Photo A Day: Day 14 (Light) History Of A Fork

This fork has been with me for 7822 days.  That’s 21 years, 4 months, 30 days.  I opened it from the box it came in.   We picked out the pattern before we got married.  (I think it’s called Juilliard by Oneida.  It’s still one of their top 10 patterns.)  I wonder how many times I’ve eaten off of its long tines?  I wonder how many friends and family have used it when they’ve come to our home?  

When I opened the silverware drawer last night, I saw the gold tip peaking out from underneath the other various patterns lying on top of it. I dug it out from the bottom of the pile.  I wanted to use it.  It spoke to me.  (No it didn’t actually speak and say, “I want spaghetti! Pick me! Pick me!”)  You know what I mean.

I saw it and it said,  I’m part of your history.  I’m part of who you are and were 21 years ago.   I’m something you loved as a young bride so long ago.  I think if I were to look in my keepsake chest in the basement, I have a page from a bridal magazine where I saw it and just had to have it.

History.  Everything has a history.  Everyone has a history.  Things, people, smells, tastes, colors, sounds, all have different meanings for each of us. Their history is our history. Purple to me, reminds me of my cousin, Kris and her long blonde hair.   Walking into any school cafeteria and smelling the food for the day, puts me in the gym at McKinley Elementary School.  The wafting odor is still the same.   The Barney song makes me laugh because I can see both of my boys sitting on the laundry baskets watching him dance.  The song “Knights in White Satin” can be playing in the elevator and I instantly think of the first time my husband touched my face. 

All this from a simple fork sitting at the bottom of the fork pile.

Funny how something so simple can make you think about so many things. 

My little fork with the gold tip.  

Filled with stories. 

I don’t know if my boys know that it’s the silverware we picked out.  I might need to tell them.  They’ll think I’m being silly again in sharing something out of the blue, but hey, that’s what moms are for.  Making their kids think, right?

All because of the history of a fork.

Photo A Day: Day 13 (Light) This Is Me

This is me.

Just as I am.

I love my family.

I love our life as a family together.

I am happy.

I am just as I am.

This is me.

Photo A Day: Day 12 (Cozy) Whatever

Whatever your heart desires.....Listen to your heart's desires.....Whatever they might be.

Photo A Day: Day 11 (Nature) Mr. Vulpes Vulpes

This is his second crossing through our backyard.  The first time he went by, he stayed behind all the bushes.  I saw his  beautiful color out the corner of my eye and called up to our oldest son who was home at the time to hurry downstairs to see him.   I raced to grab my camera in hopes of another siting.  

I knew he'd come back and sure enough, he didn't disappoint.   

He took his time and walked right under the lilac bushes and past my clematis blooms (covered in snow) 

on his way in search of some poor unsuspecting bunny or lost bird.  

Isn't he just beautiful?

(I assume he's a he, but he might actually be a she. Who knows!)

Photo A Day: Day 10 (Nature) King Tree

Yesterday it snowed seven inches.  It was beautiful.  

The tree in our backyard held the snow on its branches so beautifully.  

The new pinecones on the top of the tree are peeking through 

as are the aspen trees who thought it was still autumn.  

Our majestic king tree stands tall and proud of its snowy boughs.  

30 Day Project: Day 9 (Cozy) Love Letters

Have you ever received a love letter?  

Of course you have.  

Have you ever written a love letter?  

Of course you have.

Now, here's the million dollar question.

How long ago did either of those happen?

Hmmmm.  I thought so.

Your project, should you choose to accept this challenge, is to write a love letter.

Today.

30 Day Project: Day 8 (Color) I Am A Sum Of All These Parts

When someone asks me what I “do”, I tell them I am a stay at home mom.  For that person, I do car pool, bake cookies (which YOU know isn’t true), volunteer at my children’s school, like to sew, always wear a baseball hat and tennis shoes, and am always in a hurry to get somewhere.

Well, I do drive for the soccer carpool, I just baked cookies last Monday, teach at my son’s school, have a broken sewing machine in the closet, wear a baseball hat some days, and yes, am in a hurry on Mondays and Wednesdays.

However, that isn’t who I am.  That job description doesn’t define me as a person, at least not for me.   I really think we should ask each other, “What makes you happy?”  Don’t you think that’s a much more relevant question?

I think so.

Wouldn’t we learn so much more real truth about a person if we asked that instead?  Just because they teach school doesn’t mean they like to draw with crayons.  Just because they operate satellites doesn’t mean they like science fiction. Just because they sell shoes, doesn’t mean they like to hike. 

I just might start a new trend and ask people what makes them happy when I meet them and see what happens.  It might be interesting.

Here’s what makes me happy…

I enjoy being creative and spending time with my family.   I love to take pictures of everyday life and listen to folk music in the car.  I am organized and fashionably challenged and always have tissue and band aids in my purse.  I enjoy watching movies and making popcorn and writing about life.  Peace and quiet are my favorite sounds other than a six month-old baby laughing.  I adore all things glittery and sparkly and kissing my husband and hugging my children.  I could sit in a boat on the water all day and drink sweetened iced tea at all hours of the day. I love watching PBS and learning about blue whales and appreciate handcrafted items.  I am happiest when those around me are happy and enjoying the comforts of their home.  That is what I do. That is what makes me happy. I am a sum of all these parts.

30 Day Project: Day 7 (Color) Parents Are A Curious Breed

I must start by saying that in no way do I claim to be a perfect parent.  I have made many a mistake along the parenting trail and am a better parent for them and learn everyday new ways to try and be the best parent I can.  I take my role as mother very seriously.  It’s the most difficult thing I will ever do in my life.  I know that.

I also understand that there are many and I mean many ways to parent children.  Each parent must find their way and do what they feel is the best for their child.  I respect that.  I get that.  My style may not be your style and that’s ok. 

With that said, I have to share my latest visit to Target (the $100 store as my old neighbor calls it) with you.   For the record, this is a true story.  This parenting episode, as I’ll call it, happened less than ten feet from me.

Let’s flash back now to the shoe section of Target near the jewelry counter where we find a five year old (a guess on my part) lying on his back at the foot of the jewelry clearance rack screaming as if he just hit his head or a large python just grabbed his leg unexpectedly to devour him for lunch.  We’ll call him Samuel, not Sam.  His mother is bent down over him tapping his belly.

“Are you having a moment, Samuel?” mother said calmly.

“I neeever get aaaaanything good for my birthdaaaay. I neeeever get a good toy.  I want a tooooooyy!” Samuel screamed at his mother from the floor.

“I’ll give you a minute to think about your situation,” replied the mother as she walked ten feet from her son and perused the $1.98 summer earrings.

“If I don’t get leeeeggggos for my birthdaaaaay, I’m going to be angryyyyyy!”  Samuel shared with his mother.  

“It sounds like you have a concern you need to express,” Samuel’s mother said in a tone you’d use in Sunday school.

“I want leeeeggggos and I waaaaaant them nooooooow!” he expressed. 

“Your birthday isn’t until Friday,” she informed him.

“I dooonnn’t caaaare! I neeever get aaaaanything!”

It is at this point in the parenting episode, I know my mouth is hanging wide open and my eyes are as wide as they can be as I share a glance with another woman trying on red ballet flats. She too is dumbfounded by what she hears as is evident by her facial expression as well.

I left my search for a checkbook cover and moved to another part of the store to get the votive candles I wanted instead. I could not watch another minute.

Remember, I said I am not a perfect parent and understand there are many parenting styles, but this?   What. Was. This?  I almost thought to myself for half a second, that it must be a candid camera moment. I really did. 

It was not.

It was wrong on so many levels I could hardly believe it.  What was that mother thinking?  Pick the child up, ask him to stop his screaming, tell him his voice level and tone are not appropriate and take him to the car if he doesn’t stop. End of story. 

I don’t understand this type of parenting AT ALL! Is it parenting? What was the child learning from this situation?  Was it a mother’s self control exercise?  Was the child’s need to “express” himself a form of free love?  That mother was 100% responsible for that behavior and the situation and not only didn’t handle it nor stop the behavior, but escalated it by continuing to engage in the conversation. U.N.B.E.L.I.E.V.A.B.L.E!

I didn’t see them in the store again, so don’t know how it ended, but can only imagine!  What will this boy grow up to be?  How will he interact with friends at school?  Will he yell at his teacher and “express” his concern when he has to be last in line?   When I hear people talk about “kids these days” I get defensive, because it’s not always the kids.  Yes, children have to be responsible for themselves, especially when they are old enough to do so, but their foundation comes from their home environment and sometimes that environment is just “odd”.

I hope you don’t think I’m being judgmental, and perhaps I am.   I just hope you will think about whether or not your parenting style is about you or your children.  What lessons are you teaching by your own behavior?  Something to think about, huh? Parents are a curious breed that’s for sure.

 

30 Day Project: Day 6 (Cozy) Explore Your World

Explore all that is around you.  Get outside.  Smell the fresh air.  

Enjoy your Sunday.

30 Day Project: Day 5 (Nature) Be Observant

I hope today you will observe the world around you.  Look at things differently than you normally would.  See what is right in front of you with a clear heart and open eyes.  There is so much to see that we miss because we're in a hurry.  Slow down and observe.  Listen.  See.  Be observant.

30 Day Project: Day 4 (Color) Behold I Am Crimson

Behold!  

I am Autumn.  

I am filled with all the glory of the season.  

I am beautiful.

Behold!

I am Crimson.

30 Day Project: Day 3 (Nature)-What A Life We Lead

I’m parked at my youngest son’s soccer practice.  It’s 43°F!  The sun is going to be behind the mountain in less than a half hour.  It’s going to get colder.  My son is dressed for a blizzard, but he’s smiling and kicking the ball around with the rest of the snowmen on his team.

The parents, however, are a different story.  The car in front of me is filled with a little brother and his dad.  They are lounging in the back of their SUV with the seats folded down watching a DVD.  I can’t tell you which one because the sun glare is too strong, but I can assure you it’s either a purple dinosaur or a red muppet.

The car behind me is filled with two younger sisters, two ipods and headphones.  Their mom has let them crawl up into the front of the car and they are sprawled out across the dashboard tapping their toes to the music on the front windshield.  They are about six and seven.

The dad two cars in front of me is reading a book on a nook or some type of e-reader.  He has it above his head while he’s leaning back in his seat and can see him sliding his finger across the screen to turn the page.

I am sitting in the passenger seat with my laptop on my lap.  I’m typing this in the comfort of my car, which is slowly beginning to cool down as the sun dips behind the peak.  My iphone is sitting on the corner of my computer and is on speaker phone as I chat with my girlfriend, who is also sitting at her child’s practice across town. 

Are we spoiled?  Are we lazy?  Are we efficient?  Are we lacking creativity?  Are we smarter than the generations before us?  Are we caught up in the gadget black hole of life?  I’m torn how I feel about it. 

It’s times like these that I so wish I could talk to my great-grandma Josie and get her opinion.  She rode the wagon into St. Paul to sell eggs with her father and made only a few dollars after being there for two or three days.  She didn’t GPS her way there, yet they made it.  She didn’t Google the going price for eggs to see what income they might bring home.  She didn’t plug in her electric blanket into the wagon either. Minnesota gets cold.  I know.  I lived there.

I think about the pace of our lives and the conveniences that we have so often.  I wonder.  I really wonder if it’s all “better” to be faster and quicker and know everything instantly.  I don’t know how I feel about it sometimes, but it’s definitely something to ponder.

An update on the boys still outside….it’s colder now.  The digital thermometer on my car  still says 43°F.  The wind is blowing harder though.  They are running and running and running.  No gadgets, just running.  When they get in the car, I’m sure they will ask for me to turn on the seat warmers and to turn on the backseat heating vents.  What a life we lead at this moment and time.  What a life we lead.

30 Day Project: Day 2 (Light) Your Inner Light

Your inner light shines brightly when you are truthful to yourself. 

30 Day Project: Day 1 (Aroma)-Spilling The Beans

I have a secret to tell you.  Yes, today I am spilling the beans.  No, I didn’t win the lottery on Saturday and no, I don’t have six toes. If it were only that simple.  See, the truth of the matter is, I am baking challenged.   As a stay at home mom of two boys, I am a failure when it comes to home-baked goodies.  You know the mother in your son or daughter’s class that makes the pumpkin shaped cookies and the owl cupcakes for the fall party? I dislike her. Well, maybe dislike is a strong word. Perhaps I’m just jealous of her ability to make flour and sugar and frosting look like a baker’s delight that every 10 year-old wants!

Sure, I can add two eggs to a box of blueberry muffin mix and add that special dash of water with the best of them.   I’ve got that down.  But, if you ask me to whip up a batch of my special chocolate chip cookies, I’d probably just laugh at you.   I’d have to buy the baking soda or powder cause I just don’t have it nor know off the top of my head which one you use and I KNOW I’d have to buy flour.  That just isn’t in my pantry.

I saw that!  You just shook your head in the “I can’t believe she doesn’t have flour” kind of way.  I saw you.  I told you I had a secret to tell you.  It’s now out there for the whole world to know.

I have a cookie tray, but it’s used more for frozen pizzas or ready-made cookie dough and it’s not one of those fancy ones that’s for sure.    Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good homemade cookie like the rest of you and pumpkin bread and homemade bread, but I just can’t seem to muster up the desire to make a mess and stir and blend and search for the right shade of orange to frost the pumpkin cookies with.   (Yes, I know you mix yellow and red to get the orange, but that’s just one too many steps for me.)

I must have received that gene from my Grandma because she made toast and diet coke for breakfast and that was “making” breakfast!  No lie.  My mother, on the other hand, loves to bake and has 10,000 little ramekins and beautiful little measuring devices for all the sweet goodness she bakes.  It’s a good thing too, otherwise my children may have grown up thinking Oreos were the only type of cookie available. 

Today, I am going to challenge myself and try to actually make cookies for my family. (Yes, I’ve done it before, but it was a long time ago.) I’m up for a challenge (I think).  First things first, though.  I have to stop at the store and pick up a sack of flour and some baking soda or powder. Oh heck, I’ll just buy both. That way I’ll be ready for anything!

A 30-Day Project In The Works

I’ve been gone for a while now and haven’t written because my computer, my poor little computer, had some quirky problem and had to be restored.  Thank goodness for back ups.  I’m short 1,500 photos of the 19,000 I had, but the world won’t end.  I’m sure I will quickly make up for it in the next few months, so no worries here. 

Today I am trying to get back on track and into the swing of regular posts once again.  I’ll get there eventually, so don’t give up on me just yet.

As you know, it’s my favorite time of the year.  I’ve always said I was a duck in my former life and feel most “cozy” when it’s damp and cool outside and the leaves rustle along their merry way.  It’s like this outside right now.  It warms my heart.   The smell of pumpkin and cider seem to make everything lovely.   Wouldn’t you agree?

It’s this type of weather that always seems to put me into a creative mood.  I have that desire to “make” and “create” when it’s dark outside.  Why is that?  Must be one of those things that makes me tick I suppose.   So, I have decided to try and do a 30-day creative project.  I’ve never done this before, but it can’t be that hard, right?  I figure I’ll start with something relatively simple…photography.

For the next 30 days, beginning tomorrow, (only because tomorrow is an even numbered day, and you’re never supposed to start a project on an odd numbered day) I will post a photo a day and to make things fun (for me anyway) the photo must fall into one of the following categories:

NATURE - COLOR - AROMA - COZY - LIGHT

I’ll still be posting a blog along with it, so please come back to visit and sit a spell if you can.   I might talk about you, if you don’t, so come on by again tomorrow.

Enjoy this beautiful day (for us ducks it is anyway) and open your heart to the autumn beauty that surrounds you.

Temporarily Closed for Repairs

No I haven't disappeared or stopped blogging.  I've actually been going through laptop withdrawal.   Ever been through it?   My digital daughter is in the hospital, but should be back shortly.   I promise to write soon.   Please come back and visit me again then.