Catch up....

I know that it has been awhile since my last post, but lots has been going on, and I have not had access to a computer. As you can imagine, it has been quite a week. We are still reeling from the news of Chris's death and are getting ready for the wake and funeral tomorrow and Saturday. He had a memorial service in New York yesterday and over a 1,000 people attended...just one more testament to the type of person he was. I am so proud to say that I knew him.

We managed to fit in a few days at the beach for Easter and Spring Break. I plan on posting pictures as soon as I can get the time to sit down and download the photos.

And, just like every other female in the world, I plan on setting my alarm for 4:00 am tomorrow morning and watching the Royal Wedding! It has been the one bright spot in my week. I have been anticipating it since the announcement in November. I can still remember spending the night at a friend's house for Charles and Diana's nuptials, and my young and impressionable eyes stared in disbelief at her wonderful cupcake dress! (which I'm sad to say my wedding dress resembled!)...What girl doesn't like to see a fairy tale wedding? (minus the not-so-fairy-tale ending of that story)....William and Kate's story seems completely different, however, (thank goodness), and I cannot wait to see how it turns out!

I LOVE this new photo that appears in the Wedding Program...gush.. (by Mario Testino)

I also love the post by Paige at Simple Thoughts...she says that she has started asking her own teenage daughters "What would Kate Middleton do?" in touchy situations. Kate appears to be the definition of class and poise, and I would like to think that Stephanie and Sophie will grow up to be the same way too...it's also nice to throw that one out there when one of them is behaving non-princess-like (which is quite often!)...

Our own little Fairy Tale Princesses...(circa Disney 2008 and Prom 2009)....

I also love this drawing of Kate from Caitlin McGauley via Lonny Blog....

 
Steph on our trip to London in 2009...I love it there, but I'm glad that I am watching the wedding from the sanctity of my couch, chaos-free!!!

Enjoy the wedding festivities!

Remembering Chris...

 

I had my blogs planned out for the week...What I Like Wednesday....Easter Decorations...The Joys of Spring Break...Craft Nights....I was actually composing some of them in my mind and thinking of which silly pictures to use...and then a not-so-funny thing called "LIFE" happened that made my narcissistic posts seem...well...what they actually are--pointless...

A longtime family friend passed away. All deaths are traumatic--trust me I know. I lost both parents in 17 months, and I know that we will never completely recover from that. But on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, Chris Hondros passed away while photographing civil unrest in Libya...it was a horrific event that has been broadcast all over the Internet and television since it happened...

Chris and my husband grew up together...as part of the Greek community, they had a natural bond. Chris, my husband, and their siblings and cousins were inseparable and enjoyed the innocent joys of childhood together. They played games, watched movies, and did the things that all kids like to do--be carefree and young. It was a wonderful time for them all, and it was just about as an idyllic childhood as they get..

As they grew up, they didn't get together quite so often, but their bond remained close. I met Chris when I was a student at UNC, and he and my husband were at NCSU. I immediately liked him (who didn't?), and marveled at their quick-witted conversations and bonds. Over the years, we've closely followed his career and were in awe of the images he bestowed on the world. We relished his many visits home, and I will never forget the custom tour of New York he gave us when we visited in 2006. As a born and bred Southerner, I was mesmerized by Chris's "New Yorkness," and I know that I will never be able to visit the city without thinking of him...

I have cried countless times over the past 2 days...I'm sure that the wealth of information at my fingertips has something to do with that....but I'm crying for so many reasons that they are all so hard to process..

• I'm crying for the loss of a truly compassionate and kind man that impacted so many people and touched so many lives. Chris's untimely death had a worldwide effect, and I am in awe of the outpouring of emotions from all walks of life...
• I'm crying for the loss of a true Renaissance man whose interests were so varied but were tied together seamlessly into a physically and spiritually beautiful man....
• I'm crying for a mother who has to deal with the tragic loss of a beloved first-born son...in her own words, "no mother should ever have to bury a child"...
• I'm crying for a woman that I have never met named Christina and for a future that they will never get to share...
• I'm crying for a husband that has had one more important figure from his life taken away unexpectedly...
• I'm crying for the haunting pictures that will never be taken...
• I'm crying for a community that took so much pride in their hometown boy that made it big...
• I'm crying for the millions of people suffering that will never benefit from his photographic perspective...he shed light on so many in despair...
• I'm crying for me because he had a way of conversing that made you know that he was really listening..
• I'm crying for everyone who lived their lives vicariously through him (including myself)...he did things that no no one else would/could do, regardless of the risks...
• I'm crying for humanity because his work proves that one person can make a difference...
• I'm crying for the senselessness and brutality of war...
• I'm crying for Christopher...because he is worthy of every tear that will be shed for him...

Rest in Peace Chris Hondros...you will be missed...

Good-night sweet Prince; and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest....

Getty Images



Tail Wagging Tuesday

I am a little behind for this series but I thought that today I would link up with C-Mae for Tail Wagging Tuesday.

She's talking about Bling Bling for our furry babies, but I thought that I would use this time to introduce one of our menagerie of pets....[some of my friends--cough, cough (Mel)--classify our family as animal hoarders, but I STRONGLY disagree!!]

Rosie (or Rosebud...or Rose-Rose...) came to our family last summer. We adopted her from Animal Haven for Sophie's 7th birthday, and our life has never been the same again! The adage "curiosity killed the cat" describes her perfectly! She is always into something, such as stealing pencils and toys, "attacking" killer Q-tips, or getting stuck on top of cabinets. Despite these extremely annoying habits adorable quirks, we couldn't imagine life without her!

Blessings

As I write this blog on Palm Sunday, I am so thankful for so many things. As many people know, North Carolina and the rest of the deep South experienced horrible weather yesterday. We've had tornado warnings in the past, but rarely do we take them seriously. We do not live in Tornado Alley, so the few we have had over the years have been few and far between. In fact, I didn't change any of my plans to accommodate the weather. Yesterday, however, was a different story. Our state was hit with 62 twisters during the afternoon which caused widespread destruction and power outages. Our power was out for almost 24 hours, but I am ashamed to even mention that. Losing power is a minor inconvenience compared to what so many others lost. I have been saying extra prayers for all of those affected, especially in three neighboring communities: Sanford, Dunn, and Fayetteville. In fact, we were especially blessed because my SIL and I were in Fayetteville when the storm hit waiting on Sophie while she was at a party. It took over 2 hours to get her because one of the tornadoes hit between us! Once again, I am so thankful that our inconveniences were so minor....



This was the Lowe's store in Sanford about 20 miles from our house.....unbelievable...



On a brighter note, I am thankful for Stephanie. On Thursday night I watched as she recited the pledge at the annual SREMC meeting in Fayetteville in front of about 5,000 people. She was the Power Source Scholarship recipient for the year, and they wanted all members to see her. We are so very proud of her and her accomplishments.

and finally....drumroll please...I am thankful that I have a few readers on my blog!! Please be patient with me because I am learning. I also have hired a blog designer to help me, and I cannot wait until the first week of May to get my blog re-do!! She is a great designer, and you can catch a glimpse of her work at Once Upon a Blog... I haven't quite figured out what I want yet, but I am open to suggestions...:)

Oh, and one more....

.... what teacher is not thankful that Spring Break is a mere 5 days away???...sigh...long exhale....[insert HUGE smile]...

SUYL

Today I linked up with Kelly for Show Us Your Life--What Are You Reading?  I have been so waiting for this one because books...well, let's just say that they are MONUMENTAL to my life (which is a good thing considering that I am an ENGLISH teacher--ha!)...

One of my favorite things about summer break is finally getting the chance to read all of the books that have had to go on hold because of the busy school year. Don't think that that means, however, that I have not been reading! I reread each book with my students because I cringe at the idea of them tripping me up on some small, minute detail...This year alone I have read reread the following books: Frankenstein, 1984, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Awakening, The Metamorphosis, The Kite Runner, The Joy Luck Club, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and The Poisonwood Bible...whew...no wonder I had no time to read for pure, unadulterated enjoyment...

Never fear, however, I have been slowly loading my Kindle with a few beach reads that I can't wait to start...here are just a few...

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain--A fictionalized account of Hemingway and his first wife Hadley's days in Paris. Anyone who knows me knows that I love both Paris AND Hemingway, and the idea that in the final pages of A Moveable Feast Hemingway declared that "[he] wished [he] had died before [he] ever loved anyone but her" makes my heart swoon....

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosney--I've had this one for a while but have not been able to get to it (I have a nasty habit of downloading when a book appeals to me...sigh....)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen--I'm a little late on this one but I refuse to see the movie without reading the book first...

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult--because I LOVE her...period...

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown--sounds intriquing...

The Love of My Youth by Mary Gordon

Black Heels and Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond..I'm a budding blogger...she's the Queen Bee of the Blogging World...enough said...

Hopefully these will get me started, but I'm already making a list as I read everyone's posts...so, I'm sure the list is bound to grow...ha!

A Sweet Homecoming...

Today we experienced a miracle in a "small, furry" sort of way. At least a month ago one of our kitties disappeared. We have had Runtie for over 10 years, and she is the quintessential barn cat. She naps in the hay, chases our much-bigger dogs, and leaves sweet little "surprises" for us on the porch (well, as nice as a headless mouse or bunny can be). The entire time we have had her, Runtie has been known to disappear for a few days at a time--no big deal...she always returned, tired and hungry, but a few days of rest restored her to perfect health. Last month, however, she never returned from one of her mini-vacations. After days of worry, we sadly concluded that Runtie would not return. One of two things could have happened. She is pretty old, so she may have left home to [gulp] die..or she could be totally irked because of Bingo--an overly-hyper dog that has taken up at our house (ironically, not the first dog to do that...hmmmm...) We were very sad, but realized that nature may have taken its course...

As Steph weeded the flower garden (an event that deserves a post of its own! ha), I opened the laundry room door and saw a brown flash cross through the garage. I called to Steph, and we immediately began to search the garage. Much to our surprise, a tired, skinny Runtie was finally coaxed from under the car! I got her some food, and she scarfed it down. It appears that she hasn't eaten in quite a while. She is very skittish, but the same old Runtie!! This cat definitely has nine lives. As we speak, she is in the barn asleep on a tall pile of hay--safe from Bingo of course. The following pictures show Sophie giving her a big welcome home...

(By the way, I'm praying that Mr. White Socks, Donnie and Melanie's cat that disappeared at the same time as Runtie, will make a miraculous re-appearance, too..)