Head in the Clouds

Isn't the Oklahoma sky gorgeous?  I can never get enough of it.  It has been nice living out here with my mom and dad.  The sky is huge out here.  We have about 2 weeks left on the renovation and then we move back into the city.  I am very much looking forward to being in my own place with space for all my papers and books, but there are things that I will miss.  I will miss seeing my mom in her blue bathrobe under her "electric hug" (electric blanket).  I'll miss the noise of  my dad's coffee pot in the morning.  I'll miss the big back yard with the fort and the giant sky.  In the city the land rolls, it is not super flat.  There are trees too and so the skyline is obscured.  I like the feeling of openness that reaches all around me and above me.  I get claustrophic in cities.  It is funny, I once worked with a woman from South Korea.  She disliked Oklahoma for the same reason I love it-- the openness.  She was accustomed to crowded city streets with people, noise and buildings.  She said that open fields made her feel lonely.  I was really surprised by her reaction to all the space here.  Open fields and sky make me feel ALIVE.  I can breathe and think, I feel free.  I feel the same way when I am at the beach.  It makes me want to run and dance and dive in.  Don't get me wrong.  I love cities too-- the food, art, shopping and education available in cities are hard to beat.  But there is something inside of me that longs for open space.  I was watching a documentary on National Parks with my parents.  The commentator described the wilderness in National parks as Eden, land that has been untouched since creation.  He said that when a person enters into a wilderness he sheds all the power a human holds over nature.  In cities nature has been tamed by man, we control it, we own it.  In the wilderness the playing field is equalized and instead of controlling nature, we are a part of it.  Being part of nature stirs us from deep within, like a beautiful memory of a past forgotton.  It quenches that longing to be part of something greater than ourselves.  I thought this was an eloquent description of the emotions I also encounter when I walk amongst the clouds in the fields.  I feel like I am part of something greater there.  That is often where I sense the grandness of the Creator himself.

Ladybugs-a-plenty

We have had an inordinate amount of ladybugs in our house lately. I have no recollection of ever seeing any ladybugs in the months of December and January in the history of my life. This year, however, we have plenty! They are on the floor in the playroom, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, dining room and the hallways! I have no idea where they came from and wonder why they all chose to come into my house. Although it seems very unusual to me, I am happy to see them. I've always thought ladybugs were friendly little creatures, not to mention that they are an important symbol at GPhiB! I thought I would google what they symbolize, thinking maybe I have some sort of natural phenomenon occuring. It turns out that ladybugs are very good luck! Here's to 2010!

Autumn Gold

GOLDEN. That is how the air, the light, the color-- the season -- feels this very moment. I LOVE this time of year. My opinion still stands that Oklahoma is most beautiful in May. But when I'm basking in this golden halo of amber autumn color I question my spring senses. It is too beautiful some evenings. I breathe and breathe again deeply trying to absorb it all, but I never can quite take in or get enough of the vast beauty that these sunsets spray into the wide open skies. Yukon is best for enjoying these evenings because the land is flat and the sky is huge. The picture above is taken at my home in Oklahoma City. Still a fabulous view. Thank you Father for autumn. It is glorious.

Wild at heart

Penelope, blooming again. As lovely and as fragrant as ever.
My Spanish lavender. Stinky but beautiful.

My garden has gone completely wild. It had such great potential to be this little oasis of structured fecundity. Instead it is this jungle of weeds, flowers and fruit. I can't say that it is all that bad to have this jumbled mess. It is still nice to see things sprouting and growing, and when the sun shines on it in the morning and evening it is still beautiful to me, but it is not what I had planned. I was speaking to a man from India the other day about the Indian goddess of destruction, I think her name is Kali. She is symbolic of the forces in nature that destroy and she is not evil, she just exists as a natural cycle of life. Life emerges, is organized and is then destroyed and she represents this final stage in the cycle. I guess my garden is nearing its final stages. It is about to be destroyed by the coming winter. Harvest time is right now, and I am still getting carrots, tomatoes, tomatillos, bell peppers, kung fu peppers, banana peppers, basil and all the other herbs. But the winter is near. It is sad to see a garden destroyed by winter. But winter time has its benefits too. It allows the ground to rest and there is always the promise of spring. I've heard that there are plants that one can grow during the winter months-- beans, garlic, onions and cabbage. The French do that. Those crazy French. Always doing what they want because they can. I think I will too.

Le Weekend!

We have had an easy, breezy, beautiful weekend so far. Last night we went over to the lake and walked around. It felt so carefree to just say to heck with routine and bedtime, let's go have fun! We even took Wally and were glad to have our canine companion plopping along beside us. This afternoon we had lunch with Granny to celebrate her 88th birthday-- Happy Birthday Granny! And then this evening we are headed over to my parents to celebrate my dad's 55th (or is it 26th?) birthday. Of course, we are gearing up for Gigi's big 3rd birthday coming very soon. My week is sure to be full of planning and preparations. Ah! I love summer!

Snowed In!

Two weeks ago we had an Oklahoma snow/ice storm. We were locked in the house for 3 days, not because the snow was piled high, but because the roads were a sheet of ice. Rodolfo had to go to work, even though schools and even my dad's office shut down. He was lucky he didn't have any traffic because the roads were certainly slippery. On day 3 of our encampment in the house I finally pulled out the shovel and started hammering away at the ice on our front porch stairways. It didn't make a dent. Then I had the brilliant idea of pouring nearly boiling hot water down the stairs to try to loosen the ice. This idea, though seemingly brilliant, was actually very unwise. The temperature outside (20F) and the thick ice on the steps cooled the water instantly and then caused it to eventually re-freeze. This frustrated me to no end and so I hammered away on the steps until I had a miniature pathway up the stairs. After having been locked in the house for 3 days this was very good exercise and a nice way to de-stress. I wonder what the neighbors thought? :)

Mother Nature is fall's fairy

Today, our neighbor, Mother Nature, handed Georgia several beautiful gifts (see above). This woman's garden amazes and inspires me. There is always something lovely in bloom. She first gave Gigi a melon colored azalea blossom (from her come again azaleas, apparently they bloom repeatedly, I'm going to have to get me some of these). Then she handed Gigi two gorgeous jewel-toned leaves from her pin oaks. Next she handed Gigi those little yellow flowers, I don't know what they are called. She then took us to her backyard and showed us what she has growing in her garage. Lime trees!!!!! She over-winters them in the garage and presently has limes growing on them. She handed me the lime. Its scent was citrusy and oh so fresh! Finally, as we were leaving she plucked that pink rose and handed it to Georgia, whose hands were too full and I carried it home. What a wonderful way to show love! With blooms from your garden. Thank you Mother Nature!
P.S. The lavender leaf is from my own garden. I just threw it in there because I'm so proud that my lavender actually grew this year!!!!!!!!!!!!

Indian Summer

The weather here smells and feels like perfection. Accordingly, we are living every moment we can outside-- we eat, sit, talk, walk and play outside all day. If only we could nap out there too, then it would heaven! The hurricane down in Texas is what brought this wave of pleasant weather to Oklahoma. It has been in the low 80s during the day and the 50-60s at night. Isn't that the weather California gets all year long? Maybe I should move to the Golden State. There has hardly been any wind. My roses are in full bloom. My crepe myrtles are standing at floriferious attention. It really is lovely here.

Summer Star

Gigi's vocabulary is exploding! She is repeating every other word I say and she is stringing 3 words sentences together left and right! I'm so proud of this little girl! I still haven't seen any of the birthday pictures yet but will post some as soon as I can get a copy of my dad's pictures.

On Gigi's birthday she looked up at Rodolfo and said "best friend, Papi, best friend". His heart just about melted. Then later on that day she said to me "best friend, Mommy, best friend." My heart melted too. I don't know what is better, hearing Mommy for the first time, I love you for the first time, or best friend. They are all up there as those shining moments that I cannot forget!

As for an update on the adoptions, they have not worked out. The mothers chose to parent their babies. It is okay for me. Everything happened in such a whirlwind. It is probably better that Rodolfo and I have time to think about what direction we will go next. Plus, I know the decision was very difficult for the mothers and I am glad that they will keep their children. We continue to ask God for a miracle in my ovaries. I know that He hears our prayers.

Splash Pad

I'm sure you've heard of ambidexterous indiviuals. Well, I think my daughter might be ambidexterous x 2, either that or raisins just taste better this way. Please see video for an explanation.

One of the best things about the heat of August is the push to play outside in the water for relief! Have you ever heard of a splash park? These places are in parks around the city and they are free!! Georgia and I met up with Michelle and Ashley at the Splash Pad in Norman and had lots of fun. Wish I could have been running out there too.

Weekend fun

This past weekend Michelle, John & Ashley came over for a backyard Greek bonanza. Georgia and Ashley had fun playing in the pool and running around the house. We were going to eat outside, but the skies turned a dark gray and the air was moist with the anticipation of rain. We ate inside just in case the it decided to pour. It didn't end up raining until much later, but it was nice to be inside all the same because it was pretty humid outside. Michelle and John brought the wine and I made my Greek chicken and salad recipe and we had baklava and peaches for dessert. It was really a much needed fun evening. Don't Gigi and Ashley look adorable in their swimsuits?

Ah! The Beach!

This past week my parents joined us in Seaside, Florida for a little R&R at the beach! I love the warm, salty air and the feeling of sand between my toes! It was so great just to be back at this beautiful location. I've never visited the Caribbean, but I can't imagine that it is any more turquoise than the water here. This was Georgia's first major trip and for a 22 month old she handled it swimmingly. I am glad to have had my parents handy, it made everything much, much easier.

This is my sexy "I'm at the beach" pose. Someone mentioned it looks very similar to Blue Steel made famous by Zoolander.

Here is the charming street that our cottage was located on. I didn't take a picture of the house, which is lamentable because it was so perfectly beachy and relaxing.

Scared of sunburn? Not this jolly gang of vacationers!

Georgia had no qualms about jumping right into the sand. She stuck her toes and fingers in willingly. See that crystaline water in the background? Oh I miss it already!

Rodolfo whipped up some delicious paella for all of us to enjoy. He just felt inspired one day and told me that he wanted to make some. Rodolfo must have some terrific chef genes because this stuff tasted fantastic! I was very impressed and am making a note to self to have him do some more cooking very soon.

Georgia got a real kick out of sunglasses. I had about a bazillion shots to sort through. These are some, but not all, of my favorite sunglass moments.

Here is the very last picture my camera took before it ran out of batteries. This was taken on our last evening in Seaside. We had so much fun and can't wait to return!

Say Cheese!

Above is a picture of my cutie saying "CHEESE" by the hydrangeas that are now blooming (my favorite flower). Below is a picture of Georgia singing a song. Doesn't she look adorable?

Lark

Georgia has surprised me lately with very clear pronunciation of certain words. She says "tent" and "tv" with crisp, high octave distinction. I think these are two items she is thrilled to have in her life. Every day for the past couple of weeks she has piled stuffed animals and blankets in her tent and then goes in there with 3-5 books. She is very busy about this whole process and does it with bee-like efficiency. Once in the tent she carefully places the blankets on her stuffed animals and gives them kisses. Sometimes she walks in and out telling them "good night". After she has arranged matters to her liking she snuggles in the middle of them all and reads her books like a dedicated and serious student. I have been quite surprised at her concentration levels. She can sit in there for about 30 minutes, pouring over the pages. She enjoys looking at the pictures, but sometimes I hear her trying to recount the stories in her own baby way. Georgia's other current passion, besides these books are slides, of course, and Elmo. She races to the tv when I ask her if she wants to watch Elmo. For the longest timeI had her watching Clifford the Big Red Dog, which has a lot of good morals to it, but I've decided that Sesame Street is more educational so that is what she watches now. Other talking news, Georgia strings together 2 - 3 words in a mushy sort of adorable way. Example "mow agua psheese" really "more agua please" and a really funny one to hear, "goo bo Walsy" which is really "good boy Wally". Lately she has also been singing along to songs. Current favorites are Happy Birthday Max (we recently went to Max's 2nd birthday party), E-I-E-I-O, Aye, aye aye cante y no llores, and Ashley's song (I love you, you love me...). At night I sing to her 3 songs before she goes to bed. They are Rain Drops on Roses, The Sound of Music and Amazing Grace. When I sing Amazing Grace she loves to belt out the ME part of "... that saved a wretch like me..." and RELIEVED in the second verse "... and grace my fears RELIEVED..." Oh, also we both really like the songs on the OETA show "It's a Big, Big World". Just yesterday I discovered that if you go to their website http://www.pbskids.org/ and click on this particular show you can listen to all the songs for free. We listened to them all throughout dinner last night. It was highly entertaining.