losing my connection

For IM addicts such as myself, little is more liberating while simultaneously frustrating, as losing one's constant internet connection. (Which, by the way, is what has happened to me!) Of course, for a student who still desperately needs to research her dissertation such a loss is... it is virtually undescribable!
All I can say is that forced, involuntary procrastination is not nearly as much fun as the consensual variety.

VA-KJG

A year ago I had no "scottish" roots. No east-coast status. No electric kettle (the 1st step to brewing a mean pot-o'-tea). No idea as to how single-malt whiskey was made. And of course, no dragonfly necklace.

Amazing how much can change in less than 365 consecutive days. But that hardly prepared me for how pleased I would be to "officially" have a Virginia address and license plates. Not to mention getting to pay all those great taxes. (Ok, I could do without that last item!)

I reconsider my wording above; the first "firsts" were preparation. Without them I might have been to timid to take on the latter set.

No butterflies this time around... I've got dragonflies!

2 4 $5

I forgot what real heat feels like. Tossing, turning, fans blowing, windows wide, I desperately wish that some things hadn't been relearned. Especially when you throw in the correlation between sleepless, sweaty nights and craving/eating soft-bake choc-o'-chip cookies. Then there is the correlation between GA catch-up and craving/eating soft-bake choc-o'-chip cookies.

Yes, there can be too much of a bad thing!

Twenty's Plenty

The circular green and white signs represent more than simple traffic guidance. They alternately whisper and shout to the subconscious to "slow down", enjoy youth, watch out for children who might accidentally be run over... In the end, we heed their emotional guidance as little as we follow their legal direction.

But on occasion we'll spot the circle and can't help but giggle.

a cool 96

My grandpa turned 96 yesterday. He has more hair on his head than my 28 year old brother and a bigger appetite than my teenage sister. He can't really see and he can't altogether hear but he is alive. While that may seem like a rather morbid comment, for weeks last summer we weren't sure he would make it through the night. In fact, last September when I left for the bonnie banks of Scotland's lochs I never expected to see him again. Today as I watched him eat mouthful upon mouthful of his daughter's "macaroni" I couldn't wipe the huge smile off my face.

My favorite moment is when I reached under the blanket to squeeze his hand (which had been our only means of communication last summer when he was so ill). As he firmly grasped my left hand his eyes opened wide and he said, "You have COLD hands!" He spent the rest of the visit warming them up and finally with a smile whispered "now you have warm hands."