Old Lady Night Robe -- jcarolek

Well, I got the call today. My daughter and her boyfriend/technically now fiancee will be getting married at 5:00 pm on Friday, at their little cottage they rent in Louisa, VA. I will be making the three hour drive to witness this moment, and in attendance will also be one of their good friends, and their landlords!

I asked Jen what I should wear for the occasion and she said, "well, I just bought MY wedding dress from Goodwill."

"Oh, that's great!" said I. "What does it look like?"

"Well," she said, "it's like an old lady's night robe."

OMG...OK...never mind, I'll see it when I get there! I have no doubt she will look lovely in it, but I cannot imagine it myself!

So, a bit concerned that this was maybe going to be a PAJAMA PARTY, I asked what she wanted ME to wear. She said I could wear whatever I wanted...but just not to worry too much about it...after all, HER wedding dress cost her $3.50! (yeah, that's my daughter!)

Daffodils and Memories -- jcarolek

When we moved to Virginia at the end of 1988, we moved into a house that was in the middle of the woods. With a gravel and dirt (heavy emphasis on the DIRT) road, a quarter mile long and too narrow for two cars to pass, as the access to our new home, we definitely got to know our neighbors well...immediately. Three houses were serviced by this road, ours being the "end of the the line", not because the road itself ended, but because it became such a bog just after our driveway, that passage beyond was impossible.

Just a bunch of monkeys? -- jcarolek

When I was a kid, we had a monkey....well, actually, we had two over my childhood, but the monkey of which I write is Chico...the number two monkey....the capucian. When we moved to England in 1968 Chico had to go into quarantine for a period of months. While in quarantine, Dad arranged for Chico to have a little "dental work." Unlike our first monkey, Impy, a squirrel monkey, born and raised in the wild, but instinctively gentle with children, Chico reacted to all, children, adults, family, strangers, in similar fashion....

Today -- jcarolek

When I was a senior in high school, I, and my best friend, sang a song in my senior recital. She was actually a year behind me in school, but all members of the advanced choral class participated in the senior recital. Becky sang the melody and I sang the harmony. We are/were both sopranos so, the song we chose was one that suited both of our voices. "Today"....sung originally, I think, by John Denver.

Before the recital began, Becky and I were "running late," a not-too-uncommon occurrence for us. Becky and I still had our purses on our shoulders and we KNEW we could not go on stage with them. So Becky said she'd go put them up

He flies through the air -- jcarolek

I believe I was in second grade when I learned the song in school.
"He flies through the air with the greatest of ease
That daring young man on the flying trapeze
His actions are graceful, all girls he does please,
And my love he has stolen away...."

Funny, I'm sure the words I recall are not precisely correct, but they are how I learned it and how I remember it....and I wonder WHY it was a song taught in second grade???

Another I recall, learned at about the same time, was about a train called the "Dummy"

"I got on the Dummy but didn't

Not much like a fairy - jcarolek

Today was a beautiful day, chilly, but bursting with sunshine. The morning started out well, with hubby being surprised by his Easter basket I had prepared while he slept last night. Why he was surprised, I have no idea. I have been making an Easter basket for him every year since we were married in 1999. Still, having no children to thrill any longer, I guess it's pretty funny to seem HIM act like a big kid when he spies an overflowing Easter basket!

I was reflecting back on the days when my children were small and Easter was about discovery of hidden eggs, delight in the chocolate laden Easter baskets, and donning

Once upon a time -- jcarolek

When my daughter was very young, under four years old, she used to have a favorite pastime. She loved to stand in the center of the couch, looking up at the family portrait that hung on the wall behind the couch. She would stare at the images of her father, mother, older brother and herself as an infant, for long periods of time...and all the while she was smiling.

It was cute to see, but I wondered what was going

Cape Cod or Colonial -- jcarolek

In 1963, upon returning to the U.S. from Cyprus, we moved into our first "new" home. Dad and Mom had entrusted the oversight of the construction process to Grandad, as trying to keep tabs on such a project from half a world away would have been virtually impossible. Our new house was in Bowie, MD, and the "model" selected by my parents was the "Cape Cod."

Growing up in this house, I became well versed in the "reason behind" the selection of this particular model over the three other models offered in this community of homes built by Levitt. Models NOT selected were the "Rambler" -- single story, three bedroom, L shaped, left or right bend option, the "Colonial" -- two story, three/four bedrooms, with or without a front "porch", and the "Country Club" -- two story, five bedrooms (I think), front porch. The "Cape Cod" offered two stories, four bedrooms, two baths, and a front porch.

We were going to live there -- jcarolek

Tim and I are 15 months apart in age, I being the elder sibling. We have an older sister and three younger brothers, but Tim and I were somehow "connected" in a way different from the others. I think part of it was that we were both dreamers. And we had BIG dreams.

I was thinking about the deserted island we were going to "discover" when we grew up. We already knew exactly what it looked like, for we had spent hours lying on our bellies on the living room floor, a huge sheet of brown paper serving as the "canvas" for our creation. While all of us enjoyed coloring in coloring books at that age, Tim and I found it more enjoyable to work "outside of the lines," creating our own world.

A Kid Again in Spring

When I checked the temperature this morning, it was 60 degrees....for a change...and the sun was shining....sure, the wind was blowing, but its March, of course its blowing. I decided that after I ran my errands, I was going the spend the afternoon outside, working on cutting down the over 4ft tall "grass" that now covers the dry pond floor. I want to get this cut, particularly around the pier so that when the water is back in the pond (end of spring they are now saying) I will be able to get the jon boat and the canoe out with ease.

I purchased a "sling blade," as hubby calls it, to accomplish my mission. I grabbed my camera and headed down to the pond. I took my "before" picture so that when my work was complete, I would be able to take my "after" picture and pride myself on how much I had accomplished. (Oh ye of lofty ambitions, LOL) I set my camera on the pier and

Silly Story - Just for Fun

My first husband once went to borrow a circular saw from our landlord.

He left our trailer and a little while later returned with a look of consternation on his face. -- He was holding a black