The Word Is:

grace

[rAIN rAIN, gO aWAY, gIVE mY hAIR a bETTER dAY...]

The Word Is:

love

[Please be patient, please be kind.

Please seek for me,

keep no record of my wrongs.

Always hope, always trust,

always, always, persevere.]

The Word Is:

settle

Preparing for the end, with beginnings

You may have heard the news: 

After being torn apart by a painter 

we're not sure how we feel about,

[that's ok, we like to keep all our things in the bathtub anyway...]

 after finding ourselves suddenly living in a world of khaki 

and after one day on the market,

the place we have called home these past few years is closing its doors to us, and Ginger, Sara & I--with many good memories stored inside our hearts--are moving on.

Its good timing, actually, 

what with a wedding for one in just a few days, 

a move across the world for the other in just a few months.

[I will keep you in suspense for now as to what this means for me, but let's just say that my soul is rejoicing, and there will be unicorns (and just general whimsy & charm) included.]

So, preparations aplenty are occurring around here.

Items are being packed up or marked for give-away 

during every spare second,

[Anyone need some towels?]

[And by the way--why on God's green earth do I have so many towels anyway?! I blame my mother, who probably blames hers...]

and this week we had a bittersweet meeting with our rental guy,

to sign the necessary papers closing our relationship, 

to share together in our feelings about a certain pushy realtor.

We are preparing for the end, you see--but with endings come beginnings, and we're preparing for those as well.

The other night Sar & Ging & I 

sat down at our table for some waning time together,

to hear about the trip around the country 

that Sara had just returned from, 

as she visited friends in preparation for her leave-taking,

and to give some tasting opinions for wedding wine.

 Then we went to work, getting programs ready,

chatting together,

 laughing together.

Preparing for the beginnings, together.

And as this season of ends and beginnings 

wraps itself around my heart of hearts, 

I am simply very very aware:

I am one blessed and grateful girl.

A St. Louis Moment

For a moment last week, 

I was slated to tell a room full of early childhood music researchers what it was my own research had found.

So, I did.

And then, mixed in with some other conference-y moments,

I had myself a little St. Louis moment.

Taking a walk from my hotel

 I headed down the street,

 until I arrived here, at this well-known object.

Then, I turned around, walked the way I'd come,

and took in some of the things I'd noticed along the way.

In a row of food trucks, 

 I chose this one

[with the rationale that since my next presentation will be in Brazil, I might as well get ready...] 

and  hunkered down in the Citygarden

with this beyond delicious sausage & pepper sandwich 

and a side of yucca fries.

[If the real Brazil offers anything even close to this, 

I will be a happy woman come July.]

I looked all around me and took a moment to notice some things, 

things like my companions in the sunshine,

 the singing in my soul.

Then, I made my way back to the hotel,

 an amazing hotel by the way,

 converted from an old train station

 and feeling like no hotel I'd ever been a part of before.

 [Sitting in my thinking spot on the morning before my presentation, my view was this old train tunnel;

but if the lobby floor hadn't been covered in construction materials, you likely would have found me here, 

under this gorgeous ceiling, 

 and near this beautiful stained glass.]

After a few more conference moments,

 these fellow conferencing friends and I 

 made our way to the nearby baseball stadium. 

 I was there for the view and the company;

the others were there for the game.  

[We all received a bonus:

I, $10 from some lady who really wanted my complimentary-at-the-gate bauble head; they--extra innings, due to a tie.] [And, believe me when I tell you--that overtime felt like significantly more than a moment...]

The next morning I hopped on the train and found myself in the airport for the rest of the day,

 having a moment with my favorite magazines,

  before arriving home sweet home.

Moments full of good, 

in a city full of moments.

The Word Is:

move

The Word Is:

 begin

&

continue

&

grow