Trunk or Treat

We had a great time at our church's Trunk-or-Treat evening last Sunday. Luke dressed up as a little cowboy and won a prize for cutest costume. We agree! He had a great time, but wasn't quite as happy when getting ready at home:

Amazing how much he perked up and enjoyed the costume when there was an audience:

Going for the good stuff...

And finally, a family photo to freeze the moment in time. We love this kid!

The Joys of Mom-Brain

Let me preface this little story with some background information:

1. We live about 20 minutes out of town.
2. I sometimes do my grocery shopping on my lunch break to avoid an extra trip to town on my day off.
3. If I buy refrigerated items, I stash them in the empty breakroom fridge until the end of the day.
4. I have a history of forgetting to retrieve these groceries, and have developed a most ingenious method of making sure this doesn't happen anymore.

Now, the story. We had a small leak in the fire sprinkler system at work. I called the service company, and a nice young man came out to take a look. He needed to access the fire-riser room, for which I have the key, and came up to my offic to ask me to let him in. I trotted off, with the nice service man following me, to do just that. On my way downstairs I realized that - to avoid appearing strange - I would have to explain why we needed to stop by the refrigerator to pick up my keys. Oh, did I mention? The only way to make sure I don't leave without my groceries is to make it so I can't leave without my groceries - I stash my keys in the fridge! After my rushed explanation, he made me feel oh-so-much better by saying (with a straight face and no hint of humor) "oh, don't worry, I keep my keys in the fridge all the time." Thanks buddy.

I'm a dork. It has been proven.

Luke Grows Up

We actually followed through with a photo project we started when Luke was a newborn. Starting at just a few days old, we took a picture of him every month on (or a few days after) his "month-i-versary". We took each picture in the same spot with the same teddy bear. How fun to see the transformation from infant to little boy in just a year!

Note to self

I am going to file this mom-answer away to use in later parenting years:

Rory: When are you going to tell them?
Lorelai: Soon.
Rory: When's soon?
Lorelai: When the big hand gets to the "s" and the little hand gets to the "oon".

Thanks, Gilmore Girls.

I'm Back...I Think.

I have not blogged in, uh, a really long time. My follow-through sucks. It is just more enjoyable to live my life than to take pictures of it and write about it. But I miss writing, and this is the only "fun" writing that appeals to me right now.

Last week, my husband's grandmother passed away. She was ninety-seven and had lived a full and vigorous life. She was blessed to be at home, surrounded by family, in the last days of her life with a gaggle of great-grandchildren screeching through the house, neighbors dropping by with food, and the grown-ups of the family caring for her, sitting near her, and filling the house with activity. During the week following her death, this flurry of family activity continued. It was mostly centered around the kitchen table where piles of photos and mementos were sorted through. Such treasures! A book of ration stamps from WWII, 100 years of photos, notes, letters, newspaper clippings, programs from funeral services, pressed flowers, school diplomas, all part of the treasure of the family's history. Entire lives were summarized in those few peices of paper tucked between the pages of the family bible.

Reading through the notes and letters, it struck me that future generations will have much less to sort through when my generation is the dying generation. We are so proud of being paperless - online bank statements and utility bills, emails (not likely to find any of those tucked in the family bible), instant messaging, facebook messages, texts, etc. - the whole of our social interactions will be a historical black hole some day...at least, in hard copy.

It's odd that this experience makes me return to blogging, because an online journal is hardly an enduring example of the written word, but it's better than nothing! It will be fun for me regardless of whether or not anyone is still reading this!