The Taurus Month

Earthy. Unyielding. Practical. Loyal. That's what they say about Tauruses, which both Seth and I happen to be. We celebrate our birthdays within 6 days of each other, and mine also fell on Mother's Day this year so there was much cake-eating and card-opening to be done. This pleased Myles a great deal. He loves to give gifts as well as receive them...at least this month, anyway.

Seth's folks came into town his birthday weekend, along with Seth's brother Jon. It was like heaven for Myles to wake up and have all these loved ones in our house, ready to play and engage. Like Seth, Jon has a gift for being with children (does this come with the creative gene?), and so he and Myles shared fun and laughs all weekend long.

Mother's Day weekend we spent with my mom and my brother's family in Knoxville. The new news is that my brother is moving back to Michigan to take a job at a hospital in Lansing. I'm happy for their family, but also sad that Myles will grow up so far away from his three cousins. Ashton in particular is very brotherly with Myles, almost always including him, hugging him and playing with him. They will all be missed...moving date is mid-July.

In other news, my time with Women's Action for New Directions (WAND) is coming to a close due to budget constraints. I have worked with WAND in some capacity for seven years, and it has been an amazing experience! I have met some of the most incredible women along the way, had opportunities to do amazing things, and am a better person for having worked with WAND. On the other hand, as my passion for the new church start grows, I am eager to have more flexibility to invest my time in this ministry, and so I'm actually welcoming this transition.

Speaking of which, we now have our website up and running. http://www.losucc.org/. Check it out if you're so inclined. Our first event open to the public is taking place on Sunday (it's a book reading with a local author, a performer, and a Cherokee flutist). We will have monthly worship services at the end of May, June, and July as well as other events to build up a critical mass of folks interested in investing in the community. It's busy season, and my colleague in ministry, Sara, birthed a little baby girl into the world on Wednesday morning, so we are celebrating new life in our midst as well!

Our garden has not been fairing as well as I had hoped. It's a good reminder that you can't just throw a seed down and expect it to do its thing. Gardening requires careful cultivation and committed attention. I hope this weekend we can get some compost in there to fertilize the soil a bit, and I may even start sprinkling some human or dog hair in there to keep out whatever little critter's been eating our greens. Nevertheless, our mint is doing very well and our bean plants are popping up, we'll see if they do anything. Today we bought three tomato varieties to plant tomorrow... Cherokee purple, sun gold cherry, and brandywine. I will truly be crushed if these babies don't make it! Our blueberries have started to grow, but they are still quite green.

Mylestones: The new word of the month is "O-Tay!" often said with a lilt in his voice in response to mama explaining something sorta complicated. He is thrilled that we are hosting Tasha, my mom's dog, for several weeks, though I suspect Tasha is less thrilled. (She is old and beyond blind, so being a house-guest is not exactly her idea of a good time.) I caught him picking her up by the hair on her hind quarters earlier this week (sorry Mom) and he got quite the instruction on how we do and don't treat Tasha. Todd Parr has helped us discover toddler humor with his "Do's and Don'ts" book, which includes one liners sure to bring a giggle, such as "Do brush your teeth...Don't brush them with peanut butter" or "Do eat all the food on your plate...Don't put it in your hair!" Have I mentioned that he's a total back-seat driver, regularly telling me "Stop, mama!" or "Home now" or "Beek!" (translation: beep)? He also has started occasionally calling Seth "Seth" instead of papi, because he hears me doing it. I explained to him the whole name thing, what my name is and why he calls me "mama," etc. Today when I asked him what his middle name was, he said "Seth!"

Today is the Montford festival just a block from our house. Dancing, music, food, and all kinds of things being sold. This is a marvelous town to people-watch. Enjoy this bull-month in your neck of the woods!