Monthly Archives: August 2010

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At this moment

It’s gorgeously sunny outside. It hasn’t gotten hot yet, so all the windows are open in an attempt to air out the house before the heat comes.

The girls are laying on the floor playing with the little ceramic figures they got when we visited Papa Joe at his store yesterday. Z got a Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz, and Tiny got a Tinkerbell. Chances are they will be broken soon (at least the Tinkerbell- the Tin Man seems a bit more stable) but they really want to play with them rather than just let them be on the shelf. So, we will learn a lesson. Or we won’t.

I’m surrounded by half done projects, many of which I’m hoping to get to today. The most pressing is hot gluing the velcro back on Tiny’s church shoe.

My kitchen needs cleaning and my floor needs vacuuming. Luckily those are easily enough done.

I’m weighing going to the produce stand today vs. going swimming with friends.  We can’t really pull off both (they’d have to happen at the same time). If we go swimming then I’d have to pack lunches. That may have just made my decision for me.

Tinkerbell just broke.

It’s time for me to go jump in the shower and then do Z’s reading lesson and then run to the store to get pull ups and milk. And bananas.  I read a random blog post a week or so ago about scheduling, and this random family (it really is random, I got to it through a link from a link, so I have no idea who they are) only runs errands and goes grocery shopping once every month or so. How is that remotely possible? Really, I don’t mean that in a snarky way; I’d really like to know.  I feel like I’m running errands every day. So my goal is to work on that. But today, I’m headed to the store.

I have a post percolating about the abundance of miracles and manifestations of spiritual gifts I’m seeing around me lately, but that is a post for another day. For now, suffice it to say that I am grateful.

I’m seriously considering participating in an at home business. Much to consider.

What’s going on with you at this moment?

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At this moment

The girls are out on the balcony drawing on the chalkboard. They are cooperating and happy.

It is pretty chilly outside, but not enough that they’re complaining. The cool air coming in the door feels really nice.

Cape Verde music is coming through the speakers. I got a bunch of world music CDs from my mom (one of the perks of having a preschool teacher as a momma) and I’m trying to switch it up in the morning as the girls are playing. Some times it’s Disney princesses, some times it’s African lullabies. I figure it should be good for their brains, right? But I’m really liking this music today, it’s kind of slinky.

There is fabric everywhere. I’m aiming to have my etsy store open at the end of the week…. lots of sewing going on in these parts.

My breakfast is cooking. I’m having soft boiled eggs and sourdough toast. It’s probably my favorite breakfast ever after biscuits and gravy. I don’t make it all the time though, because 1) I don’t always have sourdough bread in the house, and 2) it takes  a while. My eggs have to cook for 7 minutes to be right. I’ve always heard soft boiled eggs referred to as “3 minute eggs”, but 3 minute eggs are vile, all runny and gross and barely even warm. 7 minutes gives them just the right amount of firmness vs. runniness.  And the eggs I just made, (they just finished) are pretty close to perfection. Yum.

Z just walked past and said, “This is neat music, momma”. Score 1 for me!

I need to decide what to do with the next 1/2 hr. Friends are coming over at 10:30 so the girls can play and the grownups can plan preschool… do I call my sister, sew, read, putter around the internet? So many lovely choices. Whichever I choose, I think hot chocolate is in order…

What’s going on with you at this moment?

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Count your many blessings

Today I am grateful for a great many things. Here’s a partial list, in no particular order.

My sewing machine decided to cooperate this morning so I could FINALLY finish the baby blanket I’ve been working on for months. I’ll be able to give it to my friend tomorrow, before her baby is born. Seriously, it’s just a simple little blanket, my sewing machine just refused to cooperate any time I tried to work on it.

Delicious marinated mozzarella and fresh tomatoes from the local farm/veggie and fruit stand for lunch, with toasted sourdough bread. SO good.

The local farm/veggie and fruit stand. Lindsay showed us this little local secret the other day, and I am SO grateful. The girls have gobbled down plums and peaches and strawberries, and I’ve been downing squash and tomatoes.  The whole family has been enjoying the corn. It’s cheap, it’s delicious, and it’s nice to be able to support a local business and know exactly where the food is coming from. Z even drew a picture for the lady who works there as thanks for the deliciousness of the plums.

Time at the park with friends this morning. The girls got to play with their friends, including their all time favorite person Rachel, who is finally back from her trip and always willing to push them on the swings.  She had six kids on six swings at one point- it was quite a beautiful thing to watch.  I got to talk to some other moms and participate in the most sanity saving of all types of conversations – the “my kid does that too, it’s totally normal” discussion.  I’m grateful for good friends, and for the opportunity to be a part of setting up the kinds of activities where those discussions can take place.

Answers to prayers. I’ve been trying to figure out why the plan we’ve had for 4 year old preschool just wasn’t sitting right with me, and I’ve been praying about it for a couple of weeks now. And yesterday the answer as to what we should do cracked right open and lay there in front of me- a glorious gift. And it will be so much fun.

Valerie, with whom I’m doing 4 year preschool. I am so grateful that we’re on the same page, that I could say, “Let’s ditch all of our previous plans and do something completely different”, and she said “Absolutely! Let’s do it!”. I also love that she found a source for supplies to make sugar skulls for Los Dias De Los Muertes.

Z slept in until almost 7 this morning, and then just came in and cuddled quietly in bed with us until almost 7:45 when Tiny woke up. The sleeping in and the quietness are nothing short of miraculous.

What are you grateful for today?

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What I’m trying to say

I keep trying to write a post, but it’s not happening. It’s all about how I feel like I’m a bipolar introvert/extrovert, and how lately all I want to do is cancel everything that I’m planning and hole up in my house (retrench is the word that keeps going through my head, but I’m not sure that it’s the right one).  But then I hear about something like new people who moved in a couple of months ago and don’t have any friends yet and I find myself planning a lunch BBQ before I realize what I’m doing. Because I feel a responsibility, yes, but also because I want to. Because as much as I like just being by myself I like being around other people too.  I like knowing that I have friends- because I don’t always know that- and I think it’s important for other people to know that they have friends. Also because I just found out 3 more of my friends are moving, so I better not get too reclusive or I’ll end up with no friends at all.

It’s also about how I realized that I need to re-evaluate what I really think is important, and how I need to stop conflating the things that I find inspiring in other people’s blogs with their whole life and approach to doing things. Our fall schedule is still eluding me, and trying to do things other people’s way isn’t helping.

There are also some thoughts floating around about how taking on a lot of things is kind of like riding a bike for me- you know how when you pick up just the right amount of speed on the bike you can balance and go just fine, but if you slow down you topple over? When I have enough things on my plate, the momentum keeps me going. It’s when I don’t have things going on that I just sit still. No productivity whatsoever.  Which is part of why I keep resisting the feeling that I need to cut back on what we’re doing this fall- but the feeling keeps nagging me. Inspiration, or introversion? Who knows?

So there you go. Fascinating, wasn’t it? :P