Swinger of Birches

julie evans, party of one

2010-09-19T11:33:00.000-04:00

julie being julie. 'nuff said.

we share dna, too

2010-09-19T11:30:00.000-04:00

beloved family members at my great-aunt helen's 80th birthday. she is truly still a knock-out.

they share my dna

2010-09-19T11:25:00.002-04:00

good grief.

belated slideshow from ian's birthday

2010-09-15T18:16:00.002-04:00

at scioto trails...

"the art of being happy..."

2010-09-05T11:24:00.001-04:00

"...lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things." - henry ward beecher

marigolds remind me of my beautiful and loving grandmother, vonberta. spending sundays at her home is one of my sweetest childhood memories.

my adorable goofballs

2010-09-05T11:05:00.001-04:00

on the first day of school...

reds game

2010-08-11T09:53:00.008-04:00

$1 hot dogs and a 1st inning brawl for ian's 10th birthday! it doesn't get any better than that!!!

apologies

2010-07-01T20:53:00.001-04:00

to my friends and family out there who've been feeling neglected...

my dear husband, my sister julie, and my doc will testify to the fact that i've been in quite a funk for the past few weeks. yes, your phone calls and emails have gone unreturned. and no, i'm not proud of that. there have been times recently when i haven't had the energy to dial the phone, let alone engage in conversation. and here's the deal, i would have engaged in phony, happy conversation with you, and you would have never known that i've felt more hopeless lately than i have since my initial diagnosis in 1997. it's the pretending that gets me...

pretending is so exhausting.

pretending that i'm okay. right now, i'm not okay. but maybe, i'm getting better.

i finally saw my wonderful doc yesterday, who is so patient and understanding and reassuring with me. no, i'm not f ' ed up. yes, i have a brain disease. no, i'm not going crazy. yes, it feels like it. when you're in the fog, you only see the fog. you don't realize there's a bright sun and beautiful blue sky out there. you try to take people on faith, that everything will work out...but when everything around you is clouded and skewed, you begin to doubt yourself...your sanity...and the fear becomes all-consuming.

if i could only describe that fear for you...

i prayed for my doctor all day yesterday before my appointment, asking God to give him wisdom and the right words to say. we have changed my medication, effective immediately. i had been on lexapro since 2002. doc said maybe it was time to shake things up a bit, just in case the lexapro had pooped out. i agreed. (if you could all throw up a little prayer for me and my new drug regimen, i would appreciate it.)

the fear that comes with this disease causes me to doubt my worthiness of god's love and mercy. in times like these, i find that, like the tax collector in Luke 18:13, i am unable to look to heaven, but instead continually pray, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

and i cry in comforted thanksgiving at this piece from brennan manning that i posted a few months ago...

why i love peggy

2010-06-28T21:25:00.000-04:00

god is so ridiculously amazing...

peggy doesn't realize this, but her calls to me always come at the right time, which, as it turns out, is actually all about HIS timing.

i was just sharing with her that i may have to change my meds...that things have been "off" for three weeks. her response:

"okay, this is fixable. we can fix this. no problem."

and i told her i love her for that.

'cause i do.

holden beach 2010

2010-06-25T10:50:00.002-04:00

this never gets old

2010-06-06T19:31:00.000-04:00

ian playing ball yesterday.

is there anything better than watching your child enjoy himself so completely?

"home is not where you live, but where they understand you." - christian morganstern

2010-06-04T21:07:00.002-04:00

i love these people.

they are indeed my home away from home.

happy national doughnut day, y'all!

2010-06-04T10:09:00.005-04:00

i don't know...

2010-05-18T17:23:00.004-04:00

maybe hope isn't such a good thing after all.

the best thing about spring

2010-05-17T19:14:00.000-04:00

(thanks, danielle, for the photos!)

may is national mental health month

2010-05-10T19:07:00.001-04:00

the following is a great clip from the documentary "no kidding, me too", with dr. chris stewart describing the ridiculous relationship between insurance companies and those seeking to help individuals with brain disease.

too much fun

2010-05-08T15:08:00.001-04:00

8th grade dance last night.

rockin' music + beautiful kids + wonderful friends = a ridiculously fantastic time

an open letter to joe pantoliano

2010-05-03T18:04:00.004-04:00

dear joey,

thank you for your documentary.

love,
jodi

p.s. wanna grab a coffee sometime and chat?

in his father's footsteps

2010-04-27T12:29:00.041-04:00

"We can perhaps remember - even if only for a time - that those who live with us are our brothers; that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek - as we do - nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness." - Robert F. Kennedy, 1966

robert kennedy fought for the poor and disenfranchised, the dispossessed and powerless. his son, robert f. kennedy, jr. continues the fight. the younger kennedy's words near the end of the speech below (at the premiere of the "no kidding, me too!" documentary) are eerily reminscent of his father's:

"america is a place where we're supposed to build communities. we’re not going to be judged so much based upon the wealth of our citizens or the size of our armies or the throw-weight of our weapons or the power of our industries, but how we care for the least fortunate members in our society, how strongly and robustly we fight to include all the members of our community, no matter what their disability, and how strongly we avoid the seduction of the notion that we can advance ourselves as a people by leaving our poor brothers and sisters behind. we have to go forward as a community and we have to include the people who are the most vulnerable, the most alienated, in the most pain and agony. our response to that in the past has just been to add on cruelty. and joey’s [pantoliano] up there saying we can’t live that way anymore. that it’s bad not only for the people who suffer this disease but it’s bad for all of us to live in a society that condones that."

how beautifully put.

(mr. kennedy's reference to "joey" is joe pantoliano, mental health advocate and founder of "no kiddding, me too." also, mr. kennedy suffers from the neurological disorder spasmodic dysphonia, which makes speech difficult.)

dum ego anhelo, spero (latin proverb)

2010-04-18T21:59:00.000-04:00

no kidding, me too

2010-04-16T21:20:00.001-04:00

love, love, love this new public service announcement from joe pantoliano's organization, "no kidding, me too!". hopefully, joey's documentary on mental illness will air in may on pbs. until then, click here to watch some terrific video excerpts from the documentary and from NKM2 events.

they make every day happy!

2010-04-10T12:02:00.000-04:00

my kids threw me a surprise birthday party on april 1. you can see why i'm the luckiest girl in the world.

me and my shadow

2010-04-10T11:59:00.001-04:00

meet the wonderfully adorable molly. not technically one of "my kids", i claim her anyways. she is sweet and hard-working and has the most sincere desire to do the right thing. i hope kate and ian grow up to be just like her.

molly stands just under five feet tall ~ she laughs all the time about her feet not touching the floor when she sits in the student desks. (honestly, they dangle!) when i first saw molly's elmo and cookie monster shirts, i asked her if she would mind if i bought matching ones. she was totally up for it. so now, we periodically sync our wardrobes and are twins for the day.

molly typifies why i love my job. there are soooo many terrific kids out there flying under the radar! they are indeed a daily blessing.

the birth of bleeding hearts

2010-04-07T20:21:00.002-04:00

"give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where i can walk undisturbed.” - walt whitman

photo no. 382

2010-04-07T19:38:00.001-04:00

kate's favorite thing in life is taking pictures of herself. you have no idea how many hundreds of digital shots i have deleted that look exactly like the one below.

my students at school are the same way. (what amazes me is just how talented these kids are at holding the camera at arm's length and actually snapping a photo with their face in the frame.)

my ornery daughter has been chastised repeatedly for taking so many photos of herself, but lo and behold, she keeps inventing new facial expressions that need to be pixelated. oh, and here's the kicker with kate ~ if i told her tomorrow that we were going to have portraits taken, she'd throw the biggest fit. "mom! (whiny voice). do i have to?! (more whining)." i can't win.

but on the flip side, she is pretty darn cute.

in response to a dream

2010-03-22T20:07:00.001-04:00

last friday night, i had an incredibly vivid dream about fr. mychal judge: i was in new york city, visiting a pub that father judge frequented. i remember seeing nuns sitting in booths at the pub. then, i found myself walking down a crowded city block to fr. judge's home. many other visitors were there, looking at his personal items, reading, talking, and hugging. i started sobbing. and then i was awake.

i have absolutely no idea why i was dreaming about fr. judge. many of you know how much i admire his compassion, especially towards those he saw as disenfranchised. (by the way, if you have not seen the documentary on judge's life, "saint of 9/11", please feel free to borrow it from me.) at any rate, when i woke up saturday morning, i felt compelled to google fr. judge's church, st. francis of assisi in manhattan. while researching their programs, i found the breadline for the poor, a ministry of the franciscan friars there since 1929.

i'm not sure if this was the reason for my dream, but...in the right-hand column of my blog, i have posted a photo of st. francis of assisi church with a link to the breadline, if you are interested in making a donation. for more information, please click on any of the links i've provided.

more one-hit wonders

2010-03-19T19:49:00.001-04:00

according to feedjit, people from various places around the world have arrived at my blog by typing the following into search engines:

bathroom swinger (Mexico)
snow and fun swinger (Sweden)
swingers daddy blogspot video (Poland)
my parents took me to a swingers party (United Kingdom)
100 ways you know you’re a swinger (Connecticut)

okay. so swinging is pretty popular, i'm guessing. one of my darling co-workers, who shall remain nameless, didn't know what a "swinger" was...or what couples who "swing" actually do. we explained it to her at lunch.

oh.

of course, "swinger of birches" comes from robert frost's beautiful poem birches. which i love. little did robert or i realize that utilizing the term "swinger" in writing would elict illicit searches. (elicit illicit...impressive, eh? hee, hee, hee.)

here are a few more hits that i thought were rather interesting:

team name panties (Arizona)
how to judge corn (South Dakota)
football player bathroom (Thailand)

not sure what the individual from arizona is searching for or how my blog could be of any assistance with that one.

jules, i thought you and the folks down at the extension office would appreciate the hit from south dakota.

and phyllis, that my parents took me to a swingers party has a children's services referral written all over it, wouldn't you say? :)

abby

2010-03-15T20:41:00.001-04:00

yesterday, dan and laura sweetly invited us to abby's first birthday party. abby's my girl. there. i said it. she's mine. i will only share her with her parents. that's it. the rest of y'all are just out of luck.

dan and laura are wondefully kind and generous and fun. i'm so honored they asked us to share in abby's special day.

look at her. she's just so ridiculously adorable...

big rog's birthday

2010-03-15T17:48:00.000-04:00

nothin' says lovin' like the cincinnati reds, baby.

muy delicioso

2010-03-11T19:39:00.001-05:00

a big thank-you to my sister jill for emailing me this clip. taye diggs, john krasinski, and patrick dempsey...oh my. next time, jimmy needs to have chairs available for hugh jackman and george clooney.

enjoy.

why i love joey

2010-03-08T19:50:00.002-05:00

"i wanna love people"

2010-03-01T18:31:00.002-05:00

i just wrapped up a six-week unit in my reading class on the civil rights movement. my students analyzed primary sources and informational texts, and then completed an in-depth analysis of martin luther king, jr.'s "i have a dream" speech. my dear coworker, suzanne, and i have been amazed at the children's responses to our discussions on discrimination and brutality, segregation and justice, nonviolence and perseverence. we kept having those teaching moments where we looked at each other, our eyes wide, thinking, "oh my gosh. they get it. they MORE than get it."

i concluded our unit with this video (which many of you probably saw last year when the event occurred). in it, john lewis, now a congressman from georgia and a former leader of the sncc, has an emotional reunion with elwin wilson, a former kkk member. the discussion it gave birth to in our classroom was beautiful. i hope you find the video beautiful as well.

there's one in every family

2010-02-14T17:09:00.005-05:00

you know what i mean...the wild one. the spontaneous one. the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-throw-caution-to-the-wind-and-go-nuts one. this is my aunt kim, my dad's youngest sister. she is crazy ~ in a good way. how in the world she and my father came from the same parents is a complete mystery. my dad is uptight in a very structured, OCD, and worrisome way. kim is none of those things. absolutely none of them. julie, jill, and i inherited our infectious giggling from her. the same giggling that sends my father into a tizzy. kim also took julie and me to our first college party at OU. of course, we were eleven at the time. and kim had to explain that the funny smell we noticed was something called "pot". and that excessive drinking was probably the reason why there was vomit in the elevator.

so yesterday, kim and my cousin jenna came down from columbus to visit, and we went sledding because you know, it's just what we do here in southern ohio now because it snows every stinkin' day, and what the heck, there's another winter storm warning out now that's calling for 50 feet of snow and i'll be remembering y'all in july while i'm still teaching and you are enjoying your vacations at the beach...arghhh!!!!

but i digress...

i took some funny videos of kim yesterday as she was...just being kim. for some reason, she could only sled down the hill with her legs sticking straight out in front of her. it was the darndest thing. you can click here to see more.

and here she is with my beautiful boy, ian.

you all should also know that kim has been a neo-natal icu nurse for 25 years at columbus children's hospital, loving babies and their families as they face disability and uncertainty and often-times, death. so perhaps, kim's personality is actually rather balanced out. perhaps it is her choice to grab life by the horns and enjoy every moment that allows her to be the voice of compassion and calm in dire circumstances. perhaps...she's not that crazy after all.

for my uncle jake

2010-02-07T21:48:00.001-05:00

...who is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. just ask his adoring nephews...

for my aunt vickie

2010-02-07T21:08:00.004-05:00

fiddle - farting around

2010-02-06T13:04:00.003-05:00

this post title refers to one of my dad's favorite expressions when we were growing up. he would tell us to quit fiddle-farting around when we were goofing off, stalling to get out of work, or simply not doing what he wanted us to do. using it now as an adult, and thinking about it...it really is a WEIRD thing to say, eh?

but alas, i am indeed fiddle-farting. i should be working on an IEP, but instead, i am posting stuff on my blog. so, here we go...

okay, these pics are just WRONG in so many ways, but they are also HILARIOUS. (and in case you can't tell, those are ian's little chicken legs poking out from underneath juj and taylor.)

here is a photo of my little miss thang (kate). and yes, the title "little miss thang" is wildly appropriate for her.

kate took these dizzying photos of ian shooting nerf basketball in our living room.

and lastly, i took this picture this morning by cranking open my bathroom window and leaning outside...

"did they turn the oxygen off in here?"

2010-02-06T12:27:00.001-05:00

actual question posed by a student to my dear co-workers (suzanne and melinda) during a reading class last thursday. apparently, he was feeling a bit drowsy...

music picks from the past few weeks

2010-02-01T19:59:00.001-05:00

lots of great performances at the grammy's last night. my favorite was this one by the dave matthews band. simple. not a flashy production number. no ridiculously costumed dancers. just dave. and musicians. and back-up singers. it made me happy. (i love the lyrics too.)

jules texted me when this performance by mary j. blige was taking place at the "hope for haiti" telethon. she was blown away and insisted i listen to it. i'm just now getting around to it. and yep. mary's got THE pipes.

i love, love, love jennifer hudson. her performance at the haiti telethon was exquisite.

okay, and now for some fun...here is will ferrell singing lead on lynard skynard's "freebird". with conan o'brien on the ax, ben harper, beck, and billy gibbons from zz top. this closed out conan's last episode.

Conan's 'Freebird' Farewell - These bloopers are hilarious

ian in 85 years

2010-01-20T17:51:00.000-05:00

ian had eggs and turkey bacon tonight for dinner. i think i've mentioned this before...but the kid LOVES turkey bacon. as in, there is NO other alternative for breakfast (or the occasional brinner). so anyways, him begging for eggs and turkey bacon this evening reminded me of this terrifically funny video clip from "grumpier old men." this is ian, 85 years from now...still eating his bacon, but hopefully NOT drinking his dinner.

(this video always makes me laugh out loud. i hope it makes you giggle, too.)

one - hit wonder

2010-01-18T21:14:00.002-05:00

i love looking at the feedjit link to see how people arrive at my blog. alot of europeans find me while looking for "swingers". (uh. no. that's a totally different website.)

at any rate, a texan found me on saturday after googling "birching panties".

hmmm. birching panties. birching panties.

i can't even venture a guess...

brennan manning

2010-01-17T20:05:00.002-05:00

i read brennan manning's the ragamuffin gospel several years ago. in fact, the title of my blog was initially "just a ragamuffin", because i so deeply identify myself as such. but it wasn't until last week that it ever occurred to me to look for manning on youtube...

there are a limited number of video clips with brennan manning, but i've posted one below that spoke to me... specifically at the 2:39 mark with the following...

[jesus] lovingly comes to your seat, and says, "I have a word for you. I know your whole life story. I know every skeleton in your closet. I know every moment of sin, shame, dishonesty and degraded love that has darkened your past. Right now, I know your shallow faith, your feeble prayer life, your inconsistent discipleship, and my word is this: I dare you to trust that I love you just as you are, and not as you should be, because you're never gonna be as you should be."

i recognize that manning's thoughts on faith result in polarization: people are either comforted by his words of Christ's mercy, grace, and love, or they believe that he (manning) simply "makes it too easy". as a perfectionist who tends to beat herself up for the simplest of missteps, i find myself an enthusiastic member of the first group.

so thanks, brennan.

i choose kindness. . . i will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. kind to the rich, for they are afraid. and kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me. - max lucado

2010-01-17T19:36:00.003-05:00

i was reminded this weekend, from more than one person, that no kind action ever stops with itself.

stuck

2010-01-09T21:02:00.000-05:00

my poor nephew, ben! the little fella had the toughest time walking back up the hill today after sledding down. i think everyone had to take turns dragging him back to the top...

Ben gets stuck... from Jodi Gillen on Vimeo.

twice in one week

2010-01-09T19:01:00.003-05:00

i took kate, ian, ben, and chloe sledding again today at my aunt vickie and uncle jake's house. vickie and jake are such troopers for letting us invade their home for the afternoon! the kids had a blast, of course.

(and yes, jake, they will alway remember coming to your house as children and spending this wonderful time with you and vickie. thank you for loving us the way that you both do.)

the science of snow days

2010-01-07T18:07:00.000-05:00

my most recent mathematical theorem:

"the number of inches of snow is directly proportional to my desire to eat for no reason which is then multiplied to the nth degree by the fact that I am dieting and should absolutely not be eating for recreational purposes."

mathematically, it looks like this:

s = d^n

in latin, it looks like this:

"numerus of inches of snow est directus congruens ut meus votum essum pro haud causa quod est tunc multiplicatus ut nth inhonestus per quod EGO sum dieting quod should absolutely non exsisto eating pro recreational voluntas."

or simply put:

"i just want to make homemade brownie batter and eat it right out of the bowl.”

first snow day of the decade

2010-01-05T19:56:00.003-05:00

one day back at school. then a snow day. arggghhhhh!

the girls and i at work were rejoicing yesterday at being back in our classrooms. no kidding! we were all happy to resume a routine. and, we all admitted, we understood the lyrics of a certain christmas carol which states, " and mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again." our own children were driving us crazy! sounds weird, eh? but man, when i saw my junior high boogers yesterday, I hugged them and told them how much i missed them. of course, they'll drive me a little bonkers eventually, but that's okay. i just love my job so stinkin' much.

so anyways...snow day. jill and i attempted to take the kids sledding this afternoon at vickie and jake's. there wasn't a ton of snow, but it was still slick. the wind chill was horrible, however! i don't think we lasted thirty minutes. of course the kids didn't mind the cold temperatures at all.

below is a video of my nephew ben (who looks like a masked auburn bandit) tangled up in the ropes of his sled while his giggly mother attempts to free him. if you would like to see more snow-day/sledding videos, click here.

stay warm, y'all.

Ben and Jill from Jodi Gillen on Vimeo.

starting the new year with a smile

2010-01-03T11:07:00.008-05:00

okay, i'm sure that many of you have seen these before, but while browsing the web yesterday, i came across these very well-intentioned gospel album covers...and proceeded to chuckle out loud. the album designers/promoters certainly had a penchant for utilizing individuals with disabilities. which i'm sure, was meant to be inspiring. but gee whiz. blind women? folks missing hands? little people? hmmm...

oh, and i have no idea if "joyce" is a gospel singer. her album cover just "spoke" to me, so i included it anyways. you go, joyce.

(p.s., no matter how many times i've played with the html, i can't get this crazy slide show to center on the page. perhaps god is punishing me for my sarcasm!!!)

let your heart be light

2009-12-25T18:20:00.001-05:00

have yourself a merry little christmas.
love,
jodi, leo, kate, and ian

heaven might smell this good

2009-12-23T21:06:00.001-05:00

125 pans of cinnamon rolls baked today. made from scratch. yum.

christmas cookies - 2009 edition

2009-12-21T21:47:00.001-05:00

"a day without laughter is a day wasted." - charlie chaplin

2009-12-21T21:25:00.000-05:00

my two lovely sisters. completely rotten, they are. while i...yes, i...the middle child, am a completely innocent and perfectly behaved little girl.

those are JILL'S own handprints on her chest. (lest you think that jim was helping us bake cookies today and became very frisky seeing jill in that auburn t-shirt and simply had to lay rightful claim to the ta-ta's that are already his.)

and this picture. oh my gosh. the quality of it is extraordinarily poor because i was absolutely laughing so hard i couldn't breathe. it still makes me snort out loud.

kate's profession

2009-12-13T21:10:00.001-05:00

i've already got it figured out...kate could be a writer (she LOVES to write!), a teacher (she's very philoprogenitive ~ do you know what that means?), or a photographer. she's got a great eye with the camera. no kidding. below is a picture she took today (at petland) of a turtle. i think it's terrific! (perhaps she taking after our wonderfully sweet neighbor erica!)

From gray's blog entry

snakes and snails and puppy dog tails . . .

2009-12-13T20:50:00.002-05:00

that's what grayson is made of.

grayson is my adopted nephew and adorably ornery son of my beautiful friend peggy. today, the kids and i went to grayson's birthday party at petland. hilarity ensued. and yes, kate and ian left wanting a puppy...a $1500 yorkie, to be exact. (uh, that ain't happenin'.)

oh, and i want to officially wish peg good luck in getting that green icing off grayson's face. (some icing fell on the floor at petland and actually left a stain!)

now taking requests

2009-12-06T19:18:00.002-05:00

i've had a couple of people tell me that they're enjoying my christmas music playlist, but that i need to add more songs. so, okay. you request it. i'll see if i can find it.

(*please note, i REFUSE to add "grandma got run over by a reindeer" to the playlist. and yes, it's been requested to me at work. i simply can't desecrate the holiday with it!)

one of the coolest things ever

2009-12-06T19:11:00.001-05:00

my compassionate and loving co-worker, danielle, sent me the link to this website. how can you NOT do this? go there. now.

(click on the orange arrows at the bottom to scroll through messages, photos, and links.)

santa baby

2009-12-05T22:46:00.001-05:00

me on the left, juj on the right. at my school's fundraiser this evening. (our santa totally rocked!)

uh . . . this has me worried

2009-11-30T18:14:00.001-05:00

one of my children. . .

2009-11-25T19:01:00.002-05:00

...helping my child. a thing of beauty.

"mental health problems do not affect three or four out of every five persons, but one out of one.” - dr. william menninger

2009-11-22T21:10:00.001-05:00

two weeks ago i had my three-month tune-up. you know...meds checked, confirmation that i'm not talking to pink elephants, that i'm actually sleeping, etc. the regular stuff. my check-ups are a breeze when i'm feeling okay. and i was lucky to be feeling okay that day. in fact, my doc actually said, and i quote, "you have a lightness about you," meaning that i was not bogged down in the mire...as is typical for november. i explained that i had recently made the decision to cut very toxic individuals and situations from my life, and that could explain my "lightness".

he told me it was about time.

okay, so, i've had some shaky moments since my check-up. headaches. really weird appetite ~ borderline nausea that turns into ravenous hunger. inability to focus. racing thoughts. typical symptoms. but they seem to be coming and going...as opposed to just coming and staying. and for that, i am grateful. yes, this thanksgiving, i am grateful that as of yet, the black dog is not on my heels. he's poked his head around the corner a couple of times, just to remind me that he hasn't disappeared, and that's okay. he just needs to keep himself at a reasonable distance.

so, anyways, i love the quote by dr. menninger above. it's true, whether you choose to believe it or not.

a few weeks ago, a young man in our community attempted suicide. i know of him, but don't know him personally. still, when i found out what happened, i wanted desperately to help. his pain is real. his need for help is legitimate. i'm sure his family feels helpless. i hope they are not also feeling shame.

a very close friend in my life (who desires anonymity) is trying desperately to get mental health treatment, but keeps being put off by every counseling office that she calls; either they can't see her for another 6 weeks, or worse yet, one office said that if she were on a medical card, they could see her right away. but because she is a professional, with insurance, she'll just have to wait. her comment to me, "jodi, i'm literally begging for help, and i can't get it."

of course, the desire for anonymity (those of us with a mental illness usually desire it) is caused by stigma. stigma kills. if you haven't read the article about the death of robert enke, a european soccer player who chose to kill himself rather than disclose his clinical depression, then please click here. his story is devastatingly familiar.

finally, if you haven't had a chance to check out two of my absolute favorite websites, please go to Bring Change 2 Mind and No Kidding, Me Too. joe pantoliano has been on my hero's list for a long time; now i'm gonna have to add glenn close as well.

by the way, if you head over to Bring Change 2 Mind, they have these really cool t-shirts, with a diagnosis on some, and then "sister", or "mother, or "combat partner", etc. on the other one. i'd like to order one that says "depression" when the website opens their shop.

in reality, shouldn't we all be buying a shirt? either we have an illness, or we love someone who does.

perhaps that's the point.

weekend thank-yous

2009-11-22T20:35:00.000-05:00

to jenn and eli, dan and laura, fern, and mario. i never take kindness for granted.

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~Plato

you go, glenn

2009-11-11T21:22:00.001-05:00

here's some info from glenn close's new advocacy group, BringChange2Mind. pretty cool stuff. make sure you check it out. in addition to his public service announcement, ron howard shot several other videos worth watching here. i've included a behind-the-scenes clip of the PSA below.

BringChange2Mind.org is a not-for-profit organization created by Glenn Close, the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF), Fountain House, and Garen and Shari Staglin of IMHRO (International Mental Health Research Organization). The idea of a national anti-stigma campaign was born of a partnership between Glenn Close and Fountain House, where Glenn volunteered in order to learn about mental illness, which both her sister and nephew suffer from.

BringChange2Mind's mission is two-fold:

Provide people with misconceptions about mental illness quick and easy access to information that combats stigma.
Provide people with mental illness, and those who know them, quick and easy access to information about support.

Ron Howard generously donated his time in directing our first PSA that features Glenn Close and her sister, Jessie Close. John Mayer generously donated his song, Say, which serves as an anthem for this movement.

Our campaign has the support of major mental health organizations, including Active Minds, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), International Mental Health Research Organization (IMHRO), the Jed Foundation, Mental Health America (MHA), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), NARSAD, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

judging and condeming others: by father john dietzen

2009-11-08T21:39:00.000-05:00

read this article by fr. dietzen today in the catholic times:

Q: Shortly after the funeral of Sen. Ted Kennedy, I was stunned to hear a talk-show person commenting, "Who is going to tell the children that Sen. Kennedy is not going to heaven." Being raised Catholic, I was taught that even a last-minute act of contrition or plea to God would assure us of a place in heaven. Could you clarify what he said?

A: I don't know this individual's religious beliefs, of course, but from the viewpoint of Catholic teaching and that of most other mainline Christian traditions, the statement was shamefully uninformed and shallow.

Even some Catholics seem equally unaware of (or maybe they just don't accept) Catholic and common Christian belief, which pretty much parallels what you said. God's grace is always at work in each of us as long as we live.

Sadly, some people have just enough faith to believe in a God who judges us, but not enough faith to believe in a God who loves us. So they believe their surest way of pleasing God is to judge others as well.

We all need forgiveness. As one spiritual writer put it, we are all beggars at the door of God's mercy. We have a hard enough time trying to discern the secret movements of God's grace in our own hearts without pretending to know the inner secrets of someone else.

It is the grossest kind of spiritual pride, not to say foolishness, to imagine we have inside knowledge of God's relationship with any other human being, or that we know which people He should condemn or not.

There is also the fact that we have a direct and serious command of our Lord not to judge one another. To claim or act as if we can judge another person's state of soul, that we have knowledge of that person's most intimate relationship with God, even what God's eternal plan is for that person, is or should be among other things just silly for anyone who professes to believe in the God of Christians.

Unfortunately, there are too many who, letting their emotions and prejudices get the better of them, recklessly are willing to do just that.

So, your instincts are spiritually healthy. Self-righteous contempt and ridicule of those we disagree with sometimes appear politically useful and even make one feel self-satisfied, but not only is such a strategy seriously wrong, it never advances the cause of good.

St. Thomas Aquinas, along with countless other Catholic theologians, reminds us that God has ways of reaching people with His love and grace about which we know nothing. That is our faith.

This may sound trite, but it is nonetheless valid: We must hate the sin, but love the sinner. That's what Jesus always did, and that's what he requires us to do.

maybe i'm just feeling hormonal

2009-11-08T21:06:00.003-05:00

a friend of mine frequently quotes the bumper-sticker slogan "mean people suck." i don't know that i've ever heard of a statement that so crudely, succinctly, and yet so accurately defines a subgroup of humanity. she's right. mean people do, in fact, suck.

i was putting up my outside christmas lights today (seeing as how it was over 70 degrees and this must be indian summer and who knows, we could have snow on the ground tomorrow) and reflecting on the past year...and boy what a year it has been...and wow, have i had the misfortune of being around some really mean people. egads. i was speaking with a pastor from another church this evening about my disillusionment with folks in general, and asking him what the deal was. i mean, really. what's the deal?

i've heard psychologists and counselors and tv personalities like dr. phil say that there is always a "pay-off" for behavior. and so i'm asking...what's the pay-off? hey, you mean folks out there...what are you getting out of it? seriously. which fruit of the spirit are you cultivating...love (agape), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control??? pick one, and explain please...

cause i'm curious about the pay-off.

his mother's son

2009-11-05T19:45:00.000-05:00

after bringing home a disappointing science grade yesterday, ian looked at me, tears streaming down his face, and lamented with a panicked cry:

"what if i'm STUPID and there's NOTHING we can do about it?"

it bears repeating

2009-11-02T21:39:00.001-05:00

that crazy mike yaconelli...what was he thinking, talking about God this way? (sarcasm intended)

"the grace of God is dangerous. it's lavish, excessive, outrageous, and scandalous. God's grace is ridiculously inclusive. apparently God doesn't care who He loves. He is not very careful about the people He calls His friends or the people He calls His church."

columbus day: the 2009 version

2009-10-12T20:17:00.001-04:00

last year on columbus day, juj and i took the kids to scioto trails. this year, i took kate, ian, ben, chloe, and taylor there by myself. the trees are about a week or so away from turning, but some have already changed colors. what a brisk and beautiful day, spent with five little goofballs...

just take the stinkin' picture

2009-10-12T19:25:00.002-04:00

...says ben. and so i did with shaking hands from giggling so much. (thus the blurry photo, but you can still sense ben's impatience.)

no swimming

2009-10-12T17:16:00.000-04:00

taylor, kate, and i had a good laugh at this sign today, which was posted on a trail at scioto trails.

homecoming 2009

2009-10-10T17:33:00.001-04:00

my beautiful niece taylor, and her equally adorable date eric. they're crazy about each other...as friends. (personally, i think they should rethink that "just friends" thing.)

oh, and the phrase "like mother, like daughter" definitely applies here...

(click here for more pictures.)

amen

2009-10-08T19:32:00.000-04:00

“Then the King will say to those on His right,
‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father,
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink;
I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
naked, and you clothed Me;
I was sick, and you visited Me;
I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘
Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You,
or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in,
or naked, and clothe You?
‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
“The King will answer and say to them,
‘Truly I say to you,
to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine,
even the least of them,
you did it to Me.’

~matthew 25:34-40

you can't judge a corn hole team by its name

2009-10-03T18:46:00.003-04:00

earlier today, juj and i played in a corn hole tournament at the beaver oktoberfest. we participate in this strictly for fun and out of a tremendous sense of nostalgia. anyone who knows us realizes how much we adored our childhood sundays in beaver.

before our grandmother's death in 1975, mom and dad would drive us in the station wagon (every sunday) to beaver for a wonderful home-cooked meal at my grandparents' house. we would eat around noon, then spend the afternoon playing outside...my grandfather listening to his beloved reds on the radio while drinking hudepohl or pabst blue ribbon beer. life was simple. and good. and filled with love. the love came from our grandmother.

grandma's name was vonberta. yes, that's an unusual name. the first of eleven children, she was tall (this is where juj and i get our height), olive-skinned, and probably the most authentically loving, generous, and compassionate soul that ever lived. interestingly, i researched the origin of grandma's name several years ago and discovered it derives from the german "vonbertha". "vonbertha" was a character in german folklore who would enter the nurseries of crying children in the middle of the night and rock them back to sleep. my grandmother was aptly named.

so, back to oktoberfest.

today, juj and i wore our corn hole t-shirts (yes, corn hole t-shirts) to the tournament. my shirt has an image of a corn cob on the left side of my chest with the word "CORN" under it. juj's shirt is identical, but hers says "HOLE". (hee, hee. no kidding.) okay, so we don't play to win. we're not great at corn hole, but we're also not too shabby. we honestly play to have a great time; and we always do.

when registering for the tournament this morning, we had to provide a team name; we chose "VONBERTA'S GIRLS". our first match was against two guys whose team name was "PANTIES OFF". yes. "panties off".

turns out, the guys from "panties off", probably in their mid to late twenties, were two of the nicest fellas you'd ever want to meet. they were terrific at corn hole and beat us easily. but they were so darn nice, we instantly became their biggest fans as they advanced in the tournament. (juj and i jokingly said that our team name should've been "panties on"). we went on to play another team (we didn't ask for or know their nickname..."panties off" would've been hard to beat), but they, too, were incredibly nice...and we all laughed and joked and shook hands when the match was over like we were old friends.

juj and i didn't throw very well today. truth be told, all of the men there were pretty hard core when it came to corn hole. but that's okay. we held our own. more importantly, i like to think, we were a little like our team namesake when it came to being kind to those around us this morning.

grandma would've been proud.

a wrinkle in time

2009-09-23T17:38:00.002-04:00

look at the obvious crease in the photo below..."a wrinkle in time". get it? (ha, ha, snort!)

okay, so the joke on the title was bad. at any rate, i just found this incredibly aged photo in a drawer. and the funny thing was, i instantly recognized julie. i've seen juj's face more in my lifetime than i have my own. can you tell which one is her? (she hasn't changed one bit!)

"one great use of words is to hide our thoughts." - voltaire

2009-09-21T19:52:00.003-04:00

it seems that over the course of the past two weeks (since julie's messages about the power of words), i have been abnormally subjected to some really bad ones! while trying in earnest to watch my own tongue, and often doing a pretty lousy job of it, i have, at the same time, become increasingly aware of the truth behind the following:

"great talker, great liar." ~ french proverb

i was told once that liars never stop talking. a gentleman i know who used to work in law enforcement stated that the "guilty ones" always refused to shut up. perhaps while trying to convince the authorities of their innocence they were trying to convince themselves as well. i've seen this alot lately. my students are bad about it, of course, and so are my own kids. yes, i do it too. we all lie. but i've experienced this recently with someone who's a real pro. and he/she (i won't say which) scares the bejeebers out of me!

"flattery is all right so long as you don't inhale.” ~ adlai stevenson

my mother told me once when i was in college to "beware the flatterer". well, amen, mother. i get it. i totally get it. words definitely have the power to inspire confidence and esteem; i love to compliment others (perhaps because i like to be complimented myself), but there is certainly a fine line between building someone up and being a complete phony. honestly, don't we all realize when someone is insincere? sometimes, don't we just want to say..."thanks, but i'm not inhaling this time".

"it's not what you say. it's how you say it."

ouch. this one hurts me the most. hey, i'm not innocent of committing this crime. i'm probably at my worst with my own kids. but man. i don't take a disrespectful tone with my peers because they are...well...my peers.

so perhaps the childhood adage of:

if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all, is still the best way to go.

i'm still working on that one, too.

amazingly coincidental

2009-09-10T17:32:00.002-04:00

read this earlier today on one of my co-worker's 'quote of the day' desk calendars:

Arrogance is a mixture of impertinence, indiscipline, rudeness, harshness, and a self-assertive nature. ~ swami sivananda

bathroom etiquette for the football player

2009-09-08T19:12:00.008-04:00

i'm not sure which is funnier ~ the fact that he took his helmet off in the bathroom to pee, or how he could've possibly forgotten it on the floor when he turned to leave. surely he wasn't straddling that thing the whole time...

"today, you have 100 percent of your life left.” - tom landry

2009-09-05T20:59:00.004-04:00

typical brayden and ian. a little waverly tiger and notre dame figting irishman, beating the snot out of each other on a football saturday. for them, life doesn't get any better than this...

questions #2 and #3

2009-09-05T20:46:00.006-04:00

why did waverly fans leave the jackson game last night after the ironmen scored their last touchdown? (those of us who stayed almost saw the tigers come back and win!) i was incredibly proud of how our boys hung in there. and to quote the young man sitting behind me ~ the passionate tiger fan with the multiple piercings and tats ~ that onside kick was "one sexy call"!

my next question is rather critical, but i'm feeling a little reckless and bold this evening, so what the heck...

since when did so many of our waverly fans decide it's not cool to cheer on their team? seriously, folks. lighten up. stand up. put your hands together and get behind these kids.

geesh.

question #1

2009-09-05T20:37:00.005-04:00

do people seriously believe this is intended to be "brainwashing"?

you. have. got. to. be. kidding. me.

to quote knute rockne: "Most men, when they think they are thinking, are merely rearranging their prejudices."

saturday in september

2009-09-05T20:11:00.006-04:00

a young fighting irish player giving advice to an osu buckeye on how to beat navy:

probably a boring post for you but i couldn't be happier!

2009-08-25T19:00:00.008-04:00

just when i was getting ready to pull up the pumpkin plants that seemed to be dying, i found these three gorgeous little fellas! hooray!

sigh

2009-08-23T21:38:00.003-04:00

birthday boys

2009-08-11T19:39:00.005-04:00

(above: wyatt, landon, and ian)

tracey lamerson graciously allowed me to combine ian's birthday celebration with wyatt's last night ~ resulting in nine boys playing, fighting, wrestling, hitting, roasting hotdogs & marshmallows, telling ghost stories, watching movies, and finally sleeping (around 3:00 a.m.). aunt juj and taylor even crashed the party (aunt juj had both ted and tracey as students in high school!). the kids had a blast, and ted and tracey were so incredibly hospitable. we really love them alot.

baby #1

2009-08-04T13:09:00.003-04:00

hooray! we're finally expecting! (no, not a real baby...a baby gourd. you know, from the volunteer in the post below...)

isn't she cute and fuzzy? she measures approximately 3/4".

growth

2009-08-02T15:18:00.005-04:00

this unexpected, little volunteer...

has become this:

now, if we can just get some fruit on that vine.

why we're jets fans

2009-07-30T21:40:00.005-04:00

our cousin, eric smith, plays for the new york jets. last year he started at safety (many of you will remember the vicious collision between he and anquan boldin). there was a massive debate about the helmet-to-helmet contact between eric and boldin, but i honestly believe that kerry rhodes' involvement in the play didn't help matters, and eric found himself in an incredibly dangerous situation. (eric was knocked unconscious as well.)

at any rate, we got to hang out with eric at our family reunion a few weeks ago. he is delightful in person. quiet and reserved. great with the kids. kate and ian were on cloud nine the entire afternoon. (my grandfather and eric's grandfather are brothers, and for those of you who don't know, yes, my maiden name is smith).

at one point in the afternoon, many of the relatives were talking about what fantastic athletes the smiths have produced...and it's true. my grandfather was recruited by the st. louis cardinals prior to WWII. my cousin rob was a tremendous basketball player and now coaches at urbana university. eric's sister stacy is being recruited out of groveport to play college volleyball. all of the other cousins have shown an enormous propensity toward athleticism. it's pretty cool.

so anyways, here are my kids with one of their heroes. they have many, but i'm pretty sure eric ranks right up there at the top.

random thoughts on a sunday evening

2009-07-26T21:56:00.016-04:00

what is the filmy residue that builds up on the inside of the front windshield of my car? does anyone else have this?

i heard the song "rock of ages" by def leppard a little while ago on xm radio. it reminds me of you, d.j. owens.

i would like to create a web site just for people who can't sleep in the middle of the night. that way, insomniacs (or people who are just plain full of anxiety) can log on, chat, and know they're not alone.

ian has started referring to his genitals as his "willy wonkas". i have no idea where that came from. he usually just refers to them as his "boys".

have any of you seen the "coming home" series on ESPN that's hosted by rick reilly? excellent show. i've seen it twice, and both times, rick has featured christians: kurt warner and josh hamilton. leo wants me to email rick and see if he'll do a special on chuck ealey.

my kids are currently dancing/jumping up and down on my bed while watching zac efron sing "lady's choice" from the movie hairspray. zac is awfully cute, if i do say so myself.

philip burguieres is one of my heroes.

when my sisters and i were little, our father would make us be quiet during the opening themes of tv shows so he could tape them on his tape recorder. i can still remember him shushing us and holding the white, rectangular microphone up to the television. (he only did this during the 1970s.) my personal favorites are here, here, here, and here. in the 1980s, i fell in love with this, this, and the best tv opening of all time: this.

have you ever had a paranormal/ghostly experience? i have smelled my grandmother's cigarette smoke a few times since she died in 1991.

true or false: "you can't control how you feel."

what song do you have stuck in your head, right now?

i love comments. leave some comments. nice comments.

jill's zinnias

2009-07-26T21:32:00.006-04:00

playing around with picasa and wishing i could do these zinnias justice...they are simply gorgeous. flowers make me truly happy.

From Collages

the boys of summer

2009-07-24T16:05:00.005-04:00

oh my gosh...what a BLAST! ian was in heaven being on the all-star team! he alternated between playing shortstop and pitcher. (he is seen in most of the video wearing a heart-guard, a requirement for boys playing pitcher.) ian was the lead-off batter and had a pretty good on-base percentage. his fielding was awesome, too.

all in all, we couldn't have asked for a more wonderful tournament season. the boys were absolutely terrific (and adorable) and really pulled together as a team.

and as for our coaches...hey, we love you matt snodgrass, jeff davis, rick swain, and kent shanks! you guys rock!

p.s. to see erica snodgrass' fantastic tournament pictures, click here and here!

"Boys are beyond the range of anybody's sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years." -James Thurber

2009-07-24T15:19:00.006-04:00

"i've always depended on the kindness of strangers." - tennessee williams

2009-07-14T12:37:00.009-04:00

i just got off the phone with tony stover. tony lives in sevierville, tennesse. tony is a pretty cool guy. he proves that most people are, despite their shortcomings, essentially good.

a few weeks ago while on vacation, i fell off a boulder. yeah, a boulder. i landed several feet below on another boulder, located in the river that rushed through the chimneys (an area in the smokey mountains). to give you a visual, here is julie navigating around one of the rocks:

the mountains had experienced severe downpours for the previous twenty-four hours, so the water was moving extraordinarily fast, as you can see from the video below (excuse the fuzziness of the picture).

the boulders were also very slippery. i saw a rock that i wanted to get to, and told myself wisely not to jump to it. instead, i thought, i will take the safe way around...one step later found me five feet down, wedged between two boulders. my camera, which was strapped to my wrist, flew into the water as my hand bounced off the rock's surface. a knot instantly came up on my wrist, and the ribs on my upper left side were hurting terribly.

i was stunned at first, not realizing what happened. then, i frantically began looking for the camera, which julie saw fly into the river. (as most of you know, cameras and i just don't get along. i am ALWAYS dropping them!) i reached my arms down into the rushing water to no avail. i was panicked. i was in pain, and my camera was gone. gone. oh man. what a loser i was.

julie was calming and reassuring. i was lucky that i wasn't seriously hurt (as in, my head did not bounce off the boulder). we climbed up out of the river, dried ourselves off, and headed back to the motel.

fast-forward two days...

tony stover has taken his nieces and nephews hiking in the chimneys. about 200 yards downstream from where i had been, his nephew finds a camera wedged beneath a rock. tony told me on the phone, "i felt like God put the camera in my hands so i could return it to the owner. there were memories in that camera that you deserved to have back."

tony took my little cannon power-shot home, removed the memory card, which miraculously was still intact even though the camera was toast, and viewed the pictures on his computer. he noticed a red-headed girl with "waverly volleyball" written on a t-shirt. he saw another picture of a man (from our family reunion, which had occurred the day before we left on vacation) with a name tag on. he started researching the man's name and "waverly" and decided to call waverly high school in ohio.

tony was put in touch with our head volleyball coach, to whom he explained his story. the coach then called my niece, taylor, who was on vacation with us, and relayed this amazing tale...how a gentleman found my camera and actually wanted to return it. he even wanted to pay the postage without reimbursement.

true to his word, my broken camera and good memory card arrived in the mail about a week later. tony had paid $4.75 for shipping.

cut to today...

i spoke with tony for about 15 minutes this afternoon. super, super, super-nice guy. i told him my part of the story, then he explained his role. we talked about family (his father recently passed, and he is helping take care of his mother), and vacations, and strange coincidences. tony even invited me to his lutheran church; if i'm ever back in tennesse on a sunday morning or wednesday night, i am welcome to come in and make myself at home there.

i told tony our church believes that small things done with great love change the world.

he agreed whole-heartedly.

but i think i already knew that about him.

(p.s. both the picture and video in this post came from the broken camera that tony returned.)

the last vacation slideshow...i promise

2009-07-14T12:28:00.001-04:00

ian needs to follow this advice in the middle of the night

2009-06-30T21:41:00.001-04:00

on the back of a stall door in tennesse:

chimneys slideshow

2009-06-29T23:00:00.003-04:00

featuring taylor and her daredevil mother, with a pretty little red head thrown in here and there.

mountain water

2009-06-29T22:41:00.004-04:00

photo from the chimneys in tennessee. this water is a little over two feet deep. crystal clear, and extremely cold.

monday morning exchange with ian

2009-06-29T11:03:00.006-04:00

ian loves bacon. turkey bacon, that is. i don't have to ask him what he wants for breakfast every morning because every morning is the same.

at any rate, as i'm fixing my coffee this morning, ian walks into the kitchen and asks if we can go to the movies today. "well," i explain, "the movies are pretty expensive. maybe we can go tomorrow when the theater has discount tuesdays."

quickly trying to change the topic, i ask, "so, what do you want for breakfast buddy?" (even though i already know the answer.)

"water," my poor little boy replies glumly.

"water???"

"yes." as if this is somehow going to increase my sympathy for this little fella who's stuck with a cheap and unfeeling mother.

"no problem, buddy. you want ice with that?"

ian offers a stunned and pained look.

fast-forward a half hour...

"mom, can i vaccuum?"

"sure!"

(a few minutes later after vaccuuming one room.)

"now can i have $5?"

"no."

ian sighs.

fast-forward a few more minutes...

"MOM!!! come here!!!"

ian, in his effort to clean and earn cash (which he erroneously still thinks he's gonna get), has now vaccuumed up a wii cord. if i can't get this ridiculous sweeper taken apart and that wii wire untangled, i'm screwed.

a new wii will cost more than the movie tickets, gosh darn it.

maybe, i should've said "yes" right from the beginning.

positively absurd

2009-06-26T21:57:00.005-04:00

my sister, jill, told me about this clip. words fail me. enjoy.

b e n

2009-06-26T21:48:00.002-04:00

my nephew, looking surprisingly innocent this evening.

bird poop and renegades

2009-06-26T17:38:00.007-04:00

much to the chagrin of their momma and poppa, i climbed a chair and snapped these updated photos of our baby barn swallows. look how they've grown! i definitely count five heads, but i'm wondering if perhaps one more is packed in there among its brothers and sisters somewhere.

and, as you can see below, they're pooping up a storm. :(

also, i discovered this year's versions of "renegade" produce this afternoon. for the past two summers, we've had pumpkins and gourds sprout unexpectedly in our side yard. i'm almost positive these three little fellas are gourds. we'll just have to wait and see. even though we've (intentionally) planted pumpkins this year, it's always exciting when the unexpected occurs!

newfound gap

2009-06-26T14:53:00.006-04:00

here is the first of several posts to come about the spur-of-the-moment, let's-get-out-of-dodge, girls-only vacation that julie and i threw together with kate and taylor. i've got a whopper of a story to share with you later, but for now, you'll have to deal with the obligatory pics of scenic stuff.

so here you go. this is a brief slideshow of our drive to newfound gap in the smokies, with stops along the way to view the chimneys.

at last

2009-06-19T17:47:00.008-04:00

today felt like the first actual day of summer vacation. i think, for the most part, due to the combination of smells (i cut grass this morning), sleeping in, and heat. oh, and the flowers. things are actually growing around here.

this red verbena is an annual. the violet verbena is perennial. both are gorgeous.

i bordered my round flower bed with red salvia this year in honor of my grandmother. leo said he digs it.

and sprouting here are pumpkin seeds. last year's pumpkins fell prey to the horrific summer drought. i'm hoping these babies make it.