Spring.  Spring, spring, spring!

I love the sun.  The sun follows the pattern.  The sun is consistent.  Those fickle clouds can hide it when they want, but they can't keep it from angling higher northward in the sky and rising earlier each spring day to vanquish the cold of morning and winter.

Literal tons of snow covered the ground, and lay in mountains not long ago.  I often pondered what it would take to remove one of those piles.  A bulldozer?  A jack hammer?  A crane?  And what damage would the grass and earth suffer?  What repair would it need?  Ah, but the sun!  Leave it to the sun and watch your mountain turn hill turn mound turn bump turn popsicle turn frisbee field, all in a matter of days.  The sun is timely. The sun vanquishes.  The sun stays.  The sun penetrates.  The sun transforms.  It even gardens.

Dawn in spring, my alarm clock from apathy and sleep.  My dreamlike visitor calls my name aloud in the silence of my mind, and beckons me out, out, into the newborn day, come and talk, come weep, come sing, come awaken to new life once again.  In my dreamy haze, I do not see myself donning jeans and tennis shoes.  The woman rushing out has no stained work coat, messy hair or baggy eyes, no.  The voice of the sun creates another picture, of fairy land and princesses.  Long, flowing golden locks swish back on the glowing white night gown and silk-lined cape, as the mysterious someone calls her out to the shadowy mist, for love and everything noble, gentle, and grand.

That soft, piercing pink-orange glow, it somehow forgets all dirt and warts and spring mess.  Instead, the heart, the life, the beauty and curves and lines and contrasts and shadows explode!  Enchantment is reality, and passion beyond measure is everywhere.  The heart of a thing is exposed, and it glows so bright its casing vanishes as the glass of a bulb.  Instantly all people are connected, unhidden, related, helped and hurt, indifferent or zealous, but all flowing together one a river of time.  As the voice of the sun shines in my mind, it does in others, my distant neighbors across the fields, the acquaintances in nearby towns, lost friends a world away.  They seem near, they seem alive and people once again.  Their hearts beat and their days flow as mine, they are one small prayer, one thought, one tear away.

On canvas the sun is hard to recreate.  I think of orange and yellow and the sharp painful light, to which you shield your eyes.  My paints are insufficient.  A bit of yellow mixed with white, the color of lilies, a pale easter yellow, eggshell, then white.  Where is the glow?  Where is the sharpness?  How large must the white be to seem brighter in the center?  It occurs to me that the effect of one's lashes as they shield their eyes plays a part in how brightness appears, but also -- and what I discovered in time to paint it -- was contrast.  The sun's distinguishing characteristic is it's far superior brightness than anything around it.  It's light is the source of all color and shape on the earth.  So the edges of my canvas took on reds and oranges and dark yellows, fading and brightening and reaching straight and unwavering toward one point.  That point, that whiteness had the palest yellow poking into it, reaching, but being extinguished next to the outstretching ball of whiteness.  The effect turned out pretty good, but still nothing compared to the true sun, the cradle and blankets in which God placed this small earth.

This spring (well, I like to pretend it's spring here...or maybe I think I'm still in school and it's "spring" semester...), Eddy and I have not been commuting back and forth from Minnesota, as we had the previous three years.  This has both pros and cons.  One sad thing is that Daniel is still commuting (only 3 days a week, thank goodness!).  I really miss him.  And I'm still trying to iron out the upheaval his coming and going does to Eddy's and my household life.  However, there are plenty of pros, as well.

On top of only one pantry and fridge to stock, only one meal schedule to plan, and only one house to organize and clean, there are also the people!  I am trying hard not to outdo my time, and I may be on the busy side, but it is oh, so rich right now.

My friendships with high schoolers at our church have not only continued, but become deeper and more meaningful.  What an important time of life, and -- I'm not ashamed to say -- an amazing group of girls!  I don't know about you, but I certainly didn't finish a full-length fantasy novel by age 15, act in plays and musicals professionally, create hundreds of paintings well enough to be sold, or make extensive plans for my life in my first couple years of high school!

We have also joined a couples small group, and the women's Bible study to which I belong always continues to be spiritual, deep, and convicting.  The diverse group of high school leaders I've met are both interesting and so inspirational, and the babysitters that have popped up are turning into out-of-nowhere family friends.  I'm learning through these people.  I'm serving these people.  I get to love them, and be accepted.  I don't know what the future holds for our little family, but right at this moment I can say that I have a whole bunch of flesh-and-blood friends.  I feel "in" for the first time in a long time.

When I have my priorities straight with family, and find my source of happiness in God, people suddenly become a lot brighter and more enjoyable.  Thank you, God.

I gotta admit, I put alot of work into this Valentine's Day.  Weeks ahead of time I planned all the dishes for a special Polish dinner for us (No, we're not Polish, but last time we had Polish it was great!).  I researched all the recipes, went on a special shopping trip for good ingredients.  Then yesterday I  cooked nonstop from 10:30am to 7pm, but I did it!  Dan, Eddy and I feasted over candlelight on Pierogies, Golumpkies, boiled potatoes with Dill, and the best Polish pound cake you've never seen! =)

By the end of the day, the end of the meal, the end of dessert, I was beginning to wonder whether Danny had anything in store for me at all.  Right when my anxiety began to rise noticeably, Danny disappeared upstairs and came back with a very large flat package wrapped in brown paper.  "Don't wreck the front," he said.  It was A foot-and-a-half wide and 3 FEET tall.  I carefully removed the paper to reveal a particle board artist's painting of a caricatured blues trumpet player! (pictures to come)

He said when he visited New Orleans on his way home from buying our car, he ran across a whole bunch of artists in progress on very New Orleans style pieces.  This artist sold his paintings for less because he put them on less expensive materials, such as particle board.  But they were just as good or better than half the other paintings for sale!  Wow!  With this, and my uncle's blues painting, I have the makings of the perfect music room!  My husband sure knows what I like!  A perfect surprise for a perfect Valentine's.

I hope your Valentine's was just as special.  Tell me about it!

My mom was so great to lend some of her best classic movies to us to watch during Christmas, even though she wouldn't get to be here to watch them. One of them was Disney's Pollyanna.  It was a big hit with everyone, who asked me several questions about it.  That's when I realized how little I knew about this favorite story of mine.  I dove into Google and found out it was a novel by Eleanor H. Porter in 1913, an instant success, followed by a sequel, a blockbuster silent film in 1920, and many other films and mock sequels thereafter.

 I downloaded the Google book, and for the next several days, my computer became my bedtime book.  I devoured every nuance, dialog and plot twist, in a much more complete and consistent story than the one with which I grew up.

Like the Disney movie, Pollyanna is a smiling, happy-go-lucky girl with two fat blonde braids and ill-fitting clothes.  After her father dies, she goes to live with her wealthy aunt whom she's never met, because her late mother was cut off from the family for marrying a poor pastor.  Despite her aunt's cold elitism and bad treatment of her niece, Pollyanna finds something to be happy about everywhere she goes and in everything she does, with her "Glad game."  She unwittingly, pure heartedly brightens up the entire run-down town in which she now lives.

Unlike the movie, the original Pollyanna is a very consistent character.  She doesn't have the tempter streak shown by Hayley Mills, but innocently and sincerely wants to make others happy.  It is her innocence and oblivion, in fact, that are so attractive to others.  She is a three-dimensional character, and does go through emotional difficulties, but she responds to those by crying and being by herself, or looking to others for consolation, not by throwing a tantrum.  Also unlike the film, Aunt Polly does not own the town.  It is not named after the family, and Miss Polly is just a very wealthy person who keeps to herself.

The book also weaves several mini stories into a beautiful collection of conclusions tied together.  The ending is somewhat unexpected, except for the intentional little clues placed strategically throughout the story.  And even the guessability of the ending is enjoyable in the anticipation.  It's a wonderfully crafted "old style" book, where all the strings are tied off at the end, and everything is in balance.  And I believe the lesson taught in it is as powerful as even the radical movie "Pay it Forward", though in much more wholesome surroundings.  Finding the true and present good in everything you go through, and being honestly thankful for it is, indeed, a godly way to live, and can, in fact, change the world.

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After finishing the first glad book, I, like so many people in the early 1900's, was hungry for more of the "glad girl".  I found the sequel on Google books as well, and continued.  "Pollyanna Grows Up" continues the basic message of the first book, but necessarily had to tackle some hurdles of Pollyanna getting older and not being as innocent and wide eyed as she was when she was 11.  Porter did this well, skipping over several years of her adolescence and jumping back into her early adulthood, with many more twists and turns and love stories that come to a dramatic and heartwarming end.  I was very satisfied, and would recommend these books to anyone who enjoys good, old-fashioned but interesting story telling.

This was the second in my investigative reads of my favorite stories.  The first was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming, last summer.  Next, I think I'll dive into either Mary Poppins or Bed knobs and Broomsticks, and see what those are really about!

We did it!  We're free!  The latter half of this week has felt like chains were falling off and our minds were gradually releasing all that stress we kept up there to prepare for another season of drudgery.  But this year is different.  On with life, on with future, on with family.  The next several months will be a lot of business transitioning, but since Dan, has he put it, will be "partially unemployed," I think our family will have a good chance to breathe and regroup.  Then comes fall semester!  No telling where we'll end up, but we're working on that one, too.

After years of waiting and working, we couldn't be happier.  Kinda feels like a different kind of graduation.  We fulfilled our responsibilities, we learned a ton, and now we have the opportunity to take our lessons in the direction we've been longing for, take them to the next level, and dive into more directed studies.

Whatever we do will be a grand adventure at this point!

At the tail end of the holidays, having trickled down to only one relative in the house, all the fun and excitement has turned inward to memories and reflection.  I'm sure you, as I, ponder the good and the bad of the season now gone.  We consider the weight and responsibilities of the season at hand, and there is an element of somberness.

It is during these first two weeks of each year when I find myself in a predictable melancholy.  I rest from the chatter, but become weary in the work.  My body complains and refuses to be energetic, after growing accustomed to rich foods and much sleep.  Most of all, I wake up to the dryness of my soul and neglect of my spirit.  Apparently all the rush and roar succeeded to keep me just a tad too busy for God, once again.  What a fool I was!  It happened again.

Last night I was fed up with the sloth I'd become, and resolved to get back on a healthy routine, in getting up, in exercise, in housework, bookwork, and Bible.  It has been no amazing day.  More than anything I've been tired.  But while reacquainting myself with my neglected radio speakers, I was inspired.

Someone had a guest on their show.  This man told of a sudden sickness and an encounter with God.  I trusted the host, so I turned up the volume and listened.  He spent a night with the Lord, in conversation and communion, in his unconsciousness at the hospital.  When he awoke he remembered the Lord's message.  Don't worry, it was the same message God had been speaking to his heart the last decade or so.

He is a man who runs a car care show on television, "Car Crazy," and he has been slowly slowly responding to God's call in his life, which is the same call to all Christians: share the news.  But there was a specific call he had ignored.  He felt led to reach other lay believers and encourage them to share their faith as well.  For years he ignored this tug on his heart.  Then came a random terrible virus.  Others spoke of not knowing whether this man would even survive.  As the man put it, God got his attention by throwing him down and putting His foot on the man's neck, from which he struggled and wiggled for two weeks and finally was calm.  When he was listening, God spoke to him again.  He was emphatic this time.  Do it now.

But despite the description, he didn't seem upset at all at the experience.  There was joy in this man's voice I don't remember the last time I heard.  Every word brought forth laughter.  You could see the sparkle in his eyes and glow in his cheeks even over the radio.  He said God's people seem weighted down by all the same things as unbelievers.  They become middle aged and complain of lack of purpose and fulfillment.  They get to the end of the day tired and unsatisfied.  This should not be so!

God has given us a purpose!  How can we find purpose outside of obeying God?  Love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.  Care about their souls, and prepare yourself to give an answer of the hope that is within you.  In this all believers can be filled with joy, from feeling their purpose, their meaning in life.  Our joy comes not from this world, but from God!  And searching the ground, our lives, and our relationships to find it will only make us unhappy.  We knew this when we met the Lord, so know it again.  Don't cling to this life as others do.  Embrace your eternal hope and purpose, and laugh for joy!

It made me smile just listening.

I never would have believed it when I was a teenager, but it's true.  There is never a dull moment for a parent.  There are many cute moments, some happy moments, frustrating moments, exciting moments, even a few restful moments, but not dull.  Eddy makes certain of that.

For the last 4-5 weeks Eddy (and his cousins when they were here) has wanted to watch one of the favorite kids' movies in the house: Curious George!  But after searching the house over and over again, I gave up trying, and just told Eddy, "It's lost. Sorry, bud."

Today the temperature was in the 40's all morning, so Dan and I decided to start our first fire of the season in the wood stove.  I'm recovering from the flu, and couldn't wait to get it warmed up in here.  We started it late morning and by Eddy's naptime the house was warming nicely.  He went to bed.  Good timing, as it turns out.

A few minutes later Dan noticed some smoke coming from one of the vents in the wood stove.  Maybe it's just dust from over the summer...but, seems like a lot of smoke for a bit of dust.  Peering into the hole with a flashlight he spotted it. "It's Curious George." My heart sank.  If only we had found it sooner.

Well, we set right to work.  First we transported the red hot fire outside, via a metal trash can.  I'm surprised Eddy didn't wake up to that.  Every smoke detector in the house went off. (mental note: don't count on Eddy in a house fire) Then we systematically removed as much of the DVD and case from the vent as we could with Mom's old metal spatula, a bent metal yardstick and a needle nosed pliers.  The plastic that remained we decided to burn off, with the windows open, of course.  Time to bring the that fire back in.

The whole incident just made Dan and me laugh.  There really is "never a dull moment"!  Unfortunately Eddy won't be laughing when he sees what's left of his movie.  Live and learn!

Every year Dan and I are running full speed in lawn care by March, every year we spend our summer weekdays an hour away from our hometown to run the business.  Every year we come back some time in October and start to patch things up with our friends and get involved with church again.  It's a schedule I've become used to.  I don't panic anymore in the rush of things, but remember it'll pass, and it always does.  But there is always pain involved.

Today I was feeling it a little more than usual, until an unexpected visitor walked right through my anxieties, and let me know I wasn't alone.

Jeanne is much older than me, Dan's mom's friend, in fact.  But she's always been a nearby neighbor and friend to the Hobbs, as far as I can remember, and she feels right at home here.  And ever since I moved in, I've benefited from their relationship.  For Jeanne's heart never strays from a person, even if it's been a long time.  She'll pop in and start a conversation on politics or kids or family or schedules just as easy as pie, with no awkwardness or catching up needed.  Today it was as if I had never left, which is what I needed.

I think I'll take a lesson from this openhearted friend, and take her up on her invitation to "Come to our house any time of day."  After all, she's just first right and a left and you're there.

Thanks, Jeanne.

I have a personal relationship with God.  It is the greatest joy the world has ever known.  And my relationship with him is as unique as I am.  Let me tell you about it.  

It's interesting how our happenstance affects our thoughts on God and truth.  This last week I've had conversations with siblings about the role of family and about parenting, with strangers at church about salvation, with Buddhists on a train about God, with Mormon's at their church about the Bible, and with many others about various topics.  My mind has be flooded with deep, allbeit frustrating, thoughts and queries.

In fact, all these thoughts and conversations have been so exhausting, I will not think about them anymore, but will simply give you a snapshot from yesterday:

Sam and I loitered on the sidewalk with our respective sons in their respective strollers.  We examined each stroller and discussed the vast differences between them.  Whit was in his carseat, nestled into the backward-facing, eight-wheeled folding stroller, with cargo space, plastic wheels, and many adjustment and swivel options -- it was a steal from Craigslist, and it was high class.  Eddy was in a borrowed stroller that a New Zealander had given Sam & Nicki.  It actually didn't look like a stroller at all, but more like a two-wheeled dolly for moving boxes, only with a seat and handlebars, canopy, and straps on the back for converting to a backpack!

Finally Nicki poked out of the door. "The cake will be done cooking in 2 minutes."  It was hard, but we managed to wait, then commenced down the sidewalk.

Around the corner we strolled, and on through my brother's neighborhood, of small old houses and low-income apartments.  I breathed in the dry cooling air of west central California's July.  Everything struck me as old here, compared to Wisconsin.  Maybe it's because the trees have longer growing seasons. Maybe it's because the sun beats down so harshly, softening colors.  Maybe it's because items last longer with the absence of corrosive rust.  Or, maybe it's simply my old childhood memories of the state, with its hibiscus hedges covered in lavish silky blossoms, it's giant Eucalyptus trees, it's waving Queen Palms against the white sky, the dusty earth, and the friendly Hispanic culture I've grown to miss.

As sunset approached, Sam pointed out friends' houses, street changes, and houses for sale.  Whit looked up at his daddy with interest one moment, and was asleep the next.  Eddy loves dolly rides, so this stroller was his favorite.  He tested the limits of every novelty, and tested our patience.  But the many many kids playing and biking around us kept him cheerful.  I conversed with my brother while basking in the beauties we went through, and Nicki walked, mostly quiet and happy...happy for the company...happy for the weather...happy to be a mom.

I got to meet new baby Whitaker!  Hooray!  I love the littleness and tininess, the sleepiness and wrinkliness.  He has a little baby cry, and eyes that are not even used to the light yet!  Life is so hard to figure out for a newborn.  I love being the first sibling to meet him, and getting to help his mommy (Eddy's Aunty Nicki) out in this unique time.  Neighbors stop by all the time to see the baby and ask how everything went.  What a privilege to visit right after the baby comes home from the hospital.  There's nothing as special.

Come and meet the new tiny man who just discovered there's a larger world out there: that of mommy's and daddy's house.  Congratulations brother Sam!  Congratulations Nicki!  Your family loves you, and loves the new little baby nephew, cousin, and grandson.  So much potential all wrapped up in one little guy.

Today is the day...it's all downhill from here!  We woke up at 'Gramma's' house in Eau Claire, we finished packing the items that we didn't have in Afton.  A couple errands and we're set for the month.

Forrest will come in today and we'll go to dinner with him and Cathy...that's vacationing!
Tomorrow will be filled with Hobbs family fun activities...that's vacationing!
Sunday, July 4th will come, and with it will be happy festive friends at church...vacationing!
Straight from church to Dad's house for a Van Dyke reunion!  Vacation time!
A ride with Aunt Bonnie to the airport and Eddy's loooooooonnnnnngggg awaited airport and airplane time will commence...our vacation!
A packed week in Los Angeles with the siblings...hooray for vacationing!
A train ride with Eddy! Vacationing!
A whole week with brother, silly, and a brand new baby!  What a great vacation!
Siblings all camping together...vacationing!
Reuniting with hubby to see what life brings us next...

vacationing =) here we come.

I met with my friend Connie yesterday.  Every couple weeks my two former Bible study leaders, Connie & Bonnie, and I go walking together and talk about life.  This week Bonnie couldn't make it and Connie didn't feel like walking, so the two of us just sat on her beautiful porch and conversed.

Connie is about twice my age, has grown children and grandchildren, is a skilled flower gardener, and loves birds. (she's even gotten hummingbirds to sit on her finger!)  And the mystery of her godly legacy and journey continues to unfold every time we meet.  (For example, this week I learned she used to be part of a clown ministry and still keeps her homemade 5-foot long Q-tip in her basement for sentimental reasons!)  I feel privileged to spend time with her.  Though I am blessed to have very insightful and gracious parents and in-laws, there's something special about a relationship unbent by biases or relational complications, an outsider who can see clearly in.

We talked of everything from birdhouses to weddings to sickness to God's ultimate plan for the world, and how faith fits into to it all.  We sat there for three hours just talking.  I was astounded when I saw the time, and thankful for this woman who would take out that time for me.

I have a lot of things to think through today, and some steps to take =)

"And so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled." -Titus 2:4-5

I've been told Eddy is exceptionally good at language for his age.  But lately that skill seems to be combining with a childish creativity into a bit of a phenomenon.  Most kids his age like to pretend to be animals and such and talk for their toys, as Eddy does.  But now he's becoming quite a storyteller, taking topics of the day and dramatizing them into adventure stories acted out entirely by him (complete with bad guy voices, damsel in distress voices, gramma voices, etc.).  He even comes up with characters I've never heard of, as in his "Michael and Daddy" series this morning (he was pretending to read these stories out of my Bible).

I don't know if this signals an adulthood bent or if it's a phase unique to this time in our family life.  But either way, it's fun.  Feel free to come by and experience the Eddy Hobbs Toddler Theatre soon!

"A 2-Day outdoor fine arts and traditional crafts fair in a picturesque setting on the St. Croix River Valley

to sing and dance ... to step to the beat ... to bend and groove ... get the heart goin'... to lift your mood ... to smile a bit ... to close your eyes, tilt back your head, and breathe!  Jump and spin!  Run around!  Find a partner!  Pull them in!  to get lost in rhythm ... to relish a melody ... savor the feeling...of singing aloud.  to listen and sway ... to harmonize ... to recognize beauty ... to remember the Lover ... to forget all troubles ... to cherish His goodness ... to lose track of time ...

I have a new sister. Her name is Suzy.  She's 23.  My brother loves her a lot.

She's southern, you know, with reddish hair, freckles, and a big pretty smile.  She likes writing stories and songs.  She's sunshine when she walks in, playful with little boys, helpful with dinner, and caring. She uses funny southern words and makes funny southern faces...though she claims to be long removed from the south. Her family is different than ours. For one thing, they're southern. But there are others. Fun things to learn, funny stories to hear.

Suzy lives in a colorful house, in a warm state, with a very happy husband. She loves her black cat...and yellow...and high school ministry, with sleepovers! She has lots of pictures and a special piano. And entertains hundreds of guests in their little house with a pool.  She thirsts after God.

My brother came to visit me. My new sister Suzy came too.  We adventured. We drove. We strolled through Wisconsin, and cruised Minnesota. She'd never been. It was new. We had fun. My little Eddy loves Auntie "Suthy". They snuggle and play. My new sister taught me many new things...we conversed, debated, compared, related, bonded, shared, understood, and prayed. Our friendship grew.

I have a new sister. Her name is Suzy. I love her a lot.

The long awaited visit has commenced!  Brother Lukas and relatively new sister-in-law Suzy arrived in their sporty rented car yesterday afternoon at 2:45 -- just in time to help pick up Eddy from the babysitter's.  Hooray for sibling visits!  We've filled our time well, thus far, with house tours, tire swing rides, stories, adventures, garden shopping, state hopping, cooking, picture editing, and movie-watching.

Today promises to be another memorable one.  I'm getting all the business work done that I can while my distinguished guests catch up on much needed sleep in the bed & breakfast style room I prepared for them ;)  Then it's back to adventures and memories together.

Pictures soon.

Last night Dan, Eddy and I had the pleasure of going to a birthday party at Olive Garden for a friend. It was a jolly time of getting to know acquaintances, sharing love, laughing, and gobbling down food as fast as everyone could (especially bread sticks -- Benny currently holds the record on those with 9). The birthday girl was amazed that so many people would come to her birthday party, and we were honored to be of service =) We didn't know anyone too well, but mixing and making new connections was part of the fun. Plus, it was great letting Eddy meet more of the people we know (unlike Bible study, when he has to stay home with a babysitter). There are so many cool people all around us. Birthday parties are one way to get to know them...a yummy way =)