leap day musings...

after wrapping their heads around the science of why we have a leap day every fourth february & contemplating the dilemma of birthday celebrations for those born on february 29 (including their great-grandmother), the boys informed me that the next time leap year rolls around Little Man will be a senior in high school, Big Bro will be in his 2nd year of college, & their sisters will be college graduates! how's that for a mind numbing demonstration of "time flies"??it was enough to wake me before consuming my proper morning coffee intake! it was enough to make me want to reach for a piece of comfort-chocolate! but, oops! still lent! hold on the chocolate... isn't it funny how an extra day on the calendar makes you want to celebrate just a little? there is an extra bit of silliness in the air & i love it!oh yes, & it is friday too~ end of a hard-working catch-up week & all that too. plus the sunshine is absolutely brilliant. the birds are singing wildly outside my window. it is truly a day that makes me want to leap for joy!

signs & quotes...

top 5 signs that boyworld is well once again...

1. you come back inside the house to find an appliance box moving through your living room of its own volition


2. you lift the box to find...a dog!!


3. & then you hear snickering from a remote location


4. the dogs are glued to your pant legs for the rest of the afternoon


5. the quotes have begun again...
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...another science edition!

"a 9 volt battery contains the same kinetic energy as a bowl of lucky charms."

ok...so the next time i am out of nine volts, boyworld must surrender the lucky charms!

updates

new day, new week...full of hope! spring is around the corner (but the north wind still has his say about things!)...this third sunday of lent~ in the early morning quiet~ has me reflecting about how much more busy my lenten prayer life has been, oh-so-much more busy than i bargained for back on ash wednesday. such is the way of things.

in so many cases, when another is suffering in some way, there is only so much those around may actually do. sometimes that is because of distance. or because there is nothing more left undone. but prayers winged heavenward...there are never too many of them. we can never be sure of the answers we will receive, but we can take comfort in their holding us together in tough times. they are seeds sown in time from which abundant fruit may later come.i'm feeling a great relief after a week of events that rock, or at least shake, one's world. M. is home from the hospital & that in & of itself is nothing short of a miracle given how her situation started. she still has a long road of rest & recovery but she is tough!

Brooke has been able to walk & though she also has a long road of recovery, her progress is encouraging & the love around her will bear her up.

& boyworld is off the couch & back out into the world...

thank you all so very, very much who have kept those dear to us in your hearts & prayers!! we are all so grateful.

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on a much lighter note~~an update about the secret life of bees! would you believe that while boyworld & i wallowed in the flu, they filmed at D.'s hospital??? where is the justice in that? they could have waited until we were back on our feet, right... ;-)

there is some salvation though...a very thoughtful person did bring Dakota Fanning's autograph home for certain members of casa piacere! & D. did take some photos that are still on his phone (i will work on that later this week...)

gratitude tumbling into the new week...

42. a breathtaking total lunar eclipse last week with a clear starry sky43. airplanes~~ that carry us closer to loved ones, that ferry us away on great adventures, that raise us above cloud cover to magnificent skies

44. healing in spite of great odds

45. that from the barest of branches in winter's holdwill soon push a budthat will unfold into long-awaited beauty!
may your week bloom with joy!

comfort food...for body & soul

i cannot begin to express my gratitude to all who have been keeping our friend in prayer through this time. she is recovering, making progress & we are so grateful. in fact, we are doubly grateful through this time, as the weekend presented yet another reminder of life's preciousness & fragility.one of K-Bug's friends was hit by a car in a parking lot, of all places. she was not only hit, but drug under the car a considerable distance. i feel like heaven's beggar lately, but if you could, please spare a prayer for Brooke. she is stable & has a very long road of recovery ahead of her. in her favor...she has lots of love around her, she is young & she is healthy otherwise.

my gratitude overflows right now...38. answers to many prayers.

39. the safety net of love that surrounds us & carries us on the harder days.

40. arms to hug, hands to hold.

41. a warm sunbeam in which to sit & just rest.

as i exhale a guarded sigh of relief, i realize that it has been one of those weeks when nothing else will satisfy quite like comfort food. even boyworld is slightly out of commission right now with some kind of bug...you know, the kind that puts you out on the couch for a day or two with fevers, aches, & a need for many, many tissues.

& so i meandered into the kitchen at an odd hour~~ our normal school hours are on hold a bit due to this bug. a favorite comfort food around here is banana bread. & it is even more popular if i happen to have chocolate chips to toss in the batter.

this bread was enough to get some action on the couch! & it is what's cooking wednesday...Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (this recipe has the offical boyworld seal of approval!)

mash 3 ripe bananas & add 1 c. sugar & 1/2 c. shortening...cream together until smooth

beat 2 eggs & add to banana mix

combine 2 c. flour, 1 t. baking soda & 1/2 t. salt...gradually add to banana mix

add 1 c. chocolate chips.

pour batter into 1 greased loaf pan...bake at 350 for approx. 1 hr.

surreal

my heart has been with corey over the last few weeks as she has kept a vigil of love for her father. my first awareness of the ICU waiting game was on the other side of the fence, as an ICU nurse. the hardest part of that job was helping the loved ones around the bed reconcile what they understood about life & what life was presenting them in the surreal world of monitors & tubes & tests...helping them reconcile the vibrant loved one they knew with the silent, medicated person in the bed who often looked nothing like the photos they would show me from their wallets. severe illnesses & trauma will do that to a body. my experience in the ICU gave my young mind a profound awareness of the capabilities we as humans possess...the ability to endure great things, emotionally & physically, the ability to heal great injuries...beyond what i ever thought possible. one of the greatest joys of my job was seeing a former patient walk through the unit's doors, well & smiling. i rarely recognized them.yesterday i received a call at an hour when you don't want one. a friend of ours was critically ill & in surgery. i hung up the phone & jumped into the shower, my mind racing with thoughts of what her family might need at that moment. the day suddenly became an exercise in reductions...what things could be put aside for another time, what things could be discarded, what things absolutely had to be done. life is so very precious & in moments like these, it is easy to see how that is so & just what is important. before leaving to bring our friends' daughter home from college, i hugged my boys extra tight & called my girls. our family makes a point of always leaving one another with a hug & kiss & an 'i love you'...life is too short to do otherwise.on my drive i pondered how easily i had chucked my day's 'to do' list, how small the circle of 'what matters' really is. i prayed a lot for our friend & for many other things. i considered how incredibly green the new grass was. i counted the early spring flowers i saw...daffodils, tulip magnolias, quince blossoms. i took comfort in the thin sunlight that warmed my shoulder. i expressed much gratitude that our friend had received the care she needed because waiting surely could have been fatal.please keep our friend M. in your prayers. & please hug those around you extra tight today...tell them how much they mean to you.

love is...

...not limited to a day on the calendar, but it is undoubtedly in the air today. i cannot blog browse today without finding many posts regarding St. Valentine's Day. love it or (try to) ignore it, this holiday has been commercialized to the hilt. quite depressing, this twisting of love into a guilt trip for the enamored consumer.

stop & take a deep breath, oh ye wearied receiver of red rose & diamond advertising...one honest expression of true charitable love is worth more than a million hallmark sentiments mass printed on recycled paper.now, i have nothing against things that remind us to show the love, as this holiday does. being what we are, we do need reminders from time to time. & we can often forget exactly what love is...as i thought about this for most of the day, my thoughts kept coming back to this..."love is patient, love is kind. love is not jealous, it does not put on airs, it is not snobbish. love is never rude, it is not self seeking, it is not prone to anger; neither does it brood over injuries. love does not rejoice in what is wrong but rejoices with the truth. there is no limit to love's forebearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure. love never fails." (1Cor. 13:4-8)that is the love i aspire to & hope for.

for quite some time i have been enjoying bleeding espresso's love thursdays' posts & today i wanted to pass some link-love to the shutter sisters who keep this delightful weekly event up & running. how cool is that?!...St. Valentine's Day falls on love thursday!

may your love shine through today & everyday!!

1000 gifts & counting...

34. colors i cannot begin to describe, reflected in peaceful waters...35. a faithful friend...36. pansies...my winter solace...37. the song of a lone redwing...