Adventures

I had just been commenting to Grace that I had nothing to do - I was slightly bored.... I was running upstairs to put my teapot away and didn't see a pane of glass sitting by my bookshelf. I love windows when they've been cleaned and have no streaks - you can see right through them so perfectly - such was this pane of glass (sorta) and, knocking my foot up against it, I knelt and yelled. Grace was quickly on her way upstairs and, stopping in the doorway - 

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Grace: Well that should have been moved.

Me: Why is it here?

Grace: So that Grandma wouldn't trip on it.

Me: Oh.*

Grace: Oh - You're bleeding.
*I think I may have sounded slightly more panicked and a little in pain, but it all happened so quickly and it looked deep and... 

Grace was so calm - she tried to get my siblings to grab my phone so that we could get a picture and send it to mom to verify our next course of action. I started to cry - mainly 'cause I was shocked and a little scared; It's totally different seeing a cut on someone else and a cut on yourself, blood on someone else and blood on yourself. I think the kids all got that it wasn't just a scratch when I called for Emily and told Grace that I might need to go to Urgent Care and get stitches.

Six stitches and 30-45 minutes later, I was back home with my leg up sitting on the sofa having been dubbed "the Invalid" from that beautiful cartoon The Fox and the Hound.

So now you know. I can get my stitches out in 10-14 days. (If I wait 14 days, I'll get them out the day before I go to Leavenworth!)

Tale of Windows - Part I

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The sunlight came suddenly and brilliantly. Streaming and sparkling its way through the panes, it bestowed one beautiful, golden-morning kiss on the welcoming sun room.

In my dreams.

Clenching my fists and gritting my teeth as the warmth hit my back, I turned angrily to survey the brazen light's handiwork. Prickles of irritation raced up my spine at the sight.

Smudges.

Big and little, high and low, from one side to the other - my windows were covered in greasy, grimy smears. There were smudges from drooling babies and sticky-mouthed toddlers. Smudges from careless young people and oblivious old ones. Smudges from dearest friends and hated enemies. Never had I met a soul - be he kind or cruel - who had left my windows free of his grime. Some few had realized their mistakes, had tried to right the wrong, but I could see their dirty fingerprints still.



After a while, the panes had grown so blurry - more like fogged glass than smeared windows - and I so used to the dirt, that I could see only smudges. As far as I was concerned, no landscape existed beyond the glass. How I despised those two things which brought the smears before my eyes and memory: friends (who continued to leave fingerprints - I had remedied that by shutting my doors to them) and sunlight. Unstoppable sunlight.

Of course, I could - by closing blinds, wearing dark glasses, or shutting myself in a closet - avoid seeing the light. Yet the very knowledge that, heedless of my effors, it would shine upon those dirty panes, day after day, was pure torture. And for some reason, somehow, I felt a sickening pull to watch the light mock me each morning. I couldn't help looking, and I hated to see.

You could clean them, you know.

I shook my head vehemently, slamming my still-clenched fists to my ears. This was worst part of my morning vigil. Every time the light glowed through my fogged windows, the persistent gleam suggested this thought. Daily, I repulsed it.

"No! It's not for me to do! Did I put the smudges there? Was I so careless? No! They made the smudges!" - oh, the inexhaustible list of "theys" in my mind! - "They did! They ought to clean them! Common decency demands it! Friendship - if they still call themselves friends - demands it! It is theirs to do!"

I spun around, eyes snapped shut, trying to black out the light, the windows, and everything else. Trying to hold the tears inside.


To be continued...

from (http://lordslass.blogspot.com/2012/09/windows-part-i.html)

"It's My Birthday!"

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My blog is (today) two years old. I decided that I would post the short story that made me decide to name my blog The Cleaning of My Window. Sarah Jayne wrote this short story four years ago - I see in pictures and Sarah Jayne's words painted a beautiful picture in my mind. With this as the introduction, you'll have to wait till tomorrow some time later this week to read it. But now you know!

Ballet Hair

Madeline and Megan informed us that for their class, they are to have a high bun with a part on the side. If you've tried this before, you will know that it is extremely difficult to keep your part if you are doing a high bun. We made a couple of variations to this so that their hair could be au pointe for their pictures.

1. Make a part from one ear to the next going over the top of the head, place the hair in the back into a high pony-tail.
2. Make a side-part with the hair in front and then twist the sides back attaching with bobby-pins (or another pony) to the original pony tail.

3. Wrap hair into a bun placing a hair net over and pinning down on main compass points.

Voila! You have your high bun with a side part!

The Starlight Run

Rachel, Sarah, Lauren, Susanna, and Jonah

When we were younger - Dad was our distance running coach. We would start the year with "Running with the Wolves" and end the running year with "The Starlight Run". I'ts been years since I've run the starlight run (over 7 years ago). It was a unique race in that it was (1) at night, (2) in Portland, (3) right before the rose parade, and (4) always ended at Burgerville.


Sarah remembered that parking always took forever and then you had to walk a distance to the race (we sometimes parked up at the Rose Garden and walked down to the school). After we arrived in Portland, I think it took us about 30min to find parking. Since we had scheduled up to an hour to find parking, we had plenty of time to get to the race - though it didn't really feel like way too much time. :)

After the Race

We all finished and lived - though running in 95 degrees is tough. (I totally see why it was our last race of the running year.) This is such a fun group to run with - I get pushed yet can go my own pace . Running - it's just fun. What can I say?

I think this is my last race for the summer - I haven't signed up for anymore at this point. Next race that I know for certain to be doing is in October. Until then - good bye summer racing!