ready for the exhibit:

The art gallery:

Some of the art in the gallery (and a nice old lady!) :

Dianna with her beautiful artwork:

Celebrating afterwards with hot donuts from Krispy Kreme!

Spring gold for Gran!

Here you are, Gran...

My first daffodils of the year!

A group of them bloomed all at once, instead of just one.

Hope you like them. They remind me of you.

xxxxxxxx

My Valentine Baby

Katy, my Valentine girl, is eight years old today!


This was her first birthday.


This was her 8th birthday party last Saturday.

As you can see, she is still as exuberant today as she ever was!

Happy Birthday, Katy!! I love you.

Taking a Break

I am going to take a break from blogging for the time being, as I am not doing well. Hopefully I will be back when things get better.

Take care, everyone.
xx

Anniversaries

My friend Junie is having her 2-year bloggiversary! Happy Bloggiversary, Junie! It is fun to realize how long we have been blogging... I'm not sure how many years it is for me now. I should check!

I am also having a 2-year anniversary today. It's the 2-year anniversary of the last time I spoke to my Gran before she died. I found out on the night of the 15th that she was waiting to talk to me... asked to talk to me and to my dad when she realized she was close to dying. So I woke up at 5:30am on the 16th and decided to just get up and make the phone call, since I couldn't get back to sleep anyway.

It was a very hard phone call, but I'm really glad I had that one last chance to hear Gran's voice, tell her that I love her, and thank her for everything she did for me.

About 20 hours after that phone call, Gran died peacefully in her bed at home.

I still miss her. But I have tons of the letters she wrote to me over the years, and I also have a cassette recording of her voice - a tape she made to send to my dad in 1991, which Scott has now recorded into the computer, so I won't lose it when the tape breaks. I have video recordings of her too, and a few mementos I collected from her house when I went there for the funeral. And I am wearing her wedding ring. Plus, I have my memories. So Gran will always be with me.

Edited to add: I just looked up my earliest blog post, in my oldest blog, and it was on April 14th of 2003!! So this April, I will have been blogging for five years! Yay, me!

My first blog post began something like: Well, I didn't think I was worthy of having a blog... but then I realized that you don't have to be worthy to have a blog; you just have to sign up.
Hee hee! What a funny and silly beginning to my blogging life!

Our Newest Family Member!

Meet Phoebe, the newest member of our family!



Isn't she the most adorable thing you've ever seen?!?

Phoebe is a 7-week-old beagle/spaniel mix puppy who was rescued with her mother and siblings by a beagle rescue place about an hour and a half from here. She has a short, stumpy little spaniel tail and wavy spaniel fur on her ears, but otherwise she's very beagle-like! We adopted her last night, and she is the sweetest thing ever! She is missing her mother and brothers, but is adapting well to life at our house.

Zena, our other dog, is rather unsure about the new arrival! She approaches Phoebe cautiously, wagging and sniffing, and then backs off when Phoebe wants to jump on her! I expect she'll get used to her soon, though. Zoe, on the other hand, is very displeased! She is terrified of Phoebe and runs away from her, tail all puffed up. Poor Zoe. I think she'll get used to her, too, in the end. She loves Zena.

As for the kids, Jaymee, Scott and I - we all adore her! :)