An Apology To My Children

This week we, again, are attempting to to incorporate some healthy habits into our lifestyle.   So easily the quick, processed foods, or the high-sugar sweets slip into our routines.   Rather than the special treats that they are intended to be, they become the norm.   We are on day three of no sugar, no pop, and no processed foods.   Instead we are eating "clean" foods.  Foods that our bodies know how to process.   I feel better already.  Perhaps is it just the thought of better foods for our bodies, but I tend to think that already the clean food is making a difference.  

And this is where I find myself needing to apologize to my children:  We are in the middle of this current journey not because of you, but because of me.   It wasn't that I was not equipped with the tools and the information, rather, it is just one of my many weaknesses.   I am not alone in this weakness, but you and I both are paying for this.   I won't do it perfectly this time, much like the last, there will be failure.  I know that right now it feels like I am forcing you to eat foods you do not like.   I am.  But it is because I love you and I want the best for you.   It does not mean that the treats are gone forever, but my hope is that they will become just that, treats.  My hope is that every time we try, we get a little further and have just a little more success.  You are of age now where you need the tools and so my job is to step it up and provide those tools for you, and here we go.

Content in the Snow?

May second. Time for blue skies, green grass, tulips, and daffodils.

May second.  I look out the window this morning at the absence of color as the newly green grass is covered in a thick, fluffy, white blanket of snow. The sky is a cloudy grey, the world white, even the brown of the tress is mostly covered in almost eight inches of snow.

The rumors of this storm at the beginning of the week threatened to pull me into a mood as grey as the sky. We had spent the weekend on the deck getting the gardens ready, all of us getting a little red on our cheeks and noses. The windows were open and fresh air was filling the house after a long hard winter. Another storm seemed unbearable.

I opened the door to our deck to snap the traditional "look at the snow" picture that so many are putting on Facebook today, and I was caught.

Caught by the beauty.

Caught by the peace.

Caught by the quiet.

Quickly I closed the door to shut out the cold, ready to get on with my day inside. Easier said than done. Something kept drawing me to the picturesque scene. It wasn't enough to observe the scene from my living room. I just stood in the driveway absorbing the quiet. It was early, the snow blowers were not yet in use. A chickadee flits from tree branch to growing and back again. The snow falling in snow globe fashion. Down the street, a tree branch cracks and falls to the ground.

I found every reason to be outside today, whether it was shoveling back-breaking heavy snow or shaking snow from tree limbs and branches. I couldn't come inside. The anticipated disgruntled feelings are replaced by a surprising calm and peace.



Yes, it is May.

Yes, I am more than ready for the gardens to come out of their slumber. Ready for the colorless landscape to be painted with brilliant colors.

However, for one more day, I am content.

I am at peace in the tranquil morning.

And it is good.

Unplanned and Much Needed

It is weekends like this that cannot be planned, rather, it just happens.   Without any planning, we had a weekend full of everything that the four of us needed.   There was time to read books, listen to music with headphones, play on the computer, art projects, and movies.   While most of the weekend was spent in pajamas, we did take time to go to the block party downtown, and the kids found some amazing pizza with real cheese! 

 We found some great finds on a trip to Target.

I spent a good portion of the weekend standing next to Mark in the kitchen making food for the week.   While this may not sound that exciting, it is a time when we connect.   We both love to find new recipes and create new meals and dishes.   This isn't usually time for deep or life changing conversations; it is a time that we bond and we can get on the same page as each other again.   I value this time, especially as busy as we have been lately. 

This weekend turned out a couple of great dishes:



Chicken Fried Rice

 (Quick, Easy, and gives me a gluten-free option 

for Chinese when I am really craving it!) 

Louisiana Red Beans and Rice

 (One of Mark's favorites) 

Sunday afternoon is here.  Rather than the feelings of dread about the upcoming week, I feel relaxed and rested.   We have had a productive weekend that has been both quiet, and full of laughter.   Of course it helps that we also have a short three day week ahead of us followed by a four day weekend!  

Have a great week!

Dear Martha

Sunday night while we are getting everything ready and organized for the week, Mark is wiping the dining room table off and says more to himself than to anyone really, "I wonder why there is a white mark on the table by Addy's spot."

In the middle of packing lunches, I don't think much of it until, mid peanut butter and jelly sandwich, my breath catches, my heart sinks, I remember that my darling Addy was taking her fingernail polish off at the table earlier this evening.   Yep.   You know the rest of the story.   My dark stained dining room table has a nice white streak in it.

I had consulted with my mom, she agreed, the was probably not much I could do about the table.   Out of desperation, I went to the internet Monday night typed in my search and came up with results of refinishing the table, sanding and painting, and the worst, "Nothing can be done."

But wait..... one last message on a message board gave me hope:

mix mayo and ashes (fireplace or cigarette) and let sit for 15 minutes, then buff in. you can also spread mayo on it and then sprinkle ashes on top, and buff in. can repeat. sometimes it will make it go away, sometimes it makes it drastically less noticeable. its something about the fat content in it? some people add a little olive oil to the mix and leave it on for an hour before wiping off.

Hope this helps.

Martha

Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

I went out to Mark's grill pulled some ashes from the bottom, grabbed my bottle of Mayo with Olive Oil and began mixing.   Nothing to loose right?   

The first application was 20 minutes with some improvement.   

The second application was 30 minutes with quite a bit of improvement. 

The third application was 15 minutes (I was tired and ready for bed) with more improvement.  

Dear Martha, you have saved my table and my sanity.  Thank you for this weird but helpful advice!   

Unscripted

He has seen the movie many times and knows it by heart, where I have only seen it once. He quotes the lines right along with the actors, not missing a cue.

The actress asks, "Do you believe me?" The actor on the movie is silent, but he turns to me looking me in the eye and says, " I do believe you."

The actress asks, "Do you trust me?" The actor again is silent, but he turns to me looking me in the eye and says, " I do trust you."

And I know deep in my heart that even on the hardest of days, I am going to hang on to these words because these words were not prompted or scripted. They were words that he chose to say to express his feelings and they will get us through.

A Great Short Story

Mark shared this video with me today and I enjoyed it so much I wanted to share it with you.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

 

Thoughts on Thursday: Expanding

I have a funny quirk.   When I am in a restaurant or in a position where I am handing payment over for food and beverage that is prepared for me, I have the feeling that I HAVE to like the food or drink.   I don't want to pay for something and not like it.   So, I quickly find myself in a rut. 

Case in point, in the beginning of last year, I found myself drinking my first cup of coffee.  Before that, if I ever entered a coffee shop, I drank Chai Tea Lattes.   Nothing else.   Now, it is a skinny, sugar-free vanilla latte.   For a year now, that has been my drink.   I want to try something new, but don't know where to start!   Care to help me expand my palate?  I am curious what is your drink of choice?

Thoughts on Thursday: Interests

I am in event planning mode, and I LOVE it!

Planning

Coordinating

Organizing

Choices

List making

Shopping

Preparations

Menus

Decorations

Our event is just around the corner, and I can hardly wait!!  I just had to go shopping today to get some of the supplies!

When I get into event planning mode, I often think that it would be an awesome profession to have.  To help people plan an event that would be everything they had dreamed it would be and pull all of the details together to make it happen.  

Obviously reality kicks in and I know that this job is not one that would work due to many factors in life, such as I already have a job I love, the city I live in would not support a business like that, and the schedule would be less than ideal for my family.  But, while I am planning and having a blast, I think that it would be something I would enjoy.

I am curious, do you have a hobby or interest that you really enjoy doing that in ideal conditions, you could see yourself doing as a profession?   Perhaps it is not a hobby or an interest, rather an occupation that you would enjoy doing if finances, education, time schedules, etc were not a factor.  Either way, I would love to hear about it.

Thoughts from Thursday: On Color

This week I finished the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel.  It is a wonderful story about a zookeeper's son who is lost at sea for seven months with the company of a 450 Bengal Tiger in his lifeboat.   The journey that Pi goes on is one that I cannot imagine living through.  
 

Before leaving India with his family, Pi explores three different religions.   Born Hindu, he finds himself in a conversation with a Catholic priest and at another point with an Islamic baker.  These conversations impact Pi at great levels and have much influence in his life.  At the end of the book the following question is posed, which I have been processing this week.  

"Among Yann Martel's gifts is a rich descriptive palette.  Regarding religion, he observes the green elements that represent Islam and the orange tones of Hinduism.  What color would Christianity be, according to Pi's perspective?"    (Life of Pi, page 325)

Photo by Billy Alexander

What are your thoughts about the color of Christianity?  

Prayer of My Heart

I first read this prayer in a book we studied in small group.    I was captivated and absorbed the words in, lifting them to heaven in prayer.     This week, the prayer resurfaced in my reading, so I wanted to share it with you.  

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 

Amen