Kathleen Botsford

Dreaming of Italy

            

                                             
 

 

I have been looking through some of our photos from out trip to Italy 18 months ago.  Alex spent a semester there her senior year and we visited for Spring Break.  We had such a fabulous time and 'what happened in Italy, stays in Italy' is one of our favorite private jokes.   I had planned to put a book together with our photos and memories.  I have a huge plastic container with tons of ephemera I collected each step of the way.  I must get to that soon.  Or should I work on the mementos I brought back from Greece first?  That was in 2002.  Where does the time go?

                     

Auntie Em???

Does this look like Auntie Em to  you?  I know I may be prejudiced but this is definitely the face of Glenda the Good Witch as surely as I am the mother of this beautiful child.  Something seems to have gone amiss in the world of 'High School Musicals' in our neck of the woods.  Suffice to say, Victoria did not get the part she wanted.  She will play Auntie Em and be some sort of angelic voice which I do NOT remember from the movie....(maybe it's in the play or maybe they feel bad and are trying to make it up to her, hmmm?)

Victoria is not the only one in a tizzy.  The two seniors who did get cast as Glenda wanted Dorothy.  They are not happy campers either.  What is a mother to do?  I held her as she cried and cried.  I let her talk about quitting and refusing to be the Aunt of the FRESHMAN Dorothy.  I let her plot and plan to push said freshman off stage at the most apropos moment.  I let her vent and vent and vent.  And then I snuck in a tiny, very infinitesimal, little bitty word......'character'.....and stepped back, way back.

As I held my breath and braced for the indignant reproach we mothers of 16 year old girls are very familiar with, I was met with a surprising silence.  No explosion, no disdain, not even a rolled eye.  So I ventured a little further and reminded her of her brother and his challenges.  How he did not play football at the very same high school that 'seems' to be taking her talents for granted.  And how each Saturday, his former high school teammates sit in dismay as they tune in to see Stevie, bigger than life on national television, a member of  the Notre Dame football team. 

Disappointments are a part of life.  It seems even more heart wrenching when the one being disappointed is your child.  Always, always, we have more opportunities to learn and to grow in this wonderful school room we call 'Life'.....whether we want to or not.

Whew!  Victoria won't be giving up on Broadway just yet. 

Bittersweet Weekend

 

It was a bittersweet weekend.  The Irish lost to USC, our #1 rival, for the 8th time in a row.  A heart breaking loss at that but the whole family was at the game and lots of aunts, uncles and cousins too.  This weekend is another rival of sorts, Boston College.  Lots of family coming in for this game also.  Fall seems to be speeding past in a blur of football, tailgating, pep rallies, parties and dinners.  All fun each in their own rite but no time to stop and savor each individual event, each precious person.  Conversations jumble together.  Family and friends come and go.  It is the nature of the season AND completely against my own inner rythms.

I make a conscious point of keeping my calendar in balance.  Football and the Holidays seem to take on a life of their own and the only solution is to jump on the bandwagon and hang on for dear life.  It is tons of fun if I can stay focused on each day as it arrives and not look down the week to the flurry of activity awaiting us.  That can really overwhelm me.  One day at a time, I take what the Universe has to offer and leave the rest for future consumption.  I gets lots of practice in this area but the rewards of inner peace while in the midst of apparent chaos are well worth it.  

Oops!  Now the laundry is a different matter all together......

Drum Roll Please!

Today is my first 'Thank you Give-Away' drawing.  Drum roll please...............and the winner is......wait.......It's a tie!  Debbie W from Four Angels Momma and Jennifer from Wishful Thinking.   Hurray!  I will contact both of you privately to arrange the details.  Thank you for your support and wonderful comments as well as sharing your lives with me.  You are truly appreciated.

On to ordinary news; last weekend was a blur of activity with the kids in town and lots of fun.  We saw the new Vince Vaughn movie.  He is one of Stevie's favorites and the movie was cute, but well worth the price of admission to sit next to Stevie and listen to him laugh at Vince.  His laugh fills the entire theater.  I love it!

Alex's flight arrived Saturday morning at  9 and her return flight left at 9 Sunday evening.  The picture above is from the lunch we all shared on Saturday before Stevie had to head back to school.  Schedules and commitments, bah humbug!  Alex may not make it home for Thanksgiving and will miss our extended family Christmas celebration the weekend before Christmas.  Times are changing.  All I can do is take one day at a time and appreciate their presence when it is present.  And that is my spiritual practice.  Being present.   It may be simple, but try it sometime.  It definitely takes practice. 

Boy Meets World

Last weekend we were at our usual Friday night restaurant in South Bend with friends and family when Stevie showed me a photo of his cousin taken with two playboy bunnies.  Seems his cousin had been invited to the Playboy mansion in LA for a party and had his picture taken with these winsome wenches.   As the story goes,  he actually had a date with one of them the next night.  Needless to say, all of the young (and not so young) men at the table thought it a fabulous good fortune and were busy dreaming of their day in the bunny spotlight.  Stevie (who loves to tease the #$@% out of me) pips up with "Hey Mom!  How about if I bring a couple of bunnies home for Christmas?  Can they sleep in my room with me?"  As we bantered back and forth good-naturedly, it was with a wistful sigh I realized my son is indeed a young man, ready and willing to take his place in the big world.

Earlier this week I was getting one of Stevie's suits ready for the cleaners and a consistent "jiggling" sound thwarted my attempts to empty the pockets.  Finally I slipped my hand into the inside chest pocket in search of the errant "coins."  How surprised was I as I pulled two medals out of Stevie's coat pocket.  One of St. Michael the Archangel and the other of St. John.  Yes, my "little" boy is gone but there is a sensitive and strong young man who has taken his place.  He may dream of Playboy bunnies but he is aware also of a deeper, truer Power, beyond his ego and this materialistic world we live in.

Isn't life funny?  In one hand She is constantly thrashing us with opportunities to "let go" and at the same time Her other hand  gracefully gives us gifts of unspeakable joy.   

Fall Homecoming

It's a blustery fall afternoon here in Chicago.  It's cool and rainy.  Just how I like it.  I have the candles lit and the fireplace roaring.  A pot of spaghetti sauce is simmering away on the stove top.  Everyone is coming home this weekend!  Alex is homesick and coming in on Saturday morning to spend a mere 36 hours with her family and friends.  Coach Weiss has given the football players the weekend off too.  Stevie gets home Friday afternoon.  We have lunches planned and family dinners.  Of course there will be football.  Lots of football.  A fall weekend with the three little birdies all back in the nest.  Momma is a happy camper!

Three for the Road

I am off to South Bend in four hours.  The forecast this weekend is cold and rainy.  While that doesn't bother me as far as football goes, packing 3 women and their luggage into a car that holds two comfortably is going to be a little bit tricky.  Rain gear, sweatshirts, boots, dinner clothes AND backpacks.....Oh My!  Oh well.  I am off to make beds, do bills etc., etc. before we hit the road.  Have a wonderful weekend wherever the road takes you!  Go Irish!*

P.S.  *I just HAVE to put that in!  

Fading Summer Days

This is the first autumn weekend I have had the luxury of staying at home.  Notre Dame is playing "away" and Stevie will not be dressing.  My husband is in LA and the house is nice and quiet.  Victoria is in her room studying for an AP Bio test and I have decided to break out the fall decorations.  But first, I wanted to take a few shots of the "summer" house before I pack her away for another year.

The first thing I notice when I look at these photos is that every room in my home is filled with the same things.  Family photos, books and art.  Some of the art is of a decidedly "religious" tone and some of the art appears to be secular when you first glance at it.  But even the "secular" art is sacred.  Paintings of nature and women adorn our walls with very few exceptions.  These are the images and symbols that make our home feel safe and holy.  A sanctuary to return to when the day is done.  A place for renewal and retreat.  I love surrounding myself and my family with objects that reflect the divine.  Little alters everywhere to remind us on a daily basis what is "real" and what is "illusion" in this fast moving world we live in. 

I have been visiting a few "decorating and life style" blogs lately and have been inspired to add a new album to my side bar.  Now if I can slow down long enough to figure that out......

Camera Hog #63

Another football weekend under our belts.  It was a hectic game but we won.  It is kind of amazing to me but Stevie has had more national television time than some of the starters!  During the first game, the camera zoomed in on Stever as the team knelt in prayer.  (Of course I missed the entire episode as I had already descended into "the ugly cry".)   ESPN used that same footage again this weekend.  Saturday's game found Stevie in the "limelight" more than 4 times.  (I know because we keep getting the messages and text's.)  The camera followed him out of the tunnel at the beginning of the game.  He was next to the quarterback when he came off the field injured and they zoomed in on him again as the team sang the alma mater in front of the students during the post game celebration. 

That boy is a camera magnet!  His freshman year at Indiana he was at a ND game and he and some of his friends painted themselves all green and were acting like crazy college kids.  There was a NBC contest for ND commercials and footage of Stevie's almost naked green body was part of the winning commercial.  NBC played that commercial for a month of college football games and used Stevie's picture as their NBC Sports home page for at least two weeks.  That very same week Stevie magically made it into a nationally televised commercial for Indiana University.  Maybe he's just a big ham but he sure has the knack of being at the right (and extremely visible) place at the right time.  Stay tuned for further updates.  (I will try and find that partially clothed green picture if I can.)

Jewels on Display

Off for another weekend of college football.  I am getting ready for a workshop next week and working on collages for an exchange but I thought I would give you a sneak peek of the jewelry side of my work table.  I plan to get "real" photos of these and post them in my Jewelry section before my show.  I just realized I have no pictures of the pieces that are at the gallery that represents me.  My business skills need a little sprucing up.  (I can't even remember half of them!)  Shh!  Don't tell my husband.....

I am trying to work on a post of the first football game but the words are not coming.  Just the tears. 

GO IRISH!