What's Standing outside YOUR Shower?

I’m standing in the shower scrubbing my head and singing some silly song when I hear a noise. I peek out the curtain to see who’s around when it dawns on me…I’m the only one home! Suddenly my heart picks up pace and I feel a bit shaky. No one is there but I look again – just to be sure.

And then I think, “What if someone really WAS there? What would I do? What would I say? How would I react?” Silly - I know. But have you ever really thought about it? I go back to my hair-washing and realize that the feeling hasn’t left. If my hair wasn’t soaking wet, it would certainly be sticking up on the back of my neck...

Just so you know, that is the end of the story. No one was in the house. It was just me and my over-active imagination. And now you know why I didn’t read Nancy Drew when I was a child.

Things I've Learned

§ Putting a bag of M&M’s in the bottom of your purse with potent, though individually wrapped, cinnamon discs results in an interesting taste combination

§ If you forget to pack church socks but remembered to pack dress sandals for your 6 yr old daughter who played barefoot in the backyard all day Saturday, you’d better hope you packed a toenail brush and some clippers

§ Sleeping in a strange bed for more than two nights could make you feel extremely fatigued and even a little dizzy

§ If someone brushes their teeth or washes their hands while you are showering upstairs in your childhood home, you are assured a chilly reality check

§ It is possible to feel old enough to have a 12 year old without feeling experienced enough to have a 12 year old

§ Just because you like one song by Michael Buble does not guarantee that you will like an entire CD of his

§ If you buy two loaves of bread and stack them vertically in the crowed van on the trip home, your 12 yr old’s legs are heavy enough to compress them enough to fit in the bread box the other direction than usual

§ If you fail to have anyone feed your cats while you are away for four days, you can be sure of finding the remains of a dead bird on your porch when you arrive home

April Showers Bring May Flowers

That is what my sister said when Mom left us April 21, 2007. Her namesake, Zoe Violet, was due to arrive around May 28th. We had known for some time that Paul and Beki were having a girl and what the baby's name was to be. Mom was so excited to have a great-granddaughter named after her. Several of us girls (including Beki :) were hoping that Beki wouldn't go over her due date into June. In fact, we thought it would be especially neat if Zoe was born on May 21st, exactly a month after Mom's passing.

But we heard Mom say it before and we would have heard her say it this time, "this baby wanted her own date." Zoe Violet made her debut around 9:30 pm on Tuesday, May 22nd! She weighed 7 lbx 5 oz and was 19 inches long. Zoe means "life". So incredibly fitting, don't you think?