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How will you dream if you don't sleep? How will you hear yourself?

~Morning Girl, Michael Dorris

the feast...

Yesterday was Daniel's birthday and we had a medieval feast. We had lentils, peas, asparagus, herb salad, sweet potatoes, dill new potatoes, baked pears, homemade applesauce, a medieval dish called makerouns (tasted like very yummy homemade macaroni & cheese), a medieval dish called mushrooms & leeks (so yummy. we added zucchini. it tasted like green bean casserole with zucchini instead of grn. bns.), rotisserie chickens aplenty, an abundance of bread & butter, a fruit tart, a chocolate coffee cake, blackberry ice cream, & sparkling grape juice. Daniel said it was his best birthday. He said, "For once in my life, I'm actually full." =) He had a whole chicken all to himself. (no, he didn't eat the whole thing, but it's in the fridge w/ his name on it. he actually had some of it for breakfast this morning) I can't believe we didn't take a picture of the spread-actually I can. Can you imagine making all of that food with four kids & 2 dogs running around in the same room? There were people here installing new carpet upstairs, so we were all sticking together. It was a bit crazy. I bought some gold brocade fabric that I used as a table runner & we had lots of big candles, & a fire etc... etc... etc... medieval lute music etc... etc... etc... It sort of turned into a bday/school project since we're learning about medieval times this year. It was beautiful & it was fun. Isn't it funny how, once things work out, you turn around & say how fun they were? In actuality, I was totally stressing out trying to make all of that food. Daniel invisioned a true feast & I was trying to capture abracadabra. I was sure I was going to set the kitchen on fire & destroy the whole thing, but of course the kids helped me with all of the cooking. It really was fun to work together, even though the scene probably mirrored a recent episode of Hell's Kitchen. Well, all's well that ends well. =) When I was filling out Daniel's birthday card I told him that he makes me smile every day, but in all honesty he doesn't just make me smile, he also makes me laugh every day. Who could ask for anything more?

likeness...

i love this picture. i just happened to come across it & i wanted it on my blog. i don't generally like pictures of Jesus, b/c I think that maybe the artist didn't peg him right. & i think maybe they don't see him the way i see him. & i feel that probably the artist doesn't have any idea what Jesus really looked like. but i love this picture. i'm sure Jesus didn't look like this, b/c the Bible says that he was not particularly handsome. nevertheless, to me, the features & the look in his eye are just right. beautiful.

saboteur...

"mom-emmeli's doing some sort of experiment with the green stool, peanut butter, jelly, & some string. you might want to go check it out."

waking...

at first he only dipped below the surface of sleep, and skimmed along like a salmon in shallow water, so close to the surface that he fancied himself in air. he thought himself awake when he was already asleep. he saw the stars above his face, whirling on their silent and sleepless axis, and the leaves of the trees rustling against them......... the sun came early, causing him to turn over in protest, but in going to sleep he had learned to vanquish light, and now the light could not rewake him. ~taken from Once & Future King/T.H. White

waaaa...

what goes up... must come down. in the downy dumps for no particular reason whatsoever.

dear little friend...

today ben & i worked the whole day at the condo. for the first time since we've moved i really sort of felt like i missed the place. i've been so excited about the big new house & distracted by the move that i haven't really thought about it, but i miss my house. it felt so cozy there tonight-like home. ben & i both felt like we were visiting an old friend. i love this picture. it sort of looks like the condo with the dental molding, white trim, & hardwood floors. & this is kind of how i felt toward the end of our stay there- like a baby bird ready to break out of its shell. but i do wish we could keep our dear little friend in the family. we have so many memories there & i really am quite attached to the place. it's going to be so sad to see her go. =(

snow storm...

We have so much snow! It's 1:23 a.m. & Ben is outside shoveling the driveway just for fun. =) It's so beautiful here.

bluebirds abounding...

i know- i'm overflowing with muchness today. but you have to catch the happy thoughts when they come and tuck them away lest they should wander off. did you know my house is surrounded by bluebirds? they love my house. we don't have bird feeders or boxes or fountains, but they like us just the way we are. i didn't know bluebirds stuck around during the winter, but they do. did you know they are cousins to the robin? they are. so when i see them, i think it must be spring, especially on a beautifully sunny day like today. bluebirds amassed outside my window... they fortify the magic of this place.

all the pretty flowers...

The Jasmine is blooming & it's so lovely. Just being in the company of it makes me feel sweet & delicate like a fairy...

brendan "luck"...

my new term for the incidental coincidences which commonly occur in our day to day learnedness. blessings, hallmarks, a royal stamp of approval. no time to explain, but i must remember the sphinx & the sphinx moth, & brendan of kells & st. brendan, & albrecht durer with his woodcut of adam & eve in company with the apocalypse. also, steve severin (author of the brendan voyage) & his find at the library so similar to ours, hence the name..."brendan luck."

nerd glasses...

man, everything i want to say takes so many words. i just don't have time to say what i want to say here. i'm going to have to start talking to myself in code, so if you don't get what i'm saying, please understand, i'm not crazy...

as a side note-this blog is dedicated to my "nerd glasses." i like you. i like you a lot, but what ever possessed someone to make frames out of an opaqueish color the exact likeness of snot?

comity...

"The obligations of law and equity reach only to mankind, but kindness and beneficence should be extended to the creatures of every species; and these still flow from the breast of a well-natured man, as streams that issue from the living fountain."

~Plutarch