Day at the Zoo

Planning our day at the zoo sounded something like this.

Me: "It's supposed to be sunny and maybe warm on Tuesday. I might take the kids to the zoo. You should take the day off and we can all go together. Soak up some vitamin D. Get poor Sam out of the house and show poor Lena what the outdoors looks like. Breathe in some fresh air. They might not have a lot of animals out, but there should be enough to keep us occupied for the day. We could go in the morning so we can leave around Sam's naptime. Wonder what time they open...I can pack us some lunch and we can eat by the pond. Doesn't that sound great? I wonder if the polar bears are there yet. I bet Sam will love them. Wonder if Lori wants to go. I'll call her and see. So, what do you think?

Rich: "Sounds good."



I love my husband. I'm a talker, mumbler, verbal meanderer, chatterer, out-loud thinker. He's not. And he doesn't mind that I am (at least he never says he does).

Here are some pictures of our fun, sunny, wonderful day at the zoo yesterday.

Friends to the Core

"My grandma might be dying and I’m driving up to see her”, Jen informed me over the phone on Friday. Is it wrong that I felt excited about that? Not excited about Grandma Hawk being sick - that part sucks. I was excited that Jen, my long lost Carolina-living best friend who I haven’t seen in over 6 months, was coming home. This is the longest I think we've ever gone without seeing each other so, without hesitation, Lena and I packed light and blazed a trail for Newcomerstown, leaving Rich and Sam behind to have a girl-free, boys’ weekend at home.

When Jen makes her all too infrequent trips to Newcomerstown, it means the three of us (Jen, Tara and I) get together and talk until our throats hurt, eat until we fear we might have permanently damaged our intestines, and laugh until we nearly pee ourselves. It’s a beautiful thing.

It was a short visit. After Tara and Lena congratulated each other on their recent baptisms, and after Lena and Jen were finally introduced; the three of us headed to my parents’ kitchen and assumed our usual positions: me sitting on the counter eating chocolate, Tara sitting on the stool in the corner eating smarties, and Jen twisting herself into contortionist positions to push the corner of the counter top into some painful pressure point nagging her back from her long drive home.

And we talked.

And we ate (although not as much as usual).

And we laughed.

Even with all the crazy shit Jen has going on right now with her grandma and her family and her jobs, and with the pressures Tara’s family has felt with Gregg out of work and finally finding a new job (thank God), and with me having two tiny kids and working and feeling inadequate in every aspect…even with all of that crap piled up in our minds and all of the physical distance that separates us most of the year; we picked up right where we left off. It’s as if no time has passed when we’re together, like we’ve bridged the space/time continuum. Even though we’re in our mid-30’s (who said that?), when we’re together we are those three idiots in high school talking about boys and parents and God and life and laughing about it all.

We are each other’s oldest friends. We know every aspect about each other’s childhoods and adolescences and college years, because we’ve been best friends since third grade. And even though we don’t know what goes on day-to-day in each other’s lives much, we know each other to the core. Relationships like that are a rare and precious thing.

So is the realization that the truck stop's food, while still as yummy and greasy as it used to be, takes as big of a toll on our mid-30's (who keeps saying that?) bodies as does mojitos and tequila shots...

Don Henley was made for days like this...

Sunshine is my elixir of life. Below is an excerpt from my book (surely to be revised), inspired by today’s gorgeous weather.

"…I missed my home. One thing I hadn’t missed about Ohio, however, was the weather, which I loathed five months of the year. Gone was the sunshine soaked paradise of beach living and, in its place was Ohio, where winter is a houseguest from hell, perpetually hanging around and sucking the life out of me until my sanity unravels. But just as the last string of lucidity threatens to loosen, the sun shines and winds me back up. That's what makes this place special. Because, while Ohio operates under constant cloud-cover from November to March, when the sun finally does make an appearance, it’s a day not squandered. In a place where even April may bring showers, sun and blizzards all in the same week, the first clear day that reaches a balmy 45 degrees is a day met with tee shirts and gleefully long drives with the windows down, the heater on full blast, and Don Henley singing about 'Boys of Summer', which just may be the most liberating and exhilarating experience in existence to an Ohioan..."

Mommy’s Little Piggy

Lena ate her first big people food last night. Well, it was rice cereal and breast milk, not exactly “big people food”, but as close as she’s gotten to it so far.
She was dwarfed in the big highchair, which Sam was not thrilled about sharing.
When we started shoveling it in, she made the funniest faces, but ended up eating almost the whole bowl. It was a hit! Rich got some videos, but here are a few pictures of the big event. Of course, I cried a little – what is with me?

Devil, Thy Name is Wendy's

The devil has taken over Wendy’s and he’s tempting and taunting me with commercials, I swear it. First Wendy’s new salad commercial comes on with applewood smoked bacon falling from the sky into a huge bowl of yummy veggies and cheese crumbles. Then their bacon blue burger commercial follows it, displaying the mouthwatering burger with blue cheese and, you guessed it, more crispy bacon. I’m dying here. I’m drowning in my own saliva as I watch images of bacon dance in front of my eyes. I’ve even gone as far as to consider buying “Beggin Strips” dog treats, because I feel such a kinship to that manic dog running around the house trying to find the source of the bacon smell. He looks so satisfied when his owner gives him a Beggin Strip – might I find the same satisfaction? It wouldn’t really be cheating, right? It’s not really bacon, right? God wouldn’t be disappointed if I ate something that resembled bacon during my Lenten bacon fast, right?

Am I honestly trying to talk myself into eating dog food? Get a grip, woman! DEVIL, THY NAME IS WENDY’S!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

Sometimes small, simple things come from big places. This song is the incarnation of that idea – a little, effortless song from a really big dude named IZ. You can listen to the song and see this gentle giant at the link below, which is a video celebrating his life (he died in the late 1990's).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ltAGuuru7Q&feature=related

Rich and I fell in love with this song on our honeymoon in Maui as we drove along the lean island roads with the top down, rays of sunshine warming our faces as it beamed through the thick canopy of the bamboo forest, the lush emerald green volcanic mountains dwarfing us as we wound our way up the road to Hana. Every time I hear this song it brings those images and smells and feelings back in waves and warms my soul.

Lena's Baptism

Our sweet baby girl was baptized today, an outward symbol of an inward grace. Baptisms are so special, even though they are purely ceremonial. I believe that every child is born with God’s grace already in them, and they carry that gift with them until they reach their individual age of enlightenment (which is different for everyone). Then they become an intelligent person capable of making decisions, so they must rediscover and reaccept the gift of God’s grace.

But that makes baptisms even more significant. Because it is our way, as parents and family, of celebrating and promising God and our families and friends that we intend to nurture that grace as best we can so our child can have the knowledge and wisdom and heart to find God for themselves. We did that for our baby girl today and it felt so good.

Lena wore what looked like “a little tiny wedding dress”, as the Winger boys described it in their high pitched, I’m-talking-to-a-baby-or-puppy voices. The gown my parents bought for Lena was the most precious I’ve ever seen. She couldn’t have looked more adorable it. She also wore the bracelet and ring that Lori and I both wore at our baptisms and a beautiful delicate cross from Aunt Lori around her neck. She was so laid back about the whole thing, staring up at Pastor Aaron with her big blue eyes as he sprinkled her head with water, and then looking back at me all sweetly. She never made a peep.



Sam was so cute, dressed up in his robot tie and linen blazer sporting his Cons and spiked hair. He never made a peep up front either, just stood there holding Rich’s hand looking at the congregation and up at me a few times. He’s such a loving, sweet boy, so kind to Lena. He of course had no idea what was going on. He was just psyched that Grammy and Papa Barker and the Wingers were here. Imagine his delight if Grammy and Papa Cole hadn’t been snowed in up there in the tundra and were able to join our little party…well, Sam might have just busted at his seams.






Then we all came home and ate cheese ball and brisket and cupcakes and had a quick but fun visit. God bless our loving family. And God bless Lena on her baptism day!