Winterton Blue

Winterton Blue may be a case of don't judge a book by it's cover. I won't say I hated it, because that wouldn't be accurate. Perhaps the best thing to say is that I suffered a curious detachment to the story, the characters and the questionable resolution. At times tediously slow in its character development, Winterton Blue is a mired in the quicksand of dysfunction, and I don't think it ever truly escapes that trap. Parts of it are beautifully written and there is the potential for so much more, but most story lines seemed to meander to no real ending and most characters were left spiraling alone, with little insight or explanation into their actions. Overall, if I had to rate this I would give it 3/5. It wasn't a total waste of time, but it wasn't what I'd hoped.

From Publishers Weekly
Anna, a graphic designer, may have a streak of gray in her hair, but she's still young and inchoate. Lewis, a dodgy loner, is on a late, misguided, oedipally fueled quest to avenge his twin brother's death following a car accident 20 years earlier. In alternating scenes—sometimes whole chapters, sometimes just a few paragraphs—Anna and Lewis meet, and, uneasily, inflame each other at a British seaside B&B. The place is owned by Anna's mother, Rita, who at 76 is vivacious but in shaky health; Anna has been summoned there by Rita's quasi- companion, retired actor Vernon Savoy, to look in on her. Anna, partially deaf (perhaps psychologically) since childhood, seems so vulnerable, and Lewis (who is tracking down the death car's driver), so blankly menacing, that as they come together murder seems as likely as romance. Vernon, meanwhile, has little patience for Anna's ambivalence toward Rita. The Welsh-born Azzopardi, whose Hiding Place was a Man Booker finalist, does certain kinds of interiority exquisitely, as when writing about Anna's obsession with Rita's tourmaline ring. But her extreme stream-of-consciousness style forces readers to fill in narrative gaps, offers few clues to Anna's feeling for Lewis and makes secondary characters (Anna's charming maybe-suitor Brendan; Lewis's thuggish-yet-sweet sometime-stepfather Manny) confuse more than thicken the plot. (Mar.)

Wordless Wednesday 10/29

We have plans tomorrow.

What's on your Nightstand? 10/28

In my quest to do more reading ( I really slacked over the past month or so) I have been trolling blogs and simply meandering through the stacks at the library. I have a nice little collection of books waiting on my fancy:

Keeping the House by Ellen Baker
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
If Today Be Sweet by Thrity Umrigar
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

I also finished Winterton Blue by Trezza Azzopardi. Hopefully the review will be up tomorrow!

We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident

It's been a political week in our home. Our mailbox is stuffed with fliers, pamphlets, propaganda and attack - from both parties. These things have led my girls to ask many questions. We've discussed both major political platforms (and a few minor ones), we've discussed the major players, what I like about both of them and what I dislike about both of them. We've discussed what are issues that will swing a vote for me, and why I chose the candidate I have chosen.

Today we went to the polls for early voting. The lines were long and we got our first blast of true chilly weather so as we waited outside and fingers chilled and cheeks reddened the girls looked over my "cheat" ballot and asked me about offices, candidates and amendments. As we shuffled into the hallway we discussed citizenship, voting privileges and democracy. As we took a number and a seat we discussed the voting process, how it works, where the ballots go, electoral colleges and ways to commit voter fraud. When our number was finally called, we took our ballot to our booth and the girls "helped" me remember which bubbles to fill. As the box swallowed our choices, we were each given an "I voted" sticker.

There isn't much about this election that I have been proud of, but today, as men and women exclaimed to my children what an honor it is to vote. As friendly comments and interjections were made by the people around us in our conversation, as people of every ethnicity, gender, and age gathered together peacefully and politely in one room to give their voice to our future. As Bailey whispered in awe, "There sure are a lot of people here who care about our next president," I was proud.

I am proud of my children who listened and learned and experienced one of America's highest callings.
I am proud that after weeks of mud-slinging and vitriol, we the people were able to stand and sit and talk together without ever asking which candidate we liked.
I am proud to have the choice to raise, educate and pass on these traditions in the way of my choosing, still.
I am proud.

Simple Woman's Daybook 10/27

Outside my Window... Beautiful Velvet Darkness. The white lights are lit on the porch, and I can baaaarely see the light in my neighbor's kitchen.

I am thinking... about loss and change and sorrow. About love and what it means to let go.

From the learning rooms...Getting ready to launch our Thankgiving unit which runs all of November!!

I am thankful for...a chill in the air, limes, a hunky hubby at home and bedtime for girls.

From the kitchen...Tonight? Pork roast, baked potatoes, salad and broccoli with cheese. Tomorrow? leftovers. Hubby works late and I am off from Disciple.

I am wearing...Flannel jammie pants and a pink long sleeved t-shirt

I am reading...Exodus, Leviticus Deuteronomy and for fiction Winterton Blue. All my recent reads are reviewed at my book blog.

I am hoping...to use my "extra day" wisely. No Disciple class means no Disciple prep. It could be another very productive day!

I am creating... Gifts,time, space and a new definition of productive.

I am hearing...fans, crickets and the wind blowing

Around the house... the dishes are done but there is laundry to tackle. I want to finish fitting the girls in their "winter" clothes so I can dump bags of things at Goodwill. Lamenting the time change but planning cozy nooks and friendly lights for our extended evenings.

One of my favorite things... needing the heavy weight of blankets to sleep under.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... all I can do is keep breathing.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... Two before and afters from this week (ok-they published as afters and befores. I am not sure why--still figuring out the whole blogger photos bit. They ARE organized now, not the other way around)




the WIP basket beside my bed AND




Disabusing the garage space

The Night Country

I have a dear friend, Lori, whom I love for many, many reasons but with whom I share a passion for books. You should visit her at her book blog, She Treads Softly which I always misread as She READS Softly. I don't know why. It is rare to find a person with a similar set of life values and similar taste in reading. In Lori, I have both.
When she told me about The Night Country, I knew I had to get my hands on it. She was so right. Reading The Night Country is an absolutely exquisite sensory extravaganza. I don't know that I have ever been so aware of setting being such a boldly sentient character in the story, but O'Nan uses the elements of season, weather, date and location brilliantly. Layer that with a poignantly harrowing tale of teen tragedy and the ghosts that follow, and you have what is, without a doubt, when of the best Gothic thrillers I have ever read. To try to explain further would cheapen this book. It is a literary experience in every sense of the word.

From Booklist
The aftermath of a Halloween tragedy haunts a New England town on the one-year anniversary of a typical teen joyride that ended with a car wrapped around a tree. Toe, Marco, and Danielle were instantly killed. Kyle lives on, sort of; a severe brain injury obliterates the rebel in him, the accident leaving him with the mind of a child. Tim, "the lucky one" in the backseat, his arms around Danielle, survived but now has a death wish. Officer Brooks, the first on the scene, was terribly altered by the event, and his life is in shambles. Now, on Halloween, he fears that Tim is going to do something horrible. Travis and Greg, buds of Toe, don't want the day to go by without memorializing their dear departed friends. O'Nan, author of Wish You Were Here [BKL F 1 02], tells a ghost story from the point of view of Marco's ghost. Like the narrator of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones [BKL My 1 02], Marco (along with Danielle and Toe) can witness the lives of those they left behind, see the impact their deaths have had on the community, but have little direct effect on certain inevitabilities--an interesting literary contrivance that doesn't always pay off (see Douglas Coupland's Girlfriend in a Coma (1998) and Hey, Nostradamus [BKL My 15 03] for other examples of this vantage point). O'Nan's voice is compelling, his prose lovely and evocative. Benjamin Segedin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Toulane

I fell in love with Kate DeCamillo last year when I read A Tale of Despereaux, which in my opinion is arguably one of the best books ever written. With this in mind, Edward Tulane had a lot to live up to. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is the story of a toy bunny who thinks too much of himself to the extent that he can't love others, until he suffers a horrible accident, and must find his way home again. In the process, and passing through the hands of many different types of owners, he learns to love. While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I didn't love it as I enjoyed Despereaux. I didn't find the characters as well developed and the tale was a bit predictable. Still, it had DeCamillo's signature charm and humor and is certainly one I would pick up again. I just won't be calling it one of the world's great works anytime soon.

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6–Edward Tulane, a china rabbit, is the main character in this thoughtful tale by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick, 2006). Edward is dearly loved by a young girl named Abilene. One day he is lost over the side of a boat. His journey leads him to a older couple who dress him like a girl rabbit, a hobo and his dog, a young girl and her brother and, finally, to a doll shop. Along the way, Edward learns to love the people he encounters. He also learns that family members can be cruel to one another; that hobos have family that they love dearly and don't want to forget; that no matter how much you love someone, she may still die; and that no matter what happens in life, never give up on love. Tony Award-winner Judith Ivey infuses each character that Edward encounters with a unique accent and aura, and accurately portrays their emotions. A beautifully crafted telling.–Veronica Schwartz, Des Plaines Public Library, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

My Cup Runneth Over

I just read back over last Sunday's post, and it helped to put some perspective on my accomplishments. The addition of Brunhilde to our home helped tremendously in the yard work, literally cutting two weeks work into two days (She bags leaves. I may have mentioned that but it bears repeating. She bags leaves. I *HEART* her). However, I did not end up painting the last bedroom, and now really need to wait until payday to do so, so that's shuffled off to next week's duties.

This week is an ending week, which means I need to tie up loose ends so that I can start a NEW MONTH. I love new months. I may also have already said that, but it also bears repeating I LOVE NEW MONTHS, and I really want to start this new month with a plan in hand, knowing that it will never work out exactly as I hope, but that all things that need to be done can be made to fit.
What I would like to accomplish this week:

*1 crochet project (because people my SISTER IN LAW IS PREGNANT and there are baby things to make, and that's the truth)
* 3 times exercising - which means I MUST get the C25K stuff on my' pod
*A november playlist, also for the 'pod (who strangely, has no name. Odd that.)
*Park date
*Family walk
*Girls closets cleaned and organized
*15 minutes a day cleaning in the garage. It's a shambles. Truly. Almost an apostasy.
*Finish the Xeriscaping and the front flower bed
*make a NEW RECIPE
*Make that Thanksgiving Menu and grocery list
*Blog Blog Blog and post pictures. Can I put one picture in every blog--hmmmmm? The idea has merit.
*Have the floors cleared of clutter for The Bug Man (He cometh, next week)
*Lesson plan for November. We're focusing on Gratitude and American History, and other things too, obviously.
*Vote
*Finish two books
*Have an AWESOME Halloween evening with my girls

and WHEW, I think that is quite enough. Sadly, I could continue. Luckily for you. I WON'T. I also plan to take a sabbath this week, although it is possible that it could be interrupted by a trip to Stuart to visit Craig's Grandfather whose health is really failing quickly.
Oh AND (you are going to be so glad you read this far now!) I think I have my theme for next year. It feels right. It's a little scary, but in a good way. I have to let it settle and be sure I am hearing it correctly. But it resonates. And the verse is from Jeremiah, and it's not the one everyone uses from Jeremiah. 200 points if you guess which one!

I've Got Blogs in Low Places

*Yesterday I guest blogged over at Cheri's. You better run on over there and get in on her drawing too!

*Read, and blogged my first book of the Fall '08 Twenty over at So Many Books, So Little Time. It was an excellent start!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I've read a handful of mixed reviews of this books. It seems to polarize people who laud it as literary genius or criticized for being predictable tripe. I think that how you interpret the book depends on what you were looking for. I didn't expect to be blown away with a new form of literary genius never before experienced by man, which is good because I wasn't. I did hope to be entertained, amused, moved and touched, which is good because I was.
For me, this book had several elements that very much predisposed me to favor it; post World War II setting, quirky characters, spunky heroines, and romantic quandaries that result in a happy ending at last. For a few sparking autumn afternoons of back porch and park reading it was the absolute perfect choice of books to read, filled with easy places to pick up and put down, funny and astute observations and characters who endured more hardship than any human being ought and still maintained their humor and their dignity.
I am quite pleased to have spent my time reading this pleasant and uplifting little novel, and I encourage you to do the same.

From Publishers Weekly
The letters comprising this small charming novel begin in 1946, when single, 30-something author Juliet Ashton (nom de plume Izzy Bickerstaff) writes to her publisher to say she is tired of covering the sunny side of war and its aftermath. When Guernsey farmer Dawsey Adams finds Juliet's name in a used book and invites articulate—and not-so-articulate—neighbors to write Juliet with their stories, the book's epistolary circle widens, putting Juliet back in the path of war stories. The occasionally contrived letters jump from incident to incident—including the formation of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society while Guernsey was under German occupation—and person to person in a manner that feels disjointed. But Juliet's quips are so clever, the Guernsey inhabitants so enchanting and the small acts of heroism so vivid and moving that one forgives the authors (Shaffer died earlier this year) for not being able to settle on a single person or plot. Juliet finds in the letters not just inspiration for her next work, but also for her life—as will readers. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Friday Felicities 10/24

*Beautiful, Blustery, Rainy days that are the precursor to even cooler weather.
*Good friends, Heart friends
*Two new recipes to try this week!
*Frowzy warm morning hugs (though not necessarily morning breath)
*Peppermint Mocha Creamer
*A plan, a goal, and a feeling of excitement

And the most felicitious thing of the week:


Her name is Brunhilde **Hear's strains of Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely"**
She bags leaves.
I love her.

What are your Felicities? I want to know! Blog about it and sign Mr. Linky over at Becky's. You'll be glad you did!

The Sabbath Experience - Wk 1

Sometimes it takes me awhile. I have been actively thinking about the concept of Sabbath for just over a year now. Last year the Bible study I lead had a weekly focus on the Sabbath, and we discussed it and digested it and chewed it more and tried it and argued its necessity for weeks on end. It's a concept that captures my interest while never seeming to impress too deeply on my need to be obedient, until the last few weeks.
Inevitably the discussion of Sabbath always seems to get stuck on one argument: that's old covenant and we are under the new covenant and therefore God does not require that we observe Sabbath. This seems a hard argument to disprove since I am not following any kosher dietary laws, laws of ritual cleansing, making sacrifices or wearing garments exclusively woven of one type of material. It wasn't until this year, that I realized something, Sabbath, while one of the commandments and part of the old covenant was not instituted at the time the covenant was given. In fact, Sabbath and it's observance go back to the very first week of life on this planet.

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Gen 2

To me, that underscores the importance of the idea of resting in the Lord.

This of course brings us to the question of what does it mean, under the covenant of grace, to keep a Sabbath. There is little talk of it in the New Testament other than the rebuking of the Pharisees for taking a day of rest and making it into an unhealthy burden that no more glorifies God than the most inhumane scenario imaginable. I think it is this concept against which we rebel, this idea which makes us shy of observing a Sabbath for fear that in our observance we become slaves to a ritual and miss the intent of the day.
Add that reluctance in with a good hearty dose of American culture and you have the perfect recipe for someone who not only doesn't observe the Sabbath, but someone who ridicules it as impossible and even ludicrous. So we proclaim our freedom from the practices of the Old Testament, all the while binding tighter our chains that enslave us to busyness, work, schedules, demands and yes, the almighty dollar.
It doesn't take much time reading Genesis and Exodus to realize that Sabbath is a gift to us from the Maker of all Things. It is a gift that we often fail to recognize or to integrate into our weekly lives because we don't understand it fully (be assured, I am in no way trying to say I understand it fully, not even the slightest bit). In instituting the Sabbath, God wasn't trying to burden us with yet another rule to follow. He was trying to give us what may be the most precious of all gifts, the gift of time, the freedom to breath and enjoy the breathing because there isn't something demanding from us in the next breath. In Sabbath God provides for us a built in time to rest, relax, slow down, ponder, dream, reconnect, enjoy, examine, contemplate, to worship Him. And do you know why? He did because He knew that unless He gave us permission, we would never believe that such a thing would be, not only desirable, but beneficial!
I wonder what we, as God's people are missing by throwing out the concept of Sabbath or by proclaiming, often self righteously, that "I don't need a Sabbath because Jesus IS my Sabbath" all the while continuing to run at breakneck speed on the hamster wheel of expectations that the world has set for us. I won't argue that Christ is our rest and that through Him the Old Covenant is filled, beyond filled, completely surpassed in glory. No, God isn't commanding us to take a Sabbath at the risk of our salvation, but He is begging us to hop off the wheel and literally take a physical rest and let Him handle all of it for just a little while. Why are we so reluctant to just sit down and rest? Do we really believe the world will stop spinning without us? Do we really believe that it is necessary to be so busy that every spare moment is spent thinking about what the next moment holds? Do we really gain anything at all for ourselves by taking on so much that the idea of rest is more burdensome than the burdens we already carry? How sad an existence have we created for ourselves all in the interest of not being "tainted" by the burden of the "Old Covenant."

God wants more for us than this.

I will probably spend the rest of my life exploring this concept and trying to put it into the practice in my life. This is my first week of deliberate Sabbath, and I have discovered a few things already:

1. Taking a Sabbath requires discipline and a plan the other days of the week, and requires that I drop perfectionist expectations on the day of Sabbath.

2. I need to alter my definition of work to be attuned with God's definition of work.

3. Taking time to reconnect with God allows me to reconnect with people as well. And that is something that we can never get too much of.

Wordless Wednesday 10/22

A Bucket List for Fall

Hunky and I have talked a lot lately about bucket lists and such, and I am pondering on working on a life long bucket list and adding to it as time goes on. But today I am mostly thinking about the time left in this year. Just two months and a few weeks left and it's 2009 (you know I get all reflective in the fall. So I decided to come up with a list of 20 things that I want to do in the next eleven weeks. Here's hoping I can keep my forward progress mojo.

1. Walk on the beach 20 times
2. Be able to run a 5K ( I won't promise to ACTUALLY run one before the end of the year)
3. Lose 10 more lbs
4. Read 20 books - no rereads. AND blog them.
5. actually knit a dishcloth
6. Make hand warmers for the girls.
7. Develop a holiday notebook
8. Try 15 new recipes
9. Make a fun, festive and educational home school plan for December
10. Take a Sabbath every week
11. Finish NanoBloMo
12. Paint all the rooms I have been putting off and the front door
13. Bless 5 friends for no reason at all
14. Clean the garage
15. Take the kids to the park at least once a week
16. Go on a weekly nature walk with the girls
17. Draw - at least 10 times
18. Design and actually send Christmas cards
19. Take and share more pictures
20. learn 3 chords on the guitar

Simple Woman's Daybook 10/21

as seen at Peggy's

For Today...

Outside my Window... It feels like fall, it smells like fall, it's chilly and crisp and the sun is rising and a squirrel is staring at me through the screen.

I am thinking... Right now, right here, I love my life. I hope I can capture this feeling all day.

From the learning rooms...Since we took yesterday off, today we will do math, spelling, writing, some history, Bible

I am thankful for... A God who supplies all my needs

From the kitchen...currently hubby is scrambling eggs on the grill because the power just went out. Earlier this week I cooked a delicious Italian bean soup which will be lunch for the better portion of this week. Last night was fried cabbage and sausage. I'm definitely in the mood to cook fall foods.

I am wearing... flannel pajamas and a warm flannel robe

I am reading... Exodus and Jeremiah, an interesting juxtaposition indeed.

I am hoping... to continue to find more hours in my day. When I started teaching the second Disciple class, I told God that the only way it would happen is if He stretched my time, and He has been so, so, so, so faithful in that

I am creating... space, simplicity and joy. Also Christmas presents, holiday lesson plans gift lists.

I am hearing...transformers blowing

Around the house...today we are going to try on all the clothes that are sitting on upper closet shelves and if we can't wear them we are giving them away. I don't need to hang on to them just in case. God supplies all our needs when we need them.

One of my favorite things...my children's frowzy warm kisses in the morning.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...continue to mow and bag the leaves in the backyard, continue xeriscaping. Kiss the hunky hubby and kids a lot. Take time to enjoy this fabulous weather, slow down, drink lots of coffee.

Here is a picture thought for you today:

Chickens are a happy thing

I just realized

That it's about the time of year where I need to start listening for God to give me my new theme. I kind of forgot, for a bit, that this year's theme has been "Consider the Lilies" and when I remembered I was in total and complete awe of what God has done in my life that follows that vein perfectly. It makes my heart go pitter pat to think about Him revealing Himself to me all over again next year.

CARPE CLEANUM

"Seize the Clean"
Lately I have been thinking to myself that I need a day to adjust, to focus, to catch up and to assess. Today seems to be the perfect day for that! The weather is GORGEOUS which means I can shift from inside to outside tasks without having a stroke. All the windows and doors are open which makes my house feel extra clean. There is no co-op this week; I am up-to-date on Disciple; I don't have to be anywhere today. All of these things equal the perfect day to CARPE CLEANUM! And of course blogging it just makes it more fun.

7:30 PM aka "the-end-of-the-day" - WOW! What an awesome awesome awesome day! So much got finished, so much got started, so much got moved on to the next step! I am so proud of me, my girls and the hunky hubby who got right in on the show after a full day of work. WHEW! It was a day well spent. Here's the tally:
Me:
*Laundry - washed, dried, folded, put away x2
*Living room - dusted, swept
*Kitchen - cleaned (what a MASS of dishes from last night), cabinets wiped down, floor swept and mopped, stove wiped, drip pans scoured, microwave cleaned, fridge cleaned
*Front Room - dusted, cords and corners/ under furniture vacuumed/ organized/ straightened, floor swept
*Dining Room - table cleaned off/ wiped down, misc items put away
*Bathrooms - cleaned
*Bedrooms- dusted, vacuumed straightened, random laundry put away, misc clean-up
*Front Entryway - swept, weeded, clipped, trimmed, blown, bagged
*One flower bed weeded, mulched and edged
*Backporch - swept, plants watered/ trimmed/ thinned, screens dusted, cobwebs swept, frames wiped
*Back yard - raked around flower beds and outer walkout, flower bed raked and thinned

Girls :
*morning chored managed
*all individual laundry folded and put away
*toy clutter kept at a minimum all day
*leaves bagged
*sticks picked up in yard
*rooms cleaned
*rooms vacuumed
*all chores completed
*misc. help throughout the day

Craig:
*Worked a VERY FULL DAY in office, and at chaplain job
*bought a lawn mower
*came home and assembled lawn mower
*mowed front and both side yards including bagging cuttings and leaves (And saving me HOURS of raking time)
*Helped with dinner dishes and kitchen wipe down

I am seriously thinking about doing this once a month. Today was a good day, and I needed it. I hurt like I am 80 years old.

5 PM : TALK ABOUT YOUR DIVINE INTRUSIONS! Hunky hubby came home with a marvy new mower (it's sooooo preeeeebeeeeeeeeee--like a little red princess) and so we assembled it. Well, he assembled it. I talked and whined because he said I couldn't have any of his hottie-ness in the pictures. Sadness. Then the girls and I went ahead and bagged the front yard piles and the side yard piles so he could mow without impediment. *happy happy happy sigh* Now, dinner.

2:30 PM: Again I ended up doing more than I had planned in the back BUT the entire back flower bed is raked out and the backporch is an absolute outdoor delight. I have decided that tomorrow the girls and I will bag everything. It would take an hour or more today when I am on a roll anyway, and yard debris isn't picked up until Wednesday anyway. Going to spend the next half hour wiping down my bathroom, straightening, dusting and vacuuming my bedroom and then a quick shower. I am a LEETLE bit yukky. But showering doesn't mean I am done yet!
Also - Blogger seemed to wig out a little bit over my photos, so when I sit down later there will be a whole album on Flickr for your enjoyment!


1PM : Well all of that took longer than I thought, but we are still getting a lot done. All the laundry is folded and put away. I ended up edging and weeding one entire flower bed when I tackled the outside entrance. I also filled an entire 32 gallon can with yard debris and still have some piles to bag. My front room is gloriously clean and beautiful as well. The kitchen is finished and lunch has been served, and I am ready to tackle the back porch.


10 AM: Since I am blogging today I thought I would make my most recent entries at the top. No pics this hour...but do come back again. Currently Cold Play is blaring. The kitchen is a work in progress and I am tackling the entryway inside and out. This means I get to use the blower. I love the blower with a love that is good and holy. The laundry is done; the beds are made; and strangely enough, no one has reminded me about school.

9AM: I started my day in my favorite spot with my coffee and my books.



This was after I started laundry, and upon looking at this picture I can tell you that the laundry I am going to spend the next 45 minutes tackling the back porch and the area just surrounding it outside. Then the dining room. And now, PICTURES.will be addressed at some point today.


And because you have all been clamoring to see it, my living room new-to-me sofa and paint job. They make me HAPPY!



Next up: bed making, breakfast for girls; and tackling the kitchen disaster

Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Despite everything I said about priorities yesterday, I am still a listy kind of girl. I think of my lists as a safety line as I enter the maelstrom of my days sometimes. Kids need me, husband needs me, friends need me, house needs me, strangers need me...it's nice to be able to step out, look at a few lines and think to myself "Oh yes, that is where I was." Over the last months I have also discovered something wonderful about list: they do not self destruct overnight. Anything I put on there, will still be there the next day, no more finished then it was the day before but usually no more unfinished either, simply waiting for me to attend it, patiently. It's a freeing concept that allows me to stop and enjoy many more moments then I generally would be inclined to.

This week I am looking at a room that needs painting and a yard that desperately needs attending. The room project should be able to be tackled in four-ish days - maybe three if I get super industrious. This will be the last of the painting projects that I had hoped to finish before the end of October.
The yard is...well, it's clearly desperate for some sort of intervention. I am tired of fighting with the huge spot in the front that won't grow grass, so I have decided to xeriscape it. The added bonus there being that we were given 30-ish bags of mulch that have been dominating my garage for the last month that I can use to do the job. I also need to mow and rake and bag and trim and thin and relocate and adjust. As I list all this here, I am readjusting my goal date to Nov. 7th. I had originally hoped to get it done by the end of the month, but that might be a bit too ambitious.

Aside from that, fall weather is well and truly upon us (well the Florida version of fall, anyway) and I want to really spruce up the back porch since our time out there is sure to be increasing (I am sitting on it right now enjoying my delightful coffee).

So there you have it. This week in my life looks chock full of things to do and this doesn't even touch on many of the other little projects and aspirations I have on-going, or Co-op family night, or Disciple, or blogging, or Christmas work, or homeschooling, or Awakening or kissing the hunky or...shew. I need more coffee.

Edited to add: Speaking of Divine Intrusions, half the bottom fell out of my mower today. THAT'S a serious intrusion on my plans. Instead I started the Xeriscaping. This is about an hour's worth of work. The plants look sad because they got transplanted. Always a wee bit traumatic.

Reality Check

Endless Possibilities

I love a cool Saturday morning. No formal school will happen today and the day stretches before me filled with seemingly endless possibilities. It is at this point that a perfectionist does one of two things: makes a list and gets started, or becomes frozen by the impossibility of completing all the possibilities and thereby accomplishing none of them. I'm walking that fine line today, trying to find the balance of what needs doing and what can wait another day. Lately it seems like everything is about the immediate need. I'm trying to get ahead and even move forward, but doing so requires much discipline and much letting go.
My friend Christie wrote a great blog on Control. Where I get hung up is thinking that I can control my agenda, or that I even have an agenda at all. Most days I have a general idea, but really no understanding of the events that God will bring to my path. The more tightly I hang on to my agenda the more resentful I am of divine intrusions into time which I control...but wait, control is an illusion. Ah, a quandary.
Instead I have tried sorting my days by priority. Most days, educating the girls is the priority. Inside that priority are many many ways to accomplish my goal, but in some way shape or form, daily education is occurring at my house. Most other priorities fall into a certain sort of order beneath this objective and the lower on the list of priorities they go, the less pressing they are for me to accomplish that day.
Perhaps the most freeing thing about seeing my life in priorities is that it frees me to let go of my lists for God's priorities. His will always tops mine. Whenever I feel like things are falling off track and my day spinning out of my control, I can stop and attempt to focus on God's priority for that day. Inevitably, my agenda toppling is a result of God imposing a divine priority over my human ones. If I can adjust my focus from worldly to divine, He will often reveal to me what it is that is important enough to Him to warrant divine intrusion into the this little life of mine. Inevitably, allowing His priority to be mine, results in blessings beyond my scope of imagining.
The key to all this prioritizing and adjusting is remaining close to God day by day. It requires constant refocus and readjustment to align my thoughts with His, my priorities with His, my goals with His, and some days, I'm really not good at even one aspect of that. But it is getting, ever so slightly, easier to not wig out over lists left uncrossed, projects left unfinished, dishes left unwashed because "something came up" and I recognized it as something God designed for me to be part of.
In the end it boils down to this: there is exactly enough time to finish every single thing that God purposed for me to do. Right now, what God wants me to do is make breakfast, and so I shall.

Wordless Wednesday 10/15

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY 10/13...
Outside My Window... A yellow rat snake is trying to swallow a squirrel. Or at least, that is what was outside my window a few hours ago and we stood watching it for a long, long time. That's hands-on science right there. A homeschoolers dream.

I am thinking... that I don't know what I want, and that is very unsettling

I am thankful for...it all. Every moment of my life experience. God has used it so so so much this week. It's really been amazing

From the kitchen... The kitchen is dark and quiet. I think I reached critical mass today and Hunky sensed it. He took the kids away for awhile. So silly that I am torn between reveling in that and feeling abysmal that they had to leave.

I am wearing...Too few clothes for this late in the year. Fall is so slow in coming and it's not making me any less grumpy.

I am creating...Secret Santa and other delightful presents

I am going...hmmm, nowhere fast judging by my attitude today

I am reading... Stephen King's Wizard and Glass, Nahum, Habbakuk and Zephaniah, also Genesis, and Exodus with the girls in school, OH and Mara the Slave Girl also with the girls in school.

I am hoping...to gain some insight

I am hearing... the wind

Around the house...unfinished painting projects, a lawn that needs mowing, a bed that needs clean sheets, binders, books and papers and other school miscellania

One of my favorite things... sitting on the backporch and smelling woodsmoke. The temperature says summer, but that smell, promises cooler weather to come.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Sea World, Co-op, painting the girls' room, mulching the yard, simplifying simplifying, simplifying

Here is picture thought I am sharing...



Worship happens in more ways than the human mind can comprehend

Sweetly Broken

It's so hard isn't it? To find time and space and thought and clarity and hope and understanding and friendship and acceptance and love? So hard.

It's been a hard month; a month of new things, agonizing decisions, watchful anxiety, of clinging tightly to God because there is no where else to turn.
It's also been a month of answers and of deepening. Answers are funny things. If they aren't the answers you want, they seem to not be answers at all. We could have changed everything this month, and there is so much that I would change if it were up to me, and yet I am so grateful it is not. Sometimes it is staying the same that is the more difficult choice, and yet even in that there is joy.
It's been a month of answered prayers in ways I didn't expect, and would never have predicted. A month of reconciling, of finding peace, of wishing I was more...and less.

It's hard sometimes to know what to write. How to put into words the things that go on inside of me, and yet, I let it go too long. I become rusty with disuse and unfamiliar with the pattern of writing down what is inside me. I want to change that, to blow away the dust and reintroduce myself to myself.
It's hard to know if I even recognize myself anymore and yet, the old familiar patterns beckon me even when they are no longer my patterns.
It's hard to determine the necessary from the urgent. I have started a new pattern of asking God each day to show what He would have me accomplish. This often leaves clutter and mess, things I would associate with a day not well spent, and yet He whispers to me that I have done well this day.
It's hard to find time now for things outside His will without feeling unsettled and unhappy. He leads me down new paths and shows me daily new ways to do the things I was created to do, ways I never could have envisioned on my own and yet which seem so masterfully beautiful that it can only be He who orchestrated them.

It's hard to make promises that I may not keep, but I no longer worry now that what I say or write might be misinterpreted, though if it is, I cannot let that keep me caged in silence. I struggle and I flounder and I have more temper tantrums than an All-powerful God ought to be expected to handle, but despite myself, I am growing into the glorious creation God envisioned all along. There is much I would do and say and think and feel and be and experience and create...and God will make a way for it all to manifest in this small amount of sinful flesh that I inhabit.

It's not as hard as I thought, and sweeter than I ever imagined.

ch-ch-ch changes

making some changes