No Fear

"What would you do if you weren't afraid?"

A good friend from work recently asked me this in relation to my career and it did give me pause. I don't consider myself fearful at all, but when posed that question I could see how I may be adventurous and daring in my personal life, and more timid at work. It's really quite the dichotomy and very unlike me, and since I'm not sure how/why it started, I am becoming more focused on driving forward deliberately in my career, without fear, especially fear of the unknown.

Connor is a wonderful teacher when it comes to fear; he has none. At a recent Halloween event, Connor wanted to find the scariest creatures and ask for a photograph with them...



He took two hours one recent Saturday to run around, explore, and get lost in a 5 acre corn maze...


Connor said yes to his first sleepover...

And yes to riding the log flume...over and over and over again...

Yes to hand-feeding lorikeets...

Meeting Duke...

So I ask you, what would you do if you weren't afraid?

Weekend at the Park

Fall is trying to make its way into our area, with cooler nights and sunny days with less humidity; the perfect time to get out and have some fun...

9/11: Never Forget

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum,
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

- W. H. Auden

Wordless Wednesday: Silent Knight

Wordless Wednesday

From the Mouths of Babes

Connor continues to entertain me with his conversations and discoveries; he's a great little problem solver who exclaims "I've got an idea!" Here are two recent situations that had me giggling...

Every morning Connor runs into my room, gives me a big hug and kiss, which he calls the "magic wake-up hug and kiss" and I spring from the bed and proclaim "I'm awake!" Today was no different and after going through the routine I said, "Are you my sweet prince?" and Connor replied "No Mom, I'm not a prince. I don't have a horse." Well, there you go.

A few weeks ago we were out to eat and when it came time to place Connor's order I said, "and the little guy will have..." Connor corrected me and the waiter, stating "Mama, I am a BIG guy, the BIG guy will have..."

Back to School

It's that time of year, and Connor is now back to preschool. We picked his clothes out last night (notice the "Uncle Rudy" shirt), and the anticipcation mounted as we made preparations for this morning. Connor was excited to be back to school and in the Koalas class this year. Last year, at 2 1/2 he was a Cub...right of passage I suppose. We've been very pleased with his first year in preschool. For awhile now, Connor has consistenly been able to count to 30, identify upper and lower case letters, spell his name, and now we are working on letter sounds. We're thankful he's eager to learn more!

Arriving at school...

Making his entrance...