My 9th Rez Day!

                         My 9th Rez Day!

      

August 3rd was my 9th rez day! I have been in second life for a very long time now. It's really hard to believe that I have been here so long. I've watched SL grow and expand. I remember the days of no direct TP's, no flexi, no real AO's, a VERY small map, simple skins, no prim hair. All of this was pretty amazing. I've met a lot of people in Second Life so far, some I have even met in real life. I can not begin to express my love for all of my friends, past, present and those whom I still have yet to make a bond with for all of their love. Many I have been friends with for years and we're still close as ever. I was not going to make this a sappy post.. so, without getting into it too much. 

When I logged in I saw Natalee, Ivy and Joey all waiting for me. They wanted to know if I wanted to go to the cafe for dinner and just spend time together. I had not given much thought about the fact that it was my rez day. So, we went to the cafe and ordered our meal. We walked in to find a table and I saw a table with a giant cake on it, a card and a balloon. It was for me!
 

Ivy and Natalee had made me a special card and gave me a special pearl necklace (Made especially for me by Natalee!) Joey had given me a little sailor teddy bear and a small bowl with a little lighthouse in it. They were all perfect gifts. It brought me to tears that they all remembered the day and thought of me. After we ate dinner and dessert, they asked me to go to the beach. We all sat down and I was just simply enjoying the waves and the sound of the gulls in the distance until.. fireworks! They had set up a small fireworks show. I have some really beautiful people in my life. I am thankful for my small family, my friends - past, present and to come. Thank you all for touching my life, you've made an impact on my real life and helped shape me into the woman I am. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have the best of my love, always.

Whale Watching, Ice Cream & Fireflies

     Whale Watching, Ice Cream & Fireflies


One quiet summer afternoon Ivy invited her friends Joey and Olivia over to the house to play. Earlier that morning as I was drinking my coffee out back on our porch and watching the sea roll in and out I saw something, something large out in the ocean. It was what I thought.. a whale. Our whale. If you have been following our lives now..you'll know we have a whale that seems to follow us. We lovingly named.. Mr. Whale. We didn't think the whale would be able to find us so far away, as we did move across the ocean. I didn't think it could be him.. but perhaps, if we were lucky. Whales do migrate and perhaps, just perhaps he sensed where we were. It was a long shot, I know. Ivy had been sad without our beloved whale. We used to spend summer evenings on the dock reading to the whale and simply watching his majestic beauty. So, I thought.. perhaps this was him. Had he really found his way back to us? I told the kids I had something special on the beach. I looked for my camera and they looked for some binoculars. We walked down the road to the beach and began to watch.. I didn't share my news of what I saw, just in case. Then.. after about 20 minutes time.. there he was. He was breaching out over the water, his body showed just before a large blow of air came out. Ivy was squealing in delight. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mr. Whale, a whale!" we stood and watched him for a while. Then, something I'd not seen earlier happened, another whale came to surface.. a baby. Mr. Whale was not a Mr. after all..she was a Mrs, a Mommy! She had taken so long to find us as she had given birth to a calf. This indeed was our friend..I stood in awe and cried tears of joy as our beloved had found her way home to us, once again.


After we had watched our whale family for quite sometime the kids wanted to play in the small tidal pools and search for some sea-glass and shells. We didn't find any today but we talked about coming back to see if we could find some at a later date. It was getting a bit dark and they were hungry. We took a walk to the cafe for an ice cream cone before we lost all of the daylight. When we were through we made the walk back to the house just as the darkness fell upon us. As we passed by the barn we stopped and saw a few fireflies glimmering around the fence posts. We stopped and tried to catch a few, and we all managed to catch at least one. The kids were amazed at their simple beauty. It was a beautiful and simple day to end another wonderful summer day here in France..

Dinner date with Natalee & Ivy (with new additions to the farm!)

             Dinner date with Natalee & Ivy 
                           (with additions to our farm!)



Natalee came to visit Ivy and I at our new home for a weekend a while back. We were elated to see her.. and all of her luggage. (She's just like me, an over-packer!) We were both so excited to see her and finally give her a big hug. We didn't waste too much time before we headed out to dinner at the local cafe. I had asked our housekeeper, Oulette to take care of Nat's luggage while we were out. So, with that.. we were off. Nat was just taking in all of the beauty around the countryside, Ivy was trying to point everything out to her. It was wonderful to see them engaging together and Ivy able to show her where everything was. I drove along with a smile on my face, just listening to them talk and glad she was here with us.


As we were making our way to the market we drove past our barn and saw that the farmer from down the road had arrived with a special gift, I'd not told the girls about. He was a bit early, I assumed to prep some stalls. I gave him a wave and a small nod of acknowledgment that I would see him soon. We finally arrived at "Cafe de Flores" and we parked alongside of the cobble street and went up to the small door. Natalee already mentioned that she could hear some of the music, the voices were surrounding us from the busy market down the road. Tonight was poetry night at the Cafe, I'd hoped she would be able to hear some.. perhaps not understand but at least hear. We all looked over the menu and I did my best to translate it for them and even order in French. I am improving! After we paid I had them pick out a table where they might like to sit and we chatted as we waited for the Barista to bring our food over to us. After about 15 minutes the barista showed up at our table with our meal. By this time a man had showed up to read some poetry for us. Nat.. was smitten. She was staring and really enjoying his accent. She kept asking me what he was talking about. I have become accustomed to the accent and I can for the most part understand what people are saying, although I did struggle a bit this time. After all of our meals were done and Nat handed our phone number down on a piece of paper for the gentleman who read poetry we headed towards the exit to leave. I was stopped by both of them who wanted to pick up some sweet treats for later that evening and some fresh espresso for morning. It was getting dark by the time we made it out of the cafe. I told the girls that we needed to hurry back to the barn because something was waiting for us. They were both curious, so we all hopped into the car and made our way to the barn. As we pulled up Ivy was in the backseat "I see it! I see it! Who's that Mommy?" I slowed down and parked the car on the side of our small farm road and got out. Shook hands the with farmer and he explained to me that the stalls were clean and ready. He opened the back of the trailer to show the girls we had a new family of... We had a new family of goats! It took us a few minutes and with the help of the farmer we were able to get them into the pasture. Ivy couldn't believe it! She wanted to name the two babies and Nat wanted to name two of the adult ones and I named one of them. We spent a bit of time getting to know the new members of our family before the sun really started to set and we made the journey up the driveway and home. We all went indoors and changed into some pj's and made the decisions that we'd sleep on the beach for the night. Natalee helped Ivy change into their pj's while I looked for some sleeping bags, extra blankets and a story to read on the beach. They yelled to me from downstairs "We'll go find a spot for us, see you outside!" So, I figured that was perfect.. little did I know.. That when I went to look for them they had hidden themselves! I was on a real hide and seek game that night! I took a walk down by the playhouse with a flashlight and called out for them.. nothing, no noises. I was slightly worried as the cliff's edge behind the house are very steep. Natalee is new to the area and I'd not want them to slip and fall. I thought that I heard some giggles from the inside of the playhouse, so I walked around to the side of building and opened the door. Hearing two small giggles, I played along. "Natalee? Ivvvvy? Where are you?!" I found them both hiding in the little tent inside. After lots of little giggles we walked back up to the house and out front to make our way down to the beach to sleep. We found a nice spot to lay down for the night and made a small fire. I took out an old antique book that has been in my Husband's family for years. "Grimm's Fairy tales" and open to the first story inside. "The 12 Princess's" and read it aloud to them. (I actually have a very, very old copy of the book and read it aloud over voice.) After the story we all sat and talked before climbing into a large sleeping bag to sleep for the night. Ending our day on such a beautiful note.. this is where all Fairy Tales begin... Goodnight..