Back Again

Well, here they are. All six cousins and grandma. Is she out-numbered or what?

It's been a bit of a break since I last wrote. Last weekend in DC was a really great experience, except it was definitely one (or two!) night(s) too long away from Myles. I was like a little addict there at the end, especially as my flights back into Asheville from Charlotte are always delayed, this time it was just by an hour. Still, I was fidgety, tearful, and praying that God would just get me home to my baby.

On the other hand, it was fabulous to see Liz and her belly! She looks beautiful, and it brought back so many sweet memories of that wondrous, uncomfortable, confusing time of pregnancy. There's nothing quite like seeing an old friend pregnant with her first baby...

This year, Ecumenical Advocacy Days (the event I attended in DC) was about climate change. We talked about the reality of climate migrants, the effects of climate change on poor communities and especially women. The workshop I led was on the environmental impact (or eco-footprint) of war. And one highlight from the weekend was hearing the personal testimony of a woman from the Marshall Islands, named Lemeyo. Lemeyo was in her teens when the U.S. tested a nuclear weapon on her island. Her island community was not forewarned, they were not evacuated until three days after the test. By this time, radioactivity had seeped into their organs and bones. Lemeyo's father died a painful death by way of stomach cancer. She has had her thyroid removed and confessed, for the first time in her life in a public forum, a series of miscarriages. She has no children. On the Marshall Islands, those who were directly exposed on the island where the testing occurred were stigmatized by other islanders, told they were "poison." And so there was a lot of shame in Lemeyo's symptoms, and it was an act of real courage for her to share her testimony with a bunch of Americans, and also with members of Congress. After three years, Lemeyo and her fellow islanders were returned to their homes and mistakenly told the land was safe. But it was not safe. And in the 1970s, Greenpeace conducted tests that determined they should again be moved off of the island. Lemeyo still has not returned home. I am grateful she was willing to share her testimony. She is a member of the United Church of Christ (my denomination), and it was the UCC that was able to bring her to the U.S. for Ecumenical Advocacy Days and the opportunity to talk with members of Congress.

It's been a lazy, homebody weekend here the past few days. I'm so happy to be with my boys, and share some quality family time lying low. This morning we got in a 4 mile run through down town with Myles in the jog stroller, and it felt really good.

Mylestones: Somehow "no" has turned into "note," and "beep" has turned into "beek" so it takes a translator to understand what Myles is trying to convey. Tonight at church we had a sweet moment when he said "Bye Jody" to a member of the church who is a teenager with down syndrome...they made a connection and it was fun to see it happen. We've been reading a book about manners and so Myles is saying "peas" a little more lately. He's also picked up on my expression "sweet!" We occasionally find him repeating our words when we didn't know he was listening, so we're getting to that stage. He can be fairly insistent at times and I'm more of the softy while Seth holds the line, the exact opposite of how I imagined we would parent.

The coming week will be a busy one. On Friday we're headed for Richmond to see Seth's brothers. Seth plans to run a 10k while we're there. On Sunday morning I am guest preaching at Umstead Park UCC in Raleigh on the tenth anniversary of their start as a new church. They have gifted Land of the Sky UCC with hymnals, and it was such an amazing gift to arrive on our doorstep! Afterward we hope to visit Robby, my pen pal on death row. It will be the first time we've met in person, so I'm hoping it all works out (the red tape involved is something to write home about) and we have a good visit.

Hope all of you are well...thanks for tuning in.

Mellow March

March came in with a bite, but the weekend was fabulous and so was tonight. After Seth got home from work, we took a walk around the neighborhood with Myles on his bike. While Seth cooked dinner, Myles painted for the first time out on the front porch. As you can see, he's a gifted artist (which he gets 100% from the Hendler side of things). When I checked the garden, we could see rows of the smallest sprouts pushing through. Hurray! We'll be snacking on those greens in no time.

We spent the weekend in Knoxville with my family. My sister's in from Wyoming (in the hopes that their house will sell, she's checking out Abingdon and Marion, VA where they may move this spring), and we celebrated by nephew Kaleb's fourth birthday on Saturday. The party included a spaghetti with meatballs dinner, followed by a five-cousin chase around the deck (followed by a trip, a crash, and a cry), opening presents, and ice cream cake. The boys really enjoy each other's company, despite the regular squabbles over a toy and the occasional urge to push someone down or grab what's in their hands. Kaleb is all about pretending he's a dinosaur, and luckily that red-tooth dinosaur had a lot of teeth so that Myles could see how the big boys brush their teeth.

My dad's absence was a regular presence throughout the weekend. I wonder what he'd think of this economy, of that evening's news on CNN. I hear his laughter around every corner and almost expect him to be the first one up in the morning, bustling in the kitchen to get the coffee on. We're learning more and more what an anchor, what a mediator, what a calming presence he was for our family. The weekend wasn't the same without him, but I was grateful for the opportunity to go with my sister to his grave, to see the headstone now that it's in, to talk about how we're doing with the grief journey.

I'm preparing for my trip to DC for Ecumenical Advocacy Days this weekend. I do love my work with WAND! I'll be gone one night longer than I'd like, but I'm very excited to see my friend Liz in the third trimester of her first pregnancy. We were on staff together in Letcher County, Kentucky for the Appalachia Service Project twelve years ago (with one of our other favorite people in the world), and now I get to see her pregnant for the first time.

Myles' new word of the day: Now! As in, not tomorrow, "Now!!"

Speaking of which, time for bed.

Another week, another blog...

Our weekend was a blast. The weather was raining, it didn't start to snow until Sunday morning so there was actually no skiing at the ski weekend vacation. The kids didn't really venture out, other than to plop in the hot tub now and again, and surprisingly with six families and six toddlers, none of us went crazy! There was one bloody lip, but Sagan, bless his heart, was back up and at it about three minutes after the tumble. There was lots of euchre playing, which warmed my yankee heart. Good food (homelaid eggs, home-bee honey, scrumptious strawberry salad to name a few things), good wine (well beer, in Seth's case), a trail run that kicked what I thought was my in-shape be-hind and above all just good conversation. I'm so grateful for this group of folks in our lives. Myles woke up on Sunday morning saying, "Hattie, Hattie, Hattie." To his chagrin, she was not yet awake. The kids loved eating in pairs in the two seats we brought for them all to share. They ran, they jumped, they played, they cried, they laughed. Good times had by all.

Mylestones: Today Myles walked in my heels across the laundry room (he picked them out of the closet), and I couldn't resist a snapshot. In the photo where he's wearing green, he's singing Itsy Bitsy spider with the motions. Today he started saying "thank-you" and he's learned that please also goes a long way. He has Seth's friendly heart. When we were in the grocery store this week, there was a woman half way up the long aisle and he said, "hi!" When she didn't respond (she couldn't hear him), he shouted louder. She never did figure out he was calling to her, but that's the kind of friendliness he so often displays when we're out and about. He's also become a backseat driver. On the way to the ski house on Friday, Seth got the car stuck in the woods (don't ask), and when we finally got un-stuck, Myles kept repeating, "Papi, car, stuck!" When either of us is going too fast or stops too suddenly we can expect to get an impatient "Mama" or "Papi!" He also loves to tell Juniper "no Boof!" Boof, of course, being his shortened version of her name.

We're really looking forward to the possibility of going to Knoxville this weekend to celebrate my nephew Kaleb's fourth birthday. My sister is in town with Kaleb and Finn, which is always a treat! Kaleb is running a fever and working out some kind of virus bug, however, so whether the plans will fall through remains to be seen. We remembered him in our prayers tonight. Get well Kaleb!