slight detour....

I want my battle with cancer to be a "slight detour" in my life and have therefore created a seperate "blog" for this path I am walking down. 

Detour this way....

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kirstinhoff

poor study habits or language barrier...

Maybe my struggles understanding the German language while we were living there weren't just due to my poor study habits.... 

Just as I thought I was settling back into the world of English, I had a man come up to me as I was sitting on the library floor gathering books for the kids and ask, "are you going to the Gap later?" 

I stared at him for about long enough to sneeze trying to rack my brain if I knew him and then responded with big wide open eyes, "excuse me?" 

He repeated, "are you going to the Gap later?"

I gazed at him about the same as I gazed at a German that was speaking too fast.  And just like my gaze didn't bother those Germans, it didn't bother this man either as he patiently said, " I was just asking, because if you need me too, I can help you get up!"  

Now, I am not really sure what baffles me more...the fact that he even thought I may not be able to get up from my perfected Indian style sit OR that I heard Gap rather then "get-up".   At least now, I am clear that language may always be a challenge for me whether it is German, English or even Alabamian...and THAT was spoken like a true writer:

Time stood still at Rosemary Beach

After 3 months of changes, unpacking and plain ole chaos, time finally stood still for me.  Well, for about 5 minutes since that seems to be my bodies limit for being still.  But sometimes, those 5 minutes can bring such clarity.

My 5 minutes consisted of the ocean, a pouring rain storm and me floating on my back with my ears under the water all alone in that big ole Gulf.  As my ears filled with salt water, clarity came that I had indeed survived all of the chaos that surrounds a move across the ocean with a 7 & 8 year old.

In addition to that 5 minutes, our days at Rosemary beach allowed our whole family to freeze time a tad as we played together with a few friends, some crabs, white sand, the Gulf and a lot of fresh ocean air.   I am (slowly) learning that it is good to let time stand still before you pick the pace back up in life...otherwise you may get side cramps and who wants those?

Beach baseball

worshiping the sun

catching up with friends

who says you have to go in when it rains?

hitting it with dad

And then there was Cooper's 8th birthday on the beach.....

Flying kites

Beach fire dinner with friends from New Orleans and Alabama

crabbing

Adult Marshmellow

Roasting Marshmellow

 And then the goodbyes.......

 And the drive home.....

Red Alabama sugar

There is just NOTHIN like a home grown Sweet tasty...drip down your chin...stick to your feet when the juice spills on your hard woods...seed spitting fun Alabama watermelon. It was our Yep, 'go-to' Alabama grub before we moved to Germany and has returned to our chins once more.


Alabama Sugar GRUB BEFORE GERMANY

THE RETURN OF ALABAMA SUGAR....

Southern Hospitality

"Southern hospitality is a phrase used in American English to describe the stereotype of residents of the Southern United States as particularly warm, sweet, and welcoming to visitors to their homes, or to the South in general.  Food figures highly in Southern hospitality, a large component of the idea being the provision of Southern cuisine to visitors. A cake or other delicacy is often brought to the door of a new neighbor as a mechanism of introduction"(Wikipedia's definition)

My definition....Just good ole kindness shown to people no matter where they live.  The past two weeks, we have been reminded that we live in this land of Southern hospitality, which can sometimes seem fake to those that do not live in "the south".  But let me tell you there hasn't been one bit of fake in all of the goodies that have been dropped off by many of our new neighbors as they welcome us to the new hood.  I don't even think there has been one single teaspoon of splenda used....