This Is Us

 Christmas/Easter cactus which I thought was on its way out (and it may be) blooming in the morning sun. 
I mean...those blooms are like neon. They shout at me. 
"Hello! Hello! We are here!"
And I whisper back, "Oh. You most definitely are."

Glen asked Owen and Gibson to come over this evening to help him install some cabinets in the garage. Maggie wanted to come too. 
Dinner, of course, would be involved.
So they are all here and I, being an idiot, told Maggie when she called to ask if Xena-Marge could come too, "Of course!"
Haha!
You haven't lived until a puppy the size of an adult Labrador has gotten itself wedged behind a love seat in the library trying to get away from an insane spitting cat hiding under a table. What fun! I could NOT coax or pull that poor dog out and I surely was not going to come anywhere near touching Maurice. 
I may have a death wish but I do not wish to die by cat attack. 

Bless Maggie. She got the dog out from behind the couch and has taken her into the Glen Den. I've got a giant pot of chicken stew simmering and am about to make dumplings. The kiddos say they are excited. 

I brought in the porch plants I'd taken outside except for three extra-large ones that I have just covered up. I'm going to be pissed as hell (at myself) if they die in this freeze after having them safely inside until just a few weeks ago. 

And it has been a good day. I met Jessie in town as we both needed to do Costco and Publix and of course we had to get lunch. Her best friend from way, way back is newly pregnant for the first time which has Jessie all aflutter. The friend lives an ocean and a continent away and Jessie plans to go be with her when she has the baby if she can. And of course all of this led us to discussing childbirth and nursing and babies and doctors and midwives and all the stuff we love to talk about. And then we stopped by Lily's work to visit with her and do the shopping we needed to do there. 

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Supper was good. Perhaps the best chicken and dumplings I ever made. No one complained. Many subjects were discussed at the table and it was just pretty sweet. 

Owen cleared the table and got the bowls and spoons put into the dishwasher. And I made everyone pose for a hallway selfie that Mr. Moon took. 

Maggie will be taller than me in a nap's worth of time. 

I can't believe how fast they're growing, how incredibly smart they are, how kind they are, how they listen, and how gracefully they show their love. 

And then Owen drove them home! 

As I have said so many times, I am the luckiest woman in the world. And I damn well know it. 

Azaleas. 

We shall see how they look tomorrow. 
There will be burrowing under the duck tonight. 

Love...Ms. Moon