To the Love of My Life

I am a truly lucky girl. For the past ten years, I have been married to a man that I still refer to as, 'The Love of My Life.' How else do you refer to a man that is your friend, your rock, your sounding board? Someone who loves you, confronts you, listens to you and supports you. Someone who weathers the good times and the bad. Someone who encourages you to grow and achieve.

Every year I buy him a card, attempting to put into words what he means to me. And, every year, I miserably fall short of the mark.

So, DJ, the words may be meager, but they come from the heart. The day I met you, God bestowed upon me one of his greatest blessing. I love you. It may not be evident every second of every day, but I love growing and growing older with you. And I plan to do it for many, many more decades.

Christa's Hen House . . . .

Which chick would you like to speak to?

The above picture is a small clutch of my hens 'n chicks. Yes, this is the original image to the warholized print from Wordless Wednesday. Located in a pot on our front porch, these hens 'n chicks are my kind of plant. They flourish with inattention and bearing the brunt of Mother Nature's PMS.

You think I'm kidding? Two or three years ago I almost killed off the whole pot by watering, talking to them, loving on them and wailing when they started to die. Then my husband mention a rather novel plant growing concept, "Leave it alone." Hmmmm . . . . I wonder what would happen . . . . .

Well, three years later, the pot is overflowing with little chick off-spring that are just begging for their own hen house. Since they don't ask for much, I indulged and promised a shiny new coup once we get to our new place.

Note: At this point in the blog, I could bore you with analyzing the philosophical aspect of the quote that saved my flock. But, alas, I think I'll leave it alone for the reader to ponder.

Wordless Wednesday

Anyone wanna harbor a guess about the original image used in this 'warholized' print?

Need a hint? Think fowl . . . .

I want to ride my bicycle

Y'all know the song . . .

"I want to ride my bicycle . . .
I want to ride my bike . . . . "

And if you don't know the song, just enjoy the pictures from our Memorial Day bike ride on the upper Perkiomen Trail.

How did you celebrate Memorial Day?

We celebrated it with a bike ride. Fun in the sun (with SPF 45, of course), a grueling, challenging hill climb and some great scenery along the way. To me, the sight of this country barn was a reminder of what Memorial Day is about.

So, here is a prayer of thanks for the plethora of men and women who have so selflessly given up their lives so I may enjoy mine . . . freedom, bike rid, BBQ and all.

Push and Pull

This afternoon, the husband and I headed down to Manayunk, one of Philadelphia's quirky neighborhoods. We were out window shopping and enjoying the good weather when we came across the sign above. It reminded me of a conversation I had with my Mother earlier in the day. She has a friend who has breast cancer. The diagnosis came last Wednesday, the same night that they were supposed to go to an outdoor concert. Needless to say, the friend was in a funk after getting 'the call' and had contacted Mother with the idea of cancelling. Mother wouldn't have that. So, at the end of a rather good concert, the friend turned to her and said, "Thanks. I needed the push or else I would have stayed at home and in a funk all night."

Telling words. When you think about it, life is full of pushing and pulling. I'm not thinking of the bad kind of pushing and pulling; the kind that is more akin to fighting and can quickly suck the life out of you. No. I'm thinking of pushing and pulling from a different perspective. It could be as simple as pushing ourselves for personal growth and achievement or pulling our friends and loved ones through their difficult journeys. Often times, pushing and pulling actions like these leave us feeling useful, nurtured or nurturing. They might leave us tired, but, in a funny way, content.

So, I guess my point is that life can be viewed as a series of pushing and pulling activities. Just push and pull wisely.

What is hidden inside?

What chu lookin' at?

This picture (taken in Kauai December 2007), gives you a visual about how I felt yesterday. Aggitated, on-guard and insecure. No, don't ask me why . . . I'm just content with the knowledge that I could identify what I felt.

I feel suspended between two worlds. That's OK. It is the difficulty with being present in the here and now (just gonna refer to it as HAN for short) that I take issue with. I find myself rushing from chore to chore, checking off my 'to do' list, constantly updating the mental list with the next twenty things. Lists are good. Lists are how things get done in our house. But, it should not be at the expense of 'living' in the HAN.

I find myself stepping back and taking inventory of my five senses. What do I see? What do I tactically feel? What do I smell? This small exercise helps bring me back to the now. Helps me enjoy where I am at this moment.

Yes, anticipating the next event(s) in life is good, but being present and experiencing the HAN is what makes life memorable. Please take a moment to give thanks and enjoy your HAN (wherever it may be).

Chaos and Calm

I got boxes and packing material all over my house. Half of what should be in drawers and cabinets are on counters and table tops. Looking at the chaos has led my husband to experience an all time high anxiety level. The Zen-Serenity candle I got him doesn't seem to be doing the job. Too bad it didn't come with a money back guarantee . . . .

And, through this entire chaotic process, there is one little furry bundle of calm.

Without dwelling on this too much, I do worry about the toll this move will take on my furry baby and my family. How do I continue to be a good Mommy and a good wife during this move? The best answer I can come up with is communication and honesty. . . . . but, at this time, I happily solicit advice from those who have it to offer.

How much for a tank of gas?

I'm here . . . really! I was in PA, I was in VA, I was in NC (for the home inspection), back to VA and (finally) back to PA. All in a matter of days. The amount of money I have spent on gas over the past six days could have funded my brilliant niece's freshman year of college tuition . . . . . in 2023.

Oh yeah! Did I mention my 'baby,' Bree (my car-a 2004 BMW 530i), requires WTF grade of gas? My 'new house decorating' budget (which was not extravagant to begin with) has turned into the 'feed the baby' budget. I swear, if this keeps up (no pun intended), I'm gonna garage the 'baby' in New Bern and start riding my bike to the grocery store, the mall, CVS and the farmers' market!

Oh! And don't even get me started about the price of groceries! My God! It would be cheaper to buy the proverbial farm than drive to the farmers' market and buy the damn salad fixin's!

You ask, I (try to) answer

"Where exactly is New Bern, North Carolina?"

This is the most popular question from my from geography-challenged friends. Well, don't fear lucky reader and friend! My husband found the wonderful picture above that gives you a better idea about the location of our new town home!

"When are you expecting to move?"

Second most popular question. For those of you who have previous experience moving, you know that trying to pin this down is like trying to medicate a greased pig (don't ask for a picture of that-I don't have one). Our 'plan' is to have the movers come and pack us up on Monday, June 16th. Of course, that is today's best guess and is subject to change with little notification and enormous amounts of anxiety (just kidding, I think).

"Have you sold your place?"

A popular question from our money-conscious friends and neighbors. The (unfortunate) answer to this question is, no. Bummer. Y'all know anyone who is wanting to buy an immaculate, move-in condition town home? Send 'em our way!

Frustrated Southerner no more?!?!

Not sure what you're looking at? It's our new residence! Yes! We had a moment of insanity (actually entire weeks worth of insanity), threw caution to the wind, followed our hearts and were led to this town home in the colonial capital of North Carolina . . . New Bern.

Yup, after eight years north of the Mason-Dixon line, we are moving down to North Carolina. New Bern, NC is located about two and a half hours east of Raleigh, 45 minutes from Jacksonville and 45 minutes from Greenville (home of East Carolina University). On the Inner Banks, New Bern was recently recognized by Coastal Living Magazine as one of the places to live if you wanted to live on the coast. In fact, the authors of the Coastal Living article commented that New Bern is a smaller version of Williamsburg, VA. Hmmm . . . . Did I mention that I grew up part time in Williamsburg?

Intersected by the Neuse and Trent Rivers, New Bern has water all over the place! The bottom picture was taken from the back deck of the town home. It looks out onto a canal that leads to the Trent River. Oh! Did I mention we have our own boat dock? There is even a step down platform almost at water level for your canoe and/or kayak. If you were to go out to the Trent River, hang a left, a mile or so down you would T intersect with the Neuse River. Take a right onto the Neuse and you'd be headed down to Oriental and the Intracoastal waterway.

Some of you might be familiar with New Bern. Besides being picturesque and surrounded by water, it is just up the road from Havelock, home of the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station and Croatan National Forest.

Oh geez. I'm excited, nervous, scared, cautiously optimistic and a whole bunch more human emotions that I'll not bore you to tears by listing.

More to come later!

Peak-A-Boo

OK, OK, OK. Many of y'all want to know why I haven't updated the blog over the weekend. Well, that's because we still don't have any announcement to make. Maybe later today or tomorrow. In the meantime, take a look at my husband's newest friend.