I'm coming!  It's coming!  I will see you soon, my favorite summertime "home"!

The Day I Heard the Angels Sing

I had a WOW moment today.  I don't even know how to describe it so you will understand.  But here goes.


So - I LOVE Spring Peepers.  You know - those little teeny frogs that make BIG noise?  How icky are they?  (SEE BELOW!!! ewwwww)

 Size relative to a paperclip

In my life - the first peep signifies winter is OVER.  That peep says, "spring may not be here, but winter is over."  Apparently, my friends now know that I listen for that first peep starting in early March and I get reports from all over town!  It's so funny and so endearing that they actually seek me out on facebook to tell me.  I LOVE that!


Better still, every year I have a conversation with my BFF about THE PEEPERS.  For years, she has been tracking the date she first hears them, in a journal.  I swear I call her every year and say, "This HAS to be the earliest!"  And she knows exactly what I mean.  But it never is.  This year, the first facebook message came in around the 15th of March and I emailed her, "This HAS to be the earliest!!!"  "Nope!"  (Actually - it's March 9th but do you think my simple mind can remember that each year???  I mean come on!  March 9th is still veryyyyyy winter!)


Oddly enough, this year I never heard the peepers.  I think because I have no memory left I have just been so busy and so pre-occupied that when the messages came in, I planned to go out and listen and it never happened.  It's UNPRECEDENTED!  Sniff.


Well - today, it didn't matter anymore.  Because today, I got a concert of peepers like no other on earth!!!!!  So loud that I could not hear myself talk.  It was UNBELIEVABLE!  It was Goose bumping.  Smile spreading.  Earth shattering.  Mood altering.  Breath taking.  Heart thumping.  Soul wrenching.  Ok, well maybe not sooo much.  But close!!!!  


I was trail running in the state forest with my friend Kay and as we approached a HUGE swamp area, I started to hear them and I commented, "Ohhhhhh - the peepers!  This is the first time I've heard them this year!"  As we got closer to the swamp, it got louder and Louder and LOuder and LOUder and LOUDEr and LOUDER and LOUDERRRRRRRRRRRRRR.  O-M-G!!!!!!!!!!


I was literally shouting to Kay and couldn't even hear myself.  It took my breath away (and that is not a good thing when you are running!!!!) It resonated through my body like no rock band has ever done.  The power just blew me away.  My ears were bleeding!!! (Well, not really - but you catch my drift!)  And I just had this big ole smile on my face - because surely - I was in peeper heaven...


Ok, well - if I'm not getting this across to you, check below.  Put it on your highest volume and then triple it in your mind.  It's the best I can do.




Joy?  Oh yea - indescribable, unbelievable, surreal, near spiritual, JOY.

Wow.  This is actually kind of embarrassing.  I haven't posted in a whole month?  I don't know.  Just wasn't into it.  And when you're not into it - you're NOT into it.

It's blowing me away that this is the last week of March.  Where did the time gooooo?  Everyone's been complaining about what a long winter it's been but I have felt the complete opposite.  January flew because of all that SNOW!!!  February flew because it was so crazy around here.  Those cleaning people were in my house every day for the whole 4 weeks.  (Remember the "fire":?  Aghhh)

 That sucked.  Yea - the house got cleaned from top to bottom but it also created a TON of work for me.  Forced to really de-clutter and haul away sooooo much crap!

And then in March, my daughter was in a skating performance - her first solo!  It took up the whole first half of March (and it was a moment I will never forget as long as I live!)

When I think of all the hours I have spent in an icy cold skating rink, watching every second of her practices and every minute of her coached lessons - I know I wouldn't have missed it for the world.  That one shiny moment when I held my breath for exactly 1 minute and 41 seconds?  Priceless.  The tears?  The purest joy...

Then I headed down to Virginia Beach with my two running buddies - Laurel and Robin - to cheer them on in their 3rd half marathon.  It was the funnest (is that a word?) weekend I have had in a very long time and lord did I need it!  We headed out at 4am and just tooled down watching the thermometer rise and rise until it was 86 degrees and we just HAD to stop and eat lunch IN A CEMETERY!

The best part of this little trip was the lack of agendas.  No schedules, no appointments, no time frames...the ONLY place we had to be was at that starting line on Sunday and I didn't even have to be there!!!  You learn very quickly that starting lines are not fun when you aren't running.  So I just slept in and cheered them to the finish 2 hours later.  One of the interesting parts of this trip was giving up control.  I can be quite the control freak.  LOL!  But Robin is even worse than me!  SO that was very interesting.  I think we both discovered that it's quite nice being out of control!  And no alcohol involved!  I repeat!  NO ALCOHOL INVOLVED!  WOW!!!!!!  Who knew you could laugh so much with out drinking?????

So anyway - that's why my winter flew.  And now some of my daffodils are blooming and I see perennials up all over the place.  AND I have been back at it - pounding the pavement.  Haven't really run much since the half marathon last June.  Pounding the pavement is actually a misnomer.  Becauseeeee - I've been pounding the forest floor!  Yes - I have been dabbling in trail running and I really like it!  So stay tuned for more of THAT!

Ok - boring blog post.  Perhaps one of my most!  Hoping to get back to it better and soon.  Until then...oh dear - did I tell you we may be getting chickens?  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - ROLL MY EYES.

Ummmm - joy?

Your Life

Ahhhh HA!

I just had an epiphany.  Well - I mean, it's not earth shattering or life saving or anything BUT, this is the gig.  The more blogs I read/follow, the behinder I get!  Don't get me wrong!  I love reading certain blogs and I  particularly love a select few.  I usually find new blogs by visiting them from "my" blogs, i.e. the blogs I follow regularly.  The list is getting longer!  It's very fun and interesting to see what people have to say.

Here's the epiphany though.  I noticed several bloggers have been posting less lately.  Probably winter doldrums, writer's block, I don't know.  But guess what?  It's a RELIEF!  (RELIEF recognition = Epiphany)   Not because I don't want to read them anymore but because it gives me a break!  

I don't like to miss a blog post of someone I enjoy following but if I have to catch up with 2 or 3 posts on 10 or 12 blogs!  Well - you get the picture!  Something's gotta give!!!  If a bunch of people are blog breaking, then I CAN catch up on other's blogs.  So IIIII think I'm on to something!  If everyone blogged just a little less, perhaps more would get read?  Just sayin'...

Where's the joy?  Giggle...

The JOY is finding a few blogs each day that aren't new posts so I can enjoy those that ARE!!!!

Hope no one gets mad at me about this!!!  ♥♥♥

PS - Karen?  This does not apply to you!

Spring or No Spring - I Got Spring!

The other day, my friend Robin brought me a dozen organic eggs she had been given from her friend's chickens.  I gratefully accepted them and without opening the carton, stowed them away in my refrig.  This morning, I opened them to this little joy.  YES!!!!!  Green eggs!  They are soooo pretty!!!!!!  I had to take a picture to show you.  


So after a breakfast of the creamiest over easy eggs EVER, I got lazier and lazier.  No energy, no motivation...so I sat down and started catching up on facebook and on some blogs I try to follow regularly.  I came across one of my favorites and was instantly inspired (and I caught some joy there too!). I got my lazy butt up off my chair, threw on my jacket, grabbed a pair of scissors and went outside in the blustery weather and cut me my own personal bouquet of Spring!

Now it may not look like much right now?  But wait 2 weeks!  You will be sooooo jealous!!!!

And check these out.  I bought them yesterday.  I guess I have Spring Fever.  Didn't really think about it too much until I started this blog post.

Hope you enJOYed my breath of spring. Happy 5 inches of snow tomorrow!!!!

Spring Has Sprung!!!

Today, I fell in love with THESE on my friend Karen's blog.  Nope - she can raise chickens.  I'll stay with 1 dog and 2 brats cats.  I just fell in love with them and added them to my internet art file.  Now tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'm going to cut me a big ole bunch of these!

JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!

Actually, a big ole bunch of THESE!

No, they're not blooming yet, silly!  But they will be in 2 weeks!!!!  This pic is last years forced bouquet!
















But!!!!!!  But!!!!!!!  Look what I found today!!!!!!  It's THE most beautiful clump of DAFFODIL SHOOTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I have ever laid eyes on!!!!!!!!  Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!  Can you see them?  Can you see them??  How excited are WE!!!!???

And that, my dear friends...


is JOY.