Glue (Five Minute Friday)

Do you see a pattern emerging? I do. Write oh-so-very-close to the deadline. But it's still in. So that works.

Welcome to the very-very-late Five Minute Friday that gets written 2 hours before the new prompt arrives. =)

It's fast. It's easy. It's fun. And yet I am late. That's life. You can read more about our Five Minute Friday community over here. Link up and write with us.

GLUE.

I like glue. It's permanent. At least when compared to tape, rubber cement, thumbtacks, nails, etc. So when I try to repair something, if it's a repair I want to last - or something I treasure, then I fix it with glue when it breaks.I could throw it away, or I could work at it and glue it back together.

I envision that's how Jesus heals us. It takes some time and effort. But something of value is worth the time and effort, don't you think? Think of a vase. A treasured vase. The Lord refers to us as vessels. If a vase breaks, you can't tape it back together. Instead, you dig out the super glue. The crazy-stick-your-fingers-together powerful glue, and you fit each piece together one at a time. You put glue on both edges, and then you hold it until it sets. And then you move on to the next piece.

Just like the Lord takes my broken self - mistakes and hot temper and exasperated moments and all my messy dramatic sobs - and He patiently puts me back together with the good glue. To transform me into a vessel He can use.

Stop.

Journey (OneWord365 April check in)

It's Tuesday. Actually the 4th Tuesday, but Amy shows grace and leaves the link open a FULL WEEK (Thanks, Amy!) and since this was due last Tuesday, I will squeak in under the deadline.

Time to check in with the word of the year and see how it's worked or been present in my life the past month.  

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April brings spring break. Since the separation, we alternate holidays with the kiddos, except for Christmas break. This year was a "Daddy year" so my girls spent a relaxing and adventurous week with their grandparents, their dad, stepmother and little brother. With a week entirely to myself, I embraced my word, journey, to its fullest and took a vacation with a girlfriend.

We left DC on Saturday evening and flew to LAX, and then drove to San Diego. Saturday through Monday nights, we had a delightful apartment in the Gaslamp District. Sunday we visited a church in El Cajon, and then we spent the rest of the day with my dear friends, Chuck and Bridget. Chuck and I have been friends since we were 3. We are much older than 3 now ...

Saving the Opera, one person at a time!

Chuck is the chorusmaster at the San Diego Opera. And Bridget sings in the chorus. Sunday was a treat for the ages - we saw the last (well, we hope not the last!) performance of the San Diego Opera. The show was Don Quixote, and it was fantastic! At the end, the hero dies, and as there is much still unknown about the future of the opera in San Diego, the audience felt like we died right along with him. I was sitting near many long-time opera patrons and they were sobbing. Audibly. Older patrons and younger ones. Some who had been coming to shows for over 30 years. It will be a sad day if the opera is finished. As of tonight, there is an extension until May 19. You can read all about the latest on the fate of the opera here.

After the opera and the interviews (thank you, local news in San Diego for helping to share the story!) we went to dinner with Chuck and Bridget. And then we went for dessert. 

DESSERT!!

Afterwards, when we could eat not another bite, they took us on a city tour. We saw Balboa Park and then drove over to Coronado Island to look back at the skyline at night. Breathtaking views.

reflections in Balboa Park

Monday we ventured up to La Jolla and met up with a colleague of mine for lunch. And we spent Monday night at PETCO Park (San Diego Padres baseball). Take note - I am somewhat of a baseball junkie so the main focus of this trip, outside the opera, was baseball. 3 games - 3 new stadiums for me - in a week. The game was fun. San Diego came from behind in the bottom of the 8th to score 2 runs (on no hits, even!) and win. We had Phil's BBQ for dinner in the park. Don't miss that if you go - delicious! We walked back to the apartment after the game and stayed up late to watch the lunar eclipse from our balcony. Despite being in the middle of the city, the view was clear and watching that was spectacular. I took a few hundred photos with my new camera. None of them turned out very well (I am still learning). But the memory is clear and that's my favorite part of the experience anyway. 

PETCO Park

Tuesday we continued our journey and started our drive up the coast. We stopped at Rocky's Crown Pub. If you are in San Diego and you can get here, do NOT miss it. A friend told me it was the best burger in all of California. I have to say that it was maybe the best burger I've EVER had. We got there early and it was packed. Standing room only and a wait. I struck up a conversation with the guys standing next to me and within a few minutes they had invited us to share the next table that came open with them. (They had spied one in the back which had seating for 5 - that would fit their 3 plus my friend and me). They then told us stories of how they'd met and how they'd been coming to Rocky's every week for years and years. We met Joe, the owner and burger maker. The only choices you need to make at Rocky's are: big or small, with or without cheese, onions grilled or raw, and fries or no fries. My choice was small, with cheese, grilled and with fries. Finger licking good. The conversation eventually turned to dessert (of course!) and our new friends recommended Mr. Frostie's. A few blocks down and serving ice cream since 1949. Well worth the stop! 

our new friends - Jerry, Danny and Sherri

We continued on and spent Tuesday night at a resort in Newport Beach. There was a local place on the beach (walking traffic only!) to eat dinner on the porch and observe the glorious sunset into the Pacific. The pictures don't do it justice. But they might give you a hint of the splendor.  (or not. again, no inherent talent with the camera)

sunset over the Pacific

Wednesday the journey led us to Anaheim. We spent the afternoon at the pool and then walked to Angels Stadium, where we got to see a fantastic comeback and then the Angels victorious in the 12th inning. (Yes, 12. We got some free baseball that night). We sat in the front row down the right field line. I managed to get some good pictures that night. But the best was the one with Sonny Gray. He's a pitched for the Oakland Athletics. AKA the A's. He went to Vanderbilt (several years after I did). So while we were watching batting practice, I yelled "Anchor Down" and he turned around, smiled, and came over for a picture. This is my favorite picture of the whole trip. Vanderbilt all the way.  

ANCHOR DOWN!

Thursday we got up and headed a bit east, to Carbon Canyon park. We hiked to the redwood grove and saw some amazing wildlife along the way. I even captured a hummingbird in a photo. Then we drove to Marina del Rey and stayed at a B&B with so many stories held within its walls.

one of the journal pages ... from shortly after September 11, 2001

 Read more about the journals and some other journeys. I added a few pages of my own. Friday after breakfast we rode our bikes (included with the room) along the beach and around the marina. I had a cactus (YES, CACTUS) taco for lunch. Embracing new foods on this journey as well. It was very tasty. 

cactus taco

We then braved the LA traffic (goodness, traffic like I have never seen. I am from NJ, and I live near DC, so I have seen my fair share of traffic, but this was in a class all its own) and headed to Chavez Ravine. Dodger Stadium. Another fine game, with fantastic views of LA and also history held within the walls of the park. 12 innings later (yes, the second 12 inning game of the week!) the Dodgers had lost the game after a comeback only a few innings prior. The game as a whole was fun, and the crowd at Dodger stadium was the rowdiest of the games we saw. Very entertaining. The organist there has been playing there for over 30 years. I would love to hear some more about her journey!

LA skyline from the top of Chavez Ravine

swing ... and a miss!

as Puig watches the ball go by.

waving from the top!

Saturday we flew from LAX via San Francisco back to DC. We arrived around 11pm, exhausted but filled with great memories and some new stories to share with loved ones and friends.

So my journey in April was a physical one - across the country and along a little piece of the coast - and it added 3 stadiums more in my quest to see them all.

Paint (Five Minute Friday)

Welcome to Five Minute Friday. Where we stop, drop, write for 5 minutes, and then read the words of other writers like us. Join up with us over at Lisa-Jo's and enjoy the ride.

 This week's prompt: PAINT.

I'm writing late again, almost before the link up has expired. Paint gave me nothing to work with. Nothing came to my mind AT ALL. Until today. I am on vacation with a friend, and we are journeying around Southern California, enjoying Opera and baseball. Padres, Angels, Dodgers, and Don Quixote.

But today is a step away from the hustle and bustle of vacation. We've got a room in a quaint B&B near the ocean. Overlooking a bird sanctuary. And in the room we found this treasure: Journals. 4 books of stories. 14 years back, from what I've read so far. Newlyweds and older married folks. Friends, families. Some on a getaway. Some needing a staycation. Some beginning a life together and a few who sought solace here as they said goodbye to a loved one. Stories that paint a history - of life. Real life. Renewed relationships, and some falling apart, but a universal theme of hope spreads througout the pages. Encouragement to the next folks who come, stay, and read. A gift of words of wisdom. Some farewells as new lives begin in new locations - across the country, around the world, or down the street. All painting a picture of the memories the Inn has seen.

And tonight, I get to add my very own page.

 PS: here's the link to the Inn.

Writer (Five Minute Friday)

Welcome to my Five Minute Friday post of the week. Join the gang of us over at Lisa-Jo's, won't you? And write along with us. The rules are easy, the company is grand.

1. Set your timer for 5 minutes and write on the prompt.
2. Link up your post with the crew over here.
3. Then go visit the one who posted before you. Read the post. Leave a little sunshine and encouragement in the comments. That's the heart of the Five Minute Friday community - and the only unbreakable rule.

And for a bonus, feel free to join us over on Twitter on Thursday evenings for a little #FMFParty twitter party. We'd all love to chat with you.

WRITER

I never really considered myself a writer until all this blogging, thanks to the world of Five Minute Friday and the encouragement of some on-line friends who have turned into real life friends.

However, I have always been a letter writer. No, I don't know why a letter writer doesn't equate to a writer-writer in my mind. It is what it is. My grandmother taught me at an early age to write thank you notes. And that grew into hello, how are you notes. and a host of other things.

Then when I was starting high school, I started meeting folks at the political conferences I went to with my dad. Fun people. People that I wanted to stay in touch with, and people that I would see summer after summer, for a week at a time, but that was the only time we saw each other. LOUSY. And this was in the days before email. And they lived far away (California and Kentucky and Colorado and all kinds of places) so there was no phone calling allowed. (Pre-everyone-had-a-cell-phone ... nevermind with-unlimited-minutes). So we did the only thing we could - we wrote. Good old fashioned pen pals.

Over the years some of us became closer than others. And a most petered out after we went away to

Joshua James Northup (1976-2006)

college, without the summer reunions to connect and ground us. Growing up stinks sometimes. But a few - a particular few - kept in touch. Josh and I wrote often - twice a week throughout high school. Once a month or so while in college. [**my five minutes just ended. But I am not quite done. So breaking rule #1...] It turned out I went to college with a few guys who knew Josh (he was from KY, I am a Jersey girl) and I remember how fun it was to connect our worlds a little bit beyond just the two of us. To meet someone else who knew and loved him. And right after graduation, I got married, so we were in touch less frequently. But always Christmas cards - until the year he died, and his mom had to send me the tough letter ... "dear Jen, I found your Christmas card on Josh's desk, and I am so sorry to tell you..." A beautiful heart - a beautiful life - ended too soon due to an unknown heart condition. Josh was a treasure and a blessing to all who knew him, and I am thankful I still have some of his precious letters saved. Wonderful memories.

out to dinner - sharing with Spy Guy, who my kids traveling with me

And there's one other pen pal.
23+ years later. Yes, I am dating myself, I am still in contact with one of the original gang. Robb and I started writing the summer I turned 14. He split his time between Connecticut with his dad and California with his mom. So my letters went up the coast and across the country. I always used to skip to the mailbox, hoping a letter was in the box. All through HS and all through college. We visited once in Connecticut at his dad's house - this was about 3 years after we'd been writing, because I could drive by then. He wrote after he went to college in Ohio. And then I moved to Nashville, and still the letters came. He moved to North Carolina after he graduated, and I learned a new address. He stopped to visit me in Nashville my sophomore year, on his way west back to California. And still the letters came. He flew to NJ for my wedding, and then the letters became less frequent - but still, they came. Christmas cards, and even though the rest of the world was on email by then, we still wrote. Two kids later, and the letters were very few and far between, but I tried to never miss a Christmas card.

riding the carousel on the boardwalk

Eventually, I got divorced, and then I found myself with some free time on my hands, and my girls were away for an extended visit with their dad one summer, so I called up one of my oldest friends and booked myself a trip to California. He showed me around his world. I spent some time with his mom. I saw where he worked and the delightful kids he teaches every day. We played on the boardwalk and rode roller coasters and laughed until we cried. We went to an Oakland A's game together. (his one flaw ... he's a Yankees fan ;)  ) And we reminisced how this visit was even like the early years we'd known each other - when we wrote for months on end, and then hung out for just a week. Only to repeat the cycle for another year.

With cell phones and email and facebook, we're a little more technologically advanced now - but there's still days when we resort to the good old pen and paper. And I smile every time I walk to the mailbox and see a letter from him. Friends for life, united by the power of the word "writer."

Mighty (Five Minute Friday)

I'm going to squeak in just under the deadline again. Not sure I like the pattern I am seeing, but at least I am STILL WRITING.

The rules are simple:
1. set your timer for 5 minutes. Write on the word of the week. Don't edit. Don't backtrack. Just toss it out there.
2. Link up with the rest of the gang over at Lisa-Jo's
3. Visit the one who linked before you and give them some encouragement. That's the heart of the Five Minute Friday community.

<bonus ... if you're on Twitter, come hang with us on Thursday nights at the #FMFParty >

This week, we're writing on
MIGHTY

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word mighty is Mighty Mouse. "Here I come to save the day ... Mighty Mouse is on the way ..."  At least that's how I remember the words to the little jingle. There are days when I wish Mighty Mouse lived with me. Or at least would pay me a visit. Save me from the mountain of laundry. Or the mountain of unfinished work. Or the pile of dishes in the sink. Reality check - there's no mouse - or person - that can save me from any of that mess. Welcome to motherhood.

But it's not really about being saved from it. It's about banding together and living through it. Not looking only at the destination (goodness, I am not ready for these girls to grow up and leave the nest!) but rather how we work one day at a time to get there. What can we treasure along the way?

And while we think about that, who can we help on the way? Who is not as fortunate as we are? Who needs some love today? Or a helping hand? Or a home-cooked meal? And while as one person - one family - we cannot do much, we CAN do a little. And if we do a little, and you do a little, and the next one does a little, together we are mighty - and can make a mighty big difference.

As my 5 minutes tick down, here are 3 places where my girls and I are doing our little part to make a mighty big difference:

the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer (my personal page) which is May 3-4, 2014
the Birmingham, Alabama NF Walk (for my dear friends Renie, Philip and their sweet, sweet kiddos
and the Community Kitchen and Welcome Center which is the love project embraced by the Five Minute Friday Community and beyond. Making a difference in a community in South Africa.

The Cupboard (Behind the Scenes)

Welcome to Behind the Scenes, the link up hosted by Crystal, where we share real life. Behind every perfect picture there's a story - what REALLY happened that led to the cute photo.

Or in this case, the "look how clean my cupboard is" photo. This is under my sink. This morning at 6:30am. While the girls and I are getting lunches packed and breakfasts made and backpacks ready.

"It's empty?" Oh, hmmm. You noticed that, did you? It's not usually empty. Or clean like this. Well, I can't even say it's clean because I am not quite done.

This morning I went under there to get a new trashbag. And discovered that my dishwashing soap - the giant Costco sized bottle of Palmolive - yes the GREEN gallon sized one - had tipped over. And leaked. ALL. NIGHT. LONG. Well, really I guess it could have been tipped over since earlier than last night, but I'm trying to convince myself that I must have knocked it over last night when I put the windex away.

So, there was a very sticky layer of green liquid soap over the whole bottom of the cupboard. Gross. Clean, but gross. I've never been more thankful that I keep most of the stuff under there in plastic buckets - so I needed to wash the bottom of the cabinet and the bottoms of all the bins, but other than all my remaining dishwashing soap being spilled, I didn't really lose anything.

It may, however, smell like Palmolive in my kitchen for the next two weeks. Or longer.
And - my cabinet is nice and clean.