Mike and Cindi

5/16/2009

Bling Bling

We had Lyric and Sarah jayne over tonight for Taco Night. That's what we have for dinner most nights when Lyric comes to visit, because she loves our La Tiara taco shells. Last time I was was near to home, we stopped at the mall and there was a store going out of business. They had all kinds of little girl jewelry on sale for something like $0.25 a piece, so I loaded up and brought it home with me. We took it out and tried it all on and she danced around, showing all of her new bling so that I could take pictures for my dad.

She also loves to use our hand sanitizer. Sarah says that it's one of her new habits. The other day she asked if she could use the hand sanitizer and when Sarah gave her some, as she was rubbing it in, she said, "There's a bad flu going around." So last night as they were leaving, we all used a little hand sanitizer and I said, "I heard there's a bad flu going around." and she nodded. Then I heard her telling Mike, "Don't touch your eyes until it dries!" and watched her show him how to more quickly dry his hands by waving them in the air.

5/14/2009

One Goal

Naturally, this is Mike's favorite one...

This Cracked Me Up

Game 7

It's Game 7, Wings v. Ducks and silence (mostly) reigns in the living room of our apartment. All you hear is the general white noise of the game on television, punctuated by the occasional "Yes!!" hissed through the teeth. It must be going well. I'll keep you posted.

***UPDATE: I thought Mike was going to cry when the Ducks tied the game, but they won. Thank God, because Mike was hyperventilating.

5/13/2009

The Trash Talk Continues

The following conversation took place in the car this morning on the way to work...

Cindi: (sympathetically) I'm sorry your team lost last night, pea. (sympathetic arm rubbing)

Mike: Thank you, pea pea.

Cindi: I'm sorry your team couldn't sew it up in six games like mine did. (sympathetic arm rubbing continues)

Mike: Uh...thank you?

Cindi: I'm sorry your team isn't as good as my team, pea pea.

Mike: You can stop now.

Cindi: *giggles*

For Susie

5/11/2009

My Marriage is Over

My beloved Chicago Blackhawks just won Game 6 to advance to the next round of hockey play-offs where they will face the winner of the Detroit-Anaheim series. Detroit is leading the series 3-2.

The trash talking has already begun and by this time next week, we may not be speaking to each other.

On the other hand, I found this picture while searching for "Detroit sucks" images, so it's all worth it.

LET'S GO BLACKHAWKS!!!! (Detroit sucks!!)

5/09/2009

Green Socks and Magnolia Trees

So it's mother's day again. It always sneaks up on me now that I'm half an orphan. I was certain that this year I was immune. When Marcia from work told me Friday afternoon to make sure that I was nice to my mom this weekend, I was able to sincerely laugh it off and explain that I wouldn't be celebrating without making her feel bad. But, it's nearing midnight and all evening I've been unable to shake one single thought, "I'm wearing Mom's socks."

My mom gave me these socks in January, 2006. I remember because she got them from an old friend when she was in the hospital after having her first heart attack. It was a very thoughtful gift and one that I knew was special, even before she died. (Once someone dies, everything they've ever given you becomes special). They're thick and soft. She loved thick, fuzzy socks. I never knew why she gave them to me. I suspect it was a combination of the identity of the friend and her sense of pride making her unable to keep a gift from someone who hadn't contacted her in twenty years until she randomly heard of her hospitalization.

It's funny how it is the little things that trip you up. I can think about my mom and tell stories about her without blanching, but realizing I'm wearing her socks makes me sad. I think about her when the magnolia trees bloom in the spring. She always said that she could never see a magnolia tree without thinking of her own mother. We'd look at them together - her thinking about (and probably missing) her mother, me thinking about this person who meant so much to my mother, but whom I had never met. Now I see the magnolia trees and I think that I will probably have those moments with my own children.

I will see them and miss my mother, while they will wonder what she was like. Maya Angelou said once that trying to describe her mother was like trying to describe a hurricane in all its perfect power. Sometimes I feel like this is an overwhelming task. How can I possibly tell my children about this woman who was so much? Mere words will never convey my mother's true spirit. I want to scream at the unfairness of it and I wonder if my mother felt this way when she would tell me stories of her own mother, knowing that I would never understand who she was and what she had meant to her. Maya Angelou also said that people will forget what you said and did, but never how you made them feel. And so this is the legacy of my mother that I will strive to pass on to my children. I will tell them of things that she said and of all of the times we did things together, but what they will remember and, I hope, pass on to their own children is the joy they feel when I tell them about her sweetness, her sense of humor, the love she held for us and how she would have loved to have held them and told them stories of her own mother and father. It will be enough.

Prayer

A prayer, for those who grieve

God, Giver of Life

Lover of our souls, Savior

Open up for us in this hour (but not just for this hour), we pray,

A window on eternity

A glimpse of glory.

Help us to celebrate the moments past

And await in joyful hope

the day of promise,

when there will be no more death,

nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain,

because the former things are passed away.

Grant us grace, dear Lord, to release into your strong hand this one,

beloved by you and by us,

to be in your care in the promise of life forevermore.

For those who feel most keenly the pain of separation,

we seek the comfort of your Presence,

for in You all live,

and in Your presence every moment partakes of eternity,

and touches every other moment.

In You, as we draw near,

all that we love draws near to us.

Sanctify the memories

and may they sweeten the hearts of those who hold them.

And may every prayer,

even every tear,

be transformed by your miraculous Presence

into a gift of joy,

every memory

a blessing of gratitude.

In Christ, the victor over death, we pray.

Amen.

Borrowed from Fearful Symmetry, (which is probably the coolest blog name I've heard in a long time...but that could be because I'm a literature nerd.) :)

All That I Am

All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.
-Abraham Lincoln

Happy Mother's Day.

5/05/2009

Happy Birthday, Sergio!!

5/04/2009

A Conversation

Radio: ...see Vanilla Ice, in concert with C & C Music Factory...Tickets are $25...

Cindi: $25?!?! To see Vanilla Ice?!!

Mike: (kiddingly) Will you buy me Vanilla Ice tickets, pea pea?

Cindi: (snort)

(pause)

Cindi: (singing) Go ninja! Go ninja go!

Mike: (disbelieving look)

Cindi: I wonder if he'll sing that...remember that? It's from one of those movies...you know... the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies...

Mike: (laughs)

Cindi: (still talking)...I don't remember if it's 2 or 3. It's the one where Shredder steals the ooze and creates his own mutants. A tortoise and a german shepherd, I think.

(pause)

Mike: That's valuable brain space that you're using.

Cindi: Oh, shut up!

5/01/2009

In Memoriam

We found out that Sergio's dad died this morning. It was peaceful and not unexpected, but Sergio is devastated and because I love him, so am I. I have a very soft spot for Serg. Along with Mike, he was the one who sat with me and held my hand when I found out that my own mother had died. Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Prospice

Fear death?—to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face,
When the snows begin,
and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place,
The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form,
Yet the strong man must go:
For the journey is done and the summit attained,
And the barriers fall,
Though a battle’s to fight ere the guerdon be gained,
The reward of it all.
I was ever a fighter, so—one fight more,
The best and the last!
I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore,
And bade me creep past.
No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers
The heroes of old,
Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life’s arrears
Of pain, darkness and cold.
For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave,
The black minute’s at end,
And the elements’ rage, the fiend-voices that rave,
Shall dwindle, shall blend,
Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain,
Then a light, then thy breast,
O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again,
And with God be the rest!

- Robert Browning (1812–1889)

4/30/2009

Happy Birthday!!

A quick shout out to my cousin and homegirl, Sara. We're the same age again! Happy birthday!

4/28/2009

Prayer Request

Please say a prayer for Mike's sweet friend, Sergio. His father, also named Sergio, is very sick and the doctors have told the family to "prepare."

Prayer in Time of Suffering

Behold me, my beloved Jesus,
weighed down under the burden of my trials and sufferings,
I cast myself at Your feet,
that You may renew my strength and my courage,
while I rest here in Your Presence.
Permit me to lay down my cross in Your Sacred Heart,
for only Your infinite goodness can sustain me;
only Your love can help me bear my cross;
only Your powerful hand can lighten its weight.
O Divine King, Jesus,
whose heart is so compassionate to the afflicted,
I wish to live in You;
suffer and die in You.
During my life be to me my model and my support;
At the hour of my death,
be my hope and my refuge.

Amen.