Beginning with good old reliable......

I like old things. Houses, furniture, clothes, husbands (just kidding, David.) I like to recycle things and keep them a long time. The older I get, the less interested I am in new stuff. We are planning to buy some new living room furniture. We have been planning it for several years. I just can't seem to find anything I like any better than what I have now. We just visited a furniture consignment store that opened near our (old) house. What a rush! I loved it. I didn't find anything I wanted, but just to know it's there to visit and prowl through....! Just the thought of looking through that stuff makes me giddy. I was reading my (old!) brother's blog about used cars and it made me think of ours. We have 4 great used cars. That's really David's department. As long as it gets me where I'm going safely, I'm pretty open to anything. We currently own: a 2003 Honda Civic COMPLETE WITH SUN ROOF (Martha), a 2001 Saturn wagon (Kate), and 1997 Ford Escort (David), and a brand new (old) 1999 Ford Escort. The '99 Escort will make its big debut this summer after Molly gets her license. She and Kate will then wrestle in the grass to see who gets the new (old!) car which by then will have new tires on its (old) rims. We love our cars! I love the low, monthly payments because new car payments can get (old!) fast!! Which makes me think....I'm not sure I have anything new! I eat off of old china, I use my grandmother's flatware, I rest on my mother in law's old couches, my kids sleep in my old childhood beds, my dining rooms tables are used, my favorite clothes are vintage, I think my towels once were moms...OH, WAIT! I do have one new thing. Several years ago David and I bought a new queen sized bed. It is awesome...pillow topper and all. We had a group of (old!) church people over for dinner and I was showing them the new bed. Since we used to sleep on a double bed, I was telling them the pitch the salesmen told me...about how a double bed was really the size of two crib sized mattresses, and that the queen would have ever so much more room. Then I said the most classic line ever....." I never knew what a difference six inches would make in bed".... I'm not sure who was laughing the most after that...unless it was David :)

Original Children

My niece, Jessica, just wrote in her blog about her "original children." That phrase stuck with me. I like that phrase.....original children. One of the largest commonalities in our family, if not the largest, is our children. It really doesn't seem to matter how many legs they have. Four is almost as good as two. I realize that may change some, now that Ross and Caleb are here, but for the most part we love the dogs, cats and the kids in sort of one big lump. I think to say we are dog lovers is kind of like saying the titanic was a rowboat. Even the cat defectors in our family love dogs too. Even if they don't own a dog nowwwwww...well, they're just preparing for a dog in the future. David and I have had our share of dogs. Mostly the rescued kind. The pitiful, miserable, pull at your heartstrings ones. We have had Magnum, Kahlua, D-O-G, and faithful Tighe. All older and abandoned labs who have gone to dog heaven (if you don't know about dog heaven, read the book by Cynthia Rylant.) Now we share our life with Maggie. When Tighe was alive, she wasn't certain about her job. Now that he's gone, she gets it. She's the bed warmer, the couch sitter, and the yard watcher. She is the lady of the house and the other lady of the house's abiding companion. She's the reason we're looking for another one and the reason we haven't gotten one. I figure one day we'll be out somewhere and a new Maggie or Tighe will worm their way into our hearts. Until then she'll stay our only, original child.

Strange Beginnings

My husband was recently stranded at the Atlanta airport. You can probably relate to this story. He had left (snowy, cold) Akron to visit his mom and step dad in (warm, sunny) Tucson. The journey there was uneventful, but the return home was long, hard and miserable. Flights cancelled, schedules re-routed, long lines, crabby people, old magazines, continual and soundless CNN. It must have been like the wait in the endodontist office that never ends. Along the way, though, he made friends. He talked to people, listened to their stories, and by his presence probably made some angy people a little less upset. He spoke of the hospitality offered to him by other people and how he tried to offer it in return. It made me think a lot about what it means to offer that to others. It is so easy to shower it on those we love and those we feel are deserving, but what about everyone else? I recently read an amazing transformational book, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. It is a story of hospitality. Greg Mortenson became lost while climbing in the Himalayas. He stumbled across a small village that took him in, fed him, clothed him and got him back on his feet. He promised he would come back and build the village a school. The rest of the book tells the amazing journey of how he is continuing to build schools all over the region, mostly to educate young girls. The villagers hospitality saved him. Greg is not a teacher, nor did he know anything about schools. He saw a need and with literally no preparation, stepped out in faith to begin something new. He says his life began again that day. He became committed to hospitality. So, where does hospitality begin? Does it begin in church? Or, does it begin when we offer it to the wayfarer and the sojourner...the strangers we've yet to meet?

"Snowing" Down

There is nothing like snow to take you to the beginning. Usually, it's the beginning of something new. A new project, a new dish to cook, a new book to read, a new scarf to knit....you get the idea. The reason this happens is because anything you've planned to do gets cancelled and you have to begin again. From scratch. Often with what you have at home because you can't go anywhere to get anything. For example, you rediscover all of your old beads. Beads you haven't looked at in a long time because, well, you just forgot about them. Yarn you weren't entirely satisfied with a day ago, suddenly looks like your next and most wonderful scarf yet. That can of peaches suddenly becomes a great new dessert for the dinner you've planned to cook all week. "Snowing" down means that life that has been running a million miles a minute just stops. Time seems to exist in a suspended state while you and life around you rests. Minutes become easy. Moments pass while you stare out the window and just let everything be. Time enough to get back to business when the plow comes. I usually envy my southern most cousins and their snowless days. Not today though. I wish you were here just snowing down with me.

at the beginning again

Another beginning....Kate arriving at Heidelberg College as a new freshman. I can only imagine how her grandfather Alton Loar felt when he arrived at Heidelberg College as a freshman in 1939.

Some special beginnings

Molly begins her dance at St. Bernard's Church in downtown Akron. She choreographed a solo dance to a piece sung by Summit Choral Society (Kate's former choir.) Needless to say, the dance and the dancer were stunning.

happy new year

Well, I have to admit it. I feel a little intimidated. Not much, mind you, but some. I am totally amazed at the talented bloggers in my family! Merc, Erin, Charlotte, Megan, Jessica...you leave me in the dust! Your blogs are amazing! I just love reading them. I've decided that between blogs and facebook we never even need to see each other again :) -- Just kidding! I really love being able to "visit" you when I read about you. It's not as good as the real thing , but it beats wondering what you all are up to all the time. As for me...what am I up to? Still thinking about beginnings....about new babies, new marriages, new school experiences, what it's like to be parenting a college student and a high schooler. Also what it's like to be (almost) 5o. Sigh! Well, now I'm going to find out what it's like to begin to take down the Christmas decorations.