wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

The snow storm that dropped 15 inches (38 cm) of snow on January 25 has finally melted. While it blanketed the earth, some early spring flowers pushed through the dirt on their way to blooming into hyacinths in the next few weeks. Such a welcome sight! Spring countdown: 32 days.

A couple times a week I volunteer at Miami Valley Meals, a volunteer initiative that began during the pandemic and quickly evolved into a full-time operation serving thousands of meals per month. A team of chefs transforms recovered foods from various partner organizations into nutritious meals and then distributes the meals to groups that serve people facing food insecurity. Last week I put together 45 egg bake casseroles and just yesterday I chopped okra for two hours. This team of chefs is quite remarkable to put together the meals that they do. Each week unknown food arrives and they turn it into tasty meals to serve a community in need.

Last week my daughter-in-law sent some distressing news on the family text chain. Her mom was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. Monday afternoon Jennifer left to visit her mom, take her out to dinner, and spend the night at her parents' house. Mom's first chemotherapy treatment was Tuesday morning. I asked my son if he wanted me to come to Cleveland to help him with his little ones - the bath and bedtime routines are a little hectic with a soon-to-be 1-year old, a busy 3 1/2 year old, and just one parent. He said I didn't have to but if I wanted to, but...enough said. I would be there around the time he got home from work with a pot of beef stew. 

The morning routine of getting the littles ready for daycare wasn't quite as crazy as the nightime routine, except the power went out. We warmed the Hallie's bottle in a pan of warm water, put Owen's frozen muffin in a plastic bag and thawed it in another pan of warm water, thank heavens for flashlights to get the kids dressed. 

Before leaving, Andrew asked me to take a photo of him and his sweet kids to send to Jen's mom. They all wore pink to show support to Nana as she starts her chemo to beat this ugly cancer.