Mermaid in Minnesota: May 2006

I did it!
huge sigh of relief...

I have just handed in my final paper of the semester, via e-mail, to my professor. I met the deadline by 20 minutes!

Funny how life goes. I had planned to hand my final paper in last night so that I could hop the plane to Vancouver early this morning, but mid-evening last night I accidentally deleted about half of the paper while writing it on Microsoft WORD! I had saved my work along the way, but I think I did something like save the version that had the last pages deleted, and I just couldn't rescue what I'd lost.

I laughed and cried all at once, and I had to postpone my flight to Vancouver, because I knew there were hours of work yet to do and I wouldn't make the early a.m. flight.

So I am going to Vancouver a day and a half late, Wednesday night, and I worked all day on this paper. It is very good, and I'm feeling...numb! I'm sure I'll get the rush of accomplishment eventually. It's a Personal Philosophy of Counseling paper, detailing my two favorite modes of therapy: person-centered Rogerian therapy and narrative therapy, and integrating my faith perspective.

I'll post from Vancouver and let you see my beautiful surroundings there. Can't wait to be surrounded by my family there, and did you know I'm going to a narrative therapy conference at UBC while up there? Yes, I am! My very first professional conference, with presenters from New Zealand, Africa, Canada, U.S., fascinating! cannot believe I get to be part of this, and me only a student. Way Cool!

Bye for now,
Tired Grad. Student Brina

I finally got my new glasses! They are both by the designer Judith Leiber. My regular glasses are bifocals, with crystals embedded...I love them. The sunglasses feel really comfortable on and make me feel beautiful, but I have resolved to wear my old sunglasses for exercise, fishing, and anywhere on the ocean...don't want to let these Judith Leiber designs fall into the ocean!!!

Polly playing in the woods this week, such a happy girl!

Meow!

Happy Brina, in a dress I've had for more than 10 years. It's still very soft, almost like cashmere. I saw my wonderful David today, my hairdresser/friend. We are both happy that we've let my hair go naturally curly. It's easier and more me.

All four feet on the wall! This is how my sweet dog Polly likes to sleep. During the night, when she dreams about chasing rabbits, she runs against the wall. It's a unique sleeping sound!

You might know that I proofread for a living. I do this part-time, freelance, about 20 hours each week, mostly fiction, for a number of clients. My primary client is a Christian publishing house. I have proofread for them for almost ten years now. It's endlessly entertaining...of course, sometimes it's also profoundly moving, but quite honestly, I always find humor in each of my projects, and one of my little games is to find the worst sentence of the night when I'm proofreading.

Here's last night's sentence, from a novel set in World War II:

"Tyler kissed her once more and then removed her arms and went up the gangplank."

I laughed so hard I nearly couldn't breathe!

A.J. says we have the same eyes. Do you see it?
He took me to lunch for Mother's Day, and gave me my favorite body lotion all wrapped up in gold, and two cards: one funny and one very sentimentally sweet. Then I gave him a driving lesson, and we came home to study and work. I have a great kid, and I'm the proudest mom, every day, because of the person who is A.J.

It wouldn't be Mother's Day without including baby Ethan's sweet face.

I can still remember his adorable cheeks and soft hair, brilliant eyes and perfect little lips, and the way he felt in my arms.

And those are beautiful memories.

a few of my favorite mother-and-son moments with A.J. over the years...Happy Mother's Day!

Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Laurie and I visited my son Ethan's grave in the Babyland section, and then my mom Joanna's marker on a beautiful hilly section (overlooking Hubert Humphrey's memorial). We brought freshly picked lilacs to each grave. It was a lovely day and I was thankful that Laurie would share this with me. I believe that I haven't been to the cemetery at all in 2006. How things change. In early days after baby Ethan died, I was there every month, I think.

I'm sure you already know this, but if you have any friends who have lost a child or whose mothers have died, please give them an extra hug on Mother's Day.

Continuing with our theme, here is Laurie feeling her way through the lilac bushes!

Such a beautiful day!

giggle for the day, May 10, 2006

Today we photographed this blind woman reading the Braille on my mother's grave. Can any of my blogger friends identify her? If so, please blog below.

My beautiful cousin Laurie is visiting me! Here she is at my favorite coffeeshop, the Bru House, and on my very comfy sofa, patting Polly.

It's just heavenly to have Laurie around.

My beautiful Pacifica...

on my last evening there.

I can't wait to be back.

I know the photo is unclear, but I love it anyway. It's my dad and me in a hotel pool here in Minnesota, 1985. I was still in my...gasp...twenties! and he was just 50. In fact, he was in town for his 50th birthday, which he celebrated with me and my sister and our husband/boyfriends.

Today is Dad's birthday. If he were still alive, he'd be 71. Happy birthday, Dad! Love you!