31 Days

It’s 10:48 PM on January 31, 2010.  Tomorrow we will all rip off the January page of our calendars and reveal a new set of days to be filled in with events, appointments and new memories and we will call it February. As I look back over the last thirty-one days, so much has happened.  I thought I’d share what was on my calendar before I toss it into the trash and it becomes but a passing thought. Here are a few of the things that filled the little boxes on my January page:

took down Christmas decorations

watched three RedBox movies

watched seven cub scouts make monster cookies

help sand a pinewood derby car

made dinner twenty-six times

played cheerleader at eight basketball games

sung hymns

worked-out sixteen times

read two books and eleven magazines

balanced the checkbook

folded forty-eight towels

had tea and homemade pumpkin muffins with my girlfriend

played sparkle with amazing fifth graders

took two naps

watched my little guy swim

started this blog

visited King Soopers six times

attended a cub-scout pack meeting

told the story of pandora’s jar to twenty-seven third graders

watched the boys ice skate

ordered pizza twice

made a world record scrapbook

prayed

made rice-krispie treats

drove 531 miles

made beds thirty times

ate lunch with my girlfriend

talked about baby names with my book club ladies

wrote about my thoughts and ideas

slept in twice

had a sleepover at my parent’s house

connected with old friends

visited the orthodontist’s office

watched the construction of a catapult

With three less days in the next month, how will we ever fit it all in?  I know my time management skills will pay off and that somehow I will find a way to make it work.  I can do it!  Here’s to a wonderful new page on your 2010 calendar.  Make each day count. 

Great Grandma Josie

My Great Grandmother, Annie Maria Josephine Ecklund Anderson, or Grandma Josie to us, never sent a text in her life. She was born in 1892 and didn’t watch American Idol, or check her e-mail three times a day.  Nor did she Skype her family thousands of miles away, and I am most certain she never did a Google search for an apple pie recipe. What would she think of our lives and our lifestyles of speed and instantaneously satisfying our every need right then and there?  Would she think all of this was good?

I have to admit; I have sent a text, watched AI (as it’s called by its followers), checked my e-mail four times during a day, Skyped my family and friends, and most certainly have searched Google for an apple pie recipe.  Does this make my life less meaningful? Does all this technology disconnect me, at some deeper level, from family and friends?  That’s a tough question.  There are days I would say I am extremely bothered by all of the texting, emailing, etc., and then there are days that I’m so grateful for having access to it.

In the perfect world, I think combining the eras would be ideal, at least for me.  I would love to have regular meals with my neighbors and friends and catch up on the weeks’ events because that’s just what you do.  I know I would enjoy cleaning out the barn on a Saturday together as a family and then having homemade ice cream that we all took turns cranking, then coming inside to Skype with family about their busy day and actually see their smiling faces.  We could then e-mail pictures of the new kitten we found alongside the road to family after a day of fishing in the creek (a mile away - that we walked to). 

I think it’s the extremes that we question. Some make us want to be completely unplugged and others make us feel grateful for advancement in the world of all things techy.  Like many of you, I don’t like hearing a phone ring while I’m out to dinner with family, and often feel disconnected from people when they are carrying on a conversation with you while checking their e-mails on their phones.  And, I am truly happy to buy my milk at the store rather than milking the cows in the barn for hours to get it.  I also enjoy being able to drive somewhere in my car and it take ten minutes instead of planning every trip to town then having to harness the horse to the wagon when it’s snowing and eight below.

It all comes down to how you use technology and to what extreme. We all know this, but don’t always stay ever-present in that fact. I’m guilty of going overboard on a given day with my computer, but do try to take a step away and do things with family that doesn’t require a charger or the car adaptor.  I do.  We do.  We can’t lose sight of the times when life was very simple; drinking sweetened iced tea with neighbors when it’s hot out and playing cards together instead of watching TV or sending that all important e-mail before we kiss each other good night.  I don’t want to ever hear my children tell their children a story about the time their mom got a funny e-mail.  “It was a Saturday, when my mom got a long e-mail from one of her friends…”.  Never.  Ever.

Could This Be?

Does it ever seem that some days are aligned in the universe better than others?   There are days that we wake up and all is right.  Why is this?  The words that come out of our mouths are just the right ones put in the right order to be delivered on a silver platter at the right time.  Time seems to flow perfectly.  No rushing, no hurrying, as the clock ticks at the right pace and we’re able to keep up with it.  We can breathe in and out and can feel our lungs working.  The sun shines just enough to keep us warm and we can hear the air move.   Why is this?  Is it because we’re well rested or because we ate carrots the day before? Is it because we made a new friend or found a $10 bill in our coat pocket?  Or does this happen because we’re in tune to that sixth sense at that moment we arise and start the day? 

Perhaps there is a gathering of the days and only a few are chosen to be this special gift for us on a particular day in our life when we need it most.  A day when the cloudy thoughts suddenly make sense and become clear.  A day when being who we are feels right and we know what road we are on and where it just might be headed.  Should we acknowledge this gift in some special way or just receive it and enjoy its blessings?

Or maybe, every day is aligned perfectly in the universe and we either choose to see it or not and feel it’s benefits or not.  We choose. We decide to open our eyes, our hearts, and our souls and welcome that gift that is there for the taking. Perhaps that act of welcoming, brings a clarity and an awareness to us that is always there before us if we choose it.

Our hearts and minds are so complex and so simple simultaneously. Life can be easy and difficult at the same time.  But, if we’re open to new things and to this “universe” perhaps our hearts and minds work the way they were intended to work.  Then, that overflowing awareness we feel is the joy and love that makes us say the right words at the right time and we enjoy each moment as it comes and don’t try to rush it.

Could this be the mechanics of our universe working with well-oiled gears?  Could this be the stars aligning perfectly on a winter’s night?  Could this be the energy we feel from the sun reflecting off the snow?  Could this be knowledge of ourselves?  Could this be a gift?   Could this be God?

Things That Make Me Smile

Waking up after a good nights sleep.

Having my cats come into the bathroom and talk to me each morning.

Seeing a father kiss his teenage children.

Sonic commercials.

Hearing “Nights in White Satin”.

A high school band.

Baby kittens.

Happy people.

A 9 year old and a 13 year old.

Candles by the bathtub.

My husband asking me to lunch.

Looking at old pictures.

Getting a front row parking space.

Having chicken salad sandwiches with my best friend.

Talking to my parents.

Listening to my nephew babble over the phone.

Getting a hand-written letter in the mail.

Holding hands.

The thought of living by the water.

Finding a pair of jeans that fit.

Window-shopping on vacation.

Hearing that school has been canceled.

A full moon.

Crayons.

A good blonde joke.

An unexpected gift.

A slow snowfall with gigantic flakes.

Watching my children grow in every way.

Twelve new e-mails from friends.

An elderly couple laughing together.

Seeing children hug each other.

Getting my favorite magazine in the mail.

The letters A, and I

When prayers are heard.

Witnessing human kindness between strangers.

Long-awaited good news.

Making Your Move

In general, I would describe my youngest son as pretty reserved and generally quiet and low-key.  He does however, have quite a sense of humor and surfaces sometimes when you least expect it.  Yesterday was one of those times.  We were in the kitchen after school, getting homework out and he was scavenging through the snacks when he turned around and announced that one of his friends told him about three ways to put your arm around a girl. This was completely out of the blue.  (He obviously had been waiting for the right time to show us his new found skills.) This is how it went.

            MY SON:

            Method #1:  Counting Shoulders

The first way works by counting shoulders.  You have to stand with the girl on your right and say, “Hey, let’s count shoulders!”  With your right hand, you start by counting your left shoulder, then right shoulder, then her left shoulder and end with your hand on her right shoulder.  The way he counted it out made my head spin.  It was beyond funny.  “One, Two, Three, Fooooouuuur!”  He was raising his eyebrows and using very “grown up” facial expressions and quite the infliction in his voice.

Method #2:  I Caught a Fish Story

Again, the girl has to stand on your right and you begin explaining to her that you went fishing and caught a fish,  “I went fishing and caught a fish this big,” (hands show length of fish to be about 6 inches apart). “Then I caught a fish this big,” (hands show length of fish to be about 20 inches). “And the last fish I caught was thiiiiiiiis big,” (right arm goes behind the back of the girl allowing you to place your hand on her shoulder).  He had the same tone and expression and I could barely hear the last method because I was laughing so hard!

Method #3: Pirate’s Parrot Shoulder Preference

Just like the other two ways, the girl has to stand on your right.  This one is short and quick.

“Which shoulder do pirates prefer to put their parrots on?”  “This shoulder?” (Hand touches

his left shoulder.) “Or thiiiiiiis shoulder?” (He places his hand on her right shoulder.)

His delivery was impeccable.  Unbelievably funny.  It was as if he had practiced it in his head ten times before he got home to show us.  And the part that made it so hilarious was the fact that it was so out of character for him.  His tone and actions were so grown up and not to mention the subject matter was so beyond his circle of topics (at least at this point in his life).  

He even showed Nani (all on his own, mind you) the three methods and couldn’t stop smiling while he demonstrated his techniques for her.  I haven’t laughed that hard in quite a while.  Plus, I couldn’t get past the fact that this was a discussion he and his friend actually had out at recess. 

Who needs television or any other entertainment when you have children to amuse you?