She Wants to be Everything

She wants to be everything.  She is a ladybug, a butterfly, a princess, a doctor---all this in dress-up clothes includes: play high heals, 4 tutus, a ladybug costume with antennae and wand, butterfly wings, and a doctor's smock.  I laugh a bit, and think, "Don't we all," or "She's trying to be a woman, and do everything at once."  But then I get a bit more introspective.

I am of the generation who was told, "You can be anything you want to be!"  I somehow always doubted that.  What if I want to be a squirrel?  Or closer to reality, an olympic gymnast like I pretended when I was little?  Was I from a family who could throw all its money at me doing that day in and day out for a dozen years, disregarding my other four siblings and their needs? No. That wasn't in the cards.    But that's what everyone thought would help us be motivated to "be" something great.  I remember repeating that mantra when I was first teaching.  How silly.  It's not that we should hope for the attainable, that's missing the point.  It's that we were essentially told to put our worth is something we could "do" or a label that would eventually mean something to other people, not what we were, or that we were loved.

What I want for Fiona is to continue to want to be everything, even a ladybug in her fantastical imagination (I hope she never loses that).  I hope that she loves reading as much as I do, and climbing as much as her Daddy, but I can't wait to see what loves she brings of her own.  But mostly I want to her know, that no matter what she does, she should do it with courage, dignity, love, mercy, patience, self-control; resting in the only label that will hopefully define her--Child of The King, a princess truly.  She will put on many "hats," or possibly tutus, in her life.  She may live many places, or just one.  She may get married, have children, or not.  But she will always be loved by The King.

USA Lovin'--a Celebration

These last couple of weeks have been heaven for me.  My little sister, B, came to visit, and she is one of my favourite people (my other siblings are too--come on over any time ya'll!).  It was a big deal for her to make the trip from North Carolina to Scotland, leaving her toddler and husband for almost two weeks (mind you, they were in good hands, with all the "grands" and Aunt Shannon there to help).  I know she missed them terribly, but she was such a joy to have here.

Showing her our little slice of Scotland helped me love it even more.  She just kept saying, "How do you get used to this place?  It's so beautiful!"  And I kept replying, "I don't.  I hope I never get over it." We went places I hadn't seen before here, and I marvelled at their beauty.  Our trip to London renewed my sense of awe in the history of this country, the "oldness" always reminding me of the youth of my own.  And yet, as we tried to celebrate American Independence Day in London at a kitsch American themed pub party, I began to visualise a list of the things I miss about The States.  B says it seems I never have anything good to say about my home country anymore, and I was sorry to hear that, though in my conversations about controversial things I have imitated that statement.

My memories of our 4th of July celebrations over the years always make me smile.  I don't know how many American flag shirts I've owned over the years--probably the majority being from Old Navy.  The 4th celebrations usually include some body of water, whether that be the beach, lake, or just a swimming pool.  Hamburgers and hotdogs on a grill, some music blaring, watermelon, sweet iced tea, and lots of heat (it's HOT in The South in July!).  Once it gets dark, we find out way to some fireworks--if we're at the beach, we watch them from the porch or maybe take a drive to see some more professional ones.  And this gets me thinking that Americans sure love to celebrate things.  Just look at our holidays--we have a lot of them.  And some people say we are all just about consumerism, commercialism, and Hallmark, but under all that is the good stuff.  We like to hope for things.  We like to make a big deal, a giant party, and whoop and holler!  I miss that--making a big deal out of celebrations--really celebrating the joy of whichever holiday is present.

Impromptu gatherings.  That's another thing I miss.  I love it here, but people don't seem to like surprises.  Growing up, and even after I was married, I don't know how many Sundays I ended up at someone's house for lunch after church, or had someone over on a whim.  The meals weren't usually elaborate, and sometimes involved tossing in a frozen pizza, but it was all about being together.

And here's a few small ones:
-sweet iced tea
-okra
-American Chinese food (I know it's not authentic, but it's what I know)
-fireworks
-pick-up trucks everywhere
-the Southern drawl
-Sonic
-Southern bbq...& hushpuppies

So there's a couple of things, and I know there are more, but that's the first instalment of USA lovin'.  Sorry I haven't written in awhile.  I miss you already B!  Come back and celebrate some more with me soon!