The sound of thunder

I'm sure that I've been too lost lately to gather an inspiration for a post. There are certain elements of the world that speak to a soul and invoke genius...certain elements that drown in the day to day.
This week we've had thunder and lightening storms almost every night. It's the perfect set up really. Do your work, come home and get stuck inside with your loved ones WITH a free light and sound show for entertainment.
Brilliant.
I have spent many a late evening sitting in my front porch swing just watching...and listening.
Last night, the echos of thunder sounded like resounding belly laughs from a large man with a deep voice.
I wonder what was so funny.
The lightening streaks across the sky at times. Others, it merely lights up the sky as if someone turned the sun on and then off again. Today, it got me. I was intently listening to the rolling laughter of the clouds, concentrating on the splatter of rain on my windows when the lightening flashed through my bedroom - turning on the lamp all by itself. The rumbling thunder changed it's pitch into a loud crack that made my entire body jump. I loved it.
The reminder that there are much greater things working and moving in our world. There are things to fear and respect.
It also offered me perspective that whatever it was that was robbing me of inspiration may not be quite significant after all.

Small notes

The jibber-jabber has greatly increased in the house lately. When Addison picks up my purse, it's "heaby"..heavy. It took a bribe of a Dorito to finally get her to say "Pease"..please. Don't ever underestimate the power of potato chips.
My favorite is her rendition of Mickey Mouse's "Hot Dog Song", to which she sways from side to side while singing "hot dog".
Aside from her insistence of acting two daily, she's pretty amazing these days.

4th of July

Second time in a pool...last 4th was her first.

Funny Faces

No words are necessary. This is all Addison....out of the blue.

Cats

This morning Mickey was fishing for Gooey Fish to feed the cat. On Handy Manny, Mr. Lopart gave an oration of how much he loved Fluffy. On our way to school, we found Smokey dead in the street.
On such a day seemingly dedicated to cats, we were heartbroken to find ours in rigor.
He was a really pretty cat. Everyone always thought so. Fittingly, he died...prettily. His eyes were open, his fur blowing in the wind....his tail still fluffy, all as if he were frozen in time.
My heart hurts for my husband. Smokey picked him at the pound. He was a gorgeous 10 month old grey and white cat with white "socks". He loved on Michael and it was all over. The next day, we rushed back to adopt our kitty. Michael was indeed his Owner. He would play-fight with him and nip at his hands. He'd always come when Michael called and his favorite spot every night was lying at Michael's feet. Ever so often, Michael would awake to find that Smokey had snuck up beside him and was stretched out as long as a cat could be along his side.
My heart also hurts for my daughter. "Meow" trumped anything...even Grandma. Any time Smokey walked through the room, my little cherub's eye's would light up and a resounding "meow, meow" would fill the room. I'm pretty sure it was her 2nd word. They would spend evenings playing chase. The cat would run and Addison would chase him. She LOVED this game. I don't think he minded much either because he would only run as far as to get out of reach and would wait until Addison came toddling back over to him. He'd even grin and bear it as she grabbed handfuls of fur and buried her face in his fluffy coat. He was a good good cat. And I am sad he's gone.

Roseola

Do you remember the huge box of Crayola crayons that you used to play with as a child? Roseola should be one of those crayons in the red/pink area. It sounds so much prettier than what is. What it is - a miserable 4 days of fever in the 103 range with a grand finale of full body, itchy rashes. Last week was not a fun time. To add to the chaos, my father had to have emergency surgery on his abdomen for a kinked intestine. He's still in the hospital and tomorrow will be day 8, but in the meantime, he celebrated both his birthday and Father's Day from the 2nd floor of Trinity Hospital. My sister has had a better time of it lately. She's recovering from her 3 consecutive back surgeries and is working 4 hours a day.
Even as I sit here, Addison has just fallen off of her mini recliner and now has a black puffy eye.

Oh Dear

I logged on tonight to post. Being a design geek, I was drawn to the glowing tab that blogger had depicting a new design feature. Before I knew it, I was clicking away, playing with all the new toys. Much to my dismay, the changes I had made stuck and my Gerber daisies were no more. So, welcome to the new blogger background. It's impromptu and has sucked out all the inspiration I had for the night. Oh well.