My little pilgrim



Traveling attire
Scarf:  H & M (mine)
Top:  Uniqlo (mine)
Blue Jean shorts: American Eagle (hers)
Sandals: Chacos (hers)
Backpack: LandsEnd (hers)
Suitcase (vintage -- from me-- in fact, this is the very
suitcase I took to Europe with me on all my travels.  MR thought that was pretty cool
although Will thought it was hideous)



Ciao Baby!  Since I haven't gotten any photos of my little pilgrim actually in Italy, I thought some departing shots would be nice to share.

Off to the left in this photo is one of their leaders who is making her very first trip to Europe.  She's even older than I am,  My favorite part of the whole farewell scene was that her mom and dad brought her to the airport and her mom stood looking through the glass at the security gate with Marc, the Wilsons (Graff's mom and dad) and me as we watched our babies ride the escalators up and out of sight. 

Italy bound...Part 2

Here's an even better blog link for the pilgrims.  Click Here!

I'm helping Graff pack this morning too via text and phone call.  His mom is the priest for Reading Camp at the Cathedral Domain this week so he's sort of on his own for his Italy packing.  Mary Rollins sent him a packing list and I coached him through laundry long-distance on Monday.  Frankly, I was really impressed that he was doing his own laundry.  I don't think Mary Rollins could do her own and Will, HA!, he can't even find the laundry basket!

Italy bound...

Mary Rollins leaves this afternoon for the long-anticipated pilgrimmage to Italy with Wonder Voyage!  What could be better than to be 15 and going to Italy?  Certainly not staying home with your parents and pesky little brother!  First stop Rome, then Florence then Assissi. 

Bon voyage and she sends her heartfelt thanks to all (Isabug and Aunt Stacey) who contributed to the J2A fundraising events.  Postcards have been promised! 

Also, you can become a fan of Wonder Voyage on Facebook and I believe they may have periodic pictures from the trip on-line. 

Bybee sadness

It finally happened. That which I have most dreaded (and it's not the return of the Dark Lord you kooky Harry Potter readers).  Bybee Pottery has laid off its workers, sold off their inventory and may be closing its doors forever. 

I was making Marc his coffee this morning in the Bybee mug that I bought back in 1988 for my first apartment and looked at the big cracks down the side that have been developing over the last couple of months.  They never bothered me before because that mug was ever so replaceable!  No more.  I touch every piece of Bybee with such tenderness now. 

Dang it. I'm hopeful that this is merely a temporary hiatus of pottery-making but do, please, be extra careful with your Bybee.



My beautiful Bybee (replacement) canisters.  Made especially for me.  They rank high on my
list of best loved material goods.



Some summer...

Sitting at the Pops...

Greetings friends.  I'm at the Pops' house this morning sitting with Dad while Mom is off to some such medical test or another.  I was attempting to do some work on my laptop which I brought but apparently, Mom unplugged the wireless router for too long so I can't figure out the password and have no internet access.  Now, I'm using Dad's super-fancy Apple computer, but can't figure out how to get a new tab in Safari.  I have discovered though that I can get all the family blogs as saved screens.    This blog is here, Isabelle+David, and the Selbies. I think the Selbies might be the homepage, in fact.  So I guess if Grandpa can't use his computer for much of anything else, at least he can keep up with the family news.

What's news at our house?  Mary Rollins is off to camp this week.  Next week she's off to Italy!  Words cannot begin to describe my emotions at her leaving the country without me.  I'll attempt to describe it next week though while she's gone anyway.

Will is thirteen as of Sunday.  So far, thirteen is good.  He was quite crabby yesterday morning and then apologized to me for being cranky.  REALLY!  He said, as he sat on the couch playing Xbox after I had just asked him what he wanted for breakfast and what his plans for the day were, "sorry Mom.  I didn't mean to be so grumpy."  Wow.  Thirteen is nice.

And so I am officially a mom of teenagers.  Now when people ask me, do you have children, I can say, "No, I have teenagers."

So what you may ask...

happened to this blog and the Bluegrass Moms blog and What to Read Next???

Good question and so many crazy and sundry things that fill the space from the cracking of dawn at 5:30 a.m. until 10:10 p.m. on the spot are the answer to that question.  Of which, none of the last 6+ weeks included blogging.  And no, I did not intentionally give up blogging for Lent.  It just seemed like it. 

I did give up talking about my parents for Lent.  Seriously.  It was good.  Really good.  I'm thinking of making it and "not drinking Diet Coke" permanent.  So, if you are related to me and want to know how your grandparents/parents are and you read this blog, call them yourself!

Since my last post on March 30, we have been on Spring Break to South Carolina, did the Cooper River Bridge Run (see picture to right), had the most wonderful Easter, celebrated Mary Rollins' 15 (!!!) th birthday, had a lovely Mother's Day, played lots of baseball and lacrosse games, Mary Rollins' was confirmed, rehearsed for ballet productions, drove a billion miles in my van, worked a bunch, served on the nominating committee for our new rector (still working on hiring a new rector)...wow...I can't remember the last time I was bored.

Mary Rollins had a murder mystery birthday
party.  Not surprisingly, her little brother was
one of the casualties.  Apparently he was hit in the
head with a brick-stuffed purse. 

Can you?