Names

Bill Cosby said...."Always end the name of your child with a vowel so that when you yell, the name will carry."

I always wondered why Mom always bemoaned the name "Dean". She complained that Dad could never hear her when she called for him, that it was impossible to get vocal power behind his name. Now I get it. It's a closed loop: "Dean". Two vowels enclosed by two D sounds. No wonder. She often defaults to the sounds "Whooo-hoo" said over and over again to get his attention and he has learned this means the same as "Dean", especially when he is in another room.

It's true....yelling Laura carries more weight than yelling Chris. But, when yelling Denny, even the "Y" sound is worthless because he can't hear anymore. He claims I'm mumbling but I know better. It's either that or the incessant drone of Fox News that drowns out even vowels yelled full force. Dig. I can't resist.

Minimalistic

Lately I have little interest in "fixing myself up", although I still try to pay attention to my hair to keep the Don King look to a minimum if possible. As I breezed through the downstairs bathroom today and peered into the wall cabinet, I was stuck by just how minimalistic I've become. Compared to all these products in use on a variable basis by my dearest daughter, I've "matured" into a list of 3 must haves and the rest is just fooling myself. Perhaps the 3 that I've picked are just fooling myself as well but I cling to them nonetheless. I wouldn't want to go out with the following items applied but the rest can take a hike; at least for now as I enjoy this bare bones existence.

I need hair gel (strong), a lipstick and an eyebrow pencil. I don't even own a hairbrush, just a toothbrush.

Weird Shot

Photo taken from passenger seat of my car heading east to Spokane last Thursday.....somewhere between George and Moses Lake, Washington.

Pink Snow

These blooming trees are so gorgeous in May. Now past their peak, the pink petals drop and collect curbside. Pink snow, I think. The feathery bits float on spring breezes to rest together until time disposes of their loveliness.

Holding Hands

Mother's Day 2008

Compared to last year when we had a full on celebration at Arapahoe with a meal and the gathered clan in attendance, this Mother's Day was tame. I'm glad we were more laid back about this artificially elevated Sunday in May; this one felt easy and spontaneous. No plans; just a slow unfolding.

It's odd being both honored as a Mother and honoring my own Mother at the same time. But, I've been doing this now for 23 years and realize that this state is privileged and transient. I visited Mom for a bit this afternoon. She appreciated the small gestures of a card, African violet and espresso dusted malted milk balls. She wasn't expecting much. I didn't stay particularly long but it was peaceful just sitting there with Dad half asleep and Mom dancing from topic to topic.

Later in the afternoon, Laura, Chris, Denny and I drove to our favorite Thai restaurant on First Hill and enjoyed a nice meal together. There was plenty of joshing and push-pull between all parties, as is the norm of late when the four of us get together. I am amazed at how far we've come from the days when a meal together, in or out, would be adversely affected with one or another emotional crisis, usually generated from the angst between these two who flank me in this photo. They do grow up. They laugh when I take all these photos. "Mom's getting ready to post a blog", they mutter. "Oh, no......" Tolerance, acceptance, and perhaps admiration. It's all good. So was the food.

These times are special. I get it.

Moving Stuff

We made it; the 570 miles round trip from Seattle to Spokane and back to pack up and transport Ms. Laura and all her stuff from school. Finals are over and the summer is off to an early start for her. Last year I made this journey by myself after her freshman year at school. I remember arriving to to find her room looking as though she planned to live there for the summer; not a thing packed up, pictures and posters still on the wall and everything else in its place. Then, after a disastrous but valiant attempt to fit all the belongs into one car, we gave up and rented a small space at a local "lock and store" which of course required a second trip to Spokane to pick up all the "left behinds" a month later (thank you, Denny).

This time I was smarter and dragged Denny along with me; he is a master at fitting odd sized items into odder sized spaces and looks upon the experience as a challenge instead of a disaster. Despite my requests that she "be prepared" to leave this time around; there still was nothing done when we arrived (photos above show her room when we walked in the door Thursday night) although her excuse was that she had no bags, boxes, or suitcases available to start the process. Plus she was stressed out with having to take 5 finals. Hmmmm.

We did a bit of work on the room Thursday night but most of the madness we saved for Friday. I inquired about whose stuff belonged to who (she has a roommate and one might assume that items in common areas like the sink might have belonged to Alisa). Not. "No, Mom, all those headbands on the towel rack are mine." By Friday late morning, we had four suitcases packed to outrageous weight, half a dozen large plastic containers holding clothing/shoes (stored under her bed which when lifted up on cinder block stilts provides a wealth of space for enormous quantities of stuff), a dozen or so large plastic Hefty garbage bags with miscellany, a microwave, upright fan, 6 foot floor lamp, and a fish tank. Yes, a fish tank with two tropical fish named "Whiskers" and "Spotty", heavy as lead and which Laura had to tend all the way home sloshing about between her feet on the floor board of the car. Plus, she had 80 dollars of "flex money" to spend or lose so she stocked up on Luna and Cliff bars, nuts, beef jerky, chips and bottles of iced tea, sports drinks, and soda; all of which had to be hauled as well. Thank goodness for a friend named Chris who helped Denny and Laura with the heavy hauling from dorm room to car. I spent my time preparing stuff to be dragged off to keep them busy.

Did you know that Laura has a jumbo sized plastic storage bin with nothing but shoes inside? I wonder how many pairs that represents. No comment.

After all the packing and moving came the cleaning; the room had to pass inspection so we used a can of wet wipes on surfaces that hadn't been dusted in 9 months and a vacuum on the floor, sucking up all manner of hair pins, hair ties, confetti, and crispy bits of dried leaves from bouquets of roses accumulated through the year. The stuff on the floor leaves behind as much history of living as the stuff we hauled home. Needless to say, inspection went fine and we were on our way for the drive home by 2 PM. Laura and Denny traveled in one car (with the fish) and I whisked along I-90 with just my thoughts and my own choice in music, plus a Cliff bar and sports drink. No stops and we pulled in just before 7 PM.

Now all this stuff sits in the basement, partially unpacked. There's no place to put it all right now and it will take time for her to go through everything. Hopefully she will weed out a significant percentage of this stuff for the Goodwill truck. But, deep down, I know that we will find nooks and crannies to store all this stuff. Somewhere.

Spike

Spike, the bulldog, is the mascot for Gonzaga University. The graduating class of 2007 gifted this bronze statue of Spike to their alma mater and he sits outside the McCarthy Athletic Center. We got a closer look at Spike this visit to GU; he's quite the beast. From the one toothed half growl to the broken leash dangling from his thick neck, to the mighty toes he's pure power. The guys who were admiring Spike as we walked up told us to watch out for the "dog turds" and we thought they were just kidding around. Check out these first four photos; do you see any dog turds?

But, the guys weren't kidding as we found out making a 360 turn around old Spike. These weren't bronze turds either.