Lesson 230: Wings

Time flies when you are having fun.  I got a couple of fun weeks ahead.  Time to unfold  my wings.  

Shoot.  I forgot.  Eloise doesn't have wings.  Time to grow a pair.  Will I sprout these?

Darn.  I'm not sweet enough for this kind. 

How about these?

Now those could come in handy.  Eloise has lots to do. I could get my work done speedy-fast.  On second thought, no.  I'd have to get new shirts and I hate to shop.

Now we're talking!

Crap.  Victoria's Secret is sold out of these wings.  They are on back order because I ordered the bra to go with them and they were out of my size.  It is Mother's Day weekend, after all.  I think I deserve a little indulgence.  

Fellas.......fellas........pull your eyes back down to the text please.............thank you.  Boys, if you do want to purchase this bra for the woman in your life,it sells for an easy 12.5 million dollars.  In case you don't believe me, here is a cut and paste regarding the Victoria's Secret Heavenly Star Bra from the Guinness Book of World Records website:

The world's most expensive bra is the $12.5-million (£8.6-million) Heavenly Star Bra, by Victoria's Secret, created in 2001. It features 1,200 Sri Lankan pink sapphires and as its centerpiece a 90-carat emerald cut diamond that was worth $10.6 million (£7.3 million) alone at the time. The 2005 Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra also had a $12.5-million selling price, though in comparative terms its value is less than that of the 2001 bra.
Both bras were part of the Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra line.

Kenyan just added another item to her Christmas 2013 wish list.  Start saving Steve.

Mother's Day weekend has Eloise thinking about my mom this Friday night.  Helen is hard not to think about because she lives right next door.  Only fifty paces away (fifty-one if you count the back step), she's never far from me.  Living next door to your parents as an adult is an adventure every day, but one I was proud to accept fifteen years ago when they made the offer to subdivide their land to build the Lamp Post on.  

My mother met me in the driveway this afternoon as I pulled in from work.  "No little league games tonight.  Storm is coming in from the west," Helen said before I could even grab my bag from the van.

"The coaches called to cancel already?" I said, looking to the gray, but still dry sky.  

"No, but they will," she said, then proceeded to give me the hour by hour weather report for the entire weekend.  

As I unloaded the groceries minutes later, I heard a rumble.  My nearly deaf mother sprung to her sneakered feet.  "Was that THUNDER?"  Seconds later she was across the yard, sprinting for the safety of her big, red farmhouse.  

I looked to my dad, leisurely sitting on a stool in his pole barn.  He shook his head.  "She'll never get over it, will she?" I asked him.  

Dad smiled, brought the Yeungling to his lips with his four and a half fingered hand, and took a long swig.  "No.  I guess being struck by lightning is something you never get over."

Readers, I just heard your collective "aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh---that explains a lot!"

My mom is sharp despite the lightning zap she received while shutting the back porch windows during a summer storm in the 1970's.  Lesson learned:  aluminum is a good electrical conductor.  She's in good shape for 67 and still likes to dress up for Halloween.  That is my dad's old Coast Guard uniform.  I don't know what is more amazing:  that she looks so nice in it, or that my dad once fit into it.  Currently Helen's hellbent on finding the identity of my secretive pen pal, Fionnula Flanigan.

Together my mom and I bounce ideas off of each other every day.  Look at the obvious.  That is the advice Helen always gives me.  Taking Grandma's advice into consideration, I've narrowed the profile a bit tighter. Fionnula, are you:

• retired?----only someone retired would have time to do all this.
• are a retired teacher? ---teachers are clever, and good writers.  You are a good and clever writer.
• have money left in your pension?---you must to get me a leather bound journal.
• 217?  Were you a second grade teacher for seventeen years?  I taught with a couple of Irish dames that would fit that description.

Just some more guesses, Fionnula.  Write to me soon and let me know and let me know if Sherlock and Watson are getting any closer.

Grandma is always there to help with the Winery Runs.  My friends are helping me complete my running goal of running to every winery on the sign across the street from the Lamp Post.  

We completed the list last weekend and I am planning the Finish Line party in a couple of weeks for those who participated.  

I ran last Saturday.  

Kenyan and friends ran on Sunday.

My mom helped us get our cars to the drop off point both days.  I always pick up a bottle of wine for her.  I have a sip or two, but I'm a beer girl at heart.  Still, she saved me some.  A little wine is good for you...... is her consistent advice.  So, Eloise heeded this advice and once again after I got the headache, I reminded myself that I like beer better.

Details matter.  More advice from Mom.   Notice the Rolling Rock coaster she lovingly put over top of the glass she saved me.  Wine attracts fruit flies. Thanks, Mom.  Good to know.

 Glad I heeded the advice of this sign!  Very true.

Helen is full of weather related advice, guidance on finishing touches, and is adamant that Bactine can cure Cancer.  It makes me think of what advice I will pass on to my trio.  

My babies are still in the nest with me.  They are growing up, but I tuck all three into bed most nights.  The are my greatest blessings.

I found this bird's nest the other day.  It was in range of my zoom and I was so excited!  Another family of birds I could follow through their rapid development.

Three eggs!  How perfect.  I love threes.  

When I went to photograph them yesterday, my heart sank.

One found broken in the nest.  Two shells found on the ground.  

Nature seems cruel sometimes.  I too, lost three babies.  My first, third, and fifth pregnancies ended in miscarriages.  Eloise was sad, but my respect for nature and my faith helped me to know that my womb was just not ready for them.  Without them, Natalie, Ellen, & Sam would never have been born.

Things don't always work out the way you plan for.  That is one piece of advice I will pass on to my children.  Here's another:  

Sometimes it takes a great leap of faith.

You can do it!  Mother Eloise will forever be your cheerleader.  

Speaking of cheerleading.......I was all prepared to give Sam a talking to as I watched him pick dandelions out in center field when he was supposed to be paying attention to the game.  When the inning ended, instead of running in with his team, my Rule Breaker ran around the other way.  As I was about to launch into a Talking To, Sam ran up to the stands, extended his left arm and said, "Here Mom, I picked these for you!"  Everyone on the bleachers let out a collective "Awwwwwwwwwwww."  

I always try to look to the simplest things in life to bring me joy; 

the dandelions picked especially for me,

 the first win of the season,

and capturing a moment of calm.  

Put enough of these moments in your basket and you have fuel enough to take on the world.  Who needs wings, anyway?

Enjoy the pictures from the week, set to the song Wings by Little Mix.  They are an all girl group out of England.  Thank you Simon Cowell for once again for finding the mix and making magic.  

Fly, Readers.  All it takes is a leap of faith.

Eloise