Remembering 40 Years Ago.

TODAY is a baby's birthday: Baby Joey.
I know what you're thinking. Every day is some baby's birthday!
This baby is 40 years old, however, and he's mine!
So some of you are thinking, "Oh, my goodness! She's old!" Others are thinking, "Hey, pretty good she can figure out how to post to a blog." (Good for you!) For the record, I do think technology is a great brain "de-rustifier." I just made that word up. Feel free to use it.
There's nothing like the 40th birthday of an offspring to get a Mom feeling all misty and frightened at the same time. I remember the enlargement, the waddling, the waiting, the way he took his time coming into the world ... and took his time ... and took his time. Andthenherushedsofastwealmostdidn'tgettothehopsitalintimeandIwas
... oh my gosh! He's here!
And now the time - again with the word "time" - has magically evaporated and the once tiny baby is gone and I'm left with this great big person way taller than me. Cell division is an amazing thing, in case you've never noticed. He's grown up to be the sort of person any parent would be proud of, and I don't know how much credit I get for that. He's been blessed to know many wonderful people in his life who've coached him, mentored him and cheered him on. Happy birthday, Joe.
ON ANOTHER NOTE: The Woman of Mystery painting has been won by visitor 2,001. Nikki and Ned *win. I hope they will find she brings them nothing but peace and quiet and does all the worrying and wondering for them so they won't have to. (Or anyway, just a modest amount.)
*And by "win," I mean they get it even if they regift it. I'll put it in a frame too.
I WANT to give you one more photo to look at from the property - it's a wonderful tree that has a unique pattern on the bark. Maybe put there by some climbing plant, like English ivy. I don't know what did it, but it certainly is different.
The mysteries of life are many and precious. I guess that's my thought for the day. We never know when those mysteries are going to please us or make us cry. We just stand in line and take our chances.
Here's to many more days of standing in line and being pleasantly surprised - femminismo

Remembering Motherhood.

REMEMBER how I told you my brother had taken on foster parenting his granddaughter? And how I was going to ask him if he needed a baby-sitter? Well guess what? He needed a baby-sitter. This afternoon I watched her for about three hours while he drove to the airport and picked up his wife.
The whole day started off with a big laugh for me: "There are diapers involved, right?" I asked him when he arrived.
"Yeah", he said, as he laid out a McDonald's kid's meal on our kitchen table. He looked at me. "This is honestly the first fast food she's had since she came to live with us."
I believed him.
Then he mentioned the diaper changing again and told me she was a pretty good eater and had consumed a whole can of chili by herself just before they came over.
"What??!!" I said. "A whole can of chili?"
A picture formed in my mind, but then I saw the grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"A whole can of chili ... right!" I said, laughing loudly. Whew!
He left the two of us together and took off for the airport. I had pretty much babyproofed the house and closed the doors to rooms that would have taken me months to go through. However, I found myself checking on her whereabouts every few minutes.
As I cooked in the kitchen she opened all the drawers and found measuring cups, books and dominoes to play with. Her hair felt so silky and her chubby cheeks were so sweet that I wondered how it was possible I had forgotten how lovely a child feels and how irresistible it is to pick them up and hug them.
She cried for "Papa" a couple of times and I showed her his picture on my cell phone and for a while we watched out the window for him. Then we laid together on the kitchen floor, her bare feet to my bare feet, and we looked out the skylight window overhead and called the birds to come fly over. "Here birdie, birdie, birdie." We saw three of them.
As I again stood at the kitchen counter, chopping vegetables, she sat on the floor to eat a cracker and put her back up square against my legs, reclining against me.
I don't think I've had such a joyful, heartwarming feeling in a long time. It was something remembered - a memory from long ago - and something real and solid all at the same time. I want to go back now and do motherhood all over again. Why can't we know the worth of what we're doing while we're doing it?
I wish I had savored mothering more. That's my wish for today. (Don't you love her chubby little hands in the Easter photo above?) Happy Mother's Day tomorrow and every day.

NOW ART: I tried Dawn Seller's technique again and this time it came out better. I let everything dry thoroughly. I think that was my problem before.
I painted the photocopied image with acrylic paint and put it face down, rubbed it to make sure it adhered and LET IT DRY!
Next day I soaked it with a wet paper towel (left) and then began rubbing away the paper from the back of the image.
This is how the "Man in the Turban" turned out. I think I'll add other images too. Since it's on a long scrap of paper (just a test piece) I don't know what I'll do with it. It was a fun technique, however. Can't wait to see where it goes.
This Saturday night, May 17, is Creative Circle and we're going to do "inchies." I haven't done them before, but a 1 inch x 1 inch square of artwork sounds like it will be challenging - femminismo