She’s Five

My little buddy, Mary Michael Patterson, turned five today.  She summed it up nicely.  “It uses up a whole hand, Nana!”  She flashed the five fingers at me and grinned.  I knew exactly what she meant.

Life for Mary Michael is pretty simple.  A great book at night, riding her bike, playing in water-- it’s good.  She’s a strawberry-eating little girl.  Mary Michael’s kind, thoughtful, and she wants to please.  She watches others carefully and frankly, that little girl doesn’t miss a beat.  I bet she’ll learn to read upside down like her Nana did so she can keep track of what’s going on in the world of adults.

To my sweet girl as you begin your second hand:

Mary Michael, school starts this fall and you’re going to be meeting lots of new folks.  You’ll see the world through other’s eyes and I promise you, it’s a big adventure.  Honey, go places, do things, and help others.  By helping others, you’ll be helping yourself the most.  Use those values your parents have instilled in you.  Laugh with others!  Celebrate the good!

Remember, you want to leave the world a better place than how you have found it.  Do your homework.  Put your name on the top of your paper.  Color outside the lines occasionally.  AND don’t believe everything that people tell you.

(Nana will tell you about the Flim Flam Man when you’re a little older.)

You’re the apple of your Nana’s eye.

Love you,  miss you, Nana

Everyday is the First Day

Let's all try and put square pegs into round holes.

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AND let's keep doing this over and over and over.

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I have figured something out about myself.

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When God was passing out the table settling gene, He giggled and gave me the "sense to know that I don’t know squat about tablescaping” gene.  Tablescaping is what people do when they pretty up a table for a party.  My friends say, “Just go out in  your yard and cut some greenery...it will be lovely”  or the one year my sister-in-law, Janie, handed me cumquats to decorate the Thanksgiving turkey.  The cumquats were quickly taken from my hands by those who know my limitations.

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I just don’t get it.  The height, the colors, the theme....I cook.....I eat.....I don’t get the beautification part.  I’m as lost as last year’s Easter egg.  I might order a centerpiece.  I might put on a tablecloth.   I might put out the salt and pepper shakers, but let it be known, Martha Stewart has nothing to worry about.

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However,  I keep trying.  Today might be the day, because everyday is the first day of the rest of my life.

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ps...I was going to put a picture of the swan on the back porch table.  It was too embarrassing.  I had put a mosquito candle in the place where the bouquet of flowers are supposed to occupy.  Function over form!