Friday, April 11, 2008

Lessons learned

Proving that you are never too old to learn and that experience is the best teacher, I gained three new nuggets of knowledge this week:
  • Never attempt to apply mascara while listening to Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me. I was listening to the podcast of last week's show while getting ready yesterday morning and a particularly funny part caused me to nearly poke the mascara wand into my eye. It didn't help that I am using a new kind of mascara that has a wand handle the size of your average fireplace log - using that mascara is almost a two-handed job.
  • Concentrate when working in the kitchen, no matter how many times you have done a particular task. Although the roast was still tasty, I completely forgot an important step when preparing a beef roast for the slow cooker on Wednesday morning, and I have made that particular recipe dozens of times. This morning, I came downstairs to find coffee the color of light tea; turns out that while I did put coffee in the coffeemaker last evening, I forgot to grind the beans first.
  • Don't knit when tired and/or absorbed in a television program. Last night, I was trying to knit, watch Survivor and yawn my fool head off, all at the same time. After unraveling several rows of knitting not once but twice, I decided that watching and yawning were all I could handle at one time. At least I am getting better at recognizing my knitting mistakes so that I can correct them almost immediately and not when I have since knit five or six inches.
So there you have it: life lessons from The Queen. You can thank me later.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

The very best news

Life is good. Today I received wonderful, wonderful news - my friend Kathy in North Carolina is the proud new mother of baby Gabriel Owen, who arrived in the world today weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces.

A new baby is usually a happy event, but the arrival of this baby boy is truly joyous. About two and a half years ago, Kathy delivered a baby boy at about 18 weeks into the pregnancy; little Owen lived only a very short time. Kathy and her husband, Doug, were understandably devastated. This pregnancy has been very difficult, and Kathy's Multiple Sclerosis added another element of risk and unpredictability, but they were determined and Kathy was under the constant care of a physician who specializes in high risk pregnancies.

I admire Kathy and Doug's courage to try again and I was so frightened that they would have their hearts broken, again. Kathy and I have had so many interesting email conservations in the last few years about grief and faith, and we have shared many suggestions on books and resources. Oddly enough, as my faith has waned, hers has grown and we have talked much about the whys and hows of our respective experiences.

So today, my heart is full of joy, gladness and relief for a family that now numbers THREE. Welcome to the world, Gabriel Owen!