on my desk

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t

Let us not love in word or speech but in deed and truth.

1 John 3:18

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Milestones on the path

My daughter will be 30 in a few days.

I spent the weekend preparing for a party to celebrate.

 Last year she graduated Summa Cum Laude from UMass Lowel.

This year she turns 30.

Next year she will have a masters in psychology.

All of the hard work she has put into her life is paying off.

It's absolutely freezing here...our heat has been kicking on all day.

So I'm glad I didn't plan a cookout. 

I'll be making my famous chicken salad

with grapes, lemons and parsley.

I'll also be making two pasta salads.

THIS one and THIS one.

I couldn't decide which one looked better.

I'll round things off with a tossed green salad

and my mother will be bringing some appetizers and the cake. 

I'll have a lot of prep work to do

but I'll be able to enjoy my family while they are all here. 

I have a bunch of old Scrabble tiles that I set up in her honor on a table in the dining room. 

I left plenty of extra letters for folks to add their own words. 

It's strange how we plan out their lives when they are little.

And then they grow up and become people we never could have imagined. 

They surprise us with who they are...who they become. 

My mother used to buy me pink shirts because 

she remembered how much I liked pink.

But I was four then and I don't like it nearly as much as I used to.

I'm not sure if it is possible to truly know your grown children for who they are

because who they are to us gets in the way.

So we have to let go of the little girls who only wore pink shirts

...we pack them away with our other memories...

they mean more to us than they do to our grown children

who, in truth, hardly remember their pink shirt days. 

Happy Birthday my beautiful 

Hannah-banana

Hanny-bannany

Beep-beep

beautiful, brave, brillaint, blue-eyed

daughter of mine.

Prone to wander

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t

Yet when you seek the Lord, your God, from there, 

you shall indeed find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul. 

In your distress, when all these things shall have come upon you, 

you shall finally return to the Lord, your God, and listen to his voice.

Since the Lord, your God, is a merciful God,

he will not abandon or destroy you, 

nor forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them. 

Deuteronomy 4:29-31

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Oh was it ever Friday

My sister and law and twin nieces came to visit on Saturday.

They live about 4 hours away but had a rowing tournament nearby.

 It was great fun for the boys to get together with their cousins.

They don't get to see one another very often. 

And, it was wonderful to visit with my husband's sister as well.

I really like her and wish we lived closer.

I had to go to Target to pick up a few things and I just happened

to see this sweet little rug on clearance. 

It fits perfectly under the new kitchen table.

I noticed that they had a selection of things from

Chip and Joanna Gaines new line of home goods.

I picked up a sweet little tray for the table

and a set of salt and pepper shakers.

~

Red geraniums remind me of my old landlord.

He was a cantankerous old man with a good heart.

He loved red geraniums and would buy a flat of them every year

and then he would call me...

"Kara, I've got the geraniums for you to plant..."

And I would get to work planting them under the trees in the side yard

while he sat in the chair enjoying the summer air.

He passed away a few years back but I buy red geraniums every year

in his honor.

~

It was a beautiful day on Sunday.

We went to the wharf for the first time of the season.

Joey spun around on the rope planning his summer jumping..

The water is still too cold for swimming yet though.

When I was visiting my grandson we walked through the grass in the backyard.

He bent his little 19 month old self down and said "dandelion"

as he pointed to the yellow flower.

So cute.

in the pink

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Spring has finally arrived

It's still rather chilly in the mornings but the 

trees are pink and chartreuse.

We are able to walk the island without a jacket

and all seems hopeful once again.

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the visit

The weekend found us full of family.

Saturday night we pulled the leaves out on the table.

We all sat 'round it and had a delicious spaghetti supper!

We even had birthday cake and ice-cream for dessert.

Cousins curled up on the couch and laughing with each other.

Aunts and Uncles sat at the table long after

the meal was finished and the sun had set down.

In the morning, I put out a bowl full of yogurt, some granola,

fresh berries, and home baked blueberry muffins.

Oh...and lots of hot coffee.

We ate as we woke and dressed and ran to brush our teeth.

And then it was time for them all to go...

I took the leaves out of the table and put the kitchen back to rights.

I put away the stacks of folded blankets.


In my head and in my heart I plan the next visit...not so far away next time.

BE THEE INSPIRED