Spring Break Trip 2015: Birmingham, AL

I am quick to lament that I never made the right decisions in college where spring break was concerned. I ignored the compact that every coed is under to spend at least one week of your four years on a beach being responsible with everything but one's SPF lotion. But noooo. I had to outdork myself so hard that one year I even went NORTH. North from Meadville, Pennsylvania. I spent spring break in Buffalo, the winter depression capital of the free world. Adding insult to injury, the boy with whom I was in an ill-advised relationship broke up with me on that spring break service trip to Buffalo. My colleague said the name of that story is Rebuffed in Buffalo. An accurate title indeed.

Anyway. Rebuffed on this spring break trip I would not be!  Our southern voyage took us this time to Birmingham which is truly a diamond in the rough where university towns go. They don't quite have bike lanes yet but they do have a Trader Joe's coming soon. Birmingham is on the rise, y'all.

A highlight of the trip was seeing the rad rainbow accent work on some of the bridge underpasses. I'm sure there is more of a story of this urban art concept but the story our kids will tell you is that their gypsy hippie parents made them put on clothes at 10 p.m. to go run amok under the rainbow lights in Birmingham during a rainy evening in March.

Behold, the rainbow tunnels of splendor.

Walking to church with my son-shine

Dear Little Man, Earlier in the fall, your mama did something that she is not proud of but which she felt was necessary. She tried to beg out of church greeting. The extrovert in her enjoys the greeting and the handing out of bulletins and the occasional hugging that transpires during her monthly church greets. However, God's little errand was starting to infringe upon sabbath school with you, because she had to leave early to greet. Full disclosure: I am not the biggest fan of sabbath school. In principle, it is fantastic, but the practice of it involves sitting in uncomfortable chairs, singing a lot of high-pitched songs that stay in one's head for three days, crafts that are not recyclable, and being peer-pressured into taking a Little Friend magazine. Sometimes it's a lot to do before noon on a Saturday, you know?

Anyway. The greeting boss lady suggested that your mama just bring you as her greeting deputy and--why hadn't I thought of that before?!

I have come to love these mornings that we walk from the big church on the hill to our contemporary worship gathering downhill. I love the time with you and just getting some fresh air in our lungs before we put on our greeting pants. I can't tell you what we talk about and I can't be sure you'll remember this time at all. But I will. I will remember how you stood no higher than my elbow, how you held my hand, how you would get frustrated when I would trump your bulletin giving, how you would eagerly anticipate "bucket time" aka offering time, how our friend Jeni said collections at church must go up every time you are collecting because who could deny your big brown eyes looking at them and passing the offering bucket?

I can't be sure if we are making a Kingdom difference, you and I, the Lee Greeters, party of two, but I know one thing is for sure: you being a part of this ministry is making a difference in my life.

Love, Mama

Sept 2014

Nov 2014

Dec 2014

Jan 2015

Feb 2015

Humans of Tennessee: Snow Day Edition

I know how ridiculous this outfit looks but it's actually a mosaic of all the places I have lived. Starting with the hat, which my old man calls a "stockin' cap,"--I bought this at a high school football game for, like, $4. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and my grandfathers, dad, some of my uncles went to this high school for boys. St. Ignatius is a real Cleveland institution, but I used to call it St. Ego-natius because every guy who went there thought he was God's gift to the girls at my all-girls high school. I'm pretty sure I was bitter because I was a super homely kid that no one ever invited to a dance. Anyway. The gray coat I bought at T.J. Maxx when I was pregnant with my son and my other winter coat no longer fit. I literally bought it, put it on, and stuffed the other one in the Goodwill bin on my way to pick up my daughter at daycare.The mis-matching gloves are from the rag bag in our family closet. I gave the matching ones to my kids who are off school today. My favorite part of this outfit is the Carhartt overalls, which my old man bought for me for my birthday at the Boot Box in Meadville, Pennsylvania. So many good memories in these overalls. I went to college in Meadville and this is where I first really fell in love with the outdoors. Many of my friends were environmental studies majors and they were always going backpacking or rockclimbing. One of these friends, Jeff, told me the first time I wore the Carhartts that they were a disgrace and I needed to drag them behind a truck and get them weathered. I still laugh about that because the next time I wore the Carhartts was on a camping trip with my boyfriend. We got utterly lost and had to sleep on the forest floor without a match between us. It was freezing and we could have lost limbs. But I married him anyway.