the aussies have finally landed on the continent
and the little joeys have been like this since their arrival in nyc.
can’t wait until they hit ann arbor on sunday night.
—
jet lag is your soul trying to catch up after flying.
ryan ross
Jun23
Tag Archives: family
Jun21
Searching for a Solution: How Two Dads are Making a Big Difference
my brother, scott,
who is also the father of my nephew, hazen,
who i miss every single day.
on aljazeera america.
once again, trying to spread the word and not giving up the fight.
https://www.facebook.com/SolvingKidsCancer
In case you missed the segment Solving Kids’ Cancer which aired on Al Jazeera America,
here is the link below:
—
credits: aljazeera america, javier perez artwork, solving kids cancer
Jun15
The poet is a madman lost in adventure. – Paul Verlaine
in memory of my father, a funny and gentle man
who was about as far as you could get from a bad ass.
but instead,
he was just my dad
who was a busy madman in the ad world during the week.
but
who i watched this movie with,
many times.
along with every other
wwll, madcap comedy, western, and crime caper,
on saturday afternoons.
in our family room,
with sandwiches, and burnt popcorn and lemonade.
thanks for the gifts
of shared time,
a boundless imagination,
and a love of the magic of the movies.
—
For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake.
Alfred Hitchcock
Jun7
the aussies are coming! the aussies are coming!
and i couldn’t be happier.
part of my family lives down under.
and soon
they will be up top with us for a while.
and i will have my dream
of all of the daughters
and all of the sons in law
and all of the grand babies
in one place at one time.
and it is sure to be an adventure.
—
Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.
Gail Lumet Buckley
May21
Nothing surpasses the beauty and elegance of a bad idea. – Craig Bruce
it seemed like such a good idea at the time.
brilliant, in fact.
we were teenagers, with time to kill, and we had a half day of school.
i invited my friends over for an afternoon of watching our favorite soap opera, all my children.
all sorts of crazy fun was going on with luke and laura and the people of pine valley
and we were going to watch it in style.
my friends were happy to come along for the ride.
this is how i imagined us watching the show that afternoon….
reality was a bit different however.
we took a fan outside,
wheeled the old tv out on a cart,
plugged everything in with a giant extension cord,
got the lounge chairs and drinks in place on the patio,
put on the sunglass and the sunscreen,
whipped up a huge buffet of all of the mini frozen pizzas in the house,
and then.
my mom came home.
and shut down the whole operation.
something about feeding the whole neighborhood
and moving the entire living room to the patio.
and trashing the kitchen.
and as we cleaned up and put everything back,
we made plans to do it the next week at my friend’s house.
it was kind of like a teenage version of ‘cat in the hat’.
except my mom came home in the middle of it.
—
Happy people plan actions, they don’t plan results.
Dennis Wholey
May12
Children remind us to treasure the smallest of gifts, even in the most difficult of times. – Allen Klein
and even when your special chocolate cupcake melts in the car,
you just stick the candles in sideways,
light them up,
and blow them out.
and you sing in celebration.
and you rename it a molten hot lava cupcake.
and you can then eat that volcanic overflow with a spoon and a smile.
May11
Life is the flower for which love is the honey. – Victor Hugo
and on this mother’s day,
i am reminded of when my girls were young and we had no money,
but we had each other,.
and they went to the neighbor’s garden to pick flowers for me,
as a very special mother’s day gift.
they knew i loved flowers.
and they did so fearlessly.
and they didn’t worry about getting in trouble.
and they hoped i wouldn’t be mad.
and when they told me,
i hoped the neighbors, if they saw them picking,
understood why, and wouldn’t be mad.
these flowers meant the world to me.
and they were dirty and smiling and proud to have a gift.
and i hugged them and was so happy to be their mother.
to all of the mothers and children out there,
this day is for you.
and to all of their neighbors.
if you see a child picking flowers in your garden today,
please understand and smile,
and wish them a happy mother’s day.
May3
“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” ― T.S. Eliot
so very proud to be attending baby daughter h’s graduation,
it has been a long and winding road,
with 2 small babies, a hubby, a career change, charity work, lots of fiestas, lots of challenges,
and pure grit.
no one in our little family takes the easy road to get places,
and i think we’ve been made all the stronger for it.
and i’m happy she’s following her own uncharted paths.
and now she will join the ranks of those who teach the little people in our world,
and they will be lucky to have her, just as we all are.
and she will encourage them to follow their own paths.
here’s to you, baby daughter, h, with much love and bursting with pride.
—–
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
Charles R. Swindoll
Apr27
six degrees of sexton-ation
we discovered last fall, in blog world, that we were connected, through many different avenues,
and mutual close friends. amazingly, we had never crossed paths in real life. until…..
i attended a wonderful and unusual book signing at our local ann arbor senior center,
with guest author, susie sexton.
susie read and offered anecdotes from her book,
and local Roy Sexton, Susie Duncan Sexton’s son,
(known throughout Michigan for his cabaret style performances),
sang some of his mom’s favorite musical show tunes.
they kept the audience laughing and clapping.
and roy was there to support his mother’s wonderful endeavor.
Susie Duncan Sexton – is a writer, political pundit, arts critic, animal rights advocate, (and mother of Roy) – has her own column on Jennifer Zartman Romano’s “Talk of the Town.” The column offers observations of growing up in a small Indiana town – the culture, the anecdotes, the legends, the gossip, the joys, the heartaches – and what Sexton has learned about life ever since. She also writes a column “Homeward Angle” for the Columbia City Post and Mail, and she recently published two books, “Secrets of an Old Typewriter,” and “More Secrets of an Old Typewriter.”
and just yesterday, i attended son roy’s own book signing,
at a new ann arbor local independent community bookstore, bookbound.
and susie was there to return the favor.
as roy shares a piece from his book, about growing up with films all around him,
susie is happily surprised by a shared love of favorite movies,
with yet another closely connected audience member, john.
roy (snarky and smart blogging movie reviewer), sang,
(accompanied by his longtime friend and fellow theater musician, rebecca biber),
and read and answered questions.
and susie was there to support him.
book bound owners, megan and peter blackshear
(former borders bargain book-buyer extraordanaire)
graciously hosted the event
in support of local authors.
they may have to create a ‘sexton section’ in the store.
only open seven months,
this store has brought a much needed bookstore to the north side of ann arbor.
and roy’s first book,
Reel Roy Reviews Volume 1: Keepin’ it Real.
has been making it’s way around the world.
there were so many sextons, so little time……
and i was so happy to be a part of it all,
and in awe of the heartfelt and mutual support shared by all.
——
links:
Susie’s blog: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5161078.Susie_Duncan_Sexton/blog
Roy’s Blog: http://www.reelroyreviews.com
Susie’s author website: http://www.susieduncansexton.com
Roy’s theatre group: http://www.pennyseats.org
Bookstore: http://www.bookboundbookstore.com
Apr19
It is a happy talent to know how to play. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
the family told me that i’ve established a pattern of putting the grand babies inside of all kinds of stuff.
i say, we are in it together and they put me up to it.
we all had a great laugh when i was giving one of them a ride
in a large plastic container
and the glowing safety sticker on it said,
‘not a toy. this is not meant for play.
do not put your child in this.’
well, i didn’t have my glasses on,
how was i expected to read that?
———
You’re never too old to do goofy stuff. ~
(From the television show Leave it to Beaver, spoken by the character Ward Cleaver )
I didn't have my glasses on.... 