True (Five Minute Friday)

It is time for Five Minute Friday! Where we stop, set the timer, and pour out whatever is inside for 5 minutes. This week, the word is TRUE. Everyone's sharing a true story.

The quick rules of FMF:
1. write for 5 minutes. No editing, backtracking, overthinking
2. link up over here with Lisa-Jo and the gang
3. Visit the post (or two or a bunch) before you, and leave them a little encouragement. That's the whole heart of the community at FMF.

So, come and share your thoughts with us.

TRUE
The true story of how I came to twitter, and where it brought me. A friend told me that this guy I was seeing was on twitter, and pretty funny. (I knew about the humor, was CLUELESS about Twitter). So I built a handle and off we were. As of today, two years later, the guy is well out of the picture (different story for a different day) but Twitter stayed. I started playing around with it a little bit more. Thanks to Lisa-Jo and some of the other FMF lovelies. Loved to read you all. Loved to see what you were doing. Didn't love to write. Until I got brave in January (on the end of my OneWord365 for 2012) and then I started linking up. Which encouraged me to meet some of the internet friends (in)RL. And that made me less afraid of reaching out to others.

Turns out there's a GREAT little (not so little) Twitter community around my Nats. And thanks to the wonder of the hashtag or whatnot, I found a few of them. And so the baseball talk began.

Took several months before I met any of them in person. But one day we did (and I am so glad we did!) And then those folks introduced me to a few others. And now I know quite a crowd.

My favorite part of these Nats folks (well, besides tweeting through all the games we're not at together) is how they can take THIS:

and turn it into THIS:

and THIS!

Talk about a little online community that made real life awesome. Because a rain delay is ALWAYS better shared with friends.

Rain Delay (Behind the Scenes)

It's Behind the Scenes Day. Behind the Scenes is a link up where we tell the real story - the actual life behind that perfectly framed photo.  Link up here to read more fun adventures.

The photo:

The story:
Last Saturday, the girls and I were supposed to go to a baseball game at Nationals Park. The Nats were going to play, keep their playoff hopes alive, get us a Curly W, AND after the game, we would have the post-game concert hearing Montgomery Gentry live. We were SO EXCITED. And the weather ... well, the weather did not cooperate. But, thanks to the madness that is the last 10 days of the regular season, MLB gets to "assist" in if a game is postponed. So, the game was "on". And in a rain delay. The picture above was taken by my 5yo - proudly showing off her galoshes. And so, the rest of the behind the scenes story is that we waited. 7 hours. Until they called the game at 11:15pm. No game. No concert. My girls met a whole bunch of "mommy's baseball friends" and we had a hilarious adventure on the concourse. The kids proclaimed it the "best not-a-baseball-game-trip-to-the-park". Then they qualified that - "except for Opera in the Outfield, mama. Because then we still get to see some other stuff. But this was fun and your friends are great."

So, now you can see our adventure in photos. As I present "the photo essay of a rain delay - through the eyes of a 5 year old".  Enjoy.

*DISCLAIMER. I am not swift enough with this posting stuff to make these pictures show up aligned or in a pretty order. It's raw. It's real. It's scattered. Sort of like our adventure.

learning selfies

The unfolding of a wrestling match behind us

She (Five Minute Friday)

It's Friday. Where we pause, follow the prompt, and pour out our thoughts onto the screen for 5 minutes. A whole bunch of us. It's easy. It's fun. It's soul-nourishing. Won't you join in?

1. Set your timer for 5 minutes. Write about the prompt, no editing, no backtracking. Just write.
2. Link up over here.
3. Take a minute. Read the postings of the folks before you, and leave them a little encouragement. It's the best part of Five Minute Friday. Give someone else a boost on a Friday. Share with the community. You'll be glad you did.

SHE

She's a knitter. She's a writer. She's a dresswearer.

She's a mom. She's a classmate. She's a friend. She's a neighbor; a teacher; a stranger. She's a soldier, a sister, a daughter.

She's a single mom. She's a grandma. She's a brave fighter. She's an inner city girl, or a suburban girl, or a country girl. She's a Southern belle. She's a Jersey girl. She's my best friend's mother. And mother in law. And my aunt.

She's anyone, really. She's why I walk.

Breast cancer doesn;t distinguish. Doesn't play favorites. Strikes someone new every 3 minutes. She was an Army wife.

So, with me, and two little girls in my home, I dream of a day when the statistics change. When we've found a cure. When I can go to sleep knowing it's on it's way out.

Until then, she's the reason I walk.


STOP.


PS  I don't normally link the walk here, other than to talk about it. But if you want to support the cause, here's my link.

Finding a Little Normal (Behind the Scenes)

It's Behind the Scenes Tuesday (on Thursday for me). Where we tell you the real life behind the picture. sometimes funny, sometimes weird. Sometimes unbelievable, sometimes sobering.. Sometimes heartwarming. Always real.  Feel free to link up with Crystal to share your story or read a few others.

This week's picture:

Hi, friends. You may have heard on the news about the tragedy at the NavyYard on Monday. At least, I would assume you did. Hard for me to tell, since I live in the midst of it, so I am not sure what national coverage existed beyond the DC metro area.

Hit really close to home - literally - and figuratively for me. I have a college friend who works there. Thankfully, he was in training in California this week. I have a new acquaintance (thanks to Twitter meetups and my beloved Nationals) who works there. Thankfully he was ok. But 12 people were not OK. And their families are now dealing with the aftermath.

And that NavyYard? That's a mere few blocks from Nats Park. Where we go ALL the time. The Navy used some of the parking lots as staging for families to reunite with loved ones. And as the uncertainty in the following hours ensued, the Nats game was postponed. Two thumbs up to the Nats and MLB for recognizing that safety was important, and that life is bigger than baseball.

Tuesday the Nats were back at it, playing a double header (to make up Monday, plus the regular Tuesday game). And they came out to play. Swept the double header (WOOT!) from the Atlanta Braves (WOOT WOOT!).  But what struck me Tuesday was how much the community - the Nationals community - embraced our NavyYard neighbors. The word passed quickly through the social media networks to wear blue and gold. (For you non baseball readers, the Nats are mostly red & white, with accents of blue. Nice, patriotic, fitting for DC - but not US Navy colors).

I put my usual Nats attire away and instead chose my US Olympic shirt (from the Torino games ... yeah, my shirts are old), and since all my gold is tied to black (Vanderbilt), I went for the "mom save the day stash". I have a box of ribbons and beads to make hair ribbons for my girls. Covers a multitude of "need to dress like a _____ day" school projects. Sure enough, lots of blue and yellow/gold to be had in there. So I whipped out a hair ribbon and donned it proudly.

I headed out to the ballpark with tons of other folks sporting the Navy Blue and Gold as well. Embracing the community, and standing together to support our neighbors.

To the families of the men and women lost on Monday, your loved ones served us -- all of us -- well, and we are thankful for them, and sorry for your loss.

To the Nationals community - thank you for putting aside baseball and being real neighbors. And thank you for coming back to the game we love, allowing us to look for a little "normal" and find some joy on the day after a very terrible day.

I'm proud to be a Nats fan, never more so than this week.

Mercy (Five Minute Friday)

Welcome to Five Minute Friday. Where we stop, write for 5 minutes - with no editing, back tracking, second guessing. Just write and post. Then link up over here. And then go read a post (or 2 or 20) of the friends who linked before you. Leave a little love on their comments. 

Ready? Go.

Mercy. Hmmmm. Love how the Lord orchestrates the choice of Lisa-Jo's word right where I need it. It's been a week where I learned a lesson. A hard, but valuable lesson, of mercy.

Definition (thank you dictionary): compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence.

Thursday night I had to spend several minutes in conversation that was a WASTE.OF.MY.TIME.  Filled with lies and extraneous information, and very little concrete value. And I thought, REALLY? After all this time, when I have worked so hard to remove myself from this exact circumstance, I have to do it again? And I wanted ... oh, how I wanted ... to tell this person "stop with the lies. Stop making stuff up. Stop making me feel BAD when I didn't do anything. Not even didn't to anything WRONG, but flat out didn't do anything." Instead, I was reminded ... what can be done to make this better. How can I keep it from escalating into a full on shouting match with nothing good coming of it. Oh, right. Mercy. Just show kindness. toward an offender. Hmmmm.  OK, then. So I said "thanks for the feedback. I will try to keep that in mind." And we moved on. Without shouting. Without tears. There was some frustration on the other end, I think because I didn't react.  If I had, he'd have felt justified in exactly what he said.  Instead, we moved on, and he's left to puzzle over why I wasn't a wreck.

To be fully honest, I did come home and call a friend and vent a bit. And had her check me to be sure I wasn't missing some truth in the criticism.

And I spent a lot of time on my knees Thursday night. Thanking the Lord for giving me mercy every day. Because when I thought about it some more, I realized how often I can be acting like the offender. And the Lord takes it all in, draws me near, teaches me something, and bestows mercy. Every day. Without fail.  If He can do that for me, surely I can do it for another. 

Red (Five Minute Friday)

It's Friday! Time to write with abandon! It's fun; it's easy; and it's a great way to kick off a weekend.  In fact, Lisa-Jo even moved the prompt release time to 10pm Thursday nights, effective this week, because some of us (AHEM - yes this is me) are having a tough time staying up til midnight and then thinking in the morning. The #FMFParty on Twitter starts a little early - but still hangs out late, so come and join the fun.  Here's how it works:

1. Set your timer, write for 5 minutes flat. No editing (typos welcome!), no overthinking, no backtracking.
2. Link up over here.
3. Go visit the post of the person who linked before you. Leave a comment - send a little encouragement their way. That's the best part. The most important rule. The community building among our little (actually not-so-little) group of writers. 

NOTE: if you don't have a blog, just go write your 5 minutes in the comments at Lisa-Jo's. We read and love on those posts, too.

So, here's my 5 minutes on RED.

Red's a very versatile color. Can mean stop - as in a stop sign, or red light. Can mean "check this out, it's important" - as in that crazy exclamation point that shows up on an important flagged email.  In a rainbow, it's the beginning - if you color from top to bottom, or even the end, if you color from bottom to top. Or, if you hit a double rainbow, then it's actually in the middle.

It's also one of the trio of colors in our flag - and I think of it paired with white and blue way more often than I think of red all alone.  And when I was in high school, our colors were red and gold.

And here, in Natstown, Red is the color of our team. So I wear it A LOT. Funny, since when I was little it really wasn't on my list of colors that I love. This week, red has also been on my cheer-against list, as we need the Reds to lose to help our Nats grab that last wild card spot.

So, when I think of red, I think of rainbows (which make me smile), high school (great memories of growing up), baseball (no place I'd rather be than at Nats park) and the USA. Proud American, former Army wife, and raising little patriots. Seems like it's now near the top of my color list.

Stop.

Mom & me - showing off some red!

37 Things About Me

My 37th birthday was this week. Decided I might make a list of 37 arbitrary things about me  (and my kids), so you can get to know me a little better. Or not. Mostly I felt the urge to write not on a Friday and so decided to go with that.  Note: arbitrary also applies to the order in which they are listed.




1. I went to 4 baseball games in 4 days with 4 different sets of people to celebrate my birthday.
2. This makes the second time this year that I've been to more than 4 games in a week. In July I did 5 games in 6 days, only skipping the 4th of July so that I could attend the organ concert at the National Cathedral.
3. I have never played organized baseball (or softball) outside of gym class in school.
4. I have been known to do face tattoos and face paint when cheering for my teams. Even if I'm the only one doing it. I bleed black and gold, and will proudly wear my Vanderbilt Commodore gear anywhere.
5. This includes forgetting sunscreen on occasion and therefore having a reverse tattoo on my face for over a week. We won that game, on the road, at Georgia, and it's one of my favorite band trip memories ever.
6.My girls both share names with Australian cities, but that wasn't planned. Didn't even realize we'd done it until someone asked me what the connection was.
7. They both want to visit Australia someday, so they can each see their very own city, and more importantly their very own opera house.
8. Both my kids LOVE Opera. They do not get this from me. I expose them so they can learn, but it's not my favorite. Exception: Opera in the Outfield. This way, we get opera in the ballpark so everyone is happy. We celebrated A's 5th birthday at the event this spring. She's already asking about doing it again next year.
9. I cry at movies. Even ones on the Hallmark Channel. I also sometimes cry at commercials. I am a weeper. So if you want to take me to a movie, even if you think it's a comedy, bring the Kleenex.
10. I am officially now a soccer mom. (sans mini van).
11. My birthdays have been some of my greatest joys (1994) and my worst nightmares (2009). So now I try to consciously find small, or big, joys especially on my birthday. Nothing wipes out a lousy moment like replacing it with lots of little good ones.
12. My favorite way to spend a night alone is curled up with a good book (and maybe a mug of hot chocolate. Or a box of Thin Mints).
13. If I drink soda, it's Coke or Cherry Coke. Not Pepsi, and nothing diet.
14. I prefer to set my watch on military time.
15. I may no longer be an Army wife, but my time as one left me with a new respect for our troops, their families, and a host of delightful friends who have stuck by my side long after my Army family years were done.
16. For my past two solo holidays, I have spent an amazing week in Paris with 3 girlfriends, and spent a fantastic 5 days in Dublin with long time friends and their kids. Including American Thanksgiving in Ireland. (Read that adventure here!)
17.I play lots of board games and card games. Euchre & Cribbage are my favorites.
18. My dad's career path has allowed me to meet a ton of really cool people. Favorite: President Reagan, He served me spaghetti and meatballs. I was 12, and he talked to me like a grown up instead of a kid. That's still one of my favorite memories.
19. I celebrated my birthday in Fenway Park with my dad 2 years ago. As far as birthday memories go, that one went a long way toward erasing the one bad one.
20. I learned Flemish for a trip to Belgium. Turns out that was the smartest move I made, as I needed it to navigate the bus system to get to the towing company in the next town when our rental car was towed.
21. The WWII Memorial at sunset is one of my favorite places in Washington, DC.
22. My 2 best friends live in Nashville and Seattle. So between the 3 of us, we have the whole country covered. One loves orange (she went to UT).. The other had me pick all the orange M&M's out of the candy dishes for her wedding reception. I love orange only in the context of a rainbow, a sunrise, or a sunset, so I land clearly on the side of removing all the orange candy from the bowl. The things we do in the name of school spirit and rivalries...
23. I have had the same pen pal for over 22 years.
24. I've learned some valuable lessons from my mom. The best one is this: If you can laugh about it tomorrow, you might as well laugh about it now.  Read more about my amazing mom here.
25. I've walked over 157 miles in 4 years in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. (on actual walk weekends. This does not count the training miles).  This is why I walk. And this is the story of the 2013 walk.
26. My perfect date would be a picnic supper on the beach watching the sun sink over the horizon.
27. But a night out without my kids with adult conversation will just fine in absence of a Pacific sunset picnic.
28. I am a proud band geek and hope my kids grow to see the value in that someday. I've met most of my dearest friends through the band or some connection with a band friend and that's been well worth every long, hot day of practice.
29. I'm really proud of how well my girls are learning to respect our country. They stop when they hear the National Anthem, put their hands over their hearts (even if they sometimes choose the opposite hand - still working on that) and stand still until it's over. Sometimes they sing along. They did it once when we were still in the hot dog line, and I was delighted to see the adults follow their example.
30. We try to learn history in fun ways with our adventures. Living so close to so many amazing monuments and museums in DC makes it tough to do it all, but we give it a good effort!
29. My dad taught me how to dance. 
30. I love jigsaw puzzles. They're extra fun with my brother and my parents, but I will do them on my own, too.
31. I own cowboy boots. I bought them when I visited Vanderbilt for the first time in 1993. I've had them resoled twice since then, and they're still my favorite pair of shoes.
32. I am a coleslaw snob. My great-grandmother's was the best. It used to be a staple at our family gatherings - even Thanksgiving dinner - and I've never had it better. My Grammie, and later my Aunt learned to make it pretty close to Great-Grandma's and that makes me smile. I am LOUSY at making coleslaw.
33. I participated in the chocolate pudding wrestling fundraiser for our Student Council. I've never been messier, nor had more fun, all at the same time.
34. I am seriously considering using spring break next year for a road trip to hit several MLB parks that I've not been to yet. If I have to be without my girls, I can't think of a much better week than a road trip with baseball and a girlfriend? 
35. I love to get, and send, postcards.
36. I love socks. The crazier, the better.
37. I took a Braille class in college. Considering how terrible my eyesight is, I thought it would come in handy someday. For now, it just makes my kids think I am cool since I saved my "dot" flashcards and they can study from them.

This year lands in the pile of great birthdays with fun memories. My girls fixed me breakfast in bed (a graham cracker sandwich on toast) and went off to the first day of school with happy smiles.I got my fill of baseball (see #1) and laughed until I cried sharing memories and making new ones. Sitting here on day 2 of my 38th year, I am really thankful, and very, very blessed.

The Hands (Behind the Scenes)

It's Behind the Scenes Tuesday, where we link up with Crystal and share the real life behind the "nearly perfect" (or not nearly perfect) snapshots of our lives. Read more about it here.

The picture: 

The story:
Today was the first day of school. My oldest is in 3rd grade, and my baby is in kindergarten. (Mom is still slightly in denial). A (the little) has been pretty excited all summer about school, but the past few days I could see the anxiety setting in. So I wasn't sure how day 1 would go.

Everyone popped out of bed early, got ready to go, grabbed their backpacks, and then headed out the door. We walk about 2 blocks to school, so this makes mornings easy, and gives us some flexibility on departure time. A & S (the oldest) posed for all the pictures I asked for. And then A grabbed S's hand, said "Mama, S has got me all covered. BYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"  They set off down the street, with nary a look back at me. They did ask me to walk all the way to the school door with them (I am thankful they let me come that far!) and then they disappeared into the fun adventure of a new school year. No looking back. No tears. No nerves. Just glee at the thought of a new year, a new day, a new teacher, new friends, and a very familiar big sister to help her through it all.

While mama stood on the sidewalk, teary eyed for a few minutes. With a smile in my heart, watching my two (not-so) little ones: brave, loving sisters tackling the world together.