Remembering Mom

I'm watching the NCAA tournament as I'm preparing to write this (St. Mary's upsets Villanova & busts my bracket!) I realize that my mother could have cared less about basketball. Unless my brother was playing – then it was the most important game in town.

Sunday is the 5^th anniversary of her death from kidney cancer. Her tumor was found in early 2004. She had a kidney removed in April, and then the cancer showed up in her liver in November. She was gone the following March.

We had a pretty typical mother/daughter relationship. Love, hate, & all those other lovely messy emotions in between. She was my best friend and, quite simply, the center of our family's universe. Even after Dr. M & I married we merely orbited around the sun that was her. Her death sent all of us reeling, trying to find something to grab hold of. I think we've settled back down again, five years later. But there's a loss there. There always will be.

4th grade - one of the first of many perms in her life!

Vamping it up

High School Prom

I think she looks very Jackie O in this picture. That's me & my little brother with her.

Reading Good Housekeeping magazine - there was always an issue in our house!

This is "The Look." She hated getting her picture made (get over it Mom!). This one makes me cry every time I see it because it's just her. That look is my mother.

Here we are on a cruise just before she was diagnosed. She was a nut.

A memorial birdbath at my dad's house.

Jeanine Wallace

June 19, 1942 - March 21, 2005

Love you Mom

Project 365 – Week Twelve

Wow, what a difference a week makes! When we left Ohio to head south on the 6^th there was snow on the ground. When we came back last Sunday it was all gone and the grass was green! We've still had cold mornings, but the weather has been so nice that I almost believe that it's really spring. Once again I find myself apologizing for the pictures. I was playing around with my Corel Photo Album program & went just a tad completely crazy. Fun with frames! I would like to promise to control myself in future, but it's just not truthful to make such a promise.

Sunday, March 14^th
We drove back from NC on Sunday. This is a picture of the flooding in the Kanawa River Valley in West Virginia. I think these folks are used to it, but it was pretty scary to me!

  

Monday, March 15^th
Monday I decided at the last minute to participate in Willow's Magpie Tales meme because the photo prompt reminded me of a poem I wrote in college. So that necessitated a dive into my old poetry journal. I really should transcribe all of these before the journal falls apart!

Tuesday, March 16^th
Dr. M got the mower out today to make sure it will crank. Hard to believe that we'll need to start mowing in the near future. I'm excited because I should be able to help a little more this year.

While we were out getting a picture of the mower I decided that the sky needed a shout out too!

Wednesday, March 17^th
So I wore green for St. Patrick's Day, but did I get a photo of the green? No. It was late in the day & the only thing I could think about was eating pierogies for dinner. So that's what I took a picture of. Eating potatoes is Irish – right?

Thursday, March 18^th
I wore my "tall girl shoes" on Thursday. My mom bought me these shoes years ago & I think they're the cutest things, but a) I don't really do very well in shoes with heels (Klutz, Party of 1 – that's me) and b) oh the pain in the balls of my feet after wearing them all day! So Thursday night I bagged them up to give them to my friend A. And I took pictures to commemorate them.

  

Friday, March 19^th
Signs of spring – the Good Humor ice cream truck, and The Bug finally pulling the penguin luminaries up.

Saturday, March 20^th
Today I decided to roam about the yard looking for signs of new growth. Our spring shoots are more modest than the ones we saw in NC last week, but they're there!

Go here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants.

For the Birds

Warning - this post has a lot of pictures!

If you are a bird, you could find no better neighborhood than my father's yard. He and Amy work hard to make everyone welcome. There are a wide variety of accommodations. For example, here is a lovely arts & crafts style home.

Or, if you prefer, a couple of more rustic abodes (although the top one may already have a resident - see the small bird at the top of the picture).

Here are some other examples - just look at the fun artwork on the one on the top!

You could just do it yourself (there's a nest in there somewhere!)

Or choose this fixer-upper. Yes, it's upside down. I don't know why.

If you're feeling really adventurous you could choose to live in the bat neighborhood!

Of  course, one of the first things you check out in a new neighborhood are the eating & entertainment options. Below are examples of the restaurants and pools in the area.

An Open Letter to the Virginia DOT

Dear Virginia Department of Transportation:

I was merrily barreling my way north on I-71 (with my sweetie riding shotgun – a witness, if you will) and noted that there were men in orange vests with shovels by the right side of the road. I was in the middle lane. As I approached the little band of workers, one of them dipped his shovel into a bucket, and during a lull in traffic, took the contents of the shovel blade & flung it at a pothole in the right lane. You may find this hard to believe, the (What? Gravel?) did not actually make it to the pothole. The (What? Sediment?) scattered across the pavement like marbles hit by an aggie (another marble - not a Texas athlete).

In future you might want to consider a more efficient way of filling potholes. Perhaps employing a few of the orange barrels in your possession. Just an idea.

Sincerely,


The Bug


Dear Virginia DOT,


I, the undersigned, did witness the above described action on March 14, this annum, and do attest to the veracity of the above statement. I further make additional comment for the VA-DOT's consideration. While one commends the VA-DOT for its efforts to fill the myriad potholes left by the ravages of an unusually harsh winter, flinging by shovel some Asphalt concoction in the above mentioned pothole's general direction during lulls in traffic MIGHT not be the most effective means by which to repair said pothole. 

Sincerely,




Dr. M

This picture has nothing to do with the above-matter - but we took it while travelling through Virginia on the very day that the incident occurred.

Magpie Tales - Week Five

I've decided to join Willow's Magpie Tales for today. Each week she posts a prompt around which a tale should be formed. Click the link above to see other offerings.

This week's prompt reminded me of a poem I wrote my senior year in college (December 2, 1985, to be exact!). I'm annoyed with myself that I have to add this caveat - but I don't want to alarm family members: I'm uncomfortable with the subject matter because politically I'm pro-choice, but on a personal level I'm glad I never had to make the choice. What I apparently did not have a choice about was writing the poem!

Ironic Trust

I saw it again tonight.

The look, trust eyes

doewide

dark & deep with love.

I shut the door

and looked, surprised,

at four red crescents

in my hand.

The match makes

glowarcs in the black

before it finally finds

the wick.

A pale half moon

wavers in the mirror

shining wetly.

When the candle

is just cold wax

and burnt cloth

I sit in the alone

and watch the dark

and contemplate the look.

I have never seen the eyes

but when I close mine

they are there

shining love.

And so I stare

wide-blankly

and feel the

great empty

cavern

of my womb.

Project 365 - Week Eleven

We left on our trip Saturday March 6^th & returned on Sunday March 14^th. While we were gone we took over 600 pictures! It took quite some doing to choose a handful of representative pictures from the trip. There are more than usual on a couple of days, but you know what – you guys are just going to have to suffer through it! It was too hard to decide! Later I'll do some follow-up posts to highlight specific aspects of the trip. I apologize – I'm not going to edit the pictures this week, so they'll be fairly large.

Sunday, March 7^th
We stayed at my dad's house until we headed for Charleston, SC on Wednesday. Sunday was spent in church matters (I went to church & didn't even feel compelled to throw the hymnal at the pastor! I consider that quite a victory.). Later in the day we realized that we hadn't taken any "Project 365 worthy" pictures. So I made Daddy & Amy pose for us. We got them this flag last year. My dad is an NC State fan & Amy is a University of North Carolina fan. In North Carolina this is almost like the division between the Rebels & the Yankees. Serious business. So we thought the flag was appropriate. They're crying over it because their basketball teams were not very good this year. Carolina is usually a top seed, but this year won't even make the tournament. State is usually not very good, so not that surprising – except that they did well in the ACC tournament. They probably still won't play any further this year. Now I'm free to pull for teams based on their colors/mascots/whether I like the coach. Go March Madness!

Monday, March 8^th
Dr. M did what he does best on Monday – taking pictures of sheep! I like this one because the landscape is pretty representative of where we both grew up in North Carolina. I'm amused that they sheared the sheep - & then some of them apparently required blankets! That would be me – naked sheep with a blanket on. Then I'd have to throw it off in the middle of the night. Oh, wait, that's a whole other topic altogether.

Tuesday, March 9^th
I took a ton of pictures on Tuesday in addition to the ones that Dr. M took. I posted some flower pictures last Monday. I'll save the others for another post. For now, just enjoy this crafty birdhouse.

Wednesday, March 10^th
When we were leaving Daddy & Amy's house on Wednesday they were getting ready to go out with their singing group to sing some, guess what? St. Patrick's Day songs! Too bad we don't have a video of this group singing – I have a feeling they're a hoot. P.S. My father is growing a beard for his part as a person in the crowd in their Easter extravaganza. I vote for him to shave it afterward. What do you think?

Here is a picture from Charleston – more flowers!!

Thursday, March 11^th
Poor Dr. M! This was the day he read his paper at the conference (you do know that this was a working vacation, right), & it was POURING rain all day. He had to walk further than he expected so he was soaked. I stayed in the hotel the whole day. I would look out at the rain & think, "Hmm. Shopping? Or book?" It really wasn't a contest – the book won (a Lawrence Block). Here is a picture Dr. M took on his way to the conference. Lovely & drenched.

Friday, March 12^th
On Friday we took the ferry out to Fort Sumter. Don't tell Dr. M, but I didn't really realize that Sumter was on an island (a man-made one at that!). I thought it was on the end of the peninsula. So I was a bit surprised to have to take a ferry. I'm about a Grade C historian's wife. Heh. It was a misty day – and as we were leaving the fort the fog was setting in.

After Sumter we went to Fort Moultrie. I enjoyed that fort a lot - & was wishing I had more energy left to explore it. If we make it back to Charleston I'd make this a must-see.

Saturday, March 13^th
On Saturday, before heading back to my dad's house, we took a shuttle bus tour to see what we'd missed. The tour was awesome - we loved our tour guide! After the tour was over we went back to buy one of the sweet grass baskets we'd seen.

Go here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants.