PIACERE

...& the livin' is easy!

lately it seems as though i've been doing everything but blogging. we've gone from wrapping up the school year ~ mine with all the papers finally turned in & the boys with all exams skillfully taken ~ to another round of home chores that involve my nemesis (construction) & blessed time working with our negected yard...that's a pretty fair balance...any aggravation left over from dealing with hammering & contractors' crazies is easily remedied with getting my hands dirty in the soil in anticipation of summer blooms to delight the eye & fresh herbs for the palate...i tend to lose myself in the scent of the earth that mingles on a sea breeze with magnolia...my thoughts happily drifting everywhere & nowhere, wandering the backroads of my memory & meandering with hope into the coming weeks' plans...the reward at the end of the day~~ a hot shower for those tired muscles i forgot existed & a glass of wine on the dock at sunset. sleep tonight will be a welcome embrace...

...that is, my sense of centeredness. D.'s momma is home, resting under the watchful eye of her doting husband. D. & i spent the better part of this fine spring day taming unruly parts of our yard & inhaling the glorious scent of purple hyacinth. Baby Girl made it safely to her vacation destination. Big Bro showed his momma the love last night by cooking dinner...spaghetti alfredo (is it impolite to lick my dish???). Little Man is finally up & about fully after an illness that was beginning to worry me.late in the afternoon today i sat in a sunbeam for a few moments of quiet, reading evening prayer. the 'rightness' of it all...the words i was reading, the thoughts that extended for those i hold dear, all the events of the past week (even the more trying events) weighed lightly in that still frame of life. it was as though the slightest of whisper reached my ear telling me all is well. it was a moment of sitting in the lap of God, a moment of freedom~ from care, from worry.it occured to me later this evening (actually just a bit ago), when i was past the hour of my internet lenten fast (no internet before 5pm), that i was already bearing some fruit from this sacrifice. this break was not just a token observance of lent...it was something i truly needed. into the void of my internet surfing time day in and day out, i have discovered spaces of quiet, spaces of rest. time to simply 'be'...& be filled. even before ash wednesday my thoughts were shifting to a more quiet way. now, they are downright peaceful.this internet fasting has been humbling too. thursday afternoon i commented to boyworld that i had not only accomplished all the week's minutia of work, but i had also tackled several long overdue projects too. without a pause they simultaneously reminded me that it was likely due to the fact that i was not "wasting time online!" uh huh. humbling.

~~why so quiet here? one word: facebook. for those who don't know, think 25 years of catching up with 30 or so people. 'nuff said.


~~also spent last weekend on retreat at mepkin abbey. no phones, TV's, computers...not a great cell signal. pure bliss for my over-active mind.


~~thanks for the language advice regarding last week's post. this week boyworld has adopted a new technique for dodging italian responses to my italian questions...responding in english that is heavily encased in a scottish brogue! (maybe the possum *should* be in control!)~~speaking of small animals...that prognosticator known as punxsutawny phil was wrong! spring is on its way. my daffodils said so! (all you yanks up north, take heart...it's coming!)~~prayers answered (thank you so much!)...fr. reggie is slowly healing. he has a long road to travel but he has also come a very long way!!

...a certain student (i'm not naming names) translates this~~

"Si, posso incontarLa oggi."

to this~~

"Yes, the possum is in control today."

(for those nodding in confused agreement, the less interesting yet correct translation is "Yes, I am able to meet you today." looks like we need a bit of a vocabulary review tomorrow!)

over at michelle's place i found a fun meme, but before i lay it out there, i want you go to immediately to the 2009 bloggies website & vote for bleeding espresso under best european weblog. hurry...voting closes monday 2 february! (please, please, pretty please!! all of us from the coal region will be so grateful...local gal done good!~~ pardon, but my roots are showing ;-)

now, back to my current life in the south with a meme courtesy of michelle's bleeding espresso...

1. What are 5 things you were doing ten years ago?
*living in virginia & enjoying D.'s post-graduate school employment!!
*but getting ready for a springtime move back to south carolina (right, Mrs. T.??!?)
*working on my book
*dreading emails from my editor
*homeschooling 3 of my children who were in 5th, 4th & 1st grade...Little Man wasn't even doing kindergarten yet!!


2. What are 5 things on your to do list for today?
*grade boyworld's gi-normous school pile
*hit the books for my own writing assignment
*finish this blog post
*& my last cup of coffee!
*make this for dinner

3. What are your 5 favorite snacks?
*gelato!!!!
*dark chocolate
*coffee
*raspberries
*cheese
(pretty much in that order!)


4. What would you do if you were a billionaire? (i changed this from million to billion to reflect inflation!)

*travel on my current budget but randomly & anonymously help others out along the way
*buy this place, consult with JP on the rest!
*help melissa's effort much, much more!
*set up funds for several other causes that are very dear to my heart
*continue living my current life much as it is because i like it very much!

5. Where are 5 places you have lived?

*the "zoo" in central PA (teo & shep, if you are reading this, you *know* what i mean!!)
*charleston SC...sigh.
*in the mountains of virginia
*very close to luckyblueeyedgirl (aka Mrs. T.) in SC
*roma, italy with frequent vacations in coastal NC

(just kidding about that last one...maybe.)


i love reading these things on blogs, so if you do this one, please drop me a line! & remember to vote for michelle!!

...when your internet is down!!

let me tell you, my home management efficiency (& D.'s & the boys') went through the roof over the last week thanks to our internet service provider.


all the lawn care that has been neglected since the end of last summer~~ done! (our neighbors might just think new folks moved in!)


all, & i mean *all* the closets in the home~~ cleaned out!


my gi-normous stack of books~~ shrunk!


right after the snow event last week, our ability to get on the 'net everyday was impossibly slow or non-existent. at first i was peeved. then (after lengthy discussions with our provider's customer service) i turned off the computer & took a look around.


i think i just may have needed that break...very much.


lots of gratitude for...
125. the "schedule post" feature on blogger

126. warmer temperatures & a bit of sun

127. team boyworld helping around the house

& here's a bit of a treat for y'all...128. my favorite sunrise in january '09...

Baby Girl wanted to know what her "baby" brother (aka Little Man) wanted to see when we get to costa rica. his list...

1. sloths
2. howler monkeys
3. a volcano

sounds like boyworld's ultimate science experience to me!

me? i'm just hoping to not confuse my italiano e spagnolo too much!

did you see the moon slung low on the horizon at twilight?...did you brave the night filled with pirates & ghosties & fairies & cowboys?...did you walk the path lit with surprise?...did you let a smile fill you with silly delight?...did you dare to enjoy a bit of the spooky booty?...(yes, soul sistahs, you know it!)aaahhhh...a lazy weekend at home! a crisp fall night spent in the "enchanted forest" & several hours by a campfire will do wonders to revive one's soul! (&, yes, of course, i ate all the chocolate! shhhh...don't tell boyworld.)

in planes, trains...& automobiles...plus a bus or 2 for good measure...after a whirlwind of adventure we are home from chicago with some good memories in the stash! we spent time in high places...low places...places that rock...places for learning...silly places...places that are rollin' in the dough...(no, they were not able to relieve the federal reserve of that suitcase filled with 1 million USD!) & even a place of beauty (though boyworld did protest a bit about this one!)...chicago welcomed us with open arms & a joy that was quite contagious.it is truly one of the friendliest places i have visited & though i am not a city-dweller by nature, i would return for another visit in a heartbeat.

& the food...don't get me started! chicago deep-dish pizza after a day spent in airports & on planes (where there is not one bite of food to be found domestically) is pure heaven.but my true love found in chicago was this~~ intelligentsia coffee. please have mercy, that stuff is amazing! boyworld did not quite understand my swooning...they were busily munching on a dunkin donut when i found this new way to satisfy my addiction. oh well, there is still hope for their immature palates! & thank God for the internet...i can have a bit o' my chicago heaven delivered right to my home...sigh. home again, but the wanderlust continues...in pursuit of good coffee, gelato & adventure all over the world...

first...a little shout-out from the home team for Baby Girl...thanks for the awesome 'guest post' & buona fortuna with your mid-term exams!! (or should i say 'in bocca al lupo'!? cherrye can explain...)(Baby Girl made these very cool 'solidarity' bracelets for us to wear while she was away...whatta sweetheart she is!)

...who are experiencing a gas shortage...(yes folks, *this* was his tee shirt choice for today!)

yesterday found us hunkered down with an interesting weather event raging outside our windows.Little Man's predictions of that low pressure keeping us in check were right on...that storm surpassed hanna in interest (higher tide, higher sustained winds over a longer period, greater amount of rainfall) & it brought the ever-popular jim cantore back to our beach. (but our favorite camera crew found themselves landlocked in colorado...hey, R.!!!) any attempts at non-science school yesterday went away with our winds, in favor of instrument readings, graphs, charts, radars, & sky observationsbasically it was Little Man's dream day. but it is not all fun for him; it is also a responsibility...he is a national weather service weather spotter for our county.for all our interesting weather & thanks to Little Man's connections, yesterday gave us a first...a call from the national weather service to let us know that we were in the path of a tornado! not cool! the call came at the very moment we were in the middle of a torrential downpour &, of course, we could see nothing. talk about some nail-biting drama. we don't exactly live in the most tornado-proof home (not one room without windows & no basement), so we make do in our ground-level, non-living space that has only the teeniest window.we never did see or hear (thank God!) the confirmed tornado (i had a much closer call in may) but we did watch the storm that spawned it pass over our bay in the distance. this morning i could find nothing in the local news online to indicate harm or damage from that storm cell, & we are now enjoying gentle winds & bright sun with a higher-than-normal tide this morning.