Alright. So the comments were up and running, or so I thought. They're *set* to be published automatically, but for some reason are not. I will remember this in the future and publish your comments as quickly as possible. There. Problem solved.
Garden is coming along nicely; planted some day lilies, pincushion flowers, and something called "firewitch" somethingorother (yes, I bought it because of the name), and because of the now fairly well established raspberry (and strawberry!) plants, the back half of the garden is beginning to resemble more of a garden and less Giant Sucking Pit of Dirt. I would like my Buddhist friend Dan to know that I did contemplate killing a little spider I came across in my diggings, only because it was of the variety that has infiltrated our kitchen and because while I don't mind the current tenants, I'm not exactly looking for more... but then I remembered Dan's rap (scroll down; somewhere in one of them there's a Buddhist-inspired "don't kill stuff" message), and so, like the kitchen spiders, I simply let it go on its merry way. Also, I'm trying to think of all the pesky mosquitoes that will be killed - not by my hands! - if I let the spiders have their way. Be free, spiders. Multiply. Just please, not in my kitchen. Greg gets all squirmy.
Subtitle: Meditation on My Mind...
Greg got his invite for his annual retreat last week, and with Dan bein' around the blog and bein' Buddhist - his sister, also an old and dear friend of mine, is on a three-year retreat right now - I've been thinking about how I keep putting off my own retreat. A few years ago, I became aware of a silent retreat offered twice a year by the Unitarian Church by my old apartment. Oprah did a show (gag if you will) around that same time on her own silent retreat (quiet show, huh? heh.. heheh... nevermind) that kind of got my noggin rolling. If Oprah can do it, why can't I? Although I realize there are an infinite number of things Oprah can do that I can't - and for good reason, like, uh, I'm not a bizillionaire - this one struck me.
News flash! I talk a lot. Living with Greg has, among countless other things, taught me to be a better listener. Although I occasionally protest and whine when he tells others of my chattiness (and yes, it's with love, I know), truth be told - I am a communicator. That is what I do. I communicate in every way I can figure out how to, whether it's verbally, in written word, or through music. Little transmitter, that's me. And I can see where living in close proximity to such a transmitter can, on occasion, cause headache, joint and muscle pain, and a general feeling of irritability. And even though sometimes I'm tempted (and occasionally succumb to the the temptation) to tell my beloved partner, "HEY - there may come a day when you'd give anything just to hear me babble on," the man has a point.
Look at me, talking on and on about how I want to stop talking.
Point being, I really want to go on that retreat this year. The fall retreat is in September, and being up north in the woods around that time of year is always appealing to me. LET THE RECORD SHOW that I will shut my pie hole for three days this year. Mark your calendars. If there's anything you've been waiting to tell me but couldn't get a word in edgewise (and I sincerely do apologize), that's the time to do it. I'll have Greg give me his cell phone, and for three days, you can all call me and rant to your hearts' content(s?), and I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RESPOND! Family! Friends! It's the moment you've been waiting for! Don't let it pass you by!
In other news, Maddie officially has a loose tooth. She's been telling me for a month that one is loose, and while it was not actually so a month ago, the wiggles have been tested and affirmed and there is a definite wiggliness going on in her mouth. At first, her reports were denied by myself because I thought they were sympathy wiggles: Juliana has lost her two front bottom teeth. But now? Wiggles. Just one. I give it a few weeks.
"Stephanie says I should eat lots of apples and it'll fall out."
We'll see. Luckily for us, she doesn't have a little sister to help the process along. Seeing as Tracey didn't publish this story (!!!?), I'll have to do the honors (briefly):
Juliana lost one of her bottom front teeth, and the one next to it shortly after became loose. Instead of waiting for the second one to work its way out, Juliana came up with a plan. She has in her posession a pair of binoculars on which there is attached a string. One side of this string has become unattached, but dangles still from the binoculars. At the end of this string is a bead.
Juliana - unbeknownst to her mother - took this bead into her mouth, attached to the string, attached to the binoculars, and gave the binoculars to her sister. And says, to Ava, "PULL."
End result? Juliana comes barrelling down the stairs to her parents in the living room, blood streaming down her chin and proudly presenting her second "lost" tooth, with Ava following closely behind, binoculars in hand, triumphantly proclaiming, "I DID IT, MOMMY! I PUH-ED IT OUT!"
End scene.
Posted by stephanie at May 24, 2006 08:25 AM