Breast Crawl

This is beautiful to watch...especially from 2.5 minutes on. Enjoy.

Blessingway

Last Sunday I gave my dear friend Amy a blessingway as she nears the end of her pregnancy. It was very intimate and sweet and I am so happy to share a few images.

Self-Portrait Challenge

Cyrus

Cyrus has been in our family for nearly six years now. We have all grown to love him very much. He is such a sweet companion for Sam and, after about 4 years, I am finally developing a real relationship with him as well.

Last Friday my Dad and I were walking to pick ditch berries with Arlo in the stroller and Cyrus on the leash. Two pit bull dogs ran under a chain-link fence that wasn't secured properly, and attacked Cyrus. They were an attack team, taking turns biting and circling. It was horrific. After nearly knocking our giant double jogger over from shear force of attack, my dad and I were able to kick and throw things at the dogs to scare them off some. Eventually the tenants of the house came out and secured the dogs and the owner arrived. He's accepted full responsibility and has offered to pay the bills. We'll see how that turns out. So far, no payment has been made.

Cyrus sustained 5 different bites, two in his hind region and three in his chest area. One of the bites (shown to the left) was deep enough that he needed a drain tube. He's on two medications and has been very depressed and anxious. I created a shady healing retreat for him in our back yard. I think it helped!

Today, a week later, he is beginning to show signs of his old spunky, Cyrus self.

We are traveling to the San Juan Islands in a week and plan to bring Cy along. I think he'll enjoy the sea air!

Relations

On Saturday my Dad, Arlo and I drove most of the Cascade Loop Highway in Northwest Washington. It was one of the most amazing 10 hours drives I have been on. I dropped him at the airport around 8:30 p.m. with a hurried goodbye so as to not wake sleeping Arlo in th back. Sunday I spent with my dear friends Doug and Amy and I gave Amy a mother blessing ceremony (more later on that...)

I have been missing my Dad a lot and thus thinking of and missing my mom a lot, too. This morning I stood in my kitchen with Arlo sleeping and Sam at preschool and thought about my parents when they were my age. I imagined them in great love with one another. I thought about my mom being pregnant with me and then with my sister and I understood the love she felt for us in the days before our births and in the time after.

As I listened to "Sweet Melissa" by the Allman Bros., I tried to imagine my parents listening to it in a car on country road somewhere near our house in Maine and thinking it would be a good name for a daughter. Melissa was to be my name until they heard my name. Sweet story. I've always loved that song, even more so after hearing the story.

And an update:

• I have some great photographs to share as soon as I have time to get them ready...soon.
• Arlo is now crawling on all fours EVERYWHERE! He also pulls to standing and will take a few steps if he is so inclined. He loves playing on/with Matt's guitar cases!
• Sam is still talking up a storm and repeating EVERYTHING! A soft, "Oh, Dammit", slipped from my mouth yesterday and Sam didn't let it slip away! Same intonation and tone, just Sam sized, "oh, dammit".
• No offers on the house yet. We're bummed but I honestly feel too nervous and anxious about actually moving to worry. We'll sell it, we just won't get our original asking price. It is just money, anyway, right?

Visit...so far.

My Dad, Matt, Sam, Arlo and I have been so busy doing yard work and exploring we've hardly noticed an entire week fly by! Dad's been incredibly handy around the house helping out with a variety of projects from painting our metal railings a nice shiny black to helping me trim up my wild rose bush. We've managed to get some great exploring in between projects.
On Thursday Sherri took us driving and hiking in the hills above Wenatchee. We were able to see the cherry harvest at all stages including the immediate harvest with pickers camping in the woods. Very interesting.

We took Dad to Leavenworth for dinner one night and walked around the Bavarian village. It is quite hokey, but a must see when visiting the area. We had dinner and went for a walk on Blackbird Island. The weather in Leavenworth is much more moist and the woods look very different. Sam was scared of the woods and kept asking if dinosaurs lived there! It was pretty cute and imaginative of him. The woods did look prehistoric!

We've done a pretty good job of just hangin' out as well. This weekend we went to three BBQ's and managed to have nice slow mornings with breakfast on the deck or at least coffee on the deck. Dad has been enjoying the ease of our wireless network and the laptop...

A Sad One...Sorry.

In about an hour and a half I am leaving with Arlo, to drive to Seattle and pick up my Dad at the airport. He'll be visiting for almost two weeks. I am very excited to see him, but in my preparations for his visit I have found myself thinking of my mom a lot. In the form of a list, here is what I have been thinking of:

1. As I washed my face this morning, I remembered my mom washing her face with the blue wash cloths we grew up with. No soap, just water and she'd always say, "Mmmm, that feels good."
2. I think about her hands and beautiful fingernails.
3. She used to wash the white walls and trim in our kitchen.
4. She'd be hot from working outside and come inside and drink from an old metal cup. Two, three, or four cupfuls before she'd wipe the sweat from her upper lip.
5. Her powerful and intense hugs.

I just needed to get that out.