the empty nest years

it's back to the two of us, HOM tells me. do you remember the old days of ferrying J1 and J2 to chinese class? i do, as i remember their baby faces and their happy hopes and, as if it were yesterday, the many mistakes i would not make again if i could. i would, if i could, hug more and be interrupted more. i would tolerate more and demand less. i would spend their childhood on my knees, not in despair but with canny strategy.

God gives parents have a peculiar burden, i think. our years to parent an intact family are fleeting, and then we have many years of wistful reflection. perhaps this is why grandparents are so globally indulgent.

maternal reflection

J1 flies back to college. it's been a good 3 weeks. 

the big comfort, i'm afraid, is to realize that other mothers elsewhere are saying goodbye to their college-bound children too. there is much truth in old sayings about misery loving company and such. HOM doesn't count, of course, because we share the same boat and the same kid.

geek-speak

my first tech foray for the year,

which promises to simplify my life

and upgrade my efficiency.

the usual problem with previous forays has been that i forget i have forayed.

but i must say the green elephant is a rather likeable icon.

mismatch

things that do not go together, regardless of your optimism:

• silver bells at the mall parading cny ware
• blouses with wide cut-outs to show bra-straps
• that mohawk hairstyle on a live adult scalp

pernicious addiction

go to: youtube.com
type in search bar: [dog breed] puppies
watch
repeat

i tell HOM it's my substitute Dog.

photo attack

3 years after going over to the dark side i finally migrate our photos from the old hewlett packard. 14 years of digital family photos are neatly categorized in iPhoto, a mammoth achievement that exacts its due in a stiff neck and an awful rhomboid ache.

it is done, i tell HOM happily. although i confess many of the folders are labelled misc and random.

2014!!

let your work appear to your servants,

and your glory to their children.

and let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us,

and establish the work of our hands for us;

yes, establish the work of our hands.

- ps 90:16-17

i could post about how disconnected i feel from the aggressive exuberance in the air, but on reflection this prayer about sums up all i ought to feel, i suppose.