Last night there were four generations of daughters in my sister’s house. What could be more special than that?
As we sat around the kitchen table talking, we saw a mama deer and her fawn come out for a bite of dinner. We just watched them. My Nana loves nature, she has an artist’s eye and for us to see that while we were all together was just magic!
Well, I’m on a mini road trip down to Virginia to see my sister, her husband, their adorable dogs and of course my GORGEOUS neice!
We headed out from Indiana and made our way through Ohio Amish Country. We drove through Norwalk, snapped a pick of a cute Post Office in Savannah and visited the world’s largest cuckoo clock in Sugarcreek, Ohio.
My Mom and I are having a blast on this mother-daughter road trip. I can’t think of anything better!
Where has July gone? I spent yesterday tootling around with my Mom, it was GREAT!
We had breakfast with Maisy, while she kept guard over us. Met my Dad for lunch and stopped by Carmela’s Bakery on our way home for some delicious sweet treats! MMMM! I won’t tell you how many cookies are actually still left in the box, because that would be giving away too many secrets!
My Mom is a beautiful calligrapher. Her teacher was running a painted canvas class today, where you would paint, using a variety of techniques, onto canvas that you will later go back and work on top of by placing calligraphy on it.
These were two pieces that we had worked on, drying in her teacher’s backyard. What a great way to spend a Saturday. Taking an art class with your Mom, what could be better? And, since my Mom is the calligrapher and not me, I am planning on commissioning her to put a couple of quotes on my pieces. So, I will have a piece of art to treasure!
By the time you read this today, I will be up in the air, winging my way home. I ended my day yesterday with a quiet moment in the cupboard, surveying my home of 3 years, before I silently turned off the lights and locked my door for the very last time.
I handed over my keys, had a mini send-off in the hallway with farewell hugs and waves and walked down the stairs and into the sunshine. It feels surreal. A good surreal though. I feel as if I had run through an emotional gauntlet and somehow managed to come out the other side, there was a heady mix of highs and lows.
After a full day of traveling, I will be home in time for dinner with my parents. What could be better?
I might be radio silent for a few days while I enjoy being home and taking a little time to breath! I’ll catch up with you soon!
Jennifer x
As I announced on Friday, we had some celebrating to do this weekend! I have accepted a position within a school in London and I am just elated!
However, it takes a village and I did not get this job on my own. I had family and friends who were keeping me in their thoughts and prayers as well as work colleagues who helped me in printing out my work, so the ink would be a truer color and then binding it for me as a portfolio, as well as giving me all their well wishes and warm hugs.
My friends at work were so happy for me on Thursday when I told them the news! I wanted to thank them as they didn’t have to lend me a hand in a hour of need, but they did, as great friends do! So these rainbow tulips were their thank you from me.
The world is a lot better place with my family and friends in it. I am lucky and I know it! I have a football field full of cheerleaders who are cheering just for me!
I have been formed by many scraps of wisdom over the years and I have learned and grown from every single one of them. It is how one reacts to and handles particular moments in life, that lets you see the kind of person they are. It is in those moments that I have learned from my father how to be the person I want to be.
Happy Father’s Day to all Dads, be they new or old to fatherhood.
P.S.
You know who you are! A thousand Birthday wishes sent your way! I love you! x
I was so saddened to read last night that the beautiful, voracious, mermaid come to life, Esther Williams had passed away.
She was such a stunning beauty! I can remember watching her movies growing up, I loved “The Duchess of Idaho”! It came on one morning on TCM when I was sick and home from school. That was one of the best parts of being sick, I got to watch TCM and AMC. It was heaven, all those old movies!
I would pretend to be her when I was little. I would dive into the pool and do my best Esther Williams impersonation. Swimming in circles, doing acrobatics underwater and twisting and turning and splashing about. I was just fascinated by her. Her swimsuits, her hair, the wonderful glow of technicolor that surrounded her.
She had a beautiful body and a stunning pair of legs! My Nana always tells this story that her sister, Katherine, another “looker” with a great pair of hams, was asked to be in Esther’s swim troop, but she declined as she was madly in love and getting married. Who knows if that is entirely true or not, I just love that story regardless! I believe there is a grain of truth in there somewhere, no matter how tiny the grain!
To the mermaid with legs, you will be missed!
I arrived home yesterday after a crazy trip. Another lot of flight cancellations and a drive to Chicago, courtesy of my parents, I made it home!
I felt like I was in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, driving into the city; that or Adventures in Babysitting. It was truly an adventure!
There is something about going home for me. It just rejuvenates my soul. Getting to spend time with my family was wonderful and the fact that my sister and niece were able to come and we were all together, well that was just a blessing.
I sadly said my goodbyes, I never like saying goodbye to my family, but I realize how lucky I am. If I had lived during the Pioneer Age, I would probably have never seen my family again and only received letters that were weeks if not months old, my Mom and I always think of that.
But, I arrived home safely in Mr. Michie’s arms and am slowly getting back into the swing of things.
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Well, I am interrupting my Spring Break to step on to my soap box. It is not often that I use this space to do that, but today, I feel warrants it! I have come home to visit with my family over the Easter holiday and I was so very lucky that after spending time with my sister and 7 month old niece, the two of them travelled with me to see our Mom and Dad.
Yesterday, my sister and niece headed back home to Virginia and spent the entirety of their day in the airport. Now, I know this is nothing new, being a frequent traveller, I have had this happen many a time, I am sure many of you have had that happen. One flight after another cancelled, delayed. No one wants to tell you what is going on, a string of inconsistent reports, grumpy people all around.
My sister’s flight was delayed by over 4 hours and if it wasn’t for the only kind gentleman at the gate she would have been delayed a lot longer, but he got her on a flight. She was guaranteed to be on her original flight connection from Chicago to Virginia. However when she arrived the flight was delayed. That delay went on and on and on.
Now, here’s the thing, my sister doesn’t care to fly, she was on her own with a baby and carrying all the things a mama has to carry and you can say what you want, I am sure some people are rolling their eyes, they have been there done that, well, that might be true, but this is MY sister and niece we are talking about it and they are two of the most important people to me, so it doesn’t matter what anyone else has or hasn’t done, my focus was on them.
Her husband and my dad were on the phone with United Airlines trying to help her, because no one at the United counter was. My mom and I were doing what we could from the computer. She finally got on a flight, after spending almost 5 hours in the airport, with one spare bottle left for the baby, both parties exhausted but trying to keep their spirits up. And if you saw my niece, your spirits would always be lifted. She has the kindest little soul and she is such a happy, well loved little baby.
I know that 5 hours does not seem like a lot of time, but my sister had only packed 3 bottles, she was supposed to have a quick turn around. She had planned for a bit of extra time, but not almost 5 hours of extra time with a little girl who at that time would have already been home and in her bed.
My sister and niece were blessed to sit next to an angel who just kept talking away to them; while her husband drove over 3 hours to the airport to pick up his girls since they had been rerouted. I am blessed, I have a wonderful family. I am also blessed that not only do I love the person that my sister married, I truly like him as well.
As a trained Jedi, he knew what needed to be done and picked up a case of water and extra formula and packed extra bottles. He also had an intuition that after almost 5 hours in the airport that United Airlines would not manage to get my sister’s luggage or the baby’s carrier on the plane, because that would have been too easy. So, he went to pick up a new one. Well, he was RIGHT. The airline had lost my sister’s luggage and the baby’s carrier.
Another unexpected expense added to their trip was the purchase of a brand new baby carrier. What if they weren’t able to do that? What would have happened? They couldn’t legally have driven a baby home on their laps for a 3 hour car ride. United Airlines could have cared less.
You know, a lot is happening in the world right now. People are working harder then ever to keep their jobs, to keep a roof over their head, to put food on their table. Any business, I don’t care how big or how small you are, should be honoured that you have a patron. You should care for that patron. Where has the art of customer service gone? Where have simple acts of decency gone, where a young mother would have been helped, where the airline would have done everything for her to make things smoother. Where they would do anything for a passenger to make things smoother. Unfortunately, you are at their mercy and they are fully aware of that.
Our prayers were answered that my sister and niece landed safely. My niece made the trip smoothly, as this was only her second time flying, we all were praying she would do well. My sister the excellent Mama she is, thought on her feet as all good Mamas do and kept everything just ticking along for her little love bug of a baby. But, what she endured yesterday, well, in my book there is just no excuse for. United Airlines did nothing. I did something I wouldn’t normally do, I took my soap box over to Twitter to air my views.
The best United Airlines could do, was send me the link to their Customer Service page. I wanted more. It is my baby sister and niece they were in charge of caring for and I was not impressed. I know they have thousands of individuals to deal with, yet each should be treated like they are the only ONE, that is the art of customer service.
As we become more and more machine orientated, as the art of conversation and letter writing begin to disappear, I hope that there are a number of us who continue to fight for politeness, decency, kindness, strong values and standards, people to people customer service and care. We should not forget our humanity. We should not forget to commit random acts of kindness. We should not forget to care for each other like we would want our own loved ones cared for. We should not forget the art of customer service.
I’m stepping off my soap box, thanks for listening.