Gratitude.

As this year draws to a close, I have cause to pause and consider all the things that have been so great about 2008.
Truth be told, I really need to just think happy thoughts, so I'm doing this as an exercise in gratitude.
What follows are just a few of the people and things and memories I'm grateful for this year.
Oh.
And, this could go on Ad Naseum, so just know that much....
This is Lauren Grace Vitiello and Luke Townsend. I'm pretty sure they were sent to me for a reason. They are full of love and acceptance and they are pretty much normal people. Without them I could not fully appreciate my mastery of the Egg Sandwich (Samich) or my ability to be 47.

This would be Justin Thomas and Chelsea Maureen. Halloween in the 80s. I think of this picture a lot and it makes me happy for both Halloween AND Christmas.

These are The Littlest Monkeys. My nephews with a TOTALLY non-soluble ink pad. It makes me remember how dangerous it is to be on the phone, with toddlers in the house, and have it go all quiet. Non-soluble is the key word here. But, they will grow new skin.

Aaahhhhh.... And this would be Felix. My Grandson (aka: The Child Capable of NO Wrong) I think he'll vote Democratic...maybe Libertarian. I can tell from that smile that he's got my back and nothing bad will happen. He won't watch TV and he's going to read Keroac before he's 10.

These are just my TOP 5 REASONS to be grateful for this past year.

My photo files are FAT with more reasons. Stay tuned. Film at eleven.

Fourth Grade Class Rocks the Adler

Yesterday I got to go with Storm's class to the Adler Planetarium in downtown Chicago. It is right on Lake Michigan nestled on this little peninsula that appears to house a few good places (mostly the Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum) and made me appreciate how land-locked Kansas is.
I know that Lake Michigan is just a lake, but...seriously, it's huge. It felt more like being near an ocean.
We got on a big ol school bus with, like, 60 fourth grade students and spent an action-packed 5 hours (or so) burning calories and learning about planetary phenomena.
What follows are my Top Four Favorite Pictures of the Day.

How To Be Spiritually Green

This is my little buddy, Auron Alfons Lorenz.
I know the picture is fuzzy, but he had just satisfied the physical need to touch the lens.
The hat was new.
It was cold.
The day after we got the hat he got sicker than a dog. Made me wish I'd been paying closer attention.
As we speak (as they say) - he is sound asleep on the couch to my left in my room.
Auron may be the guy who is in charge of teaching me to follow my heart... go with the flow... Chillax.
When he's hungry: He eats. He eats a wide variety of things and very rarely craves crap food. He likes his milk at a pretty set time every day...always about the same amount. He hates broccoli. He is a three year old who can be tricked into eating cauliflower in a wide range of ways and enjoys being a carnivore.
He wants to play with blocks almost every day at about the same time. He's pretty insistant that we re-do whatever it is that we did the day before, and that we add a little sumptin sumptin new every so often (to keep it fresh for the kid).
He wants to read either A) The Cat in the Hat Comes Home (NOT the original Cat in the Hat, mind you - rather some hybrid that doesn't have the perfect cadence ifound n the original. *Jeeeesh*) or B) Elmo's Gigantic Freakin Book of Pop Uppiness. I don't know what it's called, but Auron has memorized it and it's had a huge part in helping him with colors, numbers and the alphabet. He's amazing. The book grows old on about the 75th read, but it's one of those "Don't fix it if it isn't broke" things.
He naps when he's tired. He has to be really tired, sure. But, eventually... he will almost always fall asleep in the late afternoon. Then he will sleep like a rock and be a TOTAL 3-year-old about waking up. But, he obviously needs the nap and he will always take one when left to his own devices.
I've come to think that there is an intrinsic value in choosing to live this way and that we're denyed that opportunity by virtue of actually having a life (being a grown-up). But, I think there's got to be some way to restore a little more attention to these details. There's got to be a way to pay the bills, have fun, be true to yourself but STILL have a nap and eat blueberries for dinner sometimes.
I think I'm sleepy.
And a little hungry.
For chicken nuggets.
and Ranch dressing.
and red cherries.

Every Once In A While

... You meet somebody, or a grouping of somebodies, who makes you just have hope for the future.....
It's a perfectly fine blend of philosophy and politics and androgyny and optimism. And, dimples and youth and beauty and hope.
All rosy-cheeked and passionate and hell-bent on this one point of view.
Just for tonight I'm going to sleep completely peacefully knowing that the seed has been planted and the future is, seriously, bright.
I'm just glad you are here.
XOXO

Have You Ever Just Ached To Kiss Somebody?

I can hardly believe how badly I want to just hug this little Felix and kiss him till he giggles. I'm a total sucker for a baby in a sweater, and when he's my grandson...I'm weak and ready to jump on a plane tonight. Autumn does this to me, but this is the first time in ages I've actually ached.

Am I a Babysitter, An Au Pair or A Nanny?

Sometimes I just can't sleep. I think my people are hard-wired that way. I hear my daughter talk about it some. I dreamed of a huge river boat run aground then woke to discover I was worried. Ivan's got a report that is due on Friday and I have to get a physical for Auron, like, yesterday. And, now for reasons that completely escape me: Storm is the one who won't go to bed. Well, actually none of them will go to bed, but she used to at least pretend like she was.
Life is good in Chicago.
Everyone seems to be adapting well.
We haven't been asked to leave any public places this week.
And, yet... here I am... wide awake.
Awesome.

God Lives In The Attic

I chose this image only because I was looking for something a little vintage in an illustration, it's only coincidence that I happen to line up with it politically.
Today's sermon, boys and girls, is all about God.
I've taken this job, y'know, where I've been trusted with the well-being of three young and beautiful children. They are good kids who have done a pretty great job of raising themselves (insofar as any kid can). Their parents have had broken hearts and little time to oversee many of the things that typical parents take for granted.
Not long after I arrived, the 7-year old boy asked me if we could pray that night. He wanted the candles in my room lit, the lights turned off and he wanted us all to kneel Hallmark-card style on the bed with the palms of our hands pressed together and our eyes turned upwards. He'd seen it on a card once and that's the sum total of what he knew about praying.
So, I taught them the "God Blesses" portion of prayer....God bless mommy and God bless daddy...and all the way down the line till God had properly blessed Pikachu.
Then we moved on to formal requests, "God, please help me be a good boy tomorrow and tell no lies and not hit my brother..." Those were shorter than the "God Blesses" and stopped short of "God, please let me eat as much candy tomorrow as I want."
And, we were almost done, and my trusty 7-year old companion said, "Does God live in the attic?" And, I kind of crooked my head to the side, in that "I'm not sure what you mean" kinda way. And he held his pose and pointed to his up-turned eyes. He shrugged his shoulders and explained that every picture he'd ever seen of somebody praying, they were always looking up. And, up is the attic, ergo: God lives in the attic.
This was the precise moment where I decided that I was raised as a Christian, and to stay true to my (albeit, loosely woven) beliefs, I had to start some kind of God and heaven and angels dialog with these kids.
Today they attended their first church service. It was actually their first church ever for anything, I think. And it went well. And there was this amazing African-American woman preacher who was ALL over it. The net out of her sermon today was to follow your heart.
I cried.
Yea. I'm a total emotional bomb. Ask anybody who's ever married me or been raised by me.
But, I think I'm doing the right thing here, and I'm more sure than ever that God probably does live in the attic....