A Lovely Brew

Life is brewing.

I moved my seedlings into the garden yesterday. They look so small in their little squares, like the children looked when they stood in the First-Day-of-Kindergarten line with too-big backpacks. But now that the little plants have room to grow, I pray that they do. And the seeds too. I planted seeds. Peas, parsley, cilantro, lettuce, Swiss chard, and others. They really looked cozy being tucked into that deep, dark earth.

My teenagers are growing, as I suppose they all do. Suddenly they tower over me. Suddenly he shaves and has a booming voice. Suddenly there are several college solicitations coming every single day in the mail for her. They want her almost as desperately as I do. (Boy are they on to something!) Then again, so do the boys. One after another calls, IM's, emails. (But no texting, because that isn't allowed.) She is always laughing, smiling, red-faced. (And totally in denial. "They are just my friends, Mom." Yeah, right, I tell her. Because friends always call every morning at 7:06am just to see if you slept okay last night. She's so sweet, that one. And she lets us tease her.)

Today I began another semester at school. Two classes, 7 credits. Three days a week, 5 hours each of those days. Plus study time. It's no small commitment, for me, or for my family. After sending off the kids to school, I battled the morning traffic out to Pasadena with just enough time. But boy, did it feel good to walk onto campus today with all those other people swarming around in search of parking spots and buildings and floors and rooms and seats. Awesome. And today I learned the medical reason why bodybuilders who use steroids really do have smaller testicles and higher voices (and sometimes breasts). It's not a myth! Just as an interesting aside. I like interesting asides from the Anatomy teacher.

So, then I came home, buzzed and tired at the same time, with just enough time to water my seedlings, feed my teenagers (and the others who are growing too!), and begin teaching afternoon piano lessons. Tomorrow? My brother and sister-in-law and their children are coming for the afternoon and evening! I'm so excited to see them and have them here. So, now I've got to brew up some dinner plans for them. Can't wait.

Growing children, growing families, growing plants, growing minds, growing me. . .some of my very favorite things to do.

It's a lovely brew.