MY Birthday!!!

Well, since I just wrote a blog about hating Mother's Day, it is interesting that I had a strong desire to share how much I LOVE my birthday!! It is probably all inter-connected somehow, but it is way too early to think that one through.


Let me share about my birthday!!

 Andrew, my youngest son, had given me this beautiful original painting that he spent hours painting, so his talent and  love for me was already warming my heart when I awoke to the sound of rain pouring down outside. Certainly am glad I did not choose to have a beach day like I originally thought about :-)!


 First activity of the day was a doctor's appointment, with blood-work. My veins are the kind that play hide and seek with any lab technician that isn't up for a good challenge, so I particularly love this fun. It helps to enjoy the entire rest of the day if you start out with the worst possible scenario, so I did. For good measure, I gained a wad of weight, making my self image close to the edge of destruction....but never-you-mind, I still love birthdays!!

Splashing out to the car after my successful fasting bloodwork , I was particularly thankful that daughter Margie had suggested we meet and eat at a local breakfast place before I had to be at work. Here is what I can tell you: YUM. Showing you is better....

Yes, a caramelized onion with Gouda cheese fresh square bagel with scrambled eggs , fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced tomatoes and a pesto -to- die- for ...oh. my . goodness. gracious. breakfast.















Then there was the cute little face , also a little squarish , silly smiley grin showing through as she delved into her square sandwich bagel......
Bianca always makes a birthday better!

 She is my twin, too, by the way.













Insert work in my birthday here. Think there is nothing special about work on your Birthday? Think again, or work at a school filled with hilarious kids!! During lunch we take time to silently cheer anyone who is having a birthday, so as the little peeps silently cheered me , it set the stage for a gazillion Happy Birthday Mrs. Ribeiro greetings ahead! There was even a song in AfterSchool, my stomping grounds!

This taken immediately after I had gone to the kitchen for water and returned to my room completely emptied of kids-they were hiding in an art closet ...'to surprise me'. Surprise Surprise. :-)
They then burst into their rendition of the Happy Birthday song.





Work went by quickly and I even received beautiful gifts from friends there, making it especially fun!

Presents are not always what I think will make me happiest~ after all, people do not need to give me a gift to show me their love. But , then again, that being said, for clarification and all.....LOVE the feeling that someone thought of me, shopped for me, spent their very hard earned money on ME, and then waited expectantly to see if I liked what they got me. Now that makes me happy.

After work, I was happy to find several birthday cards, emails and phone messages to shower me with encouragement and love!! I am a LOVE those CARDS kind of gal, and even at age 62, (ugh) they light up my life rather brightly!!

Next stop on the birthday train: Dinner !! The original invitation by daughter Julie was a quick dinner to the local Mexican Restaurant, which I was anticipating happily, but the change in plans was phenomenal!!

 

One of the best steaks I have ever tasted! thanks to quality in cows and cooks! 

Furthermore, there was entertainment.....

Basketball playing rabbit and grandson!!

Have I mentioned I love Birthdays!!!?!!!

Why I dislike Mother's Day

There, you are reading it here first: the reasons I think Mother's Day is ridiculous after children leave the home.

Admittedly, when my 7 kids were young , the whole idea of actually having a day to sit back, relax, be given cards and gifts, and special hugs from my adoring children, did appeal to me. It made me feel, if not special, at least appreciated for the orchestrator of all things Home Like. Dad did his best to keep up, but since it fell on a Sunday , since he was a Pastor whose job description included Sunday as a work day, and since we rarely worked on the Sabbath......well, see what I am getting at here? How hard was it to put a lunch in the Crockpot, then have the kids throw me a breakfast in bed on their way to the race to the bathroom and getting ready for church? There wasn't even any laundry to do, for crying out loud.

The funniest part for me was the kids all watching me eat whatever they brought me for breakfast. It developed from a piece of dry toast and popcorn in 1977 ish to a gourmet breakfast in bed, on a tray with flowers, by the time they all flew out of the nest. That was well over 30 years of experimentation on a mom who was often made to lie flat and live without a cup of coffee for a very l-o-n-g period of time.

Fast forward to 2012, former husband having flown from this nest about 11 years prior, and all children snuggled nicely in their own lifestyles. Seven different kids, seven different lifestyles, and not a one wanting to enter quietly into my kitchen, pop some toast in the toaster and produce a mouth-watering version of  Emeril's Live Surprise Mom show. Ok, so as I wrote that , I began feeling a tiny bitty bit depressed all over again thinking how maybe that would be a fun idea....oh, but wait! that is my point!!!

The Mother's Day Sunday in May is BOGUS. My children are the same the day before and the day after, they love me whether or not they sent me a card, got me a candle, or invited me over for dinner. It's a fact. I may not FEEL the love every single day, but I am pretty sure it is there, even when their moods are altered by work overload and daily drama.

The media began asking , taking polls even~ "what is your favorite Mother's Day gift?", for about a month before the day arrived, forcing usually normal people to become obsessed about what to give their mom in order to make her feel happy. Candy? Flowers? Time alone? Wine? Jewelry? Hallmark cards? How about that cruise she has always longed for? After a few times of hearing it I began wondering to myself what exactly was that perfect gift I would want to receive from my children??

There you have it, not able to be purchased, no food included, priceless gift. The price, of course, was that Jesus Christ already paid for this gift of Truth - for He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

I shared this with my children for 365 days a year, (not just over toast on Mother's Day) all the years of their lives at home, and I am waiting, sometimes patiently and sometimes not, for them all 7 to be walking in that Truth.

Why do I dislike Mother's Day?
Because for that one single day, every year, the expectations of joy become more important than the Truth.

I love that God gave me children to teach about the Truth. Thank you Lord for these gifts is on my lips daily.  I love that the Truth remains so, even when this mom gets grumpy and sad and frustrated, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Mother's Day? not so much.

The New Relationship

I am astounded, even as I write, that my relationship with this male cardinal grew relatively quickly from just friends to Best Friend Forever (BFF) status.

Here's how it started, innocently enough, you'll have to agree. I had a week off work for a vacation and my plans changed from visiting my Southern grandchildren, to sitting often on my back porch. I was alone, I was broke, and so the best way to conserve money and energy was to sit and sip. Some would sip wine, I sip coffee.

Get out of bed, grab a cup of coffee, feed the cat, water the plants, growl at the goldfish and maybe throw a token crumb or two his way, go to the back porch and sit awhile. Sit awhile are words you don't hear that often anymore, but were used alot in the day of my grandma. Sit awhile indicated your presence was desired, your company sought and your time valuable.  I love nothing better than to say "Come in and sit awhile" to a friend, but thus far in my Post David Living Experience (PDLE), I have maybe just a couple of friends who have sat awhile. Cheryl comes to mind immediately, since just today she left me a note on my front door, behind my dishtowel that keeps the screen door closed. It was her just stopping by on the chance I would be here. I love Cheryl. I sometimes say "Come in and sit awhile" and she does. We talk, we fuss, we complain, we praise God together, we cry, we laugh, we sip tea. Cheryl likes tea better than coffee, but I don't hold that against her, I give in on that point for friendship's sake :-) .

Where was I? Oh, My new BFF and I building our relationship. So I am on the back porch, sipping my early morning coffee and over flies this bright red, noisy cardinal. He apparently is chirping at me because I am too close to something. He would sit, sing, chirp madly and leave.  As the week went by, I held my ground and returned to the porch, and he changed his view of me and slowly included me in his circle of safe things to sing around. Sing he did! ♪☺ I tried videotaping it(OK, of course I did ) and somewhere between me and my camera was a disastrous result~ wobbly , wavy and no sound! Hahahaha! Some things just have to be enjoyed without sharing.

Every day Mr C went from one particular sassafras tree branch to another, singing a call that was either praising the Creator or calling his future mate. Clearly a happy call. Chirp, chirp, chirp sort of thing. But then as I watched and sipped my coffee, he would get really agitated and start another raucous call, more like an attacking cry that was not at all pleasant. I learned , through daily observation, that this meant get out of here Ms. Cat or you will be dive bombed.

                                        Would you trust this face around your nest? Smart BFF.

My daily morning visits found the cardinal getting closer and braver as he became used to my quiet, listening self. I perceived that when I talked, he was not happy. Yes, before you can ask, I did try to talk to this new friend. The results were a sudden flutter of wings and a solid hour of waiting for him to reappear and begin again. I learned quickly that he liked listeners way better than talkers.

One day he invited his wife to visit us, and she timidly approached the porch area, taking her sweet time and keeping her sounds to herself. He was definitely the louder and more bold of the two. I think he was protecting her too, because she was always in the distance watching and only arrived after a slight change in the chirp sounds.

I'd like to tell you here that I now speak Cardinalese, but seriously, these birds have at least 4 different sounds and I have yet to figure out what sets each one off. I am just more appreciative of them and am definitely loving the male of the species much better than the female. Well, let me show you :

She is rather attractive, I suppose, but not nearly as flashy or friendly as her bird counterpart. I had almost given up on the male species, what with PDLE and all, but it seems the case was specific to one human male rather than the male gender in general. [just kidding.]

Come out and sit awhile was no longer a passing thought, but my mission each morning. I had to go look and listen for my BFF! He might miss me! He might do something really awesome! He might show me , finally, where that elusive nest was hiding so I could watch baby BFF's being made.

Oh, you who know me, must know that this Blog is not going to be just about Birds! Indeed, there is another parallel I am drawing mentally here. It took the entire week of observation, pondering and sipping to figure out where my own mind was traveling. Like the Mr. C who hops around on the ground before he sings from the treetops, it took me all week.

Relationships worth having take time, and intentionality. They come from sitting awhile and from listening and caring. These potentially BFF relationships can appear ill suited at first. There may be preconceived notions present , like...he is too flashy, or, he is too beautiful for me, or...we have nothing in common.

Time well spent this week, not talking on the phone, texting or computering, was the hours(yes, hours) I took to learn about Mr. Cardinal. I regret not a minute of it, and believe me when I say it was chilly some mornings!



It was not just sipping coffee on my back porch and listening to Birds that occupied my mornings. I also sat with the Creator of my BFF. I listened to what God said about Himself, sitting quietly so as to learn what I could of Him by NOT talking and NOT making noises. He told us all about Himself in the Bible, His Holy Word, set apart for those who desire to know Him better.  Time well spent and I am so happy that I Sat Awhile .