Drinking In The Memories

Word of the Post
Today's word is: libation
/lie*bay"shun/ noun
The ritual of pouring out wine or oil to honor a god; liquid used in such a ceremony; an alcoholic drink.
The bread to feed the hungry needs to be accompanied by the libation upon the altar. Yeah, this comes from the lyrics of an old camp song. "Would you be poured out like wine upon the altar for Me? Would you be broken like bread to feed the hungry?"
Religion makes cannibalism so much symbolism, so it is not as creepy.
~~~~~~~~~~
I got the honor of hanging out with Jelly Bean on Thursday. Her mom and I took her swimming. I guess this is the first time she had ever been in a community pool. Up until this week, it had only been bathtubs and kiddie pools. She had a blast! She laid back a little to practice floating, but she kept turning her head and getting water in her nose. She was very good at letting us hold her, and kicking those legs for all she was worth. She will be a good swimmer someday. She is fearless. She liked standing on the side of the pool, and "jumping" in... basically falling into the arms of Mommy or Auntie Chelf.

I also got to watch her all day Friday, and DH and I were invited to Sis-in-law's house for dinner, too. Jelly Bean is growing up so fast! I took her with me to go shopping (shop shop shop, until we drop drop drop!). I don't get tired of hearing how cute she is. The clerk at Bath and Body Works asked her how old she was. I watched, curious to know if she knew. She said something that sounded like "20 munse", which is very close. She is actually 23 months. I was going to say that she was almost 2. It sounds less complicated. Amazing, brilliant girl!

It is fun to be loved by a 2 year old, and yet... sometimes the love is hurtful, even if it is unintentional. The sweet little Jelly Bean is expecting a sibling, Gum Drop. Now, we don't know if Gum Drop is a girl or a boy, because her parents think the surprise is fun. DH and I both think that is for the birds, we would want to know. Sis-in-law is about 6 weeks away from finding out, so she has a very distinct belly. Jelly Bean said something about a baby in the belly to me, wondering if my similarly shaped (Santa has nothing on me!) belly had the same progression as Mommy's. She is perfectly innocent in thinking that big bellies carry babies. She has no idea that I cried for an hour while she was napping.

For the first time in recent memory, DH was told he was little. You must understand, he is 6'6", and weighs more than I am allowed to tell you. Nobody has thought he was "little" since... well, since he WAS little. Jelly Bean was wanting to cuddle, and kept saying she wanted to "hold you". This, of course, means that we must hold her. She told DH she wanted to hold him, so he leaned over, and put his head on her lap while she sat in the couch. She pushed him off her lap, and said, "No! You're too little!" She meant that SHE was too little, and he was too big to be on her lap.

Jelly Bean knows where all the toys are at Auntie Chelf's house. She knew that she wanted the football, and not the soccer ball or the basketball, from the collection of stuffed ball toys on my shelf. As soon as it was in her hands, she spiked it on the floor, and yelled, "Touchdown! Kansas City, Chiefs!" with her hands up in the air, like she was signaling the play on the field. Her Daddy is speechless, and glowing; a real "that's my girl!" moment for him. The "Chiefs!" sounds like "Cheese!" but we don't mind. Somewhere, I think they have a cheerleader outfit for her. Destiny might be at work here.

I remember my dad and my cousin playing when she was little. She kept yelling, "Uncle Frank!". Finally, after a little thought, he yelled back, "Niece Morgan!" She stopped, and gave him a funny, curious look. "My mommy doesn't call me that!" Well, no. DH had a game with Sugar Bunny when she was about Jelly Bean's age. She would almost sing, "Dzif!" (Those J sounds are tough!) and DH would sing back her name, and she would say, "What?!?" She would forget whatever it was that she was going to say to him, because he answered her in a way she didn't expect. We do a game where DH pops up behind me on alternating sides, and says "boo" to any kid I am holding, while I bounce the baby each time, and say "eek!" I do it for the giggles. Aren't baby giggles the best? I now have Jelly Bean trained to answer "Boo!" with "Eeek!" and a hop.

OUCH! Have you ever coughed and immediately then hiccuped? Not fun. I have the hiccups, and I hate them. They are useless pains. I don't understand why such a thing would be a good creation in the life of a human, but God must see some purpose to it.

I need to get back into writing. J. K. Rowling has more money that the Queen of England! I was told just the other day that I had a gift, and I needed to write a book. I actually have three in the works. One fiction, one observations of the world (maybe including memoirs), and one of religious study. I was always better at poetry than prose, but this blog outlet seems to have struck a chord with me. I do my best writing while sitting at the computer, and typing the gibberish that falls out of my brain.

Sometimes, however, the best release is a freshly sharpened cedar wood #2 pencil and a new notebook of perforated College Ruled paper. The drivel that happens when I am angry gets hand-shredded into tiny bits, and burned or tossed as so much confetti. It is a party to release anger like that.

Throw a party with your anger-confetti.

Have a Blessed Day!