Careful - Who Knows Who's Watching!

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Good morning son! It's predicted to be a beautiful  Spring day again today. The weather has been amazing since we've arrived in NY last year. It was one of the mildest winters anyone can remember. If the last couple of days are any type of indicator, Spring is going to be awesome. Yesterday I had  all the windows and doors open. We opened the back deck yesterday and Jamison spent most of the day on the deck in the sun getting reacquainted with all the birds, squirrels and chipmunks.

It's March and you know what that means around our house, March Madness!  As much as dad talks about it and loves basketball I can honestly say that in the 42 years we've been married this is the first time he's really spent the afternoon watching the games.  I love it! He's having a great time. He and uncle Bill have picked their brackets and call each other a couple of times in the afternoons to just say "wow, did you see that!".

Let me tell you, I was ON yesterday! I threw the windows and doors open and hit the studio. I painted a doll cradle, which will get it's coat of polyurethane later this morning. I made eight greeting cards, some for Easter. I was torn about doing Easter cards but decided to give it a whirl. They were really fun to make and I'll probably do a couple more this afternoon. I hand painted and decorated wooden "eggs" and "chocolate rabbits". I added them to the front of the cards so they can be removed for a keepsake if someone would like to keep them. I did a couple of blank note cards for Spring and a couple of birthday cards. I mean I was really moving. I'm going to try some using vinyl lettering today. I use to do that but haven't done it in a long time. 

I'll get started next week end on another doll crib. Dad is going to start doing all the prep work for me. He can get things ready during the day while I'm at work and then when I get home in the afternoon I can do what I do best, embellish it! Woo hoo! . My studio is in the perfect room of the house. Right off the dining room. My dining room doesn't look much like a dining room any more. The dining room table usually has a project in one stage or another perched on it. My work table is set right in front of a window. It isn't the most efficient use of space since it puts the L-shaped work top right in the middle of the room but I'm not willing to give up the natural light. Speaking of light, what's it like in heaven this time of year? Do you have seasons? Do you have flowers? Does it matter to you if you don't? Probably not! Just curious.(No, I don't want to hear about the curious cat!) I keep waiting for my missing you to subside. It isn't. Maybe it won't. Something was going on with Netflix night before last and before dad knew it he was saying, "I'm going to call Aaron." It just happens in an instant. You've always been such a huge part of our lives it's just weird to not have you here. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want you to come back here for anything. As much as I'd like to give you a hug...and you have no idea how much I miss your hugs, I wouldn't wish that pain back on you for anything. You're exactly where you're suppose to be.

Chickens laid, dad gathered..and ate

Anyway, Spring. As I was taking Jamison out yesterday I noticed green shoots coming up through the grass in front of our porch. It dawned on me, I didn't see those last Spring. For an instance I wondered why I hadn't noticed them before. We weren't here last March. Can you believe in June we will have been here a year. A year. It's almost impossible to believe. Where has the time gone. So much has happened. Our lives are the same, and yet totally different. We're the same and yet, totally different. I don't know if it's good or bad or that it even matters. It's a good life. Always has been. As dad and I were coming back last night from putting the chickens in and playing with Biscuit the sun was setting. I was waiting on

17 March 2012 Sunset Troy NY

dad and standing in Jon and Corey's backyard watching the sun set. It was absolutely beautiful. Between the rim of their backyard and the sun setting, lay the city below in a valley. The lights in the valley were twinkling and orange. It was so gorgeous and I just had to stop. I took a deep breath and said "thank you Lord. Thank you for this beautiful place, for wonderful friends near and far and family that surround us and for trusting us with the care of a home we love. Thank you for helping us arrive safely in this wonderful place and for keeping us while we are here".

This while adventure has been truly amazing. Thank you for your encouragement son. For loving us and for wanting the best for us, over and beyond what your wants and needs were. 

I feel so very blessed in this life. Dad and I have always talked about our life of adventure. You've heard me say many times over the years, "I can never say I've ever experienced boredom". That continues to be true to this day. At times, life has been very difficult. But boring? Not a chance. The thing about having a challenging life is that challenges give us so many opportunities to be resilient, respectful of others, and more tolerant. Challenges show us we're not alone. Everyone faces challenges in life. Challenges are relevant. They are relevant to where we are at the time. One day getting out of bed might be a challenge for one of us. The next person might find it a challenge to share what they have. It might be that our challenge for the day is acceptance of something we don't understand or the challenge of doing something we don't know how to do. It can be a challenge to accept the fact that someone you love is dying and there is nothing you can do to save them. As I said, challenges are relevant. As I see it,  challenge is that thing in your life you are not prepared for but face. They build character and strength....if you accept the challenge and work through it. You can "just wait it out or let someone else do it". Changes are tough. If you choose that path of ignoring the challenge it most likely will "pop up" in your life again and again, if you're lucky, until you face it, work through it and be strengthened by it. Of course it doesn't feel like a good thing at the time. It shouldn't. 

If the flowers in the Spring didn't accept the challenge of breaking through that ground, rock, weeds and force themselves to accept the challenges, where would our Spring flowers be? Sometimes accepting the challenges of life are not about us. Sometimes they're challenges we need to accept because someone is watching us to see how we're going to accept and handle them. We sometimes forget that people do watch us to see if we practice what we preach so to say. They look to see if we really do what we say and believe what we believe. It's one thing to spout how strongly we believe in something. It's something altogether different when we're faced with a circumstance where we actually have to demonstrate that belief. My mom and dad always told us that actions speak louder than words. I know they are right.



I know that I never believed in my wildest dreams (and I've been having some pretty extremely wild ones lately) that God would put the challenge in my life that he did over the last five years. As I look back over my life, over this last half a century, it frightens me to think what type of example I have been during some of life's challenges. At the time I'm sure I wasn't thinking about being an example. I was simply trying to get through the challenge. I hope and pray that as people watched me stumble through the challenge that they were able to see, and that I did, work through the challenge and came out on the other side stronger for it. I hope they were able to come out stronger by watching me work through it.


I can't say that I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead. I can say, I'm tired, physically, mentally and spiritually. Sometimes I don't think I will ever feel strong and clear again BUT, therein lies the challenge. I hope I'm up to it. Who knows who's watching!


Until next time, I love you. mom