WITH THIS BISCUIT I THEE WED

A few days ago I noticed my friend Giulia from Rome changed her FB status from single to engaged. I sent her a message suggesting we get on chat soon to talk about the big news.

Me: Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? You're engaged?

G: Oh yeah! I'm fallin in love baby.

Me: Tell me abou it. I'm so happy for you!

G: He's a beautiful and good guy. I meet him by other friend and I love it. He is smart.

Me: AWESOME! So happy you are happy! When will you get married.

G: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. Don't go too fast.

Me: You are engaged so next you get married right?

G: Yes but he did not give me a ring.

Me: ?

G: Maybe we get married in a couple of years. For now I'll make at home pasta and biscuit for him.

Me: ?

G: I hand made pasta for him. Fettucini. Is an Italian type of pasta.

Me: I am glad you found someone. You deserve it.

G: Thanks, Grace. If we get married we invite you.

And I am officially moving to Italy where engagement means making a man homemade pasta and a biscuit. DONE AND DONE.

HOT! HOT! HOT!

Some times I have to stop and chuckle at my quirky endeavors. These FANTASTIC ideas to prove I am a cool quirky mom. Fantastic ideas that don't always go exactly according to plan. For example..........

The weather yesterday was gorgeous. Warm sunshine and a light breeze, which compared to the 60 mph dust bowl the day before, is damn near Roatan for us. I have enjoyed my firepit once since I bought 1107 and so I decided to LIGHT.THAT.BABY.ON.FIRE. I invited Poppy and B over. Beebs and I headed to The Lowes (every business in Spearman starts with THE: the bank, the dentist, the post office, the drug store). I'm not a huge hot dawg fan other than at baseball games but I decided what the hey. We bought franks and buns and even marshmallows. Betty helped me make roasters out of hangers.

Lord help me as I keep thinking of Christmas circa de 1990 when my Honey had a 'Weenie Roast' instead of the traditional turkey and dressing. Beans and weenies. LAWD. Technically you eventually turn into your grandmother right? I'm getting completely off track.

We ventured out into the warm day and I filled the pit with old fence posts and Betty helped me gather branches from our pecan tree. The pit was already filled with leaves so starting the fire was simple. Poppy and B came over 20 minutes later and I, being the firemaster and all, kept adding wood. Everyone seemed pretty excited about this whole afternoon adventure until we sat around the fire pit and realized it was hot enough to scorch an entire pig in a matter of seconds.

We all switched positions 8 times but never really found the appropriate angle that would not burn your face off. Betty winced and retreated for the house as her cheeks were already wind burned from skiing. Poppy dropped her weenie three or four times finally just letting it burn and resolving to just 'wash the ashes off'. B finally found a heavy rock so he could just turn his rotisserie style. The whole scene was pretty hilarious and overall was an epic FAIL. Betty said, "Next time we better just try that in the fireplace."

BUT. BUT. Not really a fail at all. We spent an afternoon outdoors together in the sunshine. We laughed at ourselves and tried really hard to get the job done. We found a new way to get a tan and taught Betty to be innovative. My grandmother is quirky. My mother is quirky and I am quirky. And although Betty seemed somewhat annoyed with her charred hot dog, I'm pretty certain she'll come up with her own quirky ideas someday. She may even be the one saying screw it and dusting off the ashes.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

HEARTS AND ARROWS

On a flight home recently, I sat in the front of the plane which is very rare since I am almost always on the B team. An older woman and what appeared to be her grandson sat next to me. At some point during boarding, Dad (a SWA employee) stepped on the plane to give his boy a kiss goodbye. See you next time and a kiss on the head. Of course, I wondered.....divorced? Widowed? Simply a single parent? Whatever the situation, I knew the boy, Jake, was leaving dad's town. Sad, I thought. But also sweet. There was certainly a tenderness in dad, grandma and the boy. Jake was anything but blue. Yellow in fact, carmel eyes with thick black lashes and a radiant smile. He seemed articulate, kind and connected. Throughout the flight, I listend to them chat and laugh and reminisce over a great weekend. When I glanced over, I noticed they were playing tic-tac-toe. However, grandma was not using O's as her mark. Instead, after each X Jake put down, she placed a perfect little heart in his path. He declared their game to be named Hearts and Arrows.

I melted. I have no idea how such a tiny gesture touched me in such an enormous way, but within an instant, I knew how much that little boy is loved. A warm towel after bath time, holiding the door open, giving a compliment, acknowledging a mistake. Sometimes the tiniest, most subtle expression can change someone's day. Perhaps I was premature in feeling sad for Jake. We constantly expect this BIG HUGE GRAND LOVE. Big feelings, big sacrifice, big payoff. MOVE MOUNTAINS! But I believe, a compilation of these small, barely detectable things can be an abundance in someone's life. Maybe if each and every day you commit one small act of kindness, you can make an impact. As Jake exited the plane, he looked back at me with a toothy grin and said I win. I win at Hearts and Arrows.

That best portion of a good man's life, His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love. -William Wodsworth

THE WEIGHT

The Weight
by Linda Gregg

Two horses were put together in the same paddock.
Night and day. In the night and in the day
wet from heat and the chill of the wind
on it. Muzzle to water, snorting, head swinging
and the taste of bay in the shadowed air.
The dignity of being. They slept that way,
knowing each other always.
Withers quivering for a moment,
fetlock and the proud rise at the base of the tail,
width of back. The volume of them, and each other's weight.
Fences were nothing compared to that.
People were nothing. They slept standing,
their throats curved against the other's rump.
They breathed against each other,
whinnied and stomped.
There are things they did that I do not know.
The privacy of them had a river in it.
Had our universe in it. And the way
its border looks back at us with its light.
This was finally their freedom.
The freedom an oak tree knows.