This is just a small reminder: tomorrow is the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive. This year, perhaps more so than in any year of recent memory, food banks around the country are in desperate need of your contributions. Many warehouses across our great land are empty! With gas prices at a record high, more and more people are relying on local food banks. Working people like you. Food banks are pressed beyond their ability to serve and in many communities people are being turned away.

This food drive is always on a Saturday and I don’t know about you, but I tend to get busy and forget these things. So, this reminder is as much for me as it is for you. Please remember to leave your non-perishables for your carrier tomorrow. Every can helps.

(and just so I don’t forget, I’m leaving mine on the porch RIGHT NOW!)

The postman brought new shoes today. Silver Mary-Janes for me. Grey Sketchers for him. Both in the same size. He is only 11 and I’m not.

My spidey-sense tells me that the next American Idol’s first name is David. His last name is still a bit of a blur.

My spidey-sense  tells me that a certain dread-locked contestant has been inhaling. Just sayin’.

My spidey-sense  also tells me that the remaining female contestant has a man named Tony in her future.

My spidey-sense is on FIRE!

Itty bitty glitch on the site. Ok, it’s a bigger glitch than that. But we’re going to pretend otherwise. Apparently, all your lovely comments are going directly to my spam filter. Some of your comments are gone forever, since it I just noticed the glitch.

Anyhow, until I get this figured out, it may take a few hours before your comment will post since I have to trudge through hundreds of spam to find you. I feel dirty already. Your other option is to not post. But that would make me sad.

Conclusion: I can always shower; please comment.

Yesterday, I got it into my head to bake Morning Glory Muffins. You remember these? They were all the rage in the 90’s. It seems like they’ve fallen out of fashion—or maybe it’s just where I live, but I don’t see them in bakeries quite as often as back in the day.

So two trips to the grocery store (there are a LOT of ingredients to forget!), several near misses during the mixing process (there are a LOT of ingredients to remember!), and one half empty can of crushed pineapple splattered across the floor and behind the refrigerator later (Sticky!) we ate some Morning Glory. Remarkably, it was still morning.

Speaking of eating. This child, this child won’t stop. He’s always hungry and I can’t keep up with his food demands. Where is he putting it all? Evidently, in inches UP! I just ordered jeans for the third time this year. Three sizes in 10 months, he’s now wearing a 14 slim and is showing no sign of slowing down.

It’s not just his jeans, though. I also got the shock of my life when trying to buy shoes for him to wear to the wedding (OMG!! two weeks, MARIE, are you freaking out??). Scrounging around in the kid’s department, we were striking out when it occurred to me if his jean size has exponentially grown, perhaps his feet were following suit.

Can we say heart-attack? This child wears a men’s 7. And that means, he has the same sized feet as me. He’s 11 and has already out-paced me. He’s running hard to catch up with his father. I don’t think he’s going to need the assist from age and gravity.

It’s a battle of wills, really. I keep willing him to slow down. But suggesting this to him gets no traction. He just looks at me with that twinkle in his eye—the same twinkle, for the record, that won me over when his father proposed—that screams, “Make me, lady!”

Give me back that muffin, kid!

I probably don’t have to tell you that I’m so not ready for this. It’s a glory to behold. Or it would be, if I could step back to watch it.

At 10th and Marine

Last year and the year before that, May Day was filled with lilacs. Typically I’d be spending the day cutting arm-loads of lilacs to deliver to friends and neighbors. But this year, this year my lilacs are about 10 days from opening. It’s been a long winter, much longer than the 6 extra weeks promised by a certain groundhog. So, we wait for lilacs.

Only now is Spring waking from a deep sleep. She’s still stretching and yawning and blinking back the heaviness of winter. Spring is a sleepy-head. Spring could use an alarm clock. She has over-slept and doesn’t much seem to care. So, slowly, ever so slowly—she tentatively puts a toe out of bed. We can only hope she braves the icy floors beneath her and makes it into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

Which one of you fed Pudge a tuna fish sandwich?

In some ways, I feel like I was gone from this blog long before my writer’s strike last week. I’m feeling a bit checked-out and I blame the weather. IZ has been calling this delightful weather pattern we’re in, “Spinter”. I’m not buying that though, so I’ve been tasking him to prove our weather is worth 2 letters from the word “spring.” I think what we’ve been facing is more like, “S’Winter”. Snow, slush, hail, freezing rain— Yes, I’m going to quibble over that “p” and if you lived here, you would too.

Which brings me to this post: a review of sorts. With bullet points and everything!

Previously on Evidently:

~~My little family went to Seattle and had an amazing time. I do have words about compassion, words I’d like very much to write. I’m in marinade mode, presently. So, it might be some time. But until then, you can read the lovely words Boy Wonder wrote about learning to talk with people of other faiths.

~~Also, 15 days in April is coming to an end today! Wow, time flies, eh? As of tonight, between donations and Thrifty Goodness revenues we’ve raised $80.00 for the Women’s Resource Center. More funds may trickle in and I’ve yet to hear from those who participated, but this feels like a very good first time out!

It’s easy in any service or charitable organization to notice the deficits. I hear it all the time at church, “Wow, look at how few people showed up today!” But, you know, that’s the wrong point of view, I think. In order to live lives of abundance, we have to foster eyes that see abundance. We can choose to focus on who showed up and be thankful for those people. And with that, I want to tell you this small story.

I woke up Sunday morning to an email from an etsy customer. She’d purchased several items and was owed a shipping refund. The subject of her email stated as much; I steeled myself for the request. Thrifty Goodness has a no gouge policy, but people tend to not read the fine print. And I’ll admit, I was groggy, in desperate need of coffee, and in no mood to deal with petty behavior.

Imagine my surprise when this woman wasn’t asking for her refund, but offering to donate it to Women’s Resource Center. It’s a small amount, but a HUGE gesture. I was so touched! And then, really ashamed at my own pettiness. I’d expected to meet something other than what I encountered—and then grace stepped in and I found myself humbled by this small act of generosity. Oh, for eyes that expect to see beauty in the world. Oh, for a heart that hopes with generosity of spirit. We can, we choose.

So, YES! It’s a matter of seeing with our hearts and being thankful for what we have. For those who show up. For those who read. For those who leave comments. For those who support. For those who are present. Of course, we miss those who aren’t here, we wonder about those who don’t read or comment or support—BUT, and this is the critical but, but we choose to focus on the abundance.

I’m certainly thankful for those of you who stepped up and supported this cause. So, Margaret, Katie, Connie (my mom!), and all those etsy shoppers, THANK YOU! You’ve made a very real difference in the lives of some of our most fragile citizens. The world is a better place because of you. And I am a better person for having known you.

~~That just leaves the weather. It always comes back to the weather, doesn’t it? I’m with Calvin, let’s move on to Summer.