Happy Birthday to you and you!

Twenty years ago I allowed my husband to take a picture of me, in profile, still pregnant with 7lb8oz and 7lb2oz twins. He promised we'd laugh about it one day. Still waiting.

Jack and Lucy are twenty today and WHEW! what an adventure it's been.

First of all, we were through having children before they came along. Never underestimate God's sense of humor.

Second, it's okay to use the phrase "Hell On Wheels" to describe children if it's true. And they were. My pediatrician said they were, "Vigorous!" A neighbor who had twins a few years older once told me hers just sat on the floor and worked puzzles.

Of course they did.

Of course they didn't pull everything out of the linen closet to make forts in the family room everyday. Of course they didn't quadruple her laundry by changing clothes six times a day. Of course they didn't whisper, "Here she comes!" and take off running when they heard her coming down the hall.

Then there's the matter of two of everything......and I mean everything. Cribs, swings, bikes, cars, colleges.............time flies, you know. Of course the smart, funny, athletic, beautiful, hard-working twins are the joy of my life. I wouldn't trade a minute, the love comes doubled up, too.

Happy birthday, Two Babies!

Fixing My Little Red Wagon

I'm braving the wilds of the backyard in search of our red Radio Flyer wagon. It's the one we gave Number One Son for his second birthday way back in 1984 when we still lived in Atlanta. It was a landmark birthday because he also got a football and a Georgia Bulldogs helmet that year.
The wagon moved to Tampa with us the following May and carried new friends up and down the street of our new neighborhood and essential toys from the front yard to the back.
The wagon moved with us to our present home and was used to haul rocks door-to-door by Number One Son's younger siblings. Rocks are a rare find in sandy Florida, so when we moved in and the twins found river rocks around the screen porch, they thought they had treasure on their hands. They just knew our new neighbors would agree so they went around to every door and sold rocks out of the little red wagon. Thankfully, our new neighbors were very gracious and found value in the rocks, too..

Now the red wagon is unappreciated and rusting back by the vine covered(and hopefully not snake-infested) shed.
All that's about to change with a little steel wool and WD-40.


Pretty soon that little red wagon will be greeting trick or treaters by the front door with a load of pumpkins and chrysanthemums.

Movie Night

After many recommendations, I finally saw The Lives Of Others yesterday. One reason I had put it off was because no one would say what it was about or why it was a must see. After seeing it, I understand. Just get this movie. I watched it through the video on demand feature with our Fios service.


Adjectives such as stunning, breathtaking, and touching come to mind but don't do The Lives Of Others justice. It's attention to detail is unmatched. It does for East Germany pre-glasnost what Saving Private Ryan did for D-day. It's something everyone heard about but couldn't understand without living through it. This movie takes you into the lives of comrades who believed in the socialist system and naively thought in being faithful to it, it could never harm them. But the same dishonesty and corruption that can plague any form of government catches up with the true believers.
The Lives Of Others is acted by East German players who lived in fear of the Stasi in our lifetime. It is directed by a man whose parents were both East Berliners and had relatives in the Stasi. He spent one and half years researching and speaking to former Stasi agents and victims before writing the screenplay. What he found is the GDR of 1949-1989 with a government informed by Marxism-Leninism and molded by class warfare.
The Lives Of Others should serve as a cautionary tale to all who think that a socialist form of "philosophy" and government is harmless and non-threatening. Every time you hear the phrase "tax the wealthy to pay for _____" you're hearing class warfare spoken and apathy is the greatest threat to our republic and liberty.
The Lives Of Others has won the Academy Award for best foreign film, Best Picture, Screenwriter, and Actor awards for European Film Awards, and Best Foreign Film from Los Angeles Film Critic Awards.

Back From Visiting Fall In NY

If there's to be any Fall in my year, I have to go visit it. Fall never comes to see me. This year our meeting was in upstate New York at Cooperstown, Saratoga Springs, and Lake George in the Adirondacks. There was a surprising lack of Adirondack chairs there, but lots of beautiful views.
Looking out the window at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Lake George from Prospect Mountain

Old Hotel at Bolton Point

House in Cooperstown on Lake Otesaga

The maples were incredible! Fabulous, iridescent color!

Standing under the canopy.
This is what fall's all about. Thank goodness someone else is raking up all those leaves.

Hidden Pinks

When you live in a house full of men, it can be tough to find any pink.

You're mostly surrounded by stuff like this.


And this.


And even this.


Nope. No pink here.


Maybe in the family room?..........no pink.


Surely there's some in here.


Maybe the study.


Come on...........where's the pink?

Maybe up on that high shelf.


Yeah.........this looks promising.


Aahhhhhh.........finally.....pink.
This is more like it.


Angelina can always be depended upon when you need a little pink. Thank goodness for little girls who love to dance.

Jacksonville Mini Break

It's so nice to get away for a little while, especially when the trip includes time with a darling daughter. We got up early Saturday morning and drove to Jacksonville to visit Lucy and see the FSU-Colorado game. How lucky are we that just when Lucy starts school there, FSU schedules a game in Jacksonville at Alltell stadium! Last year it was Alabama, this year Colorado.
Jacksonville is a beautiful city with the St. John's river running through it and of course the Atlantic Ocean on the east side to make it breezy and cool.............just right for football.
We like to park on the south side of the river and take a river taxi over to the game. Then you can get dropped of at Charthouse, Ruth Chris, or a couple of other terrific restaurants on the way back. We ate at the Charthouse and had a great view of the skyline all lit up.
University of North Florida is one of the best kept secrets of the University system in Florida.The classes are strictly limited in size and only taught by professors. The campus is on 1300 acres of land with only 150 of it developed, so it's very compact and beautifully landscaped. There are miles of trails through the forests and wetlands to explore and run on or just pick out a bench and enjoy the view.

I Do?

The marriage proposal has become an opportunity for some big time romance. It's the stuff movies are made of and young girls dream about. How many romance novels feature a sweet proposal scene followed by marital bliss? The possibilities are endless for romantic proposals: there's meeting on top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day. Or a fabulous surprise weekend in Paris.
The beach at sunset is a popular choice as is the scoreboard during the BIG game for asking that all important question.
All brides remember that special day when their sweetheart popped the question. Here's a story from Florida (state motto: It's not like where you live) that tells what happened when a man asked his beloved to marry him.

Movie Night Ghost Town

Ghost Town starring Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, and Tea Leoni is not a horror flick. That's what I had to tell my friend when I asked her to go see it. She said,"I don't do horror." Perfect, I told her, it's a romantic comedy heavy on the comedy with a healthy dose of redemption thrown in. Three of us went to see Ghost Town on Friday and laughed til we cried. The banter between Gervais and Kinnear is hilarious and it makes you wonder how they got through a scene without cracking up.
Ricky Gervais plays Dr. Bertram Pincus, a dentist living in Manhattan who can't stand talking to or being around people. The day he goes in the hospital for a colonoscopy his life changes dramatically. Kristen Wiig as his surgeon is very funny with lots of tongue in cheek lines coming from her character.
The dentist has to come to terms with some long buried issues he thought he'd never have to dig up again. As I said, this is a redemption tale but watch out for the twist at the end. This is only the second time I've seen a movie audience applaud at the end, so I guess everyone enjoyed it as much as we did.
Can I pre order the DVD yet? The outtakes on this movie are going to be priceless.

When In Doubt, Include Pink

It's been so hard trying to figure out what to put in the new China cabinet.........kind of like staring at a blank piece of paper ( or screen) and not knowing what to write.

Should I go seasonal and put in the gold plates and some pumpkins? No, too predictable. How about all white? Ummm.....too boring. All of one pattern? Really boring! But one thing I've learned from all the Pink Saturdays.........
throw in a little pink.
It works.Ppsst!

That pretty, pretty princess box is a little SURPRISE for next week.

ssshhh.....keep it under your hat.

And now, please visit Beverly for lots more Pink Saturday.

A Place For Everything...........

China! It's everywhere! Purchased china. Inherited china. Gifted china.
China stuffed into every available space. There were grand plans to build a cabinet in the perfectly placed niche in the dining room, but that keeps getting railroaded by things like college and hospital bills.
So the light bulb went off that maybe we should just find a deal on an old china cabinet...........maybe on craig's list! There are always people moving and getting rid of everything in their house, so maybe one of them has just the right china cabinet at just the right price. And there was.

Taa-daa! Here it is!
The nicest people had this one and were moving to Sonoma County, California to grow olives. They are clearing out and guess who was happy to get their cast offs. Now, I don't want to say what I paid for it, but let's just say it was less than a trip to the grocery store.

UPDATE:

Kari and Kijsa are having a sharing day and they want everyone to show a special spot in their home.

My style is mostly traditional, but I like to throw in something unexpected. The most cherished pieces are the ones passed to me from family, like the mirror and the plates on the tea server in the niche picture above. They were my great-grandmother's and it reminds me of her sweet smile every time I see them.