My nephews and I played outside yesterday and collected flowers for a table centerpiece. Three dandilions, a leaf, and a lovely little white flower became a beautiful bouquet to adorn the dining room table. As we took a short cut back to the house, I suddenly smelled one of the most beautiful scents in the world, lilacs. At first I couldn't tell where the smell was coming from, but I turned around and found a huge lilac bush in the neighbors yard. It's funny how a scent, just like a song can bring so many memories to mind. From the lilac bush in my Grandma's yard, to the house I grew up in, lilacs have always been around me. I was even desperate to have them in my wedding, but after researching hundreds of species of lilacs, we discovered that none of them bloom in July. Eddie planted a lilac bush for me at our home in North Carolina, but we don't have a space to plant them at our apartment now. The boys and I snuck like thieves to the neighbor's lilac bush and...

I saw my nephews for the first time in months and was touched beyond words that they still remember their Aunt Wisabiff so fondly. I miss them so much and ache because I'm not a part of their daily lives. We played and played; trains, tractors, building bridges out of books, upside down airplane, crashing cars, and more. Later we'll go to the park and zoo and create more adventures to conquer. Zach radiates exuberance with every delighted squeal as he runs a lap around the kitchen table. Ethan, though older, occasionally shows a vulnerable side through his "alpha" brother demeanor. I sat with both of them watching a movie and thought about their future, their innocence and desire to be loved, their day to day goal of fun and play, and their simple delights and what makes their world crash into a million pieces. To top it off, Mrs. Jumbo was rocking little baby Dumbo to "Baby Mine" (that movie should be outlawed, it's too sad). I thought about the c...

Home to me is as vast As day and night are a contrast From where I live, home of Central Park To where I’m from, home of the Meadowlark. Goldenrods, General Pershing, and more Huskers, Pioneers, and of course Pla mor. Green, rolling plains, Chimney Rock of stone. There’s no place like Nebraska, There’s no place like home. 

This morning I decided that I would go on a run and not stop until I thought of something to blog about this morning. I ended up running for over an hour (knees are pretty sore right now). I listened to my feet pound steadily on the sidewalk and my breathing go in and out as I scanned music on my ipod. I ran past parks, ivy-covered gazebos, and gardens on a warm, sunny spring morning. I thought about why I run. I never did until the Army and even then it was only so I didn’t have to hear the arguments and gripes that females can’t be as physically fit as males (a completely ridiculous argument since most of the female officers in my unit could outrun and outruck most of the males, we were some tough broads). But still, I felt I had to keep myself physically disciplined to prove myself. I never really enjoyed it, even though I did well. So if I don’t have to prove anything to anyone anymore, why do I do it? Habit? To burn calories? After all, gone are the days when I could lose 4 po...

New Yorkers are often considered some of the angriest, rudest, and jaded people in the country. After spending a few months here, I understand why, and almost fear that I’m becoming one of them. I realized this yesterday after a series of events caused my blood pressure to rise so high, I thought I might have a heart attack. First, after finally thinking I had the transportation schedule down, I allowed for an hour and twenty minutes to get to my destination and got there in under a half hour. How does that happen?! It takes 2 hours on a Tuesday morning, but 30 minutes on a Monday morning? Yes, it’s less time in the awful traffic, but now I had all this extra time to walk around the city and do nothing. I shook my head thinking about the extra sleep I could have gotten, or the one more article I could have squeezed in. Instead, I sat at the Port Authority coffee shop drinking coffee and watching people be angry and rushed. As I went down the escalator towards the subway, a man pus...

I have a top ten song. Well, not billboard top ten, but it's a start. Broadjam is an online music community where over 85,000 artists from all over the world can showcase their music, enter contests, and network. My song, "How I Say Goodbye" came in top 10 this week for the Folk/Alternative category. I admit, I was a little surprised as the recording is not that great. I've been meaning to re-record the vocals (they sound a little flat to me) and acoustic guitar. Never the less, there it is. Take a look at the website and listen to the song (on the broadjam website, or just scroll down below). I hope you enjoy it. http://www.broadjam.com/browse/songs/top10/?l0=g&l1=1044 “How I Say Goodbye” words and music by Elizabeth Grimes Copyright 2009 Verse 1: You don’t know. You can’t tell. You think everything’s just goin swell. But secretly in my mind A common theme’s beginning to unwind. When you’re feelings get too strong to ignore That’s when it gets a little too c...

A father and his curly haired, little girl stopped in the rain to fill the old truck with gas. He pulled into to the tiny station and fueled up while she waited in the passenger seat, fascinated with the tiny water droplets on the windshield. She made a game out of watching which drop would trickle to the bottom of the windshield without getting cut off by the wipers. Soon, the game had rules, each drop had a name and was on a team, and she was the announcer, just like on TV. Her dad opened the driver’s door wide enough to poke his head in and say, “Wait here sweetie, I have to pay.” The little girl unfastened her seatbelt as she cried, “Daddy, I want to come too!” She was already halfway out the truck before her father had a chance to protest. He reluctantly shut his door, walked around to meet his daughter, and together they ran through the rain to the shelter of the station. At the counter, he asked for a pack of cigarettes and hastily handed cash to the clerk. With several more ...