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Friday, October 16, 2015

Celebrating The People In My Life


              I celebrate each Saturday with Ruth Ayres at Discover Play Build - It's a close community that celebrates together. Come join us!          Tweet at #CelebrateLu


        I didn't post last week because my brother, sister-in-law and niece were in town to help celebrate my birthday, but so many other wonderful things have happened along with celebrating that day. Living a long way from them is hard. We all wish we lived so much closer. This is the family Sarah, her two daughters, and my grandson Carter (my son's son) travel to visit each summer. We are close, but we want the kids to know them and be close, too!




This week I'm celebrating

Family - I had the pleasure of taking and watching the grand-girls at their dance lessons-so cute and serious. When my visitors arrived, we visited all one morning, just talking and laughing, catching up. Then I took them to one of our arts district areas to visit a few antique stores. They own one, so it was fun to look at the stores through owner's eyes along with loving the fun to searching for a "find". (That's the middle bottom picture.) We had the pleasure of watching a new mural be finished among the many others in the area. Amazing work, all from a very tall ladder! 
          On the way to a small mountain town on my birthday, we grabbed a box of VooDoo donuts (left middle), because they are delicious and my niece had only heard of them on the Food Network. She was happy! In the mountain town, we had lunch at my favorite restaurant there, The Happy Cooker, and strolled in and out of shops, admiring art and rocks and souvenirs. (upper right photo) Ingrid was in school, but Imogene came along, and got to choose a couple of what she calls "decoration rocks" at the fabulous rock shop. As you see in the bottom left picture, she had lots of fun walking along walls.  She carried the rocks in her pocket with a big smile on her face! 

Friends - The statue of the reading girl in the top middle means two things: First, I met a friend for lunch, a former colleague that I haven't seen enough, and it was so good to see her and enjoy being with her again. And second, a former student at my school and her husband have this week published a book about their journey together, opening a school for young girls in the Kibera slum, outside Nairobi, Kenya. The book is Find Me Unafraid: A Story of Love, Loss and Hope in an African Slum, by Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner. Here is the link and you can find my review and others on Goodreads.I read it quickly, although I know much of the story. Nevertheless, it is a stunning story. Please check it out.

The picture upper left is of a card sent to me by Michelle Hazeltine, who shared on FB that she loved sending cards to people. I commented to say how thoughtful she was, and she sent me a card too! 

Thursday morning, I met a former colleague whom I miss a lot very early before school, hence that sunrise picture, the final one. Like the colleague I mentioned earlier, those connections are missed, so I am happy that we can still get together. And the bonus was seeing that sunrise. I don't see them anymore unless I'm out in the car because my house view is blocked by apartments to the east.

It's been a good two weeks, filled with good times, especially those relationships so good for the soul.

24 comments:

  1. Your post is brimming with love. Glad you had so many meaningful moments.

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    1. Thanks, Bernadette. These weeks were a lot of fun.

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  2. Family and friends--my favorite things to celebrate. I love reading about all the fun you've been having. Those girls are sure getting big!

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    1. They are six and four, Deb! And Carter started high school this year! I am glad to be able to see them so often. Thanks!

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  3. I'm so glad you had such a good time with family to celebrate your birthday!!! It sounds like it was an amazing two weeks filled with lots of love and family and friends. And of course, I'm happy you liked the card!

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    1. Every day was such fun, Michelle, and I couldn't not thank you too, one of the highlights.

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  4. Relationships good for the soul - those are healing words! So glad you spent time with family and friends. Love all the pics, but especially the one of Imi in yellow sweater with the burst of yellow leaves. Have a wonderful weekend and happy belated bday wishes!!

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    1. Thank you, Ramona. I must say that picture is a favorite of Imi, too. It was a special couple of weeks!

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  5. It sounds like you had a great week full of connections with important people in your life. These connections are so important. I am now also very curious about VooDoo donuts...

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    1. Look up VooDoo donuts-open 24 hours, always lines, creative offerings like bacon caramel. They are good, but I only had some originally because students brought them last year. For donut lovers, something to explore! Thanks Andrea, I had a very good time with everyone.

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  6. Such a fantastic and fun celebration of friends and family. Being surrounded and meeting people you care about is a heart-warming way to celebrate a birthday. You won't be surprised that once again pic of your granddaughters are my favorite. :)

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    1. Thanks, Terje, it was a wonderful birthday, & I understand, I like those granddaughter's pics, too.

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  7. Such a full and happy life you lead! I am far from my sister and her family and relish the time we get to have together. VooDoo donuts sounds like something from New Orleans. Are they anything like beignets? Always love watching your grandgirls. What precious dancers they are!

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    1. No, Voodoo donuts are not like beignets, just regular donuts, always seem very fresh, & creative with the toppings. The dancing class was so sweet, & I loved thinking, "oh, this is how they begin." There are games, especially in the four year old class, and little songs that include the basic movements. I was in awe of the teacher, seemed very experienced. Thanks, Margaret, it was a lovely gathering of days!

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  8. VooDoo donuts! Love this name. Lovely photos and celebration Linda. I too love the little ballerinas.

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  9. I love how you captured the moments in picture. Beautiful week with so much to celebrate. Personally I loved the grandgirls at dance class. Something about little ballerinas just gets me!

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    1. And after ballet comes the tap exercises! I was so glad I got to go with them this time. Thanks, Julieanne.

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  10. I just spent the last few days with my sisters and I am so thankful for that girl time. Time with family and friends is the best birthday gift! So glad you had a wonderful birthday!

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    1. Thanks Leigh Anne. Happy to hear about your time, too! It is wonderful, I agree!

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  11. Belated happy Birthday! I love that you got to spend it with family and friends. We're lucky to have these special moments with them.

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    1. Thank you, Earl. Yep, I agree about the being lucky. I try to be with them as often as I can.

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  12. Warm and wonderful post, Linda! Celebrating the week is a great way to count your blessings.

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    1. Thank you, Tabatha. Doing this on Saturday is a punctuation mark that ends the week in style, I agree.

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