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Snow Day – Take Three

January 20, 2011 by Kelli

We have a snow day today…again. I’m trying not to complain. I’m trying to have a good attitude and remember how magical and exciting snow days were when I was a kid. I’m trying not to dwell on the fact that Lee left this morning for San Diego for the weekend. I’m trying to ignore the fact that I should probably go shovel the driveway.

In an effort to enjoy the day and soak up the chance to stay home and relax, we are doing a lot of this today:

We’re enjoying the beauty of the powdery snow. While snow is not my favorite thing in the world, there is no denying it’s beautiful to look at. We’ll probably go out and play at some point.

We’re watching TV…

In front of the fire.

We’re making funny faces every time mom pulls out the camera.

We’re eating Nutella pancakes for breakfast.

We’re singing praises along to Selah’s You Deliver Me.

Yessir…it’s going to be a mighty snow day. Here’s to hoping that it only lasts one day, though…

Stones of Remembrance

January 17, 2011 by Kelli

Intentional

This is a word that is following me around quite a bit lately. I hear it, read it, think it and sleep it. Intentional. What does it mean to be intentional?

I went to Webster’s Dictionary to look for a clear defination of intentional. Here’s what I learned: Webster’s Dictionary isn’t a lot of help. Intentional is defined as “done by intention or design.” Great. Awesome. Way to help.

So I looked up the word intend.

“To direct the mind to.”

Much better. This definition actually gave me something to think about. Because to be intentional really does require thought. It means I must direct my mind toward an action. It requires work and planning and it’s hard…

To live and live well, one must be intentional. I forget that a lot. Actually, it feels like I forget that every single day. How often do I go to bed and run through the day and realize I went through the motions? How often do I reflect on the day and see that I merely survived?

This is not intention.

Lee and I are blessed to have wonderful leaders and friends and supporters around us who are constantly encouraging us to be better. Yesterday we spoke at length with many of these people about placing Stones of Remembrance out for our kids.

Orchestrating moments in the kids lives that they can look back at and point to as a time when God was there.

A time they remember.

A time they felt loved.

A time when they discovered who they were created to be.

Intentional

When the Isrealites crossed the Jordan River into the promised land, Joshua commanded the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Isreal and said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder…Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you sall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Isreal forever.”

Intentional

I have to be intentional with my children. I have to set out stones of remembrance for them. Sometimes these things are easy – they naturally flow from the every day moments of life – as long as I’m paying attention, of course. Like the day the tornado didn’t come through. We were intentional in pointing Sloan to God’s answer that day.

But if I’m not planning ahead – if I’m not intentionally seeking ways to set up stones of remembrance – I will miss opportunities.

The same goes in every area of our lives. Lee and I are being challenged in many different ways to be intentional in our giving. We must intentionally stretch ourselves to give more. We must be intentional in budgeting so that it is easier to make giving a priority.

We have to be intentional in our marriage. We must be intentional in our careers, intentional in the way we spend our time, our moments.

Intentional

Setting up stones of remembrance – this is my heart as a mother, as a wife, as a daughter and sister. As a child of the Lord Most High. Because someday I will look back and point my children and, hopefully, grandchildren to those stones…those moments. And I will be able to tell them, “Look. Look what the Lord Most High did for you.”

Intentional

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life, Marriage, Ministry, Motherhood Tagged With: Kids, Life, Living life intentionally, Motherhood, parenting, setting stones of remembrance

Deep thoughts…

January 13, 2011 by Kelli

*random pictures will be interspersed throughout this most random of posts. Consider yourselves forewarned…

When I was a kid, I thought for sure the term “Jay Walker” meant someone who walked across the street naked. I think that stream of thought stemmed from the phrase “Nekkid as a Jay Bird,” which, being from a good southern family, I heard frequently. But I remember vividly being told once that I was jay walking and getting quite upset because I was fully dressed.

Sadly, I think I was 11 or 12 before I learned what jay walking really meant.

As we walked into church last night, Sloan walked outside the pedestrian walkway. “Hey everybody – look at me!” he called. “I’m a Jay Walker!”

I blushed. Because for some reason when I hear that term I can’t get the image of a defiant streaker crossing the street out of my head.

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Sadly, I am already over the great winter of 2011. Highs of 20 with wind chills in the single digits? Over it. Snow and ice? Over it. Frostbite after walking from my car to the back door? Over it.

Lee told me yesterday that he was convicted about his attitude toward winter. Well that makes one of us. I suppose I should try to have a better attitude about these frigid months. I mean, it’s not like I can do anything about it. It is what it is and I might as well find the silver lining so here it is:

The Clementines are amazing right now. They are fresh and sweet and…

Ah, forget it. Sorry, but I can’t find a single redeeming quality to winter. Bah Humbug.

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Today I will go to a music practice to prepare for an upcoming event that I’m singing at and I’m more than a little bit excited about it. Every year our church puts on a Girl’s Formal for the senior high girls. They provide beautiful dresses for the girls and have people come in to do their hair and make up. After everyone is sufficiently pampered and Princess-ified, the senior high boys escort the girls into the activity center where they are served a meal by candlelight. For the evening the girls are treated like royalty and are reminded that they are special and beautiful and cherished and loved. It’s such a sweet event and its something I wish I could have attended back when I was an angsty teenager…

This year’s dinner theme is set in World War II so they asked for a live band to play some of the classic standards from greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and so on…We will be singing songs like Ain’t Misbehaivin’, Blue Skies, Paper Moon and the ever amazing Georgia on my Mind.

Now I can’t skat like Queen Ella – I don’t even think I’ll try so as not to embarrass myself. I’m supposed to be background music, not the elephant in the room. But other than that, putting these songs together has been a dream come true and the fact that I get to sing them at such a unique event is even more fun.

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I need a tan. I need the sun to kiss my cheeks and mask the bags under my eyes.

That is all.

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We’re about a quarter of the way through our massive jar of heaven Nutella. We are finding many wonderful uses for Nutella, but none of them compete with the classic snack: Nutella on plain, white bread. I ate a slice at 10:00 last night. I can’t say I feel great about that decision but whatever…I took up running, again, so it’s all good.

Right?

Okay, there’s really no justification for eating a chocolate covered piece of bread right before bed.

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I’m off to face another frigid day. I believe the high is supposed to be 24 today, which is better than yesterday’s high of 19. See? Look at me being all positive and finding the silver lining.

So much for global warming, eh?

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Life, Motherhood, Random Tagged With: cold winter, giant jar of Nutella, Jay Walking, Kids, random blog post

Wrestling with Daddy

January 5, 2011 by Kelli

It’s just too much fun…

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Lee, Life Tagged With: dads and kids, Family, kids wrestling with dad

Sometimes He Calms the Storm

January 3, 2011 by Kelli

New Year’s Eve brought unseasonably warm temperatures around here. St. Louis is the arm pit of the United States. We get a conglomeration of everybody’s weather. Which means it can be 60 degrees at 9:00 and 20 degrees by 2:00. We get the snow and ice, the heat and humidity. We live with weather whiplash.

LIVE WITH IT.

So the unseasonably warm temps were not all that unseasonable…or at least they weren’t unreasonable. However, the warm weather mixed with the frigid temps immediately following made for some contemptuous weather. And this set up quite a disaster.

Sloan’s terror of all things weather has been well documented over the years. Remember this post? So when the skies turned nasty Friday morning, he grew all aflutter with nervous energy. Thankfully the kids were having friends over. A brother and sister who are the same ages as Sloan and Tia. It was the perfect distraction.

Before the friends descended upon us, Sloan got more than worked up about the impending weather. So he asked Lee to pray with him and pray they did. Sloan pleaded with the Lord to stop the storms and keep the tornado away from our house.

It turns out Sloan’s friend may have him beat in storm terror. Around 11:00, the tornado sirens went off and so did the boys. There were tears, there was quite a bit of jumping around and then the neighbor begged us to call his parents. And the girls stood in the corner protesting loudly.

“We’re not scared. We don’t want to go home. We want to keep playing. No! There’s not gonna be a tornado!”

After the kids left, the sirens went off a second time. Hmmm…we turned the TV on to see what was going on, but that sent Sloan into a freak out of massive proportions. So off the TV went and we delved into distraction mode.

The sky turned ugly…green. Rain pelted sideways. And yet, there was not wind. The trees weren’t bent. No limbs fell. And then – it was over.

The sun came out and Lee ran out to the store. A friend called shortly after. “Are you guys okay?” she asked. And suddenly I panicked. What had I forgotten?

“Yes…Why?”

“The tornado touched down in your back yard.”

“Really?!”

I flipped the TV on to see if there was any news on our area. I called Lee and told him to drive by the nearby golf course where the tornado hit. He came home shortly after with the news that the golf course had quite a bit of damage. Huge trees uprooted and lying on their sides.

“Sloan and Tia come with me. Let’s go see the tornado damage.”

So off they drove to survey the damage. Driving down our street there wasn’t a limb down. No debris. And then they turned left off our street where branches lay scattered. Driving past the next street, a large tree lay on it’s side. Driving past the second street, several houses were missing shingles and more trees and limbs lay strewn about.

Lee turned down the third street down and was shocked at what he saw. The tornado had come right through there. Cars lay flattened by trees. Houses were missing large sections of their roofs. There was extensive damage.

But no wind blew past our house.

As the crow flies – or tornado blows – that neighborhood was 300 yards from our house. And it appeared as if the wind stopped blowing right at the threshhold of our street. As if some invisible source was holding it back…

Did God withhold the winds and tornado from our home because Sloan prayed? I think that’s a tricky question to answer. Because there very well could have been people who were affected who prayed for protection as well. I don’t claim that God chose Sloan’s prayers over another. I do think, however, that God revealed Himself in a mighty way to my seven year old. I do think that God held even a whisper of wind at bay so He could show my son that He is, indeed, the One who controls the wind.

We were also able to show Sloan the grace of God’s protection as we pointed out the damaged homes and the people who were not harmed despite the tornado’s passing. We were able to point out that God’s protection does not always extend to the material things we have on this earth. But He protected His people that day.

Sadly, six people were killed (none in our area) by the storms that came through the Midwest on Friday. Does this mean that God’s protection wasn’t extended to those who died? No. It does show that our days are numbered and life is never a guarantee. We didn’t get into those truths with Sloan just yet. We’re trying to dispel fear in his heart. But we were able to confirm to him that God hears and answers prayer. This is a lesson I want my kids to know and trust without wavering as they grow older.

Had the tornado come just 300 yards to the North, we would have been able to confirm in Sloan’s heart that God is a God of protection and grace. Had our home been destroyed we would have been able to show Sloan that God is One who remains the same, even when our circumstances change.

More than anything I’m grateful that my son’s tender heart was given a valuable lesson on New Year’s Eve. I’m grateful we were spared. I’m praying for our neighbors. And I’m thankful that we have a God who says Let the little children come to me.

A few grainy cell phone images of the damage near our home:

Filed Under: Family, Holidays, Kids, New Years, Sloan Tagged With: Children's prayers, faith like a child, God's Protection, Midwest tornados, New Year's Eve tornado

The one with all the Christmas photos

December 27, 2010 by Kelli

It was an idyllic Christmas in the Stuart home, complete with a winter wonderland outside. We enjoyed a long, relaxing weekend and are now all refreshed, rejuvinated and…well, the kids are already tired of each other as evidenced by the fact that they’ve been sent to different rooms and it’s only 7:45.

Whatcha gonna do?

By order of the decree of Mom Bloggers United, I am contractually obligated to share a few Christmas photos with you. If I don’t, I could be voted off the island. We wouldn’t want that to happen now, would we? And so, without further ado, I give you Christmas 2010.

Christmas Eve

When did this child turn into a little girl?!

A rare moment

Santa came and left behind a new bike for Sloan (which he declared was tubular!), a CD player for Tia and a Jessie doll for Landon to complete his set of Toy Story toys. Santa ate most of the cookies (they left him a plate-full for cryin’ out loud) and he apparently tripped over the fireplace grate. But all in all, Santa did a magnificent job this year.

Landon's baseball helmut, which has hardly left his head since Christmas morning. He looks like the Jack in the Box kid running around here.

Landon's baseball helmet, which has hardly left his head since Christmas morning. He looks like the Jack in the Box kid running around here.

If any of you have school age boys and you don’t have Snap Circuits, I highly recommend them. They’re great! It teaches the kids about energy and electricity while letting them build and create. If the circuits are snapped together correctly they can make a fan blow, a whistle ring or a song play. It’s seriously hours of fun. I’m so glad we invested in these. (Hint: You can get them at Hobby Lobby. Print off their 40% off coupon online and you get them for much cheaper.)

Tia received her first American Girl doll, which is apparently a rite of passage for little girls these days. I’m just old enough to have missed the American Girl phase. When I was a kid it was Cabbage Patch dolls. I gotta say…these dolls are cooler. Tia got Kit and she came with purple glasses and a set of matching pajamas.

I wasn’t sure how my tomboy of a daughter would react. Would she like it? Would she cast it aside?

She loves this doll. It has brought out the girly girl inside her. I kind of love it.

All in all, it was a wonderful day for everyone. We didn’t go overboard on gifts, which means the kids only got things they really wanted. My parents bought us a rockin’ new video camera, which I’m thrilled about because we’ve had our old camera for ten years, which means in video camera years it was, like, 429. It wasn’t even worth it for me to drag it out most of the time.

But the piece de resistance, the creme de la creme, came about mid morning when my parents gave us the most creative gift I believe we’ve ever received.

Do you hear the angels singing?

When we were in Italy, Lee and I passed several Gelateria’s with these huge cans of Nutella in the window. We commented more than once how we wished we could bring one of those home. We never mentioned that to my mom, but somehow she managed to track down a shop in New Jersey that sold these 12 pound jars of heaven.

60,000 calories.

My New Years resolution to lose 10 pounds is going to be a little bit tricky…

While Christmas was easy and happy for us, our sister-in-law, Becke’, and her family had a traumatic and terrifying Christmas. Her younger brother, on his way to her parents house for Christmas morning, hit a patch of ice on a bridge and rolled several times. He ended up with a shattered femur, a broken wrist and some serious head injuries.

They almost lost him.

Thankfully, he will ultimately be okay, but he is in for some grueling months of rehab. This accident came as they near the third anniversary of Becke’s younger sister Kiley’s death. Needless to say, Christmas was not as idyllic for that precious family. Would you join me in praying for them? Particularly her brother Kirby.

Follow Becke’s blog for updates and specific prayer requests. And to be blessed. Becke has a heart for the Lord and a gift with words. You will be blessed by her blog.

There. I have officially fulfilled my Mom Bloggers United obligation. I can keep my member card for one more year. Phew. Merry after Christmas everyone!

Filed Under: Christmas, Family, Holidays Tagged With: Christmas 2010, family Christmas, giant jar of Nutella, Santa came to town

Celebrating Christmas

December 19, 2010 by Kelli

For three or four years now I’ve determined that I would throw a Christmas party for the kids. I usually come up with the idea around December 24. Because I’m that awesome.

This year, I determined somewhere around August 25 that I would actually, indeed, for real, throw a Christmas party for the kids. I planned ahead…in my mind. In reality, I sent invitations out somewhere around December 12, a whole thirteen days before Christmas.

I am growing as an organizer. Try not to be jealous…

If I’m being honest (and I am) I would have to tell you that most of the invitations were sent via email. The rest were hand delivered. No stamps. I don’t believe in them.

So with all of my awesome forethought and planning, I wasn’t entirely sure we would have a large turnout. But, to my surprise, we did! And despite the fact that I’ve had a severe bronchial infection (most likely pneumonia – you know…no biggie) I managed to put together a decent enough gathering of children.

Read: M & M’s in a crystal bowl and cake. I mean nothing was handmade or anything. Let’s not get crazy, right?

I did print out the story of the Candy Cane and made a cake. With Betty Crocker’s help. It was the kids that made this party a delight. They played, they laughed, they ran and then? They sat and listened. And this is where the simplicity of the party was key. The totally planned simplicity…

They sat and listened as Papa Lee read of Christ’s birth from the book of Matthew. They raised their hands and answered questions about the manger, the Magi and the wise men. They discussed why we celebrate Christmas and how we can honor Jesus on His birthday.

Lee did a great job. He kept it short and sweet but packed in a beautiful lesson. I was proud of him, and of the kids who managed to sit still and quiet and intent the entire time.

Another reason I was proud? The kids went above and beyond in giving. We asked everyone to bring an unwrapped toy to be donated to charity and these families took that seriously. They purchased wonderful toys, which we will deliver this week. And as we talked of what Jesus did while He was living on this earth, we stressed to the kids how Jesus gave to others who were in need and how we can do the same.

The sweet hearted children that sat in my living room embraced giving and it brings tears to my eyes to think of their tender, moldable little hearts. What they gave will be used to bless others. And it took minimal effort on my part.

An email and a slice of cake. Who says we can’t change the world?

Filed Under: Christmas, Family, Holidays, Kids Tagged With: Christmas 2010, Christmas Party for Jesus, donating toys, giving, missions, Story of the Candy Cane

My Christmas Baby

December 16, 2010 by Kelli

December 16, 2007

My Christmas Baby.

The boy who almost wasn’t.

The one who wasn’t planned.

The sweetest oops there ever was.

The boy who was adored from the moment he arrived.

A child of a thousand expressions.

Joyful and full of laughter. You light up a room.

You’re a mama’s boy.

I’m okay with that.

I’m kind of head over heels for you.

You have a special relationship with your dad.

You bond over sports.

I love watching this relationship develop.

You are a lover of baseball, basketball, football, anything with a ball.

Today you are three.

Not five ( or seven) as you are prone to tell those who ask.

Happy Birthday, Landon.

You are loved.

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Landon Tagged With: 3rd Birthday, Happy Birthday, Motherhood

Compassion International: Christmas Giving

December 14, 2010 by Kelli

Last week, I attended a monthly Bible study led by Carol Prosser, the woman who runs my kids preschool and my second mom growing up. Her daughter, Lindsey and I were joined at the hip as teenagers so I spent as much time at Carol’s house as I did at my own. Lindsey and I had many adventures together (galavanting through Ukraine, crashing my car, crashing her car, pulling middle of the night pranks, all around acting spastic…) and she remains one of my dearest and sweetest friends.

Outside of my own mother and mother-in-law, I believe Carol has had the greatest impact on me as a young mom. In addition to pouring into my kids, she also pours into me (and all the other moms at the preschool). She offers encouragement and support and is a wealth of knowledge on how to raise and train children who love the Lord. I am truly grateful for her influence in my life.

At last week’s study, Carol encouraged us to find ways to serve others with our kids this holiday season. One nugget she placed in my heart was donating to a worthy cause with the kids. Several wonderful organization were listed as places where you could purchase a well for a needy family, or formula for hungry babies, or goats or chickens for families living in poverty. This got my wheels turning and I began to search for a way for us to donate as a family.

As I looked, I found myself wishing that Compassion International had a place where such donations could be made. Not that the other organization’s listed aren’t fantastic, but I have a heart for Compassion and what they are doing and wanted to be able to donate through them.

And lo and behold, one day later I received an email about Compassion’s Gift Guide offering people the chance to help release a child from poverty/sickness/despair in Jesus’ name. It was an immediate answer to an inner prayer and I was thrilled to jump on board.

We’re making this fun and a little bit unique. I don’t want to give all the details because it will spoil the surprise, but we will be purchasing a goat or two tonight. We’re going to let the kids choose exactly what they would like to purchase. I’ll post an update in a couple of weeks with all the fun details but I can tell you this – when we told the kids we were thinking about buying a goat for Christmas they were stoked. I believe Sloan’s exact words were “Oh my GOSH – that. is. rockin’.”

They were slightly disappointed when we told them the goat wasn’t for us.

But they loved the idea of helping out those who are in need. I’ve already told you about my sweet boy’s tender heart here and here. He truly has a heart for others and I love to see how it manifests itself in his giving. And I’m beginning to notice the seeds of compassion take root in Tia’s heart. In general she is less aware of others than her brother. I think it’s partly the nature of her personality, partly the result of being a second child and partly caused by being constantly overshadowed by her older brother.

But recently there has been a bit of tenderness that has seeped through her rough and tumble little heart. Sloan is so much like his dad – so willing to give, so conscious of others. Tia is more like me – she’s introspective and guarded and she has a tendency to guard her emotions. I love watching her process the plight and need of others. It’s very sweet to see the way she quietly lets all the information soak in. That is when it’s not floating in one ear and out the other, of course…

Gifts!

Giving is very easy to do. Simply click this link to send a gift to a family that needs your…well…compassion. There are several different gifts you can choose – from a mosquito net, which will protect a child from the spread of malaria, to a small business start up, to a water well and so on. Make it fun for everyone!

This is a new holiday tradition that we want to start with the kids each year. And I’m excited to see how it affects the way they view the holidays, especially as they grow older.

So what about you? What do you do during the holidays to make them fun and special and memorable?

Image credit

Filed Under: Christmas, Family, Holidays, Kids, Ministry Tagged With: Christmas giving, compassion international, Gifts of Compassion, giving, Holidays, Kids

Game Night

December 9, 2010 by Kelli

On my one night at home in a nine day stretch, I wanted to soak up as much of my family as possible. So we agreed to have a family game night complete with a completely ridiculous kids game that, in my opinion, makes little sense but whatever. They like it so I like it.

We finished dinner and homework and got bedtime clothes on and pulled out the board. This is only a four person game so Lee and I shared our turn.

Wait. Scratch that. I played alongside the Board Game Nazi.

There are a couple of things you should know about the man of my dreams. Besides the fact that he is all kinds of good looking, of course.

He is hyper competitive.
He controls his competitive tendencies really, really well and you would hardly know he was competitive and hated to lose unless you were, in fact, the one with the misfortune to come home with him after he loses.
He is particular and leans toward perfectionism. This means he wants everything in order.
He hates when people mess around and waste time – especially when playing a game.

So we bring out the board and lay out the cards and we commence to playing. We play four rounds. Everyone gets a chance to draw first. Midway through round one I notice my husband’s hands tremble slightly.

“Sloan…don’t bend the cards!”

“I’m not bending them!” comes the protest.

“Yes you are. See the crease?”

“But you bend them when you shuffle!”

“No. Well, only slightly but see how they go back to straight when I let go? You leave a crease.”

“Yeah,” I chime in. “Like the creases on daddy’s forehead! See how they stay there even after his eyebrows go down?”

Ahem. Play on…

Then his breathing shallows a bit.

“Landon…don’t touch the pile! Just leave it alone. No! Don’t mess with the carpet. Your’e knocking the cards over. Just sit still!”

A vein begins to protrude from the side of his head.

“Tia, this isn’t a guessing game. We don’t have to guess which card you drew. Just put your card down and lay your chip on the board! Come on, now!” *clap, clap, clap*

At this point, I’m laughing. Right at him. No holds barred. The kids are laughing too.

Lee joins in on the laughter. But it’s more of a ha-ha-I’m-laughing-to-release-steam-but-I-don’t-really-think-this-is-funny sort of laugh. And then, my husband attempts to teach the kids strategy.

Have any of you ever attempted to teach a four year old strategy? What about an almost three year old? Anyone?

The object of Sequence is to get four of your own chips in a row either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. It’s mostly a luck of the draw type of game, but there is a bit of strategy in where you place your chips. Tia, who happens to be the luckiest child when it comes to games, was constantly one chip away from winning. In this case, a strategically placed chip would have set her up for victory. Lee, being ready to end the game, was trying to help without helping. The conversation went something like this:

“Tia, wait! Don’t put your chip down yet. Look at the board. Do you see a good place to lay your chip?”

Tia shrugs.

“Look closely at all the chips. If you put your chip here, do you think that would help?”

“I don’t wanna put my chip there,” she said. “I wanna put it over here.” Points to a place that would not be helpful at all to ending the game helping her win. I notice the vein pop just a little more.

“I understand,” Lee said. “But if you put your chip right here, do you see how it would help you out?”

“But I don’t waaaaaaanna…”

*sigh* “Okay, put your chip wherever you want.”

The next turn, Tia draws a card that would have won her the game if she had listened to the wise counsel of her father. I’m pretty sure there’s a metaphor in there somewhere.

And then, the vein starts muttering. “O.M.G. If you had just listened to me you could’ve won. Mumble, mumble, mumble…”

Wait no. It wasn’t the vein mumbling. It was Lee. He was shaking his head and his hands were all a-flitter with pent up energy. And me? I just burst out laughing again. The vein frowned at me, then receded as Lee himself started to laugh. A real laugh this time.

“You’re going to blog about this tomorrow, aren’t you?” he asked.

Yes, dear. Yes I am. Smile for the camera!