Breaking News!

Seth stampeded his way to second place in Asheville's Sunset Stampeded on Saturday...and also won his age group. The Stampede is a 10 mile race, first five miles uphill and the second five miles downhill. His time was 1:03:02, a minute and a half improvement over last year's time. Here's a link to the Citizen-Times article. Enjoy! Seth won a beautiful hand-thrown blue pottery bowl, which I'm encouraging him to use for great big scoops of icecream all week long. Word has it that he's going for another run today before we head out for a camping trip...but the ole nap may win out.

School's Out for SUMMER...

Today was Myles' last day of preschool for the school year. I'll admit that while I carried in cupcakes for his teachers, I got a little misty-eyed. He's grown so much this year, turning into this little pre-schooler who does things like play Hi-Ho Cherry-O with his Grandpa and Nana. He has three weeks off until his summer program begins at another church in town, three mornings/week.

Seth and I had a great visit with his folks last weekend. The Montford festival was happening just two blocks away so we enjoyed some art and music. Myles adores is grandparents and it's a treat any time he gets to spend time with them.

Next week I will be in Chicago for the 2030 Clergy Network event for UCC clergy in their twenties and thirties. My co-pastor Sara will be going with me, and I'm looking foward to a short but sweet time of retreat, community, and a few nights in the city.

Racing season is upon us, and Seth is in fabulous shape. His first race is Saturday, the Sunset Stampede, which is 5 miles uphill followed by 5 miles downhill. We are also planning to go camping with friends on Sunday night.

Myles Says: About a month ago, Myles started scheduling his own playdates at school and would inform me of the plan when I arrived to pick him up. "I'm going over to his house," he'd say, "his mama said it's okay." Or "He's coming over to my house today." His this-is-how-it's-gonna-be statements are often followed by, "Is that a good idea?"

Seth and I have officially begun the Lost series via netflix. I can't say we're totally hooked just yet...it's a little too sci-fi for me and a little too melodramatic for both of us. But we've run out of smart HBO shows, so a little entertainment it is.

Garden: We have blueberries, raspberries and strawberries growing, all green right now but we're anxiously awaiting the day when we can pop a few in our mouths. Our sugar snap peas are tasty and continuing to produce. We just planted some bush beans as our lettuce comes to an end (we didn't get all that much, we need a new plan for it next year). We have one cherry tomtao (sungold) that's just starting to turn orange, and others that are still green. Our other two tomoato plants are flowering. We're enjoying the farmer's market on Saturdays.

The oil spill in the Gulf is shaping up to be one of the greatest tragedies of the decade...our church gave to the National Wildlife Federation to help clean up the wildlife paralyzed by all this oil. My heart goes out to those communities along the coast who have lived in harmony with the coastal eco-system, and who are losing their livelihoods because of this terrible mess. Our addiction to oil is not wise living, and I hope we're each able to do our small part to quell it. I'm thankful to live in Asheville where we are surrounded by many friends and folks who also want to live more simply and ecologically. One easy thing you can do if you're looking to make a change is to switch to soaps and household cleaning products that do not have petroleum in them. Most do. I clean most of our house with a water/white vinegar mix with a few drops of essential oil mixed in to cut the smell (okay, it still smells, but it's a cheap, easy, and effective cleaner so it's worth it). The floor and dish soaps that I buy are petroleum free. Anyhow, there's a million small things that all of us can do to lighten our load on the Earth, and I hope you'll find a way to incorporate a few of them.

A Birthday Tune for Mama

Seth, Seth, He's Our Man

Yesterday, my man turned 32. Boy is he getting old. Just today I spied an unusually long stray hair popping out of one of his nostrils, and it hit me. We're getting up there. We've been together for a decade this fall, and there have been so many changes, and also that thread of constancy running through it all. Anyhow, happy birthday Seth! Our day began with some tasty morning meat from the farmer's market (Seth told me it was tasty, I wouldn't know). He scored a free lunch with his colleagues. For dinner we ordered out barbecue (I decided on a meat-themed birthday this year), and dessert was strawberry shortcake. He got calls from family and friends throughout the day. Myles got him a T-ball set, which he promptly asked to borrow. He also did a fabulous job of wishing Seth happy birthday over and over all day long. Today, Seth found out that he got a 97% on his final exam, which he took on Monday night. He maintains his 4.0 GPA for this MPA program.

The above photograph arrived in my inbox from an unknown source this week...it looks suspiciously like a finger puppet that we left at Hugh's house on Saturday night when we went over for some fajitas and a camp fire. I enjoyed myself a mojito.

On Friday night we have a babysitter! A high school student who is a child care assistant from church (and the daughter of a long-time friend) is coming to be with Myles after he requested that she come over and play at his house. Perfect timing, even more perfect that it was actually Myles' idea. So we'll be out celebrating birthdays on Friday night.

Myles Says: Tonight he came to me with a pained look on his face and said, "I have a chap on my tummy." Me: "A chap? Like your skin is chapped? Let me look at it." Myles: "No, the chap is in my tummy. Inside, you can't see it." As I puzzled over this, Seth said, "You mean a cramp?" Myles: "Yeah a champ. I have a champ on my tummy. It hurts!" A few weeks ago, as we were getting into the car, Myles saw our neighbor Miss Mary, who is a great-grandmother. He said "Hello Miss Mary, do you see my truck?" Miss Mary: "Oh, yes. It's nice." Myles: "Do you want one? If you grow a little boy in your belly, you can have one too." Luckily, Miss Mary didn't quite understand that. Last week at the library, we got a book on tape with both a tape in English and one in Spanish. He listened to the tape in Spanish, and said, "Next we need Greek! We're missing Greek." (His preschool teacher is Greek and teaches them to count in Greek.) Today when I showed up at preschool to pick him up he said, "I'm going to go play at Hyde's house today. Okay, is that a good idea, Mama?" (Hyde was no where to be found, having already left with his mom).

Mylestones: We took Myles for his wellness check a few weeks ago, and he's still hovering around 90% for height and weight. He is doing more pooping on the potty, and we're glad about that. He's been more interested in numbers recently. He's cruising on his balance bike, really surprising us every time he gets on it. He remains interested in all things car...where are we going, what pedal am I pressing with my foot, and what does that do? He occasionally climbs into the drivers' seat when we are trying to get him in his carseat and pops the trunk just to "be helpful." He keeps on singing. Tonight we heard a medly that ranged from "This Old Man" to "We are a Happy Family" and onto "Frosty the Snowman."

What I'm reading: Born to run. Loaned to me by the wonderful Cindy E, this is a page-turner that inspires me to drag my tired self out of bed to run. I'm back to running 3X/week and speeding up my runs. Seth is also getting back in shape for a season of races. If you need some running motivation, I highly recommend Born to Run.