Yay for May!

 Yay for May!

Yes, my birthday is in May. But this isn’t about my birthday.

Yes, Mother’s Day is in May. But this isn’t about Mother’s Day either. (If you want to read a wonderful Mother’s Day post, click HERE. I’m pretty sure last year’s Mother’s Day was the best yet for these five mothers in the story.)

Nope, this first weekend in May we are celebrating the boy turned man named Joshua. Joshua Thomas or JT was born in May, too. But the real celebration is that this May, Joshua is graduating from the University of Cincinnati. He is the oldest and first of the grandkids to graduate from college. 

My heart is full.

Joshua’s degree is in “Information Technology-Cybersecurity,” but he is so much more than a techie. 

Joshua’s interest in cars offered an immediate connection to Mike when they met roughly four years ago. In fact, when Mike took Joshua to the Don Garlits Museum in 2023, I thought they’d never come back! And JT loves the fact that Mike and my late husband, Tom, were friends when they were young.

But JT is more than a car buff, too. Joshua has loved trains all of his life. From playing with Thomas the Tank Engine in his living room to learning how to drive a real train this past year. 

The man is also a Star Wars guru. Here’s a picture of him when I was in Ohio briefly and he took me to the latest Star Wars movie of the time.

May the Force be with you!

Joshua is the one who named me “Doll.”  Seriously. 

I was holding the toddler JT at the time. My daughter told me he called me “Doll.” Allison pointed to people in the room and he named them. When she got to me, she asked, “Who is that holding you?”

Joshua looked at me, put his little hand to my face and patted my cheek. “Doll!” he called out. “My Doll Baby!” It stuck. Now, many people  call me “Doll”.

They may call me Doll, but all of my grands are “my doll babies.” It’s true. No matter how old they get. But to watch this first one graduate from college fills my heart with so much joy! The first of eight. 

I’m ready. Sort of. I think with each grandchild as with each of my daughters, I take joy in their successes while also harboring a longing for those little arms reaching for me…those appreciative chocolate ice cream coated smiles and laughing eyes. I celebrated the first steps, first words, and the first day of school for each of my grandchildren. Yet I know there will be even more “firsts” ahead. 

Still... I refuse to wish my life away. I embrace this first. I treasure the moment when that hand that once patted my cheek and named me Doll, shakes the hand of the Dean of his college at the University of Cincinnati and takes his first steps…into the wonderous life God has in store for him. 

Buried Treasure from the Bottom of the Ocean

Newsflash! While in the Florida Keys, Mike and I found buried treasure. Okay, I collected most of it, but Mike humored me by not laughing, helping some, and most of all, allowing me to haul my treasure home. 

While in the Keys, we did more than gather information for a book I intend to work on this next winter, we visited the sandbar. The sandbar is a gathering place for boaters in the Atlantic and not too far from where we stayed.

Lots of Boats: You can see 
Manny's Food Barge...

We enjoy the sandbar. I was first introduced to it on our honeymoon three years ago. It was then I met Manny, a Cuban man who runs a food barge catering to visitors on the sandbar. We wade through the clear blue water to get our fresh grilled hamburgers then head back to our boat to eat. It’s fun. 

I love watching fish swim by as we sit on the boat and eat lunch. What a view!  The last day of our visit this time, a large tarpon lazily made his way across the sandbar a few feet from our boat. We’ve seen a variety of fish there. 

On this trip we took three days of our trip to enjoy the sun and water on the sandbar. On the second day, I found a few pieces of broken, bleached out coral. With my feet. Yep, I’d be walking along and feel the hard stones in the soft sand. 

I started digging. With my feet. I didn’t have a diving mask or goggles so the foot trick seemed the best option. 

My treasure! Yes, the treasure 
chest resembles a 
sandwich box from Manny's...

I’d move my feet around and when I found something that felt hard and rough, I used my toes to grab bits and pieces of coral. I came home with a treasure of coral pieces as well as new information and ideas for my novel. 

Imagine! Buried treasure from the ocean. 

Of course, the real treasure is spending time with someone you love, playing in the water, soaking in the sun, and eating hamburgers grilled by Manny on his food barge. 

 Of Sun and Sand; Of Water and Wonder

If you follow my blog, you can probably guess where Mike and I are right now celebrating our anniversary.

Although I had visited the Keys on a couple of occasions prior to marrying Mike, he introduced me to the calm, beautiful Key called Islamorada. We stay at a resort known as Kon-Tiki. And yes, that’s where our cat, Tiki, got her name.

Kon-Tiki isn’t fancy but it is beautiful. The water, the tropical flora and fauna of the islands, the sand bar where we can see fish swim by, listen to music of our era, and eat sandwiches we buy from Manny, a local entrepreneur who drives a “food boat” instead of “food truck.”

Yep that's me in the boat
on the sandbar! 

The restaurants on the isle are excellent. Hey, the competition is tough. You either offer your best or go under. And each visit we discover new restaurants to enjoy. We still have a few favorites and each time we add a few new favorites. 

Of course there are tourist attractions. We’ve checked a couple of them out. Like the museum of diving and the 1935 Hurricane Monument. On our first visit together, we went to an attraction called “The Theater of the Sea.” It was sort of a miniature Sea World.

Mike took a picture of me 
with a HEAVY diving 
helmet!

There are tourist shops and such, but the real draw for us is the peace of the water and the quiet of the sunsets.  We revel in the renewing energy of the sandbar and the ocean life sharing the space with us.

Mike brought me here for our honeymoon and as long as we can make it happen, we plan to celebrate every anniversary here. 

Do you have that “special to you” place in your life? I’d love to hear about it.

 

 Kiddos From “Up the Country”

I have three daughters. Danielle, the middle of the three lives in Wisconsin. This past week she arrived in Florida with her husband and four children. Mike and I knew they were coming. We looked forward to their visit. 

We readied the house and stocked the refrigerator. Mike made sure the boats had gas and the fishing equipment was in order.  

Yes, they did a few tourist things like visiting Homosassa Springs and a “dolphin experience” in Clearwater. That was fun.

They also went to visit the University of Florida, since the oldest of these four grands is preparing for college. 

They found a drive-in movie in Ocala and played a bit of golf. They went swimming in the pool at my mom’s. Several times.

And they spent some time with us. That was a treat. Especially when Mike taught Matthias not only how to fish, but how to use a trolling motor. AND…the teen caught the biggest bass we’ve pulled out of these waters to date.

We enjoyed meals together, including Mike’s grilled hamburgers. That is a special treat when you leave the cold temperatures of Wisconsin for the  warm Florida sunshine.

“So, what was the best part of your vacation?” I asked.

 “Golfing and the dolphins,” the seventeen-year-old told me.

His fifteen-year-old brother? “I liked the trip to Homosassa Springs and the beach and I liked catching that fish!”

 “Swimming!” was the choice my twelve-year-old granddaughter readily chose as her favorite.

And the nine-year-old? “The dolphins!” 

What do you think would have been

your favorite Florida experience?

Creativity is a Frame of Mind

 Creativity… a Frame of Mind

 

Many people associate creativity with arts and crafts. But it is so much more. Creativity is a frame of mind. 

It is the openness to recognize solutions to problems using what you have available.

 

Likely you’ve heard the saying “Necessity is the mother of invention.” It’s true. But there is more than need driving the creative mind. 

 

Think about it.   

Saw this at an arts and crafts show.

 

Creativity may be fueled by a dream or desire. The Wright brothers wanted to fly. They couldn’t grow wings, so they figured out a way to build some. 

 

Creativity is the outcome of solving a problem when the “typical” tools aren’t available or the solution isn’t readily visible.  

Creativity is being confident enough to take a first step toward a possible solution.

Remember Appollo 13? If you watched the movie, consider the scene where a group of scientists and engineers need to develop something to address the need for oxygen to help the stranded astronauts. They are forced to consider what the astronauts have on the space capsule to use to build what they need to assure all three of them will make it back to earth. 

 

It’s a true story.   

Our "Lending Library" is made of
an ice box with a Barbie doll house roof.

 

Sometimes creativity means observing something in one area and applying to another. 

 

The invention of Velcro comes to mind. A man by the name of George de Mestral noticed the cockle burrs attaching themselves to his dog’s thick fur. The hooks and loops of Velcro soon became a useful fastener for clothing. 

 

I often meet people who tell me they don’t have a creative bone in their body. I find that hard to believe. Some people don’t think they are creative. Maybe you are one of those people. 

 

The truth is… you may be more creative than you think. 

 

You may be that person who can pull random items from the refrigerator and create a delicious meal for your family without a second thought. 

 

This Gal at The Diner was Creative!

Maybe you’re the one who figured out a way to move a heavy, awkward piece of furniture across the room without scratching the floor.  

 

You could have been the one who punched holes in garbage bags and donned them as ponchos to protect you from the rain. Silly? No. Creative. 

 

Quite simply, being creative is more than arts and crafts.  

 

Creativity is an openness to the notion that there are multiple ways to solve a problem. 

 

How does creativity play out in your life? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. 

One more picture...

Mike used a Boot Jack to practice his putting!

 

 

 

You Are Where You Need to Be

 “You are exactly where I want you to be.”

Those words trigger a powerful memory for me. Mike and I go to Stable Faith Cowboy Church in Brooksville, Florida. And yes, it is a true cowboy church, rooted, if you will, in agriculture. 

A church devoted to planting seeds and reaping crops…both literally and figuratively. 

Stable Faith Cowboy Church

Back to this past Sunday. I was sitting in church. The music was, as usual, wonderful. A thought came to me. Almost audible. It was a thought I’d had before. More than once. It was as if God was speaking directly to me saying, “You are exactly where you need to be.”

The first time this happened was in India. My youngest daughter and I traveled with a group from her church to work with young women who had been rescued from human trafficking. I say “women,” but the truth is, some of the girls we served were mere children.

Kendall asked me to take this trip with her the spring after I lost my husband. Tom died in late October of 2014.  I agreed, then almost immediately considered backing out.  Instead, I prayed about it. The trip was scheduled for April 2015. I decided to leave it up to God. 

I had a valid passport, but it turns out that for the trip, it had to be valid for at least six months after the end date of the trip. Mine was shy by a month. I applied for a new passport, silently thinking this may be God’s way of letting me out of the whole thing. 

The new passport was quickly returned to me and good for another stretch. So, Kendall and I raised the funds, attended the training, boarded the plane in April of 2015, and traveled halfway around the world to serve these sweet, hurting girls. 

For me? It was the broken serving the broken. 

The program was simple. We offered something akin to VBS (Vacation Bible School) and were sitting on the floor in a large room at a hotel of sorts in India. We were waiting for one small group to finish their task before moving on to the next activity. I felt someone behind me. I turned, but there was nobody there. I stretched my legs out in front of me and looked up at the still blank screen, waiting for the music to begin and lyrics to pop up. 

Inked Hands...Serving Others...

That’s when I heard that voice. “You are exactly where you need to be.”  I turned around. There was still no one behind me. I didn’t say anything about it for a long time. Afterall, people might think I’m crazy.

In 2017, one of my former students from the college contacted me and asked me to take her place as a fourth-grade teacher in Kosovo for the 2017-2018 school year. She wanted to come back to the States to give birth to her first child.  I prayed about it and three weeks later boarded an airplane for Europe. 

A mere three weeks? Yep. I had a valid passport. God can see around the corners.

That year was a year of healing for me. I grew not only in my faith, but I realized I was a capable adult in my own right. By myself. Not as Tom’s wife. Not as a mom. Me. I returned to the United States when the school year ended.

Those same words, “You are exactly where you need to be,” washed over me when I married Mike in 2023. 

And then again, as I said, this past Sunday. 

I may not know exactly why. Yet. But I trust in God’s plan for me. He has never let me down. Moreover, I know He never will.

Luck of the Irish

March brings with it the beginning of Spring. I love that. And as I write this, it brings to mind the celebrations surrounding St. Patrick’s Day. I must admit, though, growing up I had no idea why we wore green on March 17 and why we would get pinched if we didn’t have a smattering of green somewhere on our person.

Meet Author Cindy Thomson
And yes, that's me with my granddaughter.

One teacher I had in elementary school handed

each of us not wearing anything green a piece

of green construction paper. We traced around

a plastic pattern and cut out shamrocks. We

pinned them on our clothes before lunch or

recess to keep us from getting pinched.  

I had no idea why anyone would pinch us, but 

that was the concern.

I didn’t learn anything about St. Patrick or the

 day celebrated in his honor until third or fourth grade.

And then as an adult, I met Cindy Thomson. 

Cindy is an author living in Ohio. Cindy writes

books set in Ireland. Her books are so well

written, you can smell the damp earth beneath

the feet of the characters and feel the crisp 

chill in the air. 

If you have any notion you’d like an authentic

Irish tale, check out one of her stories. You can

find them on Amazon. 

And I included a picture of my sweet

granddaughter when she and I went to the Irish 

Festival in Ohio. She was thrilled to meet Cindy 

Thomson in person.

Did you wear green on St. Patrick's Day? Just curious...

And...What other holiday traditions left you confused?