I is for.....

It's been a week, time for another Wordplay.

Isabel - my maternal grandmother's name and a very important role model in my life

intellectual - that's me, only I'm not your stereotypical intellectual, with glasses (well, I wear them but...) and a house full of books (okay, that fits too but.....) who never pops her head out of one (AHA! See, I'm not always reading. Although if I could.....). Okay, but I'm not eccentric or....
nevermind

Irish - I'm one quarter, from my maternal grandfather. Plunkett.

imagination - there's a quote by Einstein, something about.... wait, I'll go look it up - the miracle of the WWW....okay - "Imagination is more important then knowledge."

Irish Setter - I was totally enamored of this breed of dog when I was a child. Blame the author Jim Kjelgaard and his Big Red series. I managed to talk my mom into letting me get a free puppy, an irish setter/golden retriever mix. She really didn't look like an Irish Setter, but she wasn't stupid as a brick like most of the breed either. In fact she was very smart, and very beautiful. I had the quintessential child and dog love relationship with her that I haven't duplicated until my little Rosie came into my life recently

icon - although I consider myself a spiritual person, I tend to shy away from anything religious. However religious icons, fascinate and move me

idleness - another way of saying lazy, but it sounds more acceptable. To while away an afternoon in sweet idleness, to spend idle hours reading beneath a shady tree..... much nicer way of explaining my ability to spend entire days getting nothing accomplished

images - I'm fascinated with images. Photos, paintings, just the world before my eyes. I see not only what is there physically, but what is not there, the absences, the shadows, the spaces inbetween. And what is implied or symbolically there. The love, anger, irony, unknown, confusion, contentment. The colors or lack of color, the life or lack of life. The world is one big canvas to decipher.

information -If it wasn't enough to want to see everything, i want to know everything as well.

imperfection - We spend much of our life trying to reach a state of perfection even while we understand that everything in life is imperfect. I'm trying to rid myself that impossible goal and instead focus on embracing/loving the imperfection that is real

Impressionism - my favorite art. I spent an evening in Paris at the Musee D' Orsay recently, room after room after room of Degas, Monet, Manet, Cassatt...... I was this close to weeping in awe in the middle of a crowd of people.

informal - pull up a chair, kick off your shoes, grab a piece of pizza, or a mismatched fork. I'm not much into fancy or formal. Etiquette, in my book, isn't about which fork to use as much as it's about making people feel comfortable. Besides, it's more fun to do things in clothing that doesn't pinch or make you suck your stomach in all night.

instantaneous - Process is just as important as the end result. Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, whatever. I know that. But I don't like it. I'd rather have all my results without all that hard, messy work part inbetween. It's having my damn moon in Aires.

identical twins - run in the family, and in my life. My grandmother and great aunt were identical twins. So were my best friends in high school. My first pregnancy was a twin pregnancy, which I lost in the beginning of my second trimester.

idiots - can't abide them. And the older I've become, the less tolerance I have. I'm not talking about the goofy idiot or the lovable nut or the occasional idiotic moment or phase we all go through. I mean the hardcore type of idiot who is too lazy to get a clue and goes through life allowing others to clean up after him/her. GRRRRR. Get a life! Be responsible for yourself! Open up that bag of common sense and start using it!

impeach - we can't impeach him WHY?????????? Oh, yeah, we have a Republican majority in the legislature. Sigh...... (and no, it's not a coincidence that I thought of this word right after the word above it)

impulsive - I tend to be impulsive, which seems odd when you think about how long and deliberately I work out some issues or decisions before I make them. I guess when it comes to big decisions, I'm cautious, sometimes to the point of being immobilized. But when it's something less important - forget my to-do list and go off on an adventure today? Sure! Jump in the fountain? Why not!

independent - One of my middle names. Do not fence me in with.... er, a fence.... or an idea or a rule or a relationship. I've always gotta have a gate open. Not that I'm all that likely to need to use it. I just need it there.

inertia - unfortunately I tend to get caught up in this sticky, wallowy, time-sucking word

infertility - I spent many years dealing with this in one form or another. It's a heartache and lesson that has been influential in what type of person I have become and what type of parent I became, mostly for the better, although it's one of those things where I'd gladly trade the wisdom gained from the experience for the naivete of having missed that particular lesson

infinite - infinite space, time, possibilities - I like to think about the concept of infinity and instead of making me feel tiny and overwhelmed, oddly, it comforts me

innings - I can not count how many innings I have spent sitting on the bleachers watching my children "play ball" - some of them lazy and happy and fun, some of them bored or wet or cold, some of them numb and painful, like the spring Joshua died and William was playing baseball on a team where their pitcher reminded me so much of Joshua at that age that I could barely breath.

inquiring - minds want to know. I'm one of those people that when I come across a word or idea or reference I don't know or understand, I can't just let it pass and move on. Nooooo! I have to research it. Even if I'm happily warm and comfy, reading in bed..... if I find a word I don't know the meaning of.... and I don't have my dictionary..... dang! I'd rather get up in the cold and dark to look it up then lay awake all night wondering. Obviously the internet has been a blessing to people like me.

inspire - Amazing at it may seem, I seem to have been quite an inspiration to many people in my life. And of course there are many people who have inspired me in return. It's that old adage - We teach more by what we do then what we say. I know this to be true.

intuition - I have a high degree of this stuff. Sometimes to the point of being spooky. It often annoys my husband. Mostly, it's quite a useful talent and I try to remember to listen to it, fall back on it, when I have fears or desires that interfer with my ability to make a clear decision.

invisible - I believe that most of what "is" - what makes up the universe, life, consciouness, everything that is important and sacred and everything that is mundane and inconsequential - is invisible. We tend to think we know SO MUCH, we have such an uncountable volume of knowledge. My suspicions, my intuition, is that what we KNOW is but a single drop of rain in the vastness of the ocean, perhaps but a molecule in that drop in that ocean.

Another take on the word invisible - I think that the most important "things" in life are invisible. Or rather, are only visible by how we react to their presence - love, loneliness, fear, curiosity, compassion, creativity.... we can only see them by reflection, by our actions on their behalf.