09 April 2018
Easter, 2018
05 April 2018
James and I are legal.
Shut the front door. James' and my first date was at Adam's Ribs. That first date was on December 13, 1996, twenty-one years and three months ago. Adam's Ribs in Salisbury, Maryland has since gone out of business, so I was excited to hear tell of another. I told James we are eating out after your appointment. Don't ask questions. I know just where we are going.
James just loves seafood. The Bay Bridge area is packed with seafood restaurants and he's itching to try every one of them. As we sped past each of them on the way to the doctor, he said are we going there? There? How about there? I just shook my head. I'll never tell. After the doctor, which went well, in case y'all are wondering, I directed him to Adam's Ribs. He saw the sign as we pulled in the parking lot and smiled wide. This is perfect, he said. And it was. We had ribs, and shrimp and appetizers and Smith Island Cake - his first - for dessert. We hung out like adults and lingered over supper. No kids. No hurry. It was great. And just so that the universe could tell us one more time that we are doing things right - the check came in a Ball jar. How confirming and sweet is that?
30 March 2018
Splash - March 2018
23 March 2018
JMichael in Little Leaugue
14 March 2018
Rachel is Twenty
I know every parent feels this - time goes by too quickly; I wish she was still three and reaching for my hand to cross a street; where did all the moments go? I can still hear her laugh, her morning sneezes, her song coming from the shower. I hope I always will. Today the baby who made me a mom is twenty. Twenty. Happy Happy Birthday Rachel Mae.
11 March 2018
Mail!
28 February 2018
Splash - February 2018
27 February 2018
New York City
04 February 2018
Superbowl LII
In our family, each person has a football team. We don't all root for the same team; that would be too easy. Instead, we all root against each other. Here's our list:
James: Minnesota Vikings
Tina: New Orleans Saints
Rachel: Philadelphia Eagles
Evan: Miami Dolphins
Samantha: Atlanta Falcons
Charlotte: Denver Broncos
Josephine: Carolina Panthers
JMichael: New England Patriots
This season - 2017 - 2018 -- Of the eight of us, five were in the playoffs. The big dance came down to two of us - Rachel versus JMichael. It was tense. JMichael was a valiant fan and played a good game, but, in the end, Rachel and her Eagles were victorious. Rachel watched the game at a friends house, and JMichael watched at home with us.
My brothers have teams, too - David roots for the Baltimore Ravens, his wife Dawn roots for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Eric and Abby are Cowboys fans through and through. Mom and Dad cheered for the Rams, even through all their changes of venue. I remember one Superbowl that Dad was so excited about - the Rams were playing, and to make it even better - Tina Turner was the halftime show. The Rams lost, but, Dad was still happy.
It'll be a long off season, full of talk on drafts and trades. Long live football!
31 January 2018
Splash - January 2018
17 January 2018
Chess, Potions and Tree Boyfriends?
January is a bleak time to be outside - both in Maryland and in Arkansas. Inside, we spend a lot of time together watching football, cleaning house and our favorite - games. Of the eight of us in the house right now, we have a mixed bag. Some like board games, some like card games, some like chess. We play together, laugh together and argue over answers together. The point is - together. I truly hope my kids remember their childhoods fondly, full of family and healthy competition.
One game that the ladies just told me about does not involve any of those games I just mentioned. It involves a trampoline and a hearty imagination. Both the big ladies and the little ladies played this game, they said. It goes like this - all four of them (JMichael was little) are on the trampoline. One jumps as high as she can and turns to the outside of the trampoline at the height of her jump. She will then "lift" a potion from the "shelf". She drinks the potion on the way down. Once she bounces, the potion takes effect and she has to act out the result of the potion. This game is called, Potions. The ladies were telling me how they would spend hours on the trampoline in Arkansas, bouncing and drinking potions. They were on fire, turned into a dinosaur or a ballerina. What a game.
Another game they played was Tree Boyfriend. Yes, you read Tree Boyfriend. This is a game from the little ladies. In our backyard in Arkansas, we had a bunch of mature trees. The little ladies would discuss who got which tree boyfriend and they would stand with the tree boyfriend and talk about what they thought (in their 4 - 7 year old minds) girlfriends talked about with their boyfriends. Charlotte even said they would kiss the tree bark. Hahaha. I had no idea. I just knew they all loved to play together in the back yard.