Once upon a time…..No, wait. I’m not a ‘once upon a time’ sort of gal.  Let me try again.

There was this girl.  And she met this guy.  Hrm. No.  That just sounds like the beginning of a bad romance novel.

The truth is I don’t know where to start.  A week ago, the man I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with left.  So, I thought there was a ‘once upon a time, the princess met her prince’ in my life, but he shattered that dream.  It seemed like my life was going along like a great romance novel – girl meets dreamy guy, there were a few bumps in the road, sure, but in the end they work it out and live happily ever after.  But this time, he’s just gone. No word, no note, no reason.  He’s just gone.  He packed his things and left.  It’s as if he was never in my life.

I tried calling his sister, but she hasn’t heard from him.  I tried calling his mother, but she’s never liked me anyhow so she wouldn’t tell me even if she has heard from him.  I don’t know why I bothered.  I tried  his best friend with no luck – he thought MIA was on vacation in the islands with me.

This is a man dedicated to his job.  He’s a veterinarian, a partner at a clinic.  His counterpart knew only that he’d taken some time off, but had gotten the impression that the vacation time was being taken with me!

Why did they think he was with me, when in fact he’d left me sitting alone and heartbroken in my empty apartment?  I sat up, dried my tears and thought long and hard.  There was a mystery here.  I knew it.  That sensitive guy that I had grown to love would not, could not, just walk out on me without a by-your-leave!  He was much too straightforward to do that. He’d sit me down and talk with me  first, give us time to work things out.  He knew how to talk about things. It was one of the things that had drawn me to him in the first place.  That, and his gorgeous blue eyes.  Not to mention that sexy, deep voice that I’d heard rumbling beneath the crowd at the party where we’d met.

…….

To be continued….

Antietam.

Cornfields are what I remember most about Antietam from my first visit. Looking out at the National Battlefield today, you might never guess the devastation that the Civil War’s “bloodiest single day of battle” inflicted on this quiet area. Lodged amidst the cornfields now are monuments, statues, and cannons that honor and remember the men that died there.

I used to have to cross over Antietam Creek in order to get to my college from home. Every time I drove over it (or more likely, was driven over it) a single sentence echoed eerily in my head: “The creek ran red with the blood of the fallen and wounded.”

The college I went to was right across the Potomac River from Sharpsburg (which is the town closest to the Antietam Battlefields). The area was overflowing with Civil War memories, ghosts and lore. It’s probably one of the things liked best about going to school there. There was such a sense of history. That long memory of the residents did lead to some odd myths and legends though.

One night, my freshman year, I went for a drive with a couple of people I knew. We were going to Antietam to experiment with a myth. The story goes that if you drive to this spot on a road I can only remember as “Bloody Lane” and put your car in neutral, your car will move UP a hill by itself. Supposedly, it’s being pushed by soldier-ghosts. So, we did as instructed, putting the car into neutral, and waited. We watched the cornfields on either side of the road, jittery in anticipation. And the car did move, but maybe we were on an incline we couldn’t detect. It wasn’t dramatic.

Until the guy driving the car let out a shout and said, “Did you see that?” “No, what?” My friend and I replied. “There was a guy out there. No, two. One was helping another across the road behind the car!” We craned our heads to look, thinking he was hallucinating or something. We didn’t see a thing.

He drove us away from there pretty quickly, acting genuinely spooked. After he’d calmed down, he started driving slowly back to school. On the way he described the men he’d seen. The sounded suspiciously like Confederate soldiers. My friend and I offered up suggestions: maybe they were re-enactors out late in the fields? Maybe he just hadn’t seen them clearly? Maybe he’d mistaken some trees waving in the wind for men?

He continued to swear that he’d seen ghosts out there. I never drove to “Bloody Lane” to try that again. Too many natives of the area told stories of the Civil War ghosts haunting the area. Much as I like history and areas steeped in it, I can live without the ghost stories!

The images shown in this post were found at The Clip Art Site.

When we decided to go to the zoo on Easter Sunday, we hoped the crowds would be limited due to the holiday and the weather would be decent. We were right about both! What we didn’t expect was that the day would come back to animals mating as often as it did.

Last time we went to the zoo, we saw mostly the Native Florida animals, the South American creatures, and most of the animals from Down Under. We figured today we would check out the Australian Lorikeet aviary we’d missed the last time, and the African animals. We started by taking a train halfway around the zoo. From the train, we were able to catch glimpses of just about all of the African enclosures. We got to ooh and ahh over the elephants, giraffes, and zebras from a distance. We saw native Floridian birds (storks, I think?) using some of the trees in the African area for their nests! A whole flock of these huge white birds with long beaks were perched in one tree. Some had nests, others did not. The tree was alive with them, though. The train let us off very near the aviary we wanted to visit, which worked out well.

The lorikeets were fun. They seemed to enjoy hanging upside down by one foot, looking like brightly colored bats draped across the roof netting of the enclosure. We saw several of the free flying birds land on other visitors, but none of us were so blessed. We did, however, find one bright red ‘keet which earned the nickname of “Thief” from Jillian. The other birds would politely sip from the tiny cups of nectar we offered them as a treat. “Thief” felt we humans were not up to the task. He stole my cup, dumping the nectar to the floor and then dropping the cup with disdain. He did the same to Toph, taking the time to slurp the last remains from the mostly empty cup he’d stolen. That ‘keet had personality, that’s for sure. Other keets did not have food on their minds. I saw one pair obviously involved in a mating ritual. One had it’s wings half spread, it’s head was weaving back and forth and it’s beak was open as it hissed at its chosen mate, who ignored the theatrics.

Moving on to the African area, we finally came to the rhinoceroses. I commented to X that one of his favorite people loved rhinos. Toph smirked. “You remember why she started liking them in the first place, right?” I shook my head, unable to recall why she liked them so much. After the kids had wandered a few feet away, I whispered “Why does she like them?” “Rhinos have the largest penises of all land animals,” he said. I choked and laughed. I was still laughing about it several minutes later as we moved away from the rhinos.

Later, we ate lunch (zoo food = expensive food), we pressed some coins (a tradition for our little family) and we walked out the pier to look at the river. From there, we went to the vast kids Play Park to let them run free for awhile. When we were finally done with that, the only thing left on our plan at the zoo today was to see the Giraffes.

There was a wooden boardwalk leading to a raised platform for viewing the extremely tall giraffes. The view from the platform was vast, although the breeze had a nip to it there. We watched a baby giraffe trot after two older ones. We watched two others approach the platform for the leafed branches a zoo keeper was holding out to them. For $2.00 we could have fed the giraffes a branch too! We opted just to watch from the side. They were beautiful! Their heads stood as tall or taller than the platform we stood on. And then my gaze drifted back to the giraffes in the distance. There was another pair there, one short and one taller. The taller one wouldn’t seem to let the shorter one move away. The short one would step a few paces away, and the taller one would follow closely. It quickly dawned on me that mating was on their minds…or at least, that the tall one (the male) had it on his mind. Meanwhile, the children were still watching the two closest to the platform eat their goodies. The adults on the platform were slowly realizing the mating dance that was happening in the distance. Bawdy jokes were being passed around, spoken in polite euphemisms safe for children’s ears. Everyone was chuckling. I got a glimpse of parts of a giraffe I didn’t need to see, ever. Even from a distance, you couldn’t mistake the male giraffe’s … interest.

Soon after, our day at the zoo was over. After my day at the zoo, there is no doubt in my mind that Spring is here. The animals certainly seem to think so!

Stacie thinks that reading other people’s blogs gives us a glimpse into how they think.
Paula thinks it replaces the social aspects that are missing in real life. (I barely know my neighbors, Paula….)

I think they both are on to something. I’m definitely more open in an online environment than I am in person. When I meet new people in real life I’ll be pleasant, but I won’t do more than small talk unless I’m drawn out by a very outgoing person. Most of my friends irl (in real life) are very outgoing…or are at least very good at cutting through the b.s. to get to the heart of things.

That’s why I love reading other people’s blogs too. They get right to it, and talk about the nitty gritty. I love seeing other people’s views on their lives. To hear how another parent handled a situation similar to something I’ve been through, or to see how a small moment has had a profound effect on someone is a way to be in touch with others in a way I’m not in real life.

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Speaking of funny parenting moments (well, I did kind of mention that!) I have a story from last night. It was around 9:30 and I was getting ready to head to bed. Toph was in his office, doing a last email check. J comes staggering out of her room. She had all of her hair tied into five or six different braids, all of them sticking straight out from her head. I couldn’t help but giggle and say, “Nice hair ‘do, kid!” She grinned back and nodded, and continued on to Toph’s office. I shrugged and went to brush my teeth.

A little while later, Toph came into the bathroom and said, “Our daughter’s a little crazy.” I nodded and asked what she’d needed. He just shook his head and said, “I saw her at the table, getting ready to eat some pancakes.”

“She must have been really hungry, to wake up an hour after falling asleep to eat.”

“No, I think Daylight Savings is getting to her,” he said. I raised my eyebrows at him.

“She must have looked at a clock, saw 6:30 instead of 9:30 and assumed it was time to get up. I was awake, it was dark outside…it all made sense to her. So, she started getting breakfast, figuring she was so tired just because of the time change.”

So, poor J had to put her pancakes into the fridge until morning and head back to bed. Toph and I had to laugh, although I felt bad for her too. How confusing that must have been for her!

Once upon a time, a mom and her son went to an elementary school. The mom’s daughter went to this school and that day was an important day in her Fourth Grade life. The mom and son were going to watch the daughter receive awards she had earned in the previous nine week grading period.

So, the two sat in the audience with the other proud parents. They sat through three classes receiving their awards. Finally, it was time for the daughter’s teacher to stand up and announce the recipients of the prestigious awards.

The first category was Straight A students. The mom already knew her daughter had earned straight A’s and was very proud of her for doing this. When the daughter’s name was read, the entire audience stayed quiet, waiting for another name to be called. No other name was announced. The mother started clapping and that started an avalanche of applause. The daughter grinned toothily and accepted her award demurely. She walked off the stage and sat with her classmates once more. The daughter’s teacher moved on to the A-B Honor Roll awards.

The next category the daughter stood for was Citizenship. It acknowledged good behavior and much of the class had earned that award. Once again, the daughter walked up to the stage and accepted her ribbon and then returned to her seat.

The final chance to earn an award was for Perfect Attendance. Those students who were present and accounted for each day got to stand up and recieve a ribbon for this. The daughter once more strode to the stage and smiled wide as she clutched her three ribbons. She obviously felt very happy.

The mother was also very proud and happy for her daughter. She smiled and clapped. The son smiled and clapped. The assembly was over and the mother gave her daughter a hug. The son gave the daughter a hug; the two siblings loved each other very much.

After leaving the school, and daughter, behind, mother and son went to the library. There was a preschool program that mother thought son might enjoy. There was a catch, though. The program was just for kids, not for parents. Parents were not allowed in. Mother explained this to son and he was looking forward to going. He kept saying that he wanted Mother to go with him, though she explained she would not be able to.

In the library, the son played with other kids while they waited for the librarian to gather them to the special room for their program. Mother and son also peeked into the windows of the room to see what it looked like. They had come before for a story time (where Mother was allowed to join) and then there had been a big dragon decorating the small stage. This time, the dragon was gone. The son soon noticed a paper airplane resting beside the librarian’s chair. He got excited. He had just been playing with a paper airplane the day before!

The airplane theme was enticing, but still the little boy was not keen to go into the room without his Mother. He told her he didn’t want to go in alone. She talked about all of the other children that would be with him. She talked about the librarian who had just introduced herself to him, who would also be with him. He continued to say he wanted to go in, but with the mother not by himself.

Finally it was time to line up. Mother knelt to the side with the son and quietly encouraged the son to get in line. The son burst into tears and sobbed. He clung to his mother and buried his head against her chest as she hugged him. She reminded him of the airplanes, and the friends he had just made who would be there with him. She suggested that she could read a book with him instead of doing the program. He clung to her and watch the children through the window as they shook their wiggles out before starting the story. He sniffed and hiccuped, but he could not take his eyes off of the window.

Mother told him the door was closing, and it was his last chance to go in. He balked again and she began to move away from the story time room. Suddenly, the little boy released her and began moving to the door. To mother’s amazement, he walked timidly in, still with tears on his face. Through the window, mother watched as the librarian gave him a gentle hug around his shoulders and then directed him to a seat. He willingly went to sit, although he found a new seat before too long, beside one of his new friends.

He happily listened to the story, did the motions to the songs and pretended to be an airplane. He trooped with the other children to make his very own paper airplane in the craft room. Before too long the half hour program was done and mother was very proud and happy to see her son had enjoyed his storytime. She could see that he was very proud that he had dried his tears and joined his new friends. He even told his mother he’d like to do it again.

And so son moved one step closer to being ready to go to school in the fall, and mother moved one step further away from being his main source of comfort. Just like his sister before, he will learn to step out alone, as mother stands to the side and watches with pride. Two children, both with bravery and intelligence. And a mother remembers each step of the way.