Wedding Vowels -- jcarolek

Tonight I had dinner with my daughter, son and hubby. As we sat eating our meal at the restaurant, we chatted about Justice of the Peace presided marriages. Jen wanted to know whether when getting married by the Justice of the Peace, the couple had to say vows, or just sign a piece of paper.

Well, I began to answer, explaining what I knew about it,

Eskimo kisses? -- jcarolek

Good morning all. I just have a few minutes before heading off to more of my four day meeting, but wanted to check in and see how everyone is doing. Yesterday was blustery – very windy but at least the rain had subsided. My daughter went to visit a friend of hers who lives and works nearby and then she returned to the hotel room and made supper for us. What a treat that was! Usually, when I travel I just grab junk to eat, as I am not a fan of eating alone, but also shy away from going out to eat with “the crowd.”

After supper, she left for Richmond and will spend the

Truly a delight -- jcarolek

Good morning all from windy, gloomy, Northern VA. I arrived safely yesterday afternoon and shared a wonderful night with my daughter…she’s still sleeping…I will head out to my all-day meeting in just a little while, but wanted to share some of my daughter’s photos of her adventures with you.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and make many sales,

She was such a timid little girl -- jcarolek

Today I sang and played guitar at the wedding of a lovely young lady to her chosen young man. I sing and play at many such events and I have seen different approaches to this ritual of union. But today I was struck by several things.

This young lady, Michelle, had been in my daughter’s first Brownie troop…I have known her since she was five.
She has always been a tiny, timid little girl, who stammered when asked to decide ANYTHING…be it grape jelly or strawberry, orange juice or milk, she stood tongue tied, shrinking back into herself.
For the first three years I knew Michelle, I rarely heard her say a word…her best friend Jennifer ALWAYS spoke for her.
The only place I saw her act completely confident was on the stage in her dance routines, for dancing was her “sport.”

Today, rather in contrast to the timid little girl I had always known, I saw a confident young lady, who, having completed

A single little scarecrow reminded me -- jcarolek

On my drive to No VA yesterday, I passed a roadside market, where produce from the owner’s farm is sold. They had erected a healthy looking scarecrow, I think more as an attraction to potential customers than as a real deterrent to crows. Nevertheless, his happy face brought back a memory I thought I’d share.

When I was 10 years old we moved to Cheltenham, England. I have a scrapbook of those years in my brain as vivid as if I could physically turn the pages and touch the pictures

Just another of life's embarrassing moments -- jcarolek

When we returned to the “States” after living in England for three years, my parents had to register all of us for school. Three of us were of Junior High School age (7th, 8th, 9th grades) and the other three were elementary school age (5th, 4th, and 2nd grades). I was the 13 year old heading into 8th grade. My brother Tim was heading into 7th.

I recall with amused clarity the conversation the principal

An Easter story (of sorts) -- jcarolek

Before we purchased the land on which we built our house, my husband used to like to take his daily walk back through the dirt roads on which this property bordered. Many times he took our dog Killian with him on these walks. Always, he had Killian on her lead.

Once, about this time seven years ago, my in-laws were visiting and my father-in-law, quite a walker in his own right, went with hubby and Killian on their walk. With no properties developed in this 100 acre track of land, my father-in-law encouraged hubby to let Killian off her lead to run through

Washing Dishes and Cast Iron Skillets -- jcarolek

Arguably one of the most detested chores when I was growing up was washing the dishes. Now, please understand, from the time I was 5 ½ years old, we lived in a “modern” house that had a dishwasher, so the chore would not seem to have been overwhelming. Still, I recall it as being the one on the job board (yes, my mother kept a great job board to ensure equitable assignment of daily chores amongst her six youngins) that I truly hated.

The whole concept of washing dishes the “old fashioned way” on a daily basis was pretty alien to me. So, when we moved to England when I was 10, I discovered there

Rocking Gently on the Waves -- jcarolek

My grandfather painted some great paintings. I have shared them before in my blog. I love these paintings that grace the walls of my house. They help keep me connected to a man born more than a century ago.

Tonight I was looking at the ship. This ship is anchored on the wall above the mantel in my living room. I supposed I will always keep it in the living room, for it was always on my family’s living room wall as I grew up. There is something abiding about this particular painting that grounds me.

I recall lying on the living room floor with my brother Tim, a huge piece of brown paper on the floor between us, upon which we drew the island paradise we were sure we would find and live in once we were “all grown up.” And above us the ship rocked gently on the waves.

And I recall lying under the card table in the same living room, carefully affixing stamps into my stamp albums, listening to Burl Ives sing Waltzing Matilda, lost in my own little world. And above me, the ship rocked gently on the waves.

Yes, and on Thanksgiving when my grandparents came to share the feast with us, and we moved the table into the living room, to accommodate the extra diners. We all ate and laughed and after supper, Grandad drew a caricature

The Hills are Alive with the sound of embarrassment -- jcarolek

When I was 11 my grandparents flew over from the US to visit us where we were living in Cheltenham, England. They visited a few days in our home and then we all set out to go to Scotland, where my grandfather had some genealogical research he wanted to do. Our train ride took some time, but we loved the trip

Our final destination was a hotel called the Tornadee Hotel. Getting to the hotel was more fun than actually being at the hotel and I suspect Dad knew we six kids would be a little antsy just sitting around while Grandad