Best Moment Award

Thank you to Shaun at http://prayingforoneday.wordpress.com for this award.

Seven Random things about myself: 

1. I have four adult children, two in Michigan, two in Florida. I love the moments I’ve had with them. While I saw everyone last summer, it’s been several years since we’ve all been together at the same time. Eight years, I believe. One of the reason why moments are so important.

2. Even though we have our rescue chihuahua, I am actually a cat person. There is something about spending time with an animal that is rewarding in a different way than spending time with people.

3. I took ballet lessons as a child. Then took a semester worth of ballet classes twice as an adult. Lately, I’ve come to realize that those are some of the moments I miss most, that sense of movement and expression that dance brings.

4. While growing up, my parents took our family camping throughout parts of Michigan and Canada. I liked the trails and paths through parks and forests. I sometimes took a notebook along with me, so I could sit in nature and write for a few minutes.

5. I didn’t start playing the piano until 5th grade, but I took to it like a fish to water. I sometimes miss it now that I’m in Taiwan and don’t really have the time to incorporate it, but I have many good memories of it, and I’ve shifted my area of creative expression to other areas, primarily my renewed intention to start quilting again.

6. I am learning a lot from the process of observing myself and changing the way I think about things. While I still have many thing to do, I’m feeling that I am directing the traffic and not letting the list overwhelm me. I thank my friend, Joycelyn, at Farther to Go! for helping me discover that intentions and perseverance are magical.

7. As a result of number six, I’m becoming much more aware of moments and making a point of treasuring them.

Now nominate five blogs: 

1. http://talkingexperience.wordpress.com/

2. http://sincerelykaterz.wordpress.com/

3. http://stephsscribe.com/

4. http://myoutlookinlife.wordpress.com/

5. http://craftinginportugal.wordpress.com/

Thanks again, Shaun! And congratulations to the five above! I hope you can all accept!  :-).

26 Memories: 26 Years with My Daughter

Evidence of #7

On March 1, my daughter, Kate, had her 26th birthday. She asked me if my post on that day was going to be about her, since, as she pointed out, she had cooperated and had her birthday on a Friday when I was already blogging anyway. She’s planning to blog about her birthday on March 5, which happens to be a Tuesday–my other blogging day. Her blogging days are the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, and 30th of each month. So on the 5th, today, our blog posting coincides. If you want to see how she celebrated her birthday, you can go to her blog Sincerely Kate.

In honor of her 26th birthday, here is part 1 of 26 memories of time with Kate. Part 2 will be part of Friday’s post. The memories are in no particular order. In fact, the chronology is all over the place. Without further fanfare, here are numbers 1 through 13.

1. Her quick wit (approximately 15 yrs. old): Once, while in the car, as we approached a stop sign, we noticed a dead bird on the side of the road. We were turning right, and as we did, we saw another dead bird. I said, “That’s weird, two dead birds. I wonder how that happened.”  Kate: “One stone.” 
2. The power of one: When Kate was in high school, she wrote an essay based on the theme: the power of one. She was one of the finalists in the school-wide competition, and invited me to come. Her essay was about me and how much she respected and valued what I had done. It was an incredibly moving experience for me.  Thanks, Kate!
3. Singing at Mimi’s funeral. When my paternal grandmother died, Kate had been doing some singing, and so she sang one of the songs at the funeral. I accompanied her on the piano. She knew the song, but she was absolutely breathtaking. Such confidence and expressiveness!
4. Interruptions. In a house with four kids, it can sometimes seem like you can’t go three minutes without an interruption. One day, I needed to make a couple of important phone calls, so I told the kids in the semi-joking way that I often did, “Please don’t disturb me unless someone is throwing up or the house is on fire.” Kate was only about 5 or 6 at the time, but while Doug (the oldest) went downstairs to start dealing with a situation in the basement, Kate slipped a note under the bedroom door where I was making the call. It said, “The house is on fire.” It was only in a small container in a concrete room, so it was easily contained, but it was a scare, and I don’t think I ever used that line again. UPDATE: Doug informed me that I was probably off on Kate’s age at the time of this incident. She was more likely 8. As he tells the story, she knocked on the door. I said, “I’m on the phone.” She wrote the note and slipped it under the door. I guess it’s one of those stories that shows that we don’t always remember things as accurately as we think we do. But all’s well that ends well (since the house didn’t burn down).  
5. Big News: A few weeks before I was to return to the US from my first year of teaching in Taiwan, Kate sent me a FB message: “If I had some big news would you like me to tell you now or when you’re home?” Well, I wasn’t going to wait. That would be crazy. So we set up a time to chat online. When we met online, the first thing I typed was,  “Are you pregnant?” The rest is history. Added note: Her fiance, Gabe, was sitting next to her when I typed that, and apparently, he almost hyperventilated. Sorry, Gabe!  Love you both, and that Mr. Logan, too!
6. Favorite Expressions #1: In Peter Pan, Michael uses the line, “Mother, the buried treasure.” Kate adopted it as her own and used it whenever she showed me something. One time she drew a picture for me, “Mother, the buried treasure.”
7. Look, Mom! As most kids, she did try her hand at a do-it-yourself haircut. 
8. Not for the squeamish. For a period of time, Kate had some kind of strange sensitivity to oranges and anything with orange flavor. But before we figured it out, we were at one of my friend’s houses, and Kate was playing with their toy kitchen. They gave her some orange pop. It was clear after a few minutes, she wasn’t feeling well, and before we could get all the way to the bathroom, she threw up orange pop into my cupped hands.
9. I don’t remember what precipitated this proclamation. Maybe I stupidly asked if she actually wanted her gifts wrapped, but one time she told me that I could just leave her birthday presents in a brown bag outside her door in the morning. Definitely, the teen years.  
10. Kate’s favorite breakfast places were Patty’s Place (which kept her in breakfast sandwiches for much of four or so years) and Mallory’s (which had a longer run, but is now sadly gone. They had the best potatoes: just ask Kate. But her other specialty was taking her ham and making a sandwich with her toast. She called it her “recipe.” (Honorable mention to her maternal grandfather.)
11. Dr. Suess breakfast. One year, on St. Patrick’s Day, we headed to a local restaurant for a special breakfast of green eggs and ham before taking the kids to school. If you’re wondering, only the eggs were colored green for the occasion.
12. Eating out. We’re not sure about the age on this one, but Kate would not order her own food when we went out. I swear I was ordering for her until she was about 14. 
13. Photo Fun. Kate took Mitch, her h-a-m-s-t-e-r, with her when she had her for senior pictures taken.

Stay tuned for part 2 (#14-26) on Friday! Happy Birthday again, Kate! It’s been a great 26 years!

Related articles

• Keyword: Fun (Compliments of my daughter, Kate) (myriad234.wordpress.com)