New Beginnings

I don't have alot of time tonight to write...so let's begin with some basics. How are you? really? Are you happy tonight, all snug as a bug in a rug, are you restless, are you making plans for big things in your life, or concentrating on the just as important small things. I hope you all are doing very well. I have made a list (easy cheesy blog fun but still fun) of things I have been grateful for lately. After this post, I have stacks of stuff I want to write about, when I can find the time. I am also starting a book I am writing for my sons titled "Book of Saints, A Field Guide for Guys from Mom". No I am not joking. I have been working on this since Nashville, but lost alot of my notes this week when our pc DIED and one of Phillips friends loaded us up with a new drive, but I lost all my docs, etc. UGG. It was like a tiny death in the family. I will tell you more about this crazy month next weekend when it is safe to do so....no no, no conspiracy theories please, just some private info that I'll share later when appropriate.

The List:

• "True Grit" - great movie. loved the stubborn moral compass of the heroine and how the other characters bounce off of her like noble but less bright satellites.
• Music from Band of Horses. - Can I play "My way back home" at my funeral? Yes, I can. I will be there, will you? Come, if only to listen to the good music and drink some tequila and throw my ashes in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Winter in FL. - I know we think it sucks sometimes, tornadic activity due to warm air and cold water (like yesterday), but I LOVE the cold blasts for 2-3 days after such long hot summers. I enjoy drinking the hot afternoon beverages, curling up with blankets, and driving along our shoreline in winter- the water is clear, icy and very pretty.
• Humble people who do not act like they know what is best for you, for me, or for our country. The past few years, I have noticed a troubling trend in "know it alls". If you "know it all", please answer all my questions about life and let me know.
• Thai Food.
• Seafood. Scallops and oysters from Panhandle especially.
• Good live local music- at Crickateers in Dunedin, old Hawk's Nest in PC, and many others. Bands that are not on a label just yet.
• My sons- each so different and unique, each trying so hard to grow up. Each an eternal heartache for a mother. And a joy.
• Sunsets. - I notice Every Single Day the sun setting. From our dining room. it sets on one side of the yard, bright pink, orange and yellow this winter. In the summer, it will light up more of our living room, heating it up and reminding us to be grateful for longer hours. Most days, I try to be on the Gulf of Mexico to watch it set, almost daily with our sons. They may be just sitting in their carseats or may be walking with me, but we see it, just the same. Calming, before the dinner and bathtime and bedtime hours.
• Owls.
• Ferns. - I just acquired some new ferns, my favorite plant. I love them, but they are hard to grow here due to drought, unless under alot of shade and get alot of rain. My parents have a ton growing all the way down to their saltwater canal and it is like a little piece of heaven.
• Sardines in a can with saltine crackers.
• Old friends who know you well even after you have family, kids, etc. They still know you. Even older acquaintances know you better, i would guess, than more recently made friends. This is comforting, I think.
• Hemingway. I still read his books and think DAMN I wish I could write like that. Romance without the Romance, love without the extra words.....

Duty calls, I have a child who just woke up probably due to the fact his lullaby CD has stopped and I need to turn that old stereo off. The same one Phillip and I took to Honduras with us when we sat on the balcony and turned on the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou" as the crowds partied on New Year's the year we were engaged. Memories. And Present. Life is good, it must be...the alternative quite sucks. no?