Today

FOR TODAY
Outside my window is a bright full moon, leaving a shadow on my window sill

  I  am thinking...of trying this format for Tuesdays.  What do you think?

I am thankful for...antibiotics and pain meds after feeling horrible this weekend, and for the rest that I was able to get to restore me.

From the kitchen...not much is happening these days with my oven being out of commission for almost a month!  It’s supposed to be fixed tomorrow.  I do have a big pan of eggs on the stove though to make curried egg salad for my lunch tomorrow.

I am wearing...my “house dress”- which is most likely what I will say every Tuesday at this time with the only variation being if it’s the red one or the blue one!

I am creating...in my head.  Like always.  But I am I am I am going to make a tiny something tonight for my friend Charlotte, and on Friday I will be with my muse Beth and I know I will want to get back in the saddle after being with her.

I am going...to my sister’s this weekend and can’t wait to be with my family.

I am reading...Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons and re-reading My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

I am hoping...to be able to prepare great things in my oven after tomorrow…

I am hearing...dogs snoring and people settling into sleep

Around the house...is a lot of dog hair.  I’ve been down for the count for a few days.  A FEW DAYS.  If you have pets, you understand the severity of that.

One of my favorite things...my old time potato masher I found at the thrift store with a red wooden handle. I’m about to “mash” eggs for egg salad with it.

A few plans for the rest of the week……..biggest and best is that lunch plan with Beth

Here is picture for thought I am sharing…..

Today I have joined with other women who are choosing to linger on the simple things on Tuesdays through The Simple Woman’s Daybook.

Word Wall

I subscribe to a quote of the day via email, and somewhere along the line started printing ones that I like and taping them to the wall next to my desk at work.  The wall is slowly becoming covered.  Thought I would share some of my favorites.

Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.  Elizabeth Bibesco

There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.  Roger Staubach

Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul. Douglas Macarthur

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.  Mohandes Gandhi

Tact it the ability to make a person see lightening without letting him feel the bolt.  Oreand Battista

Most of us, swimming against the tide of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement and we will make the goal.  Jerome Fleishman

And my personal favorite-

Who, being loved, is poor?  Oscar Wilde

Dance all night.....

I grew up going to Camp Loucon at least one week each summer and more if I could get away with it. There were a lot of great camp traditions that were in place before I ever started going there, and I loved to revisit the familiar each year. One of my favorite was a dance we did every night called the Salty Dog Rag. You could be just about anywhere around the camp and hear the needle drop onto the scratchy record from the dance hall and you dropped everything and ran there as quick as you could. Fast forward 40 years.........and my own kids go to Camp Loucon now, as often as they can, and one even hopes to work there this summer. And guess what? They still do the Salty Dog Rag. As I was about to age out of Camp Loucon, the SDR was being converted to a line dance at camp which I think was a good change- kept you from having to scurry up a partner to dance. But I did love to both dance and watch as the couples danced to it. I tried to find a video that showed it the way we did it, and was astounded at how many videos youtube had of this dance! This is basically the way we did it.

What the heck?

Wednesday Link Love

So, have you been LOVING the cara cara oranges?! I’m totally hooked. I’ll be sad when Kroger stops having them. And did a mango ever look any better?

I’ve thought of this quote all week, and of her tender article. I was so touched by her journaling from her recent trip to Africa.

I love every post on my friend Suzanne’s blog, but this was such a great tribute, followed by this.

Sorry, I just can’t stop it with the food on a stick theme….

A lovely free printable here.

Oh, the hundreds of these that my kids used to come home from the Easter egg hunt with. Now I HAVE to try this!

THESE!! Oh, I am swooning over these!!!!

I would live in any one of these, even the boarded up one, and think you would just rest better and feel happier if you lived in a turquoise house.

This baby quilt makes me smile.

I love these!

We really enjoyed this this week. My oven is still out and I’m trying out new crockpot recipes.

Challenged

 

The Real Work

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

~ Wendell Berry ~

(Collected Poems)

Today’s word that we are living into was challenged.

I brought this stack of books- books that have challenged me along the way and that have shaped me into the person I am now.

First Day of Spring!

 

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First work day in the community garden - turning soil in the beds, digging out weeds, planting great stuff like peas and lettuce and broccoli and arugula.  Our garden is about 14 years old, and unique in this city in that it’s gardened communally rather than each person having a plot or bed.  Works for us, and has for all these years.   In the early years when we were younger and didn’t have kids and some of the other obligations we have now, it was a show piece.  We met and worked in it twice a week.   Like any good relationship, the appearances have dropped off a bit, but we love it all the more as it ages with us.  Such good things grow there like a whole bed of garlic, grapes and raspberries, plenty of beets,  basil enough for us all, and great friendships.  Many a joy or sorrow has been shared as we weeded or watered or planted seed. 

And speaking of good friendships,  we celebrated that great gift tonight with some very special friends around a table of amazing Indian food.

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Welcome Spring!  After months of hunkering down and turning up our collars, , how nice to celebrate the new and the green and the old and the true.

Better Together

 

Seventeen years ago I was 36 years old and I had my life all figured out.  And then I met DH.

Sixteen years ago today I married him, and it’s all been up for grabs ever since!  I have learned to never say never, to say yes whenever I can, and that women over 35 can too stretch and change and open their hearts. 

Seventeen years ago I thought my life was as rich and full as it could be.  I was wrong.

 

Like a Timex……

Six years ago my kids gave me Herbie for Mother’s Day.  (and that’s a whole other story for another day!)  He was approximately 12 at the time……(see above.  a totally other story…)  He hasn’t had the use of his back legs or any feeling from his midsection back for about 5 years.  Five years of an incontinent paralyzed dog takes a heavy toll on carpet.  Five years of any dog would take a heavy toll.  We were always reluctant to replace it though, thinking that he probably wouldn’t live much longer.  As awful as the carpet looked, it did serve him well because he could get good traction with his two good legs and get enough momentum to get himself into the kitchen faster than anyone whenever the refrigerator door opened.  We finally had to replace the carpet- it had become just so awful that I didn’t want to invite anyone in.  We knew that this would be the final blow to Herbie’s limited mobility and it made us sad, but we just couldn’t wait any longer.  We have lovingly carried him to the living room window this week where he likes to spend his days and put him in his bed there or on a blanket and then moved him when we got home in the evening to give him a change of scenery.    Except for yesterday.  K came home from school and found him in the kitchen.  We were just sure that DH had moved him there when he got home from work, but not so.  DH reports that when he opened a cabinet in the kitchen , Herbie heard the peanut butter jar being opened up and he elbow crawled in there faster than DH could make a sandwich! 

This boy does indeed take a licking and keeps on kicking.

Wednesday Link Love

I’d like the whole village, please.  This family makes such nice stuff.

Fun (and easy) little wreath for the tea lover.

Fun little pattern!

Ever in the pursuit of portable beds around here, I was most excited about this cool bed that my friend Suzanne showed me. Be sure to click on the video on the right of the screen. And then I saw this on Craig’s list this week. Be sure to click on the demo button on it too.  Mostly I just dream of having a thousand bucks and a truck and a fantasy trip to Ikea for a couple of these.

A very easy way to make grocery shopping more fun for everyone.

I want someone to just once be this glad to see me!

Another fun and easy idea.

Oh, I would love to get one of these started in Louisville.

I’m a sucker for those Newberry Award books.  I should join the project.

This sounds like a tasty treat.

Happy Birthday

Today is the birthday of my beautiful niece Sara.  I would not be 17 again for any amount of money, but then I was not nearly as amazing at 17 as she is.  Every day she grows stronger and more beautiful.  One of my very favorite moments in this past year was watching her speak truth to power when she addressed the Metro Council.   I know her, and I know her knees were probably shaking, but she looked at them all unflinchingly and told them that when girls do not get the education they need, they become invisible.   Sara knows what God requires, and  she lives it.  She does indeed do justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with her God.

Nested

 

Now that all of the furniture has been returned to the room it belongs in, and I’ve mopped and mopped layers of grit and sawdust…..

and the Valentines decorations have been put up and spring and Easter have shown up……

and I’ve had a chance to sit in my rocker and listen to the sounds of my home…..

 

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I have come back to my better self, my kinder self.  May my family forgive (or forget) the one who gets pretty irritable during a home improvement project.

Evolving

My young grandson rides with me

as I mow the day’s first swath

of the hillside pasture,

and then he rambles the woods beyond

the field’s edge, emerging

from the trees to wave, and I wave back

remembering that I too once

played at field’s edge and waved

to an old workman who went moving by,

waving back to me as he passed.

Wendell Berry, Leavings

Embrace

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Last weeks word- better late than never- Embrace

Where Is God? By Mark Nepo

It’s as if what is unbreakable--

the very pulse of life--waits for

everything else to be torn away,

and then in the bareness that

only silence and suffering and great love can expose,

it dares to speak through us and to us.

It seems to say, if you want to last,

hold on to nothing.

If you want to know love,

let in everything.

If you want to feel the presence of everything,

stop counting the things that break along the way

Pillars

Quite possibly, our breakfast on Saturday would never have managed to happen had it not been for facebook. What a wonderful time with the best of the best of friends- so dear to me that even looking at this picture feels so tender and makes me want to cry. I often talk about how unhappy my high school years were, how I never felt that I completely fit in. Yet in looking back I realize that some of the great pillars of my life became my friends during those awkward painful years, and I’d do it all again as long as I knew that Sandy and Dana would do it with me.

A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they're not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they're not so bad.

~Arnold H. Glasgow

Soul-mates are people who bring out the best in you. They are not perfect but are always perfect for you.

~Author Unknown

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer

It takes a long time to grow an old friend.

~John Leonard

Ah, how good it feels! The hand of an old friend.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Wednesday Link Love

Head over to Party Wishes and check out these gorgeous crowns. For those days when you’re feeling a bit regal.

Love the concept. Love this family. Double love Yoda!!!

These are so sweet and so springy.

We truly fell in love with little Sol. What a sweet tribute.

Seeing as how WELCOME is my word for this year, I really think I need want badly to have this wreath.

A nice little read for those of us who enjoy cooking.

I started out with the best of intentions to join Amy in her 39 squares project. I have done exactly…….one.

Chaos

The Slob Sisters used to define chaos as Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome.  I think I’ve gone way beyond that today.  My house is in a huge upheaval as we tore out carpet and flooring today to have new flooring installed starting tomorrow.  

I am NOT the world’s most flexible person when my home is in upheaval.  My mantra is, “In a few more days it will be back to normal.  In a week you will have found all of the things you can’t find today.  You will be so happy with the end result.”   In the mean time, I just hope I can even sleep with all of these piles of furniture all around me.   Just had to vent that!

Happy Birthday to a Hero

For Pentecost this year, several of us were asked to talk about someone who has been a hero of the faith. Many mentioned were saints long gone, but my chosen hero was a very present and very dear friend. He celebrates a big day today, and so I share why he is a hero in my eyes.

Many times during her sermons, and pretty much at every wedding and baby dedication, Cindy asks us to look around the room at all of the people who love us. As I look around the room today, I see a room full of heroes. But also as I look around the room......I see a room. If these walls could talk they would bear witness to the life of this church family. We have said hello to new friends and good-bye to old. We've been married here, had our babies dedicated here, we have lit candles and shared stories. The most sacred moments within the life of this family have happened right here in this room. (Not to mention some of the most irreverent!)

Today I celebrate Mike Jupin, who stepped into a machine shop and saw in it a potential home for a raggedy little group of exiles. Mike's vision for this repurposed worship space was infectious. We too began to see it for what it would be rather than what it was. Several of us had our weddings here paying little regard to the fact that there was still a loading dock over here, and a big sign saying the room was condemned by the fire marshal on the back wall.

Mike has truly been Jeff Street's visionary, pushing us to move forward in faith, literally and figuratively in more matters than real estate. Don't say “impossible” to Mike. He brokers in hope, and we at Jeff Street are forever rich because of that.

Just as you enter the door to this building there is a group of stones in the wall- our Ebenezer stones- our monument to God's faithfulness, carried over from Jeff Street to Liberty Street and set here within these walls. It was a mighty hopeful gesture to step away from that place and into this, and Mike led the way for us. Thanks be to God for the gift that Mike is to our family.

Lenten Traditions

For at least 10 years, it has been our tradition to attend a Lenten fish fry with our good friend Al. Al is such a selfless and good friend that he has done parish by parish testing and is able to steer us to the best fish fry in town. Tonight was a double bonus for me because it was in the basement of a building that DH and I lived in when we were first married. Several years ago our friend Cora began joining us for this outing. Sadly, the person who most looks forward to this outing (DH) had to work tonight.

Another tradition is to bring out this treasure of all treasures that my dearest pastor brought back from Israel for me. Photos do not do it justice. It’s one of those pictures where when you move it the picture changes. And so, we begin with this -

But if you move a little just so, you see this-

But hold on now………then there’s this…..

Have any Lenten traditions at your house?

Wednesday Link Love

The folks at Kind Over Matter pretty much make me feel rich about 4 or 5 times a day!

There is an adorable free printable here, and I think others on that site but it’s all in French so I’m not sure.

Antique Mommy has a great little article about the loss of a cultural icon- dropping by for coffee.

If you need to create a story board or to illustrate a brainstorming session, this is just for you.

Love this quilt.

Fun little wreath!

These roads are too cool! What a great idea!

More chalkboard paint! I love it!

Every Drop

This great little film won second place in a video contest sponsored by Kentucky Waterways Alliance where kids were encouraged to address Why We Should Love Our Waterways. This film, Every Drop, was made by the elementary Sunday School class at my church.

Fidelity

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Today’s word was Fidelity.

I, having loved ever since I was a child a few things, never having wavered

In these affections; never through shyness in the houses of the rich or in the presence of clergymen having denied these loves;

Never when worked upon by cynics like chiropractors having grunted or clicked a vertebra to the discredit of these loves;

Never when anxious to land a job having diminished them by a conniving smile; or when befuddled by drink

Jeered at them through heartache or lazily fondled the fingers of their alert enemies; declare

that I shall love you always.

No matter what party is in power

No matter what temporarily expedient combination of allied interests wins the war;

Shall love you always.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Cindy used a sweet story from one of my favorite books ever- Fidelity by Wendell Berry- as a part of her sermon which she entitled A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Fidelity.