The snow has almost disappeared.  And look what I spotted today!  There is an end to the eternal in-between time; the end of winter and beginning of spring.  The streets are mucky and gray, the ground is too wet to walk on, and garbage appears from under piles of melting snow.  As I walked the dogs this afternoon, listening to some robins chirping about their nest building, I was reminded of the first poem I ever wrote:

Snow is white, and

Summer is green.

And in the summer

I grow my beans.

Flowers and grass

will not grow,

in the white

and heavy snow.

Give me a break!  I was only seven; but it did appear in the school’s mimeographed newspaper.  I haven’t done much rhyming work since then.  The snow is no longer white here, but spring is just about upon us.  One of the first things to bloom in my yard will be the Redbud:

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We will be well into summer before the roses blossom, but it’s nice to think about…

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There is the promise, though…

Speaking of promise, and what is to come, we are waiting for an arrival…..  We did a lot of work to prepare for the moment.

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First, we found a chair on Craig’s list, went to JoAnn Fabric, and chose seven different fabrics.  Next we recovered the chair cushions, making a little roll pillow for the lower back:

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Then we recovered the shade on the lamp that was in the girls’ room when they were little, along with painting their pink bookshelf a springy, light green:

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We measured the window and sewed the curtains:

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And made tie-backs for the curtains from chains of elephants we found at World Market:

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We went to the Folk Fair, bought some Chinese zodiac symbols, and found the perfect frames at the Dollar Tree:

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Of course every room needs a variety of pillows:

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There was a Haitian painting in the basement that fit the theme perfectly:

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A skirt for the bed and collaged letters on the wall…..

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Now we are anxiously waiting for the occupant to arrive – she is one day overdue!!

Teagan

Gaelic for ‘little poet.’ Let’s hope she has more talent in that area than I did.

I have missed blogging and reading blogs and commenting on blogs.  2010 has had a rather trying and very busy beginning.  I think I am beyond the most difficult, however, and look forward to getting back into the mix.  I am teaching a night class at Carroll University, Understanding Self, Race, Class and Gender to Leverage Student Achievement, which has been interesting, and quite a challenge.  I attended a fabulous writer’s conference this past weekend, meeting a few agents, many writers, and a few soul mates.  I am doing quite a bit of writing, which has become the top of my priority list… although when Teagan shows up, I suspect writing will be bumped to second place.  I have a partial manuscript being read by an agent right now, and a full manuscript being read by an editor of a small publishing company.

Life goes on.  Happy spring to you.  I hope everyone I have “talked” with in the past forgives me for my neglect, and I hope you will come back to visit and comment now and then.  I will be visiting you!