What happened to June?

 * Dan never made it to Italy. There are some rules about passports not expiring within six months of returning home from certain countries. Since his expires before that time period elapses, he was not permitted to board his plane to Florence. No trans-Atlantic flight, no pottery class, no touring Tuscany. No surprise that he was disappointed, and that is an understatement.

* One of my children desperately needed a minivan. I knew this two months ago, but I also knew there was no way I could fix that problem. Three weeks ago a good friend asked if I could help with a ride to and from Carmax because she needed to sell her 2010 Dodge Journey. I was happy to help. It wasn't until later that evening that I realized what had just fallen into my lap. My son now has the vehicle he needs to transport his children. (Did you know God smiles?)

* Lead Infant Teacher has been my title for eight months now, almost nine. I've watched four sweet, little girls grow from little babies to almost toddlers. Every time I sat on the floor I was covered in children. I have hugged them for all this time and they are now loving on me as well. I said goodbye (for the summer) to two of them last week and was super blessed to have the final two crawlers show me how they could walk on our final week together. I've purposed not to think too hard on the goodbyes. I really don't want to cry.

* This past weekend found my friend Gail and me getting up early Saturday morning and driving through NY State to Pennsylvania and all the way to Ashtabula, Ohio. We checked into a very nice little Airbnb just southeast of Erie, PA before heading to the Ashtabula Beach Glass Festival where we perused all kinds of exciting booths filled with treasures. When we had looked to our hearts' content, we headed up to Lake Erie and combed the beach for tumbled treasures. I came away with a fabulous sunburn on the back of my calves and I learned to spray sunscreen there too.

* This will be a short work week for me. My Florida son and grandson are coming for a visit and I'm taking a week off to play. I'll be going to work tomorrow but I'm calling it "Friday." Here's hoping for some fabulous hometown adventures!

You've Got to be Kidding Me!

It's been an interesting few days. My daughter has had some interesting things happening, but I'll save that for another time...

Last night was Man Hater's Club (aka Pottery Night). One of my cousins works in the jewelry department of a local department store. She had an elderly customer and his intended come in this past week looking for some rings. Apparently he had a long and entertaining story which he proceeded to tell her, entertaing enough that she was relating it to us (myself and two of her sisters). It very quickly sounded all too familiar. I wish I could have seen the expression on my own face when I realized and told her I had heard this story before... My mind was still unraveling its meaning and making a determination as to whether I was imagining its familiarity. I honesty wish I had just kept quiet and listened to the entire story before commenting but it took me totally by surprise. I won't go into divulging all the information today. (It's supposed to be hush hush... ha ha!)

And then, I got a photo text from my friend Dan last night. He'd been to the opening exhibition for another studio member/artist in residence and bought a piece of pottery. Dan is going to Italy in the near future, taking a pottery class in Tuscany and feeling a bit unsettled at the timing. Although we've never done any kind of activity together, we banter back and forth about it sometimes. I told him he might decide he like it over there so much that he'll decide to stay, but that he has to come back because we haven't gone zip lining yet. "True," he said, "we could always zip line in Tuscany." My not having a ticket  could be fixed with "lots of money." LOL! This morning, as my mind was spinning with all kinds of crazy thoughts, I realized that "lots of money" would need to be followed up with a passport, and I don't have one of those. I've thought about it for years upon years, but never applied. (Where was I going to go?)

Almost every morning I check out my Facebook memories. Lo and behold, what should I find today but a status from June 4, 2010 that reads, "(Martha Teal) is ready for a vacation. Where's my passport?" Ha ha! That caught my attention, but what was really hilarious was the comment left by my sweet, oldest daughter. "Passport, passport!! Think of the endless possibilities! Sometimes it exciting just to think of where I COULD go with that little blue book! Maybe it'll be the Italian countryside next!!" Oh, the irony! I could almost hear God laughing... 

I think maybe I'll put "passport" back on my list of things to accomplish.

(Photos from my walk with my sister Rachel and my nephew Steve on Thursday evening.)