Vacation plans

It was a busy weekend at S & H's...lots of cleaning, painting, and of course, playing with Hurricane & Tornado. It's amazing how fast they change. I'd seen them last less than a month ago, and since then they have really started playing together, and showing signs of imaginative play. They love Sesame Street and can point out most of the characters by name. They are starting to count and will repeat letters aloud. They are very affectionate and love to sit on my lap and give me kisses, which I am rather fond of myself.

We are taking our vacation a little earlier than usual this year, and by doing so, will most likely find some better deals. It seems that anything you rent in early May beats the peak season rates. Nice! We're contemplating a trip to Kentucky and came very close to booking a cabin on Lake Cumberland only to find out from another site that dinner cruises had been cancelled last year due to low lake levels from work on the dam, and the corps of engineers estimate a 1-7 year fix. Hmm....not sure a low lake would be something to see...think more research is in order.

We're hoping to combine lots of lollygagging with a trip to Mammoth Cave and a little genealogy research in Wayne County. My gg and ggggrandfathers on the O side lived there, and I'd like to be able to confirm several connections that to this point have been made based on circumstantial evidence. Genealogy connections are sometimes sketchy - for example, one of the O connections was made from census records, and sometimes census records might name an individual by initials only, or by a middle name instead of a first name...whatever name the person gave the census taker was the name that was written down. So, sometimes it is hard to know for absolutely sure you have the right person. I'm hoping that a trip to the genealogical library in Monticello and to the county courthouse will reveal some new information.

So, I'm off to look a little harder for either some more information on the condition of Lake Cumberland or another lake altogether.

Heading to Indiana

This morning, after the rush hour traffic dies down a little, I'm heading for H & S's house for my monthly grandboy fix. And, oh yeah, to see you, too, H2. :) And not a moment too soon, because while today's weather is predicted to be nice, tomorrow will be downright ugly, including snow/sleet/slush, and several inches at that.

This trip is a power-cleaning excursion with the house needing to be up on the market within the next few weeks. And I'm taking a spare bicycle for S (really, do two people NEED four bicycles?), who presumably (depending on where they find housing) will save petrol tooling around between hither and yon.

I wanted to share the transcript from yesterday's phone conversation with C, who loves to talk to GiGi, filling me in on all the latest:

C: "Shoot"

GiGi: "Are you having fun shooting your basketball in the hoop?"

C: "Nice"

Gigi: "And you're making lots of baskets! Nice!"

C: "Woo hoo!"

Gigi: "And you're very proud of yourself..."

C: "Yuh you"

Gigi: "I love you, too, and I'll see you tomorrow!"

Hurricane and Tornado

Today was a busy day at the G household (as are most with two 2-year-olds). Tornado (C) was particularly busy learning new words, exploring new technology, and mastering gymnastic vaulting techniques.

Last night, the Gs headed over to friends for an Easter supper and the boys were greeted at the door with Easter baskets. Confiscating the M&Ms right away, H2 stashed them away to be doled out in bites here and there. Today C brought his half egg to H2 for an M&M fix, and she said, "Okay, but just a couple..." Satisfied, he walked away, ate his snack, returned, held out the egg again and, for the first time ever, said, "couple!". P asked if he was rewarded with a couple more just for being cute, but I failed to ask.

Next, C had employed S to rewind to his favorite part AGAIN and AGAIN as he only likes the songs on the Thomas the Tank Engine dvd. S quickly tired of this assigned duty and after "one more time", laid down the remote and walked away. C picked up the remote and directly pressed the right button to go right to the songs. Again and again. Somebody's been paying attention...

And finally, for the coup de grace...the boys love to burn off steam by jumping in the cribs, and like it even better when they can jump in each other's. Somehow, C managed to jump/climb/catapult right out of E's crib and found the wood floor of their bedroom rather unforgiving. H2 determined he had no broken bones, consoled him and let him watch animated basketballs on the internet, and very quickly, all was right with the world.

Hurricane, on the other hand, is the strong silent type, listening to his brother say new words and sometimes copying, sometimes not. He is content to play, not needing to watch the same Thomas songs 583 times in a row. And while jumping in the crib is fun, he does not feel the need to set any distance records and is certainly not interested in pain.

In Tornado's other latest twospeak, "...oh well...".

Yikes!

H & S considered coming up for a quick respite, but for several reasons, decided against it. And is was a wise decision, given that there is a good TWELVE inches of snow on the driveway. See below pictures of the driveway and the picnic table:





We went in to church for a while this morning, to take care of some Good Friday preparations, and by the time we left, after at least 500 phone calls, it had been decided to cancel the service. Many other churches had already come to the same conclusion. There were more cars on the road than one might have expected, but given it is MARCH 21, I think people are thumbing their noses at winter and heading out no matter what. Nonetheless, it seemed the prudent thing to do to cancel the service. I feel the worst for the choir, who has spent the past three months rehearsing for tonight, only to not be able to perform.

Happy first day of spring...

Well, when I looked out my bedroom window this morning, this is what I saw:





The only person really happy about this turn of events is the weatherman, who gets more face time on tv and must be trying for a Pullitzer, or at least some "best coverage on a springtime snowstorm" award, going by the urgency and the drama in his voice. P summed up how the rest of us feel with this commentary: "I doth protest this offense to my sensibilities." Well said, well said.

The bad news is it's going to get worse before it gets better. (What? Did he just say TEN inches???) The good news is it's spring, at least according to the calendar, and technically speaking, it shouldn't hang around for too long.

And all things considered, it does seem rather poignant to look out the window on Good Friday - the day our Savior took our sins upon Himself, making our forgiveness both possible and complete - and see a fresh, clean blanket of pure white snow.

Maundy Thursday

P is preaching both tonight and tomorrow night as the apostle John. The costume that my mom and I worked on for him years ago somehow disappeared from the costume closet at church. He tried several others on and summarily pronounced, "I look like a dork," which obviously would not help the angst he already felt about a first person message. For a simple trip to the fabric store and an evening of sewing, tonight he will be a new man. And can I just say here that sewing is NOT cheap…when I returned to church with the fabric and notions, I stuck my head into his office and said, "How much is it worth to you to not look like a dork?" To which he replied, "How much is this going to cost?" I then (kiddingly) invited Pastor B to step into the room so we could avoid bloodshed, to which he replied, "I wouldn't miss this for anything…it's just getting good!" I then explained the charges, what was on sale, and what wasn't, watched the color drain from P's face as I got to the bottom line ($71), and listened to Pastor B save the day, "oh really…that's not so bad…and besides, you can write it off…". All was good in the end, and if I do say so myself, the new robe, belt and piece that slings over his shoulder really does look smashing. And for as little sewing as I do, I really enjoyed it.

So much happened on Maundy Thursday - the washing of the disciples' feet with the lesson on servant leadership, the first communion (which sadly was also the disciples' last with Jesus); tons of last minute teaching by Jesus on everything from heaven to the Holy Spirit to abiding in the vine to persecution to what was about to happen; the prediction of the denial of all of the disciples on this night; a prayer vigil in the garden; and the betrayal by Judas Iscariot. I am thankful that today, with so much to ponder, I'm able to spend the bulk of it at home, being quiet.

Another head scratcher

Just a quick comment...I'm not sure what bothers me more...the recently revealed sermons of Obama's pastor or Obama's speech today disavowing said pastor. To continue going to TUCC for twenty years while patently disagreeing with the teaching/politics of his pastor (and in the black church, there's not much difference between the two) is puzzling. To be aligned with a church implies agreement with the positions of the church. To, for the sake of damage control, suddenly have a change of heart and turn your back on your church is, in my mind anyway, almost as troubling as the rhetoric that came from it in the first place. Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long for this "revelation" to hit the media. The first time I saw TUCC's website before Obama announced his candidacy, it made me a little nervous. A church with a nationalist agenda (no matter what color you are) does not strike me as the place I'd want my president to attend. I'd hope he'd have the best for all Americans at heart, rather than his top priority being the advancement of Africa.