7 Quick Takes: New Hips, a Baptism, and Bluegrass news

-1-

I didn't get a chance to post last week, but I wanted to say that my dad's hip recovery is going great!  My sister posted this photo to Facebook about a week and a half ago, but since then, he is using a cane to get around the house, (but using a walker outside) and has given up the wheelchair entirely!  When I talked to him last week, he sounded very chipper.  He was also in the process of stepping down the pain meds, so that is a good sign.  He hopes to be cleared for work by the end of the month.  Thanks for all the prayers!  He still has a long recovery ahead, but things are going well at this point.

-2-

One of the reasons I didn't get a chance to post last Friday was that we were hosting my in-laws in preparation for baptizing Ponchik on Saturday last.  It was super hot and disgustingly muggy, but our church has good AC, and the day was at least sunny and didn't rain.  We had a nice-size group of friends come out for the event, and my friend took some amazing photos of the day!

-3-

Did you know that Mr. Roger's Neighborhood is available to instant-watch on amazon prime?  I'm finding as the summer wears on, my sleep deprivation gets more intense, and my childcare is now bare-bones (less than six hours a week, most of which is devoted to my going to a regular appointment), I need some time mid-afternoon where Birdie and Boo are occupied for a little while after nap/quiet time.  I have a great fondness for Fred Rogers, having watched him faithfully as a small child, and as a parent, I'm even more grateful for his slow pace, easy manner, and simple approach.  It is one of the rare things that Birdie will stand still long enough to watch (note, I said stand still--the child sits for nothing except meals, and then only because she is strapped in!)  I also kind of love it that Fred Rogers is from Pennsylvania.

-4-

With the baptism this weekend, I did a lot of driving back and forth to New Jersey with the girls (we tend to divide and conquer with driving distances right now), so I had some thinking time to myself.  I've been listening again to Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's great bluegrass album, and thinking again about writing, and listening to the lyrics of the songs made me think there was probably some prose waiting for me there.  I'm especially drawn to the song Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby.  I'm sure I'll change a lot to make a plausible narrative structure, but inspiration has to come from somewhere, right?  I'm still working on setting, and how people come to be where they are, but I'm hoping to start sketching character studies for the principals next week.

-5-

Oh wow, in researching links for #4, I came across Steve Martin's band The Steep Canyon Rangers, and boy oh boy, are they good!  I must be getting old, because I'm really enjoying bluegrass and (gulp) even some country music.  (I know! What happened??)

-6-

Still havin' a Dreher lovefest over here, and this post is beautiful.  Washing the baby Jesus, indeed.

-7-

And now for something creative!  I didn't really have time to make baby thank you cards for myself this time around, and so I turned to MDS instead.  One design, multiple copies, easy-peasy.  I had them printed as note-card size, and that was perfect.  You may recognize the design from an earlier card I made; I just adapted it to the digital format. 

 Go see Jen for more QT!