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.