Outside my window...the sun is shining and it is getting warmer and muggier (is that a word?)  They are calling for rain this afternoon.  That's ok there will be no poolside sitting today since Matthew and I are both busy with school.

I am thinking....that only family can hurt and misunderstand.  Only family can love you to the point where your heart swells and bursts. 

I am thankful for....the fact that Matthew is home from his two week vacation.  I am thankful for the love that surrounds me and for the man who holds my heart in his caloused hands.

From the schoolroom....Matthew and I are both hard at work learning.  (Well Matthew is I am finishing this up then I will get back to work.)

From the kitchen....lots of leftovers!!!!

I am wearing....blue denim skort and a pink tee shirt.

I am creating....nothing much.  The inspiration has left me.

I am going....nowhere today.  Perhaps to the library to work if the lawns get mowed so that my allergies don't get out of hand.

I am reading....The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe for my English class.

I am hoping....that this week goes smoothly and pleasantly.  That the heat and humidity is finally over and that we are able to slide into our normal end of summer routine.

I am hearing....MK teaching Melissa how to knit, the washer running, and the sound of birds singing outside the window beside my table.

Around the house....don't look!!!! Today is one of those days where everyone has had something to do early and nothing seems to have gotten done.  That's ok there is more to life than clean dishes and swept floors.  The people are happy.

One of my favorite things....quiet mornings like this were I know that those in residence are content.

A few plans for the rest of the week....just what we are doing now along with whatever life throws at us sprinkled with a bit of novelty and adventure.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you....

Doug and Ian getting the chainsaws in tune so that they can attack that big pile of logs and turn it all into stove wood for the coming winter.

On our way to New Hampshire yesterday, Doug and I stopped at the Norman Rockwell Museum for a bit.  I thoroughly enjoy looking at his drawings and the simplicity of life as he portrayed it.

You asked me if I was going to your wedding and I was surprised and shocked that you had to ask.  For the record I am going to say a few things to you so that you may understand and then, hopefully in the future when this is all resolved, we can all put it behind us.

I cannot attend your wedding for two reasons.  The first is a matter of faith.  A tenant of faith that I hold dear to my heart and one that you know and have been taught but you have turned your back on.  How many times have you heard me say that in the final analysis I must stand in judgment before God and therefore I will offend men, even those I hold dearest to me, before I will offend Him.  I am not doing this because of a religion or a church but because I believe it to be true.  I believe this teaching and that is what matters and I must not offend God.

My second reason is that even if going to your wedding didn't go against what I believe, your father has said we are not going and I cannot disobey him.  I married him, he is my husband and as long as what he says isn't sinful I must obey him.  I may not always agree no may I always like what he says but that's too bad.  I have struggled with this in the past as all my children well know but that does not excuse me or give me leave to knowingly do wrong.

You may not like this or agree, your father's may be hurting you, but I want you to remember something through everything that you have ever done or said that has hurt him, and you know you have, he has always been there for you, always loved you more and never denied what his conscience would allow him to give you or do for you.

Someday when you are a husband and a father the best thing that you can strive to do is to be half the husband and father that your father is.  Perhaps then you will begin to understand.

As for myself, you are my son and you will always be so.  I don't know what you believe about my regard for you, only God knows and that is all that matters.  But you should know, again for the record, that you have always had and always will have my love and that you reside in my heart and my daily prayers.  I have committed your care to Our Lord and Our Lady and your Guardian Angel's capable hands in the sure faith that God's will will prevail

There must be something fundamentally wrong with me.....or perhaps the term is mental!!!! Here we go with round three of the chick thing!!!!!  That means the constant chirping and the smell of chicks and chick pooh for about four weeks in our garage. 

My mantra for the next four weeks is "I love my daughter, I love my daughter!!!"  or maybe it should be "I love baked chicken, I love baked chicken!!!!"

Another hell of a man, my younger brother David along with his sons Zachary (the bearded one) and Lucas.

David's beautiful wife Cheryl and their daughter Reagan.

Reagan, Lucas and last but certainly not least, Rosemary.  Can this family produce some good looking kids or what.

This is my oldest brother, Steve.  The title of my post says it all.  I love you big brother.

Edit: My dad sent me this shot with explanations for all of the bling on Steve's uniform.  Unfortunately it doesn't seem to translate well on Xanga.

My dear Lupus Lady, here is the little man at 3 1/2 months old.  I cannot seem to capture the smile.  Everytime I raise the camera he stops smiling.  He continues to bring joy and peace into our home.  God has blessed this family by giving us both Layn and his mom.

Yesterday morning I got a call from the neighbors, T-bone and porterhouse were on their lawn eating their ornamentals.  MK, Melissa, Layn and I went down to bring them home.  No problem these neighbors are not only friends but they found the incident somewhat amusing as did we.

Later in the evening as I was coming home from town I discovered MK's calves in the road in front of our house.  Doug came out and helped capture the little brown one then the others came out and we got them into this old dog pen for the night until the fence problem can be found and solved.  This morning I was awakened by these two bellering to be let out of time out and the cow bellering for us to let them out so they can nurse.

These two occurrances got me to thinking.  The calves getting out is something that I have come to expect at this time of year, after all it is August, we are nearly done with second cutting, and the nights are turning cool again.  In the life of a farmer there are jobs on the farm and little happenings like the calves getting out that seem to come just as surely as the spring follows the winter.

As soon as the snow is off the ground in the spring and the ground dries up enough we start to make fence.  It has to be done, especially here in Upstate New York where the snow and the deer are in the habit of breaking down the fences in the winter.  (snowmobilers don't help either)  After the fences are built and repaired the animals are put out to pasture and we enjoy (imagine a lot of sarcasm) a few weeks of calves in the road and the neighbors yards.  As sure as the sun rises and sets those calves have to test the electricity to make sure that it is there and is still working.  They don't do it once and tell all their friends either.

After that excitement is over then it is time to plant crops and make hay.  Fortunately by now the animals are used to the fences and they have learned to respect them.  Unfortunately, unless a farmer is blessed with extra hands or lots of money, the grass begins to grow under the fences as well as in the hay field.

Along about the end of July or the beginning of August, just about when second cutting is winding down (if you have had the weather for it) suddenly you have a rash of phone calls from the neighbors saying that Bossy is in their yard, would you come get her.  Worse yet, you hear car horns in the twilight of the evening and you look out to see what those crazy teenagers are doing now and you spy your Jersey calf standing in the middle of the road.

You know immediately that it is late summer and the fence has to be grounded out somewhere by all that grass that has been growing underneath them.  At this juncture I'll bet no one can guess what this family is going to be doing for the next few days.  We will be walking fence lines to make sure they are all up and mowing under the fences with the tractor and sicklebar mower and the hand scythe. 

I like fall when the animals are all barned for the winter and there is no more danger of them being in the road.

Outside my window....it is overcast and rainy.  Just the kind of day that I need to settle the pollen that is out there and to keep me inside and dedicated to my schoolwork.

I am thinking...about the wonderful man that I married and the relaxing weekend that he just showed me.  I am so fortunate that no other woman snatched him up before I found him.

From the schoolroom....today is the first day of my semester.  MK will start as soon as she irons out the issues with her FAFSA and Matthew starts next Monday after he arrives home from New Hampshire.

From the kitchen.....I think some chicken on the grill with salt potatoes and some fresh vegetables from the garden.

I am wearing....jammies what else would I be wearing on the first day of school.

I am creating.....order from chaos.

I am going....to the pharmacy to pick up scripts and hopefully nowhere else.

I am reading....still going at Matthew Kelly's Seven Levels of Intimacy

I am hoping....that hopes and dreams pan out and that school goes well.  I am hoping that prayers are answered and I can help to make others happy.

I am hearing....Kim and Melissa chatting, Mary-Kate cleaning up in the kitchen and the sound of the rain pattering on windows.

Around the house.....Mary-Kate has everything cleaned up and it feels like home.  The vast feeling of contentment that sweeps through me is so warm and overwhelming that I almost want to cry.  But since I really don't have a heart I guess I can overcome that.

One of my favorite things....the smell and feel of new books and school supplies.

A few plans for the rest of the week....school, holy hour, housework, school, and more school.  Sunday I get to pick up Matthew.  Hooray!!!!

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you...

My grand-niece picked out this quilt pattern for me to finish.  Sometime in between bouts of studying I have to work on her quilt.

Saturday morning the combine came and combined Ian's wheat and his oats.  Later in the day Doug and Ian baled the straw so that headache is out of the way. 

Saturday evening Doug took MK and I to hear the 10th Mountain Division play in a concert in the park in Sherrill.

Then the evening was finished off with a very spectacular fireworks display.  My man really knows how to show a girl a good time.

Yesterday he and I loaded our Kayak and a friends Kayak onto the roof of the car and ran away from home for the day.  On the way home we were passing through a neighboring town and spied a concert in the park.  We stopped to enjoy the music and were surprised to discover an old friend in the band.

Monk Rowe used to teach music at the high school that I attended and started the Jazz Ensemble that my younger brother played with.  David, Monk sends you his best.